Hello all,

Just thought we’d update you an a few things.

Free Agent Signings
So far the Bills have signed WR Andre Davis, DT Larry Tripplett, and TE Robert Royal. The Bills also met yesterday with Rams DT Ryan Pickett and Cardinals G Reggie Wells. That’s a pretty slow start if you ask me!

Note to self: Trust Marv.
Reply to note to self: I have trust issues.

Eric Moulds
Seems negotiations to restructure Moulds’ contract have failed. Moulds asked to be traded or released.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2367238

Check out BillsDaily, especially their front office page, often to stay up-to-date with the latest FA happenings:
http://www.billsdaily.com/frontoffice/

Culpepper
The Dolphins traded their 2nd round pick for Daunte Culpepper.

Quite Frankly
I heard from a few of you who attended yesterday’s taping of Quite Frankly. I’m sorry I missed it. From what I hear, it sounds like people had a blast. If you want everyone to know about your experience, please share your comments on our board.

By the way, the show airs on Tuesday, March 21, on ESPN2 at 11:00 PM.

Save the Date for our Draft Party
Remember we will have our fifth (fifth, wow!) annual draft day party at McFadden’s on 4/29.

Sabres
If you’re interested, a bunch of Sabres fans are meeting up at McFadden’s for the 3/30 game against the Devils.

That’s all for now!

— Matt Soreco

Hey all,

Who says NYCBBB membership doesn’t have its rewards?

I just got an e-mail from Brian Dunphy at ESPN2 who’s offering free tickets to the Tuesday, March 14 taping of Quite Frankly. Special guest on the show will be none other than Bills legend and hall of famer Jim Kelly! The taping starts at 6:30 PM.

Do you want to go?!?

I think I’ll try to make it! Let me know if you try too.

— Matt Soreco

Hello all!

Just a quick email…

Marv Levy has released 3 popular players in Sam Adams, Lawyer Milloy, and Mark “SOOOUUUP” Campbell to free up some cap space for Free Agency which begins at midnight tonight! The Bills are said to be negotiating Eric Moulds’ contract to keep him, but most signs point to his release later today. If released, I want to send out my thanks to Moulds for being a clutch player for us for so many years through 100 different quarterbacks. I hope he lands on a playoff bound team, but more I hope he stays with us!

Also in the news is that the Bills have franchised Nate Clements, so he will likely be a Bill next year.

That’s about all, please check out www.BillsDaily.com for up to date free agency news starting tonight!

Brooklyn Apartment
A member is looking to sell his newly renovated two bedroom, 1 bath, pet friendly waterfront apartment in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. Please contact him for details at danbaich@yahoo.com

Sabres
As the Sabres enter their final run, I was thinking of trying to get something organized for the playoffs should they make it in. Maybe a drink special at one of the bars? Let me know if you’d be interested in this.

Draft Party
Just a reminder that the draft party will be held April 29th at McFadden’s, so save the date.

OK…I’m off on my first business trip to Buffalo in a bit, and debating whether to fly or take the train due to the weather. Either way, Ted’s Hot Dogs, Anchor Bar, Rick’s Pizza, Wegman’s, Charlie the Butcher’s and Charlaps are all in my sights!

— Matt “talking proud and can’t believe the one day I have to travel TO BUFFALO there’s snow!” Kabel

Hello all 1,433 NYC Bills fans!

Walking to my new job this morning brought me past a dark and quiet McFadden’s/Calico Jack’s, and it got me thinking – what are the odds of me sleeping in my office if the Bills have a night game on a work night next season? I mean, I work across the street for crying out loud, why go all the way back to Brooklyn?

Not much news to come out of One Bills Drive this week. The Bills will predictably slap the franchise tag on Nate Clements if no long deal can be worked out. They will also do what they can to restructure Eric Moulds’ deal so he can remain a Bill next year. The excitement should pick up in a few weeks when free agency starts, and we can see who Marv Levy goes after.

It’s that time of the year again where we ask for YOUR input! I want to thank Phil Mann for putting this together. Please take a minute and fill out the survey below so that you can help us help you! Just reply to this email and type in your answers in the allotted spots, and feel free to offer any other feedback you have from watching the games with NYCBBB at McFadden’s and Calico Jack’s last year!

NYCBBB Annual Member Survey
Now that the Not-So Super Bowl is behind us and the draft is ahead of us – and the Bills’ have both added a Dick (Jauron) and removed a dick (Donahoe) from their management team – the NYCBBB staff hopes you’ll take a couple of minutes out of your day to participate in the following survey regarding McFadden’s and Calico Jack’s.

Why a survey?

Your collective responses will help us accomplish three things on your behalf. They will:
• Update us on what parts of the game-viewing experience you value most;
• Help us generate new ideas;
• Give us information to share with the two restaurants/bars in terms of priorities for next year.

The survey
How many games did you watch with NYCBBB last year?
___ 1-4 ___ 5-8 ___ 9-12 ___ 13-16

Where did you watch those games?
___ McFadden’s ____ Calico Jack’s ___ Both places

What matters to you most (check as many as 3)?
___ Clear picture/sound on TVs
___ The specials
___ The wings
___ The beer
___ Fast, consistent service
___ Other (please be as specific as possible)

What could we/should do better or differently? Please be as specific as possible.

Anything else to add?

THE NEXT TWO QUESTIONS APPLY ONLY TO SOME OF YOU:

If you watched fewer than five games with us last year, please explain why
___ I went to the games
___ I watched them at home whenever possible
___ I checked out other bars
___ It’s not my only priority; I do other things on Sundays, too
___ Um, did you notice how badly the Bills sucked?
___ Other (please be as specific as possible)

If you have kids…
How many do you have, and how old are they? ______________________

Did you bring them to Calico Jack’s last year? _______________________
If “no,” why not?
If “yes,” will you bring them again next year?

Thanks!

UB Bulls Basketball
The UB Bulls basketball team will make a rare appearance in the NYC area when they take on Iona College tomorrow at 2pm. The game should be televised on ESPN, so either head to the game or catch it on the tube. Please visithttp://www.ubathletics.buffalo.edu/ for more info!

Enjoy your long weekend everybody!

— Matt “talkin’ proud and may invest in a blow up bed for under my desk” Kabel

Hello all 1,445 NYC-area Bills fans!

First of all, I’m switching jobs so please discontinue use of the kabelm@hss.edu address that I’ve used the last five years and use mattkabel@gmail.com from now on. My new job at a midtown marketing firm has two HUGE positives – 1) They’ll be frequently flying me up to Buffalo on business 2) It’s located on 42nd and 2nd, right across the street from McFadden’s/Calico Jacks! What were the odds of that?!

The Bills are going through huge changes as well! Steve Fairchild, who coached the running backs for the Bills under Gregg Williams and then served as offensive coordinator for the high powered Rams the last three years, will be our new offensive coordinator. He was recruited heavily by two other teams, so we luckily were able to grab him. After a deal fell though to bring in my top pick for defensive coordinator, Jim Bates, the Bills brought in former Chicago Bears secondary coach Perry Fewell. Fewell has never been a coordinator but is in the mold of Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy, who run VERY successful Cover 2 defenses on their teams. Expect him to run a similar defense in Buffalo this year. Overall, most fans think both are solid hires. Will this translate into wins? Who knows, but it’s going to continue to be an exciting off-season!

The other big news today is that the Bills can slap a franchise tag on Nate Clements for $5.89 million, which is CHEAP compared to past years. This low price will give the Bills major leverage if they seek to trade Clements, and if they don’t like any offers can keep him at a reasonable salary. Now…what to do with Eric “old but still has it” Moulds and Mike “waste of space” Williams…

As always, be sure to check out www.BillsDaily.com for news!

Sabres
I wanted to thank Kevin Smith for putting together an AWESOME group for the Sabres/Rangers game at MSG last week! We had around 70 NYCBBB Sabres fans in our section and were so loud, we had the ENTIRE GARDEN booing us every time we did a Buffalo chant! Members on the other side of MSG said they could hear us and that the Rangers fans were infuriated at how loud we were! We even got some looks from the Sabres bench as they cruised to a 2-1 victory! Oh yeah, the Sabres won their 4th game in a row last night and are in 2nd place in the Northeast Division…booh-yah!

LET’S GO BUFFALO…CLAP CLAP CLAPCLAPCLAP!!!
LET’S GO BUFFALO…CLAP CLAP CLAPCLAPCLAP!!!
LET’S GO BUFFALO…CLAP CLAP CLAPCLAPCLAP!!!

— Matt “talkin’ proud and can’t believe I’ll be working across from McFadden’s” Kabel

Hello all 1,232 Bills fans,

As just announced in a live press conference, Dick Jauron has been named Head Coach of the Buffalo Bills. Considering that the guy has a losing record and the Bills picked him over Mike Sherman who has a solid winning record, I’m not sure how to feel. Our own Kevin Smith summed it up for me by saying:

“I’m playing the prevent defense with my emotions right now.”

Marv said that Sherman had better personnel to work with in Green Bay than Jauron had in Chicago. True, you got me there. Marv also said that he, Bill Belichik, and Mike Shanahan also had losing records when they started out. But boy, this is going to be a tough season to get excited about. Hopefully Jauron is smart enough to hire some top notch assistant coaches and coordinators, something he did not do in the past.

On the other side of the AFC East, the Dolphins have hired none other than former Bills’ coach Mike Mularkey to be their offensive coordinator, so we’ll get to face him twice a year!

So now the Bills will hire their assistant coaches and prepare for free agency and the draft. As always, be sure to check out www.BillsDaily.com for up to date news. We’ll also keep you in the loop with weekly updates.

Until then, Go Bills & Go Sabres!

— Matt “talkin’ proud hoping Marv knows what he’s doing” Kabel

Hello all!

We were hoping to use today’s weekly update to announce that the Bills have named their new head coach, however it looks like that’ll have to wait until next week. You can ignore most of what ESPN is saying because they’ve been completely wrong in the majority of their Bills reports the last week. Stick with The Buffalo News and Rochester D & C who are reporting the facts.

Oh…and if you haven’t seen the hilarious ESPN Buffalo Bills commercial, let me know and I’ll email it to you. It’s a HUGE file, so make sure you have room in your inbox.

These are who the two top candidates are as of now:
Mike Sherman – recently fired as head coach of the Packers where he boasted a 57-39 record including two 12-4 seasons. Some argue that he inherited a Super Bowl team, which is pure BS, because he actually inherited a 8-8 Packers team on the decline and turned them into a 12-4 team after two years. It’s been reported that he “knocked the socks off” of Marv and Ralph Wilson by laying out a plan to fix the Bills offense. It also helps that he wanted to draft JP Losman to be Brett Favre’s heir-apparent in Green Bay until we stole him away. Another plus is that he could bring Jim Bates, a HIGHLY regarded defensive coordinator, with him to run our defense.

Dick Jauron – Even though he only had a 35-46 record as head coach of the Bears which included a 13-3 season, its rumored that he’s a leading candidate. Why? Marv is a Chicago boy and covered the Bears on radio during Jauron’s stint there and is a big fan of his. One interesting stat – Jauron’s teams are 1-7 against Sherman’s. Maybe he didn’t have enough talent in Chicago, I don’t know, but I wish I had more positive things to say about him since he might be our new head coach…

It’s being reported that Jim Haslett is not in the running anymore, could it be that the Bills are still angry over his Kent Hull steroid accusations? Dom Capers will interview today, but is a long shot considering he couldn’t win after four years with the Texans. James Lofton interviewed yesterday, but only has four years coaching experience. Bobby April is a long shot as well. Ron Rivera of Chicago is rumored to be getting an interview, but look for the Bills to go with experience in Sherman or Jauron. Be sure to check out www.BillsDaily.com for news over the weekend.

Sabres
I usually don’t mention the Sabres in my emails because whenever I do, they lose the next game. Since they’re on a long road trip through Canada, I think it’d be ok just this once! The Sabres take on the Rangers this Tuesday night at MSG. NYCBBB’s own Kevin Smith has arranged for over 50 of us to go root them on. We’ll be meeting at Tracks Bar & Grill in Penn Station for a few pre-game cocktails if anybody wants to join us.

Also, it’s rumored that Buffalo will be selling seats from The Aud in Buffalo! If so, we’ll do everything we can to buy a row to serve as VIP seats watching the games with NYCBBB! How great would that be??? Maybe we’ll put them behind a pole so you can get the whole Aud effect!

Have a great weekend and feel free to post on our message board or shoot me an email to discuss the head coaching candidates!

— Matt “talkin’ proud and hope they hire Sherman!” Kabel

Hello all you 1,440 NYC Bills fans!

We promised to keep you up to date with all the breaking news at One Bills Drive, but if we had done that the last two weeks you’d have received over ten emails by now! Tom Donahoe has been rightly fired as GM and replaced by none other than Hall of Fame Buffalo Bills coach Marv Levy. 80 year old Levy may not have been the best choice, but he will reestablish the trust and character that the organization has lost over the last five years. He’s also one hell of a talent evaluator as we all know!

The latest news is that Mike Mularkey has quit as head coach, as announced just now in a live press conference.

Who are the leading candidates to replace him? Marv said it’s going to be a straight shooter, a good teacher, and somebody who can work with everybody in the organization. Ralph Wilson said that money is not a factor and neither is previous head coaching experience. Here are three likely candidates:

Jim Haslett – former Bills linebacker and New Orleans head coach. Rumor has it that he and his wife, a former Buffalonian, want to come back to the Queen City. However, he’s had some underachieving teams in recent years, and may command a high salary. Many think he’s take a pay cut to return to Buffalo.

Ted Cottrell – Former defensive coordinator for the Bills under Wade Philips who went on to coach for the Jets and Vikings.

Bobby April – Obviously our special teams coach. Marv Levy was a special teams coach (err…kicking coach, sorry Marv!)

Of course, in the past the hired head coach has been somebody off the radar, so we’ll have to wait and see.

ESPN and others are reporting that the last week of firings has made the Buffalo Bills the laughing stock of the NFL. Sorry ESPN but – 6 straight years missing the playoffs, 1 teasing winning season in 5 years, 2 failed head coaches, the trust of the fans being destroyed, and being WORSE OFF AFTER 5 YEARS FROM WHERE WE STARTED – have made us a laughing stock. This may be ugly, but needed to be done. Tom Donahoe took us down a horrible path, now it’s up to Marv to get us back on track so we can rebuild and move on.

NYCBBB will try to give you summaries of all the latest Bills news at least once a week during what is sure to be an exciting off-season! For daily updates, be sure to check out www.BillsDaily.com.

SAVE THE DATE – DRAFT PARTY!!!
NYCBBB’s 5th Annual Draft Party will be held on Saturday, April 29th. The Bills have four picks on the first day, so it should be an exiting afternoon! Details to come….

— Matt “talkin’ proud and SO HAPPY DONAHOE IS OUT AND MARV IS IN!” Kabel

Hello all 1,426 LOYAL Bills fans!

First off, I want to thank member Bruce Caufield for opening up Tracks Bar & Grill for our New Year’s Eve Party! We had a great night that carried into the next morning! I also want to thank Kevin Smith for organizing one hell of a tailgate! We had over 100 Bills fans there on New Year’s morning, and was by far the biggest tailgate party in lot C. The mimosas were the biggest hit, as they were gone in the same amount of time it took Kelly Holcomb to throw a pass for a loss to Damien Shelton. We also raised $250 (after costs) to pay for next year’s web/email expenses, thanks to all that contributed! It was a great New Year’s Weekend, and I hope everybody had a great time!

Many news sources in Western New York are reporting that Tom Donahoe is as good as fired (woo-hoo!) as general manager of the Buffalo Bills. Will Mike Mularkey be next? Could the Bills hand the reigns over to former Bill (and coach of the Saints) Jim Haslett? Will Tom Donahoe’s twin, Tom Modrak, be named GM? Will Marv Levy be a part of the rebuilding process as rumored? One of our members saw Ralph Wilson after the game and said he looked “livid.” Be sure to check www.BillsDaily.com for up to date news coverage for what is sure to be an exciting off-season! Also, feel free to discuss the off-season with your fellow members on our message board.

The good news is that the Bills have the 8th pick in the NFL Draft, which will allow us to take a stud offensive/defensive lineman and not be pressured into taking a QB/RB (or a PUNTER if Donahoe was picking) and paying twice the cash. On top of that, we have a high 3rd round pick from Tennessee (thank you Travis Henry!) to give us four picks on the first day of the draft! What this all means is that NYCBBB will be able to throw an awesome 5th Annual Draft Party in April! Details to come…

As in past years, we’ll send out emails about important breaking news regarding our beloved Buffalo Bills. We’ll also send out a questionnaire for some feedback about the 2005 NYCBBB season so we know what to work on this off-season, and we also have some other great stuff in mind as well.

Until then, Matt S., Kevin, Ryan, Anna, Phil, Michelle and I hope you all enjoyed watching the Bills with NYCBBB at Calico Jack’s and McFadden’s. Hopefully, we’ll have a playoff team to root for in the near future!

GO BILLS!!!!!!!!

— Matt “talkin’ proud and there’s always next year” Kabel