Archives for June 2011

‘The team is set to unveil the new look Friday night at a big party at Ralph Wilson Stadium, complete with pyrotechnics, live music and a showing of the movie "The Blind Side."’

‘What I will say is that the one point of optimism is that you have both principles speaking. They are negotiating. They are talking. Anytime you are in that type of environment it has got to be viewed as a positive. That is what I have taken out of it. You had the litigation phase and any time you have that you really want to get back to the negotiating table and I think that is what we have with both principles there and I think we need to view that as a positive.’

‘Coleman will share his life story with campers and encourage them to stay out of trouble. He’ll also meet behind closed doors with teens locked up at Stricklin for more serious crimes — exactly the young men who need to see Coleman and hear his message.’

‘Complimentary tickets for the 6:30 p.m. Uniform Launch event are available in person at select Verizon Wireless locations, all Erie County M&T Bank branches, and at the Ralph Wilson Stadium ticket office.’

‘It’s unclear whether Gilchrist had enough service to qualify. The original rules required five seasons in Buffalo. The media guide says three years. Rewrite the rules if necessary. Cookie defies conventional measurement. He belongs.’

‘The Buffalo Bills will officially introduce their new uniforms for the 2011 National Football League season at a special Uniform Launch event presented by Reebok at Ralph Wilson Stadium on Friday, June 24, 2011. The new uniforms will incorporate the Bills storied history while keeping the team’s signature charging buffalo logo. The Bills last made a change to their primary uniform prior to the 2002 season. Event will be held rain or shine.’

‘”It’s not that I feel sorry for them or anything like that,” McKelvin said of the Renaissance students. “I look up to them; I really do. They are going through a hard time right now and the motivation that it takes to come in and recover from that and then go on to be successful in life. I feel like if I came out here and reached out to them then I could just show them that it’s not over, they can still be somebody.”‘

‘Sorry about the gloom, but the Bills are vulnerable. The best thing for Buffalo fans would be if one of those five other cities moved to L.A. soon, while Wilson was still alive. Even then, the specter of a second L.A. team will be very real, especially if the first team does well. It’s hard to believe the NFL can’t thrive in a market that large.’

‘The Pro Bowl is played in late January or early February. Why should anyone be paid a bribe to escape a portion of the winter in one of the most pleasant locations on this earth? Abercrombie pointed out that now that gay marriage has been legalized by the Hawaiian legislature, the number of football fans lost as visitors would be equaled if not surpassed by same-sex couples arriving to be married as well as their families and friends happily showing up to fete them.’

‘If I get to 10 years in the league, I’ll be happy with that. The most important thing is winning. In my first four years, we haven’t had a winning team in Buffalo yet. That’s been tough, especially for someone like me who came from a successful program in high school where we won a state championship and then at college where we won a Big Ten championship. So winning is what it’s all about.’

‘But if the Bills don’t re-sign Posluszny or if he chooses to look elsewhere, he figures to have some options. Going to Cleveland could be one of them. "Yeah, I’ve heard that,” Posluszny said. “The connection there is Dick Jauron, my former head coach in Buffalo, who’s now the Browns’ defensive coordinator. I think he’s planning on running the 4-3 (base defense) I learned my first three years in Buffalo. Cleveland may be a possibility, but right now, it’s all speculation because we’re not allowed to communicate with anybody and teams aren’t allowed to communicate with us. It will be interesting to see how it unfolds and what teams are interested in me playing for them.”‘

‘”For guys like us that played in the league and have been blessed with the abilities that god gave us to be able to give back and teach the younger generations some of the stuff we had learned over the years when we were going to camps and then learned over the years playing in the league, it is a good thing,” Mohr said. “We always look forward to being able to get involved with stuff and give back.”‘

‘Thomas said he’s seen and heard some positive signs in recent days, but he isn’t sure if a full, 16-game schedule will be feasible if an agreement isn’t reached soon. "It’s something that all professional sports go through. We all have our problems. We have to address them. But I do think there’s going to be an NFL season this year. I’m not quite sure if they’re going to play 16 games. I heard somebody talking about playing eight games. I’m like, if they’re going to play just eight games, you might as well forget it … but I think it will get done,” Thomas said.’

‘”My work is to spread the word and make sure that people understand that all of the guys that played before us need assistance,” said Kelly, who guided the Buffalo Bills to four consecutive AFC championships and was inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2002. “I’ve been very fortunate because I played in an era when the money was pretty good. But there are guys that played in the ’60s and ’70s that can not afford insurance.”‘

‘I liked Chan Gailey right off the bat. The first thing he said when he got there was, ‘It’s a tough game. It’s a physical game. We need physical people. We are going to hit every day and if you don’t like it, you’re going to be out of here."’