A Sad Day in Buffalo

Well, maybe not for everyone, but definitely for me. The Bills, who have long made a pretense of favoring players who exhibit the highest character, have signed perpetual problem child Terrell Owens to play wide receiver for them next year. As a Bills-fan-at-a-distance, able to see them play only when they are in a nationally highlighted telecasts (like Sunday or Monday Night Football), it's been easy not to feel to wrapped up in their fortunes vis-a-vis their won-lost record in recent years. As a result, my continuing admiration for the team was at least partly built on their legacy of avoiding the kind of players whose selfishness trumped their commitment to the team. Owens clearly does not fit that image, having worn out his welcome in three previous cities despite putting up Pro Bowl numbers on the field. I'm not saying he doesn't deserve to play in the NFL (obviously there are a lot of players even more problematic than Mr. Sharpie), but I kind of hoped the Bills really believed what they said about recruiting fine young men to play for them. I guess it really is all about the "W's" and the really sad thing is, that I don't imagine that Owens will make a whole heck of a lot of difference in that regard. I hope I'm wrong and the long-suffering Bills win a championship, but I'm just idealistic enough to think that if they do, it won't taste as sweet (certainly to me, as a life-long fan) as it would've if they had stuck to their principles in building the team.