Hello all!

The Bills have signed their first free agent, Right Guard Chris Villarrial from the Chicago Bears. Chris played 8 years for the Bears and started 109 out of 116 games, and is the tough and solid lineman Coach Mularkey loves. Look for the Bills to sign a left guard to replace Ruben Brown and a center in the near future. Chris Bober, former NY Giants center, will be visiting this week. Troy Vincent, CB for the Eagles, was here yesterday. For up-to-date news, please check www.billsdaily.com

Buffalonian on American Idol
The hit TV reality show American Idol is now down to two contestants, and one of them happens to be a Buffalonian! Idol John Stevens, resident of East Amherst, is a Frank Sinatra clone with red hair who led all voters in last night’s polling.

Fish Fry
I asked last email where to get a good fish fry in NYC, and many of you agreed on one place! Chip Shot in Park Slope was the hands down winner. The honorable mention was The Landmark Tavern on 11th and 48th Street.

— Matt “talkin proud and praying for the Bills to sign a center” Kabel

Hello all 657 Bills fans!

The Buffalo Bills released 7-time Pro-Bowler Ruben Brown today. This means that the Bills will be very active in Free Agency starting THIS Wednesday and the upcoming draft in terms of offensive line. Also sounds like the Drew Henson deal is falling through, so keep an eye on the Bills to maybe select North Carolina State QB Philip Rivers. Don’t be surprised if we pick up Kordell Stewart as a back-up to Drew Bledsoe. Stewart excelled under Head Coach Mike Mularkey in Pittsburgh. Yeah yeah yeah…quit your groaning! Please check www.BillsDaily.com for up to minute news!

Fish Fry
I noticed a post on our message board about where to get a good Buffalo-Style fish fry, especially during the season of Lent. Anybody have a good spot by them, whether you are in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Jersey, CT? Please let me know!

Oh yeah…I got laughed at by some New Yorkers for saying “fish fry” because I guess they call it Fish and Chips here. Ugh…brought me back to my college days when I was laughed at for saying ‘pop.’

Thanks
Thanks to Tim McNally and other members for giving me advice on the mirror. I was able to hang it by the end of last week! See? SEE??? We Buffalonians CAN help each other! Use the message board to communicate with your fellow fans!

Beer
If you could have one ‘Buffalo beer’ other than Labatt Blue, what would you want?

Draft Party
Another reminder! Draft Party – April 24th! Drink specials, wings, beer…..be there!

— Matt “talkin proud and leaving work early to enjoy this splendid weather!” Kabel

Hello all,

I’d like to take this time to thank the 131 NYCBBB members who responded to our McFadden’s related survey. Your response was VERY useful and Matt Soreco and I have taken all that information and written out a plan of action for McFadden’s to look over and try to implement. Yes, we will try to improve the wings, the big screen, the sound, the specials, and the # of staff on Sundays. And we didn’t forget about you vegetarians either! We had all kinds of suggestions including pumping John Murphy in, and even one asking me to stop discussing myself in emails and stick to Bills news only! I love the bluntness of Buffalonians! We’ll also look to see how we can get an autograph session at McFadden’s of a former or current player.

Free Agency
NFL Free Agency begins next Wednesday, March 3rd. TONS of rumors are flying around about the Bills being involved in some big trades, including us trading for former Michigan standout and NY Yankee Drew Henson. Be sure to check NYCBBB’s official news source www.billsdaily.com for up-to-date news. We will also email you if anything big happens!

Draft Party
Just another reminder, we will be throwing our 3rd Annual NFL Draft Party on Saturday, April 24th at McFadden’s. Times and specials to be announced closer to the event.

Sabres
Anybody else notice the Sabres are the hottest team in hockey right now?
Lets go Buf-fa-lo Lets go!

— Matt “talkin proud and praying for a young QB to groom” Kabel

Hello all!

Well, other than me falling down the stairs and banging up my legs, my move to Bay Ridge went as planned and am now a Brooklyn Boy. I actually met a Bills fan in a restaurant around the corner from my new place while grabbing lunch in the middle of moving, so I considered it a sign from the football gods that I made the right choice. I also consider it a sign that I have a golf course and an Outback Steakhouse walking distance from me. How great is that? Many of you said I will be regretting it after Bills games at McFadden’s on Sundays, and my reply is “that’s what cabs are for!”

OK…survey time!

Survey #2
It ends up that one of our members, Gavin Pratt, works for a company that uses online surveys. Gavin did us a huge favor by creating Survey #2 online! I give him due praise since adding all the results from the first survey was a pain in the butt. Here is the link to the survey which has more to do with NYCBBB/McFadden’s. This is a great chance to tell us what we need to do for next year, so please fill it out so we can serve you better.

Survey #1 Results
Thanks to everybody who replied! I spent 4 hours adding up the results of the first survey. Over 100 of you are interested in a trip to Buffalo for a game. Almost all of you want to fly, but you’re split down the middle whether it’d be a 2 or 3 day trip. You want t-shirts, sweatshirts, beer-holders (big shock there), stickers and other memorabilia. You want more info from the Bills including emails and get most of your news on the web. Many of you also said all you want is a Super Bowl victory. I sent the results to the Bills and they were VERY interested in our feedback.

Anybody else bored with the off-season yet? I need the Bills!!!

— Matt ‘talkin proud and my girlfriend better mentally prepared for me to be playing golf every weekend’ Kabel

How do you feel about a weekend trip to Buffalo for a Bills game? Would you prefer a: a) A weekend bus trip and b) a weekend airplane trip

Would you prefer a a) one day – to the extent that you could fly in the early AM and fly out after the game or B) two day – Sat – Sun. or C) three day- whole weekend.

How would you like to communicate with the Buffalo Bills – as part of the Bills Backers Chapter membership, what else would you like to receive from the Bills?

Would you be interested in buying Bills Backers merchandise? If so, what kind of items would you like?

How do you get information on the Bills?
Newspapers websites TV/radio

Do you visit buffalobills.com on a regular basis?
Not much sometimes regularly

How do you rate the Bills Backers section?
Not good good very good excellent

Have you seen the Bills Digest newspaper?
Yes no

Would you subscribe to Bills Digest to get your team news?
Yes no

— Matt ‘talkin proud and survey #1 is all over with’ Kabel

Hello all,

Quiet off-season so far. The Bills are rounding out their coaching staff and yesterday hired Sam Wyche as QB coach. We all remember that Wyche was the head coach of the Bengals team that beat us in the AFC championship game back before our Super Bowl run. He has coached the likes of Joe Montana and Boomer Esiason, so he should work wonders for Drew Bledsoe.

When I had my meetings at One Bills Drive over Christmas, the Bills said that they were very impressed with our group and how big it has grown in just two years. They have decided that the Backers around the country are a resource that needs to be tapped, and NYCBBB is going to be the test subject for what they do with the rest of the country’s Bills fans.

We have put together a survey which I will send in 2 parts over the next few weeks. The first will be from the Bills main office, the second will be from us. I know, you’re all yelling at your screen right now because we all hate surveys, but I assure you it will do wonders for us if you answer them. Just hit reply and write your answers under the questions, or just write me a few lines summarizing your answers. I will send the first one after this email.

Brooklyn
I am moving from Manhattan to Bay Ridge, Brooklyn this week. I will miss the 5-minute commute to work, but will enjoy the 5-minute commute to the golf course!

— Matt ‘talkin proud and becoming a Brooklyn Boy” Kabel

Hello all,

The Bills have been busy assembling a new coaching staff. It’s really starting to take shape! BillsDaily.com has been keeping careful track of all personnel moves. Check it out – http://www.billsdaily.com/frontoffice/

Draft Party
Just want to remind everyone that we will hold our 3rd annual draft party on April 24th – which also happens to be our 2nd anniversary. Yep, we got this started just 2 years ago (man time flies!) with a list of about 20 people. Now we’re at 650! McFadden’s will televise the draft, and we’ll have our drink/wing special in place for the occasion. The Bills have the 13th pick in the draft. It’ll be interesting to see who they go after…

Sabres
The Sabres are playing the Rangers at MSG tomorrow (Friday) at 7pm. I hear tickets are still available! Anyone going?

I hope to see you all in April.

— Matt Soreco

Hello NYC Bills fans!

Happy New Year to you all, I hope everybody had a wonderful holiday season! Are you enjoying this cold burst of air? Looks like 6 inches of snow tonight and tomorrow! I HATE hearing these wimpy New Yorkers talk about the snow and cold like its Alaska!

New Head Coach
All broadcast reports say that the Bills will name Mike Mularkey (fun name huh?) the new head coach of the team. He had been the offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers and is considered one of the brighter offensive minds in the league. He was reportedly offered the job late last night after an all day interview in Detroit with Ralph Wilson. He won out over Charlie Weis and Dick Jauron as Tom Donahoe chose a familiar face after an exhaustive search. Mularkey got the job based on his offensive views. Not sure how I feel about this hire, we AGAIN have to go through the learning curve of a rookie coach, and the Steelers offense wasn’t too impressive this past year. Rumors say Mularkey will bring in Offensive Line coach Jim McNally, who is supposed to be the best in the league, and also a Buffalo native! Dick LeBeau is rumored to be named Defensive Coordinator, and Pitt QB coach Tom Clements to be named Offensive Coordinator. We’ll be sure to keep you updated!

Please check www.billsdaily.com for news throughout the day/week!

Save-the-Date
The NFL draft will occur on April 24th at Madison Square Garden. NYCBBB will hold its 3rd Annual Draft Party at McFadden’s, so please mark the date on your calendar!

Vote for a member
One of our members, Ryan Shepard, who lives in Rochester but will be moving here in July, has been selected as a finalist in Coca-Cola’s NFL Deputy Commissioner of NFL Tailgating.

How is everybody doing out there? I was upstate for New Years and went to a beer distributor. They actually had 6-pack bottles of Genny Light! It was great!

— Matt “talkin proud and think this new head coach may smell of mularkey!” Kabel