Totally Random
It didn’t involve an overseas flight to London, but, on Sunday, the NFL goes international again when the Buffalo Bills play the Miami Dolphins in Toronto.
This is technically a home game for the Bills, but fans in Buffalo are fearful the team is testing the waters for a potential move to the nearby Canadian city.
Bills owner Ralph Wilson told USA Today that the game, which attaches North America’s No. 5 media market to one of the NFL’s smallest, “is one step in keeping the team” in Buffalo.
One Bills follower, Rich Keaton, compared the logic to telling your wife you’ll spend six days a week with her and the seventh with a richer woman in Toronto and that “honey, this is good for our marriage.”
Trivia time
How many regular-season NFL games have been played outside the United States?
Backfields in motion
Wilson likes to point out that of the original eight American Football League franchises, only the Bills and Denver Broncos have not moved in some form. The Chargers began life in Los Angeles in 1960, then moved to San Diego the next season.
The Raiders have bounced from Oakland to Los Angeles then back to Oakland.
The Kansas City Chiefs were originally the Dallas Texans.
The Tennessee Titans were originally the Houston Oilers.
The New York Jets were originally known as the Titans and played their home games in New York. Today, they share a stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., with the Giants.
The New England Patriots, originally the Boston Patriots, moved their home games from Boston to Foxborough in 1971.
Firing line
For Barry Melrose, a 16-game stint as coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning amounted to little more than a short sabbatical from his analyst’s gig at ESPN. Shortly after being dismissed by the Lightning, Melrose agreed to return to ESPN; he'll resume his analyst duties on Jan. 1.
“I look forward to analyzing people being fired rather than being the guy fired,” he said.
Drop this, Braylon
From reader Sanford Aaronson of Los Angeles: “Braylon Edwards, the wide receiver for the Cleveland Browns, has dropped [more than] 16 balls thrown to him this season. I think that an appropriate honor for him, and one that he is experienced in, would be to go to New York City on New Year's Eve and drop the ball there.”
Trivia answer
Three. The NFL played regular-season games in Mexico City in 2005 and London in 2007 and 2008.
And finally
From ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel: " 'Britney Spears' were the most-searched words of the year on Yahoo!, followed by 'World Wrestling Federation,' and in third place, 'Barack Obama.'
"I think the lesson here is that Americans are not responsible enough to be using computers."
-- Mike Penner
Photo: Buffalo Bills backup quarterback J.P. Losman (7) might be polling the offense to see who wants to enter the witness protection program and move to Toronto. Credit: Luc Leclerc / US Presswire
