KRC

Yup. That was the first regular season game in 1960.

See above. Well, I covered the September 23, 1960 game vs. the Pats* last year in the HGOTW. It was not the first AFL game, but it was the first regular-season game against the Pats*.

Now that the season is here, it is time for the Historical Game of the Week. This week, I thought I would cover the Bills' stomping of the Pats in 1989. Over the coming weeks, I will cover Buffalo games from all eras. October 1, 1989: New England Patriots vs. Buffalo Bills Previous editions of the Historical GOTW Two Bills Drive Football History Section

Shouldn't this really be in the Ask Tim Graham thread?

The retired players are still split on their support between the NFL and the NFLPA. The retired players on the NFL side are still hesitant over the NFLPA. Settling the lawsuit was minor. They want to see more out of Smith. Honestly, I am not sure which group has more support at this time. The ones supporting the NFLPA are not doing it because of what the NFLPA has done. They are just tossing their eggs into one basket and hoping for the best. If Smith does not deliver, it would be pretty easy for them to abandon the NFLPA. A few will stick with them, regardless (the hardcore anti-NFL types), but from my discussions with the players, the NFL has done more so far for the retire players than the NFLPA.

Damn. Jay doesn't even have to try and he Rosen'ed the board.

No question that is a tough job. Trying to write something like that in only 1,500 words is a daunting task, to say the least. It would still be tough to do at ten times that length. Nice job, DT.

Thank you.

I debated whether I should post this on this board or not. I am going to do it anyway. The football world lost a great one on Tuesday. Bob Carroll was a legend in football history circles. Just to give you a small glimpse into what Bob meant to football history, read Pete Fierle's HOF Blog. Bob was a man that would always take the time to help a fellow researcher. You would always wonder how he found enough time in the day to do everything that he did for the PFRA and for football history in general. Read the tributes on the PFRA forum to give you some indication of what he meant to people. Bob...I salute you. You were my friend and mentor and you will be missed.

Nice job, JW.

You are the exact opposite. I have never seen anyone say so much, but contribute so little.

I have the utmost respect for Lori. I always look for her posts, because I know that her stuff is worth reading. She is one of the few people I can say that about on this board.

I usually don't listen to local sports talk here in Philly, but I might have to tune in today. The Iggles fan I mentioned in my previous post is not a happy camper today.

It is going to be a fun day here with the Iggles fans. One came up to me yesterday to talk about the Vick to Bills rumors. He said that he would no longer support the Iggles if they signed Vick and may not even support the league. My guess is that he is going to change his tune today.

It has always been that way. Newspapers were picking their all-pro lists and all-decade teams. When the HOF was founded, I am guessing that they just continued the tradition that had been place for decades.

What gets me is that these people (selection committee) are responsible for knowing about these players/coaches/contributors/etc and are supposed to have the ability to gauge the person's historical significance to determine if they are worthy of induction. How the hell can they not know their history when given that responsibility? This is especially evident with the seniors committee. The things I hear through the grapevine is that the members of the committee pretty much do not have a clue on the people they are discussing. That is why you have candidates like Marshall Goldberg being put up for nomination. Then, you get to the rest of the committee and they have no clue. Couple that with the arrogance of some of the members of the committee, it is only going to get worse. I remember talking to one member of the committee (not on the seniors committee) to talk to them about Marshall Goldberg. The response I got was pretty much, "Run along little man. I am a selector and you are not. Therefore, I know what I am doing and you don't." Yeah. OK, Sparky. When I hear stuff like this, it just continues to prove to me that the system is broken. I am not the only one who feels that way. When I talked to Paul Zimmerman, he said the same thing (of course, he also felt that he should be the only selector, but that is Z). When I talked with Dan Rooney (who is on the Board of Directors of the Hall), he also said the system is broken, but does not know how to fix it. Things are going to continually get worse as the older media types retire and the newer media types get on the committee.

That is sad.

I am guessing that he will have more (not sure how many will also have Marv). These were just the preliminaries he sent out last night.

For those of you who liked Rockin' the Rockpile: The Buffalo Bills of the American Football League, Jeffrey Miller's new book Game Changers: 50 Greatest Plays in Buffalo Bills Football History (50 Greatest Plays in Football History) is due out in a few weeks. He has already started scheduling book signings: Saturday, October 3 @ 1:00 Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society (Marv will not be at this event. This afternoon will be a presentation and discussion of the greatest plays in Bills history, based on the plays described in the book) Friday, October 16 @ 7:00 PM Barnes & Noble, Niagara Falls Blvd., Amherst. Marv and Jeff will both be there to sign. Saturday, October 17 @ 12:00 noon Sam's Club, 3735 Union Road, Cheektowaga. Marv and Jeff will both be there to sign.

The rates are much different now. I tried to get a game film from them. Since I wasn't going to re-use the film in the public domain and they couldn't get a licensing fee from me, then they were going to charge $150 for the copy. It would have been a "rental," since they were going to put an expiration date on the DVD, where I would no longer be allowed to watch it after a certain number of days. I told them to go themselves. The licensing fee would have been much more.

Yes, they are digitizing all of their films. I am not sure if it is complete, but I think that a lot of it is digitized. I will hopefully be meeting with a guy this week who could answer that question. I will let you know.

Not enough money to be made.

It works. I'm not banned!!! (Yet)

Maybe I have been banned, but nobody told me yet.