Offside Number 76

That's how I saw it.

You're gonna be that guy who starts threads during the game all year, aren't you...

Dick's got a lot of work to do, if what I saw in the first quarter is really what this team is right now.

I get that feeling too. Bizarre. I wonder if Phillies fans still get that feeling when they see Joe Carter's home run, or if that feeling stopped now that the Phillies won a World Series.

I guess that's where we differ. Certainly, the NFL created a new Pro Bowl slot for special teamers just because of Tasker, and certainly, he was freaking incredible. But he didn't change the game. Too many teams are successful without some version of Tasker, and that's exactly why he didn't change the game. He changed more than a few Bills games, to be sure, but I don't think he changed the way football is played. That said, I will be absolutely ecstatic if he gets elected to Canton. Great player, and great guy (by all accounts).

So, if Canton called tomorrow, and said, "Hey, we're giving the 1990s Bills one more player, whom do you want," would it be Tasker? Hull? Reed? Talley? Someone else? Because the whole team isn't going in. For me, it's probably Hull or Reed. I really appreciate the way Tasker defined the coverage specialist position, but many, if not most, teams still play just fine without a coverage specialist who plays at that level.

Not to mention, it's difficult to read. Which is the reason it frustrates most of us, and is the reason that it makes him/her look like a douche. (He/she may actually be a douche. A giant talking, writing douche. In which case, the appearance is difficult to help.)

Genny Cream isn't the most powerful muse.

The price of beer isn't out of line with what they charge for beer in WNY luxury boxes--it's cheaper in Dallas, in fact ($36 for a six-pack at Coca-Cola Field, and that's minor league ball!). The $90 pizza is surprising, but I'll bet a large pie at HSBC is $40.

Definitely. Maybe a split backfield with Jackson during some plays in the first couple of games?

That's what it sounded like to me, too.

Not an NBA fan, but this year's Eastern Conference final was incredibly entertaining. As for the last legit Boston championship team besides the 2008 Celtics, I think it's probably the 1986 Celtics. Unless we include college sports--then I think BU's hockey team has it.

The Sam, Will, Mike names are familiar to me from an era that predates Singletary, so I'm pretty sure it's strong, weak, middle.

Nate.

He didn't start for the Bills that year--he didn't start again until 1971--but thanks for the reply. I didn't know that the records had merged. (Do we get to brag about our team's 2 NFL titles now?)

Thrower never started, right? Agreed on McNabb, although Warren Moon could make a strong case for himself.

So Tim, we've got an interesting discussion regarding the first modern-era (i.e. not the 1920s Detroit Lions) black QB to start in the NFL. Not the AFL--we're aware of Briscoe and Harris--but the actual NFL, modern-era. Here's the link; any chance you can shed some light on the topic? http://www.stadiumwall.com/index.php?showtopic=92186

I'm still finding nothing; I really hope Tim Graham spots this thread and gets this far. Maybe he can enlist ESPN's stat wonks and get us an answer.

Cool site! It doesn't answer the question--I'm seeing a lot of references on the internet to Briscoe's AFL start and Harris's 1969 AFL season start (I knew about these & I also knew that many of Harris's passes were to Briscoe), but nothing on the actual first NFL start. It's as if the separation of the two leagues was some sort of fiction. I can't think of any other black QBs, besides Harris and Briscoe, at or around the time of the merger, so I'm going to have to conclude for now that Harris's 1971 NFL start is either an overlooked milestone or a "non-milestone" (because the merger is overlooked). EDIT: i forgot to conclude--looks to me like Harris's 1971 start would have to be the first NFL start by a black QB.

That's right, but as above, that 1969 start was not in the NFL; it was in the AFL. Was the Nov. 1971 start the first NFL start by a black QB?

Harris didn't start a game at QB in 1970: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/H/HarrJa01.htm His first post-merger start at QB appears to be Nov. 7, 1971, for the Bills and against Miami: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/play...rJa01_games.htm Was that the first NFL start by a black QB?

Why, was he hurt or waived or something? Someone should start a thread about it. /kidding.

I've been in luxury boxes and club areas in various arenas and stadiums a hundred times or so. It isn't about fun in those situations, which is what I wrote about. It may be (but I don't think so--see below) preferable for business, but it is no fun. If I'm taking a client who is not a fan somewhere just to socialize, I take them to a restaurant. If I'm taking a client who is a fan of the sport, I take the client to a restaurant and then to some good seats. The client has a better time, better food, and it's all less costly. If I'm taking a GROUP of clients, a box becomes somewhat handy, but no one enjoys the game as much. I'm part of a business that ended up wasting its box seats at RWS--and that currently wastes its M&T Club seats--because clients don't want to go. If they like football, they usually have seats of their own, or otherwise would rather be in the crowd, so we use our personal seats and take them. If they don't like football, they don't want to be bothered trucking out to Orchard Park for five hours. We usually end up giving the tickets to employees for personal use about 4 or 5 games per year. Which is nice & builds morale and all, but it's not the reason we're spending ten grand on football tickets.

The two in Maryland. There's absolutely nothing in either of them that makes a football game any more enjoyable to watch than it is at an older stadium.