A View from Calico Jack’s
By Phil Mann
Overheard conversation in the McFadden's Men's Room this past weekend, by
NYCBBB stalwart Ron:
"Dude, I am in the greatest bar in the world! I am in New York
City.....everyone here is rooting for Buffalo!!......Dude, they're all
cheering like The Bills won The Super Bowl!!!"
Damn straight. Tell all your friends about McFadden's and CJs. And watch
out for those Men's Room conversations...you never know who's listening.
Beating the Dolphins remains one of a Bills' fans sweetest pleasures.
Helping them go 0-13 (and counting?) is even sweeter. I only wish Jimmy
Johnson, Brian Cox or the "Marks Brothers" were still around to make it
sweeter still.
Obligatory Matt Soreco reference (since the Bills seem to win when I
mention him): The NYCBBB co-founder wandered over to our table last week
to declare just how great it was to see the Bills cake walk to a victory
for a change. Moments later, the Fish scored an effortless touchdown on
two plays. Matt has learned to stay true to his usually negative
perspective.
Rather than discuss the Fish game, let's look ahead a bit.
How fortunate are the Bills that they play Cleveland this week? I'm not
convinced the Bills are a viable playoff team, but the sheer fact it's
even a reasonable discussion entering week 15 is nothing short of
remarkable. Cleveland stands in the Bills' way: if we can win this week,
then who knows? It'll be a tall order for the Bills to win this game. The
Browns are playing well, and playing at home.
Remember when the Bills held "Cleveland Days" at the stadium, hoping to
lure Browns fans who'd been stung by Art Modell's move to Baltimore? I
wonder if any of those old Browns fans actually became Bills fans? If so,
I wonder if they're conflicted this week?
Let's move on to a few items you may have missed – one unpleasant,
the other decidedly not.
Unpleasant first, to get it out of the way: Lee Evans was named to Sports
Illustrated columnist Don Banks' All-Disappointment Team" for 2007. Banks
believes that despite the QB merry-go-round, a stronger receiver wouldn't
have suffered. Personally, while I agree he's statistically disappointing,
I won't be surprised if this season proves to be an aberration. A
different game plan (coming soon – bye bye, Steve Fairchild), a
steady QB situation (I hope) and maybe another experienced receiver (I
also hope) could make a world of difference. The dude's still fast, and I
don't expect that to change anytime soon. I know there's more to receiving
than speed, but it's a huge asset.
Now, the more pleasant item:
SI also reported on teams' 2008 salary cap situation, including how many
players are already under contract on each team.
The Bills, believe it or not, have the fourth largest available cap space
in the league entering 2008, and already have 49 players signed (more than
anyone except for Atlanta). We all know it's hard to attract free agents
to Buffalo (the fools), but this should provide us with a leg up. Combine
that with, perhaps, a steady starting QB and the return of Paul Posluszny
and Ko Simpson next year, and maybe things are looking up.
Amazingly, the most important person on this team might be Marv Levy,
who'll gauge the available talent.
E-mail feedback and comments to Phil Mann at
pjmann at nyc.rr.com
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