Travel World guide

I bought this as a gift and never got to read it, however, the person who did told me it was excellent recapturing of the glory years here for the Bills. Steve’s a legend here, great underdog story of a guy who was rejected and found his nitch to live out a dream.

Former Buffalo Bills special teams players extraordinaire Steve Tasker has moved from the playing field and the broadcast booth into the role of author in Sports Publishing L.L.C.’s latest Western New York entry, “Steve Tasker’s Tales from the Buffalo Bills.”
The work is written in the first person with Rochester Democrat and Chronicle columnist Scott Pitoniak. Like the special teams phenom Tasker was on the field, at times, his tales book is also all over the place.
Instead of running full-tilt towards ball carriers or on coverage teams, Tasker appears to have taken a list of rosters from his Buffalo Bills days and played word association with Pitoniak.
While it sounds confusing, it works, as Tasker doesn’t leave a stone unturned as he reminisces about famous Buffalo Bills players, hall of famers as well as those who made a difference in the Buffalo organization.
Tasker was one of the first players signed by Buffalo coach Marv Levy, his signing was first a practical joke, before it became a reality.
Once relocated from Houston, to Buffalo, Tasker found a home with the former special teams coach in Levy along with the brutes and backs in red and blue.
Tasker begins his 171-page tribute to his former teammates with glowing and humorous comments about Levy, owner Ralph Wilson and general manager Bill Polian.
Tasker moves on to his teammates, beginning with stars Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Bruce Smith, Andre Reed, Kent Hull, Don Bebee, Darryl Talley and a host of others.
The author doesn’t mince words about his former teammates, but does stay on their good side with primarily positive comments. He doesn’t shy away from addressing the “Bickering Bills” moments during the 1990′s and skirmishes between Kelly and Thomas. Tasker, has tremendous insight into the Bills offense and defense, giving credit to Kelly for changing plays at the line of scrimmage from a pass to a run, looking for the best way to win.
Tasker writes of the evolution of the no-huddle offense in Buffalo and Kelly’s desire to convince Levy and Ted Marchibroda after its late-season success versus the Cleveland Browns.
Before launching into a re-hash of the four Super Bowl losses, Tasker takes time to write about the greatest comeback in NFL history, orchestrated by Bills back-up Frank Reich.
The author underwent knee surgery where the muscle from a cadaver is stapled to the top and bottom of the athletes MCL, it re-invigorated his career, including seven Pro Bowl appearances as well as being the only special teams player to receive the Pro Bowl MVP in the 1993 contest.
The pro bowl special teamer includes all the names that your fan will fondly remember as well as prod some smiles from those they are reminded of.
Before the 2006 season gets underway, make “Steve Tasker’s Tales from the Buffalo Bills” the playbook for your red and blue fan.

I absolutely loved this book. Steve’s multiple short stories give good insight on what the Buffalo Bills organization was like in the years leading up to, during, and after the heyday of their four Super Bowl appearances. He had a take on fellow players, coaches, Mr. Wilson, and of course himself. It was a joy to read what these guys were like in the ups and the downs of those glory days and how other teams feared them. They all deserve to one day be a member of that Hall of Fame in my hometown of Canton

Interesting book for I am from that area and am a Bills fan who lived through this history. I like hearing it told from one of the participants point of view.

I loved the Bills and enjoy Steve Tasker. A good amount of the stories are interesting but it was like reading a 5th graders book report. I think Steve just had somebody take dictation or something. It had a real dictation flow and the person taking dicatation had no clue about the NFL b/c there are misspelled names in here. The editor of this book should be fired just a bad performance to not catch all the grammatical errors and misspellings

This book was a humorous insight to the Buffalo Bills Team that went to four straight Super Bowls. It is a quick, easy read that lets you see the softer side of the players.

Taskers’ short book is a nice trip down memory lane for Bills fans accustomed to the teams losing ways as of late. You would think that this book would just be one feel good story after another about the Bills’ glory years. Instead, Tasker and Pitoniak mix alot of positive stories with some revealing memories. For instance, who ever knew that Levy always regretted not talking to Thurman after his notorious fumble in the second Super Bowl against the Cowboys? Or the utter contempt that Kelly had for the city of Buffalo before playing for the Bills. Overall, this is a small book that can be read in less then a couple hours during the long off-season.

Steve gives us a look from the inside of the Buffalo Bills Football team, bringing back many fond memories of the Bill’s glory years.

Think the Buffalo Bills’ no-huddle offense of the early 90′s was fast?

Try reading “Steve Tasker’s Tales from the Buffalo Bills.”

You’ll want to call a timeout in the middle of it just to slow the pace down … just as the Los Angeles Raiders did in 1991 when the Bills marched down the field on their first drive of an eventual 51-3 win. That victory sent Buffalo to its first Super Bowl, and Tasker was a part of that team and the following three teams that made NFL history by reaching four straight Super Bowls. It’s almost too easy to race through this.

Tasker’s memories of those teams make up almost all of this book, and he’s a good one for the job. Tasker was called the greatest special teams player in history by his coach, Marv Levy. That might be open for debate, but few players have ever made so many big plays in that role. You can make a case that he should be in the Hall of Fame some day.

Tasker also had a good perspective on the game. Media members used to almost hope he’d do something good during a game because he was so good at talking after the contest in the locker room.

This book is rather loosely organized. The chapters deal with administration, players, Super Bowls, comebacks, bad games, pranks, opposing teams, retirement and “extra points.” It’s almost like having a friendly conversation with Tasker, as he jumps around from subject to subject within the chapters. Indeed, sometimes a couple of more dates and a little less repetition would have been helpful.

This is all good natured in tone. There aren’t many critical remarks of his teammates, as Tasker’s respect for such players as Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas, Bruce Smith and Andre Reed is obvious. There are also some good “inside” stories, such as the time that an equipment assistant found a Dolphins’ playbook left behind in the locker room after a game … which was converted into valuable preparation information for the one-sided rematch between the teams later in the season.

The catch is all of this is a big one. The book runs 171 pages, and there is plenty of white space around the type. That means it can be read in virtually no time — an evening, tops. The publisher made a good decision to reduce the list price down to $19.95, but that’s still a little pricey under the circumstances. (There’s always the used option here.)

It’s not like Tasker doesn’t have plenty to say, either. He could have easily expanded his thoughts on a variety of football-related subjects, as well as talked more about his current career as a network analyst. It’s easy to get the impression that Tasker is on the modest side, and co-author Scott Pitoniak had trouble getting the ex-player to talk much about his own accomplishments.

Even so, what we have is still fun. Books like this are designed for a specific target audience — in this case, Bills’ fans. It’s fair to say Tasker’s tales will please them.