Jets 38, Bills 7

Our dog Sally died on Wednesday. Made it through Christmas but not into 2011. I met Sally in April 2006 when she was already 8 years old. In the four and a half years I knew her, we shared a bond which was remarkable indeed. She was, among many other things, the ultimate cottage dog - she swam voluntarily, chased squirrels effectively (and worked in tandem with her partner Poppy) and liked to lie in the snow and observe and smell the forest. I will miss her but my wife Siobhan shared her life with this animal for 13 years. It was a sad day but it was time.

Patriots 34, Bills 3

Maybe not quite ready to compete on the Patriots level? Maybe a few more missing pieces than we thought last week? Maybe Ryan Fitzpatrick's fast and loose, turnover producing quarterback play isn't good enough to carry the team to the playoffs? Yeah, looks that way. One game left: at the Jets next Sunday then my 2011 season ticket invoice will arrive the day after the Pro Bowl.

The brined turkey was awesome: so flavourful and moist and just really good. And everything else went off wiothout a hitch. After my parent left, Siobhan and I and my sister, brother-in-law and neices went skating at the Harourfront rink across the street for an hour. A nice way to burn off some of the calories.

Headed to Muskoka Monday morning until probably Wednesday then to Picton for New Year's Eve.

Bills 17, Dolphins 14

Some will say that the Bills lose when we want them to win (as in the first 8 games of the season), and win when they want them to lose (once the season is lost and the draft order is being determined). I, on the other hand, always want them to win so I was happy to hear on my car radio on the way home from Muskoka that they won their 4th game of the season.

The Patriots come to Orchard Park on Boxing Day. It would be nice to finally beat them for the first time in 15 games (dating back to Opening Day 2003 - the Gregg Williams coached Bills with Takeo Spikes making an interception and Drew Bledsoe lighting it up with Eric Moulds as they won 31-0......then the last game of that season, in which New England won their second Superbowl, The Bills travelled to Foxborough and, in perfect symetry, lost 31-0 and finished 5-11).

Lots of snow at the cottage now. The skiing is excellent but the lakes still have plenty of slush under the snow in places. I've been out 10 times now this season. Winter starts Tuesday.

I'll be brining a turkey starting Tuesday then cooking it Saturday. Family and friends will be headed to our condo looking for brined turkey as I've been talking up the whole brining thing. It's all about managing expectations.

Wishing everyone (Mark, I guess I really just mean you) the Merriest possible Christmas and so on and so forth. Go Bills!

Bills 13, Browns 6

Sunday at 6am, the snow started in Muskoka. The temperature sat at minus one and stayed there as it snowed relentlessly until about 5pm and then the wind picked from the north and, as the snow continued, it started to drop. It was minus 5 by 9pm. By Monday morning, we had at least 30cm of new snow and strong north winds continued with the temperature at minus 17. Ski conditions are excellent. I went 5 times to Keyhole Lake along the Johnson Trail.

The only highlight from the Bills game I saw was the Fitzpatrick to Nelson touchdown. Fred Jackson had over 100 yards rushing. Specualtion is that actual attendance was in the range of 30-35,000. I watched some of the Steelers game and some of the Patriots game but found neither especially interesting. The Eagles/Cowboys game was much better.

This week, I am going to take action on brining a turkey for Christmas - something I have talked about for the past couple of years. First to Home Depot to get a big plastic pail.

Vikings 38, Bills 14

Time to look ahead to the draft. It seems clear that Stanford's Andrew Luck has broken away from the pack and will go first overall. Although the Carolina Panthers enjoyed an early lead against Seattle yesterday, they folded in the 3rd quarter and still have the inside track on the first pick with a 1-11 record. But with Jimmy Clausen, would they want Luck? Would Detroit want him after drafting Matthew Stafford? These teams could trade the first pick to a team looking for a franchise quarterback. Luck will go first overall but not necessarily to the team with the number one pick. In the event of a tie for worst record, the first pick is determined by way of strength of schedule: the team whose opponents have the worst combined record gets the pick - a sort of a secondary determination of ineptitude.

Would or should the Bills trade to get the right to pick Luck if they don't finish with the first pick? Is quarterback really their biggest need? Ryan Fitzpatrick has shown himself to be capable althought not spectacular. Would they be better off drafting a pass rushing defensive end or a linebacker with their first pick? Or an offensive lineman?

Luck seems like a can't miss pick and the Bills recent history of first round picks does not instill confidence: Whitner in 2006 - a solid safety but has he been worthy of the 8th overall pick? Lynch in 2007 - traded to Seattle earlier this year for a 4th round pick. McKelvin in 2008 - has shown flashes of greatness but has had a number of very poor games - including yesterday. Maybin in 2009 - an absolute and complete bust - what a joke. Spiller in 2010 - this one still mystifies me because they already had Lynch and Fred Jackson so it was fair to expect that he would be electrifying (like Adrian Peterson has been and was yesterday) but he has clearly not been (7 carries for 35 yards yesterday). I say that they should do whatever it takes to get Luck and then build around him.

I had my first ski of the season yesterday. It took 2 hours to get to Keyhole Lake and back as the coverage was sparse - 10 inches in the open areas and much less in the canopied areas and lots of downed brush which I cleared. Highway 400 south of Barrie was in bad shape - full winter driving conditions with many drivers still going the same speed as they do in July. That's what made it dangerous.

Steelers 19, Bills 16

Rewind to January 6, 1990. I'm at the AFC Divisional Playoff game at Cleveland's ancient Municipal Stadium, sitting off the left corner of the endzone. Definitely the wildest crowd I've ever seen for anything. The Bills are down 34-30 with less than 30 seconds left in the 4th quarter but they are at the Browns 20 and driving for the winning score. Jim Kelly drops back to pass and Bills back-up running back Ronnie Harmon shakes his coverage and is wide open in the left corner of the endzone, about 25 yards from my seat. I can clearly see that he has no one within 5 yards of him. Kelly notices as well and throws a perfect ball to him right on the numbers. He drops it. On the next play, Clay Matthews intercepts Kelly. Game over. Bills lose 34-30.

Steve Johnson's drop against the Steelers 21 years later was also a perfect pass and also would have won the game. Obviously, there was less riding on it as the Bills were 2-8 and Harmon's drop was in a playoff game. NFL players take countless practice reps and regularly make spectacular catches but sometimes, passes are dropped for no apparent reason. It wasn't one of those situations where the receiver is concentrating on running after he makes the catch or is aware of a defender bearing down on him. Nope. He just dropped it. After his fantastic performance last week, Johnson also managed to drop 4 other passes yesterday. Someone on the post game WGR call-in suggested that he was thinking about pulling up his jersey to reveal this week's message.

So, they remain in good position to draft their franchise quarterback with only 2 wins. I am encouraged that they have been very competitive for each of the past 5 weeks, winning twice and losing the other 3 in overtime. They have only been blown out twice this season - at Green Bay and against the Jets. Although they are a bad team, there is reason for hope.

Ronnie Harmon never played another game for the Bills after the 1989 season. It seems safe to say that Steve Johnson has a bright career ahead of him with the Bills. He just has to move on and be thankful that it wasn't a very important game.

Bills 49, Bengals 31

The game was not available on our dish at the cottage and I was interested in the Argo game anyway. It was lopsided from the beginning so I got on the mountain bike and rode on the crunchy frozen trail to Keyhole lake, had a sauna and got in the car just as the Bills game ended. The last score I had seen was 28-7 for the Bengals in the second quarter.

The post-game discussion on WGR focused on 2 themes: Is Ryan Fitzpatrick the quarterback of the future and would the Bills have been better off by continuing to lose games and locking up the first overall pick in the 2011 draft. Mike Shope and the Bulldog feel that the Bills need to draft a "franchise" quarterback and that Fitzpatrick is better suited to be back-up. I tend to agree but some callers feel that Fitzpatrick's numbers since he was given the starting job in week 3 have been outstanding - even compared to other top quarterbacks in the league. The Harvard graduate is aggressive and seems to have a good feel for the offence and Chan Gailey has been able to design game plans which allow him to succeed. He would be an excellent mentor for a first round pick at quarterback.

At 2-8, the Bills are tied with 2 other teams and Carolina holds the worst record at 1-9. Hopes of picking first overall are fading fast. Right now, they are not the worst team in the league and I'm happy about that. As a fan, I always want the team to win. How could I hope for a loss just so they can draft a certain quarterback (Andrew Luck)? The Steelers come in this week and I have sold my tickets but this game now looks much more interesting that it did a couple of weeks ago. I hope they win. What else would a real fan want? Go Bills!