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for February 2011
 That’s right. It’s time to break out of the winter doldrums (enough Netflix already!) and venture outside to frolic in Buffalo’s downtown Winterfest. If your friends haven’t told you about the event, then maybe they’re not that awesome. So take a spin at being cool-idea-guy (or gal) and introduce it to them.
Besides, after you’ve polished off True Blood and made it past Season 4 of Dexter, it’s pretty much downhill in the world of streaming television.
A crash course in this weekend’s activities follows, for your convenience. Remember to bring your valid I.D. if you plan on warming up with a cold brew.
Winterfest is the make-up of three main events:
Continue reading ‘Weekend Full of Beer! And Hockey, Eh?’
 St. Bonaventure University will induct four new members to its Athletics Hall of Fame as its Class of 2011, Director of Athletics Steve Watson announced.
Chris Blocher ’99, Jen Bovee ’99, Patricia (Boyle) Rassel ’93 and Peter Van Paasen ’01 comprise the 34th class of the Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony will be held on Saturday, June 11, as part of St. Bonaventure’s Alumni Reunion weekend. The time and location of the ceremony will be announced at a later date.
Blocher, a native of Olean, will become the third golfer in the Hall of Fame. He capped a stellar career with a runner-up finish at the Atlantic 10 Championship his senior season. A four-year mainstay in the lineup, Blocher led the Bonnies in scoring average both his junior (76.1) and senior (75.6) seasons and was a two-year team captain. He has also excelled in amateur competition, making the round of 16 at the New York State Amateur three times and winning the Southwestern New York-Northwestern Pennsylvania Men’s Amateur in 1997, 1999, 2007 and 2010. Blocher is currently a physical education teacher and the girl’s basketball coach at nearby Hinsdale Central High School.
Continue reading ‘St. Bonaventure to Add Four to Athletics Hall of Fame’
 With his team essentially sleepwalking through a first quarter that saw Bishop Timon-St. Jude vault to a 18-8 lead, St. Joe’s head coach Mark Simon gathered his troops before the second to preach the basic fundamentals that got them where they are.
“We pride ourselves on defense and rebounding and we did neither of those in the first quarter,” Simon said. “We knew were playing a tough game against some really good shooters and we had to take control of things and play to our strengths to keep things going for us.”
That’s exactly what they did. The supporting cast did their thing but it was the pair of star players that swung the momentum. Senior Connor Rehbaum finished with a game-high 19 points while junior center Reggie Agbeko owned the paint with 14 points and 15 rebounds as fourth-ranked large school St. Joes (18-4) dominated the final three quarters en route to a lopsided home court win over eight-ranked Timon, 65-45.
Continue reading ‘Rehbaum, Agbeko Star in Big St. Joe’s Win’
 Tyler Myers blasted a slap shot from above the right circle past Florida Panthers goaltender Tomas Vokoun;s left shoulder into the net with just 4.5 seconds remaining in overtime, propelling the Sabres to a 3-2 and remaining one of the league’s hottest teams.
The Sabres have now won three games in a row since losing at Pittsburgh in their first game after the All-Star break and are 7-2 in their last nine games.
Ryan Miller started his 30th consecutive game in net for the Sabres and stopped 24 shots.
Mike Weber and Thomas Vanek also scored for Buffalo. Jason Pominville added a pair of assists.
The Sabres moved within two points of Carolina, who lost Thursday to Philadelphia, for the eighth spot in the Eastern Conference and Buffalo also has three games in hand.
The Sabres are off until Sunday when they host the New York Islanders as they start a stand that’ll see them play seven of their next eight games at the HSBC Arena.
 Adam Jones of the Canisius College men’s lacrosse team earned MAAC Preseason Player of the Year honors, voted by the conference’s head coaches.
A three-time first-team All-MAAC honoree, Jones led the Griffs with 40 points, 25 goals and 15 assists in 2010. He led all midfielders in the conference in both points and goals per game.
The program’s first All-American, Jones has accumulated 125 points and 96 goals during his career. He enters his final season at Canisius ranked sixth in school history in career goals and 11th in career points. In January, Jones became the first Griff selected in the Major League Lacrosse Draft, chosen by the Rochester Rattlers with the 38th pick.
Continue reading ‘Canisius’ Adam Jones Named MAAC Preseason Player of the Year’
 The National Lacrosse League today announced that Buffalo Bandits forwards John Tavares and Brett Bucktooth were selected to represent the Eastern Division at the 2011 NLL All-Star Game on Feb. 27 at Turning Stone Casino Arena in Verona, NY. Tavares and Bucktooth will join Bandits Mark Steenhuis and Chris White, who were voted in as starters for the Eastern Division.
Forward John Tavares was selected to his seventh consecutive All-Star Game and the ninth of his career. With the selection, he ties Colin Doyle for the NLL record (9). Tavares leads the Bandits with 21 points (7+14) in five games in 2011. The most prolific scorer in NLL history, Tavares holds the NLL career records for goals (699), assists (791) and points (1,490). In eight previous All-Star Games, Tavares has scored 29 points (16+13).
Brett Bucktooth will appear in his first career NLL All-Star Game. The fifth-year forward has eight points (4+4) and 13 loose balls recovered in five games.
Continue reading ‘Tavares, Bucktooth To Represent Bandits at NLL All-Star Game’
 One of the more heated rivalries in high school basketball resumes this evening in Kenmore when red-hot St. Joe’s plays host to Bishop-Timon St. Jude in a meaningful Monsignor Martin Association rematch from last month.
Both teams are ranked in the top 10 among Western New York large schools. St. Joe’s is currently ranked fourth while Timon is ranked eighth.
St. Joe’s won the first matchup on January 14, coming back in the fourth quarter to tie the game just before the buzzer and winning in overtime, 68-62. It was Timon’s first loss of the season.
The Marauders are on a massive hot streak of late, winning their last 10 games to propel them to the top of the Catholic division. For the season Joe’s is 17-4 and a perfect 9-0 in league play. They can all-but-wrap up the regular season title and the top seed of the Manhattan Cup tournament with a win tonight over Timon. Winning the regular season title carries significant importance as it almost certainly avoids having to play Timon or Canisius in the semi-finals.
Continue reading ‘Timon vs St. Joe’s Preview: The Rematch’
All of Western New York’s top high school hockey teams will hit the ice on Sunday, February 27 when the 27th annual Super Sunday High School Hockey Championships take place at HSBC Arena. This full day of seven championship games gets underway at 8 a.m. with the Southtowns Club League Final. For the second year in a row, Super Sunday will also include the three Federation championship games, beginning with the Monsignor Martin Final at 4 p.m.
Admission and parking in the arena ramp are both free on Super Sunday. Below is a schedule and times for the seven championship games. Teams will be announced once the matchups are determined:
8 a.m. Southtowns Club League
10 a.m. WNY Small School Final
12 Noon WNY Large School Final
2 p.m. Explorer Club League
4 p.m. Monsignor Martin Final
6 p.m. WNY Small School Federation Final
8 p.m. WNY Large School Federation Final
There’s been a buzz floating around the internet for at least a couple of weeks that the Buffalo Bills are preparing to change their uniforms for the 2011 NFL season. For once, the rumors have been found to be true.
The Bills formally announced Wednesday that they will be unveiling a new uniform design before next season. According to their press release, the “new uniforms will incorporate the team’s storied history while keeping the team’s signature charging Buffalo logo.”
The Bills last altered the uniforms before the 2002 season. The club said they will announce specific details regarding the new digs at a later date.
For now, the team sent out the following to all season ticket holders:
Continue reading ‘Buffalo Bills To Get New Uni’s’
 If there’s one thing we learned from the Super Bowl this past Sunday, it’s that defense still wins championships in this league. Look no further than Pittsburgh’s second-ranked and Green Bay’s fifth overall defense as evidence. Sure, Aaron Rodgers deservedly took home MVP honors, but it was the Packers defense that came up with key stops… and interceptions of Ben Roethlisberger that were most responsible for the win.
The argument many fans will always make, is that both teams had premier quarterbacks. Certainly that’s true, but before those quarterbacks were in place each team was equipped with a more than stellar defense, allowing Roethlisberger and Rodgers to become the crowning piece of each respective team’s puzzle.
With the Buffalo Bills ranked 24th overall defensively and dead last against the run, they may not see the playoffs for another decade if they don’t significantly bolster their defensive front.
Continue reading ‘Minus Fairley, Bills Should Look To Trade Down’
 2010 graduate Jacob Rosenbeck became the seventh Buffalo baseball player in the past four years to sign a professional contract after he joined the Brockton Rox of the Canadian American Association of Professional Baseball league.
Rosenbeck capped his career at Buffalo last season in terrific fashion, batting .318 with six home runs and 45 runs batted in while starting in 51 games. He was also one of just two players on the team with a positive walk-to-strikeout ratio, drawing 23 free passes to only 16 strikeouts.
In the field, he anchored the left side of the infield all season, making 14 starts at third base and 37 at shortstop while batting predominantly out of the cleanup spot. He excelled in the role, leading the team in games with multiple runs batted in, with 13, including three games in which he drove home four or more runs. He led the team with 45 total runs batted in, was second on the team with 18 doubles and was third on the team with home runs, with six. His 18 doubles were the third most for a single season in program history.
Continue reading ‘Former UB Star To Be Managed By Bill Buckner’
 Buffalo State’s football team is promoting reading in local elementary schools as a community outreach project throughout the month of February.
Several Bengal players and members of the coaching staff kicked off the program recently with a visit to Pine Hill Primary Center in Cheektowaga. The Bengals conducted a brief assembly to stress the importance of reading and then went into the classrooms and read with the children.
“It is such an important project when you look at today’s literacy rates,” said Buffalo State assistant coach Matt Hanhold. “It is a great experience for our players to interact with the kids. We are fortunate to be in a position to potentially have a positive impact on these young learners.”
Buffalo State will continue the outreach program throughout the month.
 Byron Mulkey scored a career-high 29 points to lead the University at Buffalo men’s basketball team to a 72-43 win over Central Michigan at Alumni Arena on Tuesday night.
Buffalo (15-7, 7-3 MAC) played one of its finest defensive games of the season, holding the Chippewas to 43 points on just 27 percent shooting (15-for-55). The Bulls had nine blocked shots, led by six from Mitchell Watt. The Bulls were able to turn 12 Central Michigan turnovers into 18 points.
The Bulls jumped out to a 9-2 lead and never trailed. Leading 14-6, Buffalo mounted a 12-4 scoring run to take a 26-10 lead with 9:03 left in the first half. The lead would remain in double-figures the rest of the way.
Leading 46-27 with 14:08 remaining, the Bulls would hold the Chippewas to just one field goal over the next 10 minutes and led 64-34 with 4:13 left.
Continue reading ‘Mulkey’s 29 Leads Bulls Past Central Michigan’
 One of the most popular sayings by famed Buffalo Sabres broadcaster Rick Jeanneret when a player scores a goal up high is “he put it top shelf where momma hides the cookies”! When it comes to the play of Drew Stafford this season, the winger is putting pucks in the top shelf, bottom shelf and wherever in the cupboard he pleases.
Stafford scored this third hat trick of the season Tuesday night in Tampa Bay, giving him 20 goals in 34 games as the Sabres erased a deficit after two periods with five unanswered goals to stun the Lightning, 7-4.
Buffalo won for just the third time this season in 23 ties when trailing after the second period. Tampa entered the game 22-1-1 when leading after two.
Continue reading ‘Sabres Put Out Lightning With Five Goal Third’
 A literal last minute flurry by McKinley high school led to one of the most exciting finishes on the Western New York basketball scene this season. Trailing by a half dozen points with under a minute left to play, McKinley scored five points in the final 10 seconds to tie Riverside and eventually defeated them in overtime, 88-85 in front of a frenzied home crowd.
Riverside maintained a 78-73 lead and appeared to be well on their way to the win before Dennis James hit a three-pointer for McKinley with nine seconds left to cut the lead to two. Then, Dajuan Rutledge stole the Riverside inbounds pass and scored with two seconds left to send things to extra time.
There McKinley outscored what was clearly a demoralized Riverside team, 10-7 to earn the three point win.
Continue reading ‘Miracle Comeback For McKinley In Yale Cup Win’
 Perhaps the Canisius seniors feel their career’s slowly coming to an end. Or maybe, they’re just finally learning to play without Frank Turner.
Whatever it is, the Golden Griffins (12-11, 6-7 MAAC) are winners of four of their last five and playing their best basketball of the season. Even with one of the distinguished five seniors — all of which are working on their masters’ degrees — Rob Goldsberry out due to concussion-like syndrome he received during the Niagara game two weekends ago, the Griffs put on a marvelous defensive display against Marist and St. Peter’s last weekend.
They crunched Marist 75-60 Friday, which included the Griffs forcing 15 turnovers. Then, they beat the second-place Peacocks 59-45 with a defensive effort that saw Canisius hold St. Peter’s to a ridiculous 22.4 shooting percentage from the floor.
Continue reading ‘College Corner: Griffs Finally Learning Without Turner’
 When you’re on the outside looking in on a playoff race at this point of the NHL season, every game is a big one. Tonight is no exception for the Buffalo Sabres as they are in Tampa Bay to face the Lightning.
As of late Monday afternoon, the Sabres are sitting in 10th place in the Eastern Conference— five points behind both Atlanta and Carolina in the race for the eighth and final playoff spot. Buffalo does have the advantage of having two games in hand over Carolina and will have a full half dozen over Atlanta this morning after the Thrashers played last night. Needless to say, they have to take advantage of it.
Getting two points on Tampa’s home ice is sure to be a daunting task. The Lightning are currently second in the conference with 71 points, behind only Philadelphia. They’re 7-3 over their last 10 games and an impressive 18-5-2 at home on the season.
Continue reading ‘Sabres Face Off In Tampa Tonight’
 Freshman guard Marvin Jordan was named Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) Rookie of the Week for the second time this season.
Jordan averaged 20.5 ppg, 3.0 apg and 2.5 rpg in games versus Saint Peter’s and Marist. Jordan led the Purple Eagles in scoring for the fifth straight game, including a career-high 27 points against Marist on Sunday. Jordan added to his career-day with a career-best seven 3-pointers. Jordan leads all freshmen in scoring with 12.0 ppg and second in 3-pointers made (64). Jordan also scored 14 points and had four rebounds on Friday night versus the Peacocks. Jordan claimed his first rookie of the week award on Nov. 29 after leading the team to wins over Mount St. Mary’s and Bowling Green.
The Purple Eagles are back on the road for the final time this season when they play Loyola on Friday at 7 p.m. and Rider on Sunday at 2 p.m.
 All the ingredients for an upset were in the snow covered, wintery air Monday evening at Williamsville North High school. The Spartan student cheering section was bigger and much louder than for the typical contest. Jamestown traveled without their star player and arguably the leading candidate for Western New York Player of the Year in Jaysean Paige. But without question most importantly, North has one of the most talented freshman to hit the Western New York high school hoops scene in several years and ultimately, made the biggest difference.
If you follow the sport locally and haven’t heard the name Sterling Taplin by now, you’ll hear plenty over the next couple of years. The ninth grade kid with maturity and Gold-given ability beyond his years was at his best, scoring 34 points, including his team’s first six in overtime as Williamsville North knocked off Jamestown, 79-75 in front of a delighted crowd that included University at Buffalo head coach Reggie Witherspoon.
Continue reading ‘Taplin Stars as North Shocks Jamestown’
 The National Lacrosse League today announced that Buffalo Bandits Mark Steenhuis and Chris White were voted in as starters for the 2011 NLL All-Star Game on Feb. 27 at Turning Stone Casino Arena in Verona, NY. The Bandits are the only team in the East to have two players selected to the starting lineup. A combined vote of NLL fans, coaches and media determined the starting lineups.
Transition player Mark Steenhuis was selected to his seventh consecutive All-Star Game. He is tied with John Tavares for the team lead with seven goals and has added nine assists on the season. He leads all NLL transition players in goals, and is tied with Calgary’s Jeff Shattler for the transition lead in points. Steenhuis has been named All-Star MVP an NLL-record three times (2004, 2007 and 2009).
Bandits captain Chris White was selected to his third straight All-Star Game. White is part of a Bandit defense that has allowed only 42 shots per game and killed 81.5 percent of penalties so far this season, the best penalty kill in the NLL. White is tied for second among NLL defensemen with five assists.
Continue reading ‘Bandits’ Steenhuis & White Named All-Star Starters’
 For area high school basketball fans, tonight is an excellent opportunity to get out and see some of the best players and teams Western New York has to offer. The slate is led by two match ups in particular.
Emerging Yale Cup contender Bennett travels to East High School at 5:30pm for a contest with big league implications. East has been on quite the run lately, knocking off both Riverside and McKinley over the past week. Chris Boyd, Tremmell Fisher and Andre Jackson will lead a talented East cast against the well-balanced Tigers, who have won five consecutive games, including wins over Riverside and McKinley as well.
It’s a rematch of their first meeting; an East 61-48 victory on January 5. In that game, Fisher had 19 points and nine rebounds while Jackson scored 14 points. McKenzie Brown led Bennett with 15 points and nine rebounds.
Continue reading ‘Monday Features Marquee Matchups in H.S. Hoops’
 It remains to be seen how successful of a NHL owner Terry Pegula will be when he soon takes over the Buffalo Sabres. Going by the sound of things, we can assume for sure the man will be carrying a big stick.
John Murphy, sports director for WIVB and the voice of the Buffalo Bills ran into Pegula this weekend at State College in Pennsylvania, where Pegula was being honored by Penn State for his beyond generous $88 million donation to the school’s hockey program.
In his blog, Murphy described the interaction as a “social encounter” rather than an interview. Regardless of what you want to label it, Sabres fans will be happy to know what came out of Pegula’s mouth.
“We’re gonna win a Stanley Cup,” Pegula told Murphy. “And then you know what we’re gonna do? We’re gonna win another Stanley Cup.”
Continue reading ‘Pegula Expects Sabres to Win Stanley Cups’
 Former University at Buffalo star James Starks became the first former Bull to win a Super Bowl in 42 years as the Green Bay Packers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 31-25, on Sunday night.
Starks, who led the Packers with 52 yards rushing on 11 carries – a robust 4.7 yards per game – becomes the first former UB player to win the sports biggest prize since UB Hall of Famer Gerry Philbin was part of the New York Jets Super Bowl III champions.
Starks was a big part of three Packers scoring drives as he started the game and was the only Packer running back to carry the ball in the game. The Niagara Falls native had three carries for 17 yards on Green Bay’s first touchdown drive as the Packers started the game fast.
Continue reading ‘Starks Becomes First Bull To Win Super Bowl in 42 Years’
 UFC 126 this Saturday night featured a title fight between two of the top middleweights in the world; Champion Anderson Silva and formidable challenger Vitor Belfort. Going into the bout the middleweight kingpin Silva faced quite a bit of critics as many fans felt of late Silva has toyed with several of his opponents rather than going for the finish.
Well fight fans, this clash wasn’t one of those nights.
It took Silva all of three and a half minutes to separate Belfort from consciousness. After a brief feeling out process, Silva used straight front kick to the jaw from out of nowhere against his unsuspecting opponent. This was a particularly spectacular knockout as the type of kick Silva used is usually reserved for the midsection of the opponent. This could be the first time ever fans of Mixed Martial Arts have seen a maneuver like this land flush on an opponent and end a fight, a title fight no less.
Continue reading ‘WNY Native Jones Shines at UFC 126′
 In high school basketball circles I’ve heard plenty of chatter about Jamestown forward Jaysean Paige being the front runner to win Western New York Player of the Year when the season is over. I do think a Jamestown player will warrant serious consideration, but feel a lot of the media has the wrong player. Darin Butts has been playing amazing basketball lately and in my mind, he’s the favorite.
Butts had 28 points in consecutive games this week in tough road wins over Frontier and Lancaster. Besides the scoring, Butts is the definition of a stat-filler. The senior is a lock to get at least five rebounds, steals and assists almost every time he takes the court.
“He does everything for us we could ever ask of him,” Jamestown coach Ben Drake said this week. “He started the season a little slow for us but over the past few weeks he’s been playing great. He’s a three-year starter for us and one of the leaders of our team. How far we go in the playoffs comes down in large part to him.”
Continue reading ‘New P.O.Y. Candidate & Other Observations’
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