The Good, The Bad, and The Hound

by Kevin Sylvester

I know, not the most original title for a column, but it works. I did try to add some originality by using the hound instead of the word you were expecting. Game of Thrones fans will understand why “the hound” fits. If you don’t watch Game of Thrones, then you’re the loser, not me (just thought I’d get that cleared up). On with the show!

The Good

It’s was the first preseason game, how could there be much good? Preseason football stinks, but there are gems to find.

–Tyrod Taylor to Sammy Watkins. It looked like those two worked together in the offseason or something. Oh wait, they did. It was good to see Watkins be the focus of the first unit offense. If you’re going to take to take the horse out of the barn, you need to let it run. Or course, I’ve seen enough, so now they should keep him in the stable until September 10th.

–LeSean McCoy didn’t play. McCoy doesn’t need to play at all in the preseason. He’s ready.

–The Cold Front. Can we still call the defensive line that? Were they good enough to have a nickname in the first place? I’ll leave those answers up to you in the comment section. Marcel Dareus and Kyle Williams pushed the pocket, while Jerry Hughes and Eddie Yarbrough made life tough for Sam Bradford. It made for a very nice debut of Sean McDermott and Leslie Fraser’s defense.

–Eddie Yarbrough. Shaq Lawson did not play and that was too the benefit of Yarbrough. He was excellent off the edge, and it appears as if the Bills will have some depth at defensive end.

The Bad

–Bishop Sankey Injury. Nobody wants to see a player go down with injury in the preseason. That’s really it. I wasn’t planning on drafting him in fantasy football (again), but I did not need to see that.

–Yates or Peterman. I wasn’t expecting much from the backup QB’s, and they delivered. TJ Yates should get some benefit of the doubt not having the first unit to work with. You could argue the same for Peterman, but I think he would have still missed on the quick outs. He looked confident, which is good, and moved the ball with his legs. The latter is not the route to go in the NFL.

–Taiwan Jones. The special teams penalty for the fair catch hit, the dropped pass, and wearing number 7.

The Hound

–Mudgie’s Braid. Backup offensive lineman Jordan Mudge was sporting a braided pony tail. It looked bad. If you’re hair is that long, cut it. His nickname has to be “Mudgie”. I grew up with a kid name Chris Mudge, and that’s what we called him, affectionately (Chris had normal hair).

–The Game. I can’t wait for football season to start. I watched because I had too (Peck made me).

Kevin Sylvester

Kevin Sylvester has over 20 years of experience in media, working for stations, professional sports teams, leagues, and national broadcast entities. This experience includes being an announcer for NHL, NBA, NCAA Football, NCAA Basketball, NCAA Hockey, and The PGA Tour. Kevin also served as the producer for the Buffalo Sabres post-game show, executive producer for a Sabres radio show, and started his own media production company, All Square Media LLC in 2008. All Square Media serves as the executive producer of the Tee 2 Green TV and Radio shows (created by Kevin), handling distribution, sponsorship sales, fulfillment, and production of the shows.

Kevin's business background extends beyond broadcasting. He served as the Director of Amateur Athletics for WNY Arena LLC (Key Bank Center in Buffalo), procuring major amateur sporting events for Buffalo, NY. The major highlights include two sold out NCAA Tournaments First and Second Rounds (2007, 2010), and the 2011 IIHF U20 World Championships (Kevin co-wrote the winning bid, and served on the organizing committee for USA Hockey). Kevin created The Duster Challenge in 2016, a local 18 hole putting competition, and serves as an advisor to WNY golf ball company, OnCore Golf.

Leave a Reply