Published: November 30, 2008 10:34 pm            

SCHMITT: Anything else we can do with Sundays?

ORCHARD PARK — On a chilly morning in December of 1989, I woke up early to a phone call from a co-worker who said he had extra tickets for the Bills-Saints game at then-Rich Stadium, explaining they were mine for the taking since his parents didn’t want to sit in the snow to watch an unproven football team.

I called one of my best buddies, a guy who’d never gone to a game live, and insisted he bundle in his warmest gear — we were going to scream our lungs out while willing the Bills into the playoffs.

Through what my memory has surely embellished into a blizzard, the Saints used a never-was quarterback named John Fourcade to hang an ugly 22-19 loss on the Bills.

As we drove home from Rich, my buddy gave me a clear message — he had better ways to spend his Sundays than watching a bad football team in crummy weather.

He now lives in Phoenix.

Here’s hoping nobody at Ralph Wilson Stadium on Sunday was a borderline fan deciding whether or not to become a lifelong Bills believer.

If so, they’ll look back on Sunday’s game as the day they stopped attending live games — partly because of the weather, and partly because of the football.

Chances are the rain and chill they’ll recall will be worse than the light drizzle they had to endure.

They will not, however, be able to over-exaggerate how bad the football was.

Here are just a few of the random thoughts collected while thinking I got ripped off by Sunday’s 10-3 stinker — and I sit in a heated press box for free:

• At this point, it appears James Hardy is actively trying to stay off the field. He can’t get separation. He can’t catch it when it comes his way.

And on Sunday, he couldn’t even block without taking a huge penalty on what appeared to be a big run by Freddy Jackson.

The worst part is Jackson was already by Hardy when he committed the sin of pushing a defender in the back. Without the last infraction, chances are he wouldn’t have been flagged.

Maybe there will be a Leodis McKelvin-like resurgence from Hardy in the final few games. I don’t see it.

• Speaking of McKelvin, he got burned on the touchdown, but at least he appears to be actively trying to harass wide receivers at the line of scrimmage.

Meanwhile, “lockdown corner” Terrence McGee is still too far off wideouts, and it showed during third-and-longs in the first quarter. By the time guys are making their breaks, McGee is just starting to get his legs churning.

• Before he left with an injury to his groin, Edwards continued to look only to the guys on the inside. While it’s great he feels comfortable with Josh Reed, Edwards needs to get in rhythm with other guys, especially those on the outside.

Let me tell you what you don’t see on TV — three receivers going into the pattern, one decoy trying to clear out a corner, and four other defensive backs preying on the two receivers who break about eight yards downfield.

As long as they refuse to throw long, the safeties will continue to help on the short routes in the middle of the field.

• As for Edwards, he tried to give center Duke Preston the ball after two of his running touchdowns in recent weeks.

He should have taken the ball back from Preston on Sunday.

During what can only be considered a horrible series for a guy who plays a typically unnoticed position, Preston tried to stop the Bills himself at the end of the first half.

First, he ran into Trent Edwards while the QB was trying to run, rather than laying a block on the guy who was trying to tackle Edwards.

Then he pulled the oh-so-rare trick of going offsides on himself when he double-clutched on a snap.

They say the worst sin is a nose tackle jumping offsides because he’s right above the ball.

Preston was snapping the ball.

Maybe it’s me. Maybe I’m angry because this team fooled me, too.

But performances like Sunday’s will make it hard for anyone to go back to Ralph Wilson Stadium for a bit.

Regardless of the weather.

Contact sports editor Tim Schmitt at 282-2311, ext. 2266.

        

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