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for July 2010
 Former Buffalo Bills running back and current disgraced prisoner Orenthal James Simpson isn’t about to let a jail cell get in the way of love. According to the Digital Spy, Simpson is in love with a young woman who’s his pen pal and despite the fact they’ve never actually met, plans on marrying her.
The report identifies the victim young lady as a young blonde named Anna. According to one of their sources, “They’ve been writing to each other for a while now. She sent him her photo, and he just flipped for her.”
The marriage would be Simpson’s third. Of course, if Simpson hopes to ever consummate the marriage he’ll likely have to use all his stroke to get hooked up with an unsupervised conjugal visit.
The Juice is in a Nevada prison thanks to an armed robbery conviction. He could possibly serve a life sentence, though he also could eligible for parole in seven years, which would make him roughly 70 years old. However, given his past, it’s not likely any parole board will ever grant him an early release.
But hey, at least he won’t die alone — due to the power of the pen.
 Niagara men’s hockey head coach Dave Burkholder has agreed to a contract extension, as announced by Director of Athletics Ed McLaughlin on Wednesday. Terms of the extension were not disclosed.
“Coach Burkholder is an important member of the Niagara University community and we want to make sure we keep him,” McLaughlin said. “He produces model student-athletes and successful alumni every year. Niagara hockey is in good hands with him.”
A member of the coaching staff since the team was founded in 1996, Burkholder is entering his 10th season as head coach of the Purple Eagles. As a head coach, Burkholder has earned a pair of CHA Coach of the Year awards, two CHA Tournament Championships, a pair of trips to the NCAA Tournament and two CHA Regular Season crowns in his first nine seasons. He boasts an overall record of 156-141-32.
Continue reading ‘Niagara’s Burkholder Agrees to Contract Extension’
 Bills.com examines the question of who will be the Buffalo Bills starting strong side linebacker.
Former Bills GM Tom Donahoe recently sold his house for $1.165 million, far more than the $865,000 he paid for it in 2001, according to this WGRZ-TV report.
Buffalo Rumblings author Brian Galliford has a solid piece about three positions and players that Bills fans shouldn’t have to worry about.
Sabres.com writes about defenseman Chris Butler gathering the troops to head overseas.
Continue reading ‘The Daily Links – July 8, 2010′
The following is from the website of our friend Nick Mendola of WECK 1230 radio in Buffalo.
“(WECK 1230) — We know we aren’t an NBA hotbed here in Western New York, but we do know people. An extremely reliable source tells WECK basketball expert Paul Crowley that LeBron James is flying to Miami to meet with the Heat’s Pat Riley tonight. The source spoke on the condition of anonymity (obviously).
We were trying to stay out of James’ ego-driven garbage, but we’re newsmen. Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh announced Wednesday that they’d be members of the Heat in 2010-11.”
After days of endless speculation from all the national beat reporters, if this story turns out to be true, what an amazing scoop it would turn out to be for the local radio station many fans hope evolves into a local and regional powerhouse.
Here’s to hoping WECK and the website that receives the proper credit if this all checks out.
 Pat Misch is an All-Star. Wednesday night in Syracuse was more proof of the fact…if that was even needed.
The southpaw struck out six in a complete-game victory as the Bisons bounced the Chiefs, 6-2, from Alliance Bank Stadium. The victory was Misch’s fourth straight and the ninth in his stellar first half to the 2010 season.
The next pitch the southpaw throws will be at Coca-Cola Park a week from Wednesday, when he represents the Bisons at the 23rd Annual Triple-A All-Star game.
Continue reading ‘Misch Leads Bisons Over Syracuse’
 Buffalo Sabres GM Darcy Regier announced today the Sabres have agreed to terms with unrestricted free agent goaltender Patrick Lalime on a one-year contract. Lalime – who turns 36 today – has spent the past two seasons with the Sabres after signing as a UFA on July 1, 2008.
Lalime (7/7/1974, 6’3”, 189 lbs.) was 4-8-2 for the Sabres last season with a 2.81 GAA and .905 save percentage. On March 27, Lalime became the 66th goaltender in NHL history to record 200 career wins when he backstopped Buffalo to a 7-1 win over Tampa Bay at HSBC Arena.
Lalime has played 12 NHL seasons, compiling a record of 200-169-48 and a 2.57 GAA with Pittsburgh, Ottawa, St. Louis, Chicago and Buffalo. He has also posted 35 career shutouts, including 27 between 2000-04. Lalime was named to the NHL’s All-Rookie Team in 1996-97 with Pittsburgh. During that season he set the NHL record for longest unbeaten streak by a rookie goaltender to start his career by going 14-0-2.
Lalime was originally drafted in the sixth round (156th) by Pittsburgh in the 1993 Entry Draft.
 Buffalo Sabres GM Darcy Regier announced today that defenseman Mike Weber has agreed to his qualifying offer and signed a one-year deal with the Sabres.
Weber (12/16/1987, 6’2”, 211 lbs., shoots left) played 80 games with the AHL’s Portland Pirates last season, finishing with 21 points (5+16) and a team-high plus/minus of +18. Weber was also second on the Pirates with 153 PIMs. A native of Pittsburgh, PA, Weber has collected three assists and a plus-9 rating in 23 NHL games with the Sabres.
The 22-year-old Weber was Buffalo’s third-round selection (57th overall) in the 2006 Entry Draft.
 TSN is reporting that the Buffalo Sabres have signed veteran center Rob Niedermayer to a one-year contract.
Niedermayer, 35, played with the New Jersey Devils last season, totaling 10 goals and 22 points in 71 games. He had spent the previous six seasons in Anaheim.
A 16-year veteran in the NHL, Niedermayer won the Stanley Cup as a member of the Ducks in 2006-07. For his career he has 181 goals and 450 points in 1,082 games.
Niedermayer should be considered a depth signing. It’s highly likely he’ll center the third or fourth line. He’s scored 20 goals or more just once in his career, totaling 26 in 1995-96. Surely, general manager Darcy Regier made the acquisition based on the leadership Niedermayer will bring to the locker room.
 While Terrell Owens garners the headlines, another former Buffalo Bills free agent veteran is still hoping to find a job. Ryan Denney, who had been with the Bills since 2002 before being told prior to free agency the team wouldn’t be bringing him back, is still unemployed a week into July and his future in the league is coming into doubt.
Emails and a phone call to contact Denney’s representation at LMM Sports Management have went unreturned. The agency, which also represents high profile clients such as Jordan Gross, Vernon Davis, Laurence Maroney and Rhonde Barber, have represented Denney since he entered the league.
Sources we’ve spoke to tell us that Denney has spoken with the Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers since free agency started but has yet to receive a contract offer.
Continue reading ‘Ryan Denney Remains Unemployed’
 Buffalo Sabres prospect Zach Kassian says that he’s learned from his big mistake, according to this report from John Vogl of the Buffalo News.
In the Sabres developmental camp, Tyler Myers is the big man on campus in this Sabres.com feature.
The Buffalo Bills hiring Chan Gailey and Buddy Nix is the sixth-biggest AFC East offseason move in this blog entry by Tim Graham of ESPN.com.
Bills.com continues its countdown to camp questions with a pretty straight forward one; when will the new Bills schemes begin to click?
Continue reading ‘The Daily Links – July 7, 2010′
 Niagara men’s hockey blueliner Jason Beattie is participating in the 2010 Philadelphia Flyers Prospect Camp this week, as announced by the NHL club.
The 2010 College Hockey America All-Rookie Team member is one of the 11 defensemen on a roster of 35 players who are attending the camp. In his freshman year at Niagara, Beattie scored two goals, three assists and five points in 30 games. The Ontario native also became known for his punishing physical play this year, finishing checks hard.
Continue reading ‘Niagara’s Beattie Participating in Flyers Prospect Camp’
 The Buffalo Sabres added a piece of offense to the Portland Pirates today by announcing they have signed Corey Tropp to a three-year entry level contract.
Tropp played three years for Michigan State University and was named Team MVP and Outstanding Offensive Player last season after he led the team in scoring with 20 goals, 22 assists for 42 points in 37 games. He was consistently ranked near the top in nation in goals, power play goals and game-winning goals.
However, he might be more famous for something he’d like to forget that happened a year prior.
Continue reading ‘Sabres get Tropp under contract’
 It appeared Dan Murphy’s lacrosse season was over before it started when the Orchard Park sophomore broke his arm while playing club hockey this winter.
However, he stayed in touch with the sport as he recovered from the injury by becoming the modified boys team’s manager, a position offered to him by Coach Derek Gilham.
Just a couple days after breaking his arm, Murphy said he stopped in to the modified practice to pick up his younger brother Chris, who is in eighth grade. While talking with Coach Gilham, Murphy was asked if he would be interested in helping out with the team.
Continue reading ‘High Schooler Earns Coaching Experience While Nursing Broken Arm’
 Once O.J. Simpson came to Buffalo in 1969, he would go on to lead the Bills in rushing yards for nine consecutive seasons and go down as arguably the greatest running back the franchise has ever known. But who was the leading rusher before his arrival?
Did you know that fifth round rookie draft pick Max Anderson led the Bills with 525 rushing yards in 1968? He also led the AFL in kick returns, kick return yardage, and kick return average in ’68. However, after leading the team his first season in the league, he’d rarely be heard from again. In his second year, as a backup to Simpson, Anderson would gain just 74 yards on 13 carries.
By 1970 Anderson was completely out of professional football for good.
 ◊ The Louisville Courier Journal has a story on quarterback Brian Brohm getting to compete for a starting job with the Buffalo Bills.
◊ Brian Galliford of Buffalo Rumblings continues his list of Ten Bills To Decide 2010, profiling running back C.J. Spiller.
◊ Bills.com poses the question as to which Bills players will contribute as rookies.
◊ Tim Schmitt of the Niagara Gazette writes about Sabres first round draft pick Mark Pysyk’s debut with the team at the Dwyer Arena on Monday.
Continue reading ‘The Daily Links – July 6, 2010′
 The Buffalo Bisons completed their biggest comeback of the season only to see it squandered by a walk-off home run from Chiefs third baseman Seth Bynum to lose 8-6 at Alliance Bank Stadium.
The Chiefs touched the Bisons up for three early runs off of starting pitcher Tobi Stoner in the first inning. Stoner then gave up one run in the fifth and two in the sixth to see the Bisons trailing 6-1.
Stoner who was credited with the no decision gave up a season-high amount of earned runs when he allowed six of them in his five and two thirds innings of work.
Continue reading ‘Bisons Comeback Fall Short’
 ◊ MSG.com blog states that a resilient Cody McCormick looks for another shot with the Sabres.
◊ Brian Galliford of Buffalo Rumblings takes a look at next year’s 2011 NFL draft, which should be a strong year for 3-4 defensive ends as well as wide receivers.
◊ Catching up with C.J. Spiller, via the Daytona Beach News Journal.
◊ The Buffalo Bisons are hoping good summer weather and a team in a pennant race will help them improve at the turnstiles this season just like they have in the standings, reports Mike Harrington of the Buffalo News.
Continue reading ‘The Daily Links – July 5, 2010′
 The New York Mets have signed Brian Bruney to a minor league contract. He has been assigned to the Bisons and will report to the team in the coming days.
Bruney, 28, went 1-2 with a 7.64ERA (15ER, 17.1 innings) in 19 games with the Washington Nationals earlier this year. The Nationals designated Bruney for assignment on May 17. The 6-3, 235-pounder was signed by the Milwaukee Brewers to a minor league contract on June 17. He appeared in two games, tossing 3.1 scoreless innings for Triple-A Nashville of the Pacific Coast League, before being released on June 22.
Bruney is 17-12 with 13 saves in 249 major league games with Arizona, the Yankees and Washington. He has recorded 234 strikeouts over 239.0 career innings and has held lefties to a .225 (82-365) career batting average against. Bruney went 12-3 with one save a 3.25ERA (52 earned runs/144.0 innings) with the Yankees from 2006-2009.
The native of Astoria, Ore. was 5-0 with a 3.92 ERA (17 earned runs/39.0 innings) and 36 strikeouts last year for the Yankees.
 It’s highly unlikely the TSC Maryland Red Devils and FC Buffalo will engage in a game like this one ever again.
After the Red Devils (3-0-7) came out strong and nearly put in three shots in the first five minutes, the Blitzers (4-2-4) came out of their shells by scoring the first seven goals of the contest en route to a 7-1 win in front of nearly 200 fans at Robert E. Rich All-High Stadium.
Several club records were broken in the win. Richie Wilson scored three goals, the first hat trick in club history. Daniel Stevens added two goals to notch the Blitzers first ever brace, while John Grabowski snagged two assists for the first multi-assist contest by a single players. David Thoin and Stevens became the first players to notch a goal and an assist in the same game — Stevens had two — while the four players with multi-point games set the club’s standard as well. Mike Unwin also tallied in the win.
Continue reading ‘Blitzers rewrite young record book in blow-out’
 One of the biggest problems encountered when an NFL team makes radical changes schematically is fitting incumbent personnel into new roles. These changes typically lead to a massive personnel overhaul, but in many cases, that doesn’t happen immediately. Such is the case with the Buffalo Bills, who are busy preparing several defenders for new roles in George Edwards’ 3-4 defensive alignment.
Fans may question how players like Kyle Williams, Chris Kelsay and others transition into the new alignment, but at the moment, we aren’t wondering which position they’ll be playing. Williams will get reps mostly at nose tackle, while Kelsay will get a shot at winning the left outside linebacker job. Things are murkier at inside linebacker, where projected starters Paul Posluszny and Andra Davis aren’t necessarily every-down defenders, and veteran depth options are surprisingly abundant.
Continue reading ‘Bills Need To Find Roles For Mitchell, Torbor’
 Left fielder Lucas Duda has only played 16 games as a member of the Herd, but in that short time he has already left his imprint on the Bisons history books.
Duda homered in his fifth straight game tonight in a 12-4 win against the Rochester Red Wings at Coca-Cola Field. The Triple-A rookie crushed a 1-2 pitch from Red Wings starter Anthony Swarzak deep to right-center field in the third inning.
With a home run in five consecutive games, Duda is only the fifth Bison in the 125-year history of the franchise to accomplish the feat. Duda joins Bisons greats Andy Marte, Ollie Carnegie, Carlos Garcia and Bill Selby as the only other players to do so.
Continue reading ‘Duda Does It Again For Bisons’
Darcy Regier has never been known to go after the biggest fish in the pond and when free agency began yesterday afternoon, things were no different. Out went veteran blueliners Henrik Tallinder and Toni Lydman, while defenseman Jordan Leopold was added to the fold.
Last season, Leopold proved to be a solid top four defenseman in his stay with Florida, leading a solid Panthers defense corps in both even strength and shorthanded ice time before being traded to the Penguins at the deadline. The seven year veteran also tallied eleven goals, more than any Sabres’ defenseman not named Tyler Myers.
Continue reading ‘Regier Follows Status Quo on Day One of Free Agency.’
 University at Buffalo head men’s basketball coach Reggie Witherspoon, serving as an assistant coach for Team USA, is bringing a gold medal home to Western New York.
Quincy Miller hit a three-pointer with 25 seconds left to help the USA beat Brazil 81-78 and take the gold medal at the 2010 FIBA Americas Under-18 Championship at Bill Greehey Arena. This is the fifth gold medal for the United States, who also won in 1990, 1994, 1998 and 2006. For Brazil, this is their first silver medal after three bronze medals (1990, 1998 and 2006).
“I am really happy for the kids,” said Witherspoon. “I know that for the most part, it’s as hard as they’ve ever worked at in basketball. It’s something that they love. You’d like to have won it in grand fashion, like we won the other games, but the fact that they had to overcome some adversity probably makes it sweeter. Everything didn’t go well, but they overcame the adversity of the training camp. It’s really good to see them win the gold medal. I think they have a greater appreciation of how it works now.”
Continue reading ‘Witherspoon Brings Gold Medal Back To WNY’
 The Canisius College men’s and women’s basketball programs will open the 2010-11 season Friday, Nov. 12, when the two teams play host to a basketball doubleheader in the Koessler Athletic Center. The women’s team will get things started at 6 p.m., when the Golden Griffins play host to Kent State, with the men’s team hosting long-time rival St. Bonaventure at 8:30 p.m.
Group tickets for the season-opening twinbill are on sale now through the Canisius College Ticket Office. Group tickets (minimum 15 tickets) can be purchased by calling (716) 888-2885 during normal business hours, and there are currently seats available in both the reserved and general admission sections. All group tickets purchased by Sept. 1 will come with a voucher valid for one free ticket to a future home men’s or women’s basketball game. For example, if a group leader purchases 20 tickets to the season opening doubleheader, that individual will be entitled to 20 vouchers for future home dates. The list of available home dates will be announced later this summer when the full schedules are released. Additionally, fans interested in purchasing season tickets for the combined men’s and women’s home slates for the 2010-11 campaign can do so by calling the ticket office or by going online to GoGriffs.com.
Continue reading ‘Canisius Basketball Opens 2010-11 Season With Home Doubleheader’
 The Buffalo Sabres were looking for an offensive defenseman to fill a need on the blue-line and they did that by signing Jordan Leopold to a three-year contract. Leopold played most recently for the Pittsburgh Penguins after being acquired at the trade deadline from the Florida Panthers.
I like the signing of Leopold and I expect we will earn that he signed for less than Lydman and Tallinder. He is bigger than most people think he is and he is a good skater. He scored 11 goals last season which proves his offensive worth to Sabres fans.
We’ll have much more on this acquisition later tonight.
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