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for December 2010
 University at Buffalo head football coach Jeff Quinn has announced changes to his coaching staff.
Offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Greg Forest and wide receivers coach Juan Taylor have both been relieved of their duties effective immediately.
“It’s never easy in this business to make changes to your coaching staff, but at this time I feel like we needed a change of direction in these areas,” said Quinn. “I’d like to thank Greg and Juan for their contributions to UB football and wish them nothing but success in the future.”
Taylor was the senior member of the UB football staff, having come to Buffalo in 2006. Forest came to UB last December with Quinn from the Cincinnati coaching staff.
Quinn set no timetable for replacing the positions, but hopes to have the positions filled in early January.
 University at Buffalo senior point guard Byron Mulkey was named the Mid-American Conference East Division Co-Player of the Week on Monday after leading the Bulls to a pair of wins last week.
Mulkey was the Bulls’ leading scorer in wins over Niagara and Green Bay. Against Niagara, the senior point guard had 19 points, five rebounds, four assists and five steals.
In the Bulls’ win over Green Bay, Mulkey scored 21 points (two shy of his career high) and added three rebounds, four assists and a steal. He scored 16 points in the second half to help extend a two-point lead to a 16-point UB advantage.
Continue reading ‘UB’s Mulkey Named MAC Co-Player of the Week’
 A trio of Buffalo Sabres forwards that have been injured are very close to returning, head coach Lindy Ruff said Monday.
Winger Drew Stafford along with centers Tim Connolly and Rob Niedermayer have been out the lineup for weeks. That could change by Wednesday night, at least for Stafford and Connolly when the Sabres face the Boston Bruins in the finale of a three-game home stand.
Ruff is confident enough that Stafford’s ready to go that forward Mark Mancari was returned to Portland before practice Monday. He did say that he wanted to see how Stafford and Connolly looked at practice Tuesday before declaring them ready to return to game action.
Continue reading ‘Trio of Sabres Forwards Close to Returning’
 The Buffalo Bisons are formally in the market for a new manager after the parent club New York Mets announced Monday that Ken Oberkfell will be joining their staff as a Mets bench coach, leaving behind his position as Bisons manager.
He’ll join new Mets manager Terry Collins, another former Bisons manager, in New York.
Oberkfell compiled a 132-155 record over the last two years at the Buffalo manager, representing the 15th manager in Bisons history since the modern era began. Although Buffalo failed to make the postseason in each of his two seasons here, he did help the Bisons improve by 20 wins last year from 2009.
Continue reading ‘Oberkfell Leaves Bisons to Join Mets’
 I have all the respect in the world for soon to be Hall of Famer and heavily opinionated NFL Network studio analyst Deion Sanders. There have been more than a handful of times over the past few seasons I’ve turned on their highlights show specifically to see what “prime time” has to say.
But there’s a difference blurting something outlandish and being dead wrong. Last night, Mr. Sanders was clearly the latter.
After wrapping up the New York Jets flop of a loss at home against Miami, Sanders along with Rich Eisen, Marshall Faulk and Steve Mariucci were discussing the Jets prospects of making the playoffs. While looking at their remaining schedule (at Pittsburgh, at Chicago and a home finale with the Bills), Mariucci concluded the Jets would still be playing in the postseason. Sanders concurred, but his reasoning was entirely off-base.
Continue reading ‘Deion Sanders Off-Base on Bills Criticism’
 If your sole purpose for tuning into or attending today’s Buffalo Bills game was hoping the Bills could ascend farther up the draft board for a shot at Andrew Luck, you aren’t happy. If you’re a fan of watching sexy football, you’re not in the most jubilant of moods either.
However, if you’re among the vast majority of Bills fans just wanting to see more victories, you’re sure to take pleasure in today’s outcome. Buffalo picked up its third victory of the season in dominant defensive fashion, shutting down the despicably-run Jake Delhomme Browns offense en route to a 13-6 victory in front of a Ralph Wilson Stadium crowd not even close to capacity.
Here is a slew of random observations, and by random– I mean in no particular order… at all.
Continue reading ‘Reaction Following Bills Victory Over Cleveland’
 As most expected, it wasn’t the prettiest of affairs, but the Buffalo Bills improved to 3-10 on the season with a 13-6 victory over the Cleveland Browns Sunday afternoon in front of a far-less than capacity crowd at Ralph Wilson Stadium.
Buffalo entered the game ranked dead-last in stopping the run, but it was the ground game of the Bills that keyed their third victory of the season. The Bills ran for a season-high 192 yards, including 112 from Fred Jackson on 29 carries as Chan Gailey heavily committed to pounding the ball on the ground.
The Bills took advantage of three Cleveland turnovers, including a late interception by Leodis McKelvin to hamper the Browns (5-8) chances of beating Buffalo for the fourth straight season.
The Browns gained 105 yards on the ground, 108 from Peyton Hillis (21 carries), but Hillis also fumbled three times. As a whole, the Browns put the ball on the ground five times, losing two of them.
Continue reading ‘Bills Get Third Win Of Season, 13-6 Over Browns’
 Located just south of Buffalo, Lackawanna has developed a long-earned reputation through the years for excelling in sports. Whether its football or basketball, Lackawanna high school perennially contends for championships and many of the best athletes to come out of Western New York have done it through the doors of one of the area’s best-known communities.
Here’s something you may not know; Lackawanna is also home to some of the finest eateries you’ll find anywhere. There’s countless venues to enjoy a good meal regardless if you have pizza, chicken wings, fish fry’s or your favorite sub sandwich on your mind.
Without question, one of those highlights of Lackawanna is Royal Pizza, located at 3047 South Park Avenue near Martin Road.
Continue reading ‘Eatery Spotlight: ROYAL PIZZA, 3047 South Park Avenue’
 For all you professional wrestling fans out there, did you know that in the history of the WWE Heavyweight Title, dating all the way back to 1963, there has been only one title change in Buffalo?
It occurred at HSBC Arena on December 14, 2008. It was at that night at the “Armageddon” pay-per-view that Jeff Hardy defeated Edge to win the WWE championship.
Hardy’s first title run was short-lived. Edge eventually won the title back in a rematch on January 25, 2009 in Detroit.
There have been three Intercontinental title changes in Buffalo, the most recent being Lance Storm, who beat “Albert” for the belt on July 23, 2001.
 At first glance, the Cleveland Browns may not seem like a team best suited to give the Buffalo Bills fits. Although improved from recent years, the Browns still have a losing record at 5-7, are ranked 22nd in the NFL defense, 27th on offense and will have journeyman veteran Jake Delhomme under center when the teams square off at Ralph Wilson Stadium Sunday afternoon.
So why does this matchup seemingly favor Cleveland so decidedly? Because the two things the Browns do best, the Bills are among the worst at defending.
Continue reading ‘Preview: Buffalo Bills vs. Cleveland Browns’
 The Pittsburgh Penguins skated into HSBC Arena steamrolling through the National Hockey League. Pittsburgh was winners of 11 straight game games, including six on the road and were unbeaten in regulation in 14 straight (13-0-1).
The Buffalo Sabres gave it their best shot Saturday night, getting a passing grade for effort but failing in the production area as the Penguins took advantage of Buffalo mishaps and earned a 4-2 victory.
Ryan Miller faced off against Sidney Crosby for the first time since Crosby scored the overtime game-winner to give Canada the gold medal over the United States in last year’s Olympics. Miller kept Crosby from adding to his league leading 26 goals, but bad luck and poor defensive help in front of his net doomed Miller.
Continue reading ‘Penguins Keep Rolling With Win Over Sabres’
 A stifling defensive performance and a near perfect outing at the free-throw line propelled Niagara to a 69-61 win over Little 3 rival St. Bonaventure on Saturday. The Purple Eagles have extended their win streak against the Bonnies to eight straight.
“This was a great win for us,” head coach Joe Mihalich said. “We have been saying for weeks that tough times don’t last, but tough people do and our kids showed how tough they were tonight.”
Niagara (3-7) had its best defensive performance of the season, while shooting lights out from the free-throw line. NU held St. Bonaventure (5-3) to 19 field goals on 33.3 percent shooting, which were both season-lows for an opponent against NU. The Purple Eagles also scored 24 points from 21 Bonnies turnovers.
Continue reading ‘Niagara Bounces Bona In Men’s Hoops, 69-61′
 The University at Buffalo men’s basketball team shot a season-high 60 percent from the field to dismantle Green Bay, 78-64, at Alumni Arena on Saturday afternoon. It was Reggie Witherspoon’s 150th win as head coach of the UB Bulls.
The Bulls’ starting backcourt of Byron Mulkey and Zach Filzen each scored 21 points to help the Bulls improve to 6-3 on the season and 4-0 at home. Filzen tied a career high with five three-pointers.
Freshman Javon McCrea registered the third double-double of his young career with 13 points and 12 rebounds. He added a career-best five blocked shots.
Continue reading ‘UB Hoops Soar Past Green Bay, 78-64′
 What was billed as a matchup between two of the best point guards in Western New York never materialized in the finals of the 12th annual “Tip-Off” tournament Saturday at Frontier High School. As it turned out, Frontier’s Darius Edwards was a general on the floor while Lackawanna’s Dondre Alexander didn’t make the trip because of a school suspension.
Frontier played good team basketball, getting contribution s from everyone on the floor in rolling to a 68-47 victory to capture the tournament on their home floor.
It was a bit of revenge for the Falcons, who lost to Lackawanna in the tourney final last year behind the play of Alexander, who was last year’s MVP.
Edwards certainly did his part to ensure the Falcons win. He scored all 15 of his points before halftime and added eight rebounds and five assists to earn Tournament MVP honors. All eight of his assists came in the second half.
Continue reading ‘Frontier Handles Lackawanna to Win Tip-Off Classic’
 Canisius College women’s basketball coach Terry Zeh announced today the signing of three student-athletes to National Letters of Intent. Ashley Gomez (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Kayla Hoohuli (St. Marys, Pa.) and Ashley Wilkes (Windsor, Ontario) will join the Golden Griffins for the 2011-12 season.
Gomez plays at Murry Bergraum High School, which was ranked No. 23 in the USA Today preseason Top 25 and has won 12 straight Public Schools Athletic League titles. The 5-foot-8 guard averaged eight points per game last season for the Lady Blazers.
Continue reading ‘Canisius Women’s Basketball Signs Three to NLIs’
 The Buffalo Sabres announced they are hosting a Winter Clothing Drive during the four remaining homes games this month.
Fans attending the games at HSBC Arena tomorrow (Dec. 11; Pittsburgh), Dec. 15 (Boston), Dec. 21 (Anaheim) and Dec. 23 (Florida), are encouraged to bring new or slightly used winter clothing, including hats, gloves, coats, boots, scarves and sweaters.
Fans who donate items will receive a voucher for $20 off a 300 Level II ticket regularly priced at $60 for the following games:
Continue reading ‘Sabres Winter Clothes Drive Starts Today’
 The Buffalo Bills hoped that talented tight end Shawn Nelson would have a breakout season in 2010. Because of a combination of off-field trouble, inconsistency during his limited playing time and recurring migraine headaches that refuse to go away, it hasn’t happened.
Now, his season may be over.
After being able to practice fully for the first time in over two weeks Wednesday, the migraines attacked Nelson again and rendered him unable to participate Thursday. As a result, his status for Sunday and for the rest of the season is very much in doubt.
I spoke to a Bills source and there’s a very good chance Nelson’s season could be coming to an end within the next week via a trip to the Injured Reserve list.
Continue reading ‘Shawn Nelson’s Season May Be Coming To An End’
 Senior forward Liz Flooks became the newest member of Niagara’s 1,000-point club on a night when the Purple Eagles fell 96-69 to the Hofstra Pride inside of the Gallagher Center.
Flooks is the 21st member of the 1,000-point club, joining former teammate Jennifer McNamee (’10) who entered the club last season. Flooks’ 1,000th point came on a tailend of a three-point play with 18:09 left in the second half.
Flooks drove past her defender and made a swooping layup while being fouled. Fittingly, Flooks scored her 1,000th point at the free-throw line; she is a career 81 percent free throw shooter and ranks seventh all-time at Niagara.
Continue reading ‘NU’s Flooks Reaches 1,000 Points In Loss to Hofstra’
 Buffalo State’s Rob Smith and Mike Doherty were honored on the D3football.com 2010 All-East Region third team.
Smith, a senior wide receiver, totaled 882 yards on 47 catches, and also matched a school record with 10 touchdown receptions. The sports management major also set a school record for catches in a game with 13 against Cortland.
Doherty, a freshman kick returner, averaged 26.4 yards-per-return on 24 attempts, and had a pair of kickoff returns for touchdowns. He was the first Bengal to return a kick the distance since 1999.
Buffalo State doubled its win total from the previous season for the second-consecutive year, finishing with a 4-6 record. The Bengals were 4-5 in NJAC play and ended the year on a three-game winning streak, including a season ending 56-45 win over Brockport in the I-90 Bowl.
 To run a successful pizza joint in a town so steeped in tradition like Buffalo, world renowned for its pizza and chicken wings, you need to have a certain amount of confidence. When it comes to offering scrumptious food at the best prices this side of the Buffalo/Northwest Cheektowaga border, Bob Dziadaszek, owner of Tomatoes on Kensington Avenue, has plenty of it.
“We have great Salads, great Subs, great Tacos, a great Steak Pizza and a great Buffalo Chicken pizza,” Dziadaszek said. “We have awesome lunch specials.
Continue reading ‘Eatery Spotlight: TOMATOES, 1393 Kensington Avenue’
 If the Buffalo Sabres are going to climb back into the Eastern Conference playoff race and do damage in the process, they will need to do more than rely on just one or two guys to put pucks in the net and Ryan Miller to prevent them from traveling through his own. Buffalo got that and them some Wednesday night from an unlikely pair of offensive sources.
Paul Gaustad scored two goals and Cody McCormick netted another, the game-winner as the Sabres continued to play well with a 6-3 victory over San Jose Wednesday night at the HSBC Arena.
Gaustad, who had only one goal in 28 games coming in, combined with McCormick for six points on the night.
Continue reading ‘Unlikely Sources Lead Sabres Over San Jose’
 When the Buffalo Bills take the field at Ralph Wilson Stadium this Sunday to face the Cleveland Browns, it’s possible they’ll be doing so in blizzard-like conditions. National weather forecasters are predicting a combination of rain and sleet which will turn into heavy snow and very high winds.
Unfortunately, unless you bought or are purchasing a ticket, or are lucky enough to live outside of the blackout area, you won’t be seeing it on television. The Bills will announce at approxmiately 1pm Thursday the game has not sold out and will be blacked out locally.
It wouldn’t be the first time in recent years the teams collided in extreme conditions. They met in Cleveland on December 16, 2007 in what became known as the “Snow Bowl.” In that game, the Browns won 8-0 and players from both teams said they couldn’t even see the line of scrimmage.
Here is what some of the Bills said about the possibility of another blizzard game following practice Wednesday:
Continue reading ‘Bills Preparing For “Snow Bowl II” Sunday’
 Byron Mulkey scored 19 points to lead four players in double-figures in an 82-64 win over Niagara at Alumni Arena on Wednesday night. Jawaan Alston added a career-high 16 points as the Bulls improved to 5-3 on the season and 3-0 at home.
Dave Barnett drained a three-pointer to break a 10-all tie and spark an 8-0 scoring run to put the Bulls ahead, 18-10, with 13:32 left in the first half. An Alston layup extended the Buffalo lead to 13-points with 5:57 left in the half. The Bulls held a 41-30 advantage at the half.
Naigara (2-7) managed to cut the lead to 51-43 with 15:07 left, but the Bulls answered with a quick 5-0 run to regain a 13-point advantage. The lead would remain in double-digits for the remainder of the night. Zach Filzen’s fourth three-pointer of the game put the Bulls ahead 63-45.
Continue reading ‘Bulls Barrel over Niagara, 82-64′
 It’s not often this early in the high school basketball season you get a matchup featuring a pair of squads ranked high last season’s final poll, but such was the case Wednesday night when OTC Middle College, the number-one ranked small school in WNY and defending New York State Class-C champions, passed through South Buffalo to tangle with Bishop Timon St. Jude, ranked sixth among large schools last year.
While the buildup was suspenseful, the contest was not. Timon hit everything in site during the first half, seemingly draining jumpers all the way out to McKinley Parkway. The Tigers stormed out to a 22-point halftime lead and never looked back in clobbering OTC, 74-57 in their season opener, witnessed by a overjoyed…. and quite animated home crowd.
From the opening tip, this showdown was never in doubt. Timon scored five points before OTC head coach Randall Rich had a chance to blink, raced out to a commanding 21-4 margin before the first quarter was over and by the time the teams went into their locker rooms, had the game firmly in control, 46-24.
Continue reading ‘Williams, Fulton Lead Timon In Clobbering Of OTC’
 Former Buffalo Bills linebacker Kawika Mitchell has already won a Super Bowl with the New York Giants. Now, he’ll get chance to add another ring to his collection.
Mitchell has been signed Wednesday by the New Orleans Saints. With the defending Super Bowl champ Saints sporting a five-game winning streak and 9-3 overall record, Mitchell will provide depth and get another shot at the postseason.
The Bills released Mitchell via an injury settlement on October 1. He was placed on Injured Reserve after hurting his foot the Wednesday before the Bills season opener with Miami. The previous season he missed 11 games and was on Injured Reserve with a torn quadriceps muscle.
“Good to have a new home,” Mitchell said via his Twitter. “Gotta thank the Saints for giving me this opportunity. Ready to do whats needed to help defend the title.”
Continue reading ‘Kawika Mitchell Gets Shot With Saints’
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