Hello Bills Fans,

What do you think? Do you think the Bills have a chance this week? I do. Seriously I do.

You know the deal. Sunday 1pm Jags vs. Bills. The game is blacked out in the WNY market, so you’ll be seeing what a lot of Bills fans can’t.

Buddy Nix finally came out of hiding and acknowledged that the rebuilding process is going to be longer and harder than expected. While I’m relieved to know he finally realizes this, I think starting to put forth an effort during week 3 and 4 of this season is a little too late. He said they wanted to evaluate the talent themselves. Didn’t they have access to the same games we watched over the last few years? I guess it’s better late than never…

He also said that no one is safe on the roster. And that he realizes a culture of losing has infected the entire organization. Sounds good, right?

But just when I felt a tiny bit of relief, he went on to say this about re-signing Kelsay: ”We decided obviously that we’ve got four, five or six guys like that, they maybe are not great players, but good players that set the tone for what you want everybody else to be. Chris Kelsay is a good player. He’s exemplifies what we want players to do and how we want them to be. So that’s the reason he’s here.”

Buddy, Buddy, Buddy, Buddy, Buddy. If you think Chris Kelsay has been playing good, then this team is in much more serious trouble than we think it is. Also, I’m having trouble counting six guys to model the rest of the team after. You want to fix the losing culture not perpetuate it, remember?

Nix on timing of Lynch trade:
https://blogs.buffalobills.com/2010/10/07/timing-of-lynch-trade-moot/

Nix on Kelsay extension:
https://blogs.buffalobills.com/2010/10/07/nix-on-kelsay-extension/

Check out Michael Coniaris’ pictures from last week:
https://nycbbb.com/pics/jets10a.shtml

Hey, what can you say. I’m still going to watch week in and week out.

And Buddy, remember what I said. I’m watching you. You need to do the right things.

– Matt Soreco

Hello, all 1,908 Bills fans

We lost seven fans since our last e-mail? I hope Matt Soreco wasn’t one of them; he channeled a lot of people’s frustrations in his last e-mail.

It’s Jets week, and the official beginning, I guess, of the Ryan Fitzpatrick Era (try to contain your excitement, people.) More important, it’s a time for us to form a united front against the increasingly confident Jets fans who surround us in NYC. So, come on out to McFadden’s and Calico Jack’s for the game and for all of the usual specials.

As a bonus: this Sunday, ESPN will be at McFadden’s from noon to 2 pm, giving away hats, shirts and other items. McFadden’s will also conduct a raffle, with first prize being two tickets to the Bills/Jets game on January 2.

Meanwhile, here’s a link from Serious Eats, shared by Kevin Smith, on the best Beef on Weck to be found in Buffalo:
http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/10/best-beef-on-weck-sandwich-buffalo-ny.html

And here’s a New York Times article from yesterday on gubernatorial candidate (and Buffalo native) Carl P. Paladino’s favorite Buffalo eateries (the “P” must stand for “Pasta” or “Peppers” based on his diet):
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/30/nyregion/30buffalo.html?_r=1

Enjoy the game, everyone. Let’s see if we can end this oh-for-2010 streak!

Phil Mann

Hello all,

…or better yet channeling the anger. I cooled off a bit since I requested to write this e-mail, which at the time I envisioned writing a manifesto. That was about 4pm on Sunday.

After the game I scanned through twitter, read through all of the message boards, and listened to Buffalo radio (which isn’t unlike almost every day, but that’s another story). One thing stuck out and started to bother me. It was all of the misguided anger and frustration.

Sure, no one can be happy with Trent Edwards’ performances. No one can be happy with 3/4 of the team for that matter. But where is the REAL problem? Personally I think calling radio stations demanding the benching of Edwards is misguided. Criticizing the playcalling is useless.

Ralph Wilson, Buddy Nix, and Tom Modrak deserve all the blame. All the criticism. All the fire. They put together this team. The way I see it, they took the last two off-seasons off.

They decided to “build through the draft” and ignored fixing gaping holes with free agency. They decided to build through the draft, which makes every single draft pick critical (like Aaron Maybin). No other team today builds through the draft without the luxury of having a solid foundation to begin with.

That said, I do like Chan Gailey. He seems to get it and has expressed his displeasure. What bothered me most about Jauron is his refusal to admit anything was wrong. Hopefully Chan shares some of his frustration with his bosses.

Chan also saw what we’ve all been seeing the last few years, which is Edwards’ reluctance to get the ball downfield. As you already know, Edwards has been benched in favor of Ryan Fitzpatrick. Hopefully Fitz remembers that Lee Evans is on the team and starts hooking up with him.

Will the QB change spark the offense? Can Chan coach his way around the roster? Will we see the Spiller we saw in the pre-season? Tune in this Sunday at 1pm when the Bills take on the Patriots to find out. You know what they say, “on any given Sunday…”

Check out Mike Coniaris’ pictures from the game last week:
https://nycbbb.com/pics/packers10.shtml

Phil Mann kept it brief this week in his weekly column:
https://nycbbb.com/columns/092010.shtml

Hey, did you know we have a satellite in Yonkers!? Folks, this is right down the street from where I grew up. Man I would have killed for this location back in the day. It’s also a great bar if you are ever in the area.
https://nycbbb.com/features/satellites.shtml

Ralph, Buddy, Tom, I’m watching you!

Matt Soreco

Hello all 1,891 NYC Buffalo Bills Fans,

News broke yesterday while us NYCers were avoiding rain, wind, and a possible tornado that the NFL has effectively shut down NYCBBB’s close friend Kenny “Pinto” Johnson’s tailgate party at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Kenny’s tailgate, known for cherry liqueur shots out of bowling balls, cooking food on the hood of his red Pinto, and the ketchup opening ceremony has become a thorn in the NFL’s side who is trying to tone down drinking booze and unruly fans. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, see pics here:

https://nycbbb.com/pics/ralph05.shtml

On one hand, fans have become overly obnoxious at games, and that includes Bills fans in OP. The NFL must address that, even Kenny acknowledges that. But on the other, it annoys me that the NFL folks in the article refer to making games “family friendly.” Sorry NFL, when it will cost me $200+ to take my kid to a game you’re already taking the family out of it. If you’re going to charge an arm and a leg to go to a game, then folks should be allowed to consume alcohol out of of bowling ball if they want to, its your job to police folks as they enter the stadium. Kenny’s tailgate pushes limits, but its legal and in good spirit.

The good thing about Orchard Park, there’s private lots and the party will go on.

Go Kenny, and Go Bills!

KETCHUP KETCHUP KETCHUP!!!

Matt “talkin’ proud and could go for a bowling shot now” Kabel

Hello all 1,894 NYC-area Bills fans!

Are we ever going to top 2,000 members?

Let’s hope the Bills were just knocking the dust off their cleats last week and will rebound against Green Bay this weekend. The Packers, early favorites to challenge for the NFC title, will host our Bills this Sunday at 1pm. Come on down to McFadden’s/Calico’s and watch the game with hundreds of your fellow Bills fans, specials kick off at noon.

Despite the loss last week, it looks like you all had a great time! Check out the pictures courtesy of Mike Coniaris:
https://nycbbb.com/pics/fins10a.shtml

Also, Phil Mann returns with his weekly column and addresses the positive side of things:
https://nycbbb.com/columns/091310.shtml

The Buffalo News reached out this week and will be doing a feature on Bills Backers around the country in their October magazine. We sent some pictures over, so we’ll let you know when that comes out next week.

Scotch
Anybody interested or curious in scotch? I work at an event marketing agency and we’ll be doing FREE scotch tasting events next week in SoHo. Knowing Western NYers enjoy their booze I wanted to pass this along, you can register here and its filling up pretty quick:
http://www.celebratethemacallan.com

GO BILLS!!!

Matt “talkin’ proud and really hope Edwards and the O-line get their crap together” Kabel

Hello all 1,915 NYC-area Bills fans!

“27-17. Mark it down.”

That was Jim Kelly’s affirmative response from an interview with Buffalo Rumblings yesterday when asked if the Bills would beat the Dolphins this Sunday. Here we go baby, let football season begin!

The 2010 Buffalo Bills season kicks off this Sunday at 1pm as the Bills host the arch rival Miami Dolphins. CJ Spiller will be starting at running back, expect big things from the first round pick as he tore it up in the preseason.

As always, the experience will be electric on 42nd and 2nd as McFadden’s and Calico Jack’s will again be hosting us Buffalo fans with the Bills game on all TVs with sound all season long. The all-you-can-consume beers/wing specials will remain the same as last year, they run from noon through the conclusion of the game. The specials can be found here:
https://nycbbb.com/features/specials.shtml

The bars informed us that they have been begging and pleading with distributors the last few months to secure & stockpile a TON of giveaways that will be distributed throughout the season. I spoke to them yesterday and they’re as fired up as we are for the season…our group has indeed reached legendary status. Hell, Andy Levitre came down and celebrated his birthday at McFadden’s with a bunch of fellow Bills over the off-season. This summer I’ve talked to random people in Buffalo and around NYC that have heard about us. There’s no better place to watch Bills games outside The Ralph than with YOU on 42nd and 2nd in Manhattan!

The seats at Calico Jack’s were all reserved within minutes of the bar opening on Tuesday, the bars are going to be packed! You veterans will know this, but rookies should be aware…if you want a seat expect to show up at the bars by 9am, even that won’t guarantee you one.

As always, be sure to check out NYCBBB’s official news sources for the latest updates –www.billsdaily.com & www.buffalorumblings.com

Oh…and did you see the new AWESOME Sabres jerseys:

Over the summer I was out in California and met a guy with the last name Marino. Turns out to be a cousin of Dan Marino that grew up in Rochester. How weird is that?

SQUISH THE FISH
SQUISH THE FISH
SQUISH THE FISH!!!!
HEY AY HEY AYYYY!!!!!! LET’S GO BUFFALO!!!

Matt “Talkin’ Proud and FIRED UP for Bills football!” Kabel

Hello all 1,898 NYC Bills fans!

Just a quick note, the Bills take on the Colts tonight in Toronto, but the game will not be televised live. Fortunately, the game will be rebroadcasted 3 times over the next few days, and McFadden’s will televise it each time!

Tonight @ 11pm
Friday @ 4pm
Saturday @ 1pm

Identify yourself as a Bills fan and receive have priced drinks and apps during the game.

With Lynch and Fred Jackson out for the rest of preseason, we’re going to get to see plenty of CJ Spiller.

GARBAGE PLATES
Also, for you Rochesteronians, we were just alerted by member Joe Lippens that a tavern in the West Village named Daddy-Os is carrying Garbage Plates! Although, they just refer to them as The Zweigle Plate….for I guess obvious reasons….but do use the actual Rachacha brand hot dogs (that aren’t as good as Sahlens cough cough) Here’s a link, scroll down the page to see a pic/description:
http://newyork.seriouseats.com/2009/01/daddy-o-review-west-village-nyc-manhattan.html

Go Bills, Go Sabres!

Matt “talkin’ proud and could go for a garbage plate now” Kabel

Hello all 1,897 NYC Bills fans!

Long time no talk, we hope you’ve all enjoyed your ridiculously hot summer here in NYC. With the 2nd half of summer comes the return of Buffalo Bills football. Training camp kicked off last week and have been pleased to read that new coach Chan Gailey has dumped the “Club Jauron” soft practices and has replaced them with full pads and hitting to toughen the team up. We all know that this team was soft last year, so hopefully the team buys into this new toughness.

There hasn’t been much news from camp, the defense looks good and the offense looks terrible. What else is new? Rookie first round pick CJ Spiller finally signed and joined the team this weekend which is sure to provide a spark. Other than that, the biggest news was a fight between some offensive lineman and last year’s first round pick Aaron Maybin, who had a late hit on running back Fred Jackson. Eric Wood (a visitor to McFadden’s last year) reportedly shouted “Give back some of that money you ain’t (^%&!) earned!” to the severely underperformed Maybin. Needless to say, I’m becoming a huge fan of Eric Wood.

The Bills kick off their preseason this Friday against the Washington Redskins, coached by Mike Shanahan who turned down the Bills head coaching job (to be fair, who didn’t?) The game is being televised live at 7:30pm on NFL Network, so come on down to McFadden’s and catch the game with fellow Bills fans and enjoy half priced drinks during the game!

We’ll send out details on future pre-season games in an upcoming email, it looks like 2 of the remaining 3 games will be televised during normal hours. As always, you can check out the latest news at www.billsdaily.com and www.buffalorumblings.com.

Until then, stay cool and enjoy the rest of your summers!!

Buffalo Based Band
As always, we love to share Buffalo related things happening in NYC for you to take advantage of, which includes up and coming bands. A local Buffalo band, Breaker Box, will be releasing a new album in the fall that will be getting the big MTV/MTV2/Fuse push as well as a national tour, and are currently recording here in NYC. They’ve informed me that they’ll be doing some local NYC shows this fall, and we’ll let you know when confirmed. You can check out this up and coming band on Facebook athttp://www.facebook.com/breakerbox.

A friend brought me back 10 lbs of Sahlens and 3 jugs of Chiavettas on a recent trip, which is getting me through the summer heat!

Go Bills, Go Sabres!

Matt “talkin’ proud and ready for the fall weather” Kabel

McFadden’s let us know that Andy Levitre, Trent Edwards, Brian Brohm, and others will be at McFadden’s this Friday and Saturday to celebrate Andy’s birthday.

Stop by and see them!

Details are also on our Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/New-York-City-Buffalo-Bills-Backers/129822139104

McFadden’s is becoming a real destination for current and former Bills visiting NYC. We’ve had Marv Levy in for the book signing. Thurman Thomas stopped by out of the blue last September. Eric Wood visited last year. Now this. Pretty nice, right? We’re truly “little Buffalo in the Big Apple.”

I’ll be away this weekend, so I can’t make it in. Someone please take some pictures and we’ll get them on our site and Facebook.

– Matt Soreco

Hello all,

First, tough loss for the Sabres. Hope they can come back from the 3-1 deficit.

Draft Day Tickets! The Bills contacted us and are overnighting us 8 tickets to the draft for Friday and Saturday. We figured we’d give them out to anyone who REALLY wants them. So, we’re giving them to the first 4 people who post on our Facebook page. Winners will get 2 tickets. Just say “gimme the draft tickets” or something like that.

Here’s our Facebook page:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/New-York-City-Buffalo-Bills-Backers/129822139104

The Bills’ 2010 schedule is out. All Sunday 1pm games!!!
https://nycbbb.com/features/buffalo-bills-schedule.shtml

Reminder about our draft party (or parties), which start(s) tomorrow. Details here:
https://nycbbb.com/emails/2010/041610.shtml

Sam Hoyt Fundraiser:
Sam Hoyt sent us this letter:
My name is Sam Hoyt and I’m a New York State Assembly Member (Dem) that proudly represents the City of Buffalo. I am coming down to New York City on May 12th to receive an award from the New York Preservation League for my Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credit work (we all know that Buffalo is made up of beautiful historic buildings and in bringing back Buffalo we need to preserve and rehab these buildings). I’ll also be there for a fundraiser that Mayor Michael Bloomberg is hosting for me on Wednesday, May 12th from 4-6pm at the Harvard Club (44th b/w 5th and 6th aves).

I am writing to ask you to extend an invitation to the New York City Buffalo Bills Backers to come to my fundraiser at the Harvard Club. I am attaching the invitation for that event onto this email. The ticket price for this event is $1000, but I understand that not everyone can give so generously to elected officials. I’d ask that the buffalo ex-pats give what they can, with a minimum donation of $100. It is no McFadden’s, but when the Sabres make it to the quarterfinals, we will be sure to play the game and have plenty of Labatt on tap and wings at the ready.

Download the invitation here:
https://nycbbb.com/features/hoyt.shtml

Sabres
To keep up with the Sabres and NYC events, follow the Buffalo Sabres Fans of NYC group on Facebook and Blog:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&gid=371803596835
http://nycbss.blogspot.com/

I just hope Nix can start his tenure right with this draft!

– Matt Soreco