While a preponderance of draft pundits feel the Buffalo Bills had a winning three days of obtaining new college talent in New York City, critics have swiftly turned to the fact the team aborted their plan to select a quarterback in any of the seven rounds.
According to things I’ve heard, this is a breakdown as to why no quarterback was taken.
♦ There were only three quarterbacks in the draft Buffalo had a high grade on: Cam Newton, Blaine Gabbert and Christian Ponder. Their grades on Andy Dalton, Ryan Mallet, Colin Kaepernick and Jake Locker weren’t nearly as high as speculated by the media.
Continue reading ‘Why The Bills Didn’t Draft A Quarterback’
The Buffalo Sabres failed to defeat the Philadelphia Flyers in their seven-game Eastern Conference Quarterfinals series, but their local TV ratings on MSG led all NHL markets in the opening round.
Buffalo averaged an 18.8 rating (119,000 homes) for the six games on MSG, more than two full points ahead of Pittsburgh’s 16.5 for seven games. This does not include Buffalo’s Game 6 rating on NBC of 24.0, the team’s highest-rated game since recording a 26.8 on May 19, 2007, in the deciding Game 5 of the Conference Finals on NBC against Ottawa. NBC’s national rating for Game 6 was 1.4 (2.57 million viewers), making it the most-viewed NHL non-conference final game in 12 years.
“The Buffalo Sabres’ television ratings during Round One of the Stanley Cup Playoffs were the highest among all U.S.-based teams, which is even more remarkable given that we had 25,000 fans in and around HSBC Arena during each of our three home games,” said Sabres President Ted Black. “Although the loss in the first round stings, we know that it was merely the end of the beginning. Our fans, players and staff are energized and determined and we look forward to raising our television ratings and ultimately raising the Cup.”
Continue reading ‘Sabres Led All Local Markets In TV Ratings In First Round’
It’s palpable to anyone with a Twitter handler that Buffalo Bills safety Donte Whitner’s days as a Buffalo Bill are numbered. Whether he was sarcastically congratulating recent draft picks or bantering back and forth via malicious exchanges with angry Bills fans (including Whitner using the famous “your mother” line to one), Whitner has gotten to the point of being more a public relations nightmare should he return for another season. If you’re bent on seeing everything he’s said recently, help yourself to his Twitter— I’d list specific examples but he long ago blocked me from his page.
While what he or hostile fans verbalize in the social network universe carries little weight to his Buffalo future, what comes from the mouth of general manager Buddy Nix certainly does.
According to Nix himself, Whitner’s time in Buffalo is all but done.
“Donte Whitner, I don’t think he wants to be here… and he probably won’t.” Nix told WEDG-FM on Monday.
It’s pretty telling of Nix to declare that publicly. Although Whitner is technically a free agent for the moment, it’s highly likely that when or if free agency begins, the league will revert back to 2010 rules. In that scenario Whitner will drop from being unrestricted to restricted because he has five years of service and 2010 rules state six are necessary to be able to switch teams freely and without consequence.
Continue reading ‘Source: Whitner’s Career In Buffalo Over’
