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for May 2010
The following is an excerpt from a Windsor Star report from staff writer Carys Mills, regarding the arrest of top Sabres prospect Zack Kassian
“Spitfires forward Zack Kassian was arrested early Sunday morning after his alleged involvement in a fight at a downtown Windsor nightclub.
No charges have yet been laid.
Kassian, 19, was arrested at 1:50 a.m. at The Beach Sports Bar and Grill on Ouellette Avenue and was later released, said Windsor police acting Staff Sgt. Guy Pellett.
Staff at the bar refused to comment.
Continue reading ‘Report: Kassian arrested after alleged assault at bar’
 Niagara-Wheatfield high school graduate Rashad Evans defeated Rampage Jackson Saturday night in UFC action. Read about it in this Yahoo Sports column.
Memorial Day’s honor belongs to fallen heroes like former Bills lineman Robert Kalsu, in this excellent Palm Beach Post commentary.
Allen Wilson of the Buffalo News writes that Seattle is looking for a running back and once again, Marshawn Lynch is a possibility.
Brian Galliford’s Buffalo Rumblings State of the Bills Roster series continues with a look at the running backs.
Continue reading ‘The Daily Links – May 31, 2010′
 (We’re counting down our list of the best 20 Buffalo Bills draft picks of all-time. Take note- this is not a rundown of the best 20 players. Where the player was drafted is often a major factor in determining his value and ranking. Today is No. 18 our list, Bob Chandler)
Bob Chandler, WR (drafted in seventh round, 160th overall in 1971 NFL draft)
How Bobby Chandler lasted until the seventh round of the 1971 NFL draft is one of football’s bigger mysteries. The Buffalo Bills are just glad it happened.
The Long Beach, California native was a star receiver at nearby USC, in which he was the team’s leading receiver in all three years he played. As a senior he was the team captain and earned Player of the Game honors when the Trojans beat Michigan in the 1970 Rose Bowl.
Continue reading ‘Top 20 Bills All-Time Draft Picks: Bob Chandler (#18)’
 The Syracuse Chiefs have confirmed that STEPHEN STRASBURG is scheduled to pitch for the Chiefs on Thursday, June 3 at Coca-Cola Field against the Buffalo Bisons (1:05 p.m.). The Bisons are scheduled to counter with RHP Dillon Gee.
Get your tickets TODAY to see Strasburg by clicking HERE.
Strasburg is 3-1 with a 1.27ERA in five starts with Syracuse after being promoted from Double-A Harrisburg. He was the Washington Nationals’ #1 pick (1st overall) in the June 2009 draft.
MLB.com, the Washington Post and Nationals.com all cited Nationals’ General Manager Mike Rizzo today as saying Strasburg’s next start is scheduled to be Thursday, June 3 at Coca-Cola Field against the Bisons. Rizzo also said that the Triple-A rookie is scheduled to toss six innings or 95 pitches, whichever comes first, in the start.
 With an 8-7 win over Hamburg this weekend, the Orchard Park baseball team advances to the Section VI Class AA championship against Clarence to be held at Sal Maglie Stadium in Niagara Falls on Tuesday, June 1 at 4:30 p.m.
The Quakers jumped out to a 7-0 lead after two innings. A.J. Witkowski hit a three-run inside-the-park homerun in the bottom of the first inning. Dylan Baun connected on a 3-run double in the bottom of the second.
Hamburg came back to within one run by scoring thrice in the top of the sixth, but were shut down in the seventh by Witkowski, who got two quicks out and a strikeout to finish off the Bulldogs.
(James Goller is the publisher of OrchardParkSports.com)
 Bisons left fielder Andy Green helped to pull the Herd to within one run of the Toledo Mud Hens when he hit his second home run of the season in the ninth inning in today’s game at Coca-Cola field. Unfortunately it was not enough as the Herd ultimately fell to the Mud Hens 5-4.
After Green led off the ninth with his solo shot to left field, Mud Hens reliever Jay Sborz preserved the win by retiring the next three batters in order to pick up the save, his tenth of the season.
The Bisons squandered a golden opportunity to break the game open early when center fielder Jesus Feliciano, shortstop Justin Turner and designated hitter Daniel Murphy reached base with three consecutive singles to load the bases with no outs in the first inning.
Continue reading ‘Hessman’s 17th HR not enough in Bisons loss’
 University at Buffalo thrower Matt Gac qualified for a second event at the upcoming NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships when he finished sixth in the men’s discus throw as the Eastern Preliminary Rounds concluded on Saturday.
Gac finished sixth overall with a best throw of 179-6 (54.73m) coming on his second of six attempts. Gac’s toss was good enough to put him among the 16 throwers that advanced to the second round. He turned in a throw of 178-5 (54.40m) on his fifth attempt, fouling on his fourth and sixth attempts. Southeastern Louisiana’s Adonson Shallow won the competition with a throw of 187-1 (57.02m).
Continue reading ‘Gac Qualifies for Nationals in Discus’
 The headline of this article is misleading, perhaps intentionally so. The Buffalo Bills are currently in the nascent months of yet another roster overhaul; GM Buddy Nix and head coach Chan Gailey have put together a roster that’s long on question marks and short on experience. Still, the team has competition across the entire team, and in a throw-away year meant for building a foundation, the team’s plan appears to be to try to develop some of the young talent already on the roster.
Not all of that talent is created equally, nor are any two players in exactly the same situation. As such, “boom or bust” and its typical connotations doesn’t apply to every player that appears on this list (and the list could be much, much longer, as well). Therefore, we urge you not to equate “boom or bust” to “make or break” – for the majority of these players, the 2010 season will not be the sole deciding factor regarding their future inclusion in the team’s re-building plans.
Continue reading ‘Five Bills entering a boom-or-bust ‘10 season’
 Nestled on Walden Avenue along the Cheektowaga/Buffalo border, AJ’s Lounge is one of Western New York’s true hidden gems. AJ’s is also a rarity in that it’s the only known drinking establishment in the area that offers both a complimentary jukebox and pool table for its patrons to enjoy.
That’s right… Only at AJ’s Lounge can you come in for a drink or bite to eat, load up the jukebox with your favorite Billy Joel, Elvis Presley and Journey songs before heading to the back and enjoying a game of billiards— for free!
If you’re hungry, AJ’s is a great place to enjoy a bite to eat. The kitchen stays open until late in the night and features all the goodies you’ll see at most places of its kind; including chicken wings, chicken fingers, pizza sticks, mozzarella sticks as well as hamburgers or hot dogs from the grill.
If you’re part of a sports team and searching for a bar to call your home base, AJ’s Lounge owner Dick Thompson sponsors a variety of sports teams. Softball, volleyball, darts, pool and even puck bowling teams are often found representing the bar in the WNY sports and recreation world.
Among those teams, the “Horsemen” are one of the areas best-known softball teams. A four-time Cheektowaga men’s softball league champion, the squad has been a mainstay at AJ’s throughout the past decade.
Thompson stresses that participation and fun is the measure of a successful team, not just the wins and losses.
“We have sponsored teams of all skill levels,” Thompson said. “Winning is always fun, but so is participating and being part of a team. We’ve had teams that have won their leagues and others that have finished dead last. It doesn’t matter. What matters is getting out, having fun and getting to spend time with your teammates and friends in a fun environment. We also have drink and food specials for all of our teams.”
Beyond the playing field, if you enjoy games of chance, the bar has Quick Draw available with a pair of high definition televisions to watch the results on. There’s also a wide assortment of instant lottery scratch off tickets available in its own machine for your gaming convenience.
Finally, there’s always happy hour and nightly drink specials to take advantage of.
All in all, AJ’s Lounge is one of the best bars in Western New York that you’ve probably never heard about. An experienced and courteous bar staff caters to a variety of different crowds, ranging from the happy hour locals that enjoy watching “Jeopardy” on weeknights, to the party crowd looking to live it up until the wee hours of the morning.
AJ’s Lounge is located at 1028 Walden Avenue on the Cheektowaga/Buffalo border, near Pine Ridge. The phone number is 891-5934. The bar is open at 8am daily, except on Sundays and remains open up until 4am nightly.
 One of the things Western New York has lacked for quite some time is a soccer team to root for. That changes when Memorial Day weekend rolls around.
The National Premier Soccer League now has a franchise in Buffalo. FC Buffalo opens their inaugural season Saturday afternoon at Robert E. Rich All-High Stadium with a match against Erie.
Game time is 3:00pm. Tickets are just $5 at the door and as a Memorial Day weekend special, all veterans and military personnel that show ID will get in for free.
Co-owner Nick Mendola, also an on-air personality at local radio station WECK, has long been infatuated with soccer. He cites the organization’s mission statement as the reason behind bringing the sport back to Buffalo.
Continue reading ‘Come Out To Support FC Buffalo’s Soccer Debut Saturday’
 (We’re counting down our list of the best 20 Buffalo Bills draft picks of all-time. Take note- this is not a rundown of the best 20 players. Where the player was drafted is often a major factor in determining his value and ranking. Today is No. 19 our list, Jeff Nixon)
Jeff Nixon, S (Drafted in fourth round of 1979 draft, 87th overall)
If you were a Buffalo Bills fan and around for the 1970’s, you’ll wretchedly remember the team’s incapacity to defeat the hated Miami Dolphins. Twenty times during the decade the two sides met on the field and all twenty times the Bills walked into the locker room dejectedly on the losing end of the stick.
That changed on opening day of the 1980 season. After 10 years of coming up empty, the Bills treated their sellout home crowd to a 17-7 victory over Miami. In that game, a second year safety picked off three passes and recovered a fumble to lead the Bills to a win, prompting Ralph Wilson at the time to call it the greatest victory in franchise history, even surpassing the 1964/65 AFL Championship games.
Continue reading ‘Top 20 Bills All-Time Draft Picks: Jeff Nixon (#19)’
 Ilio DiPaolo’s Restaurant in Blasdell was the setting Thursday night for the 15th annual Ilio DiPaolo Scholarship Awards dinner, honoring the best high school wrestlers in Western New York.
Over 200 family, friends and organizers were in attendance, including Hall of Famer quarterback Jim Kelly, original Buffalo Bills trainer Ed Abramoski and former professional wrestler Dick “The Destroyer” Beyer.
These scholarships are awarded to individuals who excel in academics as well athletics, while contributing to their family and community.
Continue reading ‘High School wrestling’s best honored at Ilio DiPaolo’s’
 ◊ Tim Graham of ESPN.com spoke with Buffalo Bills Fred Jackson, who said that Marshawn Lynch is missing important reps by not being at OTAs.
◊ Bills.com lead journalist Chris Brown reports that the Buffalo Bills tight ends had an excellent day at this week’s OTAs wrapped up.
◊ Buffalo Rumblings author Brian Galliford writes about five Bills veterans on the fringe of the roster.
Continue reading ‘The Daily Links – May 28′
 Rider University scored four runs in the first and added a single run in the second frame as the third-seeded Broncs defeated No. 1 seed Canisius College 10-5 Thursday night in the winner’s bracket game of the 2010 MAAC Baseball Championship at Dutchess Stadium in Fishkill, N.Y. The win allows Rider (35-21) to advance to the championship round of the MAAC Tournament, while the Golden Griffins (38-20) will meet No. 4 seed Manhattan at 3 p.m., Friday afternoon in an elimination game.
The Broncs came out of the gates swinging, scoring four runs on five hits in the top of the first off Canisius starter Mike Goemans. Rider started the game with back-to-back base hits and took a 1-0 lead when Brandon Cotten scored on a wild pitch. Moments later, senior outfielder Nick Wojnowski roped an RBI-single to right center that allowed second baseman A.J. Albee to score from second. Rider shortstop John Ralston gave the Broncs a 4-0 lead when he drove in two runs with a single through the left side of the infield. In the second inning, junior Mason Heyne drove in Cotten from third base with a base hit to left.
Continue reading ‘Canisius falls to losers bracket with MAAC loss to Rider’
 Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk is reporting that the Buffalo Bills have signed rookie offensive tackle Ed Wang.
The fifth rounder from Virginia Tech agreed to terms that weren’t disclosed and Florio cites a league source. The Buffalo Bills have yet to announce a deal has been reached.
Wang is the first Chinese-American player to ever be drafted in the NFL. Many though the Bills would select an offensive tackle much earlier, but decided to address other needs before tabbing Wang.
Immediately after the draft, Buddy Nix said he liked what he saw from Wang and that’s why he took him.
Continue reading ‘Bills sign Ed Wang to four year deal’
 During his time in Toledo, third baseman Mike Hessman amassed more home runs than any other player in Mud Hens history. Today, the Bisons slugger hit two more against his former team. Hessman homered twice; including a walk off solo shot in the tenth inning in an 8-7 come from behind win against the Mud Hens.
Hessman started off the game just how he ended it, with a home run. In his first at bat in the second inning he took a 1-1 offering from Mud Hens starting pitcher Ruddy Lugo to center field to cut the Mud Hens lead to 2-1.
Continue reading ‘Hessman The Hero Again In Bisons Walkoff Win’
 Last Friday in a rare interview with Yahoo Sports, Marshawn Lynch boasted he was ready to return to “Beast Mode.” Among the many things he touched on in the published piece, Lynch claimed he would show up in Buffalo “sometime within the next week” to participate in some of the Bills OTA’s.
Lynch either forgot to circle the dates on his calendar, or he’s a fraud. In any case, take a wild guess at who didn’t show up for any of the activities this week?
I’ll give you a hint. He wears uniform number 23.
Continue reading ‘Despite saying otherwise, Lynch continues “Miss-Mode”’
 (We’re counting down our list of the best 20 Buffalo Bills draft picks of all-time. Take note- this is not a rundown of the best 20 players. Where the player was drafted is often a major factor in determining his value and ranking. Today is No. 20 our list, who also wore No. 20 in your programs, Joe Cribbs.)
Joe Cribbs, RB (Drafted in 1980, second round, 29th overall)
In 1979 the Buffalo Bills struggled to find a running game. Curtis Brown led the team in rushing but ran for just 574 yards. Terry Miller, who went over 1,000 the year before, had only 484. Cleary, head coach Chuck Knox was looking for an upgrade.
Prior to ’79 the Bills were spoiled at running back. O.J. Simpson had led the team in rushing nine consecutive years before getting dealt to San Francisco to wrap up a career well on the decline.
Continue reading ‘Top 20 All-Time Bills Draft Picks: Joe Cribbs (#20)’
 ◊ A video recap of day two of OTA’s with the Buffalo Bills, from Bills.com.
◊ Matt Bowen of the National Football Post says time could be running out for Bills quarterback Trent Edwards.
◊ Donte Whitner tweets that people take it too serious, less than a week after he momentarily deleted twitter because he said he “couldn’t win” when it came to it.
◊ Nick Mendola of WECK reports on his website that the Sabres and agent for Henrik Tallinder have spoken about a new contract and plan to speak again within a few weeks. Tallinder is scheduled to become a free agent on July 1.
Continue reading ‘The Daily Links – May 27, 2010′
 Quick, tell me who the leader of the Buffalo Sabres is? I’m looking for one guy and it’s a very subjective question. On most teams, including the pair that will face each other in the Stanley Cup Finals, you find those leaders on the first scoring line or defensive pairing.
Now take a look at the Buffalo Sabres. None of the prominent names exactly jump out as a “rally the troops” kind of guy.
Nearly three years ago the Sabres saw 69 goals and 164 points walk away in the form of Daniel Briere and Chris Drury. Since then it’s become evident those points weren’t the worst thing the team lost that offseason. Numbers aside, the team lost its two leaders. In Briere and Drury, the Sabres had two guys who would provide a form of leadership by stepping out onto the ice and scoring a goal when it was much needed, jolting life into the team and in many cases, the packed arena that came to see them play.
Continue reading ‘Sabres Leadership Must Come in New Forms’
 Getting 8 1/3 innings from redshirt junior Shane Davis and scoring five runs with two outs in the bottom of the fourth, the Canisius College baseball team won its opening game in the first round of the 2010 MAAC Championship, with a 7-5 win over Manhattan at Dutchess Stadium in Fishkill, N.Y. on Wednesday afternoon.
No. 1 seed Canisius advances to the winners’ bracket game on Thursday evening at 7 p.m., when the Golden Griffins will play the winner of tonight’s other first-round game between No. 2 seed Marist and No. 3 seed Rider.
After Manhattan scored one in the top of the third, Canisius took control of the game with a six-run bottom of the fourth inning. Senior designated hitter Ian Choy drove in the first run with a fielder’s choice to second base that allowed junior Will Chomicki to score, and moments later, junior Brian Burton had a two-RBI, opposite-field single to right that allowed Choy and senior Perry Silverman to score. After Manhattan made a pitching change, senior Shayne Willson greated Manhattan reliever Mike Gazzola by driving a 2-2 pitch to the gap in left-center for a double to knocked in two runs. Fellow senior Paul Panik drove in the final run of the inning when he stroked a single to center that allowed Willson to score.
Continue reading ‘Canisius wins in first round of 2010 MAAC Championship’
 The 2010 Empire State Games Local Organizing Committee (LOC) has launched a social media campaign that consists of a Web site and interactive Facebook page.
The Web site, www.esgbuffalo.com, was created to be an information portal for athletes and the community wishing to attend the games or people looking to volunteer for athletic and non-athletic activities. In addition, the Web site will house information and details about the Opening Ceremonies, a link to Sport Nation to purchase advance tickets and visitor and tourism information. The site will also be linked to the official Empire State Games web site, www.empirestategames.org, for full details on all athletic events, eligibility requirements and try-out dates, competition schedules and venues.
Continue reading ‘Empire State Games Launch Social Media Campaign’
 Buffalo Sabres General Manager Darcy Regier announced today the Sabres have signed defenseman Alex Biega to a two-year entry level contract. The Sabres selected Biega (bee-AY-gah) in the fifth round (147th overall) of the 2006 Entry Draft.
Biega (5’11”, 195 lbs., shoots right, 4/4/1988) recently completed his senior season as team captain at Harvard, picking up 10 points (2+8) in 33 games for the Crimson. For his efforts he was named Team MVP for the second consecutive season. Biega did not miss a game during his four seasons on the team and skated on Harvard’s top defensive pair throughout much of his career.
A native of Montreal, Que., Biega finished his college career with 70 points (15+55) in 131 games.
 Congratulations to Clarence high school star softball pitcher Jen Sansano. The senior tossed a shutout in a 1-0 win over Williamsville South to earn the 63rd win of her career, breaking the record of former Clarence hurler Stephanie Wydra, who pitched from 2003-06.
Sansano had 18 strikeouts to bring her record total to 899 for her career and has 263 strikeouts this season alone. The 899 career whiffs is also a school record, surpassing Wydra’s 743.
Sansano will be taking her game to St. Bonaventure at the collegiate level next year after choosing the Bonnies over Canisius. She also considered the University of Georgia before deciding to stay closer to home.
 Less than a week ago, R.A. Dickey was throwing knuckleballs for the Buffalo Bisons. Tuesday night in New York City, Dickey shut out the two-time National League champion Philadelphia Phillies.
Dickey shook off an early line drive off his non-pitching elbow by Ryan Howard to pitch six scoreless innings, including a career-high seven strikeouts as the New York Mets defeated the Phillies, 8-0.
Dickey was recalled by the Mets last Wednesday to replace an ineffective Oliver Perez. He scattered seven singles through the six innings in picking up his first major league win since April 10, 2009 when he was with Minnesota.
He was 4-2 with a 2.23 ERA and 37 strikeouts in eight starts for the Bisons this year before the call up last week.
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