For a Bills Fan, a Glimmer of Hope

On Sunday, the Bills (2-0) will try to reverse a humiliating 15-game losing-streak against the mighty Patriots (2-0) at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park. Since beating the Pats, 16-13 in an overtime thriller on Nov. 5, 2000, the team has lost 20 of its last 21 games to their division foe in a stretch where the Patriots have taken home the Vince Lombardi trophy three times while the Bills have failed to make the playoffs even once.

Bill Clinton was president when this dark era in the Bills-Patriots rivalry began. You could still go through airport security with a pair of shoes on. I was 27 and single. I’m now 38, with two sons, ages 2 and 4. I’ve moved in and out of the country three times, and encountered numerous life changes since the Bills’ last win over the Patriots. But the one constant has been watching my team lose to the Patriots twice each year.

After 11 consecutive seasons without a playoff appearance, my expectations for the team this season were beyond modest. I hoped they’d go 0-16 and win the Andrew Luck lottery. But the Bills threw everyone a curve by burying the Chiefs in week one, and staging an impressive comeback from an 18-point halftime deficit against the Raiders in week two, to start the season 2-0 for the first time since 2008.

Suddenly, Bills fans are allowing themselves to think big. Could our hapless team possibly beat our longtime nemesis, the Patriots, on Sunday?

Bills fans are accustomed to losing.

Longest NFL series winning streaks all-time
Dolphins over Bills (1970-79)	20
49ers over Rams (1990-98)	17
Patriots over Bills (2003-present)	15
Dolphins over Colts (1980-87)	14
Chargers over Raiders (2003-2010)	13
Cowboys over Cardinals (1990-96)	13

A recent list on SB Nation of the top 25 worst moments in Bills history puts the Patriots losing streak at only moment #24. How can fans root for a team that has inflicted 23 “moments” even worse than an eight-year losing streak against a hated division rival?

My indoctrination into the sweet sorrow that is being a Bills fan came in the 1970s during another prolific losing streak. In those days, before the era of fantasy football and PlayStation, it wasn’t socially acceptable to simply root for individual players or pick a random team in another city to support. If you were born in Buffalo, you were stuck with the Bills.

The team went oh-for-the-70s (0-20) against the Dolphins before finally beating Don Shula and company 17-7 on Sept. 7, 1980. A streak that started in the Nixon years, during the Vietnam conflict, finally ended just weeks before the election of Ronald Reagan. As I grew up, the team got better and even went to the Super Bowl during each of my four years of college. But as everyone knows, they never brought the Vince Lombardi Trophy to Buffalo and fans are still scarred from all of the team’s well-documented losing streaks.

Like any masochistic sports fans, we try to make analyze and make sense of the losing. Perhaps in trying to quantify the team’s wretched failures we can bury their demons once and for all. Dissecting horrific losing streaks is not a pleasant exercise, but here goes.

As bad as the Bills oh-for-the-70’s against the Dolphins was, an argument can be made that the current streak of losing 20 of the last 21 to the Patriots is even worse. Both losing streaks featured some close losses–six losses in each steak were by 7 points or less. The Patriots won three Super Bowls during their streak against the Bills and the Dolphins won twice.

But the Patriots have blown the Bills out by 21 points or more eight times, whereas the Dolphins did the same on just four occasions. In the worst year of this stretch against the Patriots, 2007, the team was destroyed 56-10 and 38-7. While the losses against the Dolphins came just as predictably, there was no single year in which fans had to endure two blowout losses.

And during the streak against the Dolphins, Bills fans could also direct their ire, at least partially, against the schedule-makers. The latest the Dolphins were ever forced to play in snowy Buffalo was a Nov.18 contest in 1973. And in those 10 years, the first game of the series was played in Buffalo and the second in Miami eight times. Surely the Bills would have won at least once if the Dolphins had to play in Buffalo in December, right?

What excuses can Bills loyalists like myself conjure for our team’s current stretch of futility against the Patriots? We can complain about some bad luck in two overtime losses, and how the breaks just didn’t go our way in the four losses that were by just three points or less. But the cold, hard, disgusting fact is that the Bills have been awful and the Patriots have been very good.

Are the Bills going to turn the page on this dismal chapter in the team’s history on Sunday? As a nine-point underdog, few are betting on it. But if the team somehow pulls off the upset, don’t be surprised if Bills fans pour onto the field and take out years of frustration on the goalposts.

I was eight years old when the Bills beat the Dolphins for the first time in my life. My sons haven’t lived long enough to see a Bills win over the Patriots. I hope they won’t have to wait as long as I did to see the end of a disgraceful losing streak. But if the team loses again, Bills fans will know how to look on the bright side. At least we’ll be back in the Andrew Luck sweepstakes.

UFC 135: Mile-high in Denver and howling at the moon with Rampage Jackson…plus Telegraph picks

It has been a cool three days in this most temperate of cities. The calm around UFC 135 shattered only by the off-the-wall humour of Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson, a God-fearing man, fighter turned Hollywood star, who surely, when we are not looking, howls at the moon, and climbs sideways up buildings.

I am convinced I saw him out late after midnight last night, in a dimly-lit area of downtown, jogging past, hood up, his steely eyes looking straight ahead, his face etched into a smirk, that huge chain swinging pendulously side to side with a regular chink. But then again, I could well be wrong.

My point is this: Rampage is not just a fighter; he has been enveloped in a cloak, of celebrity and personality. He is a quasi-cartoon-like character from a work of fiction. Huge head, angular face, vicious-looking, yet drunk with fun.

The sublime apposition, indeed, is Quinton's manager, Anthony McGann, an Englishman so Liverpudlian he crushes coal as he speaks. Just yesterday, he turned to me and said (in a nice way): "You're a t*** mate, but at least your our t***, Gareth." I felt like crushed coal myself. Believe it or not, he meant it in an endearing way (I think).

McGann just grinned, and held out his hand, laughing. McGann and Rampage, and a group of scousers including Rob Broughton – a bear of a man who was born with his feet the wrong way round and had multiple operations to rectify the impairment and now fights at heavyweight – and Cheick Kongo, another huge heavywight with lethal striking yet the most elegant way of speaking English with his soft French accent, have been ensconced with a group of Americans in a staggeringly advanced training facility called MusclePharm, in a suburb of Denver for the last eight weeks.

The 35,000 sq feet facility has everything needed for a camp for a champ – including 60 seat cinema, apartment, recovery oxygen chamber, under water exercise machines. Truly state of the art.

But after two months, the camp are restless, and ready to fight.

Where Mike Tyson exuded menace, Rampage brings colour. Make no mistake, the man is teak-tough, has legendary status going back almost a decade in mixed martial arts to the days of the PRIDE championship in Japan, but everything he does is laced with humour.

They said Rampage was grumpy on Wednesday at the head to head news conference. Jackson had talked about how much he enjoyed his training camp in Denver, where he visited the zoo and "made a friend" — a monkey that he said looked just like Jones. It just comes out…Curb Your Enthusiasm. A tense moment saw all fall about laughing – even the UFC light-heavyweight Jones was grinning.

Rampage was 'grumpy' on Thursday, too, we were told at the fighter workouts. But he ended up talking about The Queen with your correspondent on more than a couple of occasions. He did the last time we were together. He likes the UK. He has had half a dozen camps there, in Warrington.

The team around Rampage, incidentally, mentioned the name of Mike Tyson more than once in the fighter workouts on Thursday, and the former champion may need that movement from head and waist if he is to get on the inside and become the first opponent to really test Jones's chin. The wise money is saying that he will not. His team are convinced that Jackson, who looks trim, will have the wherewithal to do so. I'm not so sure.

I think we may have already seen a changing of the guard with the emergence of Jones. Yes, Jackson is very tough, and yes, Jones is raw, but his physical advantages are quite incredible. But many are fascinated to see what transpires. Should Jones deal easily with Jackson – the heaviest puncher in the division – it may be a long time before Jones gives up the belt.

DANA WHITE ON MICHAEL BISPING AND A POSSIBLE TITLE SHOT AGAINST ANDERSON SILVA

Telegraph Sport spoke to UFC president Dana White on the record this week about Michael Bisping and a potential title shot for the British middleweight. As expected, White confirmed that Bisping is treading water in the contest with Jason 'Mayhem' Miller, on Dec 3 in Las Vegas. It is merely the tip off point for the end of the fourteenth series of The Ultimate Fighter, with Bisping and Miller opposing coaches. White confirmed a win over Miller would not move Bisping into title contention, but that he is in the top five mix in the division. Bisping would have to fight a top contender after Miller to get a shot at 'the Spider', regarded as the best all-round mixed martial artist of all time.

Telegraph main card picks:

Jon Jones to beat Rampage Jackson and retain the UFC light-heavyweight belt.

Josh Koscheck over UFC legend Matt Hughes

Nate Diaz over Takanori Gomi (hardest pick in my book)

Rob Broughton to take a surprise win over Travis Browne

Big Ben Rothwell to defeat Mark Hunt (but this could so easily go the other way)

Also looking forward to speaking to Cole Escovedo, who has an amazing background story and is one of those who suffers, quite brilliantly, from the triumph of the human spirit. And if you've read this far, you will have wondered if the altitude in Denver has got to me, I'd probably say 'yes'. But it's great to join the mile-high city club. If the UFC began here, it wasn't a bad place to start. Let's hope the event at the Pepsi Center lives up to the hype.

Plaschke-Simers video: Should Kobe Bryant play overseas?

Kobe Bryant has been offered $6.7 million to play for Italian club team Virtus Bologna for a season. Should he go?

Times columnist Bill Plaschke and T.J. Simers disagree.

Plaschke thinks Bryant's loyalty is to the Lakers and he shouldn't risk jeopardizing his health and adding even more mileage to his long NBA career that began when he was just 18 years old.

Simers simply doesn't care. He argues that it's none of our business what a player does during the offseason.

Plaschke and Simers will be doing a weekly video, appropriately named "L.A. Loud." The video will be moderated by Times sports reporter Melissa Rohlin.

If Bryant plays overseas, other players will surely follow suit. Rohlin wonders if that could expedite the negotiation process since the owners don't want to risk their top players getting hurt.

MORE:

Kobe Bryant offered $6.7 million to play in Italy

Poll: Which side do you agree with more in the NBA lockout?

NBA postpones training camps, scraps some preseason games

--Melissa Rohlin

Chris Dufresne answers your college football questions [video]

Times college football columnist Chris Dufresne empties the L.A. Times mailbag to answer your college football questions:

 

 

Should Kobe Bryant play overseas? [video]

Kobe Bryant has been offered $6.7 million to play for Italian club team Virtus Bologna for a season. Should he go?

Times columnist Bill Plaschke and T.J. Simers disagree.

Plaschke thinks Bryant's loyalty is to the Lakers and he shouldn't risk jeopardizing his health and adding even more mileage to his long NBA career that began when he was just 18 years old.

Simers simply doesn't care. He argues that it's none of our business what a player does during the offseason.

Plaschke and Simers will be doing a weekly video, appropriately named "L.A. Loud." The video will be moderated by Times sports reporter Melissa Rohlin.

If Bryant plays overseas, other players will surely follow suit. Rohlin wonders if that could expedite the negotiation process since the owners don't want to risk their top players getting hurt.

MORE:

Kobe Bryant offered $6.7 million to play in Italy

Poll: Which side do you agree with more in the NBA lockout?

NBA postpones training camps, scraps some preseason games

--Melissa Rohlin

How will USC fare against Arizona State? [video]

Times USC reporter Gary Klein discusses USC's game against Arizona State this Saturday:

 

 

South Africa Training Camp, Location: Classified

Probing: Dale Steyn prepares to aim another truth missile at those who would keep things covered up. Like stumps. Picture: Getty

Dale Steyn removed his tin foil hat and turned off the computer.

“That’s how they get to you,” he muttered to himself. “They track your movements down the internet.”

Jacques Kallis came up behind him. Dale jumped in alarm. He patted Kallis down to check that he wasn’t wearing a wire.

“I’m just big-boned,” said Jacques sadly. “It’s deceptive.”

“Sorry china,” said Dale. “You can’t be too careful.” He offered Jacques a conciliatory piece of biltong. Kallis chewed it thoughtfully.

“I saw you’re doing the twittering about 9/11, bru,” said Jacques. “Do you really think it might all have been made-up?”

“Oh ja,” nodded Dale. “Could be. They found a passport of one of the hijackers at the scene? Come off it.”

“Maybe that’s how Trott got to be English; finding one in the wreckage of something or other,” suggested Morne Morkel.

“Could be, Morne,” said Dale. “Put it on the list of things to investigate.”

Morne got out his special Conspiracy Theory Felt-Tip Pen Set and began to write carefully. The list read:

“9/11.

Was Diana killed by the Royal Family?

Are shape-shifting lizards controlling the world?

Has Graeme Smith been eating too many lizards?

Or is his fuller figure another consequence of the Magic Boerewors Theory?

Was moon landing really staged and filmed with tiny miniature models using Lance Kluesener’s backside as lunar landscape backdrop?

Is Paul Harris a plant by shadowy international cabal of other international cricket teams?”

“I’ll get AB to pray for you,” said Jacques. “I think you need help.”

“I’m giving up tweeting, anyway,” said Dale. “I heard that’s how Shane Warne mind-controlled poor Daryl Cullinan. He tapped into his brain with the internet and brainwashed him with a ZX-Spectrum and a transmogrifyer and a pet rabbit,”

“Don’t be stupid,” said Jacques. “The internet wasn’t even invented then.”

“Or WAS it?” agreed Dale. “Me and Morne are investigating that as well. We’re like Mulder and Scully.”

“Ja,” said Morne. “But with less of the ‘will they-won’t they?’ sexual tension.”

“That’s right,” nodded Dale. “Unless the lizards get their way.”

NBA postpones training camps, scraps some preseason games

The NBA's collective-bargaining divide with its players has brought an eraser to the scheduled opening of training camp and preseason games through Oct. 15, the league announced Friday morning.

Training camp has been delayed "indefinitely," according to a news release distributed by the league, and 43 preseason games between Oct. 9-15 have been scrapped.

“We have regretfully reached the point on the calendar where we are not able to open training camps on time and need to cancel the first week of preseason games,” said NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver. “We will make further decisions as warranted.”

Commissioner David Stern and union leaders met Thursday in New York. They remain divided on how to resolve a situation that the league says leaves 23 of 30 teams losing money.

The players have conceded they'll take a 4% cut from 2010-11 salary, but the league wants to cap salary at $2 billion for coming seasons after paying $2.15 billion last season.

The sides are expected to meet again next week.

MORE:

Kobe Bryant offered $6.7 million to play in Italy

Poll: Which side do you agree with more in the NBA lockout?

After 'DWTS,' Metta World Peace on which Lakers are good dancers

-- Lance Pugmire

Photo: David Stern. Credit: LM Otero / Associated Press.

Week 3 N.F.L. Matchups

Packers (2-0) at Bears (1-1)
Sunday, 4:15 p.m.
Line: Packers 3.
Jay Cutler is a 50-Tesla, super-cooled, solenoid-style electromagnet for criticism. He can attract scorn from hundreds of miles away. Everything about Cutler’s career is polarizing: the gaudy statistics that contrast his 35-35 win-loss record; his penchant for turnovers; his snippy, irritable public demeanor; and his career-long association with mercurial offensive masterminds like Mike Shanahan, Josh McDaniels and Mike Martz, who only magnify his peculiar attraction-repulsion effect.
Last season’s N.F.C. championship game became Ferris Cutler’s Day Off, with the (somewhat) injured quarterback looking less willing than able on the sideline as his backups got battered by the Packers. It was the type of nonperformance that defines a career, fairly or not, and a win Sunday could deflect a tiny bit of criticism. Unfortunately, Cutler’s Bears are 1-4 against the Packers in the past two seasons, and their offensive line is still bad enough to make even the toughest quarterback consider using a sick day. Pick: Packers

Texans (2-0) at Saints (1-1)
Sunday, 1 p.m.
Line: Saints by 4.
Had the Texans faced the Saints last year, Drew Brees would have thrown for 600 yards. Houston’s defense has improved drastically since then. The coordinator Wade Philips has apparently grown smarter since leaving the Cowboys (it’s a common phenomenon), and newcomers like cornerback Johnathan Joseph and the rookie defensive lineman J.J. Watt have helped the star pass rusher Mario Williams make an early impact. The Texans rank first in the N.F.L. in pass defense, though the Dolphins’ defeatist attack and the Colts’ “Men of a Certain Age” offense did not offer the kind of test the Texans face this week.
The Saints offense is just like it was in previous years, only moreso: the arrivals of running backs Darren Sproles and Mark Ingram have more than offset the loss of the injured receiver Marques Colston. The offense no longer gets much attention because a) we are used to it and b) offensive production around the league is so high that Brees can complete 67.4 percent of his passes and throw for six touchdowns in two weeks without attracting notice. The first team to score 30 points will win this game, but at least the Texans defense is now good enough to keep that from happening before halftime. Pick: Saints

Giants (1-1) at Eagles (1-1)
Sunday, 1 p.m.
Line: Eagles by 7.
For Philadelphia, Dream Team is not a boast but a descriptor. The Eagles’ games follow the disjointed logic of the subconscious, each one a fantasia of improbable joys and unspeakable terrors jumbled together in a neurotic heap. In the fourth quarter, a fellow named Kafka arrives to make it clear that you have left the physical world for some existential realm, though Nietzsche may be more appropriate: when you gaze into the abyss, you realize that it is the middle of the Eagle defense, and Ahmad Bradshaw could easily run straight through it for a 60-yard gain.
The Giants do not expect to see the backup quarterback Mike Kafka on Sunday; Michael Vick (concussion) made progress during the week and is capable of producing much more tangible nightmares. Memories of the Eagles’ comeback last season are fresh for the Giants, and while punter Steve Weatherford has vowed to kick the ball where he is told (i.e. nowhere near DeSean Jackson in the fourth quarter), nothing in dreams or Eagles games happens quite the way you expect it to. Pick: Eagles

Falcons (1-1) at Buccaneers (1-1)
Sunday, 4:15 p.m.
Line: Buccaneers by 1.
When the former Falcons punter-kickoff specialist Michael Koenen signed a $19.5 million contract with Tampa Bay, it appeared that the league’s general managers had grown a little lockout-loopy and wanted to spend big money on anyone, even a punter-kickoff specialist, just to get the tingle back. But as ESPN.com noted this week, the Buccaneers’ move has paid dividends. Koenen is averaging 49.5 yards per punt, and his two kickoffs that weren’t touchbacks were returned a total of 17 yards. He also executed a successful onside kick. His rookie replacement in Atlanta, Matt Bosher, shanked an 18-yard punt against the Eagles and is one of the few kickoff specialists in the league who cannot consistently produce touchbacks.
Bosher costs the Falcons almost $3 million less than Koenen, but four of the last five games between these teams have been decided by a touchdown or less, so trading a lot of money for a little field position could come back to haunt them. Pick: Buccaneers

Steelers (1-1) at Colts (0-2)
Sunday, 8:20 p.m.
Line: Steelers by 10.
Opinions on how the Colts should address their quarterback problem correspond directly to the speaker or writer’s overarching philosophical stance. The optimist waits for Peyton Manning to return. (“He will return. He must return.”) The pessimist wants to give up and draft Andrew Luck. (“This era is over. Can’t you see it’s over?”) The pragmatist looks to the young backup Curtis Painter. (“Let’s use this opportunity to evaluate some prospects.”) The realist advocates sticking with Kerry Collins. (“There are no viable solutions, so we might as well get our $4 million worth.”) The nihilist wants to call Brett Favre. (“The season is ruined, so why not destroy hope and sanity as well?”) The cynic comments on all of the others from above the fray, mocking their opinions but offering no viable alternatives, and profiting from the enterprise. Pick: Steelers

Patriots (2-0) at Bills (2-0)
Sunday, 1 p.m.
Line: Patriots by 8.
The Patriots lead the league with 563 yards per game, but the Bills lead the N.F.L. in scoring with 79 points. Both teams are on pace to break offensive records set by the Patriots during their 2007 Year of Hubris, but while the Patriots do this sort of thing all the time, the Bills are still figuring out how to cope with success. Both quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and receiver Steve Johnson become free agents at the end of the season, and every time they connect for a touchdown, it raises their market value to too-expensive-for-Buffalo heights. Pick: Patriots

Jaguars (1-1) at Panthers (0-2)
Sunday, 1 p.m.
Line: Panthers by 3.
Rookie watchers alert: Blaine Gabbert makes the first start of his N.F.L. career this week. He is already a dozen laps behind Cam Newton in the rookie of the year race; not only does Newton lead the Panthers in passing and rushing, but he also leads an offense that ranks second in the league to the Patriots in net yards. Gabbert had to wait for his chance behind the ineffective journeyman Luke McCown, who replaced David Garrard, who was released just days before the season opener in a money-saving move. It is the kind of disorderly succession we normally associate with island nations ruled by individuals with the official title of “strong man,” but this is really how the Jaguars conduct business. Pick: Panthers

Broncos (1-1) at Titans (1-1)
Sunday, 1 p.m.
Line: Titans by 6.
Random fact: the Titans have not yet returned a kickoff this year, while the Broncos have not yet allowed a kickoff return. Broncos kicker Matt Prater is 10 for 10 on touchbacks, but this is his first trip out of the rocket propulsion laboratory in Denver this season, so he is due to send one less than 70 yards. Mark Mariani is theoretically the Titans’ kickoff returner, though the team may want to consider Chris Johnson (probable, ribs), who is averaging 2.3 yards per carry after signing a $53 million contract and needs to start making some positive contributions. Pick: Titans

Lions (2-0) at Vikings (0-2)
Sunday, 1 p.m.
Line: Lions by 3.
The Vikings have outscored opponents, 34-7, in the first half this season, only to be outscored, 41-3, in the second. Strange personnel decisions have hurt them late in games. The injury-prone receiver Percy Harvin has become the porcelain tea service that is too precious to actually use: he often leaves the game in critical situations so that he will be available for hypothetical even-more-critical situations that never come. The Lions have a chance to make a statement this week. That statement is “beating the Chiefs really does count.” Pick: Lions

Dolphins (0-2) at Browns (1-1)
Sunday, 1 p.m.
Line: Browns by 2.
The Dolphins’ early-season woes transcend bad play and bad luck. The issue is now bad posture. “It’s a body-language thing,” safety Yeremiah Bell told The Palm Beach Post. “If you’ve got bad body language, that’s not a good sign.” Coaches have spent the week stressing to Dolphins receivers that they should not curl into the fetal position after incomplete passes. Pick: Browns

49ers (1-1) at Bengals (1-1)
Sunday, 1 p.m.
Line: Bengals by 2.
The 49ers needed two special-teams touchdowns to beat the merrily bumbling Seahawks, then fell victim to Romo: the Resurrection in an overtime loss to the Cowboys. With their stout defense, exceptional kicking game and nearlyadequate offense, the 49ers are arguably the best team in the N.F.C. West. If fainter praise exists, you do not want to be damned by it. Pick: Bengals

Jets (2-0) at Raiders (1-1)
Sunday, 4:05 p.m.
Line: Jets by 3.
Stop us if you have heard this before: the Raiders have an exciting new rookie wide receiver, a former high school track champion with iffy football fundamentals. This time it’s Denarius Moore, who has five catches for a whopping 146 yards this season. He also gained 25 yards on a reverse, because the Raiders cannot count on Jason Campbell to throw the ball to wide receivers and therefore often ask him to hand it to them. These Raiders burners have a way of burning out after a game or two. After his trip to Revis Island, Moore will still be the Raiders’ top receiver. With five catches for 146 yards. Pick: Jets

Ravens (1-1) at Rams (0-2)
Sunday, 4:05 p.m.
Line: Ravens by 3.
The Rams are 1 of 5 on red-zone conversions this year, but the way they screw up near the goal line makes them compelling to watch. They drive effortlessly down the field, get inside the 20-yard line, then turn and pitch the ball straight backward so opposing defenders can scoop and score. The laterals to nowhere are interspersed with bouts of crippling stage fright at around the 5-yard line, with Sam Bradford spraying passes outside the diving reach of his receivers. The possible return of the powerful running back Steven Jackson (day-to-day, thigh) could help; when your your top red-zone weapons are guys like Greg Salas, the urge to just heave the ball away in frustration must be powerful. Pick: Ravens

Chiefs (0-2) at Chargers (1-1)
Sunday, 4:05 p.m.
Line: Chargers by 14.
Last week, we explored Bill Belichick’s perpetual post-victory grouchiness. This week, we bathe in the eternal sunshine of Norv Turner’s mind after losing to Belichick’s Patriots. “I’m so excited about our football team,” Turner said before channeling Ernie (Let’s Play Two) Banks. “Obviously, when you have a game like this, you can’t wait to go play again.” Obviously; who wouldn’t want to relive the magic of a four-turnover 35-21 loss? It is always sunny in San Diego, and in Turner’s psyche, because the Chargers do look great when not making mistakes in the red zone, and the A.F.C West gets weaker every time Todd Haley makes a decision. Pick: Chargers

Cardinals (1-1) at Seahawks (0-2)
Sunday, 4:15 p.m.
Line: Cardinals by 3.
The Seahawks’ offensive highlight reel is so short that it is a subliminal message. The team averages just 3.8 yards per pass attempt, which ranks 31st in the N.F.L. (or dead last if you no longer count the Chiefs). The running game produces just 2.7 yards per carry, so at least no one can point fingers. The Cardinals have allowed 713 passing yards to Cam Newton and Rex Grossman in the first two games, so if the Seahawks cannot get something going this week, they never will. Pick: Cardinals

Redskins (2-0) at Cowboys (1-1)
Monday, 8:30 p.m.
Line: Cowboys 5.
Tony Romo led the Cowboys to an overtime victory last week over the 49ers despite cracked ribs and a punctured lung. In light of this effort, we would like to apologize for a few of our slights against Romo’s toughness over the years: wise-cracking about Cabo vacations, mistaking Carrie Underwood songs for scouting reports and so on. Rex Grossman may also someday merit an apology, but let’s wait for him to go two straight weeks without a two-interception game before we get carried away. Pick: Cowboys

Times are Eastern. Picks do not reflect the betting line.

Repeat of Roy Jones robbery at Seoul Games possible with change in AIBA scoring system

Talk to any amateur boxer and they will tell you a story of how they have felt frustration at losing a bout which would have taken them to the Olympics. Or even at the Games.

The judging/scoring system in amateur boxing is one of the most contentious in sport. Roy Jones Jnr lost to the Korean Park Si-Hun in a controversial final at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.

Computerised scoring was introduced as a result of the controversies at the 1988 Games in Seoul.

Jones, who went on to achieve legendary status in the professional ranks, was the victim of what is generally regarded as the worst decision in boxing history.

Jones came up against South Korean Park Si-hun in the light-middleweight gold medal fight, and landed double the punches of his opponent.

There were other ‘suspicious’ matches during those Games, and the then International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch threatened to remove boxing from the Olympics.

It is before my time writing on boxing, but I have seen the contest, and Jones wins it clearly.

The outrage, and an appeal, mattered little. He left the Seoul Games with the silver medal and went on to have a stellar professional career.

There were allegations then of judges decisions being rigged. They went all the way, in some accounts, back to the involvement of the Stasi, the East German secret police.

World amateur boxing is mired in smokescreens, controlled at its head by the dictatorship of Dr Ching Kuo Wu, the president of the International Amateur Boxing Association.

Dr Wu, an astute politician, with links to the IOC hierarchy, and a voting member, has said he will examine the allegations, made by a BBC2 Newsnight investigation, that matches were to be fixed at next year’s Games, were “untrue and ludicrous” but the judging system is more open to question than ever before, particularly because the scores are not to be shown until the end of each of the three, 3-minute rounds.

That rule change came in in March this year. Previously, the ongoing score could be seen as the bout progressed. To score, five judges, in different positions around the ring, will depress a red or blue button, the boxers represented for one or the other of the boxers, for each scoring punch.

The obfuscation of the scores until the end of the round need not have been implemented. A grey area is only likely to become even more confusing, for both protagonists, and spectators alike.