Paradise Lost in Buffalo

"he with his horrid crew/ lay vanquished, rolling in the fiery gulf/ confounded though immortal: but now his doom/ reserved him to more wrath; for now the thought/ both of lost happiness and lasting pain/ torments him; round he throws his baleful eyes/ that witnessed huge affliction and dismay/ mixed with obdurate pride and steadfast hate"
-Paradise Lost, John Milton

The above passage describes Satan himself, in the aftermath of his expulsion from heaven, waking up in hell. But you know what? It perfectly describes the pain of this Bills season so far. Stick with me here as I get extremely English-Nerdy.

See, the Bills season started off unbelievably. There was the drubbing of the Chiefs in Week 1, the come from behind, thrill a minute shootout with the Raiders, and then, finally, the Patriots game. The Bills hadn't beat the Patriots in 15 tries. 15! That's about eight seasons of being the punching bag for the Patriots. Yet here were the Bills, going down 18 points in the first half, then storming back to win on a last second field goal. Heavenly. The Bills lost the next game, but only by three, hung on to beat the Eagles, barely lost to the Giants, and then convincingly beat the Redskins.

It all seemed so good. The offense was prodigious, seemingly able to score at will. Fred Jackson made the engine purr, was capable of busting off 10+ yard runs at will, he ambling down the field, changing direction subtly, like water. Ryan Fitzpatrick was accurate, made good decisions, and the quick passing game seemed good for at least seven yards every time. Also, they were deadly efficient in the Red Zone. The defense had a better run defense than last year and were creating turnovers at key times by either undercutting routes or pouncing on tipped balls. Chan Gailey was making perfect half time adjustments.

But now they have fallen precipitously. As Jets running back LaDanian Tomlinson said, "Same Old Bills." The offense has suddenly stalled, scoring 11, 7 and 8 in their last three, all blowout losses. The short route spread offense is no longer working-teams are simply playing the receivers tight at the line, meaning that the quick routes aren't open. The Bills don't have a deep threat at receiver, so there's no need to play off at the line of scrimmage. Without the threat of the pass, Fred Jackson has been severely limited, although he's still the best player by far on the offense. (In addition, Chan Gailey seems to abandon the run on some drives, which is infuriating.) Fitzpatrick has shown that he's too inconsistent to be a franchise QB, and has made his big new contract look like a huge mistake. Chan Gailey has lost his touch play calling, sticking to an offensive plan that has been figured out. The already thin wide receiver core and offensive line have been hit by injuries, along with every level of the defense. The defense isn't creating turnovers anymore, which means it's the same defense as last year- awful. There's a receiver open on every play and the run defense wears down. It's a total breakdown. A fresh hell.

The pain of this fall comes from the fact that we, the fans, have seen the flash of potential that this team has shown. They looked to have the talent and resolve to make a playoff run, to end the playoff drought that's plagued Buffalo since 1999. Last year's 0-8 start was less painful than this, because they were always bad- there's no sense of loss there. But this, this is cruel. It's like the flash off a disposable camera- it hits, it hurts your eyes with its strength, and the mark remains burned in your eyes. When you close your eyes, you can still see that mark, the remnant of the bright flash that once was, and now it's fading. "lost happiness and lasting pain." There's the mix.


Yet, despite this, hope springs eternal. The Bills are still only one game out of the playoffs, due to the bungling by other teams in the NFL. It will take a drastic turnaround by the Bills to make the playoffs, and they'll probably have to go at least 4-2 (with some help) to make the playoffs. The way they've been playing recently, I don't see them winning another game on the schedule. But there's always the chance they can reinvent themselves into winners for the final stretch of the season. It starts with this week's game against the Jets. The Jets are certainly not an elite team; one simply has to watch their game against the Broncos to prove that. The Jets defense was the first team to really shut down the Bills; if the Bills somehow can make the adjustments necessary to win, it would probably be the monumental win needed to turn it around. I don't see it happening, frankly, but it could. We've seen the peak this team can hit, we've seen its' low point, and now it's left to see if they will ascend again. The pain is worse, the cut deeper, and yet, I'll probably keep watching, and keep hoping. What else can we do, anyway? Give up? No, not until the bitter end. I'll let the Devil provide the rallying cry:

"We may with more successful hope resolve/ to wage by force or guile eternal war/ Irreconcilable, to our grand foe/who now triumphs..."
-Paradise Lost, John Milton

Thoughts on...Well, Everything

Yeah, I don't really have any unifying theme for this post. I've got Bills draft impressions, Bulls playoff impressions, the Sabres continuing warpath, and more thoughts on Buffalo sports fandom. Heck, I'd have something to say about the Cubs if they had any consistent story so far besides inconsistency. Anyway, it's a pretty huge time of the year for sports fans, but especially in my realm. Let's get into it.

-Yep, the NFL Draft is next Thursday. The Bills have been linked to seemingly every player with the number three pick, which leaves me terrified. The general consensus I've seen is that the Bills will take Von Miller, the linebacker from Texas A&M. If the Bills actually do this, I will be elated. Seriously, I have visions of Von Miller sacking Tom Brady on key third downs dancing in my head. A defensive playmaker at linebacker is exactly what we need. He can rush the passer with devastating speed (hopefully like Clay Matthews) and has good run stopping and coverage skills. If Marcell Dareus isn't available at that spot, I would love for him to be on the team. Unfortunately, I have almost no faith in Buddy Nix and Chan Gailey to draft for any semblance of 'need' after last years first round pick of CJ Spiller when we had two 1,000 yard running backs already. So when I hear Nix say that the Bills have always been "super high" on Blaine Gabbert...guh. And when I see that Andre Reed basically gave away that the Bills are trying to draft Christian Ponder in the 2nd round...oh Lord. A quarterback from Florida State with injury problems and above average accuracy and arm strength? Replace 'Florida State' with 'Stanford' and you get the exact description of Trent Edwards. For the love of God, not again. And, if the Panthers go with anyone else but Cam Newton at #1, I would not be surprised to see him go to the Bills. I've already stated my preference for Newton over Gabbert, but not over Miller or Dareus or any other defensive stopper. And you know what? I wouldn't even be surprised if the Bills took A.J. Green, the wide receiver. Seriously, Buddy Nix is capable of anything. I could see him explaining his pick by going Charlie-from-It's Always Sunny-style "WILDCARD, BITCHES!!!" and leaving the press conference. I'm not going to trust any source until I hear the name called at the podium. It's going to be a looooooong week.

-Onto the Bulls, who have a 3-0 series lead over the lowly Pacers, but haven't looked dominant in any of the wins. Every game has gone down to the wire; and it's usually the Bulls who are coming back as opposed to fighting off Pacers rallies. Derek Rose was phenomenal in games 1 and 2, struggled through game 3, but managed to hit the game winning shot. Even with the 3-0 series lead, plenty of pundits are beginning to write off the Bulls as serious championship threats, instead turning to the Miami Heat as favorites to come out of the East. Franky, I find this ridiculous. For one thing, the Bulls have still managed to win these games (unlike fellow #1 seed the Spurs who lost game one) despite playing well below their potential (too many turnovers, poor shooting, lackluster defense). Secondly, the Pacers are a better team than their record indicates- yes, they only won 37 games, but they've played much better once they fired their coach and got Vogel in there. Thirdly, Joakim Noah is still easing his way back into the lineup after a late season injury. Once he gets healthy and the team gets its collective mojo back, watch out. Till then, they're still winning. So why's everyone complaining? Sorry, in the playoffs, a W is a W, no style points needed. We'll see how the Miami Heat fare against the Bulls in the conference finals, with Bulls fully motivated and firing on all cylinders.

-Finally, onto my daily, no, hourly obession. The Sabres playoff run. I haven't been able to write about every game, for a confluence of reasons, but I've been living and dying with every game of this series. The whole series has been shocking to me, because the Sabres are actually matching and often beating the Flyers in terms of toughness. Last year, and in preceding years (think '05-'07 with Briere and Drury), the Sabres have always been the finesse team that either wins with that finesse or gets completely out muscled in every loss. Now, they have the opponents complaining about them and their after the whistle antics. Lindy Ruff has rightly called them 'whiners', sparking a whole new controversy. I think the Flyers complaining about dirty play has to be the most hypocritical thing I've ever heard. This is a team whose history is built on dirty play, and they love to continue that legacy today. You can't complain about another team "getting away with murder" (what Mike Richards said) on the ice and also try and play dirty at the same time. It's maddening. That whole attitude comes from their d-bag of a coach, Peter Laviolette, who seemingly spends the whole game complaining about calls and working the refs. He did it in Carolina in '06 to screw over the Sabres and now he's doing it again in Philly. I'm just ready to see Kaleta booed every time he touches the puck, and to continue antagonizing the Flyers.

And now it comes down to a three game series. The Sabres have fought hard throughout the whole series, winning two 1-0 games behind Ryan Miller's otherworldly goaltending (he's in that 2010 Olympics Zone right now, firmly in the opponent's head), and losing two games where it came down to the end, a 5-4 loss in Game 2 and a 4-2 loss in Game 3 (the last Philly goal was an empty netter, so it was a one goal game). The Sabres have shown remarkable resilience in the two losses- almost every time they went down a goal, they were able to respond, and have basically shown that they can stick with the Flyers even if Ryan Miller lets in a goal. The next step is to win that way, though, to win with a concerted offensive effort (so, come on Boyes, Connolly, etc) that nets more than one goal so Ryan Miller doesn't have to be our savior, because he can't do it every game. If the Sabres can do that, along with cutting out the dumb penalties and stupid mistakes, this is their series. One can only hope, because this team is so different from previous years- they play a good style for the playoffs and they play with physicality. It's warpath time.

And, you know what, this has been bouncing around my head for a little bit...so why not?

- I've just finished Beckett's famous play Waiting For Godot, and, in lieu of actually trying to deeply understand it (in terms of the human experience and whatnot), I've instead just related it to being a sports fan, or my own particular experience. As a fan, I've been waiting, like Estragon and Vladimir, waiting for a championship, for the thing that will give validation to my allegiances. Despite the fact that we've (now I'm switching to fans in general of my teams, Bulls notwithstanding) been beaten down by continued years of abuse, we find ourselves back at that same old place, waiting for the same old thing. Sometimes we see something coming down the road, and our hope rises- but its just Pozzo and Lucky (similarly, we all could just be Lucky, strung along by our 'master'. Or maybe he's luckier than us, because he has no allegiance except for to Pozzo...sorry, I haven't sorted it all out, obviously). When things are at their worst, we contemplate suicide or just giving up, but we just can't. Every time we say that we're done following these teams, that we're done caring- (-"Shall we Go?"-"Yes, let's go"), that when the curtain is about to fall, we will not move, we will remain because we now that once Godot, the championship, what have you, comes, we will be saved.

Or we could be wasting our time. As I said, I'm not sure I understand the play, so. Sorry for getting English-Nerd-y on you.