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for May 2010
 The Bisons showed a flare for the dramatic for the second time in three nights with a 5-4 walk-off victory over the Louisville Bats, on Tuesday night from Coca-Cola Field.
The Herd plated two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning -including the game-winner on a wild pitch- to storm back for their sixth win on their completed eight-game homestand.
Buffalo already showed their ability to win a game in their last at-bat as they scored four runs in the bottom of the 10th inning on Sunday to beat the Bats, 6-4. Two days later, the Herd used dramatics to re-capture first place in the International League North division.
Continue reading ‘First place Bisons score walkoff victory’
 The Buffalo Bills have signed an undrafted free agent with ties to former Georgia Tech and current Bills head coach Chan Gailey. Offensive guard Cordaro Howard is a two-time All-ACC selection for the Yellow Jackets and was recruited to the school while Gailey served as head coach.
The 6-foot-4, 314-pounder will get a legitimate chance to compete for a roster spot behind starting guards Andy Levitre and Eric Wood.
In 2009 Howard helped anchor a Georgia Tech line that finished the season ranked first in the ACC in total offense, rushing yards per game and points scored per game. During his college career Howard started 33 games.
Howard was the 18th ranked guard entering the draft, according to Scott Wright of NFL Draft Countdown.
 St. Bonaventure men’s basketball head coach Mark Schmidt announced on Tuesday that former 11-year NBA veteran Michael Adams will join the staff as an assistant coach.
“We’re fortunate to have a person of Mike’s caliber join our staff,” said Schmidt. “Mike’s resume as a coach coupled with his career in the NBA bring instant credibility to our program. Mike is the type of guy that will impact our team on the court and help us on the recruiting trails. Just as important as his basketball knowledge, Mike is a genuine person who has been a friend of mine for over 25 years. It’s exciting to have coach Adams join our basketball family here at St. Bonaventure.”
A familiar face in the Washington, D.C. region, Adams spent last season as the head coach of Archbishop Carroll High School in D.C., two seasons (2005-07) as an assistant coach under Gary Williams at Maryland, one year as the head coach of the WNBA’s Washington Mystics (2004), and four of his 11 seasons in the NBA as a player with the Washington Bullets (1986-87 and 1991-94).
Continue reading ‘Former NBA guard Michael Adams joins Bona staff’
 One of my biggest pet peeves among sports print and online publications is seeing NFL drafts graded a mere 24-48 hours after that year’s picks are concluded. I learned a painful lesson back in 2006 while writing a blog for Fox Sports. Just days after the Buffalo Bills were done selecting the likes of Donte Whitner, John McCargo, Ashton Youboty and Ko Simpson… I specifically remember penning a column stating the Bills just had their best draft in over a decade.
Obviously my assessment was erroneous and upon reflection, I’m quite embarrassed by it.
The unwritten rule of thumb to grading drafts is to wait three years before evaluating how an organization did. Going by said rule—that makes it the proper time to break down the Buffalo Bills 2007 draft.
After reading, you’ll see my grades aren’t quite as generous as they were in 2006. The Bills had seven picks in 2007 and failed to hit a single home run. In fact, I’m hard pressed to call one (Paul Posluszny) a triple.
Continue reading ‘Grading The Bills Draft — Three Years Later’
 Last Thursday the Buffalo Sabres announced that they had picked up the option on head coach Lindy Ruff’s contract, extending the longest tenured coach in the NHL for another season. Additionally, the team stated that general manager Darcy Regier would remain in his position for another year.
Unfortunately for me, the announcement came only a day after I had written an article decrying Regier’s job as GM with an argument against Ruff on the way.
Ruff has been with the Sabres since July 2, 1997 and has coached 984 games with the franchise, the third-longest tenure of any coach with one team. His 483 wins with the Sabres is fourth-best for a coach with one team, trailing Toe Blake (Montreal) by 17 for third.
Since Ruff became the Sabres coach in 1997 there has been 153 coaching changes in the NHL, a number sure to grow again.
Although the point is now moot, here’s why Buffalo made a mistake in extending Lindy— at least in this author’s opinion.
Continue reading ‘The case against Lindy Ruff’
 The Canisius College hockey team recently recognized its 2009-10 award winners at the program’s annual postseason banquet.
Junior Cory Conacher (Burlington, Ontario) was named the Team MVP following a record-setting campaign. The Atlantic Hockey Player of the Year, Conacher recorded 53 points, 20 goals, 33 assists, seven power-play tallies and five game-winning scores. His 53 points, 33 assists and five game-winning goals are all school-record totals, while his 20 goals rank third in the program’s history.
Conacher finished the season ranked second in the country with 1.51 points per game and was the only player to rank in the top 15 nationally in both goals and assists per game. Conacher was also presented the Top Forward Award, the Three Stars of the Night Award, and the Top Scorer Award.
Continue reading ‘Canisius Hockey Announces Postseason Award Winners’
 The Buffalo State Department of Intercollegiate Athletics recognized its major award winners last nigiht at its annual awards banquet on campus at the Social Hall in the Campbell Student Union.
Top honors went to Nicole Sabuda (Orchard Park/Orchard Park) and Willie Hordge (Houston, TX/Forrestbrook), who received the Ruth Houston and Hube Coyer Awards for outstanding career athletic accomplishments by female and male athletes, respectively. Sabuda also took home the Bengal Award for Female Athlete of the Year.
Sabuda closed out her outstanding career by leading the Bengals to a SUNYAC Championship and to within just one game of advancing to the program’s first College World Series. In 2009, Sabuda was a first team All-NFCA All-American, SUNYAC Co-Player of the Year, All-SUNYAC and MVP of the SUNYAC Tournament. She was second on the team with a .331 batting average and 37 RBIs. She also led the team with 11 doubles and hit six home runs. In addition to playing almost every position on the field, she posted a team-best 14-2 record as a pitcher with a 1.81 ERA and 81 strikeouts. For her career, she finished with a .298 batting average, 34 doubles, 15 home runs, 101 RBIs. In the circle, she was 43-13 with a 1.63 ERA with 10 shutouts and 210 strikeouts. A two-time All-SUNYAC and All-Region honoree, she ranks in the following school record categories: 151 at-bats in a single season (3rd), 57 pitching starts (3rd), 43 pitching wins (3rd), and 10 shutouts (3rd).
Continue reading ‘Buffalo State College honors its best’
 Monday night at Coca-Cola Field was billed as the first look for Buffalo sports fans of mega-prospect Aroldis Chapman. It was, however, the Bats’ offense that stole the show.
Louisville scored more runs than any opponent ever has at the downtown home of the Bisons by plating 20 runs in a 20-7 victory over Buffalo. The Bats scored in each of the first eight innings, including a six-run fifth inning and five-run sixth.
The previous high for runs by a visiting team was set by Pawtucket in 18-6 win over the Herd on April 20, 1998. Louisville’s 24 base hits also set a Coca-Cola Field record for an opponent.
Continue reading ‘Chapman on display as Bisons get battered, 20-7′
 Jack Quinn, President at Erie Community College, recently decided to eliminate eight long established sports programs at the school in what’s widely being regarded as a detested move that threatens to send a large number of the school’s athletes scrambling to find new institutions to play for.
The eight sports soon to be eliminated are men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track, cross country and golf.
Quinn became the school’s tenth president in April 2008. In less than two years the former Congressman is undeniably leaving his mark. Unfortunately it’s one that has numerous student-athletes among others raving mad.
These cuts, which become effective in the 2010-11 school year, make absolutely no sense at all, according to an ECC team head coach I spoke to. The eight combined sports eliminated account for just a little over $40 thousand dollars, according to a US Department of Education website.
Continue reading ‘Quinn’s cutting eight ECC programs draws anger’
 As tough and seemingly premature as it is, Buffalo Sabres general manager Darcy Regier now has to turn his full attention to improving a team that won their division but bowed out of the playoffs after just six games.
A few heads may roll because of the Sabres postseason offensive implosion. Tim Connolly and Derek Roy were exceedingly underwhelming and one or both could be dealt, along with chronic underachiever Drew Stafford.
The organization will try to add at least one forward via free agency and/or trade and possibly a defenseman to quarterback the power play. But before Regier puts his focus elsewhere, he must first figure out what to do with his own free agents.
Buffalo has eight unrestricted free agents heading into the summer. Here is a list of them and a quick evaluation of each player’s chances of returning.
Continue reading ‘Sabres Free Agents: Who’ll be back?’
 First place belongs to the Buffalo Bisons.
The Herd took sole possession of the top spot in the International League North division with a thrilling 6-4, 10-inning victory over the Louisville Bats on Sunday afternoon from Coca-Cola Field. Chris Carter’s two-run walk-off home run capped a dramatic comeback as Buffalo collected its fourth consecutive victory.
The Bisons entered the game even with Syracuse with a 14-9 record, but the Chiefs lost 6-3 to Columbus. The last time the Herd was alone in first place was July 16, 2007 when they were 51-38.
Buffalo’s climb to the top on Sunday wasn’t easy, especially as the Bats took a 4-2 lead in the top of the 10th inning on Juan Francisco’s two-run home run. Surprisingly, it was a pair of hustle plays that got the Herd’s potent offense started.
Continue reading ‘Bisons take over division lead with walkoff win’
 The New York State boy’s basketball All-State teams are out and Western New York is especially well represented. Of the five class divisions, three represent an athlete from New York being named its respective Player of the Year.
Will Regan (Nichols) is the state’s Class-A Player of the Year while Darale Young (Middle College) captured the same honor in Class-C and Chris Secky (Maple Grove) in Class-D.
Regan and Secky were recently named the Western New York Co-Players of the Year by the Buffalo News.
Both Secky and Regan finished their careers by eclipsing the 2,000 point plateau. Secky finished with 2.067 points, good for ninth all-time in Western New York while Regan ended with 2,008. Both were key members for their state championship winning teams.
Continue reading ‘Regan, Young, Secky capture NYS Player of Year honors’
 Despite jumping out to a 6-0 lead, the Buffalo Bandits found themselves on the losing side of a 13-11 contest against the Toronto Rock on Saturday night at the Air Canada Center.
Mike Accursi finished the night with six goals and nine points, while the Bandits peppered the Rock with 37 shots on goal – but it wasn’t enough as Toronto staged a late comeback to advance to the Eastern Division Finals.
The Bandits drew first blood after Roger Vyse accepted a pass from Accursi in the slot and slammed it through traffic to beat Bob Watson. Brett Bucktooth extended the lead late in the quarter after digging down the middle and firing a laser past the netminder to make it 2-0.
Continue reading ‘Bandits blow lead, season in playoff loss at Toronto’
 Lefty Bobby Livingston tossed eight shutout innings, facing just two batters over the minimum as the Bisons shutout the Louisville Bats, 1-0, Saturday night at Coca-Cola Field.
The Herd has now won three straight and improved to 14-9 on the season.
Livingston was in complete control right from the start. The southpaw retired the first nine batters he faced with three strike outs. Bats’ centerfielder Chris Burke was the first to get on base when he singled to lead off the fourth inning, but Livingston induced three consecutive groundouts to end that frame.
Continue reading ‘Bisons win third in a row’
Now that the Bills 2010 roster has been mostly finalized, I thought it would be a perfect time to hand out expectations for some of the young core players that need to step it up.
Yes, 7-9 seems to be out of the question for this bunch, but there are ways to find a silver lining with a non-playoff team.
All I’m saying is that if the Bills go 4-12, we can always find some solace in individual players. Unless, those guys don’t step up.
5) Wood-Hangartner-Levitre
Yes, the Bills didn’t really address their tackle situation this offseason. I could have put Cornell Green and Demetrius Bell in this category. However, I’m not going to waste my time, because I have absolutely no confidence in the duo. I’ve seen enough from Bell to know that I have seen enough. As for Green, the guy had more penalties than starts last year. So if my confidence is shaken by the tackle situation, you then have to look for others to pick up the slack. This is where the interior line comes into play.
Continue reading ‘Buffalo Bills: Which young players I’d like to see step up’
 The University at Buffalo baseball team rallied in the top of the ninth to defeat Akron, 6-4, in the opening contest of their conference road series on Friday afternoon at Lee Jackson Field.
Trailing for the second time in the contest, 4-2, Buffalo erupted for four runs in the top of the ninth recapture the advantage. The Bulls would take a 5-4 lead off a two-RBI double by senior shortstop Jacob Rosenbeck to right center followed by an RBI single by senior centerfielder Adam Skonieczki to secure the 6-4 lead.
In relief of senior Brian Pullyblank, closer Kevin Crumb forced the Zips to go three up, three down in the bottom of the ninth to seal the victory.
After trailing 2-0 through four complete innings, the Bulls managed to pull within one, 2-1, off an RBI base hit by senior first baseman Rob Lawler in the top of the fifth.
Continue reading ‘Bulls Rally in Ninth to Defeat Akron, 6-4′
 Mike Hessman has the power to change the game with one swing.
He’s done it for years in the International League and the slugger did it again on Friday night in Buffalo as his fourth-inning grand slam sent the Bisons to a 12-7 victory over the Durham Bulls in front of 9,129 at Coca-Cola Field.
Fernando Martinez and Chris Carter also went deep as the Herd won three of four games from the top team in the International League.
Continue reading ‘Hessman helps slug Bisons to another win’
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