Aktuelle News! » decision to play games in Toronto, about a 2-

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. -- Bills centre Eric Wood was not at all surprised hearing team president Russ Brandon raise concerns whether Buffalo loses a competitive edge playing annual home games in Toronto. Brandon first questioned the benefits of the "Bills In Toronto" series during a meeting with Wood and fellow team captains about a month ago. "He knew that a lot of players have expressed some harsh feelings toward Toronto," Wood said Wednesday. "And he basically told us as captains that he was going to do whatever it takes around here to win. And thats something he wanted to address." Brandon went public with his concerns during his weekly show on Buffalos WGR-AM earlier in the day. While noting the Bills games north of the border have boosted the small-market franchises revenues, Brandon added that they havent paid off in wins. Following a 34-31 overtime loss to Atlanta on Sunday, Buffalo dropped to 1-5 in Toronto since the series was established in 2008. "It has been a challenged market there, and certainly has not translated into enough wins for us there," Brandon said. "Nothing comes above winning. When I took over the reins on Jan. 1, I said that was the No. 1 focus, and that will be the No. 1 focus. Thats one of the reasons that this will be reviewed in a grand manner." Brandon stopped short of saying the Bills would consider or be allowed to opt out of the four remaining years of the deal, which they renewed in January with Toronto-based Rogers Communications. "Im going to look at everything. Ill just leave it at that," Brandon said, before being asked a second time whether the Bills can opt out. "My focus in this organization is simple, to put ourselves in the position to win championships and sustain success. Period. Nothing comes above that." Wood has been among several players who have criticized the series. He called the games in Toronto "a joke" last year following a 50-17 loss to Seattle. Last week, receiver Stevie Johnson questioned whether the warm-weather Falcons "fixed" the schedule in getting to play indoors at the domed Rogers Centre, and avoid the wintry conditions -- and traditionally more raucous environment -- at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y. The loss put a big dent in the Bills chances of staying in the AFC playoff race. At 4-8, Buffalo plays three of its final four on the road, beginning with a trip to Tampa Bay (3-9) on Sunday. Buffalo is in jeopardy of extending the NFLs longest active post-season drought to 14 seasons. And the Bills will go a ninth straight year without a winning record. The Bills are 0-4 at Toronto during December. Their lone win came on Oct. 30, 2011, when they defeated Washington 23-0. Rogers officials declined to comment on Brandons statements. So did NFL vice-president Christopher Parsons, who heads the leagues international offices. The Bills made the decision to play games in Toronto, about a 2-hour drive from Buffalo, in a bid to expand their fan base and generate additional revenue from Canadas largest city and financial capital. A lack of home-team support and poor attendance remain issues since the series started. The announced crowd of 38,969 on Sunday was by far the smallest of the series, and well short of the stadiums NFL capacity of 46,470, not including suites. Rogers did announce the first four regular-season games had been sellouts before later acknowledging the totals included thousands of free tickets. The games also attract a larger than usual contingent of visiting team supporters. Several Atlanta players were pleasantly surprised to see a notable number of fans wearing Falcons jerseys in the stands on Sunday. "The crazy part is we had a lot of support here," Falcons safety William Moore said. "It didnt feel like we were in Canada." The series has generated revenue and lured more southern Ontario fans back to Buffalo. The Bills estimate Canadians now make up about 15 per cent of their season ticket base. That rivals the number of season ticket holders the Bills get from nearby Rochester. As part of the initial five-year deal, Rogers agreed to pay $78 million to essentially lease eight Bills home games: five regular season and three preseason. The final preseason game was eventually dropped because of scheduling difficulties. In exchange, the Bills earned more than double what they usually generated from hosting games in Buffalo. The value of the most recent deal has not been revealed. Anthony Davis Jersey . The 26-year-old slider from Calgary posted a time of 50.464 seconds, 0.573 seconds back of leader Natalie Geisenberger. The German led the overall World Cup womens standings this season and continued her dominance by putting down a track record time of 49. Jrue Holiday Jersey . "I could have been equipment manager but nooooo" from Lisa on Ice. Season 6, Episode 8. http://www.shoppelicansonline.com/Authen...elicans-Jersey/. -- On any given day here at his companys Silicon Valley headquarters, Vivek Ranadive is ready to compete against any employee who wants to challenge him to any contest. Jahlil Okafor Jersey . Wheeler scored two goals, including the winner, as the Winnipeg Jets beat the Minnesota Wild 6-4 on Friday in a game that featured a seven-goal first period. Jahlil Okafor Pelicans Jersey . Simona Halep of Romania claimed the fifth title of her career by beating Samantha Stosur of Australia 7-6 (1), 6-2 in the womens final. After trading sets, Gasquet trailed 4-3 in the decider but broke back to 4-4 in a game that went to seven deuces with Kukushkin constantly failing on his forehand shots.SAN DIEGO -- Marlon Byrd, Ike Davis and Daniel Murphy each homered to back Jonathon Nieses solid outing, and the New York Mets beat the San Diego Padres 5-2 on Friday night. Byrd and Davis connected on consecutive pitches from Ian Kennedy in the third inning. Murphy hit a two-run shot an inning later to give the Mets a 5-1 lead. Niese (5-6) allowed one run on six hits in six innings in his second start since returning from the disabled list. Niese struck out a season-high nine and walked one with one hit batter. Niese and three relievers combined to strike out 13, running New Yorks two-game total to 28. LaTroy Hawkins pitched the ninth for his fourth save in seven chances filling in for injured closer Bobby Parnell. Byrd has driven in six runs in his last three games after going without an RBI for the previous 13 games. Before he homered, Murphy had just one extra base hit in his last 20 games. Davis has four homers off Kennedy (4-9) in only nine at-bats. New Yorks Anthony Recker, starting in place of catcher John Buck who went on the paternity list, had a career-best three hits and also reached on a walk. San Diego has dropped eight of 10 and fell into last place in the NL West with the Giants win over Miami. Byrd led off the third inning with his 19th home run and, on the next pitch, Davis hit homer No. 7. It was only the second ttime this season that New York has hit consecutive home runs.dddddddddddd Kennedy, acquired in a trade from Arizona on July 31, allowed five runs on seven hits over 4 2-3 innings in his third start for San Diego. The righty, who has allowed 22 home runs, struck out seven and walked four. Will Venable ran his career-high hitting streak to 13 games with a solo homer in the third. Venables 16th home run extended his career high. Yonder Alonso added an RBI single in the eighth and Jedd Gyorko had three hits for San Diego, including a double. Gyorko has nine hits in his last six games, six for extra bases. NOTES: Kennedy lost for the first time (4-1) against the Mets in six career starts . Padres LF Carlos Quentin is expected to miss another seven to 10 days with a strained right knee. Quentin received a second opinion from the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles on Thursday and San Diego manager Bud Black said the result was "the same findings that our team doctors had." . Slumping New York rookie CF Juan Lagares was held out of the starting lineup. Lagares is hitting .210 (13 for 62) in August and is hitless in his last 13 at-bats with five strikeouts . The teams continue their four-game series Saturday night with Mets RHP Jenrry Mejia (1-2, 2.22 ERA) set to face Padres RHP Edinson Volquez (8-10, 5.80). ' ' '