lucylily's blog: "ght"

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- New Bills defensive co-ordinator Mike Pettine is still evaluating the high-priced, underachieving group he has inherited, but he saw enough from the opposing sideline last season to know "the cupboard is not bare" in Buffalo. Having spent the past four seasons with the Jets, Pettine says Friday in his introductory press conference that the talent level in Buffalo was one factor in his decision to switch teams two weeks ago. "There are some good football players here and we are excited to work with them," he said. "They are explosive athletes and playmakers and we are looking forward to building a system that is going to take advantage of that." Pettines challenge is to transform a defence that last season finished 22nd in yards allowed, while giving up 435 points, the second-most in team history. Buffalo went 6-10 before coach Chan Gailey was replaced by Doug Marrone. The defensive struggles were a surprise, considering Buffalo invested consecutive top 10 picks in defensive lineman Marcell Dareus and cornerback Stephon Gilmore and signed defensive end Mario Williams to a $100 million contract in free agency. "I cant really speak on what happened here," Pettine said. "I do know that we are going to bring a passion. We are going to work hard and the stuff we are going to do is going to highlight what we do well. There is no substitute for putting the work in, both on the field and in the classroom. I think thats where a lot of people think there is some magic schematically. It really isnt. Football is a game of a million little things. "And well try to get as many of those things taught as we can." Pettine said its too early to declare what schematic changes he may implement. Dave Wannstedt switched the Bills to four-lineman, three-linebacker base formation last season after the team spent two years deploying -- and drafting players for -- a 3-4 alignment. Under Pettine, New Yorks defence has not ranked lower than eighth in the NFL in yards allowed. And that includes a top ranking in 2009. The Jets were known for being a 3-4 team the past four seasons, but Pettine said that is a "misconception." "The cornerstone of our system is its flexibility and its multiplicity," he said. "Well be in 3-4, well be in 4-3, well be in 46. If you can draw up a front, well probably be in it." Pettine was more forthcoming about the attacking style the Bills will play. "Were going to play smart, were going to be tough, were going to be relentless," he said. "Were going to put pressure on you. Were going to force quarterbacks, were going to force offences to make very quick decisions. Were going to take our best shot at you. Were not going to be a read-and-react defence. That is not in our vocabulary." Marrone has "always been an admirer" of Pettines and that he boarded a flight to meet with him immediately after being introduced in Buffalo Jan. 21. "Having more of a background on the offensive side of the ball ... you look for someone that has caused a lot of problems for offences around the NFL. Someone that you dont ever want to play against," Marrone said. "When that was going through my mind, it kept coming around to one name." Pettine said he received several calls from mutual friends urging him to go work for Marrone. "It got to the point," Pettine said, "where I was literally answering the phone and saying if you are calling me to tell me how good of a guy Doug is and how great he is going to be to work for, Id say, I already got that. You got anything else?" Chandler Jones Womens Jersey . -- Denny Hamlin moved toward the top seed in NASCARs championship race by using a calculated late pass to win for the first time at Bristol Motor Speedway. Sebastian Vollmer Jersey .J. -- The NFL players union might challenge former Commissioner Paul Tagliabue replacing Roger Goodell as the appeals officer in the Saints bounties case. http://www.footballpatriotsteamshop.com/womens-dan-connolly-nike-jersey-ml-31.html . Wednesdays 4-hour, 25-minute marathon matinee ended with rookie Jake Diekman giving up a two-run homer to Matt Kemp in the 12th, giving the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-3 victory and snapping the Phillies modest four-game winning streak. youth Rob Gronkowski Jersey . Luol Deng and Carlos Boozer scored 21 points apiece, Noah had a triple-double and the Chicago Bulls beat the Boston Celtics 100-89 on Tuesday night. Aqib Talib Patriots Jersey . An announcement to cancel games for the rest of November is expected as early as Friday. Cancelling major events such as the Winter Classic and the All-Star game could be the leagues next move. The league cancelled regular season games from Oct.To celebrate the 100th Grey Cup, TSN presents Engraved on a Nation, a series of documentaries highlighting eight indelible moments in the history of the CFLs ultimate prize. TSN.ca producer Shane McNeil presents a feature story on how each of these stories was brought to the screen. On Dec. 9, 1956, the Canadian Football League lost five of its brightest stars when Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810 crashed into the Canadian Rockies. Gone from that ill-fated flight were five players on their way home from the annual East-West All-Star Game - Defensive end Gordon Sturtridge, centre/tight end Mel Becket, guard Mario DeMarco and offensive lineman Ray Syrnyk of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, as well as Winnipeg Blue Bombers offensive guard Calvin Jones. The Roughriders would lose a former Western Most Outstanding Canadian in Sturtridge, while the names DeMarco and Becket – both All-Stars as well - currently adorn the CFLs trophy for Best West Division Lineman. The team would also lose a native Saskatoon son in Syrnyk. While the crash would send an immediate shockwave through the CFL - especially in Saskatchewan - the loss of Jones is still a matter of heartfelt remembrance for many across the football world. Jones, meanwhile, was such a standout with the University of Iowa that he became the first African-American athlete to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated. While he would only play one season in the CFL, he would represent the West in the annual All-Star festivities. One current CFLer in particular has an emotional connection to Jones death: Calgary Stampeders guard Edwin "Boomer" Harrison, Jones grandson. Harrisons search to learn more about his grandfather and repair his family in memory of the College Football Hall-of-Famer is the focus of Paul Cowans The Crash of Flight 810, the latest in TSNs Engraved on a Nation documentary series. Born of a brief College romance, Edwin Harrison Sr. never knew his father before his death. In light of this, the search into the truth behind Joness death was a voyage of reparation and reconciliation for the younger Harrison - as well as his entire family. Cowan, an Oscar-nominated filmmaker, followed Harrisons search and soon witnessed the reunification of a passionate football family. "To this day, family is No. 1, but football is No. 2," Cowan said of the Harrisons, "and yet there was this one huge black hole which sort of belied the fact that football was so important to them and that hole was Calvin Jones." An Outland Trophy winner as the best offensive lineman in U.S. college football, Jones started his pro career north of thhe 49th after falling to the fifth round of the 1956 NFL Draft.dddddddddddd From there, his talent would outshine the opinions of NFL scouts. "Calvin was no more a fifth-round [pick] than I am a rocket scientist," Jones high school friend Frank Gilliam said in the documentary. The on-field fraternity of football is a parallel current throughout Harrisons journey in The Crash of Flight 810. Cowan spoke of Gilliams memories and inability to speak about Jones without remembering the crash. "There was a lot of pain and there was a lot of – I think – catharsis as a result of going through this," he said. "But again you realize what a family a football team is." "For Frank, I dont know if he could have been any closer to Calvin Jones if Calvin had been his biological brother." The immediate impact of the crash unified the league and its fans in grief. Again, its a relationship that Cowan recognizes as familial. "In a sense I would say it was even more devastating on the towns that had CFL teams, because back then – from everything Ive learned and everything Ive read – your CFL team in your town was part of your family," he said. Harrisons story enabled Cowan to discover the lasting impact the crash had on one family and to use it as a mirror to the journey towards acceptance and recovery from a terrible tragedy that affected so many CFL fans in the winter of 1956. Enabling his father to finally meet Jones family after a lifetime of not knowing them allowed Harrison to close his own quest for knowledge in both his familys past as well as the football legacy that allowed him to thrive as a CFL player. Harrisons journey took him from the sidelines of McMahon Stadium to Houston, where a finally reunified Jones-Harrison clan would sit down to dinner to discuss the past and finally get to know one another. The journey would continue for Harrison to Jones final resting place at the base of Mt. Slesse. The pilgrimage helped Harrison heal the wounds left from not knowing half his family that his father had nursed for decades. "I think that was the biggest catharsis for Boomer: to watch his Dad finally get this skeleton out of the closet," Cowan said. "I think going up the mountain was kind of a fitting end to it all, but really the catharsis came when Boomer realized: My Dad has found his family." The tragic loss of five players is a wound from which the family that is the CFL has taken many years to recover. Few could have imagined that 56 years after the crash, there was still more healing to be done. ' ' '