Buffalo Bills Archives - Chris Carosa

Jack Kemp: All American

By Chris Carosa on September 19, 2023

A lot of people were much closer to Jack Kemp than I, but a lot more people did not know him as well as I did. Only a few remaining Americans can say what I can: “I was there at the beginning.”

Jack Kemp, who passed away in 2009, emerged on the national scene not in the political arena passing historic legislation, but on the gridiron field and into passing history. He was forged in a time when most Americans believed in and followed the Boy Scout Law. He played among those people, he lived among those people, and, eventually, he came to represent those people. I know. I was one of them.

Friends, conservatives, liberals, and countrymen, I write not to rebury Jack Kemp, but to Continue Reading “Jack Kemp: All American”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged 1964 Topps Football, Allentown, Bethlehem Steel Plant, Billy Joel, Buffalo Bills, Chubb Fellow, E Pluribus Unum, Jack Kemp, New Haven, Ronald Reagan, Shining City on a hill, Woodlawn Elementary, Woodlawn Intermediate, Yale

Josh Allen Had His In Tampa, Where Did You Have Yours?

By Chris Carosa on January 11, 2022

Something happened in the second half of the game in Tampa Bay on Sunday, December 12, 2021. After being outscored 24 to 3 in the first half, Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills battled back by besting the Buccaneers by the identical score of 24 to 3.

Although Tom Brady would bring the Bucs victory in overtime, the second half turnaround marked more than a turning point in a single game, it signaled the start of a mid-season adjustment that sparked the Bills on a winning streak that ended with them standing atop the AFC East for the second year in a row.

So, what exactly happened in that second half? And why is it important for you to know?

It’s called the “Thermopylae Moment.”

OK, nobody calls it that. I just made that up.

But it works.

To fully appreciate the term, you’ll need to go back in history a little bit. And by “a little bit” Continue Reading “Josh Allen Had His In Tampa, Where Did You Have Yours?”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged 300 Spartans, AFC East, Alamo, Athenian, Athens, Battle of Marathon, Bickering Bills, Buccaneers, Buffalo Bills, Darius, Greece, Greek, Hades, Hollywood, Josh Allen, Leonidas, Malian, Marathon Race, Persia, Persian, Pheidippides, softball, Sparta, Tampa Bay, Theban, Thebes, Thermopylae, Xerxes

How Divide and Conquer Works (And How To Avoid Falling Prey To It)

By Chris Carosa on February 16, 2021

While getting his MBA from Duke, a college classmate of mine was asked by a visiting speaker why my classmate thought he (the speaker) preferred hiring ex-athletes?

Now, my classmate was the perfect person to ask this question to. He’s played hockey from his youth to well into his adult years. He is the ultimate athlete, the ultimate team player, and the ultimate performer. I don’t know if the speaker knew his background prior to asking the question, but he could sure guess it once my friend offered his answer. This is how the young MBA candidate responded:

“You prefer to hire ex-athletes because of the following traits: alignment toward a common goal, teamwork, communication, trying to perform your best, etc.”

The speaker said that was all good, but it wasn’t the biggest reason he hired former Continue Reading “How Divide and Conquer Works (And How To Avoid Falling Prey To It)”

Posted in Business Tips, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Buffalo Bills, business, Chinese, Commander, Duke, Henry Segal, Korean War, Marv Levy, politics, POW, Psy-Ops, psychology, Robert Cialdini, sports, war

Fandemonium: Passing the Generational Torch

By Chris Carosa on January 12, 2021

I can’t understate how many times people asked me the following question in the past week: “Chris, did you get tickets to the playoff game?”

For those of you who didn’t go to St. Catherine’s Church when people still went to church, the Carosa family has a certain reputation. Each Sunday – football season or not – one or more of us (usually more of us) stood in line for communion resplendent in official and unofficial Bills attire.

Those were our Sunday clothes. It became such a tradition that, on those rare occasions (usually in the summer) when our garments didn’t sport a Bills logo, people would notice.

This “worship” of the Buffalo Bills began long ago. My father, however, was too young to remember the original Buffalo Bills.

Incidentally, did you know the first version of the Buffalo Bills appeared in the All-America Continue Reading “Fandemonium: Passing the Generational Torch”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged AAFC, AFC Championship, AFL, Andre Reed, Baltimore Colts, Berlin Wall, Betsy, Bruce Smith, Buffalo Bills, Catarina, Civic Stadium, Cleveland Browns, Dad, fandemonium, Frank Reich, George Preston Marshall, Jim Kelly, Josh Allen, Kenny, Marv Levy, mom, NFL, Oakland Raiders, Otto Graham, Pat, Paul Brown, persistent, Peter, Ralph C. Wilson, resilient, Rockpile, San Francisco 49ers, Superbowl, Teresa, Thurman Thomas, War Memorial Stadium, Washington Redskins

Should Yale (and Other Elite Colleges) Require Students Take a Kobayashi Maru Test?

By Chris Carosa on December 3, 2019

When it comes to “The Game,” precedent has no say. The annual Yale-Harvard ritual evokes a rivalry that transcends the ages, as well as the win-loss record of the season’s previous games. So it was in 1979 when the heavily favored undefeated Yale Bulldogs fell to the Harvard Crimson in the season’s ultimate game by the score of 22-7.

Even the final score means nothing. In 1968, when Harvard scored 16 points in the final 42 seconds to earn a tie, the Harvard Crimson headline read: “Harvard Beats Yale 29-29.”

This year, the 136^th edition of The Game was much anticipated. ESPN had it moved up an hour to a noon start since the Yale Bowl has no lights. Yale, with a record of 8-1, scoring an average of 37.4 points-per-game and fighting for the Ivy League title, was the odds-on favorite to defeat Harvard, losers of four straight. Was anyone surprised, then, that the first half ended with Harvard beating the Bulldogs by a solid 15-3 margin?

The halftime show changed everything.Continue Reading “Should Yale (and Other Elite Colleges) Require Students Take a Kobayashi Maru Test?”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Alumni Assembly Convocation, Buffalo Bills, Campusland, Doonesbury, ESPN, football, Harvard, Kabayashi Maru, M*A*S*H, Marv Levy, Peter Salovey, resilient, Scott Johnston, Star Trek, The Game, YAA, Yale, Yale Bowl

A Memory of Frank Ricci

By Chris Carosa on November 5, 2019

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

You probably never heard of Frank Ricci.

You probably never met Frank Ricci.

But I have and I did. He is among the thousand points of light that have illuminated my life. This is my salute to him. As you read this, I’m confident you may find some familiar tidbits that you didn’t expect to be there. I promise you, before you come to the end of this column, you’ll discover why.

Francesco “Frank” Ricci was born in the mountains south of Rome, Italy on February 10, 1935. He immigrated to America in 1959 after marrying his wife Teresa. Teresa DeAngelis grew up on Abbott Parkway in Blasdell, New York. I grew up on Abbott Parkway, only many years later.

I remember much about growing up on Abbott Parkway. On the other hand, I don’t Continue Reading “A Memory of Frank Ricci”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Abbott Parkway, Angelo, Blasdell, Buffalo Bills, Jeanmarie, Kenny, Markie, Robert

I’m Not a Dancer

By Chris Carosa on October 29, 2019

Dateline: October 27, 1979

Two conversation threads ran on our hour-long bus ride back. For some in the group, they gushed with overwhelming enthusiasm over having taken their first step in what they expected to be a life-long political career. For others, they gushed with overwhelming enthusiasm over having just discovered the girls’ college we were spending the evening at was hosting a Halloween party.

I participated in neither discussion. Perhaps I was contemplating Bush’s anxiety. Perhaps I was mulling over my own insignificance. More likely, though, I was tired and wondering if Continue Reading “I’m Not a Dancer”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Buffalo Bills, George H. W. Bush, Halloween, prank, roommates, speeding, Vermont, Yale Hockey

What’s in a (Middle) Name?

By Chris Carosa on June 18, 2019

Bart Starr passed away a few weeks ago. If you don’t know him, he was the quarterback of the Green Bay Packers during their glorious Vince Lombardi years when the Packers won the championship five out of seven years, including the first two Super Bowls. He was old time football. Perhaps not brilliant like Johnny Unitas, or as glamorous as Y.A. Tittle, or as athletic as Otto Graham, Bart Starr was workmanlike and effective. He was like the IBM of quarterbacks when IBM was the kind of company “no one would ever get fired for choosing.”

What you might not know about him is Bart Starr is the reason why I have the middle name I have.

Truth be told, Starr’s era had peaked by the time I Continue Reading “What’s in a (Middle) Name?”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged 1970 Topps Football, Baltimore Colts, Bart Starr, Buffalo Bills, Chuck, erie county fair, Errol Morrall, Green Bay Packers, Heidi Game, Joe Namath, Johnny Unitas, Kansas City Chiefs, Kenny, Mercedes Benz, New York Jets, Oakland Raiders, Otto Graham, peace symbol, Superbowl, Superbowl III, Tommy, Vince Lombardi, Y.A. Tittle

George and Me

By Chris Carosa on December 4, 2018

Bush turned to me and said, “C’mon, let’s put our arms around each other to show everyone we’re friends.”

You may not remember this. Leonard Zelig was the kind of ordinary everyday man who you’d expect to live an ordinary everyday life. Somehow, though, he managed to find himself regularly appearing with extraordinary celebrated people during extraordinary celebrated events. Leonard Zelig isn’t a real person. Never was. Yet Woody Allen’s brilliant 1983 mockumentary Zelig left theater-goers thinking he was.

It seems like we all have our Leonard Zelig moments. We live each ordinary day in an ordinary way. Then, fate brings us face-to-face with extraordinary people in extraordinary times. Think about the times you’ve found yourself at the same shop with a movie or TV star – someone who seems so distant because our only connection to them is through some unapproachable media context. When we’re young, that can be a very exciting thing. As we age, we come to understand those distant stars are no different than us.

Like you, I’ve had my fair share of close encounters. Like the time I rode the train seated across from Pearl Bailey. (Don’t remember her? Read “My Lunch with Pearl Bailey,” Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel, September 13, 1990, to find out more about the incident and the subject.) I always tried my best to be polite and respect the person as a person. (Except in the case of John Dean, who, while having dinner with him, I bluntly said, “You Continue Reading “George and Me”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged 1980 Presidential Election, Buffalo Bills, Central Intelligence Agency, Davenport College, Jack Kemp, John Dean, Monroe County Republican Committee, New Hampshire, Pearl Bailey, President George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Vermont, Vermont State Republican Committee, voodoo economics, Woody Allen, Young Republicans, Zelig

Live from the 2017 Buffalo Bills Snow Bowl

By Chris Carosa on December 12, 2017

Photo courtesy of Catarina Lena Carosa

Unless you grew up on the western shores of Lake Erie, it’s kinda hard to describe just exactly what “lake effect” conjures up in the brain. I was reminded of this last Friday, when I traveled once more to the land of my youth. I left merry old Mendon with nary a hint of the white stuff anywhere to be found. By the time I had arrive in Amherst ninety minutes later, the mushy roads were only then being plowed. In three hours – smack dab in the middle of the morning rush hour – a devilish lake effect band targeted the North Towns of Buffalo.

I was “lucky” enough to be there before the plows to witness first hand the blissful blessing of the new fallen snow. It was Christmas card perfect. Pristine and sparkly, with the look of a soft blanket, it almost took me back to those fuzzy days of yore, but then I Continue Reading “Live from the 2017 Buffalo Bills Snow Bowl”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Abbott Road, Blasdell, Buffalo Bills, Christmas, hamburg, Ilio DiPaolo's, Indianapolis Colts, Jack Nicholson, Lackawanna, lake effect, Lake Erie, New Era Field, Orchard Park, Pepsi, The Shining, thundersnow