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for March 2010
 One of the writers in the business I respect greatly is Rochester Democrat & Chronicle scribe Sal Mairorana. Like him or not, he tells it like it is and as the Buffalo Sabres were wrapping up what seemed to be an ugly home loss to Montreal Wednesday night, Mairorana tweeted what he felt appropriate at the time.
“For those who paid to sit in HSBC Arena to watch the Sabres play the Canadiens, what a waste of money that was for you. Horrid effort tonite.”
He was nearly right.
Continue reading ‘Sabres rally late for improbable shootout win’
 Future Canisius College men’s basketball player Chris Manhertz (Bronx, N.Y.) was recently named to the Team USA roster for the 25th Albert Schweitzer Basketball Tournament, which will take place April 3-10 in Manheim, Germany.
Currently a senior at Cardinal Spellman High School, Manhertz will be joining 11 other American-born players and former Milwaukee Bucks head coach Larry Krystkowiak in what is considered by many as one of the premier junior-level basketball tournaments in the world. Since its inception in 1958, the United States teams have claimed 10 Schweitzer Tournament crowns, but have not one a title at the event in the last 10 years.
Continue reading ‘Future Canisius player selected for Germany Tourney’
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Like it or not, it’s that time of year in the NFL.
Free agency has slowed to a crawl and the draft is still nearly a month away. Any rumor, whether big or small is going to get reported constantly. But in the case of Donovan McNabb, things are really taking shape as it’s rapidly becoming plausible he could get dealt.
In fact the rumors, only further fueled by his own head coach Andy Reid, are running rampant enough that McNabb is now speaking.
The quarterback told the Philadelphia Daily News today that he’d like to stay in Philadelphia, but just as importantly wants the situation resolved quickly.
Continue reading ‘McNabb makes statement on trade rumors’
 With loss after loss for former Niagara Falls high school superstar Jonny Flynn piling up, the Minnesota Timberwolves rookie is eagerly anticipating the end of an embarrassing rookie season. Just a year ago Flynn was playing for Syracuse and making a name for himself in the midst of a history-making, six-overtime Big East Championship.
March 2010 has led Flynn and the Wolves in the total opposite direction with a league-worst 13 game losing streak and a last place standing in the entire Western Conference.
Continue reading ‘Dreadful rookie season mercifully near end for Flynn’
 It’s a big night at the HSBC Arena tonight as the first place Buffalo Sabres take on Northeast division chaser Montreal. It marks the first of consecutive important games for the Sabres, who host Ottawa on Friday night.
A successful 120 minutes of hockey would all but lock down the division and secure no worse than a third seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs. The Sabres could also catch New Jersey for the second seed, who they trail by only two points.
On the other hand, Montreal has little breathing room in the conference. They reside in seventh place currently but have Boston and Atlanta on their heels. A win tonight would put them past Philadelphia for the sixth seed.
Continue reading ‘Sabres look to (almost) put Montreal away’
 Ashley Fox of the Philadelphia Inquirer reported yesterday that Eagles head coach Andy Reid could trade either Donovan McNabb or Kevin Kolb in the coming days or weeks. In fact, her very first two sentences linked the Bills to McNabb.
“A rumor spread among the NFL’s top executives yesterday: Donovan McNabb to Buffalo for draft picks” she wrote.”Turns out that the trade rumor was false, or perhaps just not yet true.”
Reid admitted to Fox in her report that he is now at least entertaining offers.
“People are entertaining us with offers,” Reid told Fox. “Nothing’s been done, but we’re evaluating all of them. That’s the truth. There’s not a lot really going on other than entertaining.”
Continue reading ‘Does McNabb to Buffalo rumor have any legs?’
 AFC East ESPN blogger Tim Graham has been a machine over the past 24 hours, turning out Buffalo Bills news and information left and right. Stationed in Orlando for the NFL Owners meetings, Graham has had chances to speak to both Buddy Nix and Chan Gailey.
This afternoon Graham spoke to Gailey and filed a report on Gailey’s comments on quarterback Tim Tebow.
While people always decipher statements differently, after reading I came away feeling Gailey doesn’t seem fascinated in selecting Tebow anytime early in the draft.
Gailey told Graham he thinks Tebow has all the intangibles but has concern about his mechanics.
Continue reading ‘Doesn’t sound like Gailey wants Tebow early’
 According to a report by the New York Times, New York Yankees slugger Alex Rodriquez will be in Buffalo on Friday. Unfortunately for A-Rod fans the visit won’t be for baseball purposes. The slugger is scheduled to meet with Federal investigators about his interactions with Anthony Galea, a Canadian doctor who’s suspected of several wrong doings in regards to steroids.
Reportedly, Federal investigators are trying to find out whether Galea gave performance-enhancing drugs to professional athletes in the United States. Galea has treated prominent American athletes in the past, including Rodriquez and Tiger Woods among U.S. Olympic medalists.
Continue reading ‘A-Rod to visit Buffalo on Friday; sort of’
 Dana Mitchell paced all Bonnies with 16 points en route to becoming the second player in program history to reach 2,000 points for her career, but it wasn’t enough to prevent St. Bonaventure from losing to Northwestern, 66-62 in the second round of the women’s NIT on Monday night.
The Bonnies struggled from the charity stripe, hitting just 65 percent on 11-of-17, well below their 80 percent season average. Northwestern was perfect at the line until the last 18 seconds of the game finishing 15-of-17.
The Bonnies finish with their second straight 23-win season, amassing a 23-10 record for the fewest losses in program history. Northwestern improves to 18-14 on the season and advances to play Michigan in the third round.
The game ends the career for Mitchell and her classmates Andrea Doneth and Tiara Johnson, who compiled an 80-48 record through four years.
 Former Buffalo Bills/current NFL free agent Terrell Owens will eventually find a new team to play for. It’s just that nobody is sure where it will be and when it will happen.
Since being told by Buddy Nix a week before free agency the Bills wouldn’t be offering him a contract to return, Owens has only visited one team. That was the Bengals and they decided to sign Antonio Bryant instead, despite ballroom dancing guru Chad OchoCinco’s public pleas for his BFF Owens.
Owens’ agent Drew Rosenhaus said yesterday that at least three teams were interested in his service. Apparently the Miami Dolphins aren’t one of them.
Continue reading ‘Report: Miami not on list of potential Owens suitors’
 Our friend Tim Graham from ESPN.com is in Orlando, Florida this week to cover the NFL Owners meetings. From there Graham is reporting that quarterback Daunte Culpepper is interested in the Bills and according to Graham’s report, Buffalo was the only team he mentioned specifically by name.
“I would love to talk to Buffalo,” Culpepper told Graham. “I don’t know if they’d have an open mind, but I’d love to talk to them. I would love to have a chance to compete there. Give me the opportunity. I can be the guy.”
As Brian Galliford from Buffalo Rumblings astutely points out, “If Buffalo didn’t have incentive to find a franchise quarterback before this morning – and you’d think that a decade without playoff football would be incentive enough – Culpepper’s interest should be the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
Continue reading ‘Graham: Culpepper interested in Bills’
 While the country has been in debate over health care reform, Maine Senator Olympia Snowe took time out to release a statement on the Portland Pirates staying in Portland for the next two years.
“The Portland Pirates serve as a critical cornerstone for a growing number of professional sports organizations and I could not be more pleased to learn that the Portland Pirates will remain in our great state of Maine,” said Senator Snowe in a statement. “There is no question Maine boasts some of the most passionate hockey fans in America. Their enthusiastic support of the Pirates is evidenced by Portland’s ability to support an American League Hockey team since the Maine Mariners arrived in 1977. The Pirates have long served as an integral part of both the City of Portland and the State of Maine’s cultural fabric, and I look forward to having them stay with us for another two years.”
Continue reading ‘Senator is pleased the Pirates are sticking around’
 The list of NFL draft compensatory picks has been released and the Buffalo Bills were not on the list.
Among AFC East teams the New England Patriots were awarded four selections while Miami was awarded one.
The Patriots will have a pick in the sixth round (205 overall) and three in the seventh (247, 248, 250). The Dolphins were awarded a pick in the seventh round.
Like the Bills, the New York Jets were also not awarded a pick.
The only team that was awarded a third round and fourth round compensatory pick was the Cincinnati Bengals.
Tennessee and Atlanta were also awarded a third round pick.
 The Buffalo Sabres today announced the rosters for the 2010 Scotty Bowman Showcase, which will take place on Monday, March 29 at HSBC Arena beginning at 6 p.m. The 6th annual event consists of two all-star hockey games between high school aged players from Buffalo against their rivals from Rochester. The event will also feature a 20-minute Girls Showcase between games, featuring the top local high school girl’s players from the Buffalo-area club teams. Admission for the games is $5.
Several former Buffalo Sabres will be coaching the teams, including Matthew Barnaby, Grant Ledyard, Mike Peca and Scott Metcalfe.
Continue reading ‘Former Sabres to coach in Scotty Bowman Showcase’
 Most remember that among the Buffalo Bills long list of injury victims last year included starting cornerback Terrence McGee, who hurt his shoulder late in the season and missed the final two games. What we didn’t know, at least not at the time, was how severe the injury would turn out to be.
Now, we do know.
In a Bills.com article published by Chris Brown on Monday, the team’s lead journalist talks about McGee’s injury and updates how the seven-year veteran is doing in his recovery. As you sift between the quotes, it’s learned the injuries suffered were far more serious than most originally thought.
Serious enough that he hasn’t been able to work out at all and may not be ready for training camp.
Continue reading ‘Report: McGee injury worse than we thought’
 Someday when we look back at the accomplishments of Maple Grove’s Chris Secky, we’ll reflect on one of the more storied high school careers Western New York has seen in many, many years.
Let’s start with football. Secky was a two-time New York State Sportswriters Association player of the year in football and as the quarterback led his school to the 2008 state Class D championship. During his junior season, he threw all of one interceptions in 13 games.
His senior year he had to “settle” for making it to the Sectional Semi Finals and earning first-team, All-WNY by the Buffalo News for the second straight season. He was also a finalist for the Connolly Cup Award, given to the Player of the Year. Maple Grove went 21-2 with Secky as the starting quarterback during his career.
But that’s nothing compared to his basketball prowess.
Continue reading ‘Secky finishes hoops career in elite company’
 Going by several emails and comments over the past month or so, Buffalo Bills fans seem brutally divided when it comes to Notre Dame quarterback prospect Jimmy Clausen.
If you’re an advocate of Buddy Nix drafting him, an obstacle may have just been cleared.
It’s unusual to hear coaches, general managers and team presidents to speak with brutal honesty, especially at this time of the year when organizations send out smoke screens that they’re interested in every prospect under the sun. The reason is logical enough; if you show interest in a player a team drafting after you covets, it could entice them to trade up with you.
Continue reading ‘Bills path to Clausen may have widened’
 NIAGARA FALLS TO LA SALLE
The Niagara baseball team (4-16) dropped the final game of the Baseball Bash on Sunday, losing 14-7 at La Salle. Freshman Ryan McCauley had a pair of hits, inclduing his second career home run, to go along with three RBIs.
Niagara fell behind 7-1 after two innings before moutning a charge. The Purple Eagles cut the lead to 9-7 in the sixth inning, but the Explorers scored the games final five runs for the win.
“I thought our team played with a ton of heart this weekend,” Niagara head coach Rob McCoy said. “The scoreboard has not been a reflection of our effort and intensity lately.”
Continue reading ‘Weekend College Baseball Recap’
 Disturbing reports are emerging regarding alleged stabbings that could’ve involve a member or members of the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team.
The New York State Police are investigating an incident that took place after 3 a.m. Sunday morning on the St. Bonaventure University campus in Allegany.
Two victims, James Chatmon and Rameek Boyd, both 20 years old, were treated at Olean General Hospital on Sunday. The alleged incident involved a fight between members of the St. Bonaventure basketball team and members of the Jamestown Community College basketball team.
Continue reading ‘Alleged stabbings could involve St. Bona basketball players’
 All the ingredients seemed in place for the Buffalo Sabres to take one on the chin early Sunday evening in Carolina. The team was playing their fourth game in three nights, all on the road and playing their second in less than 24 hours.
Too boot they were facing a Hurricanes team that won 9 of their last 11 at home and have went 16-6-1 over their 23 overall to climb from the bottom of the Eastern Conference barrel to within a half dozen points of a playoff spot.
But the Sabres don’t make up excuses to lose and Sunday was no exception. Buffalo flooded the Carolina net with five goals in the first two periods and went on to defeat the Hurricanes, 5-3 at the RBC Center.
Continue reading ‘Sabres beat Canes to finish successful road swing’
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 Three high school basketball teams from Section VI can proudly call themselves 2009-10 New York State champions.
Maple Grove won the Class C state title while Middle College stormed to a Class C crown in action at Glen Falls over the weekend. Clymer won the state girls’ Class D championship at Hudson Valley Community College.
For Middle College and Clymer it’s their first-ever state championships. Maple Grove won a title for the second time in three years.
Continue reading ‘Three Schools Win State Basketball Titles’
 Not much going on at all this weekend with regard to the Buffalo Bills, but I do have a few small tidbits with things I’ve been hearing I thought were worth sharing with you.
♦♦ I’ve heard that Aaron Maybin is in ridiculously good shape right now, the best of his life and is completely embracing the opportunity to perform in the 3-4 defense. I’m told he’s stepped up his workout regime tremendously and is adding more muscle to his frame.
Continue reading ‘Buffalo Bills News & Notes’
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Millions of young men play high school football. For some it ends up being the most glorious time of their existence as an athlete. Of those millions of teenagers who put on the pads and play for their school, a select few thousand are granted the opportunity to compete at the next level, college.
