Archives for September 2011

‘LAUX store manager Mike Miller said, “Jerseys, hats. Basically more jerseys than anything. Right now, Fitzpatrick, Johnson [are the most popular].”‘

‘The restaurant gave away free tacos from 5 p.m. until 7 p.m. in celebration of the Bills’ first victory over New England in 15 games.’

‘It feels like I want to be that way again next week. This is a league about what have you done lately and you can’t rest on your laurels, you’ve got to go to work this week. It’s not anything you dwell on. It’s great. I don’t want to downplay it but at the same time it’s not the end all. That’s not where we want to be.’

‘”There’s definitely an uptick in interest,” says Mate. “I mean not just today but all month. The Bills have won three big games in a row so there’s definitely an increase in interest.”‘

‘Chan Gailey got the best of Bill Belichick, and that’s the bottom line.’

‘”It doesn’t mean anything,” said safety George Wilson, who made a key interception of Tom Brady, one of four for the Bills on the day, that helped turned the game in Buffalo’s favor. “I mean, we’ve shown we can beat the Patriots now. It’s the third game of the year. You don’t win a championship by being 3-0. You don’t earn the respect around the league by winning three games. We’re just working to be 4-0. This doesn’t mean we’re in the playoffs right now. We haven’t even gotten through the first quarter of the season. We’ve got more games to go.”‘

‘”He is a great deep threat for us,” Gailey said. “He’s got great body control, strong hands. He can go downfield and get the ball and compete for the ball when it’s in the air.”‘

Over the past 24+ hours I’ve progressed through the eight stages of winning and having been on such a journey I thought I would walk my fellow Bills fans through the process lest they have trouble navigating such new territory.

‘I did not have the guts to pick the Bills to win yesterday but I am very pleased to be wrong. It is great to cover a relevant team in the NFL again and to force people to pay attention to the Bills. Chan Gailey has proved he can coach before and during NFL games. Buddy Nix has proved, at least to this point, that he can make decisions on who to keep and who to let go. And these players have bought in to the program. After a decade of disaster Bills fans deserve some fun.

‘While that doesn’t exactly signal a complete arrival, it’s certainly an indicator that the Bills are headed on an upswing following years of being stuck in neutral.’

‘”We’re excited,” running back Fred Jackson said of the win. “I’m sure everybody is aware of (the losing streak) we’re all aware of it. But right now (we’re) 3-0. That’s what a lot of guys are focusing on. We know we just took a huge monkey off our backs.”‘

‘Troopers ticketed 19 people for speeding and 24 for other traffic violations. The DWI arrests were spread out, in Orchard Park, Elma and the city of Buffalo.’

‘”If you saw us in the meeting room last Monday it was a funeral,” said George Wilson. “Guys had a sour and bitter taste in their mouths. We knew throughout this week in practice and preparing that we had to redeem ourselves and we had to make plays when we got the opportunity to win (Sunday).”‘

‘"It was awesome to run up the tunnel, looking up at the fans," said defensive end Chris Kelsay. "Ruben Brown was in the tunnel. I played with Ruben the first time that we beat them my rookie year [in 2003] and the last time we beat them until today. … I went up to Chan and Buddy [Nix] after the game and said, ‘I’m not one to ask for much, but your 24-hour rule [on celebrating wins]? I might ask for a couple more hours to enjoy this one — 26, 28 hours — because it’s been a long time.’"’