Metal Man

Proposition 19 in California?

I noticed something while looking at the NFL line up this upcoming weekend that has me thinking the Bills game might not get televised in the Syracuse market this weekend. The game is on Fox at 1pm. The Giants are also on Fox this weekend at 4pm, however Fox does not have the double header this week so they will not be able to air both. In previous years living in CNY I have noticed that if both teams are on at the same time on Fox then the Giants game is always the one that wins out. This situation is a little different, but I am thinking the same is going to happen and that Fox will air the 4pm Giants game instead. Anyone have any insight on this? Then again if the game doesn't sell out, and that still counts as a local black-out despite being in Toronto, then I guess this is all moot anyway.

FX has some pretty solid shows. The Shield is excellent and the series ended so you won't be left hanging once you catch up like some of the currently running shows. Rescue Me is good too.

That would be terrible. They would lose out on the number one pick.

I'm guessing he meant these: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsphone/en-us/buy/7/phones.aspx

The Clarence high school football team is ranked in the top five of the state right now and will likely compete for a state championship. I'm certain they could beat UB.

I don't really understand that either Yall. Seems like some criticism towards this article is warranted seeing I am having a hard time finding anything newsworthy about it at all. The Bills are bad and I don't think anyone in the country isn't aware of it, but for some reason it is breaking news to celebrate it with stupid hypothetical situations? Must be a slow day in the sports news world to waste time putting this piece together.

Makes sense to me. I was close enough to the stadium to be able to hear the crowd go crazy from my balcony the night Bonds broke McGuire's HR record and I definitely could feel the excitement surrounding that stadium every day when I passed it. It didn't affect me the same way as you though. Probably because I am one of those evil Yankees fans whose corruption is too deep into my soul to be swayed regardless of living in the exact same environment as you. I did spend a lot of time there though so I at least supported that team with my money. Couldn't get enough of those garlic fries.

They wouldn't start CC on only two days rest. You might see him come out of the bullpen late in the game though if needed.

You picked a good team to switch to, I always thought they had one of the nicest ball parks in the MLB that I have ever been to. I used to live off of The Embarcadero almost right across the street from what was Pac Bell then. Loved being able to walk to games there and might have converted to a Giants fan myself if I didn't hate Barry Bonds so much.

I'm not your friend, buddy! I'm not your buddy, guy!

This has the same feeling as one of the weekly "I am done with the Bills forever" threads. Weak and whine filled. There is something to be said about the continuing pu55ification of the NFL though.

I didn't until now. Guess we lucked out getting to see Dream Theater on what could be his last tour with the band this year.

Definitely a second on Dream Theater. Just started getting into their stuff over the last few years and am liking them more and more. Especially after finally seeing them live in Toronto this past summer.

I suppose it goes without saying that I am going to have to come in here and say Iron Maiden because of my avatar. But I do think that argument can be made. Sure they have been around for a long time, sold tons of records and usually sell out all their shows, but this has all been done with almost no radio play until very recently. Also it seems like anytime I get someone to listen to Maiden for the very first time they come away saying that Maiden's sound was nothing like they expected it to be. Most people seem to prejudge them as being some crazy scream metal that is just random noise and not easy to listen too. Nothing could be farther from the truth. +1 to Clutch and Deftones.

I heard Howard Stern talking about this article from the most recent ESPN The Magazine the other day and I found it online this morning. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=5651802 The topic is a little gross but I thought some of the stories from athletes this had happened too were pretty interesting and funny. *Sorry if this was already posted but I couldn't find it while searching.*

There are a couple Giants fans I know in the Syracuse area, but I work in Rome and that is where the majority of the people I am talking about are coming from. I know Syracuse is considered a Bills town, but the few times I have gone out to bars to watch games it seems like there are more fans of all sorts of other random teams. This could be because Bills fans can just watch the games at home but it is an observation worth noting because going out to watch the games in Buffalo bars is a lot different.

I second this. Coming back from commercial after a score to just see a quick kick-off before immediately going back to commercial is ridiculous.

Now that you mention it I have noticed this too. I didn't think about it until now but you're right, it is kind of embarrassing. I guess the best sign of the Bills being relevant again is when we beat someone well enough or often enough for them to hate us.

I have been out of the Buffalo are for almost 6 years now but until then grew up a Bills fan and have it deeply ingrained into who I am. Over that time I always would get a lot of grief from everyone about how crappy the team was and the typical 4 superbowl losses or wide right nonsense, but this year so far it seems to be getting a lot worse. I understand the team has hit a low it hasn't seen in a long time but now a lot of the usual 5hit talk is turning into pity and it is kind of annoying. I have had multiple people in the last three weeks ask me why I even bother anymore and that I should probably consider choosing a new team. I don't know how it works for most NFL fans but from what I know about growing up in the Buffalo area switching teams is not an option. I will admit a little bit of shame is creeping in and I don't like wearing my Bills stuff to work as much anymore, especially with tons of Jets and Giants fans around here, but there is no way I could ever have the same passion for another team. It isn't something you can just turn on and off and for some reason a lot of people don't seem to understand. My question for the community is what kind of experiences have any of the other out of town Bills fans had with fans of other NFL teams and how do you feel it is best to deal with them? Non-violent solutions only, a punch in the face to a junk talkin' Jets fan would feel great but just isn't practical.

What usually annoys me about that discussion too is that they never seem to mention how often the Bills do sell out despite being a team in a very small market that still has the 7th largest stadium capacity wise. Oakland is the second smallest. Jacksonville is 20th and I am not even sure if that 20th stat takes into consideration the seats they tarp over now. Again though, these things are usually not mentioned in such reports. I might be going out on a limb with this one but I am pretty certain that if you put a 63,000 seat stadium in Buffalo like the Raiders have we would not be seeing many if any black outs.

I haven't tried to go to a place with the NFL ticket in the Syracuse area. I did try one in Rome though for a Dolphins game that didn't sell out back in 2006 and it was blacked out there on DirectTV as well. I would assume the same holds true for Syracuse but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to call one of the places to see for sure. I would check out Wild Wings or Tullys this weekend and report back but I will be in Buffalo Sunday so I might actually venture out to the stadium and see if I can get a real cheap ticket.

The Syracuse market is blacked out for the Bills game but they can show another game. Immediately surrounding Buffalo is considered the primary market so based on NFL rules they cannot show any game at all in that time slot if the Bills don't sell out. As for bars with the NFL ticket in Syracuse, they won't be able to show the Bills game either. The rules are very stupid and need to be evaluated again though I don't see it happening anytime soon.

I have been out in the Syracuse area, and lived in the Rome/Utica, over the past 5 years and the black out does go that far. From what I understand the actual black out area goes to East Rochester but because the Syracuse TV broadcasts can reach into the black out area their CBS affiliate can't air the game either. Then because Rome and Utica get their CBS from Syracuse it is blacked out there too. My question is will the NFL ever change these antiquated rules as broadcasting technology improves. What happens when a station has the power to broadcast over the entire state? I realize it is not likely just asking rhetorical questions. The answer is obviously that the NFL will never change the rules and even if you live 200 miles away you still can't watch what could be one of the only Bills wins this season on Sunday. So much for trying to market the team regionally.

Hopefully someday someone writes a "tell-all" book about the inner workings at OBD over the last 10 years or so. I would love to know all the details behind all the head scratching decisions during that time.