Month: November 2008

A View from Calico Jack’s – 11/23/2008

OK, I take back that comment from last week’s column when I wrote that being a Bills fan is like being an inmate dropping the soap in the shower – this week we staged a prison break.

In honor of the Bills’ nearly unprecedented 54-31 victory, I’m also trying something unprecedented: below, if I make it, are 54 reasons why this was a great victory. Some reasons might be a stretch, but cut me some slack. Fifty four is a big number:

1. They won!
2. 54 points is pretty good…duh
3. And they did it on the road
4. In KC, where we’re used to getting creamed
5. Against Tony Gonzalez, who didn’t want to be a Bill, apparently
6. In front of NYCBBBer Kevin Smith, who attended the game
7. With his fiancée, a KC native – how sweet is that?
8. 54 was the highest point total of the day
9. And the Bills’ second-highest ever
10. Which was 58, in 1966
11. Before most of you were even born
12. Before your parents even met
13. And it was against the Fish
14. And the 54 we scored today was more than the Pats’ measly 48
15. Also against the Fish
16. We scored 17 points off of turnovers
17. In the first half alone
18. We forced 5 turnovers overall
19. And had none of our own
20. Leodis McKelvin had a fantastic game
21. And made us feel a lot better about where we chose him in the draft
22. And then there’s Trent Edwards: what to say about Trent Edwards?
23. He threw great
24. He ran like Michael Vick. Well, sort of.
25. He scored two TDs
26. Which no Bills QB had done in a game since Jack Kemp
27. Trent’s slump is over
28. And so is the team’s
29. As a result, the Bills are still “in the hunt”
30. And the Fish, one of our main rivals, lost
31. The team actually went for it on a fourth down and scored
32. I loved it when they scored to end the first half, and then again to start off the second half – 14 points without the Chiefs touching the ball
33. Marshawn actually got to run – full beast mode
34. Forget about 54 points: did I mentioned they won by 23 – and 7 of the Chiefs’ points were garbage, at the end?
35. The Bills emptied out that stadium pretty early – it looked empty on TV
36. We’ve never heard the Shout song so many times in one game
37. And never got tired of it
38. I sat with Bruce – proprietor of Penn Station-based Tracks Raw Bar & Grill, and the Bills actually won. That never happens
39. We actually got to relax during a game for a change
40. Josh Reed scored a TD – his first of the year
41. Lee Evans got into the act, with a 51-yard reception
42. And 110 overall reception yards
43. We didn’t have to do the dreaded Walk of Shame, leaving the bar in our Bills gear after a humiliating loss
44. No major injuries, although I’m not sure about Butler
45. I actually had a pretty good quesadilla at the restaurant today
46. More important, we can actually go the BuffaloBills.com, Two Bills Drive and read the morning sports sections on Monday without wincing
47. We can even look forward to ESPN’s highlights for a change
48. Trent Edwards – AFC Offensive Player of the Week?
49. A perfect day for Lindell, once again (forget last week)
50. We hardly saw Moorman, as much as I love the guy
51. 173 rushing yards!
52. Did I mention this was the most points anyone ever scored against the Chiefs?
53. Thank goodness we did this in a week without Whitner and Greer
54. And thank goodness we can enjoy Thanksgiving without Bills-related gloom and doom.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! I’ll be back and at CJ’s next week, should anyone be in town to join me.

E-mail feedback and comments to Phil Mann at
pjmann at nyc.rr.com

Buffalo Bills at Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Night at Mercury Lounge

Good Morning all 1,911 NYC Bills fans!

When I signed on to send this email my heart dropped to see our membership count end in 11. Made me think of Scott Norwood, who wore that number, then of Rian Lindell missing the 47 yard field goal wide right on Monday Night. The Bills are in trouble, but at 5-5 not out of it yet. The NJ Giants were 4-4 last year, and look where they ended up, so you never know. I’m on several Bills Backers email lists from around the country, and everybody vented frustration about the team in their emails. I’m not ready to do that just yet. I wait anxiously all off-season for the regular season, and spending it losing my mind wouldn’t be much fun.

Besides I spent all day yesterday listening to Christmas music, and that put me back in a great mood! Yes, its close enough to December 25th to start being jolly and listening to Xmas music and putting up decorations.

I have to say Monday night was a lot of fun at McFadden’s in a packed bar with NFL Films shooting for 3 quarters. I was humored to see that before the game, most were excited about the camera and lights. However once the game started, most tuned them out to focus on the game as true Bills fans just want to watch football. The footage will air TODAY at 12:30pm on the show Starting 11 on NFL Network. It will re-air Saturday at 10:30am, 9:30pm, and a couple times after that, all on NFL Network.

This Sunday the Bills travel to Kansas City to take on a pretty bad Chiefs team. Kickoff is this Sunday at 1pm, see you on 42nd and 2nd!

A View from Calico Jack’s
Check out Phil Mann’s comments from McFadden’s this week:
https://nycbbb.com/columns/112008.shtml

Pictures from Monday Night Football
A ton (2 links) of cool pictures from Monday’s game at McFadden’s and Calico Jack’s, courtesy of Mike Coniaris.
https://nycbbb.com/pics/browns08a.shtml
https://nycbbb.com/pics/browns08b.shtml

Buffalo Musicians to Perform at Mercury Lounge
On the cultural front lines, nobody will lose by a missed field goal when Buffalo recording artist Roger Bryan plays the Mercury Lounge at 217 East Houston Street on Thursday, December 11th. Roger and his band are opening for the critically acclaimed indie band STAND from Dublin, Ireland. STAND adopted Buffalo as a home away from home and recorded their last LP in Buffalo at the Goo Goo Dolls studio on Delaware Avenue. The band sold out the much larger Bowery Ballroom last spring so this show to test drive new songs is sure to sell out.

I’ve been listening to their music while typing this. Should be an awesome night, and a good reason to get together with your Western New York friends.

HEY AY HEY AY!

LET’S GO BUFFALO!

Matt “Talkin’ Proud and and going to stay positive as long as I can” Kabel

A View from Calico Jack’s – 11/20/2008

I often hear stories about long-time prisoners – guys who’ve been in the joint for 20, 25 even 40 years – who are completely distressed when they’re eventually released. Yes, prison was bad, even horrible. De-humanizing. But, it provided them with structure. A set of rules to live by. A degree of security. For better or worse, it became their home. What am I supposed to do, these newly rehabilitated souls ask, to acclimate to an unfamiliar, uncaring world?

Well, for one thing, you can consider becoming a Bills fan – the weekly sports-viewing equivalent of dropping your soap in the shower.

More seriously, other Bills fans I know actually believe they’re already imprisoned, and vow to escape a la “Prison Break.” “This isn’t for me anymore,” they say. “I ain’t returning to Shawshank.”

Bull.

Like pizza and sex, being a Bills fan is always great, even when it’s bad.

If you need proof, just consider this past Monday night at McFadden’s. We still packed the bar for a nationally televised night game, and the NYCBBB’s reputation is such that an NFL Network show, Starting 11, travelled two hours to film our group for three quarters. At one point, one of the crew asked me, as he strained to be heard, “Is it always like this here?!” I replied, without an ounce of exaggeration, “No. This is quiet.”

I hadn’t been to McFadden’s for a couple of years, opting for the quieter-but-still-raucous comfort of Calico Jack’s. I’d almost forgotten how freaking fun McFadden’s is, and this was on a relatively quiet night. It was a blast.

If being a Bills fan is like being a prisoner, so be it. I’ve signed up for a life sentence.

E-mail feedback and comments to Phil Mann at
pjmann at nyc.rr.com

MNF Cleveland Browns at Buffalo Bills, NFL Films at McFadden’s!

Hello all 1,909 NYC Buffalo Bills fans!

Want to be on National TV?

Huge news, NFL Films will be coming to McFadden’s this Monday to film NYCBBB in action as the Bills take on the Browns on Monday Night Football! The footage will be used on NFL Network’s “Starting 11″ with reporter Michelle Beisner reporting from McFadden’s. Special thanks to former NYCBBB columnist Michelle Girardi for pushing the story at her work home of NFL Films.

The producers informed us that they will begin shooting by 6:30pm so we will need the bar packed with Bills fans before then. Not that having the bar packed 2 hours before kickoff is anything new. We know most of you will be coming from work, but please wear your Bills jerseys and shirts. Specials will run from 6pm UNTIL THE END OF THE GAME. McFadden’s will likely need to keep the crowds at a manageable size with the lighting and cameras, so please utilize Calico Jack’s if you get there too late to get into McFadden’s.

The Bills are coming off a rough three losses to all division rivals, but the Browns team is weak and the Bills will be seeking revenge for the Browns knocking the them out of the playoff race last season. Kickoff is at 8:30pm!

Speaking of rough losses, check out Phil Mann’s A View From Calico Jack’s”
https://nycbbb.com/columns/111008.shtml

Also, check out Mike Coniaris’ pictures from the bars last week:
https://nycbbb.com/pics/pats08a.shtml

Sabres @ Devils – Dec 13th
Kelly’s Pub, one of NYCBBB’s satellite homes for the Buffalo Bills and Sabres in the East Village has put together a package to go see the Sabres take on the Devils in NJ on December 13th. A round trip private bus with beer on board between Kelly’s and the Prudential Center with a ticket to the game costs $70 with up to 60 fans sitting in one section. These are going fast, to secure your spot email co-owner Courtney Hirsch at courthirsch@gmail.com with the subject “Sabres vs. Devils December” with your full name, email address, phone # and number of tickets (if 4 or more, must provide credit card.) It looks to be an awesome time and I’m sure plenty of partying before and after the game at Kelly’s!

LET’S GO BUFFALO!!!

B-U-F-F-A-L-O!
B-U-F-F-A-L-O!!
B-U-F-F-A-L-O!!!

Matt “Talkin’ Proud and hungry for a Bills’ MNF win!” Kabel

A View from Calico Jack’s – 11/10/2008

“The natural state of the football fan is bitter disappointment, no matter what the score.” – Nick Hornby (author)

This is natural?

Forget it. Forget the Pats game. We always lose to them, anyway.

Let’s move on to something else: Our next game is on Monday Night, at home against the Browns. Then, it’s the Chiefs on the road. And then the Niners at home. We could win those next three games, be 8-4, and have a very different outlook.

Let’s move on some more.

Matt Kabel, co-founder of this thing of ours, raised the following point in a post-Pats game e-mail:

“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, the Bills need to put up 20 points or they’ll lose, this has been true in 99% of games the last 3 years.”

Is that true? Hell, I’d rather do anything than focus on the last game, so I did some quick research.

Over the past three seasons, the Bills are 12-3 when they score more than 20 points. Conversely, they’re 7-17 when scoring fewer than 20. For what it’s worth, they’re 1-1 when scoring exactly 20.

So, is it as bad as 99 percent? No, but give Matt the benefit of the doubt because I don’t think he was being literal; his point, I believe, was that the team is good enough to achieve significant success if they can simply score as modestly as 20 points a game.

Adding to Matt’s credibility, here’s something ESPN’s John Clayton wrote just last year:

It sounds simple, but the stat to watch is points scored. If an offense can’t score at least 21 points a game, forget about winning a Super Bowl….

….Last season (2006), 16 teams averaged 20 or more points. Eleven of those teams made the playoffs. Ten of the 20-point teams were in the AFC….The Bears jumped from 16.3 to 26.7 points per game, finished 13-3 and reached the Super Bowl.

…The Buffalo Bills are another team that could take a big step forward on offense. QB J.P. Losman looked great running a version of the Rams’ offense last week in minicamp. With the talent on hand and improvement by Losman, the Bills could easily jump from 18.8 points per game into the 20s.

Today, of course, we trust in Trent rather than Losman. Trent has been shaky the past few games. But, he’s just about 10 minutes removed from being a rookie. This is a guy, with the talent he already has surrounding him, that can take the Bills to consistent 20-point status. Combined with our defense and special teams, this team is still in position to make something happen.

To me, coaching and player-health aside, it comes down largely to the O-Line: can these huge, huge guys consistently buy time for Trent, and push the other team forward for two yards on third and one? If so, we have a shot.

So, don’t forget, 20 or bust!

E-mail feedback and comments to Phil Mann at
pjmann at nyc.rr.com