Archives for January 21, 2009

‘For all their failings, the Bills have wisely avoided making huge splashes in free agency or trades. While that might not be by choice, the fact remains that this team didn’t have to endure Favre’s diva-style personality or dumbly heaved interceptions. Aside from the upheaval brought upon franchises by some variously ridiculous personalities, the true way to build a team is by letting one’s own draft picks grow and make mistakes.’

‘”It was difficult at first, but through my faith I looked at it as another obstacle that I had to go through,” said Hardy. “At first I was asking questions like, ‘Why this?’ I never put myself in that type of position because I’ve never had that type of injury before. The trainers initially didn’t want to tell me what happened, but later the doctors told me it was my ACL. But by then I had enough time to sit and pray and think about what I would have to go through. So by the time the doctor came back and talked to me, I was fine.”‘

‘"I just thought it was a great opportunity to come down to be with an offense like they’ve got here," said Kollar at his introductory press conference in Houston. "You always want to get to the playoffs and hopefully end up making it to the Super Bowl and I thought this would be a great opportunity."’

‘At this point no official reason has been given for his inability to participate although Peters did miss the last two games of the 2008 regular season with a knee injury.’

‘The Bills had raised ticket prices after the 2007 season by an average of 10 percent. But that hike still did not pull the Bills up from the bottom of the league in average cost.’

‘The most expensive season ticket, a lower level sideline, sells for $630. Those seats cost $77 on an individual game basis.’

‘It took the Texans a week to get Kollar out of his contract with Buffalo. Owner Ralph Wilson initially protested but relented after talking to coach Dick Jauron and Kollar about it. “Coach Jauron had said when we first got there that he wouldn’t hold anybody back if it was a move that you really wanted to make,” Kollar said. “It was a heck of an opportunity there, but I feel we have a great opportunity here, also. They’ve got a good offense here.”‘

‘”I’m a little surprised it happened,” Schobel said about Buffalo letting Kollar out of his contract to come to Houston. “I enjoyed playing for him. I really liked him off the field, too. Now that he’s in Houston and I’m in Columbus, we can get together and play golf.”‘

‘”It’s just the business of the game,” Jackson said. “I’ve got to negotiate a contract coming up, so we’ll see what happens with that. I’m pretty sure I’ll be back in Buffalo. We’ve talked to them already. They want to do some things to kind of keep me there, and I want to be there.”‘

‘The former Thomas Jefferson Yellow Jacket and Buffalo Bills tight end came home to Port Arthur Tuesday afternoon and dropped off a red, white and blue Bills’ jersey to the downtown museum.’

‘The average per-game price for a Bills season ticket will remain $51.24. The Bills said that figure is more than $20 lower than the NFL average for season tickets. The Bills had the lowest average ticket price in the NFL for the games in Buffalo in 2008, and the team said it expects to remain the lowest in the league for the coming season.’