I had the unique opportunity to follow the "Terrell Owens to Buffalo" saga as an insider on the outside. Travelling to and from the World Baseball Classic between the States and Canada in Toronto, I was listening to Sportstalk Saturday before the game, Brian Koziol after, and Sportstalk Sunday this morning. Here\'s how my weekend went, and my probably-frowned-upon opinion of Buffal-Owens (look at me getting Bucky Gleason and calling dibs on a nickname. Buck, it's probably not any better than the Skating Tomato, so that isn't a rip on you).

Before I go any further, think about this... When was the last time a Bills jersey lead the league in sales?

Saturday

Noon: Corey Griswold fires me a text that says, "If the Bills sign Owens, I'm rooting for the Rams." Thusly, I turn off At the Drive-In in our CD changer, and turn on WGR. The story is that Profootballtalk.com has a report that Owens is visiting Buffalo.

My reaction? I called it earlier in the week in a post-Howard Simon Show meeting, and re-iterated it to my wife.

"Really smart PR move. Rosenhaus will never put his client here, and the cameras are in Buffalo. Russ Brandon really does know how to market a football club."

So... I was half-right. When I thought of it last week, there was more outrage than anticipation, but the more I thought about it, I realized research was the play. Terrell Owens didn\'t run over anyone with his car and then dodge police (as far as we know). Terrell Owens hasn't taken out a contract to his pregnant girlfriend killed (as far as we know). Terrell Owens didn't make it rain on a bunch of strippers, in the process contributing to a security guard's paralysis (as far as we know). Terrell Owens hasn't filmed a Monday Night Football open with Nicolette Sheridan (oh wait...).

2 p.m.: The texts are rolling in from friends, family and acquaintances alike:

-- "T.O.'s at the airport."

-- "T.O. is getting a physical."

-- "T.O. is at Chef's with Jay Cutler and Ocho Cinco."

Meanwhile, the States are putting a hurting on Canada that they would later almost blow. I'm rooting for Kevin Youkilis, Derek Jeter and Dustin Pedroia at the same time. What the heck?

There were a ton of Venezuela fans at the game, and they had their flags flying like crazy, and their country was playing for six hours. It was hilarious, almsot entirely out-of-place, patriotic and wonderful.

5 p.m.: We're headed to Mississauga to check in at our hotel, and I get a text message that the Bills have called a press conference for 6:15 p.m. I know what that means... T.O. is a Buffalo BIll. Sure enough, John Clayton is reporting that the Bills have signed Owens. No turning back now.

SUNDAY

9 a.m.: Driving home, I decided there were several statistics I needed to develop a concrete opinion on the signing:

A) Who else were among the league leaders in dropped passes?
--- Braylon Edwards, Brandon Marshall, Dwayne Bowe, Roddy White, et cetera. In other words... you have to be thrown the ball to drop it, and more times than not, 69 times in fact, Owens came down with the football. In 10 cases, it was in the end zone. Also, a number of those drops in his career came with a broken hand.

2) What did the rest of the Cowboys do last year?
--- Not much. Besides Jason Witten, there weren't any options taking the attention away from Owens in Dallas. The receivers were so bad that the Cowboys dealt for Roy Williams from Detroit. In other words, teams are going to have to double Owens, or double Lee Evans. Either way, life is good. If you think Trent Edwards isn't 90 percent positive and 10 percent negative about this whole deal, you might want to go out for ice cream, or treat yourself to a massage.

D) Who's more of a threat, Evans, or Owens?
--- Evans, but it's a lot closer than you might think. With Owens, the Bills now have two of the top-15 players from 2008 in yards-per-catch. Evans was tenth, Owens was 15th. That's stunning. Now, if the Bills would only trade for Jay Cutler, like I typed last week.

11 a.m.: Back in the States. First thought? Sadly, football. Dick Jauron, for all his flaws, is known as a player's coach. Wade Phillips came out yesterday and said he was happy to have coached Owens. If Owens is going to pay attention to someone, it's going to be a former player.

Noon: A couple other plusses:

-- The Bills could get a season-opening Thursday night game. At home.

-- Guaranteed multiple night games.

-- Other free agents might be jazzed to come to a team that might actually win.

-- If Owens performs this year and jets somewhere else for crazy money, another player will see that he can get 75 catches and 10 touchdowns in Buffalo. That works.

3:33 p.m. (POST-EDIT): Get ready to hear Buffalo ripped on by the national pundits who haven't been here, or haven't in a while. Expect pure vitriol from Colin Cowherd, and Buffalo may be a topic on the show for all five days this week. Be ready for it, and don't be upset. We're still one legit city.

Email: nick@wgr550.com