Archives for July 2008

‘From the Bills’ perspective, they NEED to make inroads into Toronto’s lucrative market to hopefully solidify their future in Buffalo even AR (after Ralph). Even NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell jumped all over that concept recently, assuring Bills’ fans the regionalization expansion northward is great for the Bills’ future in Buffalo, and would by NO means auger the Bills eventual move up the QEW.’

‘"Ko is a very good football player," said Bills’ defensive coordinator Perry Fewell, who played high school football at South Point in Belmont, N.C. "It was sad to see him get injured in our first game, but he has worked hard and has come along better than we expected. This spring, he came back a better player and is still a starter. I’m old school and believe if a starter is injured, it’s still his job when he comes back. He’s proved to us he wants to win and that he belongs. We watched films of Ko in college and saw him as a ferocious tackler, would run through offensive players. We need to get him back to that style."’

‘"Whenever you come back from an injury you’re going to be timid," said fellow safety Donte Whitner. "As soon as we took the field and you can ask Ko what I said to him. I said, ‘Ko trust your ankle. It’s healed and you just have to trust it.’"’

‘There are signs the CFL purists may simply have been overreacting and the victim of more Toronto hype. At least NFL commissioner Roger Goddell came out on the weekend and said the Bills aren’t going permanently anywhere. Cohon’s making the rounds during the regular-season openers and essentially saying the same thing. But what would the reaction be locally if one morning Paul Allen awoke from dreaming in technicolour and decided to do NFL fans here a favour by moving a few Seattle Seahawks games to B.C. Place? Of course, it won’t happen. Then again, nobody thought the Bills talk would get this far, either.’

‘The best change could be a physical makeover, namely increasing his throwing arm strength by, well, increasing his arm strength. Edwards has reportedly spent some of his offseason lifting weights and trying to bulk up in a non-beer and chips sort of way. One of the obvious benefits would be a more powerful passing limb for a player who, at 24, could literally still be growing.’

‘"When we go into the classroom on the board I feel good," said Bell. "Coach (Kugler) questioned us and quizzed us every day. He sits in front of the class and asks questions and I feel good that some of the answers are in my head. I feel good about them and I was learning more and more every day."’

‘Selected 219th overall out of Louisiana’s Northwestern State in the draft in April, Bell started 22 consecutive games over his final two college seasons. He is considered a work-in-progress with the Bills after he got a late start in football.’

‘"It’s a lot of the dirty work. It’s a tough spot for anybody," said Williams of the nose. "If you’re running 100 plays you’re getting double teamed at least 90 of those plays. It’s tough in there so it’ll be refreshing to get out, stretch your legs a little and get a little bit more space and be able to move a little bit. It is good, it’s exciting and I’m just excited about the year."’

‘It’s easy to fall into the conspiracy-laden belief that the Canada games are simply a test run for a permanent shift, but his words should assuage some of the jittery paranoia, even if they’re only words. Goodell’s next step is to find a way to get Toronto its own team sourced from a third party; then, the competition and loathing between them and the Bills can begin.’