Buffalo Bills: Almost a Dynasty! #chills

The long wait for Bills fans is over. ALMOST A DYNASTY-  A FAN STORY, a Soul-stirring Documentary About the Buffalo Bills' Super Bowl is almost here. The world premiere chronicling the unprecedented Super Bowl run of the Buffalo Bills,  will be held at the Market Arcade on September 28, 2012 at 7:00 p.m. Tickets go on sale at the box office at 5:00 p.m. Tickets will sell out, so fans are encouraged to arrive early.

Told through the eyes of the players, staff, media and the fans, ALMOST A DYNSATY - A FAN STORY, breaks the mold of sports documentary filmmaking. Director Peter Tasca's unique approach transports viewers to a time in sports history when all eyes were on the Bills and allows them to experience the same roller coaster of emotions all Bills supporters felt.  "Given the incredible impact this era had on the hearts and souls of all Bills fans I thought the film should focus on their emotions in recounting this amazing time in Bill history," says Director Tasca

Football legend and sports broadcaster, Ron Jaworski says, "The four year Super Bowl run of the Buffalo Bills will never be seen again. This film captures the events and emotions of this unbelievable feat with amazing interviews and stories. This is a must have documentary of the greatest era in Bills history."

Who: Buffalo Bills players, coaches, staff, media and of course the fans

What: World Premiere of ALMOST A DYNASTY A FAN STORY, a new film depicting the
unprecedented Super Bowl run of the Buffalo Bills

Where: Market Arcade Film & Arts Centre at 639 Main Street Buffalo, NY 14203

When: September 28, 2012 at 7:00 p.m.

Delving deep into the souls of passionate, diehard and longsuffering Buffalo Bills fans, this film is brought to life by the voices of the fans and key individuals that survived the glory and agony of the monumental Super Bowl run of the early 1990's. Filled with emotion, drama and humor, interviews are woven in with Bills clips to reveal the true meaning of this incredible era in sports history and ultimately force all Bills fans to ponder...would you trade the glory of the run for one?

Buffalo Bills Movie 'Almost A Dynasty: A Fan Story' Coming Soon

Too often, when reflecting back on the Buffalo Bills of the early 90s, the negatives all too prominently swim about at the surface.

Wide right, four straight losses, cursed; those are the phrases that most hear or remember. A litany of losing that stood as a jumping off point for almost two decades of ineptitude.

For fans outside of Western New York, the derision cast down upon you by those who discover your NFL allegiance is almost comical. Such overblown, incredulous expressions, such sincere, yet insulting condolences; I mean, how many of you Buffalo-born haven’t had someone say, “Oh, I’m so sorry” when they find out where you’re from and who you root for… season after agonizing season?

Fathers will force it on their unwilling sons, mothers on uncaring daughters, regaling them ad nauseum about those near touches with the divine, yet always lamenting their “cursed” fate throughout. For those who lived during that time in Buffalo, there is no greater symbol for their plight and their hometown than their Bills; a team so close to greatness, yet somehow denied it in the end and then mocked for it to boot, as if they were silly to even think they could.

“Almost a Dynasty: A Fan Story” (buffalobillsmovie.com) serves, then, as a reminder to those who have forgotten how great their city is and how amazing that team was (and still is) for its loyal fans.

A soon to be released 68-minute documentary from 1derful Film Productions that mixes old footage with new interviews concerning the Bills’ improbable and likely unrepeatable four year run to the Super Bowl, this short film takes a look at what was truly happening in Buffalo during that short blip in time.

1derful Films takes a decidedly fan-centric look at “The Run” using a  patchwork, tatterdemalion of interviews ranging from players (Kelly to Tasker) to locals (Dave Shatzel, owner of local favorite Coles).

Whether it be a casual fan or a broadcasting pro (Chris Berman, or course, is featured), this is a surprising and refreshing take on the often unjustly spat on Buffalo Bills and, more importantly, the inhabitants of the Queen City themselves.

In the trailer, Steve Tasker, former Special Teams monster for the Bills, is quoted as saying, “When it happens there in Buffalo, it’s not even about football, it’s about Buffalo, and it’s amazing”, and that seems to be the directors’ approach to the material. NFL Films can give you better footage of the story on the field and the cold, hard stats of their regular season dominance can be found anywhere on the Internet, but the filmmakers are giving you a different take here.

They’re telling a little known story about a time and place in sports history (yes, history), utilizing an oral tradition older than football, and letting the voices of those who watched it unfold stand right alongside the usual players and coaches soundbites, resulting in something much fuller, more rich.

It’sa modern fairy tale in their hands, with an ending not quite so dark and hopeless as many (even fans) seem to recall. “Almost a Dynasty” tries to shine the light on the hope and joy of a city whose previous claims to fame were really only a presidential assassination and a blizzard (that largely hit south, as the snow always does), looking, perhaps, to find them a piece of the respect they’ve so long deserved (but rarely asked for).

They ask, “Would you trade the glory of The Run, for one?” reminding fans of the excitement (and dumb luck) in bringing such a tremendous amount of talent to Buffalo at one time. For you sports nuts, think the Montreal Expos in 1994, as the list of talented players was just a who’s who of future Hall of Famers.

There was the consistently spectacular Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, and Andre Reed (along with Metzellars and Hull and Davis and Bebee) keeping their offense continuously in the top 5 (if not first place) in the league, outscoring at will it seemed.

Meanwhile, their defense brought in names like Bruce Smith (a nightmare squeezed into an NFL uniform), Cornelius Bennett (“Biscuit”, described in the film as Mickey Mantle in a football uniform), and Darryl Talley (the ugliest man in football and the driving soul of the team), leading a domination that matched the pace set by the offense.

See what Las Vegas really thinks of the Bills?

Last week, a minor skirmish broke out on my Twitter feed over what Las Vegas thinks of the Buffalo Bills' win total for 2012.

The problem is that too many people view an over/under wins number as a prediction of reality.
Actually, it's a prediction of money.
While some online sites started the Bills out at 6.5 wins, Las Vegas Sports Consultants opened the Bills at 7. LVSC is the world's most influential oddsmaking operation, setting lines for a vast majority of legal sports books.

To further illustrate the concept that win totals aren't based on reality, consider that LVSC has posted early point spreads for every 2012 NFL game except for Week 17 (because many teams bench their starters to get ready for the playoffs). The Bills are favored to win eight of the 15 games forecasted, and probably would be favored at home in Week 17.

So why wouldn't LVSC peg its win total for the Bills at 8.5?

I called LVSC for expert insight to share on the Press Coverage blog. The oddsmaker who answered the phone? Joel Staniszewski, a Sloan native who graduated from St. Joe's and Buffalo State.
What are the odds of that? I should have asked him, but we were too busy talking about Bills wagers.

The first thing to consider about win totals is that they're posted before the free-agency period begins. Buffalo was assigned its 7 without knowing Mario Williams and Mark Anderson were on their way.

"The number is put up based on what oddsmakers think will get the most bets on both sides," Staniszewski said. "A team like the Bills that's traditionally poor, they're going to get a lower number because oddsmakers know that people are going to bet them under.
"The only people that are going to bet them over are homers who want to bet the Bills, which are few and far between."

The perfect scenario oddsmakers shoot for is an equal amount of money on either side. That's guaranteed money because they keep half the wagers plus a built-in commission commonly referred to as "the juice."
To that end, oddsmakers must account for all those people who view the Bills as a perennial doormat and the scarcity of Bills fans who will wager big money to show their confidence.
So when the Bills do make dramatic moves to improve their defense, why doesn't the win total then shoot upwards to reflect how much better their roster is?
"You let the people who are betting determine where you're going to move the number to," Staniszewski said. "You don't want to move the number too much. You've got to be smart with the number, assuming who's going to bet what."

Subtle movement protects the sports books. Suppose the Bills opened at 6.5 wins before free agency and then they signed two of the best defensive free agents on the market, whipping fans into a frenzy and making seven victories seem super attractive.
Sports books couldn't simply switch the win total to 7.5 or 8 because bettors who previously took the over would also bet the new under. And if the Bills finished 7-9, then books would face the possibility of cashing out an inordinate amount of tickets.
Sports books, therefore, must move their lines slowly and based on the money coming in to protect themselves.

And the money -- wiseguy money, even -- has been coming in on Buffalo. The LVSC win total for Buffalo now is at 7.5 wins and creeping toward 8. Money on Buffalo also is reflected at the Bovada.lv online casino, where the Bills' odds to win the Super Bowl have shrunk from 60-to-1 to 50-to-1.
"From what I gather," Staniszewski said, "the people that have bet the over are people that would be considered the sharp bettors, the people you keep an eye on and move the line a little when they bet it as opposed to when Joe Shmoe comes in and bets it.

"Those that are really keen to it know that if the Bills' defense can get even to the middle of the pack and their offense can stay as high-powered as it was in the beginning half of the year, this team can cause some damage."

Buffalife.com: Drake earns audience’s praise

More than any genre of music, hip-hop is entrenched in a battle mentality. Every verse is seen as a chance to stake your claim to the crown, to perpetuate your own myth with a combination of skill and swagger, to make sure anybody who has to follow you will be shaking in his boots. As a result, much of rap music features artists beating on their chests with abandon, obsessively regaling us about their mic skills, bank accounts and sexual prowess. In this battle-minded milieu, Drake stands out as a compelling conscientious objector, an artist with the potential to lead the genre into subtler places. The Torontonian child actor turned rap star makes lush, introspective music with one foot in the club and the other in the confessional booth; it’s a style so moody and personal, you had to wonder if it would translate live, especially in a place as huge and unruly as Darien Lake Performing Arts Center. On Friday night, Drake’s music didn’t just translate, it transcended. From the moment the lights cut out and the stage curtains billowed down, his set felt like something special, an electrifying, sophisticated offering of rap and R&B, running a kaleidoscope of emotions. A sea of worshipful fans got ear-splittingly loud as the star took the stage, backed by an incredible live band that impeccably recreated the compelling R&B soundscapes of his 2011 opus “Take Care.” And Drake earned every decibel of his audience’s praise, rapping with passion, singing with tenderness, exhorting his followers to make some noise with from-the-gut sincerity. He’s called this the “Club Paradise” tour, something that in another artist’s hands would be just an excuse to sing about partying. But this club was rooted in humanity. As Drake delivered lines like “I’m having a good time/They just trying to ruin it,” during a stunning “Up All Night,” slow-motion shots of an owl in flight played behind him, painting a nocturnal existence as something exotic and beautiful, but also unsettling. Then came the coup de grace. After introducing “Forever” as the kind of song the DJ pumps to maximum volume, Drake unleashed a passion that had him hopping around the stage. After this, he crept behind the stage, emerging in a white T-shirt as the band played the opening strains of “Marvin’s Room.” This “Take Care” standout depicts the narrator “drunk dialing” his ex. It was a profound one-two punch, one that cut to the core of why Drake is so important, and beloved — he knows that rap music is all about ego, and that there’s nothing more egotistical than pouring your heart out to the world.

A 'Flying Wallenda' to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope

(CNN) -- Renowned high-wire walker Nik Wallenda has announced he will attempt to walk a tightrope over Niagara Falls between the United States and Canada on June 15, the first person to do so in more than a century. "This has been a dream for so long, since I was 6 years old," Wallenda said at a news conference Wednesday. Wallenda will walk a 2-inch cable attached to massive cranes on each side of the falls, about 1,800 feet across, and 200 feet up from the bottom of the gorge. The crossing should take about 30 to 40 minutes and is planned to take place in early evening. "There's something iconic about Niagara Falls," Wallenda told CNN on Thursday. "There is a history here." According to Niagara Falls Tourism, the first tightrope walker to cross the falls was Jean Francois Gravelet, better known as "The Great Blondin," in 1859. The last person to cross the gorge on a wire was James Hardy in 1896, but Wallenda said he will be the first to cross directly over the waterfall. "The other people all crossed farther down," said Wallenda. The reason it has been so long since any daredevils have attempted the dangerous feat is because Niagara Falls Park banned tightrope walking displays after Hardy's walk, according to Niagara Falls Tourism. Wallenda, 33, was determined to perform the death-defying stunt and lobbied politicians in the U.S. and Canada to get approval. "I can't tell you the amount of times I was told, 'no,' 'impossible,'" he said. "I just kept on fighting." Wallenda's first breakthrough came in September, he said, when New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed a bill giving him permission to perform the feat. At first, Canadian authorities wouldn't allow the stunt on their end, said Wallenda, but finally gave him the go-ahead in February, specifying that they would grant permission for such spectacular acts only once every generation. "This is something that people will talk about for generations to come," said Wallenda. Wallenda says he plans to train in Niagara Falls on May 12 through 22, crossing a practice wire identical in size and length to the one he will cross over the falls in June. Nik Wallenda is a seventh-generation performer in the famed circus family known as The Flying Wallendas. The clan has been doing impressive circus acrobatics and stunts since the 1700s. "My great-grandfather, Karl Wallenda, was my biggest hero in life, my biggest inspiration behind everything I do," Wallenda said in 2011 after he completed the exact 100-foot-high walk in Puerto Rico that killed his great-grandfather, who fell to his death in 1978 at age 73. Wallenda, who calls himself "the king of the high wire," has broken several world records and holds the Guinness Record for crossing the longest and highest high wire on a bicycle.

...It looks like the Bills want $200 million in stadium upgrades.

It looks like the Bills want $200 million in stadium upgrades. What they didn’t say goes without saying: Either taxpayers pony up, or the Buffalo Bills — like their namesake — saddle up.

Complicating the issue is an expiring 15-year lease and the mortality of the team’s 93-year-old owner. Ralph Wilson reportedly has no contingency plan to keep the team here after he is gone. The Bills — valued at $792 million — presumably would go to the highest bidder, who probably won’t be from around here. A likely landing spot is Los Angeles, an NFL-covetous mega-market with wannabe owner Phillip Anschutz eager to launch a stadium project.

We know what the Bills want. Here is, to my mind, what we need:

A Lock-down Lease: A $200 million rehab ought to tie the team here for at least 20 years. The Bills reportedly have hinted at a “clawback” deal that refunds — all or in part — stadium fix-up costs if they bolt. That’s not bad. But it could leave us with a gleaming white elephant for monster truck shows.

“You need an extended lease in return for improvements,” said Robert Baade, a sports economics professor at Lake Forest College in suburban Chicago. “Teams have learned how to make these arrangements less than iron-clad— like if specific revenues fall below a certain point, the deal is off. You have to watch for the loopholes.”

Of course, Wilson could craft a lease that locks the team here, with no exit doors. But the Bills are worth more somewhere else. Locking them here shaves a bit off of a still-astronomical sales price. That would be a noble gesture, given the community’s half-century of support for mostly losing teams. But that, sadly, is apparently not what will happen.

Get the Bills to Pony Up: The stratospheric value of teams, and tougher economic times, have made massive stadium subsidies less digestible for governments. More teams are kicking in — with cash or shared revenue — for new or improved playpens. The Kansas City Chiefs reportedly laid out $125 million for Arrowhead’s recent $400 million overhaul. St. Louis wants the Rams to cover half of a proposed $124 million fix-up. In Minneapolis, the Vikings are reportedly in for $427 million of a planned $1 billion stadium. The Bills should ante up.

Let Albany Carry the Weight: Dennis Gorski’s coup 14 years ago was getting the state to pay the $63 million fix-up bill. The county then forked over all game-day revenue except breathing rights. That looks to me where the bar is set for Mark Poloncarz.

Hope Another Team Lands in Los Angeles: The NFL landscape is less nomadic than it was 14 years ago. Abandoning longtime NFL cities was bad PR for the league, which now slaps a hefty “relocation fee” on stake-pullers. Beyond that, a tougher economy shaved the number of cities offering everything save firstborn children to entice an NFL team. Which — to our benefit — leaves fewer places for the Bills to land.

The anxiety-provoker is Los Angeles, which wants to pirate an existing team, has a deep-pocketed prospective owner and a stadium proposal ready to launch. The L.A. threat has been used by a handful of teams to leverage new or remade stadiums. Its presence strengthens the Bills' negotiation muscle and gives the next owner a juicy relocation option.

“The L.A. card was played in Minneapolis [to land a new stadium],” Baade said, “and I’m sure it has been whispered with Buffalo. I don’t see Toronto as a viable [relocation] alternative, but L.A. is a different story."

I know that fans are jacked up about next season. But the game with the highest stakes for Buffalo will not be played on the field. Let’s not roll over.

Berman!!!

BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Sabres have agreed to sign two prospects, forward Dan Catenacci and goalie Connor Knapp, to entry-level contracts.

Catenacci was Buffalo’s third-round pick in the 2011 draft. He agreed to a three-year deal after completing his final season with OHL Owen Sound, where he finished second on the team with 72 points in 67 games.

Knapp, listed at 6-foot-6 and 222 pounds, was Buffalo’s sixth-round pick in the 2009 draft. He agreed to a two-year deal after completing his college career at Miami, Ohio. Knapp is coming off a career-best season after going 15-9 with a 1.69 goals-against average and five shutouts.

The contracts go into effect next year. Both players are set to join Buffalo’s AHL affiliate in Rochester on amateur tryouts for the rest of this season.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.