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The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly: Buffalo Bills: Heart-Pounding, Jaw-Dropping, and Gut-Wrenching Moments from Buffalo Bills History
Genuine fans take the best team moments with the less than great, and know that the games that are best forgotten make the good moments truly shine. This monumental book of the Buffalo Bills documents all the best moments and personalities in the history of the team, but also unmasks the regrettably awful and the unflinchingly ugly. In entertaining—and unsparing—fashion, this book sparkles with Bills highlights and lowlights, from wonderful and wacky memories to the famous and infamous. Such moments include the 50 sacks of the fearsome 1964 defense, as well as the nine turnovers of Super Bowl XVII. Whether providing fond memories, goose bumps, or laughs, this portrait of the team is sure to appeal to the fan who has been through it all.
224 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
18 people want to read
About the author
Scott Pitoniak
35 books15 followersScott Pitoniak is considered the most decorated sports writer in Rochester media history. He has received over 100 national and regional journalism honors and has been inducted into the Frontier Field Walk of Fame (1999), the Syracuse University's Newhouse School of Public Communications Hall of Fame (200), and the Rome Sports Hall of Fame (2009). He served as a torchbearer for the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.
Pitoniak graduated from Syracuse University in 1977. He currently has a column in the Rochester Business Journal and does blogging and occasional on-air work for WROC-TV 8. He previously wrote for the Democrat and Chronicle.
Pitoniak graduated from Syracuse University in 1977. He currently has a column in the Rochester Business Journal and does blogging and occasional on-air work for WROC-TV 8. He previously wrote for the Democrat and Chronicle.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 2, 2023
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: Buffalo Bills will make you laugh, it will make you think about what could've been for the franchise in the 1990s, and more. Long time Bills fans will enjoy this book because it will make them revisit some interesting periods and players in their teams' history. If you know nothing about Bills football up until the 2006 season (the book was published in 2007) then you should read this book. The book offers concise and well researched stories about a franchise that has been around since 1960.
You will come away from this book wondering aloud or to yourself on why the heck God or the football God's couldn't bless the Bills with just ONE Super Bowl ring out of the four they went to from 1990 to 1993. I was a kid back in the 1990 to 1993 period and I was not a Bills fan back then or at any time in my life, but I saw every single last one of those four Super Bowl losses and it still hits me hard to think about those games.
But this book is about more than those Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Bruce Smith and Andre Reed led 1990s Bills teams. There were anecdotes or short stories about the late Bills QB Jack Kemp, O.J. Simpson and his legendary Bills career and his Trial of the Century, the Doug Flutie and Rob Johnson uneasy relationship in the late 1990s, and more.
One of the things I liked about this book were the small Did You Know... information boxes near the bottom of some of the pages of the book. One of my favorite Did You Know's... was that the late Steve Sabol said that Scott Norwood's infamous missed field goal in Super Bowl XXV was one of NFL Films' most requested clips. My second favorite Did You Know... was the one about former Bills DT Jeff Wright being the defender that snapped Dan Marino's 1988-1989 streak of 759 pass attempts without being sacked. That's some great research right there that a lot of writers wouldn't have had the time, patience, or passion to research. By the way, I did my own research on that particular Did You Know... and it was on October 29, 1989, that Wright got that sack of Marino.
Another example of some solid writing by Pitoniak in this book was this on page 105 that historical Bills fans would appreciate or be like I know right?!!!: "While he (kicker Steve Christie) hasn't yet shown anyone the Monet, he clearly was "money" with Bills games on the line. He was an accomplished artist on the football field. The only lament Bills fans have about Christie is that he showed up in Buffalo two Super Bowls too late."
In conclusion, Pitoniak made it clear in a certain part of this book that he wasn't trying to make this book the definitive book on Bills football history, and he was right because the book isn't a definitive Bills history book. But the book is a well-researched and informative analysis of Bills football history and that's all you need to know about the 184-page book.
You will come away from this book wondering aloud or to yourself on why the heck God or the football God's couldn't bless the Bills with just ONE Super Bowl ring out of the four they went to from 1990 to 1993. I was a kid back in the 1990 to 1993 period and I was not a Bills fan back then or at any time in my life, but I saw every single last one of those four Super Bowl losses and it still hits me hard to think about those games.
But this book is about more than those Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Bruce Smith and Andre Reed led 1990s Bills teams. There were anecdotes or short stories about the late Bills QB Jack Kemp, O.J. Simpson and his legendary Bills career and his Trial of the Century, the Doug Flutie and Rob Johnson uneasy relationship in the late 1990s, and more.
One of the things I liked about this book were the small Did You Know... information boxes near the bottom of some of the pages of the book. One of my favorite Did You Know's... was that the late Steve Sabol said that Scott Norwood's infamous missed field goal in Super Bowl XXV was one of NFL Films' most requested clips. My second favorite Did You Know... was the one about former Bills DT Jeff Wright being the defender that snapped Dan Marino's 1988-1989 streak of 759 pass attempts without being sacked. That's some great research right there that a lot of writers wouldn't have had the time, patience, or passion to research. By the way, I did my own research on that particular Did You Know... and it was on October 29, 1989, that Wright got that sack of Marino.
Another example of some solid writing by Pitoniak in this book was this on page 105 that historical Bills fans would appreciate or be like I know right?!!!: "While he (kicker Steve Christie) hasn't yet shown anyone the Monet, he clearly was "money" with Bills games on the line. He was an accomplished artist on the football field. The only lament Bills fans have about Christie is that he showed up in Buffalo two Super Bowls too late."
In conclusion, Pitoniak made it clear in a certain part of this book that he wasn't trying to make this book the definitive book on Bills football history, and he was right because the book isn't a definitive Bills history book. But the book is a well-researched and informative analysis of Bills football history and that's all you need to know about the 184-page book.
August 21, 2023
This book is a collection of short segments of text with images describing the main highs and lows of the Buffalo Bills franchise. While there are a few that deal with pro football in Buffalo before the franchise was formed as part of the American Football League in 1960, the focus is on what happened during and after 1960. It is an entertaining look at one of the most successful franchises in professional sports. Although they appeared in four consecutive Super Bowls, they never managed to win the game. No other team has appeared in more than three straight Super Bowls.
Although the author clearly has a bias towards the Bills, it is easy to overlook that feature, for the writing is not overly laudatory. All football fans will enjoy reading this book, it is one where a reader can stop and start at any location without loss of continuity. For each segment is self-contained enough to stand by itself. There is also a great deal of fun and unusual facts, both about the Bills and their specific interactions with other teams.
Although the author clearly has a bias towards the Bills, it is easy to overlook that feature, for the writing is not overly laudatory. All football fans will enjoy reading this book, it is one where a reader can stop and start at any location without loss of continuity. For each segment is self-contained enough to stand by itself. There is also a great deal of fun and unusual facts, both about the Bills and their specific interactions with other teams.
April 27, 2011
When I first saw this book in the Kindle Store I was skeptical who would want to read a book that surely was full of heart breaking moments in Buffalo Bills history? I mean what kind of Bills fan would want to dwell on "wide right" and the "illigal forward pass".
I gave the Kindle sample a shot and it was a plesent suprise.
The book had a lot of good information for Buffalo Bills fans and I learned a lot about my team.
You'll hear about O.J. Simpson and "The Electric Company" in the Bills early years all the way to the greatest contriversy in Buffalo sports history Rob Johnson or Doug Flutie and Wade Phillips costly decision to bench Flutie in the first round of the 1999 playoffs against the Tenase Titians.
The Bills have never reached the post season since the "Music City Miracle" or as it is known to Buffalo fans the "illigal forward pass".
If you are a die hard Buffalo Bills fan you should pick this up lots of good stories and some neat pictures though I was hoping for more pictures :(.
happy reading and GO BILLS!
I gave the Kindle sample a shot and it was a plesent suprise.
The book had a lot of good information for Buffalo Bills fans and I learned a lot about my team.
You'll hear about O.J. Simpson and "The Electric Company" in the Bills early years all the way to the greatest contriversy in Buffalo sports history Rob Johnson or Doug Flutie and Wade Phillips costly decision to bench Flutie in the first round of the 1999 playoffs against the Tenase Titians.
The Bills have never reached the post season since the "Music City Miracle" or as it is known to Buffalo fans the "illigal forward pass".
If you are a die hard Buffalo Bills fan you should pick this up lots of good stories and some neat pictures though I was hoping for more pictures :(.
happy reading and GO BILLS!
September 26, 2008
Always a great read when we are doing well this season!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews