Press Box Insider – September 8, 2018

The Press Box, presented by the Genesee Brew House, airing September 8/9, 2018.  Hosted by Bill Pucko, with guests Mike Catalana (13 WHAM Sports), Pat Duffy (WCMF Breakroom) and Bob Bleier – QB at Aquinas, Richmond Spiders and New England Patriots.

Bob is a regular guest, having been last on the show on July 29.  Bob loves being on the show, and brings his ‘A’ game – even if his NFL predictions are suspect.  More on that in a minute…

This week marks the season premiere for the Press Box, our 7th season and episode 305.  With each new season, comes some slight changes to the look of the show.  Here is a video showing the evolution of the show’s ‘open’ from season 1 to this week’s.

It’s a NFL-centric week, naturally, with the NFL season kicking off.  We start the show with everyone giving their thoughts on the season, including some predictions.  Bob, as mentioned earlier, stunned everyone with his picks of Detroit and Cincinnati.  Bill may still be in shock.

Up next, our focus shifts to the Buffalo Bills, and their week one match-up with the Baltimore Ravens.  Each season, we pick two NFL games each week – the Bills game, and another game of the panelist’s choosing.  Everyone this week is taking the Bills with the 7 points (although Pat feels they’ll win outright).  We’ll keep track of everyone’s won-loss records right here.  Last season, Pat and Mike were tied at the end of the regular season, and went to a playoffs tiebreaker.  Mike won, with an even 17-17 record.  Bob, for the record, went 3 – 1 last season, and 2 – 2 the year before.  He also picked the Browns this week. It really was a banner week for Bob…

Our first Like it or Not of the week, is the Colin Kaepernick – Nike ad controversy.  Kap has been a frequent topic of conversation on the show, and the larger issues of what Colin stands for (technically, “kneels” for) could take up a whole program, although it’s probably better suited for a political discussion show.  Most of what our panelists have to say is directed at Nike, and what looks like a calculated business maneuver.

Next, the question of what to make of the Raiders trading Khalil Mack to the Bears. It’s unfortunate the Raiders couldn’t come to terms with Mack – but the high profile trade, and consequent big money contract, doesn’t hurt the profile of the University of Buffalo standout.  Go Bulls!

Pat kicks off Unfinished Business with a look at some of the “names” the Bills have thrown about in the post-Kelly years.  It’s been ugly at times, and in a very-Duffy way, Pat is able to bring the topic back to Jerseys.

Bob is also talking football, and specifically, veteran quarterbacks.  Bob’s seeing great things for some vets, either bouncing back (Andrew Luck) or finally grabbing the brass ring (Philip Rivers).  He also picked the Lions and Bengals, so, you know…

Mike recently tweeted about rookie QB’s getting a week 1 start…

and had more to say on the subject for his Unfinished Business.  Bottom line?  Trust the process… I guess.

That’s how it went down, and our season is off to a rollicking start.  Thanks again to Bob Bleier for being a good sport, and hey, if the Bengals make it to the Super Bowl, you heard it here first.

Here’s a link to this week’s full episode – check it out, and leave us a comment or follow @TheRocPressBox on twitter to send a comment.

Tune in to the Press Box every Sunday – we are now on the CW Rochester for the fall, same day- Sunday, and time- 10:30am, and check local listings for other airings.  You can always catch the latest episodes on the Classy Wolf Media youtube page, which you should definitely subscribe to.