The sustained relevance of Sprinsteen and sustained irrelevance of the Bills

                “We’re a band that you can’t separate from the Jersey shore – still basically a glorified bar band . . . at your service.”

-                                       Bruce Springsteen, between songs at the Blue Cross Arena, Halloween night

Five days after The Boss rocked the old, concrete War Memorial in Rochester his music continues to play over and over again in my head. Especially the poignant songs about the storm-ravaged state that shaped the artist and the man.

I can hear Springsteen belting out Atlantic City and that haunting lyric, “maybe everything that dies some day comes back.” And as I listen, I can see the desperation on the faces of the thousands whose lives have been forever changed by Superstorm Sandy.

I can hear the sadness in Bruce’s voice – and the eternal optimism. I couldn’t help but fight back tears when he sang “My City of Ruins.” He told us Halloween night that he originally wrote that soulful song about Asbury Park 25 years ago, in hopes that his adopted home town would one day bounce back from urban blight. “And we are very proud to say over the past decade, it has risen up and recovered in a way I wasn’t ever sure I’d see in my lifetime,’’ he said into his mic. “And it WILL do so again.”

I first became familiar with “My City of Ruins” from Bruce’s “Rising” album, which was released about a year after 9/11. When I hear the song, I immediately think of New York City coming back after the devastation of the terrorist attacks. I think of people’s amazing resiliency and perseverance in times of tragedy.

Springsteen was at the top of his game in Rochester. During the three-hour, 26-song concert, he blended solemnity with impish fun and some of the most compelling music ever written to produce – as he always does – a performance that continues to resonate long after the last chord has been struck.

I first saw Bruce and the E-Street Band perform in another old, concrete War Memorial – this one in Utica – back in 1978.

Maybe we ain’t that young any more, but three-and-a-half decades later the Boss of that glorified bar band from Jersey still knows how to evoke deep, lasting emotions through his music and his words. And those lyrics and melodies are even more relevant, after the catastrophe of Superstorm Sandy.

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Talk about difficult segues, I’m going to try to transition from the sustained relevance of Bruce to the sustained irrelevance of the Buffalo Bills. You can read a more detailed account of my thoughts about yesterday’s 21-9 loss to the Houston Texans at WROC-TV’s website, www.rochesterhomepage.net, but here’s my take in a nutshell: After a dozen seasons without a playoff appearance, moral victories just don’t cut it anymore for Bills fans.

 Buffalo seems headed to yet another 6-10, 5-11, 4-12 – take your pick – season.

 Chan Gailey, sadly, is 13-27, and looks very much like a clone of Gregg Williams, Mike Mularkey, Dick Jauron – take your pick.

 Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick doesn’t have the arm to get it done, and general manager Buddy Nix appears to be striking out more than a post-season A-Rod when it comes to draft picks. Sadly, it appears that it will all have to be blown up again.

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If Upstate New York sports fans are looking for something they can count on, head to the Carrier Dome again this winter to watch the SU basketball team. Despite losing three players to the NBA draft and another significant starter, the Orange are reloading rather than rebuilding.

 I think sophomore point guard Michael Carter-Williams is going to have a break-out year and I think senior guard Brandon Triche is going to become a major scorer, now that he no longer has to defer to upperclassmen.

 I’m not saying Syracuse will match last season’s 34-3 record and Elite Eight appearance, but they will be very good and very entertaining again.  

If Bills have to blow things up again, they should ask Bill Polian to come to their rescue

                I had the opportunity to chat with Bill Polian last week for a column I was writing about him for Bills Digest, and during our conversation I asked the architect of those great Bills teams of the late 1980s, early ’90s if he would consider becoming an NFL general manager again. He said he would if the situation were right.

                “I know how to win in the National Football League,’’ said Polian, a six-time NFL Executive of the Year who was inducted onto the Ralph Wilson Stadium Wall of Fame Sunday. “But it requires the kind of commitment Mr. Wilson made with the Bills and that Jim Irsay made with the Indianapolis Colts. Those situations don’t come along every day.”

                So, you know where I was going with my next question. Would Buffalo’s most famous Bill since Buffalo Bill be interested in leaving his ESPN analyst job and rebuilding the Bills as he did back in the mid-1980s?

                “Look, everybody knows how I feel about Buffalo,’’ Polian said, demonstrating some pretty nifty verbal dance steps. “That’s no secret. I’m a Buffalo guy. I loved my time there. I always love coming back. That’s not an issue. But that’s Mr. Wilson’s call, not mine. It’s very difficult for me to even talk about that. And I think the group that’s in there now is doing a nice job. I can now root for teams, and, so, I’m rooting for the Bills and I hope they do well.”

                I understand his diplomacy completely. During a week when his old employer was honoring the work he did in transforming a franchise that had lost 28 of 32 games before he became GM into perennial Super Bowl participants, the timing was not right to be campaigning for a job.

                So, I’ll do the campaigning for him – as I have done before.

                Unless the Bills make some unbelievable about-face in the second half of the season, there’s a good likelihood that things will have to be blown up again. And, if that’s the case, why not go back to the future? Why not hire the man with the Midas touch who engineered the golden era of Bills and Colts football? A guy whose teams have made 17 playoff trips in his 23 seasons as GM? A guy named Bill Polian?

                In my 28 seasons of covering the NFL, I’ve never seen a better judge of football talent. (Don’t forget, this also is a man who had the Carolina Panthers in the NFC championship game in just their second year of existence.) Polian is closing in on 70, but, as his astute comments on ESPN attest, he remains as sharp as ever, and he actually may have an even better handle on the entire league because he no longer is involved with one team.

                Hey, maybe Buddy Nix and Chan Gailey will surprise us all and turn this thing around. I hope they do. But I really don’t see that happening.

                A bold move will be required. A move that welcomes Bill Polian back to Buffalo.  

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               You can read more of my musings about the Bills at WROC-TV's webpage - www.rochesterhomepage.net. Click on sports, then my column icon. Thanks.
 

                

Musings on the Bills dramatically bizarre win and the Yankees inability to hit

               The Bills kept their season alive by overcoming their coach’s lame-brained decision to throw the ball out of the Wildcat formation instead of milking the clock near the end of regulation. And, yes, despite the ugliness of the game and the offensively challenged opponent, it was a good win on the road against an Arizona Cardinals team that had won eight-straight in Phoenix.

               

                But the Bills are going to have to show me a lot more to remove the stench of their recent losses and make me think they are the legitimate playoff contenders I anticipated heading into the season.

               

               Their 3-3 record may put them in a four-way tie for first in the muddled AFC East, but the lopsided nature of their three losses against good teams (Patriots, 49ers and Jets) and their three wins vs. average-to-mediocre teams (Chiefs, Browns and Cardinals) leaves me underwhelmed.

              

               Ryan Fitzpatrick’s weak and inaccurate arm worry me and I want to see Mario Williams and the “upgraded” defense shut down a quality offense.

             

               The Bills absolutely have to win Sunday’s home game vs. a Tennessee team that will be well-rested after beating the Pittsburgh Steelers Thursday night.

            

                Buffalo’s reputation took a pounding in the three routs they suffered. It’s going to take a win this week and respectable showings the following two weeks on the road vs. Houston and New England before I’ll be mentioning the P-word again. (You can read more of my takes on the Bills at WROC-TV’s website – www.rochesterhomepage.net )

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                Bronx Bombers? More like Hitless Wonders. Yes, A-Rod is the lightning rod, with his numerous swings-and-misses. But he’s had plenty of company in the whiff department. Curtis Granderson, Nick Swisher and Robinson Cano all have looked as helpless as pitchers at-bat. It’s almost as if some virus has spread through the lineup.

            

                Cano has been the worst of the bunch, setting a single post-season record for futility by going 0-for-26. If you are looking for a silver lining – and this is a major-league stretch - “Don’t-Ya-Know” Cano still has a long way to go to catch Dan Wilson, the former Seattle catcher who went hitless in 42 consecutive postseason at-bats from 1995-2000.

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                The umps, as Yankee skipper Joe Girardi complained, did blow some calls in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series vs. Detroit. But even if there had been replay to reverse the errors, the Yankees still would have lost 1-0 because they’ve forgotten how to hit. New York has been shut out in 18 of the past 19 innings and things figure only to get worse with Tigers ace Justin Verlander scheduled to pitch in Game 3.

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                It was sad to see Derek Jeter’s post-season come to a premature end the other night when he fractured his ankle diving for a ball. As a friend said, “This is my generation’s DiMaggio or Mantle being helped off the field.” As someone who witnessed numerous injuries to Mantle back in the day I understood completely.

            

                The bad break conjured memories of the last time Jeter suffered a serious injury. I was in Toronto for the 2003 season opener when he separated his shoulder in a collision with a Blue Jays catcher who was hustling to cover third. Then-Yankees manager Joe Torre told us afterward that Jeter informed him he would be back in the lineup the next night. But his body disagreed and the Captain wound up missing six weeks.

      I was all set to write a column that night about the large Japanese media entourage following new Yankee slugger Hideki Matsui’s every move, but I scrapped that column the instant Jeter was injured.

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                Last night marked the first time since the 1981 World Series that neither Jeter nor reliever Mariano Rivera were a part of an active Yankees post-season roster. Another sign that time is beginning to catch up with the Yankees and that the end to a marvelous era is drawing nearer.

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                If there’s anyone happy about Jeter’s injury it’s probably Pete Rose. Baseball’s Hit King predicted a few days ago that Jeter would never break his record. Considering Jeter is 38 and 900 hits shy, he would have been right even if the Yankees shortstop didn’t fracture his ankle.

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                Regardless if the St. Louis Cardinals or San Francisco Giants advance to the World Series, they’ll tie the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers for most National League pennants with 18.

                          

                 

Bills, Syracuse need to take advantage of winnable games this weekend

                In my column for WROC-TV’s web site (www.rochesterhomepage.net) before the regular season kicked off last Sunday, I listed six things that needed to go right in order for Buffalo to end its playoff famine.

                Amazingly, the Bills wound up seeing things go wrong in five of the categories during their opener against the Jets, which explains why they were squashed and why many Buffalo fans are ready to jump off the third deck of the Ralph without a parachute or bunge cord.

                One game does not a season make, but there is major cause for concern.

                The Meadowlands Meltdown raised once more legitimate concerns about Ryan Fitzpatrick’s arm strength and decision-making. Those three interceptions were abominations, and a painful reminder of what we witnessed during last year’s second-half swoon. Fitz need not be a Pro Bowler for this team to win, but neither can he be the interception machine who led the Bills to just one victory in their final nine games in 2011. Consistency still eludes him despite all the off-season work on his mechanics, and you begin to wonder if what we see is what we’re going to continue to get – mediocrity.

                Of greater concern was the play of the supposedly revamped defense – specifically Not-So-Super Mario Williams, who managed just one tackle. If this guy doesn’t live up to the hype that comes with being the most handsomely rewarded defensive player in NFL history, Buffalo is in serious trouble.

                The injury bug already has taken its toll and a unit that appeared to be a strength going into the season – special teams – was burned for a long touchdown return vs. the Jets.

                And, boom, just like that, all the optimism that had been building for six months was gone.

                Fortunately, the Bills have two upcoming games that give them a chance to get well soon. I really believe they will give a more spirited effort in their home opener Sunday against a Kansas City Chiefs team that also was spanked in its opener. I expect better performances from Fitz and Williams. And I would hope that the Bills corners tighten their coverage and stop treating every receiver as if he were Usain Bolt sprinting for the gold.

                I foresee a win over the Chiefs, followed by a win in Cleveland against the Browns next Sunday.

                At least, that’s what better happen, or you can kiss this season goodbye because a home game against New England and road contests at San Francisco and Arizona follow, and the Bills could be looking at a start reminiscent of two years ago.

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                 Speaking of teams that need a win . . . Syracuse returns home to play Stony Brook in the Carrier Dome tomorrow. You might figure that a team that went toe-to-toe with the nation’s second-ranked team last week should have an easy time against an FCS (1AA) school. But there’s not a huge difference between a mediocre Division I football program and a good FCS football program. And if you don’t believe me, just ask Colorado, which lost to Sacramento State, or Colorado State, which fell to North Dakota State. The moral of this story is that the Orange better come to play or it could be looking at an 0-3 record.