Talking Buffalo

On this episode of the Moran-Alytics Podcast presented by 26 Shirts, Patrick Moran has an interview with Buffalo Bills beat reporter, Matt Parrino from NYup.com on an extensive amount of Bills topics.

It’s Parrino’s third time on the Moran-Alytics Podcast, joining a small group of three-time guests that includes Tim Graham, Sal Capaccio, Mike Harrington, Jay Skurski, Joe Yerdon, Kris Baker and Eric Wood.

Today the two dive into the 4-1 Bills start, coming off their bye with an appealing matchup against a horrible  and quite possibly tanking Miami squad on Sunday.   Matt provides the latest updates and information on several players who’ve been banged up, including Devin Singletary, Taron Johnson, Tyler Croft, Ty Nsehke, Matt Milano and John Brown.

Parrino discusses the improved roster depth that’s helped deal with early season injuries and explains why he expects Croft to make his Bills debut on Sunday but thinks it may be the right to move to hold out Singletary for one more week, especially considering the opponent.

The guys also discuss what’s been an elite defense, the emergence of Tremaine Edmunds, leadership from Michah Hyde, the potential of Dawson Knox and of course an evaluation of Josh Allen among other subjects.

They also spend a few minutes talking about Parrino’s job and how it’s been smoother for him this year, compared to 2018 when he was hired just before the start of training camp.

You can follow Matt on Twitter @MattParino and of course check out NYup.com for Matt’s latest work.

After that Patrick debuts what’ll be a semi-recurring segment of “Podcast Polls,” where he puts up a series of related polls on Twitter and then discusses the categories and voting results on the podcast. This time the subject was “Best of 80’s music” and there were 12 separate categories folks on Twitter could vote for.  He explains the winners he did and didn’t agree with and laments a decision of who he likes better between Hall & Oates and Huey Lewis & The News.

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Follow Patrick Moran on Twitter @PatMoranTweets.

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On this episode of the Moran-Alytics Podcast presented by 26 Shirts, Patrick Moran interviews one of the most popular NBA television personalities in the business, Kristen Ledlow from NBA TV and NBA on TNT on a variety of topics.

They discuss Kristen’s life and career, including being raised in Florida and turning to athletics early on because she was much taller than most girls her age.  Kristen became quite accomplished in sports, particularly basketball and volleyball and continued playing them at a high level all the way through college.

It was while at Southeastern University that Kristen really turned her focus towards what’s become a great broadcasting career. She discusses what got her into broadcasting and how college helped prepare her for opportunities in broadcasting that’s defined her professionally.

She also talks about how the chance to work alongside NBA legend Grant Hill for NBA Inside Stuff came about, some of her biggest sports media influences including Ernie Johnson and Doris Burke and plenty more before finishing with the traditional Mini-Lightning Round, filled with fun facts about Kristen including her first celebrity crush, go-to karaoke song, the game show she can (actually did) dominate and two people who would battle it out to be her lone Twitter follow.

You can follow Kristen on Twitter @KristenLedlow as well as check out her website www.kristenledlow.com.

After that Moran is joined by Jeff Boyd (@JeffBoyd716) from the 716 Sports Podcast for another installment of “The Big Boyd Theory.”

Today the guys are talking the surprisingly great starts from both the Buffalo Bills and Sabres.  The Bills are 4-1 and coming off their bye week as they get ready to host the hapless Miami Dolphins this Sunday.  They discuss some of the early season storylines and examine the remainder of the schedule to determine there’s excellent opportunity to make the playoffs for the second time in three years, regardless of whether or not the fast start was a fluke.

They also chat about the Sabres, who’ve outperformed expectations of nearly everyone through their first six games. While some stars lighting up the stat sheet isn’t surprising the steady and highly coach-praised play of an embattled fourth line certainly has been.

Patrick and Jeff also talk about whether the promising beginning to Buffalo’s respective seasons feels sustainable.

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On this episode of the Moran-Alytics Podcast presented by Pulse Cellular, the BillsMafia takeover of Nashville last weekend is highlighted along with a chat about the Buffalo Sabres surging start to the NHL regular season.

Recurring guest Chad DeDominicis, managing editor of Die by the Blade, a Sabres blog on SB Nation joins to talk Sabres, who as of this posting are off to a sizzling 3-0-1 start through their first four games.

The two discuss Buffalo’s unbelievably hot power play, Jack Eichel slowly becoming the elite center fans are hoping for, Victor Olofsson’s ability to find the net, Marcus Johansson fitting right in at center, Rasmus Dahlin’s impressive point total but making plenty of mistakes, potential worries about Carter Hutton and more.

Chad also evaluates the mostly impressive early play from a quartet of holdover veterans that are constantly slammed by fans and media: Johan Larsson, Zemgus Girgensons, Marco Scandella and Vladimir Sobotka.

You can follow Chad on Twitter @CMDeDominicis and check out his work at Die By The Blade as well the Beyond The Blade podcast.

After that we turn gears and Moran speaks with two Buffalo Bills fans individually who made the trek from Western New York to Nashville for the Bills game against the Tennessee Titans last weekend, an incredible scene that basically had BillsMafia take over the country music capital in the world.

Moran talks with Charlie Callahan from the city of Buffalo and Jack Pullara from Wheatfield.  Both have memorable accounts of their trips, some of the impressive sights they saw alongside fellow Bills fans in Nashville and the vibe of being in a road stadium with arguably saw more Bills than Titans fans. Both share unique experiences and evaluate if making the long drive and spending tons of money was worth it.

Lastly, Moran has a chat with Shelby Waddle, wife of Buffalo Bills offensive lineman La’Adrian Waddle.  Shelby was also in Nashville last weekend and talks about interacting with rabid Bills fans there, beating Tennessee and also provides an update on La’Adrain’s knee as well as important information about the Waddle Warriors Foundation herself and La’Adrain started.

Follow Shelby on Twitter @MrsWadd74 and visit waddleswarriors.org to help support a worthy charitable foundation.

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Make sure you subscribe to the Moran-Alytics Podcast YouTube Channel, which includes EXCLUSIVE audio content you won’t find anywhere else as well as highlight clips from current and past podcast episodes.

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On this episode of the future award-winning Moran-Alytics Podcast presented by Pulse Cellular, Patrick Moran chats with Aaron Quinn from Cover 1 and the two dive into the Buffalo Bills 14-7 road victory at Tennessee that has the Bills off to a surprising 4-1 start.

In front of a crowd with arguably as many Buffalo fans as the “home” team, the Bills went out and continued the style of play they have all season— elite defense and rely on the offense to simply not screw it up.

Patrick and Aaron talk about the defensive unit that’s now without question one of, it not the best in the NFL and how there always seems to be someone different leading the way each game.  This week it was defensive tackle Jordan Phillips, who had three sacks and looked more like Aaron Donald than a veteran depth guy on a one-year contract. They also discuss Tremaine Edmunds, who in year two is transforming into one of the league’s better young defenders.

On the other side of the ball Josh Allen returned from a concussion and the improvement in his decision making was apparent, sans one third quarter that turned the game around at the time. Allen ended with one of his best games statistically and that was in no small part to the NFL debuting Duke Williams, who had four catches including the game-winning touchdown and a third down conversion earlier in the game that set up Buffalo’s other score.

Patrick and Aaron also discuss an offensive line that continues to struggle with health and performance, particularly a rookie in Cody Ford who’s increasingly looking much better served to be playing guard than tackle.

They end by discussing the bye coming at a perfect time as injuries have taken a toll and they look forward to the remainder of the season, including a bunch of winnable games that can see the Bills reach double digit wins if things continue as is.

You can follow Aaron on Twitter @AaronQuinn716 and go check out Cover 1, a must-read website for Buffalo Bills fans that pumps off unique content almost daily.

Make sure you subscribe to the Moran-Alytics Podcast YouTube Channel, which includes EXCLUSIVE audio content you won’t find anywhere else as well as highlight clips from current and past podcast episodes.

Follow Patrick Moran on Twitter @PatMoranTweets.

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On this episode of the Moran-Altyics Podcast presented by Pulse Cellular, Patrick Moran has an extended chat with popular award-winning WGRZ-TV news anchor Maryalice Demler on a variety of topics spanning her life and career.

The interview, designed to give fans a chance to learn more about Maryalice beyond just her job focuses early on about her childhood, and Maryalice remembers being raised in North Tonawanda, some of the things she was into as a child, if she thought about broadcasting while in high school and why she decided to stay local and attend Niagara University for college.

They also discuss Maryalice participating in pageants after school, becoming Miss New York in 1990 and competing in Miss America the following year in 1991.  There were several benefits of being successful on the circuit, including her earning more than $25,000 to help erase student debt as well as discovering the importance of public service and honing the craft of interviewing, something that’d ultimately help her launch a successful news broadcasting career.

Before landing on television though, Maryalice worked as a French teacher for three years as well as a stint in hospital administration and time on radio at WJYE 96.1.

They then discuss Maryalice’s storied career at WGRZ-TV, including her becoming the first and to date only Buffalo-area newsperson to win a New York State Emmy for best TV news anchor.

Maryalice remains candid when recalling the tragedy that struck her hard earlier this year that resulted in her losing the love of her life to a sudden and unexpected death. She discusses the details of her  and moving on-air tribute to him a few weeks later and why it served many important purposes.

They finish with the traditional Mini-Lightning Round and we learn more fun facts about Maryalice, including her go-to snack, favorite city she’s visited, favorite Twitter follow, a game show she thinks she could dominate and a karaoke song she’d love to ace.

Follow Maryalice Demler on Twitter @WGRZMaryAlice and check out wgrz.com as well as seeing her on air weeknights at 6 and 11pm.

After that Moran is joined by his buddy Joe (@BuffaloWins) for another installment of “The Run-In With Joe.”  Today the guys are discussing the Buffalo Bills, focusing on three guys taking a beating both on and off the field so far this season: Cody Ford, Zay Jones and of course Josh Allen.  While prefacing he still very much believes in Allen, Moran gets fired up at fans who make up excuses for his turnovers at every turn and continue to simply chalk it up to being young.

They also talk about the significance of the Bills game Sunday in Tennessee and both agree that it actually means more than the New England game the week before.

They finish by giving their thoughts on a historic Wednesday night for wresting fans as AEW premiered on live television to compete head-to-head with NXT.  Both shows scored favorable reviews and the guys quickly conclude AEW’s success will come down to whether they can sustain the early momentum they’re surely winning.

The segment—and podcast wraps with Joe having a take on his lack of excitement for the start of the Buffalo Sabres regular season.

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On this episode of the Moran-Alytics Podcast, it’s Buffalo Sabres season preview time as Patrick Moran has a chat with Lance Lysowski Sabres beat reporter at The Buffalo News on a wide range of team topics.

The two discuss some of the moves general manager Jason Botterill made over the summer and perhaps equally important, some he didn’t.  Lance breaks down line combinations that look to start the season and provides insight on players ranging from intriguing youngster Victor Olofsson to a veteran hardly any fans want to see on the ice, Vladimir Sobotka. They also talk about the best defensive partner for Rasmus Dahlin, the level of surprise at Rasmus Ristolainen still being on the roster and the significance of more consistent goaltending before Lsyowski offers his take on what fans can realistically expect from the Sabres this season.

They also spend a little time discussing last year’s hectic first season covering the team for Lsyowski and his relocating to Buffalo last year after the regular season already started as well as details to a Hockey Event Q&A fans can attend featuring Lance and colleague Mike Harrington.

You can follow Lance on Twitter @LLsyowski and of course check out his work at The Buffalo News.

Immediately following that Moran is joined by Jeff Boyd of the 716 Sports Podcast for a full recap of the Buffalo Bills heartbreaking (or encouraging, depending on your perspective) 16-10 loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday.

The two discuss Josh Allen at length, with Moran frustrated at fans that choose to hide exclusively beyond the youth excuse for poor decision making early in his career.

They also talk Zay Jones’ irrelevancy, an offensive line that performed poorly, special teams playing a backbreaking role in the loss and a defense that proved once and for all it deserves to be called elite.

Follow Jeff on Twitter @JeffBoyd716 and check out the 716 Sports Podcast, released nearly every Tuesday during Bills and Sabres season.

Before ending the episode Moran has thoughts on the NFL, MLB playoffs getting underway and a historic week looming for wrestling fans.

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On this episode of the Moran-Alytics Podcast presented by Pulse Cellular, Patrick Moran has an interview with New England Patriots beat writer Zack Cox of NESN on a variety of topics, including a preview of Sunday’s AFC East showdown between the Patriots and the Buffalo Bills.

The two discuss Zack being born in New York City but raised in Wenthram, MA.  Growing up loving sports, Zack played several but realized at a young age that a professional future in sports would come not playing but covering them.  He elaborates why he chose the University of New Hampshire for college after spending time thinking about Syracuse University and how the opportunities that came at New Hampshire would ultimately launch his career.

After spending six months post-college in New York City working for MLB.com, Zack was hired by NESN, where he previously interned with while in college.  He spent a few years as an assistant editor and content producer before getting an opportunity to cover the Boston Celtics. He did that for a season and then the same with the Boston Bruins for a year before moving on to the New England Patriots, a beat he’s covered since 2016.

Of course, the big news is the 3-0 Patriots traveling to Buffalo to face the 3-0 Bills on Sunday and Zack provides tons of insight from a New England perspective, including Tom Brady’s refusal to fall off that quarterback cliff, the 11-day Antonio Brown circus, Sony Michel’s early season woes, a rag tag offensive line holding things together and an elite defense that’s been utterly dominant through three games.

He offers a prediction before the two finish off with the traditional mini-lightning round, where Zack becomes the first-ever guest on the podcast to get completely stumped on the final question.

You can follow Zack on Twitter @ZackCoxNESN and of course check out his excellent work at NESN.com.

After that Sean Chandler from the popular Sean Chandler Talks About channel on YouTube provides a movie review of Rambo: Last Blood — the filth film in the Rambo series that has Sylvester Stallone reprising his role as Vietnam War veteran John Rambo, who according to the official movie description “tries to find some semblance of peace by raising horses on a ranch in Arizona. He’s also developed a special familial bond with a woman named Maria and her teenage granddaughter Gabriela. But when a vicious Mexican cartel kidnaps Gabriela, Rambo crosses the border on a bloody and personal quest to rescue her and punish those responsible.”

Chandler was a guest on the Moran-Alytics Podcast back in February and at the time he had roughly 87,000 YouTube subscribers to his channel.  Today it’s over 135,000 and growing because he produces entertaining content almost daily, ranging from movie reviews to trailer reactions and franchise countdowns.  Be sure to check out his page and hit the subscribe button.

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On this episode of the Moran-Alytics Podcast presented by Pulse Cellular, Patrick Moran talks with ESPN.com Buffalo Bills beat reporter Marcel Louis-Jacques about the experience of covering his first Bills regular season home game at New Era Field in front of a rabid hometown crowd.

This is Marcel’s second time on the Moran-Alytics Podcast. In his first appearance back on Episode No. 132 in late June, Moran spoke with Marcel about his life and career literally just says after he’d been hired by ESPN to cover the Bills and was in the process of relocating from Charlotte to Western New York.

Today the chat focuses on the vibe and environment Marcel found himself in as he covered a Bills regular season home game for the first time.  From stopping through incognito through tailgate at Hammers Lot to taking a walk around the concourse inside the stadium to the press box area vibrating with fevered crowd noise, it was an experience he won’t soon, if ever forget.

Moran also sneaks in a few questions about the validity of reporters constantly claiming they don’t care if the team they’re covering wins and Marcel’s relationship with some of the Buffalo sports media now that he’s been in town long enough to start getting to know them.

You can follow Marcel on Twitter @Marcel_LJ and of course check out his written work covering the Bills at espn.com.

Immediately after that Moran is joined by his buddy Tone Pucks (@TonePucks) for another edition of the recurring “Pat with Pucks.”  Today the guys are breaking down the closer than it needed to be Bills 21-17 victory over Cincinnati on Sunday to improve to 3-0 on the season and set up a showdown next week with the also undefeated New England Patriots.

The guys discuss good and bad Josh Allen, the beast that tight end Dawson Knox is flirting with becoming, the play calling of Brian Daboll, impact of Devin Singletary not in the lineup and a defense that was mostly dominant but suffered in the second half, at least in part due to Allen’s game-changing blunder.

Game balls and taking back of game check awards are handed out before finishing up with a little Buffalo Sabres talk, where Pat and Pucks give their thoughts to the line combinations at practice on Monday about a week and a half before the start of the regular season on October 3.

Tone ends with his “Puck Drop” take, this time talking about the proper way to rebuild a team.

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On this episode of the Moran-Alytics Podcast presented by Pulse Cellular, Patrick Moran interviews founder and managing editor of The Football Girl, Melissa Jacobs on a variety of topics.

They spend plenty of time talking her life and career, including growing up in California and becoming a fantasy football guru in high school before fantasy sports became mainstream popular.  She also discusses why she decided to attend college at the University of California Berkeley with dreams of becoming a powerful sports agent.

They also discuss Melissa’s time as a producer at a San Francisco radio station and at ESPN, where she was responsible for creating a talent production department.

Melissa speaks candidly on the challenges associated with being a female in a predominantly male industry and talks about her The Football Girl podcast, often featuring interviews with some of the leading females in sports media before finishing with the traditional Mini-Lightning Round, where we learn among other things Melissa’s a fan of Tokyo, Bonnie Tyler and her husband.

You can follow her on Twitter @TheFootballGirl, check out her written work at The Football Girl and listen to her The Football Girl podcast.

Moran is then joined by Jeff Boyd of the 716 Sports Podcast for a recurring segment of “The Big Boyd Theory.”  Today the guys make small talk about their meeting over podcasting and wings in Buffalo last month, the deplorable Tampa Rays fan base and potential spin-offs of The Office before diving into Buffalo Bills and Sabres talk.

The Bills are 2-0 and Moran feels like Josh Allen is becoming as big a star off the field as on it, something he hasn’t seen in a Bills player since the days of Jim Kelly. They discuss Allen, a favorable salary cap situation and look forward to a potential matchup of unbeatens in Week four when the Bills host the New England Patriots, provided Buffalo gets past Cincinnati this Sunday.

They also hit on Sabres talk, including feedback from the first two preseason games, the line combinations at practice, Rasmus Ristolainen’s future with the club and finish by having a little fun projecting their own forward lines.

You can follow Jeff on Twitter at @JeffBoyd716 and listen to the 716 Sports Podcast, which drops on Tuesdays.

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On this episode of the Moran-Alytics Podcast presented by Pulse Cellular, the Buffalo Bills may never lose another football again. To discuss, Patrick Moran is joined by recurring guest Aaron Quinn from Cover 1.

Fans and media can say it was expected as much as they want, but the Buffalo Bills going into Met Life Stadium over the first two weeks to sweep both the New York Jets and Giants over the first two weeks is pretty surprising, especially considering it’s the first time in the history of the franchise Buffalo has begun the season with a pair of wins on the road.

After a shaky season opener against the Jets particularly in the first half, Josh Allen looked far more in control from the outset against the Giants after New York scored a touchdown on their opening possession. The guys discuss his continued growth and how he’s starting to turn the corner when it comes to learning to eliminate making the huge mistakes.

They also talk about John Brown becoming one of the more underrated receivers in football, Devin Singletary’s mysterious early season workload, the offensive line improvement from a year ago and of course a defense that is exceedingly living up to its formidable hype.

Patrick and Aaron also can’t help but look forward to the possibility of beating Cincinnati next Sunday to setup what would almost certainly be a battle of 3-0 teams the following week with the New England Patriots coming to New Era Field in Week four.

They conclude by taking a spin around the league, hitting on the Carolina Panthers season quickly sinking away, the Pittsburgh Steelers also being perhaps dead in the water, the Miami Dolphins tank-a-thon and the rise of the Baltimore Ravens offense and Green Bay Packers defense.

You can follow Aaron Quinn on Twitter @AaronQuinn716 and of course be sure to check out Cover 1 for some of the best Buffalo Bills content you’ll find anywhere.

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