Hello again Buffalo fans!
As most of you who followed NYCBBB throughout last season know, I am the columnist for our group and write about the Little Buffalo game day experience weekly during the season. If you have never gotten a chance to look at my column, “Michelle’s Corner,” you can check out what I had to say about the 2004 season on our Website:
https://nycbbb.com/columns/
I hope that everyone was able to spend the last week effectively recovering from the annual NYCBBB draft party at McFadden’s. Since I’ve only been in NYC a year, it was my first foray into the draft party madness, but as usual, none of you Bills fans disappointed.
Despite not having our first pick until #55, the bar was full all afternoon and most of the evening of devoted football fans guzzling Blue and Molson while watching the draft and baseball games. It was a great opportunity for all of us to catch up with old friends, meet and get to know some Bills fans we never got the chance to really chat with during the frenzy of the regular season, and even show our hospitality to other fans of the game. There were several Jets jerseys present and even a cowboy fan or two who enjoyed hanging out with our group and shared how impressed they were with our amazingly unique organization.
Last Saturday also marked the official unveiling of the NYCBBB jersey. The staff decided to invest in one that will hang in McFadden’s and be a constant fixture in NYCBBB’s home bar. The jersey is supplemented with an autographed photo of Marv Levy and a copy his book from January’s book signing event. Now there won’t be any question that McFadden’s is the capital of Little Buffalo and NYC’s official “Bills Bar.”
You can see a photo of the unveiling and all of the other hijinks that ensued at the party, including the crowd reaction to the Bills first pick, in the pictures section of our Website:
https://nycbbb.com/pics/draft05.shtml
For everyone who was still conscious by the time the Bills finally drafted, you know that Donahoe used our first two picks to take the University of Miami’s speedy Roscoe Parrish (WR) and Kevin Everett (TE). Reports on Parrish say he’s made a big impression on the entire team in mini camp, and it looks like his speed and good hands will make him a valuable inside receiver next season. While Roscoe is planning to model himself after Eric Moulds, it seems Everett has already emulated fellow TEs Mark Campbell and Tim Euhus. He’s injured his knee already. Unfortunately, we just heard from the Bills a few minutes ago that Everett has torn his left ACL and will undergo surgery. There has been no timetable set up for his return as of yet, making this a fairly major setback. It may be a while before we can see what this rookie can do, which means we are still very shallow in the TE position.
I recommend checking out www.BillsDaily.com if you’re looking for up-to-the-minute Bills news. Even in this never-ending off season, I read it as part of my daily ritual.
As always, we want to know YOUR thoughts on what the Bills are up to, so stop by our message board to rant about the draft or any other Bills/Buffalo-related topic.
2005 Season Tailgating
I know it seems like the off season has dragged on and on (and can you believe Travis Henry STILL hasn’t been traded?), but believe it or not, the time has already come to make plans for next season! If you are looking to go to an away game next season, but aren’t sure about the tailgating/hotel/ticket situation, please contact Kevin, our Tailgating Master and Commander at Kevin at nycbbb.com.
Anyone who still needs tickets for JP’s New Orleans homecoming next October should let Kevin know BEFORE this FRIDAY, May 6 so that he can help set you and your friends up with some $30 upper deck seats.
Kevin will also be sending out his own e-mail soon with a detailed and comprehensive tailgating guide for all of next season, so be sure to stay tuned for that!
Hunter’s Hope
The good people at Hunter’s Hope have informed us that the 2004, sling-shot yellow Chevy SSR raffle has not gone as well as they’ve hoped. They are still about 3,000 ticket sales short of reaching their goal of 5,000—and the raffle ends on May 24!! The tickets are only $20, which is only a small price to pay considering that the money will be used establish the Hunter James Kelly Research Institute in downtown Buffalo. As we’ve told you previously, the Institute, which will be located at the NYS Center for Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences at the University of Buffalo, is scheduled to open in January 2006. Its research will focus on repairing myelin (brain and nerve tissue), a finding that would help not only children with Krabbe Leukodystrophy, the disease Jim Kelly’s son, Hunter, suffers from, but will also help patients with Multiple Sclerosis, stroke, and other diseases in which there is white matter destruction of the brain and nervous system.
Thanks in advance from all of the NYCBBB staff for helping this worthy cause!
I hope you all are having a nice (and quick) off-season. I know I am already psyched up about starting my next batch of columns. You can expect to hear from me again at some point over the summer during training camp or pre-season because I don’t think I can wait any longer to write about our Bills! Until then, just remember this: the road to Detroit begins in just four short months with the start of the JP era. I hope you will all be with us to cheer on our team next season!
GO BILLS!!!!
