Sully on Sports

Live Chat With Jerry Sullivan

Welcome back to the chat. Let's get it going. No football game this week. I'm happy with that. Going to Sabres tonight.Thanks for stopping by and chatting. See you next week.

Kern Still Unbeaten

Brett Kern, the punting pride of Grand Island, achieved a rare distinction last week. Kern was waived by the Denver Broncos, who were unbeaten at the time, and picked up by the Tennesee Titans, who were winless.

Kern, a second-year pro out of Toledo, was 10th in the NFL in punting average (46.1 yards) when Denver let him go. Josh McDaniels, the rookie Broncos coach, didn't care for Kern's direction punting. Kern had punted into the end zone six times in 27 kicks. He had a long, low punt returned 77 yards for a touchdown by San Diego's Darren Sproles.

The Broncos signed Mitch Berger, a 37-year-old veteran, after waiving Kern. Berger punted eight times in his debut against Baltimore last Sunday and had a net average of 36.3. He put only one punt inside the 20-yard line.

Kern had a terrific game in his first outing with Tennessee. He dropped three of his four punts inside the Jacksonville 20-yard line and finished with a 43.3 net average for the day -- the third-best in the NFL last weekend.

Oh, the Broncos lost for the first time Sunday. Tennessee won for the first time. So, unlike his former team, Kern is still unbeaten this year.

Dust Him

A quick note on tonight's sixth game of the World Series. If the Yankees have any pride, they will take a shot at Chase Utley in his first time up. The Phillies have been throwing at Alex Rodriguez in the Series. I don't think there's any question about that. At some point, you need to retaliate. I don't care if it is the World Series. Apparently, the Phils don't mind putting A-Rod on base. Utley has five home runs in the Series. So what if they put him on first base? Plus, an early jolt of excitement could lift the Yankee Stadium fans and alleviate any of the lingering tension about letting the Phillies hang around in the Series.

Marty's Back in Town

Taking full advantage of the Bills' bye week, I hustled by HSBC Arena late this morning to interview Marty Biron, the effusive former Sabres goalie. Let me tell you, it was a lot more satisfying than listening to Dick Jauron's soporific weekly media address at One Bills Drive.

Biron was as engaging as ever, perhaps even more so. He shut out the Sabres on Saturday night. He was given a standing ovation when he relieved Dwayne Roloson here last month. His wife, Anne Marie, is due with their fourth child. Biron found out just last night that the baby will be a girl, his third.

Biron seemed happy to see me. But he informed the young Islanders reporter, Katie Strang, that I was the only reporter he ever had a fight with. I have no specific recollection of any fight. I'm sure it was a mild disagreement, which would qualify as a fight by Marty's standards. He told me the spat occurred during an especially bad stretch by the Sabres, when I asked him, "Are you trying to get Lindy fired?"

So naturally, when the real questioning began, I asked Biron, "You're 7-2-1 against the Sabres since leaving. Are you trying to get Lindy fired?"

Biron was asked if he'd ever had a standing ovation before the one he got in HSBC Arena last month when he relieved Dwayne Roloson in net. His said the only other time was in his first preseason game with the Sabres. 

""But it was more for Dominik Hasek coming out," Biron said. "He made about 12 saves on his behind, with his skates up in the air. I skated on the ice and everybody cheered. I took it for me, but it was more for Dominik coming out. That was the only other time that ever happened.''

 

Bills vs. Texans

Greetings from Ralph Wilson Stadium, where the Bills look to make it three wins in a row today against the Houston Texans. No real surprises in the inactives. None of the injured guy has made a stunning return. Donte Whitner and Bryan Scott are both out, which means Jairus Byrd and George Wilson will continue to man the safety spots. Both are on two-game interception streaks, but the run defense is weaker with those two at the safeties.

Corey McIntyre is out, which is a concern. The Bills have done more running with the fullback the last two weeks, and he's the only fullback. Maybe we'll see more of Marshawn Lynch and Fred Jackson together. Jonathan Scott is out at right tackle, which means Jamon Meredith starts again. Tight end Shawn Nelson is inactive. Kyle Williams is out, so his consecutive games started streak ends at 50 games.

The Texans have been a tremendous passing team, especially on the road. But with the Bills hurting at safety and defensive tackle, I wouldn't be surprised if Houston makes a serious attempt to get the run going with Steve Slaton today. The key might be tight end Owen Daniels, Daniels leads the Texans with 39 catches and has five TD receptions.

Don't forget, you can follow the game at Bills Live on our Billboard site. Rodney McKissic will moderate. We'll have up to the minute stats and photos from staff photographer Jim McCoy.

Live Chat With Sully

Welcome to the chat. Let's go. Thanks for chatting. Not sure when the chat will be next week.

Live Chat Today at 12:45

Just a reminder that I'll be chatting live this afternoon. It's scheduled for 1 p.m., but I'll try to get it going 15 minutes earlier, at 12:45. I'm expecting a phone call at 1:45 from Gill Byrd, the Bears' secondary coach. His son, Jairus, was just named NFL Rookie of the Month for October. I'm doing a piece on J. Byrd for Sunday's paper. So I'll be leaving the chat for 10-15 minutes and then resuming around 2. We'll go at least two hours, as usual. Talk to you then.

The November Classic

Finally, the World Series begins tonight in New York. If it goes seven games, that means four of the games will have been played in the month of November. So maybe we should call it the November Classic. It's ridiculous. They should not play baseball in November. They're asking for trouble with the Series being played in two northeastern cities, New York and Philadelphia.

The season did start a bit late this year because of the World Classic. But there's no reason to have the extra off days during the playoffs. It extends the postseason and gives teams even more chance to use three-man rotations. Teams use five-man staffs during the regular season. It's a different game when you only need three starters. Bottom line, though, is the chance of cold, rain and even snow can compromise the quality of the baseball.

Anyway, my prediction: I think the Yankees have a decided edge against Philly's lefty dominated lineup. If the Yanks go to a three-man rotation, C.C. Sabathia could start three games. Andy Pettitte will start two games if it goes long enough. I would pitch Pettitte in Game 2, but they consider A.J. Burnett the No. 2 starter and I'm sure they would prefer to use Burnett, who is erratic, at home. The Phillies have a formidable offense, but it will be neutralized in this Series. The Yanks have better starters, better middle relief and the best closer in the game's history in Mariano Rivera.

Yankees in five.

Another Unsightly Win

CHARLOTTE -- One thought springs immediately to mind after Sunday's ugly, 20-9 win over Carolina: The Bills are 2-0 since the billboard went up on the 190 asking for Ralph Wilson to clean house and fire Dick Jauron. If this keeps up, the Jauron supporters out there -- and there must be some -- will collect money asking Wilson to give the head coach another contract extension.

Seriously, after two straight road wins Jauron's hold on his job is getting stronger. Despite injuries to several key defensive players, they've given up just 28 points and two touchdowns the last three games. If the offense had been remotely competent, they'd be on a three-game winning streak. Heck, throw in a kneel-down in the end zone by Leodis McKelvin in New England, and they could be 5-2.

It just reminds you how mediocre much of the competition is in today's NFL. As I said last week, it's hard to keep the Bills in perspective. Even when the offense is bad, they stay in games and beat the bad teams, teams with weak quarterback play. This game was a signature Jauron win: Take the ball away, don't turn it over, play that bend-don't break defense, control field position, and win ugly if you must.

You don't make the playoffs that way, but you can hang around .500 and tease the fans. We've seen this before. Another run to 7-9 could save Jauron's job. Take that for what it's worth.

Bills at Carolina

CHARLOTTE -- Welcome to Bank of America Stadium, site of today's Bills-Panthers clash. I can't tell you how warm and fuzzy I feel when I walk into an NFL venue named after one of our esteemed financial institutions. There should be a Bailout Stadium somewhere, or a Financial Meltdown Field.

Anyway, Bills defensive tackle Kyle Williams was on the field earlier warming up. Looks like he's going to give it a go despite his ailing shouder. Williams has started 49 consecutive games, the fourth-longest in the NFL among defensive tackles. Darnell Dockett of Arizona leads the pack with 70. The Bills need Williams. On the other hand, he's been on the field for one of the worst four-game stretches in team history against the run. So he needs to play better, and it'll be tough if he's hampered by the shoulder.

As usual, you can keep up with today's game at Bills Live, where Mike Harrington is hosting a chat. Mike will be chatting from an hour before the game until n hour afterwards. We'll have up to the minute stats and photos during the contest. Here's the link:

http://www.buffalonews.com/454