Super Bowl Weekend

Well it's Super Bowl Weekend. That's usually gets me going , but I'm kinda only half interested this year. Which is weird, because it should be a good game, between two very good teams. But this game is being heavily overshadowed by the upcoming labor stoppage. I don't fall into the, better enjoy this one, there might not be football for awhile. Other then Preseason, regular season games are 8 months away. Thats a long time. They will get something done. But onto the game

We have two good quarterbacks, two great defenses. And effective running games. These are what I called the prototype built Football teams in the 21st century. I like the Packers. I think they have more weapons then the Steelers. Plus the injuries to the Steelers O line I think will hurt them. Ben can absorb some hits, but they may add up and just wear him down by the 4th Quarter.

So I'm going with the Packers 24-20.

So will the lombardi trophy be coming to WNY? Nope? Not like the Stanley Cup. Thats too bad. Starks should enjoy himself before Ryan Grant comes back next year.

BTW, I've taken my Hockey talents to frackingsabres.wordpress.com

I'm turning this into a Football centered blog.

Deal with it.

Feeling Nostalgic

The Teflon Captain

I've been very lax with this blog for a good year or so. It's not that I don't care less about Buffalo Sports. But just much busier with everything. Life changes, so things get sacrificed. Like blogging. The best thing with a blog is that you can dust it off and really nothing has changed. No Rust, batteries don't need to be changed, or tune up needed. Just pick up and go.

I still follow blogs quite religiously, just don't contribute to my own. Which has made me think why did I start this in the first place, over 3 years ago? I wanted to for a year prior, but never got the energy to do it. Then I did, and put a lot of effort and time in putting content on, but then I stopped doing it everyday, then every week, now its been months since my last post.

I read the local blogs all the time. But there is something missing. I miss Bfloblog. Yes I know Kevin is on twitter. But since WNYmedia took it over, it fell apart, and what I feel was the launchpad for all the main Buffalo Sports blogs is gone. Back 3 to 4 years ago, it was the place to be for all blog fans. The chats during games were great. Sure there are great sites now. The Gooses Roost, Die by the Blade, Top Shelf and Willful Caboose. They all tend to talk more about the Sabres then anything. But the Buffalo blog explosion, came from the Sabre resurgence. Nothing the Bills did led to a Buffalo Bills Blog explosion. Buffalo Rumblings is probably the best, but nothing else is really worth a daily read in town.

With the Sabres mired in a stall at the moment. They are just plain boring most of the time. We try to find excitement, but the same players, lead to the same results. That passion and fun that was there once, is all but gone. Its super evident in the building, and evident online. Game chats that were once so popular, are probably barren. I use to do game previews, now you couldn't pay me to care that much to put together a post for Sabres Panthers on Friday. It seems the crew at HSBC is either waiting for the axe to drop or praying that they get much better. And it is felt though out Sabre Nation.

It seems for the first time in a while the Bills are more interesting then the Sabres. Call it a cycle, but the Bills have guys that you can care about. The games are fun. Like the Sabres use to be, minus the losing instead of winning. Its a rare occasion that you can call a Sabre game "fun". A couple years ago a Drew Stafford hat trick would be celebrated. Today, Meh, probably won't score for another 10 games.

The most exciting time of the year so far, is when we thought there was a new owner. It almost breathed life into the fanbase. But that talk has died down. I don't doubt it was floated to see the fan reaction to it. It seems lots of things are floated by the Sabres to gauge fan reaction, business things, not player things. But the hockey world will be here next week for the World Juniors. So maybe they will save some news for then. But I doubt it.

Also, I think someone should create a tribute to Sabre Rattling. It really was one of the first Sabre blogs out there, a really good one at that. But it along with the Sabres rise, has faded away. I guess we are in what I call the post blog boom. What is out there, is what probably will stay. If people can blog through the crap over the past 3.5 years, then they can stay for what's next.

But as my life changes, getting married, having a son, working part time from home. I will always thing back of how things were, before all that got started. Missing the connection I felt from strangers on a screen, reading things about The Teflon Captain Chris Drury. Or Getting excited about every game. Do you remember how things were around here during the Playoff runs? I do, there was nothing like it. I think only till the next Bills playoff game, will that feeling be matched.

Lets just hope that the Bills are building to be better, like the Sabres pre lockout. (Hey the NFL might be locked out next year) If not, it won't be pretty and apathy will do its thing. And the Buffalo Blog community will suffer from the lack of passion.

Because all we have now is Hope and Nostalgia. And if that runs out. There won't be anything to write home about.

Can you feel it?

Ahhh that chill in the air, the overcast skies and school buses on the street.

It must mean Football is back!


I have been on blog hiatus, due to lack of creativity, passion, being busy at work and getting ready for a baby. But watching the preseason has gotten me back in the football mood. As well as some College games this weekend. I don't think the Bills will be good this year, but they have a chance to be entertaining while losing, and if you're gonna lose, might as well put up some points.

The defense is going to be a problem, switching to the 3-4 with not the right personnel. The secondary will help in making things close, since teams won't put up points quickly, they will have to grind them out. Whats better getting killed on a ground assault or Air assault? Everyone assumes QB next year, but I wouldn't be surprised at a stud LB in round 1 next year. A high quality LB can be just as important as a QB. And I'm not totally sold on the big hyped guys.

Well my Son and I will watch the team closely this year, he won't remember any of this, but he'll hear about CJ Spiller and his rookie season. The Bills have a special offensive talent, and they will use him anyway possible. The Preseason was just a glimpse of his talents. Imagine screen passes that WORK! Play action passes to Evans that the corners bite on, because Spiller is in.

Well, I should stop before I get ahead of myself.

Its week 1, the Dolphins are good, kinda. They scream 7-9 or 8-8 to me. Nothing too spectacular, but they can win some games. Week 1 is always a toss up, since teams haven't played a full game, getting used to the situations, and for the Bills the new players and Coaches. But Chan Gailey has been around long enough to know what to do.

I'm not into making predictions, but I don't think the Bills will be the 3-13 team that everyone is saying. They don't seem too much different then the 7-9 teams of years past. With better coaching.

But its great to see Football is back.

Built to Spiller

With CJ Spiller under contract now, the Bills have everyone at camp. Until guys start getting cut.

The question is, how is CJ used? Is he the number 1 back? He is the 2nd back, but they split him wide, ie the Marshall Faulk type weapon? They drafted this kid, high even with 2 decent backs on the team. And you don't draft a kid #9 to be Marshawn Lynch insurance.

You draft a guy 9, to build around.

The QB's aren't that great, the O Line is better at Run blocking then Pass. So you get a stable of workhorses and you run the ball. And hope you draft the QB of the future next year, and if the CBA works out, not pay him a ton of money, or be able to trade up in the draft, because it makes sense to with a reworked CBA.

They are going to build around this kid, this year. Fred Jackson is great, but he will be nor never was the talent that Spiller is. And when they need to slowly work in the Rookie QB, it will be Spiller who will be the safety valve for this kid. This is a guy you want to throw to in the flat, so he can create and make plays. (Trent Edwards is very excited) And with the Oline still a work in progess, they won't have time to look downfield. (insert sad Lee Evans face)

Yes, I know Fred Jackson will probably get more touches. But Spiller's touches could result in much longer players and gamebreaking plays. I imagine him as what everyone thought Reggie Bush would do with the Saints. Bush is a good player, but he isn't what people thought he could be. Unlike Bush, there won't be media pressure to produce, since he's in Buffalo, which is basically the CFL to the Media. If he wants to be a superstar he'll have to be great. Being in Buffalo has it upsides if you don't want media attention and its downsides, people don't know you're in the NFL.

If everything goes as I suspect. We'll see the debut of a very exciting new player in the NFL. The team might not win that much, but as long as they are exciting we'll take that. Especially if they are bad enough to take of the big QB's next year.

So CJ I'm glad you got a week in late, because he'll see alot of action this year and need all the rest you can get.

Its not fun being the poor kid.

We aren't the Rangers.

The Sabres have a budget. A self imposed cap in a salary capped league.

I can except that.

Yesterday wasn't a great PR day for the Sabres, they bought out a local kid and told everyone we won't spend to the cap. A big bucket of cold water over the Sabre fan base. Of course people are breaking it down to $200k. But that is not it. Its making a roster for a certain dollar amount. Darcy believed another defensemen as worth more then a 3rd line player. Who no one thought worth 1 million dollars. And with teams scrambling to make the salary floor, you would think someone would jump at that.

Are we overvaluing Tim Kennedy? We'll see where he lands. And what the deal will be.

Darcy has one of the hardest jobs in the league. Yes, I am a Darcy apologist. He has a big fanbase, that thinks it deserves a cup. A owner who makes sure they are a business and not a charity. Plus he gets no respect for trying to build a winner in a market where the FA's don't come, unless its their last option. For the most part, he's done a pretty good job. Has he made mistakes? Of course. The last few deadline deals have blown up, but were treated as good trades at the time.

This move has nothing to do with Tim Kennedy, in a perfect world, Darcy would have kept him and then acquired a couple other guys. But guess what the Sabres have a budget where they can successfully operate a business. Do you see the Sabres laying people off? No.

What if the Sabres kept Kennedy, but they had to lose $200,000 worth of salary from operating staff? Lay off a couple ticket sales people. Lay off game day operations staff. Would that be worth Tim Kennedy, a guy that just got $333,000 to get another job where he'll make double? The Sabres payroll is much more then the 22 guys on the roster. Its management, sales, scouts, the kids that work in the Sabre store.

Look at this list.

Lay off 10 of these people, so you can Tim Kennedy.

Darcy has the budget for the face of the organization, the team. But there lots of others dependent on the organization. People love spending others money, Darcy spends other peoples money, but must do it in the most efficient way. In a market that can't afford high raise in ticket prices. The Sabres have to operate at a lower cap then other teams, whose revenue is much higher and with a bigger pool to operate in.

Do not blame Darcy for this, his hands are tied. Blame him for the wrong person to keep, or not making a move if it was there, but operating within the parameters set for him? He's just like every other operation manager who has to answer to the board, where profits matter and losing money is a sin. (Also keeps said business IN business)

Tim Kennedy was sacrificed because he was the last one in and the cheapest to get out. Could they have traded someone? Maybe, who knows.

But as Buffalo Sports fans, we have to understand where we are, and our market. If not, then we will always be disapointed.

When we will get it, that Daddy Darcy won't get us that fancy toy, because we just don't have the money for it. And Grandpa Tom, ain't getting it either.

Football is back!!!!!

Nothing is more exciting then when Training camps start opening. Baseball takes its backseat till October because honestly there are only 1 or 2 playoff races these days, half the teams never have a shot anyway so its quite boring come August. But the NFL 20 teams have a shot at the Playoffs any year. (The Bills not one of them, but whatever) Training camp always gets me excited, gets me back to Buffalobills.com to watch videos of practice. And interviews that say the same thing every day.

We're working hard.

We're getting better.

We don't know the QB yet.

People are down on the Bills, as they should be, they probably won't be that good. But its an optimistic bad outlook. You see, it feels like there's a new vision. That hasn't been there the past few years. The Donohoe years gave some upbeat feelings with the guys they brought in, but they failed. Here we're going with young guys, that are hungry. Guys that want to get paid. Not guys that have gotten paid.

Plus I'm helping bringing in a new Bills fan into this world, my wife is doing the hard work. By the end of this month, there should be another little one into this world. Just in time for the season. Oh yes, there will be a Bills onesie to purchase, once I know how big the little guy is. Hopefully by the time he's aware of what Football is, the Bills will be decent again. (crosses fingers, hopes hes a good luck charm) Also hopes there will be a Buffalo Bills team to root for.

I don't want the Bills be to him, what the Buffalo Braves are to me. Thats a depressing thought and don't want to think about it.

So I can't wait to here about the QB battle, watch the preseason games, and wait for the cuts. And trades that might happen with teams in need due to injury or realizing their LT isn't very good, or have an extra one they don't need. (wink wink)

I don't care how good the Bills are, Buffalo Bills football is better then no Football at all. And really winning would hurt their draft status, especially if they need a QB in 2011. Just be entertaining while losing. That's all we can hope for.

In Chan and Buddy I trust.

What about Kurtis Foster?

Seriously, how do you pronounce your last name?

With all the talk of Tomas Kaberle and needing a power play QB in the defensive corp. We have kind of got stuck on one player, and we shouldn't have. Tomas Kaberle makes zero sense for the Sabres. Why?

1 year left on a decent contract.

UFA next year and they won't be able to afford him next year, so why would they trade assets for a player who they are going to lose the following year?

That should sound off the "Darcy will not do that alarm".

Today I saw a tweet about Kurtis Foster and his production. Right, Who?

The man most known for snapping his leg against the boards. Had a very nice season last year in Tampa. And is UFA who only made 600k last year. (Darcy's ears just perked up)

Lets look at his numbers

2009-2010 8 goals and 42 points, a -5, but being a minus on the Lightning isn't very hard. With the atrocious goaltending they usually get.

But the most important part is he was 7th in Power play points of all defenseman. Ahead of who?

That's right Tomas Kaberle.

He has the same amount of points as Chris Pronger and he did that in 11 less games.

Here we have a guy coming back from a seriously leg injury and being productive on a bad team. Who even if he gets a raise won't be that much and will provide instant offense for the Power Play. And hes a Ontario kid. So its closer to home.

Plus he's big at 6'5



Well just someone out there, that makes a lot of sense for the Sabres, and the type of signing that Darcy would do.

I have no idea what his value is, or his interest in actually coming here. Just someone that we should talk about instead of Tomas Kaberle who makes zero sense. The Sabres don't need a time eating D man, they need a guy who can get the puck around. They can resign Toni Lydman for a steady D man.

Free agency should be interesting, since there aren't many big names, but full of middle tier guys, that the Sabres love to go after. (see Steve Montador)