First impressions of the Bills in a meaningless game

Yeah, Tuesday is a little late for a recap of Sunday’s Hall of Fame Game.

So what? The Bills were off on Monday. So was I.

Here are a few things I picked up watching the game (when the feed was coming through during that insane thunderstorm, at least):

• Still a little weird seeing WR Terrell Owens in a Bills uni. But, damn, he looked good in those Bills colors. Owens caught two passes on Buffalo’s opening drive. That’s good enough for me.
• The rookie that stuck out most (in positive ways): LB Nic Harris. Showed good speed, good instinct. I’m a fan so far. TE Shawn Nelson didn’t look too bad either.
  

Sabres sign Mike Grier

Wait, what?!?

That’s right, Sabres fans, the man who helped lead the exodus of talent from our beloved Buffalo hockey team is coming back.

Today, the Sabres announced they have signed unrestricted free agent Mike Grier to a one-year deal.

Terms, as always, were not disclosed.

Personally, it’s shocking that Grier is making his return to town after the way he left in the first place.

Blackhawks’ Kane arrested in Buffalo

This is one headline I sure didn’t expect to see this morning when I checked the Buffalo News website for Bills news.

Buffalo native, Chicago Blackhawks star, and South Buffalo’s favorite son, Patrick Kane was arrested this morning, the Buffalo News reports.

Chicago Blackhawk right winger and South Buffalo native Patrick Kane and a relative face robbery and other charges after allegedly assaulting a cab driver and failing to pay their fare after getting a ride from Chippewa Street early this morning.

Kane, 20, and James M. Kane, 21, were arrested about 5 a.m. on Eastwood Place, according to Buffalo police reports.

Alright, so you can assume two things from this report.

1. Kane was drinking, and was most likely drunk, because no one goes to Chippewa and gets a cab ride back sober.
2. Our boy Pat is a drunk asshole.

What kind of moron does this kind of thing?

The T.O. Circus sets up shop at Fisher

Just think, today is the third day of training camp.

In the last few days, we’ve seen Bills fans crowd the campus of St. John Fisher to take a look at T.O. in action.

Terrell Owens has been the center of attention since the team arrived at campus Friday and Saturday’s opening of camp was all about the new guy in town.

They cheered his routine catches. They cheered the way he stretched. They roared when he hauled in a 65-yard bomb from Trent Edwards in the afternoon. They hollered, “Getcha popcorn ready.” They wore his No. 81 jersey. They carried boxes of his cereal.

When Owens responded to one fan’s exhortations with a big smile and a peace sign, the fan gushed, “That just made my day!”

With the Bills being the first team to open camp thanks to the fact they will be one of the first two teams in preseason action come August 9th, all eyes of the football world have been on Pittsford, New York. And Terrell has not disappointed the media, being his usual story-creating self.

And, of course, The T.O. Show makes its return to the airwaves tonight at 10 PM on VH1.

Pretty boring start to camp, huh?

Bills training camp officially underway

Aaron Maybin and Eric Wood are still unsigned.

Trent Edwards has a hair cut.

Josh Reed has his television to watch The T.O. Show on Monday nights.

The players are ready. It’s training camp at St. John Fisher, Bills fans, are you ready?

Optimism is never in short supply in Bills country once July rolls around, and this year is no different. Sure they’ve finished 7-9 the last three seasons. Sure, the same coaching staff is back. Sure, the Bills haven’t made the playoffs this millenium, but damn it, we got Terrell freaking Owens!

Sabres sign Sekera and MacArthur to deals

What did you do over the weekend? Apparently, it seems Darcy was doing some work the last few days, while you were sitting around being a slob.

The Buffalo Sabres announced this morning that they have come to terms on deals with restricted free agents Andrej Sekera and Clarke MacArthur.

Sekera, who appeared in 69 games for the Sabres last season, gets a two-year contract. Terms are not available at this time, but a Slovak website reports that it is worth $2 million, assumingly over the course of the deal, not per year.

Kaleta accepts qualifying offer

According to Sabres.com, Buffalo Sabres forward Patrick Kaleta is locked up for another season.

Buffalo Sabres General Manager Darcy Regier announced today that forward Patrick Kaleta has accepted his one-year qualifying offer.

Kaleta, (6/8/1986, 5-11,195 lbs) collected nine points (4+5) and 89 penalty minutes in 51 games last season. Kaleta missed 27 games due to a neck injury last season. Along with setting career-highs in all major statistical categories, the forward also averaged a career-high 8:55 on-ice time per game.

Sabres schedule released

It’s out people.

The Sabres host the Canadiens to kick off the 2009-2010 season.

More reaction will follow, but for those waiting, here it is.

From Sabres.com…

The 2009-10 campaign will begin when the Montreal Canadiens visit HSBC Arena on Saturday, October 3. The Sabres will travel to the Music City to begin the road portion of their schedule on Saturday, October 10 when the team heads to Nashville to battle the Predators.

The Sabres will face off against their border rivals from Toronto for the first time on Friday, October 30, when the Maple Leafs head to Buffalo. The Sabres will play host to Atlanta on New Year’s Day at HSBC Arena for a 7:30 p.m. faceoff against the Thrashers.

The team will pack their suitcases in January and head out for a seven-game,12-day road trip, their longest continual trip since the 2005-06 season. The Sabres will start their cross-country trip in Atlanta (Thursday, January 14) and complete their seven-game swing in Western Canada against Vancouver (Monday, January 25).

Please stand by…

Alright, folks.

This place has been dead for a long time. The offseason will do that to you, or the fact that I was kind of discouraged from posting for a while. But, screw that, I’ll be back. To what capacity, I don’t know. But it’s time to get this thing rolling again.

We have a twitter account now, located at http://www.twitter.com/3rdManIn . Derek is probably going to handle most of it, but it should be entertaining. The idea of live posting is going to revamp the site a bit.

For now, we’re working on a new look to try to reinvigorate this place. Bringing a blog back from the dead ain’t easy, but we’re gonna make it happen.

Bills training camp is only days away.

Could cap crunch make Max movable?

Interesting little piece I came across yesterday by David Staples of the Edmonton Journal:

THE HOTTEST NEW TERM IN THE NHL: “THE EXPIRING CONTRACT.”

The cap number for the 2009-10 season will be based upon of this year’s revenues, which were mainly generated last spring, before economic calamity settled in over the world, so it will take some time for the cap to really drop off. Nonetheless some sinking in the neighborhood of $2 million per year per team is likely in order, down to the $54-55 million range for the 2009-10 cap.

At that level, the majority of teams — including the Oilers with $55 million in salaries this year, $44 million already tied up for next year — will be scrambling to be under the cap and here is where expiring contracts come into play.

If you follow the NBA, which has played under a cap system for more than two decades now, you will be familiar with the term expiring contracts because they are something of an obsession in the basketball world.