Anyone who’s paid attention to my discussing this year’s Buffalo Bills rookie class can distinguish my belief of it being premature to judge the path each career is heading on. It’s impractical to discern if injuries are an unlucky occurrence or a lingering part of their career (e.g. Jairus Byrd, Eric Wood).
No one knows how a player might respond to a different position, such as a certain first-round draft pick moving to a 3-4 outside linebacker role. Does a feeble rookie season mean the draft pick was wasted and all hope should be given up?
Continue reading ‘Reviewing the Bills 2009 Draft’
Former University at Buffalo football standouts Jamey Richard and Drew Willy are headed to the Super Bowl.
Richard, a center who saw special teams action in the Indianapolis Colts 30-17 win over the New York Jets on Sunday, and third-string quarterback Drew Willy are headed to Miami as the Colts will play in Super Bowl XLIV against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, February 7.
They join all-time Bulls’ great Gerry Philbin as the only UB players to ever participate in a Super Bowl. Philbin won Super Bowl III with the New York Jets, who, ironically, upset the Colts in that game.
Continue reading ‘Two Former Bulls On Way To Super Bowl’
The Buffalo Sabres are close to finally returning home but first there’s the business of wrapping up their seven-game road trip tonight at Vancouver (10pm). The Sabres haven’t been home since January 8th and by the time they take the ice at the HSBC Arena this Wednesday against New Jersey, they may need to refamiliarize themselves with their home facilities.
Buffalo is 2-2-2 on their road adventure that’s spanned well over 3,000 miles but went winless during the three-game California swing with a shootout loss to Los Angeles sandwiched by regulation defeats to Anaheim and San Jose.
Continue reading ‘Gamenight Preview: Sabres at Canucks’
I’m told that Jim Bates is still the leading candidate for the Buffalo Bills defensive coordinator job. Despite Chan Gailey’s statement at his introductory press conference saying he’s open to running a 3-4, I don’t expect them to convert to that scheme.
The reality is the Bills would need more than one year to get the personnel necessary to effectively run the defense. A more realistic scenario would be installing a more bulked up 4-3 defense. Regardless if it’s Bates or someone else, I’d be surprised if the Bills switched this year.
We’ll be taking a long look this week at the type of transformation and personnel the Bills would need to effectively install the 3-4.
Continue reading ‘BSD Briefs: January 25′
The University at Buffalo wrestling team recorded a third place-finish at the 41st annual New York State Intercollegiate Wrestling Championships held Sunday at Newman Arena on the campus of Cornell University. The reigning champion Bulls scored 149.5 points behind Army (158) and sixth nationally-ranked host Cornell (194). Sophomore John-Martin Cannon captured the 165-pound crown by upsetting 16th nationally-ranked Justin Kerber of Cornell, 3-1 in overtime.
Cannon captured the Bulls’ lone individual crown of the championships at 165. On Saturday, Cannon scored a fall followed by a major decision to reach the semifinals. In the semifinals, the sophomore posted a 6-4 decision over Matt Kaylor of Binghamton in the second overtime period to reach the championships. After finishing in third place last year, Cannon earned his first trip to the finals where he would record the biggest victory of his career, defeating 16th nationally-ranked Kerber of Cornell in the first overtime period, 3-1.
Continue reading ‘UB wrestling finishes third in NYS Championships’
