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for May 2011
 Good morning, everyone and welcome back following a pleasant Memorial Day weekend. After enjoying a long weekend of relaxing (and a bit too much celebrating), I find myself this early Tuesday struggling to find items noteworthy directly pertaining to Buffalo sports.
Thanks to Scott Michalak of SabresNation.com, I found something pretty cool— or at the least a note I hadn’t thought of.
The Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks are set to square off for the Stanley Cup and the series involves a pair of ex-Buffalo Sabres that have a chance to take a victory lap should they come out on the winning end. Boston forward Daniel Paille and Vancouver winger Raffi Torres are the lone pair of former Sabres still playing NHL hockey this late in the season.
Continue reading ‘Pair Of Former Sabres Competing For Cup’
 Now that the dust of the 2011 Draft has settled, it’s time to analyze the current state of Buffalo’s roster. We’ll be taking a look at one position at a time. Today: WR.
Wide receiver is going to be among the more interesting positions to watch in training camp this season, as Buffalo has a bit of log jam here. The Bills will bring back five guys who caught at least 18 passes last year and add 2010 fourth-round pick Marcus Easley, who missed all of last season with an injury. Three other receivers, including two guys who saw playing time last year, will also fight for a roster spot. How many receivers will the Bills keep? How will the depth chart shake out? Could be a very intriguing battle in the preseason.
Players Under Contract (9): Steve Johnson, Lee Evans, Roscoe Parrish, David Nelson, Donald Jones, Naaman Roosevelt, Paul Hubbard, Marcus Easley, Felton Huggins
Possibly Departing Free Agents: None
Continue reading ‘Buffalo Bills Post-Draft Roster Analysis: Wide Reciever’
 Yesterday morning I started out as I usually do - making a hot cup of coffee, checking my emails and of course looking at my Facebook homepage – the same thing 600 million active users do every day.
I try to catch up on friend requests, new messages, invitations and review all the new posts to my profile page.
Facebook is addictive and I need my fix on a regular basis.
As I scrolled down the page, I noticed that a friend of mine had posted a picture of me and Cliff Branch (Oakland Raiders) doing what appears to be a friendly dance in the endzone during the game. It was the first time I had ever seen the picture.
Continue reading ‘Retired NFL Player Images: For Sale To Highest Bidder?’
 The University at Buffalo is offering summer camps in 13 different sports this year at a variety of levels. Campers will get the chance to practice on the same fields as the Bulls teams while receiving expert coaching from some of the Bulls head coaches and athletes.
Head Baseball Coach Ron Torglaski will bring 22 years of coaching experience to his three camps, which will be run according to age groups. Head Men’s Basketball Coach Reggie Witherspoon will be running a college prospect camp for grades 10 and up, two separate week-long camps and a team camp while Women’s Basketball head coach Linda Hill-Macdonald will run a developmental camp for girls in grades 4-12.
Head Football Coach Jeff Quinn will run an Offensive/Defensive Line specific camp along with two one-day camps and two youth camps. Men’s Soccer will run a camp for Junior Booters, Bulls, Young Bulls, High School Elite, Strikers and Goalkeepers. Women’s Soccer will run a total of seven camps including Kickin’ and Krackin’, Goalkeepers, Juniors, Open Girls and College Prospects.
Continue reading ‘UB Summer Camps To Provide Many Options for WNY Youth’
 Scoring 50 goals in a single-season is rare for any player in the NHL. It’s even more rare to be done as a member of the Buffalo Sabres.
Did you know that the last time a Sabres player scored at least 50 goals in a season was 1992-93 when both Pat LaFontaine and Alexander Mogilny did it? LaFontaine netted 53 that season; the third-most in franchise history while Mogilny set a team record that still stands today with 76 goals.
In total, six five times has a player scored at least 50 goals in a season for the Sabres. The late Rick Martin is one of only two to do it twice; tallying 52 goals in both 1973-74 and 1974-75. The other player is Danny Gare, who scored 56 in 1979-80 and 50 in 1975-76.
 Now that the dust of the 2011 Draft has settled, it’s time to analyze the current state of Buffalo’s roster. We’ll be taking a look at one position at a time. Today: RB.
Players Under Contract (4): Fred Jackson, C.J. Spiller, Johnny White, Jehuu Caulcrick
Possibly Departing Free Agents: Quinton Ganther
1) Fred Jackson
2010 stats: 222 carries, 927 yards, 4.2 YPC, 5 TD; 31 rec, 215 yds, 2 TD
After inexplicably starting the season as third-string running back, Fred Jackson was his typical awesome self in 2010. The man simply finds a way to produce when he’s on the field. He did struggle a bit down the stretch – no rushing TDs in the last six games. However, I think the usual Buffalo offensive line injuries/struggles had something to do with that.
Continue reading ‘Buffalo Bills Post-Draft Roster Analysis: Running Back’
 Geoff Hangartner is at the center of competition for the Buffalo Bills, Mark Gaughan of the Buffalo News writes.
Overall, the Bills still lack competition in key areas according to Buffalo Rumblings’ Brian Galliford.
Sal Maiorana of the Rochester Democrat& Chronicle says that Ryan Fitzpatrick is the Bills’ quarterback, and people should get used to it.
Here’s the replay of Tim Graham’s ESPN AFC East chat from Friday. In it, Graham said that Fitzpatrick is better than Mark Sanchez.
Continue reading ‘The Daily Links – May 29, 2011′
 Buffalo Sabres forward Thomas Vanek scored 32 goals last season; the fourth time in five seasons he’s scored at least 30. Vanek is now up to 204 NHL goals for his career.
Did you know that Vanek will enter 2011-12 just seven goals away from cracking the franchise all-time, top ten list? Alexander Mogilny currently resides 10th all-time with 211 goals.
Vanek still has a long way to go if he wants to someday crack the top three. Gilbert Perrault has the most goals in franchise history with 512, followed by the late Rick Martin with 382 and Dave Andreychuck with 368. Danny Gare (267), Craig Ramsey (252), Mike Foligno (247), Miroslav Satan (224), Rene Robert (222) and Don Luce (216) round out the top nine.
 Earlier this month, we mentioned how the fine folks at Pro Football Focus think very highly of Bills DT Kyle Williams. VERY highly. As in “think he’s the third-best player in the entire league” highly. PFF’s Khaled Elsayed recently wrote a defense of Williams’s high ranking for any doubters.
I love PFF and the work they’re doing. We’ve talked a bit about the site before, but basically PFF’s mission is to break down every single NFL snap, player by player, and truly evaluate each NFL competitor. The results sometimes fly completely in the face of ”conventional” NFL wisdom. Definitely worth a look if you’re interested in a different way to analyze NFL action.
Anyway, in a not at all surprising story, the “mainstream” bloggers at ESPN.com don’t think nearly as highly of Williams. In fact, they don’t really think about him at all.
Continue reading ‘Not Surprisingly, No Mainstream Love for Kyle Williams’
 Twenty-two elite runners from all over the world, including some from Western New York, will hit the pavement in Buffalo this Sunday, May 29, for the Buffalo Marathon’s full and half marathons. All marathon events begin at 7 a.m. just north of the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Pearl Street in downtown Buffalo. At 7 a.m., Buffalo Fire Department will have two ladder trucks set up with a large flag on Niagara Street near Niagara Square for members of the media to shoot video and photos of the runners as they pass on to Niagara Street.
Six women will compete in the Open Marathon, Female category, and it is expected to be a very competitive category this year. The course record for this category of 2:42:44 was set by Elena Orleva in 2009, and several runners this year have qualifying times that are faster than that time, and could potentially shatter the course record this Sunday. Alena Vinitskaya of Russia qualified for this race with a time of 2:36:00, while Veronika Lopatina, also from Russia, qualified for this race with a time of 2:41:00.
Meanwhile, 11 men will compete in the Open Marathon, Male category. One runner in this category, Michael Deren, lives in Blasdell, NY, and qualified for the Buffalo Marathon with a time of 2:23:00. The course record for this category of 2:17:55 was set by Jacob Chamar in 2007, and the 2006 winner of the Buffalo Marathon, Jynocel Basweti of Kenya, is one of the men who could set a new course record, as he qualified for the Buffalo Marathon with a time of 2:18:00.
Continue reading ‘Buffalo’s Half and Full Marathons Take Place Sunday’
 The Buffalo News reports that Buffalo Bills tight end Scott Chandler took the long road to get to the Bills’ player workouts this week.
Pete Brisco from CBS Sports identifies Bills running back C.J. Spiller as one of 20 breakout candidates for the 2011 NFL season, assuming of course there is a 2011 season.
Bills safety Da’Norris Searcy is chomping at the bit in this WGR report by Joe Buscaglia.
While in Fort Wayne for a charity event, former Bills running back Thurman Thomas told their newspaper that the NFL must fix labor woes. Thomas also says that as an employee of the Bills, he’s had 30% of his pay cut recently due to the lockout.
Continue reading ‘The Daily Links – May 28, 2011′
 Green Bay Packers President Mark Murphy, a member of the NFL’s Executive Management Council, responded to concerns related to retired NFL player’s benefits in a letter to NFL Alumni Executive Director and President George Martin.
In the letter, Murphy addresses a proposed pension increase for retired players who completed their careers prior to 1993 saying “that proposal was on the table on March 11, along with many others as part of a comprehensive proposal designed to prevent a work stoppage. We proposed to fund this improved benefit solely through owner contributions without regard to the computation of current player costs or savings from any particular area.” Murphy adds, “Unfortunately, the NFLPA chose to walk away from the negotiations without a response to our proposals.”
Murphy further explains that the proposal offered to the union focused on players currently collecting pensions and included a pension increase of 60% on average for players age 55 or older. “…we will investigate the possibility of including similar players who have elected not to begin their pensions in future negotiations.”
Continue reading ‘Substantial Improvements For Retired Players Wait In Peril’
 The Buffalo Sabres recently complete their 40th campaign of their NHL existence. After a miserable start to the season that was going nowhere, the team rebounded and made the playoffs before losing in a seventh game to the Philadelphia Flyers.
Did you know that the Sabres have made the postseason in 29 of their 40 seasons? During that span they’ve won their division six times, most recently happening in 2009-10.
Overall the Sabres have played 3,198 games and their all-time record is 1,530-1,187-409-72 for a total of 3,541 points.
 Now that the dust of the 2011 Draft has settled, it’s time to analyze the current state of Buffalo’s roster. We’ll be taking a look at one position at a time. Today it’s the interior offensive line.
As opposed to the barren wasteland that is Buffalo’s tackle situation, the interior of the line actually looks pretty good. I’d say there are at least four to six guys who could be pretty decent NFL starters. (Okay, six is pushing it.) But still, there’s a lot to like here and a lot of directions Chan Gailey could decide to go with the lineup.
Players Under Contract (7): Eric Wood, Andy Levitre, Geoff Hangartner, Chad Rinehart, Kraig Urbik, Cordaro Howard, Colin Brown
Possibly Departing Free Agents: None
Continue reading ‘Buffalo Bills Post-Draft Roster Analysis: Interior Offensive Line’
 The Wall Street Journal reports that Buffalo native Jeffrey Gundlach could be in the early stages of trying to buy the Buffalo Bills. Yawn. I don’t see how anyone can get excited about something when they don’t know Ralph Wilson’s succession plan that will follow his passing. If Gundlach puts a group together that will bid more money than anyone else, then I’ll start to care more.
Brian Galliford of Buffalo Rumblings is reviewing Bills games from last season. Yesterday he explained how the Bills torched the Baltimore Ravens’ secondary in Buffalo’s Week seven loss.
Bills linebacker Reggie Torbor was unhurt after getting into a head-on collision outside of where the Bills players held their final player workouts Thursday in this Associated Press report.
Mike Schopp wonders in his WGR blog if wide receiver is the Bills’ best all-time position.
Continue reading ‘The Daily Links – May 27, 2011′
 The WNY Chapter of the Basketball Coaches Assn. of New York is holding its’ 7th annual WNY Spring Basketball Coaches clinic on Friday, June 3rd at The Sullivan Center at Medaille College. The cost of the clinic is FREE TO ALL COACHES. The coaches lineup is as follows:
5:30 – Dave Niland – Head Coach at Penn St.- Behrend will speak on defense -Niland is in his 17th year as head coach at Behrend and has won 303 games and has been named Allegheny Mountain Conference Coach of the Year 7 times and his teams have lead NCAA Div III in scoring defense twice on the last 4 years. A former All-WNY player at Williamsville South, Niland was also head coach at Elmira College and was an asst. coach to John Beilein at Canisius College for 4 years in the 1990’s.
6:30 – Pete Lonergan – Head Women’s Coach at Medaille will speak on zone offense -Lonergan is in his 7th season as head women’s coach at Medaille after formerly being the head men’s coach at Niagara and St. Francis(Pa). He has won 124 games and has guided the Lady Mavs to 3 AMCC titles and 3 NCAA tournament appearances. He has twice been named AMCC Coach of the Year and in 2008 was named BCANY NYS Coach of the Year.
Continue reading ‘BCANY Coaches Clinic Set For June 3rd’
 Despite a poor recent history, the Buffalo Bills have traditionally been a tremendous draw in Orchard Park. They’ve led the league in attendance and have been near the top several seasons in the past.
Did you know that the largest crowd ever at Ralph Wilson Stadium for a game, regular or postseason, was against the Miami Dolphins on October 4, 1992?
The crowd went home disappointed that day as the Bills came into the contest 4-0 but lost to the Dolphins, 37-10. Jim Kelly hit Andre Reed with a 16-yard score for the Bills lone touchdown but was a disaster on that day. Kelly threw for 306 yards in 48 passing attempts but was intercepted four times, including a 103-yard interception return for a touchdown by Louis Oliver.
Buffalo recovered from the defeat. They finished the regular season with an 11-5 record and would win the AFC for the third straight time before losing to the Dallas Cowboys in the Super Bowl, 52-17.
 Buffalo Sabres President Ted Black announced today that the broadcast team of Rick Jeanneret and Harry Neale will only work home games and a reduced road schedule of approximately 10-15 games next season. Their exact road schedule will be determined once the 2011-12 NHL regular season schedule is released.
“It’s no secret that the constant travel has been wearing on me over the years, and there were several times last season when I thought that it might be my last,” Jeanneret said. “That’s why I presented this arrangement to Sabres management. I think it’s the best of both worlds, and allows me to continue doing the job I love. I really want to thank the Sabres for accommodating my request.”
“I’m delighted to continue working with Rick, and am looking forward to the upcoming season,” said Neale.
“Rick and Harry have become part of the fabric of this organization,” said Black. “We really believe this plan will go a long way in prolonging their careers and continue their relationships with the Buffalo Sabres.”
Continue reading ‘Jeanneret, Neale To Work Reduced Sabres Schedule In 2011-12′
 Here’s a set of notes as the Buffalo Bills conclude their voluntary player-organized workouts Thursday:
♦ Nothing is set in stone of course until after the NFL lockout ends and training camp (hopefully) starts this summer, but there’s already a strong sense of which Bills’ incumbents are the big winner and loser with the team drafting Marcell Dareus third overall last month. Dareus has been told he’ll play end in the 3-4 and slide inside when they move to a 4-3.
That makes the big winner Chris Kelsay. When Dareus moves inside, Kelsay will see the majority of snaps at defensive end. His natural position, Kelsay played end in the 4-3 throughout his first seven years in the league before shifting to a 3-4 outside linebacker last year.
Continue reading ‘Buffalo Bills News & Notes’
 Canisius College senior Sean Jamieson was named the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Baseball Co-Player of the Year at the postseason awards banquet on Wednesday night. Jamieson, along with senior first baseman Brian Burton were named to the All-MAAC First Team.
Jamieson, who was named a Capital One Academic All-American on Tuesday, is the third player in program history to win the MAAC Player of the Year award, joining Rick Foit (1994) and Kevin Mahoney (2009). Jamieson earned All-MAAC First-Team honors for the second consecutive season. He shared the Player of the Year award with Dan Paolini from Siena.
Jamieson led Canisius in a number of offensive categories – batting average, hits, runs scored, home runs, slugging percentage, stolen bases and on-base percentage. Jamieson ranks sixth in the MAAC in batting average (.358), second in slugging percentage (.658), first in runs scored (59), second in home runs (13) and steals (22), fourth in hits (67) and third in RBI (49). Jamieson broke his own program record with nine RBI in a game on March 22, and became the first Golden Griffin in 15 years to hit for the cycle. A two-time MAAC Player of the Week, Jamieson also earned Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week honors on March 28. Jamieson also has a .956 fielding percentage in 54 starts at shortstop.
Continue reading ‘Canisius’ Jamieson Named MAAC Co-Player of the Year’
 Mark Gaughan of the Buffalo News reports that Buffalo Bills first-round draft pick Marcell Dareus has got with the program and joined his teammates for a voluntary player-organized workout in Elma Wednesday.
The NFL lockout and possibility of no football in 2011 hasn’t stopped Buffalo Rumblings’ junkie Brian Galliford from pouring over last season’s tape. His latest installment was a second half recap from the Bills loss to Jacksonville in week five. Some really interesting stuff here.
Bills.com lead journalist Chris Brown writes that the lockout isn’t preventing the Bills coaching staff from staying extremely busy.
ESPN.com AFC East blogger Tim Graham writes that the holdout has Bills tackle Demetrius Bell on hold.
Continue reading ‘The Daily Links – May 26, 2011′
 Buffalo Sabres GM Darcy Regier announced today that forward Marcus Foligno has agreed to terms on a three-year entry level contract. Foligno was selected by Buffalo in the fourth-round (104th overall) of the 2009 Entry Draft.
“Marcus is a proven leader and someone that we believe will fit in very well within our organization,” said Regier. “As Buffalo fans will remember from his play in the World Juniors, Marcus is a great mix of size and skill.”
A native of Buffalo, NY, Foligno (6’3”, 222 lbs., 8/10/1991, shoots left) played four seasons of junior hockey with the Sudbury Wolves of the Ontario Hockey League and was the team’s captain in 2010-11. Despite playing in just 47 games this season, Foligno posted career highs in goals (23), assists (36) and points (59), and was named to the OHL’s Second All-Star Team at left wing. Foligno’s 92 PIMs led all Wolves forwards, and he contributed 11 power play goals. In the OHL’s annual coaches poll, Foligno was selected as the Eastern Conference’s Best Body Checker, and finished third in voting for Hardest Shot.
Continue reading ‘Sabres Agree To Terms With Foligno’
 For those who continue to think that the NFL Lockout only has a significant financial impact on millionaire players, perhaps this article will change your mind.
In a report by the Associated Press, Buffalo Bills Chief executive officer Russ Brandon confirmed to the AP that the organization has suspended pension plan payments to all its employees across-the-board; not just for the duration of the lockout but potentially for the duration of the rest of the year.
The AP report says the organization stopped payments on employees’ 401K plan and “will decide at a later date whether to reinstate them for 2011 based on our financial performance.”
Buffalo has not laid off any employees since the lockout started but everyone has been forced to take a pay cut.
Let’s hope this labor situation gets resolved soon as the whole thing is getting ridiculous. It’s one thing to take money out of the pockets of athletes that generally can afford it. It’s another to penalize hard working employees who barely carve out a decent living when everything in the NFL is status quo.
 Participate in the 11th Annual Susan G. Komen Western New York 5K Race for the Cure and show everyone whose life you are running for.
Scheduled for Saturday, June 11th at 10:00am, volunteers and runners will once again donate their time, money, and energy for the 11th Annual Race for the Cure at Delaware Park to help raise funding for research, education, screening, and treatment programs for breast cancer.
All participants are invited to join-in on an after-race party complete with food, entertainment, and an awards ceremony to honor the achievements of participants.
Individuals can form a team, join a team, or run as an individual and can register online, by mail, or in-person at a number of locations across the area.
Continue reading ‘11th Annual Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure’
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Head football coach Jeff Quinn announced that Fred Russ, a two-sport standout at New York Mills HS, has signed a scholarship to continue his academic and athletic pursuits at the University at Buffalo.
