I’m going to be making up a few more. But I’d like to start here:
Extra Point: Bills rebound for win in opener
You might say that Bills fans still have no clue what their team is capable of. Seven days after a no-show, blowout loss to the Jets, the Bills rolled up a number of big plays and trounced Kansas City 35-17. Which team will show up for the rest of the season remains to be seen.
Buffalo hitched their wagon to C.J. Spiller and let him carry the load and he did a fine job. Spiller scored two of Buffalo’s first half touchdowns and was a major player on the drive that led to the third. In all, Spiller accounted for 170 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns. On the other side of the ball, the Bills defense looked more like the unit most were expecting to see this season.
Yesterday’s win was very much a mirror image from week one for the Bills. The pass rush was effective, they were successful with blitz packages, the secondary was stout and their quarterback took care of the football. However, the constants through two weeks might be more noteworthy; the offensive line continues to play impressive football and Spiller is proving to be capable of carrying the offense.
In fact, this victory could quite possibly turn into one of the most well-rounded games the Bills play all season. Defensively, they didn’t give up anything big until very late in the game and they nearly had wire-to-wire control offensively.
Even the special teams looked solid as John Potter continued to bomb kicks through the end zone and even had a solid directional kick to the corner of the goal line on another occasion. I’m still a little iffy on the punt coverage after a few more kicks that the coverage team seemed to struggle with. What is difficult to ascertain is if this is a kicker issue (Moorman kicking punts that are difficult to cover) or a coverage issue (cover teams that aren’t filling lanes). Reagrdless, they prevented big plays on their end and produced one of their own.
Sabres lock up Ennis, assign players to Amerks as lockout nears
As official word on a lockout gets ever closer, the Buffalo Sabres made a few final roster decisions before the inevitable becomes official.
The biggest news is Tyler Ennis’ new two-year contract. Ennis will make just over $2 million this season and just over $3 million next year on the deal. This will lead to another summer of negotiations for the Sabres and Ennis in 2014, but it comes off a moderate contract that should work well for both sides.
The only true loss here is that the deal isn’t any longer. However, with some of the jury on Ennis still out, it doesn’t shackle the Sabres to the player for a ridiculous term. Otherwise there isn’t much else to say about the Ennis contract. It was an agreeable deal between both sides that will let each party reconvene under the new CBA and what will hopefully be two productive seasons from the center.
In the end, Ennis probably comes out as the winner. He receives a raise and will be back at the bargaining table in two summers for what should be a sizeable new contract. On the bright side, the Sabres didn’t need to sacrifice dollars to buy up UFA years with this deal. So it is a win-win.
The Sabres took Friday to assign 20 players to Rochester along with returning three additional players to their junior clubs. Well, Joel Armia is playing professional hockey with Assat. In addition, the Sabres made a somewhat surprise signing by inking Andrey Makarov to an entry-level contract.
The decision to loan players to Rochester was an expected move for teams across the NHL. A number of the players were going to be playing in Rochester next season, but there are a few names which should draw the interest of Sabres fans for the 2012-13 AHL season. Continue reading
The Instigator Podcast 2.1 – Collective Bracing
Back for a new season, Eric and I talk a bit about how awesome home World Cup qualifying matches are (Eric just returned from Columbus), how terrible things are starting to look regarding the impending lockout and play a bit of plus/minus.
As always, catch me at @2ITB_Buffalo and Eric at @3rdManIn
Both PA and owners to blame as lockout looms
It seems like such a short time ago that fans were clamoring for details on the labor strife in the NHL. Seven short years it has been since the last lockout and the NHL seems set on yet another.
All it took was a lost season and fans for the owners and players to come to an agreement in 2004-05. Granted, the players were poorly represented and the league as a whole was in desperate need of an overhaul to the CBA. Yet the rapid growth the NHL has enjoyed since the last lockout has done little more to muddy the waters between the NHLPA and owners.
Point fingers if you must at the greedy millionaires and billionaires. Point fingers at Gary Bettman for trotting towards his third work stoppage. Point fingers at whoever you need to blame in this situation. Just understand that this is a two-way street but the owners are driving a much wider vehicle.
By no means am I a CBA expert, so I won’t try and talk number percentages or about any of the other specific details that will ultimately be hammered out over the next few days, weeks and months.
What is so perplexing in this entire scenario is the glaring ignorance portrayed by both sides. The league and owners, as a group, are far and away the greater perpetrators here but the NHLPA should not be fully absolved of blame. Fact is that both sides took their sweet time to talk despite staring at a situation that pointed towards a drawn out negotiating process. Continue reading
Are actual authentic jerseys too much to ask for?
The executives with Reebok and Nike certainly know what they’re doing. The same can be said for those who control apparel pricing in the NFL and NHL.
Go into any team store, Dicks or anywhere else that team apparel is sold and you will likely need to extend your student loans just to purchase a jersey. That is if you’re a jersey kind of guy. Personally, I’ve never gotten down with wearing jerseys to a game. I feel awkward when I’m in it and there is also the impending threat of a trade or free agency sending your player out of town. Blank jerseys are obviously safer, but not nearly as meaningful as one that looks like the duds worn on the field or rink.
Perhaps the biggest drawback for buying an NFL jersey is that fact that your cheapest option is little more than a $100 mesh t-shirt with screen printed numbers. The secondary product is closer in form to what is seen on the field and the authentic jerseys have all the bells and whistles as the on-field product (to a certain extent). Continue reading
Extra Point: Bills drop opener in grand fashion
Sunday’s outcome for the Bills was ugly. To say the least. An invisible pass rush, ineffective secondary and poor quarterbacking set the Bills back early in a 48-28 defeat at the hands of the Jets.
An offseason of hope and promise became two quarters of anger and frustration. Ryan Fitzpatrick, at times, seemed more in-sync with the Jets defensive backs than his receivers in the first half and the Buffalo defense looked lost when trying to defend the pass. Even the special teams units were ineffective, allowing a punt return touchdown to widen the New York lead.
Fitzpatrick’s performance was easily the most visible and alarming result from the game, he was inaccurate and could even be described as overmatched throughout most of the game. Aside from garbage time, when the Jets starters were watching from the bench, did he manage to sync up with his wideouts.
Defensively, the pass rush stayed in Buffalo, the linebackers failed to support in coverage in any way, shape or form and the secondary looked lost for the entire game.
It wasn’t all bad, just mostly bad. Bryan Scott injected a little promise with an interception on the first series and it seemed like the defense might have started to build some momentum. Of course, Fitzpatrick was picked shortly after the Scott INT and things went downhill quickly. Buffalo’s run defense was quite stout and didn’t allow any gashing runs until the result was well within reason and near the two-minute warning in the fourth quarter.
C.J. Spiller continued to build on his second-half surge from 2011 and looks to have rounded into a sterling NFL running back. His game breaking ability will soften the blow that is the loss of Fred Jackson. As for the loss of David Nelson, the Bills could be up the creek on that one. For a team that was injury riddled late last year, two knee injuries wasn’t the way to roll into 2012.
The loss was quite bad and has brought about a lot of criticism for the entire organization. Most fans are already to throw in the towel after the first 60 minutes and most of them are already calling for the head of anyone who works or plays football at One Bills Drive. You really can’t blame some of these fans. It has been 12 years without a playoff berth, the team finally invested in talent and then laid an absolute egg in their first game. Positions of question were exploited and fans are left thinking that these are indeed the “same old Bills” yet again.
Truthfully, there needs to be a bit more patience exercised by everyone. The Bills probably aren’t as bad as they showed on Sunday. They also aren’t as good as they will show in their most impressive victory. If they can rise to the median here, win the games they’re expected to win and build some positive momentum, they will still flirt with the playoffs. There is plenty of work to be done and there are some obvious issues at hand that need to be addressed immediately. But put your air raid helmets away. The sky isn’t falling just yet.
#JointheStampede for UB football
I recently decided that the level of interest and respect that UB football gets in Buffalo needs to change. While there is little potential to have a big-time college program here in Buffalo, having UB become a well-respected organization would be a great addition for all of Western New York.
Truthfully, Bulls football should fall in right behind the Sabres and Bills as Buffalo’s third most popular sports team. The Bandits certainly have more of a fanbase and deserve the level of fandom they get. So, maybe UB football should be fourth in terms of public opinion, but no worse.
Often at work, I sit alone with my principles (gold star if you get that movie reference) and I got to thinking that maybe some more love from social media could lay the groundwork to grow UB’s fanbase.
I was thinking something similar to the #BillsMafia, but different in many ways. Creating a grassroots effort to expose more potential fans to the team and simply raise awareness is pretty much what I’m talking about. This doesn’t need to be as incendiary as the Bills Mafia, nor does it need to have the same mission, so to speak.
While I’m totally open to any suggestions people can come up with, I’m thinking the #BuffaloStampede to start, unless someone has a much cooler idea. Using a hashtag like #BuffaloStampede and #JointheStampede would be a great way to start. Hopefully this isn’t a totally stupid idea and it gains a little steam.
Anyone who thinks this is interesting, the dumbest idea ever or who simply has some thoughts on this idea should let me know. Tweet me, email me or leave a comment.
UPDATE: It appears as if the UB SB Nation blog, Bull Run tags with #ThunderThrough, so perhaps that should be the hashtag moving forward.
Building on the Sabres’ Canadian exploration
The Sabres have officially begun their Canadian Bacon mission of an invasion of Ontario. The goal isn’t to litter, but to establish a greater footprint for the organization in the golden horseshoe.
Ted Black, Danny Gare, Jay McKee and Ville Leino all took a trip through Ft. Erie and St. Catharines that included visits to schools, hockey clinics and, naturally, Tim Hortons. Good on the Sabres for seeing the comedy in having Leino serve up donuts much like he did last season (see what I did there). Social Media Sam deserves some credit for her Ricky Bobby “I’d love to sign your baby” Instagram caption as well.
All kidding aside, the Sabres have taken a wise approach here. Obviously there are a ton of fans in Ontario that are ticket holders. While most of them either sell their tickets to fans of other teams or simply root for the Leafs, the Sabres have a significant portion of their patrons in Ontario. The same goes for the Bills, the Galleria and Buffalo Niagara Airport and most of Western New York.
Pulling from Ontario would occur even if the Sabres (and Bills) didn’t bother marketing themselves. It is just how sports fans will operate. For fans in Fort Erie and St. Catharines who don’t have a pro team in their city, having the Bills and Sabres a hop and a skip down the Q is beyond convenient. While Toronto is the obvious first choice for many of these fans, Buffalo provides a natural fit for sports fans looking to affiliate with an NHL or NFL franchise.
From a business standpoint, cultivating this fanbase and maybe even building upon it is an easy approach for the Sabres. What has changed is the proactive approach the team has begun to show. This type of physical outreach shows that the Sabres don’t just respect the contingent of fans they have from Ontario, they want to grow that fanbase.
This relationship could potentially have a positive effect on the rest of the Western New York sports scene as well. Continue reading
Amerks seeing red for 2012-13
While Jhonas Enroth’s mask tweet was rather unexpected, the Amerks third jersey unveiling was scheduled ahead of time. In addition to their white home and royal road jerseys, the Amerks will wear a screaming red alternate uniform this season.
They did it right, however. The uniform remained unchanged aside from the base color. The triple stripes on the sleeves and waist stay blue and white and the Amerks crest also sticks around. Aside from incorporating an alternate color, the Amerks kept their jersey largely unchanged.
Perhaps it is that red, white and blue are a pleasing scheme that can be used in any combination. The Sabres use of gold doesn’t necessarily allow for too many subdued uses. While a red uniform isn’t conservative (hello, butter knives), it complements the color scheme the Amerks use quite well. Gold, on the other hand, contrasts the Sabres (or Preds) use of navy in a much louder fashion. Yet, I’m left wondering if the Sabres third jerseys (due for 2013-14) will use gold as a primary color. Continue reading
Two in the Box 