knit-one, purl-two nominee #3

a look at some really crabby, whiny, sourpuss content from major media sources in the buffalo area concerning the bills and the sabres

***nominee #3--bucky gleason, buffalo news, january 19, 2011***

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/columns/bucky-gleason/article316414.ece

the set-up:  the buffalo sabres come out on top in a 2-1 overtime victory at home vs. the montreal canadians...the habs are above the sabres in the standings and have beaten the sabres in the three previous meetings...the sabres have played well in 2011 going 5-2-1 thus-far, but are stuck in a win-one/lose-one scenario...they dug themselves a deep hole in october, and although they've hit the "visual-500-mark," they have yet to get above it...derek roy is out for the season, the defense is inconsistent, many players are either inconsistent or not contributing at all, top-line holes need to be filled and nothing will happen with the team until terry pegula signs on the bottom line...nothing new, but leave it to bucky to continue to sledgehammer these points home...

The cold truth is victory means little

"Terry Pegula remains on track to purchase the Buffalo Sabres, but don't fool yourself into thinking sweeping changes and immediate fixes are coming soon. He's not expected to be introduced as owner during NHL board of governors meetings before the All-Star Game, as many had hoped.

Step away from the panic button. The $175 million sale hasn't hit any major snags that would kill a complex transaction that takes time. Sources suggested in recent days he'll likely close on the purchase in February. And if you've been watching this season you know the Sabres aren't going, well, anywhere.

Was it me or did the Sabres' 2-1 overtime victory over the Montreal Canadiens feel like an unseasonably warm January day in which you enjoy the weather for a few hours knowing darned well 15 degrees and snow are around the corner? It was little more than a brief reprieve, a welcome break, right?

Let's start with the good news. The Sabres moved within eight points of Atlanta for the final playoff spot. They beat a Montreal team that has been battling with Boston for first place in the division. They came up with an inspiring effort in the third period. Ryan Miller was terrific in net. They deserved the win.

Nathan Gerbe played one of his best games all year. He was a general nuisance in the third period while tussling with Brian Gionta in a battle of featherweights. He irritated Scott Gomez enough to draw a high-sticking penalty that led to Jason Pominville's winner in overtime.

All were good signs, but let's also face reality. The Sabres have won six of nine games over the past three weeks yet have made up only two points in the standings. They have 45 points in 45 games. If they win five of nine over the final 37 games this season, which is a tall order for a .500 team, it's not likely to be enough to reach the postseason.

If anyone should have been celebrating after the game, it was Montreal. The Habs were short two forwards for nearly 56 minutes, were without three forwards for most of the game, played Monday night before traveling to Buffalo, managed to scratch out a point against a division opponent and almost took two.

Enjoy the win, Sabres fans, but don't lose sight of the fact that they remain a flawed team that needs work. Really, what can you say at this point, that Jochen Hecht is on the verge of busting out and carrying this team to the playoffs? He's now their No. 1 center between Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville.

Hecht has seven goals and 17 points this season and is making $3.5 million. His performance Tuesday, in which he had four glorious scoring chances and converted none in 19-plus minutes, has become the rule rather than the exception this season. He's reached a point where he couldn't bury a rumor.

And he's their best center? Yes.

Tim Connolly is on pace for 12 goals and 39 points. Take away the games he missed from injuries and calculate his production per game over a full season, and Connolly is trudging toward 15 goals and 47 points and a minus-30 rating. He makes $4.5 million. Cody McCormick, at $4 million less, has been more productive at even strength.

Hecht is headed for 12 goals and 30 points. Paul Gaustad is on pace for seven goals and 25 points. Rob Niedermayer still hasn't scored in 36 games. The Sabres weren't counting on him for 20 goals, but you can safely assume they were banking on scoring more than zero at this stage of the season.

The Sabres travel to Boston on Thursday before playing three games against teams currently behind them in the playoffs. Buffalo also is staring down the barrel of a seven-game road trip in March. By then, Pegula should be the owner. That's when the excitement begins."

wow, buckster...tell us something we didn't already know...ya ever hear of that old "beat a dead horse" expression?...we all know that darcy regier is lame as a gm and that tim connolly is invisible...jochen hecht?...really?...when in doubt bring out hecht, strap him to the yard-arm anc commence whipping...eh, bucky?..."Enjoy the win, Sabres fans, but don't lose sight of the fact that they remain a flawed team that needs work"...wow, dude...your insight is, like, overwhelming...i had no idea that the sabres were a flawed team...

this edition of the sabres is, indeed, flawed...they also dug themselves a very deep hole back in october and are close to reaching the surface...you think this victory means little to them?...you ever take a stick to the face to win anything?...maybe you had a pencil thrown at you or a lousy article you wrote crumpled into a ball and heaved back at you...ooooohhhhhh!!!!...scary....the only thing missing from this article is a reference/tie-in to drury/briere and tim kennedy to enrage the "buckites"...whatever...the sabres, as a team are trying to beat down a door and break into the playoff mix, despite being flawed and despite being written-off/bagged-on by the media



knit-one, purl-two nominee #2

a look at some really crabby, whiny, sourpuss content from major media sources in the buffalo area concerning the bills and the sabres



***nominee #2--paul hamilton, wgr december 19, 2010***

http://www.wgr550.com/HAMILTON--Too-bad-it-s-no-longer-like-Marino-vs-Ke/8810659



the set-up:  the buffalo bills just finished beating longtime rival, the miami dolphins on the road and knock them out of the playoffs...wgr has been talking about the issue of rivalries in sports lately, as well as focusing on the "lost" bills/dolphins rivalry and what leagues should do to increase rivalries amongst teams...hamilton always thought that the bills should have moved to the afc north with pittsburgh, cleveland and cincinnati, replacing baltimore...fine...and he, like most in the buffalo media lately, also have been debating the merits of ryan fitzpatrick at qb as well and how the team should move forward this coming draft...with each win, the bills move farther down the draft order:

The Bills went out and played a pretty decent game and are leaving South Florida with a win. Hey Bills fans, isn't it a great thing to pretty much put an end to your arch rival's playoff chance? What's that, who cares? I'm right with you.

I'm sitting here with absolutely nothing to write because this game really didn't have much. It's really a shame when things were realigned that Ralph Wilson was so far out of touch he had no idea Miami was no longer a rival. He maintained he didn't want to lose the rivalry. That rivalry walked out the door with Jim Kelly and Dan Marino. Ralph Wilson hasn't had a visionary thought since he became an AFL owner. That was 1960. It's too bad he couldn't see flipping with Baltimore would’ve been the very best thing for the organization with Pittsburgh and Cleveland coming here every season.

I sat here this afternoon yawning and trying to figure out how this big rivalry ended. I think the Bills have been irrelevant for so long, nobody cared. There were many empty seats in Miami. Rivals sell out stadiums.

What did we learn today? Arthur Moats is still good, David Nelson should be playing more than Donald Jones. The kids all did well today including Buffalo's own Naaman Roosevelt. He caught his first two NFL balls and one was for a big first down. I think it's a no brainer now, trade Lee Evans in the off season if he can bring you a good return.


What else did we learn? We already know Ryan Fitzpatrick is average putting up less than 20 points for the 7th time in 8 games. He threw some great balls, but again when they needed him the most, he missed his receiver two plays in a row and they had to punt. Good thing Carpenter missed four field goals. Fred
Jackson only averaged 2.4 yards per carry while C.J. Spiller was 1.8. We already knew it would be hard to run the football.

Good job by Arthur Moats putting some heat on Chad Henne. George Wilson had a huge interception.

I noticed Terrence McGee has played very little CB the past two weeks, but has been great on special teams. He's the best kick returner they have by far so let him do that to.

paul hamilton is spot-on with his bills/sabres insights on many occasions...this article, although having many good points, comes off as crotchety with the author taking a, "see, i told you so" approach...the faux-boredom and condescending apathy he infuses belittles the accomplishments of many outside the reach of his praise, belittles the accomplishments of the team as well as it's coaching staff...what's worse than an armchair quarterback?...an armchair gm...and the only thing worse than an armchair gm is an armchair owner...hamilton nails two out of three here...and he coulda nailed three if any of drew bledsoe, greg williams, jp losman, mike mularkey, trent edwards or dick jauron were at the helm

the knit-one, purl-two nominee #1

a look at some really crabby, whiny, sourpuss content from major media sources in the buffalo area concerning the bills and the sabres

***nominee #1--jerry sullivan, the buffalo news, dec. 13, 2010***

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/columns/jerry-sullivan/article282247.ece

the set-up...the buffalo bills grind out a hard-fought victory in inclement weather vs. the cleveland browns to push their record to 3-10...except for one poor performance over the previous six weeks, the bills have been playing very well in losing causes and have shown a willingness to play hard even when there's nothing at stake, except for losing a shot at the #1 overall pick and the chance to draft consensus #1 pick, qb, andrew luck, who may or may not declare himself eligible: 

Look, I don't mean to come off as a Grinch. The Bills won another home game Sunday. They finally beat the Browns, 13-6, after three years of excruciating losses. They were the tougher, more resilient team. The usual cast of plucky upstarts played their hearts out. People who were blacked out might have missed something, after all.


Still, I feel strangely unmoved by it all. Maybe it's the long season, or the oppression of the holidays. This online shopping has my head all twisted around. But really, what does it mean? In the big picture, what is the long-term significance of the Bills beating another mediocre opponent and raising their record to 3-10?

You can say good-bye to Andrew Luck, for one thing. This victory pretty much assures the Bills will not finish with the worst record and the right to select the NFL's next great quarterback in the draft -- assuming, of course, that Luck decides to turn pro, and that he doesn't change his mind if it means coming to play in Buffalo.

This victory might even prevent the Bills from taking the top defensive player in the draft, or the second quarterback if they're so inclined. OK, it's hard to have confidence in Tom Modrak and his scouts regardless of where they pick. But at some point, it would be nice to pick from the cream of the crop and maybe get it right for once.

It's understandable if some fans want to cherish every win and hope it leads to bigger things down the road. There's a learning curve with young athletes, and Chan Gailey, the head coach, believes his team has been growing up over the last two months.

"I think I learn something every time I go out there about 'em," Gailey said. "I think I've known their character. I think they are understanding a little better about winning as a team. Nobody goes out there and wins by themselves. I think they're understanding it doesn't just have to be one side of the ball or the other. They can win as a team and win different ways. Hopefully, we can build on this. We'll see."

There's a lot to like about this team. The offense, defense and special teams complemented each other against the Browns. The coaches had them ready. George Edwards, the beleaguered defensive coordinator, made some shrewd adjustments on his defensive line after Cleveland's opening drive.

The Bills got contributions from a slew of underestimated players who are fighting for their jobs in the league, guys like Ryan Fitzpatrick, Fred Jackson, Donald Jones, Stevie Johnson, Bryan Scott, Jonathan Stupar and Arthur Moats. The Bills are riding a bunch of players who were drafted low, or not at all.

But I'm tired of getting up on my chair and applauding them for trying hard and not quitting. They're supposed to try hard. They're professional athletes, and handsomely paid regardless of where they were drafted. They're still 3-10. Fans have the right to demand that management surrounds them with elite players who can help them make the transition from feel-good losers to legitimate contenders.

Gailey says they can build on this. Maybe. We heard that sort of happy talk every year from Dick Jauron, when they were playing hard and stringing together 7-9 seasons like faulty Christmas lights.

Last year, they finished 3-3 under Perry Fewell after Jauron was finally shown the door. Lots to build on, right? Gailey came in and took away the starting jobs of Fitzpatrick and Jackson, who had led last year's stirring finish. They bolted to an 0-8 start. That's building on the previous season's successes?

The truth is, one season doesn't often blend into another in the NFL. Each season is a distinct entity. Sure, the Bills have some players to build around. But until they find some real stars in the draft, they're not going to build anything truly meaningful. It'll be the usual flimsy structure, a tenement of lowered standards.

Maybe Sunday's win left me flat be cause I had seen it so many times before. Watching Jake Delhomme throw side-armed flutterballs wasn't exactly new. I watched it just last year, in Carolina. The Bills won, 20-9. Delhomme threw for 325 yards, but had three interceptions. He was even worse this year, passing for 86 yards.

Delhomme is a backup now. So the Bills have two home wins this year, both against backups. The forgettable Shaun Hill of the Lions was the other. Last year, they beat Mark Sanchez as a skittish rookie. They beat Chad Henne. The Bills beat a lot of weak quarterbacks in the dark decade. What they never do is beat the good ones.

When a team shows up with a solid running game and a top-flight QB, the Bills go to pieces. Whoopie. They beat Jake Delhomme again! Beat Tom Brady for once, and I'll get excited.

After the debacle in Minnesota, Gailey said he had learned something about his team. He wouldn't elaborate, but I wondered if his team's overall lack of talent had begun to sink in. The Bills rebounded nicely against the Browns. They got back to playing the way they had over a competitive six-game stretch.

They're a resilient bunch, it's true. Maybe they'll steal one of the next three against their AFC East rivals and tack a 4-4 finish on that 0-8 start. You can't expect them to care if it drops them in the draft. But if they hope to be a real contender, management needs to nail some high draft picks and supplement their core of overachievers.

Otherwise, all this good feeling won't amount to much. Celebrate the guys for competing so hard. But hold this organization to a higher standard. Don't allow the people who put the team in this mess to wave around a 3-10 record as some sign of progress.

sullivan throws in some truisms, but, c'mon, this teams less than one full season into the gailey regime...what they've done should be lauded...and although i do agree that buffalo bills fans throughout the "dark decade" over react by glorifying positive steps forward, ya gotta give this bunch of no-names alot of credit...even if it means missing out on the highly-touted, all-universe, future hall-of-fame quarterback who hasn't even declared for the draft, much less taken an nfl snap...