Archives for July 2014

‘The group includes Larry Tanenbaum and the Rogers family. Tanenbaum is chairman of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, which controls the NHL’s Maple Leafs and NBA’s Raptors. The Rogers family includes Edward Rogers, who is deputy chairman of Rogers, the Toronto communications giant.’

‘”[He] had his surgery and from all the reports we’re getting it was successful surgery,” he said. “We’re expecting him to be back after camp, let the swelling go down, do some rehab there, but he’ll be back in Buffalo when we break camp.”‘

‘”When he came in and did his physicals, there were some tests that came back that we need to wait on and see if everything is okay,” Whaley remarked. “If they come back okay, he will be out on the field. He is at camp now, though.”‘

‘”It’s nothing new. It’s every year. Everybody thinks we’re just the same old Bills — and that’s fine with me,” he said. “They think we’re the same old Bills that every year everybody gets hyped up for an incredible season, then people get let down with a 6-win season. To me, I’m getting tired of it as well.”‘

‘”We’re still waiting on reports from him, but it looks like it’s going to be one of those day to day things and we’ll see how it progresses,” said Whaley of Glenn.’

‘The number one thing I’m excited about is a second year with this coaching staff. Their number one thing coming in was to get this thing turned around. Being with those guys for a second year, figuring each other out and what we want to do, how to use us and stuff like that, I think it’s going to be a tremendous thing that comes to fruition for us this year. That’s the number one thing I’m excited about, it’s easy to sit here and talk about it but I think we have the keys, we’ve added some pieces, guys have been here for a little while and we know what we have to do to get it done.’

‘”I have to talk to coach, but right off hand, Preston Brown, Nigel Bradham and maybe Ty Powell among the young guys,” he said. “So it’s an exciting time for them and an exciting time for us to say, ‘Alright what we saw in these guys is true and they can play.'”‘

‘It’s a tremendous loss but no one is crying for us. So we have to like you said “next man up.” We think we’ve built a roster that can sustain a loss like this. Our expectations aren’t going to drop.’

‘Buffalo released WR Cordell Roberson and CB Darius Robinson Friday. Robinson was an undrafted rookie out of Clemson, who missed a lot of the spring practices with a shoulder injury. Roberson, who spent time on the Bills practice squad last year, also missed a good deal of time in the spring practices with an undisclosed injury.’

‘”It goes both ways,” said Woods. “I see it as, it doesn’t really matter, their opinion, and I also see it as that’s our fault. We need to play better and it’s definitely our fault we’re not spoken about and we have to do better and that starts here tomorrow night.”‘

‘Cyrus Kouandjio & the OTs. The massive Kouandjio, 6-foot-7 and 325 pounds, is key to the Bills’ plans to upgrade the offensive line. How fast can he catch on, and can he beat out Erik Pears at right tackle? Kouandjio turns 21 on Monday.’

‘Further, with One Bills Drive still a very active construction site, the team wanted to stay away from home as long as it could, so Doug Marrone and his players will be at Fisher until Aug. 23, a month and three days.’

‘Taxpayers have already paid $90 million toward a $130 million renovation of Ralph Wilson Stadium. And state taxpayers found themselves on the hook for 32 percent of Yankee Stadium’s $1.6 billion cost, or roughly $512 million. Even Yankees fans would say that money could have been better spent on education, economic development or a simple tax cut – particularly when the Yankees and the Steinbrenner family had plenty of avenues with which to pay for a new stadium. Financing stadiums to help save billionaires some money seems a bit ludicrous for a state that can’t figure out how to equitably finance public education.’

‘Congel, son of Pyramid Cos. founder Robert Congel, has been working on plans for a project to revive the West Seneca Plaza. He even recruited HKS Sports and Entertainment Inc., the firm that helped plan NFL stadiums in Dallas, Indianapolis and Minnesota, according to the Buffalo News. Congel’s plans for the 55-acre plot in West Seneca could even include a new stadium for the Bills down the line, because the Syracuse-area mall developer is interested in seeing the team stay in Western New York.’

‘Gilmore is far from a question mark for the Bills. He has already looked like a dependable starter more often than not in his young career. The question the Bills are wondering is whether or not they have a top-tier cornerback in Gilmore. He has two years remaining on his rookie contract, so 2014 could be an important year for him to establish just how much he’s worth.’