North Tonawanda, NY — Back in September, I deluded myself into thinking the Bills would go 10-6 and make the playoffs. I find the same twisted logic every year — buying into the latest great quarterback, thinking this year's version of running back (Marshawn Lynch) will be an improvement over Willis McGahee, Travis Henry or other recent selections.
I even thought our new fat guy, Marcus Stroud would anchor a stout defense. Inevitably, I watched all season, never grew too jaded and, eventually conceded.
Tonight, however, there is a new source of hope — it used to be in recent years you could look at teams with recent histories of losing and pass off the Bills' mediocrity by pointing out they were still better than the Detroit Lions or the Arizona Cardinals. Now that no longer works.
In the universe of football teams, the 7-9 Bills have come to define what Scott Arniel used to be in the NHL — absolutely average. The median. Half the league is better and half is worse.
I'm pulling for the Cardinals, but I also have a bit of a feeling of dread because they have a Bills castoff, Mike Gandy, starting at left tackle, protecting Kurt Warner's backside. It might be that I don't know football. I seem to remember Glen Parker and Dusty Ziegler starting in a Super Bowl for the Giants long after they had been run out of Buffalo as not good enough. On the bright side, Edgerin James might be this year's version of Bills' nemesis O.J. Anderson. At least Mark Ingram is in jail.
How I will watch the game has changed in yet another ode to technology. With the advent of the DVR we can instantly rewind and see anything we want again, faster than the network provides. This is especially helpful when a video challenge is ongoing, because by pushing the play button as I replay recorded material, we get to see it in super slow motion.
The Super Bowl may be the only time we rewind and miss plays just to watch a commercial. I've seen Ben Roethlisberger hit Hines Ward for a 6-yard first down on a quick slant numerous times, but I haven't seen the new Bud commercial yet. I hope Cadillac advertises because I worry that such a classic brand may be drifting away and a Super Bowl ad means it is still trying.
DVR has changed how we watch TV. My wife and I both work late on Mondays. We record House and 24. We watch them later in the week, fast forwarding through commercials. I'm waiting for the device that zips through non-show content in one click so we don't have to watch advertising go by so fast we miss the show coming back on.
Finally, when it comes to food, I'm going to try something different. Wegmans has frozen bags of leg and thigh quarters for 49 cents a pound. I'm going to buy a bag, cut them apart, rub them with a mix of salt, pepper, cayenne, garlic powder and Jaimacan jerk seasoning, cook them on the grill slowly with some hickory and apple wood added to my briquets. Then I will serve them with hot sauce and blue cheese. That cheap dark meat has for me become the alternative to wings.
Thanks for reading.
LM Boyd of the Week: Who was the last original Buffalo Bill to take the field in Orchard Park? Dick Grapes of course. The venerable North Tonawandan worked the sideline for the Bills for years, holding the down marker. Might not know that unless you were a fan of barbershop singing of course. The Bills borrowed their name from the quartet in which Grapes sang.
Word of the Week: Scot-free – An ethnic slur? No. Actually from the Anglo-Saxon "sceot" meaning money put in a general fund (a tax). It was first levied on people according to their ability to pay. Scot-free at first meant the same thing as gas from the Indian reservation.
Contact Joe Genco at joegenco@gmail.com.
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