Bills 24, Browns 14

As Tashard Choice prepared for the 2012 NFL season, I wonder how many touches he thought he might get during the season. In blowout games, for sure, he would get some carries and, other than that, I would be surprised if he really thought that he would get more than 1 or possibly 2 carries per game. His main focus would be on special teams with the added title of third string running back. With Fred Jackson as the number 1 running back and CJ Spiller a very strong number 2, Choice was probably perfectly happy just to occupy an NFL roster spot. Until yesterday.

With Jackson going down in week 1 against the Jets, CJ Spiller had stepped up for the rest of the Jets game and in last week's game against the Chiefs, perhaps creating a difficult decision for the Bills coaching staff on who would be the number 1 back when Jackson returned. Spiller was fantastic in both of the first 2 games and was off to another excellent afternoon yesterday when he was tackled after a big gain on a screen play. His own weight and the entire weight of his tackler landed squarely on his left shoulder and he left the game on a cart in obvious pain. With the number 1 and number 2 running backs out with injuries, the Choice was an easy one. And he delivered by running strongly for the rest of the game (gaining 92 yards) and, as Chan Gailey pointed out in his post-game press conference, by successfully protecting the ball on a wet afternoon in Cleveland.

When Spiller went down, the Bills were up 14-0 and driving again with a chance to almost put the game out of reach against a demoralized Browns team still looking for its first win. His departure clearly changed the momentum of the game and by the 4th quarter, the Bills found themselves clinging to a 17-14 lead. But, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Stevie Johnson combined for a touchdown to give the Bills a 10 point lead to conclude the scoring and send them to a 2-1 record for the year. It was their first road win since opening day of the 2011 season.

Looking ahead to next week, the challenge seems large indeed. Not just because the Patriots are coming to Orchard Park but because they have lost 2 consecutive games, including a one point loss to Baltimore last night. Could they lose for a 3rd straight time? It seems unlikely.

Bills 35, Chiefs 17

Ryan Fitzpatrick rolled out to his right while tight end Scott Chandler broke free from his blocker and was wide open for an easy first down on the Bills first possession of yesterday's game in Orchard Park. Fitzpatrick missed badly and the ball landed at Chandler's feet. This pattern would repeat itself a few more times before the Bills quarterback made a couple of good passes while avoiding turnovers - something he was unable to do last week.

How did the Bills win yesterday? By running the ball and playing excellent defence. CJ Spiller looked like an NFL number 1 running back, gaining over 100 yards on the ground and scoring 2 touchdowns. The offensive line was outstanding all day, both in run blocking and protection. The much anticipated pass rush showed up as well, registering 5 sacks. Mario Williams recovered one fumble after a sack and was double-teamed most of the time, allowing Marcel Dareus, Kyle Williams and Mark Anderson to keep Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel off balance all day. It was a dominating win - the kind of win that, as the WGR post-game crew pointed out, those who predicted a Bills playoff berth for this year undoubtedly had in mind. The fans were energized and the players responded. It was a great reply to last week's disaster against the Jets.

But, the quarterbacking remains a very large concern. Fitzpatrick just seems unable to throw the ball accurately enough of the time. His pass to Chandler for a touchdown was very well thrown - as were a few others - but there were just too many bad misses, too many balls landing at the feet of receivers, too many times where it seems like the team really doesn't have a quarterback who can lead them to a winning season,  let alone the playoffs. The rest of the offence seems solid - even the depleted wide receiver core - and the defence looks much better than last year but without a quarterback who can get it done consistently, it will be a tough road.

The weather was beautiful. The traffic was not. On the way in, from the 219 to Milestrip to Abbott to Southwestern and finally into to Drive 5 took over an hour and we had to park behind the grass practice field which was fine except for getting out which also took about an hour. And a short delay on the Whirlpool Bridge - due to construction. This allowed us a few minutes to absorb the view of the awesome Niagara River gorge and the rapids downstream. Overall, a very good day, a good game and a good trip. And, we were encouraged to have seen only one Romney/Ryan bumper sticker.  

Jets 48, Bills 28

Most pre-season forecasts predicted that the Bills much improved - and perhaps the NFL's best - defensive line would lead them back to the playoffs for the first time since 1999. Chan Gailey has now had three full pre-seasons to choose the best personnel for his offensive philosophy. He likes Ryan Fitzpatrick because he's a winner. The appointment of Dave Wanstaedt as Defensive Coordinator, the re-installation of the 4-3 system, the addition of speed edge rusher Mario Williams and number one draft pick Stephan Gilmore as the new stud cornerback would improve the Bills defence to playoff contender status. All of these improvements, along with a seemingly soft schedule would propel the team to at least 9 wins, probably 10 and maybe even 11. The patriots would probably still win the division but a wildcard berth was seen as a likely outcome for the 2012 Bills.

I saw none of the game but I did follow it, for a while, on The Score's mobile app (which I recommend to anyone) while at Marilyn Bell Park on the Toronto waterfront. Ftzpatrick was bad enough that Peter King tweeted "Buffalo starting quarterback Tavaris Jackson?" at around 2pm. The last score I saw was 41-7 before I got home around 6pm and started reading the stats and the early commentary. The Fitzpatrick interceptions, I have read, were not the result of his "gunslinger" approach trying to squeeze the ball into the hands of double-teamed receivers. They were just awful, bone-headed decisions which get NFL quarterbacks benched quickly, unless they're rookies on rebuilding teams.

Last season, Buffalo started with a big 41-7 road win at Kansas City. They went on to a 5-1 start before collapsing to finish 6-10. Maybe this season will be the reverse. A huge week 1 wake-up call might end up being a good thing. This week, the Chiefs come to town (after losing at home in week 1 again) trying to live up to their own playoff expectations. Neither team can afford to go 0-2 so, as week 2 games go, it's a big one for both teams. Time to get the bar-b-que out of the storage unit, dust off our Nexus Cards and make our way down to Orchard Park to open that first can of beer around 10.30 next Sunday morning.

This past weekend, our dragonboat team had a successful conclusion to the paddling season with a 30th place finish at the 18th GWN Dragonboat Challenge. Saturday morning was miserable - heavy rain and wind - but better as the day progressed and Sunday was lovely. We made the C Division final which we were happy with considering that we had many new paddlers in what was a rebuilding season. As one of my teammates reminded me after the last race as we lingered around the tent enjoying a couple of beers, "if we enjoy eachother's company and have fun together, we'll do well". She was right - as she usually is. Thanks Amanda.

Training Camp, Pittsford, NY, August 2, 2012

As a Bills fan, the best thing about watching training camp is that the Bills are successful on every play - without exception. If a running back is tackled behind the line of scrimmage, the defence was all over it and if a deep pass goes for a touchdown, the offence looks strong.  So, it's really quite relaxing knowing that success will truly come with every snap.

We stepped off the shuttle bus at St. John Fisher College at about 2.30pm yesterday, giving us a half hour to peruse Bills branded merchandise before the 3pm practice start. No one drunk or drinking at all - at least not that I saw. So, I got my fix of new Bills swag (including a Mario Williams shirt) and we settled comfortably in the stands beside the grass practice field at about the 30 yard line and about 12 rows from the field - just about where my actual Ralph Wilson stadium seats are.

An NFL training camp practice when a team is still carrying over 80 players is an exercise in  logistics, choreography and organization. Warm up drills come first and are not really worth watching but by 3.15, the quarterbacks were throwing into rotating one on one receiver/cornerback drills which then added a second one on one match-up for a while before they grew to 7 on 7 drills. Then, finally the 11 on 11 plays with some special teams formats thrown in as well. Players rotate in and out of the action and the pace is fast. It was not until the 11 on 11 that any running plays were executed at all. The quarterbacks throwing to receivers in single coverage in the earlier drills when there was lots of open field to work with was really impressive to see. Ryan Fitzpatrick and Tyler Thigpen seemed to get about the same number of reps with Vince Young getting somewhat less. Just watching these guys throw the ball over and over again in these drills made me realize how good they really are. And some spectacular catches were made by every receiver taking part. Although the tempo is fast, the hitting is completely dialed back. When a defensive player gets in position to make a tackle, the effort made represents maybe the first 20% of a what a real tackle under game conditions would involve, but no more. I saw Mario Williams take only 2 snaps: he tried a speed outside move the first time but Fitzpatrick got the ball away before he got there and he tried an inside spin move the second time but was blocked by the right guard. He looks big and strong and fast.

We left just before 5pm, got back to the car and found a roadhouse in Rochester which was good but the portions were laughably huge. One of the entrees could have fed four people easily. Then, back across the Rainbow bridge, a sundae at DQ on Geneva Street in St. Catharines and then home. 600km for the day. Worth doing maybe every 5 years. Overall, a good day. And the Bills were awesome! 

2012 Bills Season Preview

When it became known that Bills GM Buddy Nix was planning to pursue coveted free agent Mario Williams, the outstanding edge pass rusher picked No.1 overall by Houston in 2006 and easily the top free agent on the market, I filed that information away as being in the same category as when Russ Brandon et al flew to Denver to try to land Mike Shanahan as coach in early 2010. Or when they said they were going after many of the other top free agents over the past few years - you have to tell your fans that you are interested and that you plan to pursue these top players. It's just that the top free agents, for various reasons, have recently tended to favour teams other than the Bills in choosing where to play next. But, as I followed my Twitter feeds as NFL free agency officially began at noon on March 13, it was reported that the Bills had chartered a private jet to pick Williams up in his home state of North Carolina that very minute, fly him to Buffalo and try to sign him before he spoke to any other teams. Then, it was reported that he was on the plane. Then I saw photos of him arriving at OBD and it started to get a bit more interesting after that too, as it was then reported that his fiance was apparently arriving the following day to tour the area and perhaps even look at houses. That did happen the next day and, after the tour (which we learned later included a visit to Jim Kelly's Orchard Park home), the group was back at OBD for further discussions. Then, Mario and his fiance left in the late afternoon and retired to their hotel, promising an answer the next morning. Ok, so that sounded pretty encouraging. But then I started to picture their conversation in their Buffalo hotel room, after a tour of the city, some driving on the Thruway and the 219 and a tour of a few houses listed for sale as well.

"Look, I agree that these people are nice but have we heard anything from the Chargers or the Dolphins? Even the Cardinals need a better pass rush than they have now. Let's see what the other options are", she would be saying, I expected. And, what houses were they looking at and where were they? I was having a hard time believing that either Williams or his fiance would have been impressed enough with the Buffalo area (sorry, have to say it) to accept an offer from the Bills - in first city they visited and from the first team they spoke to - and a team which has not enjoyed much success over the past decade. But, they returned the next morning and were holding a press conference in the afternoon. $16 million a year for 7 years - the highest paid defensive player ever in the NFL. Buddy Nix had followed Williams closely during his SEC scouting days and knew him to be a private, quiet and reserved family man who liked open spaces and being left alone. Williams and his fiance bought a palatial house and acreage in Orchard Park and he can probably live a more low key lifestyle in that setting than he could anywhere else in the league. Good for him. And good for Buddy Nix for landing him and good for Ralph Wilson for paying him. I'm predicting 16 sacks this season for Mario Williams- at a million per.

Today marks the opening of Bills training camp at St. John Fisher College in Pittsford, NY. The late July ritual is all too often a relief from a Blue Jays baseball season gone off the rails - and this year is no exception. I'm hoping to make it down to the camp for an afternoon and if I do, I will post a full review - as I will for pre-season games I'm able to watch. I have tickets for both home pre-season games if anyone wants them.

Giants 21, Patriots 17

By the time the Superbowl rolls around, I've usually watched enough football and seen and heard enough analysis of football that I often can't generate much more than a passing interest in the game itself. Also, my team last played a meaningful game more than 2 months ago.

Yesterday afternoon, I heard about 15 minutes of an interview Jim Gray did with Patriots owner Robert Kraft. He is beloved by his players, apparently, and, after hearing the interview, I think I understand a bit about why. He lost his wife last summer and he and the team dedicated the 2011 season to her memory. Until yesterday, I was just hoping for a close game (which we got) but when the game started, I was cheering for the Patriots.

Maybe Lee Evans and Wes Welker will commiserate this off-season about what it might have meant to just hold on to the ball at a critical time in a critical game. Evans could not hold on to a pass in the endzone near the end of the AFC Champioship Game but if he had, the Ravens would have played the Giants last night in the Superbowl. If the usually sure-handed Welker had closed his hands on a pass late in the Superbowl, the Patriots would probably have been able to run out the clock and win the game.

For various reasons, I cancelled my Rogers cable, efective this past Friday. I bought an HD TV antenna for which I had great expectations since I live on the 11th floor of my building with a clear south exposure. I do get as many as 20 channels at certain times of the day and in certain kinds of weather. The problem with digital signals is that if the signal strength does not meet a certain minimum level, it cuts out. You either get the signal in stunning 1080 HD or you get nothing. Gone are the days of adjusting the rabbit ears to get a "watchable" picture with minimum fuzziness. I had planned on watching the game on WGRZ, the Buffalo NBC affiliate, which would have allowed me to watch the US commercials during the game. The signal was good on Sunday afternoon, but when darkness and kick-off approached, it dissappeared. So, I watched the game on CFTO with the Canadian commercials like everyone else.  I may invest in a more expensive antenna.

Amazingly enough, the City of Toronto and its outside workers in local 416 came to an agreement yesterday and there will be no work stoppage. This is obviously good news for our outdoor Thursday night hockey games. There is no question that the union felt that it had little room to resist some of the conditions which the City threatended to unilaterally impose, beginning this morning. Public sentiment and the memory of the strike of the summer of 2009 weighed heavily on the union as it feared a backlash if there had been a work stoppage. The contract negotiated over the weekend will form the basis for the next round of negotiations with local 79, which represents the City's 22,000 inside workers. Rob Ford looked like he was trying to take credit for the agreement yesterday. He needs all the positive press he can get as Karen Stintz seems to be circling her wagons for a showdown with him on the transit file.

The next event on the NFL calendar is the scramble to sign free agents which begins next month. Then the college draft comes in April. Training camps start in late July. I will probably receive my 2012 season ticket invoice this week. Ralph needs the money as early as possible, I guess.

Patriots 49, Bills 21

When the Bills went ahead 21-0 against the Patriots last Sunday, I foresaw the symetry. Think back to week 3 when the Patriots went up 21-0 in Orchard Park only to lose the game on a Rian Lindell field goal as the final seconds ticked away, sending delirious Bills fans home on that warm summer like afternoon. I haven't seen such symetry since the 2003 season when the Bills beat New England 31-0 in the season opener, only to finish 5-11, losing the final game of the season at Foxboro by a score of - you guessed it - 31-0. The Patriots went on to win their second Superbowl a few weeks later. The Bills fired Gregg Williams who had completed his third season as head coach.

I was grateful for the early season success of the Bills this year as there was something to be excited about - if only for a short time. After the game on Sunday, Chan Gailey said that the team needs to learn how to finish. I wasn't sure of he was referring to the Partiots game and the 21-0 lead or to the season in general or to both. Yes, I agree. They need to learn how to finish.

I've been suffering from a cold virus over the past few days and this has allowed me to wait until the Iowa Caucuses were completed before creating this post. It's been fascinating to watch as each and every candidate in the race (except John Huntsman, I guess, whose endorsement by the Boston Globe yesterday may propel him forward) caught up to Mitt Romney and then faded under the scrutiny which success brings.

Rick Santorum peaked at exactly the right time - for Iowa anyway - and finished in a virtual tie with Romney. As the candidates turn their attention now to New Hampshire, the knives are out for Santorum. There's certainly a lot to aim at and a couple of things have caught my attention. Santorum is, in my view, an extreme social conservative. He is a catholic and is the father of 6 children. In 1996, his wife, suffering from pregnancy complications and a high fever, gave birth at 20 weeks to a boy who lived for only 2 hours. Santorum and his wife then slept with the dead baby between them and then brought him home to show the other children their "brother". The children then spent the day taking turns holding him. I know very little about catholic tradition but I'm certain that this falls outside it. It's weird and it's creepy.

Santorum's views on homosexuality are, not surprisingly, quite intolerant. They are not playing very well in New Hampshire either. Yesterday, he was speaking to a college group and he was asked why he is opposed to marriage within a same sex partnership between consenting adults. His response was: "What about a marriage with 3 men? Is that ok?" He was booed rather loudly as he wrapped up his remarks. In previous statements, he has compared homosexuality to beastiality. As a senator, he also pushed for an amendment to the Bush "No Child Left Behind" initiative which would require the teaching of the concept of "intelligent design" as an alternative to the Theory of Evolution. It became known as "the Santorum Amendment" but, thankfully, was not part of the final bill. New Hampshire is, apparently, the least religious state in the union which will limit his upside there but the next primary is South Carolina where, apparently, (according to CNN's John King) 45% of the population describes themselves as evangelical christians. Rick Santorum has neither the money nor the organization to have a realistic chance at winning the Republican nomination but when Mitt Romney chooses a running mate, Santorum will be in the conversation as he can help deliver the religious right and social conservative elements of the Republican party - where Romney's appeal is tepid at best.

I heard another of those partisan quips I love on CNN which seem always to come from party "strategists". In commenting on the race for the Republican nomination and the rotation of co-front runners with Mitt Romney, a Democratic strategist described the machinations of the Republican party by suggesting that "it's almost as if the right hand doesn't know what the extreme right hand is doing".

The NFL playoffs are finally here and the Bills will sit them out for the 12th consecutive year. With the Detroit Lions making the post-season this time around, the Bills now own the longest current run of non-playoff seasons.

In this weekend's games, I like Cincinnati, New Orleans, Atlanta and Pittsburgh. 2 home teams on Saturday and 2 road teams on Sunday.