Scorpion42
03-10-2009, 06:11 PM
Terrell Owens’ glitz and glamour may not play well in Buffalo
By JIM REEVES
revo@star-telegram.com
For what it’s worth, Terrell Owens is the biggest thing to hit Buffalo since Drew Bledsoe. AP/James P. McCoy via The Buffalo News
AP/James P. McCoy via The Buffalo News
I keep imagining walking into The Original Anchor Bar in Buffalo and finding Terrell Owens sitting over at one corner of the counter, chowing down on a big platter of fire alarm hot wings, with a tall stein of Iroquois beer at his elbow.
You’re right, I have one heck of an imagination.
There’s just something not quite right about that picture.
But then, there’s just something not quite right about T.O. in Buffalo, period.
Buffalo is rolled-up sleeves on muscular forearms, 5 o’clock shadow by 9 in the morning and shot-and-a-beer happy hours starting when it gets dark — at 4 in the afternoon. It’s steel and snow shovels, blue-collar workers and the grit to survive when spring doesn’t dare poke its nose out of bed until late May.
T.O. is ... well, T.O. All glitz and glamour, flash and dash, diamonds and cash.
Strange as it may sound, for a year this could be a match made in ... well, better not go there.
But a year is all I give this unholy union. I have a feeling that’s as long as T.O. will be able to stand Buffalo, and maybe longer than Buffalo will be able to stand him.
On the other hand, Buffalo needs a hero. It needs somebody, or something, to make people care about the Bills again after nine long years without a postseason appearance.
Into the breach steps ... a man on a mission, a wide receiver with the ability to ... not leap over tall buildings, or stop a speeding train, but a backstabbing locker-room lawyer capable of tearing a team apart with his bare tongue.
Or of making a fading, forgotten team relevant again.
If I had to pick one or the other, I’d probably bet on the latter, though that challenge may be beyond even T.O.’s fading powers.
On a one-year deal, T.O. will do his best to prove to the Cowboys and the rest of the NFL that he’s still a game-breaker, capable of leading a team to the playoffs. Remember, his first years at both Philadelphia and Dallas were productive and relatively uneventful. He has more reason than ever to be on his best behavior in Buffalo if he wants another NFL contract in 2010.
But I really don’t care much about T.O. anymore. He can’t hurt the Cowboys now, so we can move on. But I do happen to like Buffalo, not because I’m tough enough to live there, for heaven’s sake, but because it’s a crusty, spit-in-your-eye small town kind of place trying to hang onto a spot in an ever-changing NFL.
The prevailing attitude in Buffalo about the T.O. acquisition, if I’m reading it right, is simple: What do we have to lose?
As Buffalo News Bills beat writer Allen Wilson blogged, "Why would the Bills sign wide receiving diva Terrell Owens? It’s simple. They are desperate ... the Bills are in a must-win mode ... They are only on the hook for one year, so if he becomes a locker-room cancer, they will be rid of him after the season. If he helps the Bills get to the playoffs, then the $6.5 million will be money well spent."
The Bills are wading into this with eyes open. They know the risks and they know the potential rewards. The analysts there are right. They have little to lose and, possibly, much to gain.
Owens gives the Bills a second wide-receiving threat who must draw defensive attention. At 35, Owens’ 1,052 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns last season were more than Josh Reed, Roscoe Parrish, James Hardy and Steve Johnson combined.
Owens, even though cornerbacks have learned they can jam him at the line of scrimmage, will immediately take some of the pressure off young Bills wideout Lee Evans, their top receiver. The Bills will look to Owens to become a possession receiver, despite the fact that he was second in the league with 33 dropped passes in 2008.
One of Owens’ first questions in Buffalo was how often young quarterback Trent Edwards was sacked last season. Told it was 23 (24 overall), Owens was happy (Cowboys quarterbacks were sacked 31 times in 2008).
"If [Green] is getting protection, we’re going to get open," Owens told Buffalo reporters.
But Owens brings something to the table for the Bills beyond his on-field production. He brings excitement. He brings unique glamour and media attention. He brings something the team can sell to its fans. This is the biggest free-agent signing in Buffalo since quarterback Drew Bledsoe in 2002. There’s a reason the entire Bills marketing staff attended his introductory press conference, grinning like it was Christmas in March.
There’s already been speculation about where Owens will throw his annual celebrity birthday party in Buffalo, and whether any stars will show up there in the middle of December. Someone suggested the Buffalo Convention Center. My guess is that Owens will somehow manage to stage his next birthday bash in Manhattan, one way or the other.
Face it, Buffalo just isn’t big enough for T.O.
As for the fans, a poll in the News showed 68 percent approved of the signing.
"How would this signing be a colossal mistake if the Bills finished with a losing record," wrote one commenter on Wilson’s blog. "Are you suggesting they wouldn’t finish with a losing record without him? Be serious."
Then there was the fan who wrote, "The one thing we always had to hang on to as Buffalo fans and Buffalonians was our dignity. I guess we can add that to the list of losses."
Dignity? Any Cowboys fans remember what that resembles?
In Buffalo, they’ve survived blizzards, the Music City Miracle, Wade Phillips and losing four Super Bowls. They can survive a year with Terrell Owens.
Just hunker down with a few Iroquois and a platter of hot wings. And make ’em really hot.
Jim Reeves, 817-390-7760
:hunter:
By JIM REEVES
revo@star-telegram.com
For what it’s worth, Terrell Owens is the biggest thing to hit Buffalo since Drew Bledsoe. AP/James P. McCoy via The Buffalo News
AP/James P. McCoy via The Buffalo News
I keep imagining walking into The Original Anchor Bar in Buffalo and finding Terrell Owens sitting over at one corner of the counter, chowing down on a big platter of fire alarm hot wings, with a tall stein of Iroquois beer at his elbow.
You’re right, I have one heck of an imagination.
There’s just something not quite right about that picture.
But then, there’s just something not quite right about T.O. in Buffalo, period.
Buffalo is rolled-up sleeves on muscular forearms, 5 o’clock shadow by 9 in the morning and shot-and-a-beer happy hours starting when it gets dark — at 4 in the afternoon. It’s steel and snow shovels, blue-collar workers and the grit to survive when spring doesn’t dare poke its nose out of bed until late May.
T.O. is ... well, T.O. All glitz and glamour, flash and dash, diamonds and cash.
Strange as it may sound, for a year this could be a match made in ... well, better not go there.
But a year is all I give this unholy union. I have a feeling that’s as long as T.O. will be able to stand Buffalo, and maybe longer than Buffalo will be able to stand him.
On the other hand, Buffalo needs a hero. It needs somebody, or something, to make people care about the Bills again after nine long years without a postseason appearance.
Into the breach steps ... a man on a mission, a wide receiver with the ability to ... not leap over tall buildings, or stop a speeding train, but a backstabbing locker-room lawyer capable of tearing a team apart with his bare tongue.
Or of making a fading, forgotten team relevant again.
If I had to pick one or the other, I’d probably bet on the latter, though that challenge may be beyond even T.O.’s fading powers.
On a one-year deal, T.O. will do his best to prove to the Cowboys and the rest of the NFL that he’s still a game-breaker, capable of leading a team to the playoffs. Remember, his first years at both Philadelphia and Dallas were productive and relatively uneventful. He has more reason than ever to be on his best behavior in Buffalo if he wants another NFL contract in 2010.
But I really don’t care much about T.O. anymore. He can’t hurt the Cowboys now, so we can move on. But I do happen to like Buffalo, not because I’m tough enough to live there, for heaven’s sake, but because it’s a crusty, spit-in-your-eye small town kind of place trying to hang onto a spot in an ever-changing NFL.
The prevailing attitude in Buffalo about the T.O. acquisition, if I’m reading it right, is simple: What do we have to lose?
As Buffalo News Bills beat writer Allen Wilson blogged, "Why would the Bills sign wide receiving diva Terrell Owens? It’s simple. They are desperate ... the Bills are in a must-win mode ... They are only on the hook for one year, so if he becomes a locker-room cancer, they will be rid of him after the season. If he helps the Bills get to the playoffs, then the $6.5 million will be money well spent."
The Bills are wading into this with eyes open. They know the risks and they know the potential rewards. The analysts there are right. They have little to lose and, possibly, much to gain.
Owens gives the Bills a second wide-receiving threat who must draw defensive attention. At 35, Owens’ 1,052 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns last season were more than Josh Reed, Roscoe Parrish, James Hardy and Steve Johnson combined.
Owens, even though cornerbacks have learned they can jam him at the line of scrimmage, will immediately take some of the pressure off young Bills wideout Lee Evans, their top receiver. The Bills will look to Owens to become a possession receiver, despite the fact that he was second in the league with 33 dropped passes in 2008.
One of Owens’ first questions in Buffalo was how often young quarterback Trent Edwards was sacked last season. Told it was 23 (24 overall), Owens was happy (Cowboys quarterbacks were sacked 31 times in 2008).
"If [Green] is getting protection, we’re going to get open," Owens told Buffalo reporters.
But Owens brings something to the table for the Bills beyond his on-field production. He brings excitement. He brings unique glamour and media attention. He brings something the team can sell to its fans. This is the biggest free-agent signing in Buffalo since quarterback Drew Bledsoe in 2002. There’s a reason the entire Bills marketing staff attended his introductory press conference, grinning like it was Christmas in March.
There’s already been speculation about where Owens will throw his annual celebrity birthday party in Buffalo, and whether any stars will show up there in the middle of December. Someone suggested the Buffalo Convention Center. My guess is that Owens will somehow manage to stage his next birthday bash in Manhattan, one way or the other.
Face it, Buffalo just isn’t big enough for T.O.
As for the fans, a poll in the News showed 68 percent approved of the signing.
"How would this signing be a colossal mistake if the Bills finished with a losing record," wrote one commenter on Wilson’s blog. "Are you suggesting they wouldn’t finish with a losing record without him? Be serious."
Then there was the fan who wrote, "The one thing we always had to hang on to as Buffalo fans and Buffalonians was our dignity. I guess we can add that to the list of losses."
Dignity? Any Cowboys fans remember what that resembles?
In Buffalo, they’ve survived blizzards, the Music City Miracle, Wade Phillips and losing four Super Bowls. They can survive a year with Terrell Owens.
Just hunker down with a few Iroquois and a platter of hot wings. And make ’em really hot.
Jim Reeves, 817-390-7760
:hunter: