Bills 24, Chargers 16

David Mamet’s 1975 play American Buffalo (and the 1996 film with Dustin Hoffman and Dennis Franz) takes place in a junk shop where the owner has sold a Buffalo Nickel to a customer for $90 then regrets the low sale price and plans to steal it back. Buffalo Nickels are five-cent coins struck by the US Mint between 1913 and 1938 and are considered to be somewhat rare and valuable. These coins form the historical basis for the “alternate” Buffalo Bills uniforms, called the “Nickel City” uniforms, unveiled early in the Bills 2026 training camp. Reaction to the uniforms at the time was swift and negative. Josh Allen asked fans to relax and assured us that the uniforms were fine and that we would all grow to appreciate them. They were worn in yesterday’s game at Highmark Stadium for the first time in the regular season and the reaction – both nationally and within the Bills fan base – remained overwhelmingly negative. I decided to wait and see but I now officially join the mainstream body of opinion in saying that they’re simply awful. The strange colour palette looks like the bastard child of the uniforms of the Detroit Lions and the New York Giants. The numbers and player names are hard to see and Mike Schop said on WGR that they looked like they weren’t fitted properly. The Bills now have a minor public relations problem on their hands as the uniforms are scheduled to be worn again on December 19^th when the Bills host the Chicago Bears. I doubt that the plan will change but I will be interested to see how they spin things as that date approaches. We all know why the NFL mandated alternate uniforms – to sell more merch. And it has worked: we saw plenty of Nickel City game jerseys at the home opener. I guess if all you had was a Diggs jersey from five years ago, it might be an interesting option. Give me the Royal Blue and White in any jersey and pant combination and leave it at that.

Maybe the crappy alternate uniforms will be considered lucky as the Bills pulled out a win against the Chargers yesterday in a game they probably should have lost. Five turnovers usually means you lose but the Bills defence – much maligned through the first two games, and rightly so - was the difference in the end. James Cook had another strong game after fumbling on the very first play from scrimmage. A key interception by veteran safety CJ Gardner-Johnson set up a Cook touchdown which saw the Bills take an unlikely lead which they would not give up. This was a FOX game with their number-one crew of Kevin Burkhardt and Tom Brady. Brady seems now to have settled into his colour commentary role and I would give him a solid 7.5 out of 10 for yesterday’s broadcast.   

Dateline: September, 1973. Shortly after my eleventh birthday, I started at a new school (new for me) in St. Catharines, Ontario for grade six. It was Ridley College - a “private” school for boys (there was a handful of girls in grade 13 that year – the first year of what would be a successful co-ed experiment), conceived and operated in the image of English “public” schools: teachers were masters, the principal was a headmaster, grades were forms, we had classes on Saturday mornings, cadet training, a comprehensive sports program, chapel every morning and an archaic hierarchy of “old boys” and “new boys” where new boys performed tasks for old boys on request (shining shoes, carrying books etc). The old boy system was thankfully abolished long ago as the school modernized itself, maintaining some of the symbolic historical traditions while ditching the ones which seem preposterous in retrospect today. High educational standards were part of the formula throughout and continue to this day. About two thirds of the students were boarders. A cohort of about eight of us would move all the way from grade six (the sixth “form” as it was called) through to grade 13, graduating in 1981. Most, if not all, of our small cohort were “day students” who had grown up in St. Catharines, attending various public schools through grade five. A couple of nights ago, we marked the 45^th anniversary of our graduation from Ridley. By my count, five of us from that original grade six cohort made it. As I pointed out to Bill C., it was the 45^th anniversary of our graduation from Ridley but the 53^rd anniversary of our starting in the sixth form. Despite not seeing some of these cats for several decades, it’s amazing how personalities just don’t really change that much from age 11 to age 64. We hope to have everyone out – the full sixth form cohort and all of those who came to Ridley later and graduated with us – in five years time as we mark our 50^th. Thanks to Kelly N. and Jon B. for arranging and getting us all out on Saturday night in St. Catharines.

In five years time, I hope and expect that two or three (one at the very least) Superbowl Champion banners will hang in the new Highmark Stadium. Josh Allen, now in his ninth year in Buffalo and at the peak of his abilities – the perfect combination of physical and experiential proficeincy - will be on the back nine of his career but hopefully still playing effectively….maybe sort of like Aaron Rodgers but without the anti-vax crap.

Three AFC teams now sport undefeated 3-0 records: the Bills, the Chiefs and…..wait for it…….the Raiders. It’s easy to predict that the Raiders will soon revert to mediocrity but the Chiefs and Bills will not. Although it’s two months out, the Chiefs at Bills Thanksgiving night game on November 26^th looms large on the schedule.

Next up for the Bills is a visit from the New England Patriots on Sunday. The Pats are coming off a pretty brutal loss at Jacksonville and will be looking to right themselves in the first divisional game for both teams.