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for May 2011
 Just days and perhaps even hours after the 2011 NFL draft came to its three-day conclusion, pundits all over commenced handing out grades to each of the 32 teams. While immediate reactions are always entertaining, I’ve long been under the assumption it’s borderline absurd to dispense grades to a team when not one of prospect has even picked up a NFL team playbook yet.
I learned the hard way about the humiliation that follows when you prematurely anoint or blast an organization based on 24 hours of digesting unknown draft picks. Back in 2006 while doing some contributing writing for Yahoo Sports and Scout.com, I instantaneously became a fanatic of the Bills’ 2006 under new general manger Marv Levy. I vividly remember stating in the days that followed that this would be the draft to turn Buffalo’s franchise around. I recall saying the trade-up with Chicago to land John McCargo was potentially a revolutionary move for the franchise. With the first five picks completely committed to defense, it was merely a matter of time before Buffalo would dominate the AFC East. I gave the Bills a Class-A grade and ranked the draft the best of all 32 teams.
Of course, turns out that class consisted of Donte Whitner, McCargo, Ashton Youboty and Ko Simpson being the first four selections. Only Kyle Williams going off the board in round five prevents that draft from being a massive fail.
Continue reading ‘Grading The Buffalo Bills Draft – Thee Years Later’
 The Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame announced today that former Bisons catcher Tony Pena and long-time “Voice of the Bisons,” Jim Rosenhaus have been elected to the Buffalo Baseball Hall of Fame
Pena and Rosenhaus will be formally inducted on the Bisons Hall of Fame Day, Sunday, July 24 prior to the team’s 1:05 p.m. game against the Pawtucket Red Sox.
Tony Pena
Pena was signed as an undrafted free agent by Pittsburgh in 1975 and shot through the Pirates minor league system as one of their top prospects. In 1979, Pena played 134 games with the then Double-A Buffalo Bisons of the Eastern League and put together one of the finest single seasons in franchise history. The catcher hit .313 with 16 doubles, four triples, 34 home runs and 97RBI at War Memorial Stadium.
Continue reading ‘Pena, Rosenhaus Elected To Bisons Hall of Fame’
 The Buffalo Bills have made a move in the front office, officially announcing that Vice President of College Scouting Tom Modrak has been relieved of his duties with the organization.
General manager Buddy Nix briefly explained the decision.
“This is the time of year when we evaluate every element of our football operation and with the Draft now completed, we have decided to reorganize our personnel department,” said Nix. “We have begun that process and made a decision to head in a different direction. We thank Tom for his 10 years of dedication to our organization and wish him the best in his future endeavors.”
Continue reading ‘Bills Part Ways With Modrak’
 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’
 Canisius College men’s lacrosse goalkeeper junior Sean Callahan was named MAAC Defensive Player of the Week after helping the Griffs to a 5-4 victory against Manhattan during the weekend.
Callahan anchored the Golden Griffins in a defensive battle, recording nine saves and yielding only four goals to earn the win.
The Canisius goalkeeper has made the most of his opportunities when playing conference opponents this season as he leads the MAAC in league games with a 8.61 goals against average, while ranking third with a .552 save percentage. This is the first time Callahan has earned a weekly honor in his career, while it also marks the first time this season that a Canisius player has earned a MAAC accolade.
The Griffs finished the season going 3-3 in the MAAC with a 3-9 overall record.
 After months of never-ending speculation, rumors and more mock drafts than one cares to remember, the 2011 NFL draft has come to its conclusion. The Buffalo Bills unmistakably took a sensible, if not elegant approach to their incoming rookie class. While most thought it was a matter of who and when, not if Buddy Nix would tab a quarterback to groom under Ryan Fitzpatrick, his staff judiciously committed themselves to refurbishing a defense worst in the entire NFL at stopping the run.
It’s not like Buffalo didn’t have ample opportunity to land their quarterback of the future. They flat-out passed on Blaine Gabbert and Jake Locker in the first round, Andy Dalton and Colin Kaepernick in the second, Ryan Mallet in round three and Ricky Stanzi in the fifth. Whether it was a case of not being sold on as many quarterback prospects as most, being higher on Fitzpatrick everyone else being unable to form a consensus on one specific guy, Nix literally ignored the position for the duration of the draft.
Drafting heavy for defense isn’t always sexy but with the makeup of this current roster, it was the wise thing to do.
Here are six things we categorically learned about the Buffalo Bills over the past three days.
Continue reading ‘Six Things We Learned About The Buffalo Bills Draft’
 The Buffalo Bandits narrowly advanced to the East Division Finals Saturday night with a one goal victory over the Boston Blazers. The game will be at the HSBC Arena on May 7.
If you think you’ve seen the end of the mock drafts for the time being, think again. Brian Galliford from SB Nation already has a 2012 mock up. And with the fifth pick of the 2012 NFL draft, the Buffalo Bills select quarterback Landry Jones from Oklahoma. With all due respect, I think it’s a little fairy tale to think the 49ers will have the worst record in the NFL and reunite with Andrew Luck.
Allen Wilson of the Buffalo News writes taht the Bills are in a Southern comfort zone.
Here was an outstanding video on NFL.com in the days leading up to Marcell Dareus heading to New York for the NFL draft.
Continue reading ‘The Daily Links – May 2, 2011′
 The Niagara Purple Eagles ended their trip to the Hudson Valley with a 7-3 defeat to the Marist Red Foxes on Sunday from McCann Field in the finale of the three-game set.
Niagara (6-33, 3-15 MAAC) suffered its first sweep versus Marist (29-13, 9-9 MAAC) since the 2007 season. The Red Foxes broke open a close game with five runs in the seventh and eighth innings. Marist scored two runs in the seventh inning to take a 4-1 lead.
In the eighth inning, the Purple Eagles loaded the bases with no outs when John Wilson singled to right field for his second RBI of the game. The rally was cut short when Marist’s relief pitcher Brendan Chapin struck out the next three batters. Marist added three runs in its half of the eighth to build a 7-2 lead.
Continue reading ‘Niagara University Continues To Struggle In Baseball’
 The Buffalo Bills concluded their selections on the 2011 NFL draft Saturday, and the early reviews are excellent. So much in fact that Rick Gosselin of the Dallas Morning News gave the team an A+ grade, the only team in the league to earn that high of a mark. Kudos to Buddy Nix–for now at least.
Safety Da’Norris Searcy of North Carolina was the Bills first of two fourth round picks (100 overall) early Saturday, another indication (much more on that later) Donte Whitner’s days in Buffalo are over. It’s somewhat surprising that the Bills used two of their first four picks on defensive backs but Nix clearly felt the secondary needed to get younger and more physical. At 223-pounds, Searcy is capable of playing either corner or safety, though it’s highly likely he’ll join a safety unit that will include Jairus Byrd, George Wilson and Bryan Scott. Norris isn’t necessarily a tremendous athlete, but he’s a smart player that plays tough and should contribute on some level rather early, including special teams right away.
Continue reading ‘Bills Finish Off Highly Rated NFL Draft’
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