The view from Section 312
I love coming to the Ralph. What can I say?
For some reason, I look past the heavy intoxication of the fans, the crappy way that they treat opposing teams fans, the constant sight of security intervening in out of control affairs…everything. And I just watch the game as if no one was around me, realizing how fortunate I am to be able to live in one of thirty or so areas in this country which has the highest level of football on the planet. Pretty cool, eh?
Today I took Andrew along with me to the Ralph and met up with Peter Sharp and his friend Paul from Canada, we’ve met “Sharpie” through our occasional meetups with fellow road trip pal Sean McDonald Being gracious hosts that we were we introduced them to the world of roast beef on weck, and they responded in kind by providing authentic Canadian brews for our little shindig.
On to the game. I had some interesting conversations with the family(fellow Bills fans) in the days preceding, and they all came to the same conclusion about it.
” Classic trap game, they better be careful”. I winced, realized it had all the makings, and hoped they’d be wrong. They weren’t.
In the first half, the Bills were sloppy on O. Dropped passes, wasted opportunities for points, and Jason Peters doing his best imitation of a matador added up to a halftime deficit for the Bills. In the second half it was topped off by Roscoe Parrish’s absolutely boneheaded decision to field a punt at the goal line which set off a chain of events that led to a Raider TD that put the game in their control. Parrish was probably thinking of his press clippings about how awesome’s he’s been at that moment.
The Bills O finally seemed to come to life at this point, and a TD narrowed the gap. But a big play TD for Oakland shortly thereafter should have put the game away for the Raiders. And in past years it would have.
But not this year, it was all Bills from there on out. A touchdown, a defensive stop, and a field goal as time ran out gave the Bills a dramatic 24-23 win. The type of win that sooooo many other teams have hung on the Bills in past seasons.
Other stuff of note.
If Lane Kiffin hasn’t been fired for his lack of rapport with Al Davis, he should be gone for not making any attempt to stop the clock in the final minute. Force the Bills to run a couple more plays, maybe the Raider D holds and they get time for a last shot. Nah…
Nice to see the Greatest Bill of All Time(sez me!) finally get his name on the Wall. Don’t know what the rules are as far as eligibility, but the fact that his name didn’t up immediately after his NFL retirement is a damn travesty.
Jason Peters better get back in game shape, quickly. He was a disgrace early on.
I love Trent Edwards, but he has GOT to start performing in wet weather. Fortunately for him the next two games should be indoors(St. L, Ariz).
Go ahead, repeat to yourselves……Your AFC EAST LEADING Buffalo Bills!!! Sounds pretty damned good. Doesn’t it
twoeightnine Says:September 22nd, 2008 at 12:16 am
The only requirements are that a player played for the team for 3 years and is retired from the NFL. That being said it looks like the team has an unwritten 5 year minimum rule. Kelly and Thomas were 5 years too.
Personally I’d love to see the number 78 go up next to the number 12 as the only officially retired numbers. One anchored the offense, the other the defense.