Archives for August 16, 2008

‘”I loved it,” quarterback Trent Edwards said after the Bills’ 24-21 victory. “I thought the pep rally [Wednesday night] was great to get the week started for us. There was a ton of support, a ton of media coverage for this game. The hospitality here was very, very well done and I look forward to coming back up here in December.”‘

‘"Coming out into the stadium, I saw a lot of Pittsburgh jerseys, fans calling Troy Polamalu’s name. That’s OK. It’s good for football," Whitner said. "But when we come back here in December, we want it to be lopsided for us, 99.9 percent Bills fans. I believe this can be our home for one game, and it’s something we have to do. We have to regionalize the Bills and good things can come of that, keeping the Bills in Buffalo for fans that deserve their team in Buffalo."’

‘That’s why Turk Schonert’s decision to attack the defense – even in an exhibition game – meant so much to the psyche of an offense that’s been trying to prove it’s legit for years.’

‘”One thing I would like to comment on are the claims that there were not many fans from Buffalo,” he said. “Our intention was not to lure fans from Buffalo. This was about the people of Toronto being able to see an NFL game here.”‘

‘An NFL team in Toronto would be very different. Exorbitant prices made tickets for Thursday’s game a difficult sell. But given the cost of buying an NFL team, such prices – perhaps even higher ones – would be inevitable if four-down football found a permanent home in the city. For regular season games, the tickets would likely find a market. But it would be a far less diverse and representative crowd than the one that takes in Toronto Argonauts games.’

‘Forget the Buffalo 24, Pittsburgh 21 final score. The one that really counted was Bills 14, Steelers 0.’

‘It was hard not to get the message about this five-year, eight-game arrangement. Everywhere you saw the logo with the words "Bills Toronto Series" with a maple leaf, the CN Tower and the Rogers Center in the background.’