2014 Buffalo Bills: Neckbeard to the rescue?!
- Thread starter mjm3773
- Start date
As strange as it sounds the actual results on the field this year are going to be taking a backseat to the story of where the franchise as a whole is headed. The information up here in WNY is swirling fast and furious, from the proceedings of Gov. Cuomo's new stadium working group to the renovations already currently underway on the Ralph to the potential local names that are coming up as possible new ownership (with a Boston connection as the Jacobs family of Bruins fame has been labeled as the front runners according to the Buffalo News over the weekend). The threat of relocation (with Toronto and LA to a lesser extent as the leading candidates) hangs over all of this, to say nothing of the fact that the greatest player in franchise history in Jim Kelly is in the fight of his life against cancer that is in his face and jaw and potentially spreading.
In short, the continuing progression of EJ Manuel or the improving defense or this coach/GM combo in year 2 aren't the stories. Whether the Buffalo Bills even exist 10 years from now is the thing.
In short, the continuing progression of EJ Manuel or the improving defense or this coach/GM combo in year 2 aren't the stories. Whether the Buffalo Bills even exist 10 years from now is the thing.
Buffalo is playing thanksgiving at Detroit. It was "leaked" accidentally on the Bills website today
The Bills are running a promotion in which anyone who correctly predicts the order of their 16 games and bye week wins season tickets for life. There's already been theories posted on how this may be a red herring.Infield Infidel said:
http://www.billsschedulechallenge.com/
That being said, if the current Thanksgiving rotation holds and CBS does the game against an AFC team, it would have to be either the Bills or Dolphins.
Trump interested in buying the Bills?
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10785589/donald-trump-interested-buying-buffalo-bills
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/10785589/donald-trump-interested-buying-buffalo-bills
Perhaps a stunning turn of events - apparently the lease prevents the Bills from being sold to anyone intent on moving the team:
http://www.torontosun.com/2014/04/28/clause-forbids-bills-sale-to-anyone-intent-on-relocation
http://www.torontosun.com/2014/04/28/clause-forbids-bills-sale-to-anyone-intent-on-relocation
A Buffalo reporter (Tim Graham) threw a little cold water on this, pointing out that since Toronto is within a 75 mile radius of Buffalo, moving to Toronto might not be considered a "relocation," even though for all intents and purposes it is.TomBrunansky23 said:
[Mod note: posted the Dareus arrest news on the main board. Will merge back here when topic dies down.]
@AlbertBreer: Bills LB Brandon Spikes was just taken from practice into the trainer's tent. Look like it might've been a hip.
Initial bids for the purchase of the Bills were due yesterday at 5 pm. Despite the fact that numerous billionaires were said to be interested, only 3 bids were submitted:
1) Donald Trump - by his own admission, probably the lowest of the bids. By everybody else's intuition, he was only putting in a nominal bid just for the publicity.
2) Jon Bon Jovi/Toronto - Rumor is they submitted a bid of $1.2B. This group has said that they will keep the team in Western NY, but the general feeling is that no one believes them and they will bolt for Toronto at the first available opportunity.
3) Terry Pegula - He also owns the Buffalo Sabres and has supposedly put in a bid off $1.3B. Due to his (and his wife's) ties to Western NY, and his incredible liquidity, he has been generally considered the best option by fans who want the team to stay in Buffalo.
One major name who was interested, but didn't submit a bid, is Tom Golisano, a Rochester native who sold the Sabres to Pegula. Word is that he was under the impression that yesterday was not a final deadline, but I don't suspect that he would outbid Pegula, anyway.
The final decision is in the hands of a four person trust headed by Ralph Wilson's widow, Mary.
1) Donald Trump - by his own admission, probably the lowest of the bids. By everybody else's intuition, he was only putting in a nominal bid just for the publicity.
2) Jon Bon Jovi/Toronto - Rumor is they submitted a bid of $1.2B. This group has said that they will keep the team in Western NY, but the general feeling is that no one believes them and they will bolt for Toronto at the first available opportunity.
3) Terry Pegula - He also owns the Buffalo Sabres and has supposedly put in a bid off $1.3B. Due to his (and his wife's) ties to Western NY, and his incredible liquidity, he has been generally considered the best option by fans who want the team to stay in Buffalo.
One major name who was interested, but didn't submit a bid, is Tom Golisano, a Rochester native who sold the Sabres to Pegula. Word is that he was under the impression that yesterday was not a final deadline, but I don't suspect that he would outbid Pegula, anyway.
The final decision is in the hands of a four person trust headed by Ralph Wilson's widow, Mary.
Per multiple reports, Sabres owner Terry Pegula has reached an agreement to purchase the Buffalo Bills pending League approval during the October owners' meetings. Which means, the Bills are staying in Buffalo for the forseeable future.
Combined with the news that Jim Kelly is cancer-free and the win over the Bears this past weekend in Chicago (the only NFL city in which the Bills had not won until Sunday), this has been the best week for Bills fans in a long time.
Ralph Wilson is going to be a crazy place this Sunday.
Combined with the news that Jim Kelly is cancer-free and the win over the Bears this past weekend in Chicago (the only NFL city in which the Bills had not won until Sunday), this has been the best week for Bills fans in a long time.
Ralph Wilson is going to be a crazy place this Sunday.
This is fantastic news, and I'm really happy for my many friends who are Bills fans. Pegula's wife will likely be the team's President/CEO which, given the NFL's current standing among those who think that women are people too, is probably fortuitous timing.mjm3773 said:
From what I'm told, Bon Jovi completely messed up any chance he may have had by a.) refusing to be a minority partner even when he couldn't pony up the bucks for a 51% share, and b.) eventually throwing in with the Toronto conglomerate -- which justifiably raised eyebrows about his moving the team. I'm not smart enough to know for sure what "disingenuous" means, but I'm pretty sure Bon Jovi's public "promise" to never ever move the Bills gets pretty close.
Edit: Buffalo sports talk radio this morning full of fans crying tears of joy at the news. Always a nice way to start off your administration.
Just a tremendous day in WNY. It's been 15 years plus since we haven't worried about the team leaving eventually. Dollars to donuts this eventually means a downtown stadium in the vicinity of the arena and Pegula's Harborcenter project. Who's ready for a Buffalo Super Bowl?
1.4 billion for the Bills!? Forbes had them valued at 935 million, and apparently all the other bids were below a billion. That's nuts. I guess Roger isn't going anywhere, after all.
http://sonsofsamhorn.net/topic/82726-2014-buffalo-bills-welcome-to-pegulaville/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2014/09/09/terry-pegula-to-buy-buffalo-bills-for-1-1-billion-sources/
http://sonsofsamhorn.net/topic/82726-2014-buffalo-bills-welcome-to-pegulaville/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikeozanian/2014/09/09/terry-pegula-to-buy-buffalo-bills-for-1-1-billion-sources/
With driving bans in place, Bills players unable to get to practice Wednesday and maybe Thursday. Coaching staff spent the night at the facility.
They still plan on playing on Sunday, even though they've had >4' of snow already, with another 1' expected. It usually takes them 3 days to clear one foot of snow from the stadium.
http://espn.go.com/boston/nfl/story/_/id/11903377/snowbound-buffalo-bills-say-sunday-game-on
They still plan on playing on Sunday, even though they've had >4' of snow already, with another 1' expected. It usually takes them 3 days to clear one foot of snow from the stadium.
http://espn.go.com/boston/nfl/story/_/id/11903377/snowbound-buffalo-bills-say-sunday-game-on
I dunno, I feel like teams usually cope with this kind of adversity, especially later in the year after they've had plenty of practice reps.
I remember one year the Broncos had to get random people to snowmobile them to the airport (for a game against Buffalo?) and still won. And didn't the Steelers fly the morning of a game due to snow and win in New York last year or the year before?
I remember one year the Broncos had to get random people to snowmobile them to the airport (for a game against Buffalo?) and still won. And didn't the Steelers fly the morning of a game due to snow and win in New York last year or the year before?
drleather2001 said:
They've already asked
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/11903377/snowbound-buffalo-bills-say-sunday-game-on
Im supposed to be going to this game (lots of friends on both sides of the Jets/Bills fan bases). Gov. Cuomo just said it's not up to him but he sees playing Sunday as impractical.
Damn. I really wanted some Duffs wings.
Damn. I really wanted some Duffs wings.
According to Schefter the Bills coaches expect to play on Monday somewhere outside of Buffalo (Toronto, Detroit, Pittsburgh).
I would have thought that Toronto would be the obvious backup, given that the Bills have played there in past years.
I would have thought that Toronto would be the obvious backup, given that the Bills have played there in past years.
dynomite said:
It would be just plain cruel to have the Buff fans drive 90 minutes to find TO warm, sunny and snow-free...
Edit: I'm on the road today, but I heard somewhere that it's expected to be 10 C - low 50s F - Sunday afternoon. Maybe they could play with the roof open!
Surprised at the Detroit decision. Toronto or Syracuse seemed like more logical choices to keep it a "home" game for Bills.
Yeah but could be ready Monday. And it's an AHL game. How much would it take for the NFL to pay them off? 600 bucks? Fortunately tickets and hotels were reimbursedRedOctober3829 said:
You realize it takes more than a day to remove a temporary ice rink, right?RedOctober3829 said:
There was a time I would have been the first to post that Syracuse was out due to hockey...but those days are behind me now.
That, and the Carrier Dome is smack dab in the middle of a college campus. There is no way the SU administration would allow an NFL game to be randomly dropped in on a Monday night.RedOctober3829 said:
Having the game in a NFL stadium likely keeps more of the revenue in the league. I'm guessing that's the biggest factor.
So, the Bills essentially don't get to practice at all for this game, right? It will be the most Jetsian thing for them to lose to a team which ends up with like... 0.5 days of practice to prepare for them.
Fred not Lynn said:
Here's why they can't play in Syracuse...
So it's a little slippery!
Andrew said:
They were supposed to fly to Detroit today, so practice today and tomorrow.
Its a moot point, and I'm sure there are technical issues I don't understand, but doesn't the crew at TD Garden switch from ice to parque in 3 hours?Fred not Lynn said:
Here's why they can't play in Syracuse...
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1Yncgptcoo[/youtube]