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for August 2011
 Longtime National Hockey League (NHL) blueliner and Niagara men’s hockey volunteer assistant coach Jay McKee has signed on to be an assistant coach with the Rochester Americans, the American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate of the Buffalo Sabres on Wednesday.
The Kingston, Ont. native spent 14 years in the NHL, between the Sabres, St. Louis Blues and the Pittsburgh Penguins. McKee spent the 2010-11 season behind the Niagara bench in a volunteer capacity, helping out Purple Eagles head coach Dave Burkholder.
“Words can’t express how thankful I am to Dave Burkholder, Ed McLaughlin and Niagara University for the wonderful privilege and opportunity they gave me in allowing me to assist in coaching the Niagara men’s hockey team last season,” McKee said. “The program has surrounded itself with a lot of first class personalities, attitude and work ethic, from staff and management to each player in the dressing room. I was very fortunate to learn a lot from the current coaching staff and will be forever grateful using those lessons as I further my coaching career.”
Continue reading ‘Jay McKee Takes Assistant Coach Job In Rochester’
 The Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame Selection Committee today announced the induction of Rick Jeanneret and Dale Hawerchuk into the Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame. Jeanneret, the longest-tenured play-by-play announcer in NHL history, and Hawerchuk, a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, were selected based on their outstanding contributions to the sport of hockey and the Buffalo Sabres organization.
The pair will officially be inducted as the 36th and 37th members of the Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame during a ceremony before the team’s game against the Winnipeg Jets on November 8.
With his vast knowledge of the game and his unwavering enthusiasm for hockey, Jeanneret’s distinct voice has been synonymous with the Buffalo Sabres for four decades. He began his prolific career with the Sabres in the 1971-72 season as the club’s radio play-by-play announcer and served primarily in that role until 1995, when he would also begin calling the action for the team’s televised games. His memorable calls and player nicknames have become forever linked with Sabres history for generations of fans.
Continue reading ‘Sabres To Induct Jeanneret, Hawerchuck Into Hall’
 The Buffalo Bills preseason home finale against Detroit Thursday night is blacked out. That’s not unexpected. After three blackouts last season, however and no announcements of sellouts so far this season, fans have become worried they may not being seeing much Bills’ home football on television at all this season.
At least we now know they’ll be some games for all to see.
The team announced late Wednesday morning Buffalo’s home opener against Oakland on September 18 and also the home tilt against the Philadelphia Eagles on October 9 are officially sold out, meaning at least two of the seven home games in Orchard Park will be shown on television.
The other five games in Buffalo this year are New England, New York jets, Tennessee, Miami and Denver. The other Bills “home” game against Washington in Week eight is in Toronto.
The team also announced that only a limited amount of tickets remain for the New England game. For fans that can’t afford or can’t make it out to the Stadium, this is a good start.
 It appears there are three things in life for certain; death, taxes…. and the Buffalo Bills facing the Detroit Lions in NFL preseason football. For the 10th consecutive year and seemingly the 100th, the Bills and Lions square off in a game irrelevant to the standings. If you haven’t already guessed, there’s plenty of tickets remaining at Ralph Wilson Stadium. In many ways, the game is meaningless.
Just don’t call it meaningless to Buffalo head coach Chan Gailey and his staff.
While winning the game is trumped by keeping valuable players healthy for Week one, meaning starters will merely be in for a cup of coffee, if that, there’s plenty on the line for numerous roster candidates occupying both sidelines. For some vying for a roster spot, Buffalo’s finale against Detroit is their Super Bowl.
Continue reading ‘Roster Spots On The Line In Bills’ Preseason Finale’
 A pair of Buffalo Bills who spent their entire 2010 rookie seasons on injured reserve are looking to make a big impact on the team’s fortunes for 2011. Both wide receiver Marcus Easley and linebacker Danny Batten have been an important part of the team’s preseason slate, and the coaching staff is hoping it continues once the games start counting on September 11.
Easley was an early fourth-round pick last year but missed the entire season with an ACL knee injury. Following a (very) slow start to training camp and preseason, Easley exploded against the Jacksonville Jaguars this past Saturday, catching five passes for 51 yards, including an 11-yard touchdown strike in the back of the end zone from Ryan Fitzpatrick during extensive playing time with the starters.
At six-feet-two and 215 pounds, Easley is by far the team’s biggest and perhaps most athletic receiver. If nothing else, he certainly looks the part. Talk of starting alongside Stevie Johnson in Week one based on one game may be premature, but there’s little doubt he’s going to receive plenty of opportunities in Buffalo’s offense, provided he can stay on the field. While his experience in the NFL and even college (Connecticut) is limited, Easley is slowly starting to show signs that he can be a dangerous receiver for years to come.
Continue reading ‘2010 Damaged Goods May Become Treasures For Bills’
 The Buffalo Bills needed to make one roster move to get down to the 80-player roster maximum by Tuesday and did that by releasing rookie inside linebacker Brad Jefferson.
An undrafted rookie who played for Chan Gailey at Georgia Tech, Jefferson faced an uphill battle in making the Bills roster with the team having a surplus of inside linebackers, a list that includes Nick Barnett, Andra Davis, Kirk Morrison, Arthur Moats and rookies Kelvin Sheppard and Chris White.
Still, Jefferson was having a productive preseason, second on the team with 12 total tackles in three games and added a sack.
The next round of cuts will bring the Bills down to the 53-man final active roster. All cuts must be made by Saturday September 3rd.
 The Buffalo Sabres finished the regular season in 2010-11 seventh in the Eastern Conference and took the Philadelphia Flyers to the brink of elimination before bowing in the playoffs. Since then, owner Terry Pegula has ignited a frenzy among the fan base, trading for Robyn Regehr and signing Christian Ehrhoff and Ville Leino to pricey free agent contracts.
You’d think from a national perception standpoint, the Sabres would be primed to be one of the front runners in this late summer’s completely meaningless 2011-12 regular season predictions.
Well, not quite.
The Hockey News has been publishing their regular season predictions, counting down from worst to first in each conference. On Monday the Sabres checked in, projected to place fifth in the East this season (Detroit was picked for fifth out West.)
Regarding the Sabres, the article refers to the Sabres an interesting team but doesn’t speak much of them challenging for one of the top records in the league.
Continue reading ‘Hockey News Tabs Sabres For Fifth In East’
 If there was any question at how little respect the Buffalo Bills receive from the national media, one needs to look no further than ESPN’s Scouts Inc. ridiculous NFL player rankings for reinforcement. To view the entire ranking charts, you’ll need to have Insider Access, which I’d only suggest if you’re in the mood for a good laugh or perhaps need to shake your head.
Their list of the Top 200 players in the league contains but one Bill, Kyle Williams, who came in at number 37. It’s hard to get mad at that, though you can certainly make a case for Stevie Johnson belonging based on 82 receptions and 10 touchdowns last season.
Fred Jackson, who’s gained 2,575 yards from scrimmage to go with 11 touchdowns over the past two years despite being stuck splitting time with Marshawn Lynch and C.J. Spiller, apparently was only good enough to come in ranked as the 30th best running back in the league.
But by far what’s most laughable is Buffalo starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick coming in ranked just 32nd in the quarterback rankings. In case you forgot, the National Football League is comprised of just 32 teams.
Continue reading ‘Scouts Inc. Hates The Buffalo Bills’
 The University at Buffalo Division of Athletics announced its 2010-11 Athletes of the Year yesterday at its annual Welcome Back Picnic. Earning the honors for this past year were Kourtney Brown of the women’s basketball team and Rob Golabek of the men’s track and field team. Both student athletes were named All-Americans during the course of the year.
The 2010-11 Mid-American Conference Player of the Year, Brown finished her brilliant playing career by leading the MAC in scoring, rebounding, field goal percentage and blocked shots. Brown is the only player in the country in the top 10 nationally in those categories as she finished the season eighth in scoring, fifth in rebounding and blocked shots and sixth in field goal percentage.
Continue reading ‘UB Names School Athletes Of The Year’
 Join Buffalo Bills Legend and Future Hall of Fame Receiver, Andre Reed, on Saturday, September 3rd and Sunday, September 4th as he signs autographs at The National Buffalo Wing Festival, promoting his new Over The Middle (OTM) All Purpose Sauce.
Reed, who spent fifteen seasons with the Buffalo Bills was one of the key members of the team during their glory years in the early 90’s and was a vital component to the Bills unprecedented run of playing in four straight Super Bowls, will be signing autographs for people who purchase his Over The Middle All Purpose Sauce at the following times:
Continue reading ‘Reed To Sign At Buffalo Wing Festival’
 In a game which featured five yellow cards and one red card, the men’s soccer team (0-2) fell to Little Three rival Niagara (1-1) Sunday afternoon, 3-1.
Niagara opened the scoring exactly 12 minutes into the contest on an own goal, and then the chippy battle began.
Just six minutes later, an altercation resulted in St. Bonaventure’s Kolby Banker receiving a red card and Niagara’s Michael Cunningham being issued a yellow. Banker was beat to a ball by Cunningham and retaliated by throwing an elbow. Playing with 10 men, the Bonnies surrendered a second goal to the Purple Eagles just four minutes after Banker was dismissed.
Continue reading ‘Niagara Upends Bona In Men’s Soccer’
 Saturday was a good night for the Buffalo Bills. The first team offense was dominant in scoring 17 first half points. The team eventually blew a lead and trailed by 15 points, but were able to come back, tie the game inside the final minute and eventually beat the Jacksonville Jaguars in overtime, 35-32 on a 40-yard field goal by the steady Rian Lindell
After needing to search high and far to find a string of positives over Buffalo’s first two preseason games—both ugly losses, it takes far less effort to find plenty of positive things to write about following this affair.
Here are a few random notes from Saturdays as we prepare to close the door on the preseason with another home game against the Detroit Lions on Thursday.
Continue reading ‘Notes Following Buffalo’s OT Win Over Jacksonville’
 For the past week, I’ve been chewed up and spit out by both the media, and especially fans of the Buffalo Bills. As agonizing as it is to confess— much, far too much of it is well deserved.
I published a report late last week, citing a source that Bills linebacker Shawne Merriman was detained at the border by United States Customs and busted with having steroids in his possession.
My report, and specifically my choice of words — was inaccurate.
For that alone, I must man up with some apologies, and it begins with Merriman personally. While I did initially report Merriman was never charged and arrested for the incident, that’s not good enough.
Continue reading ‘An Apology To Merriman… And Everyone Else’
 The Buffalo Sabres will start the 2011-2012 season with a brand new name for the National Hockey League team’s home: First Niagara Center.
In connection with First Niagara Bank, N.A.’s acquisition of Upstate New York and Connecticut branches from HSBC Bank USA, N.A., the Buffalo-headquartered regional bank agreed to purchase the naming rights to HSBC Arena, the 18,690-seat home of the hockey club and Western New York’s premier sports and entertainment facility.
First Niagara will be the official bank of the Buffalo Sabres, deepening the company’s connections with its customers in the region as it strengthens its Upstate New York leadership through its previously announced HSBC-branch acquisition. First Niagara’s 15-year agreement with the Sabres also includes exclusive exterior facility naming rights, category exclusivity in the facility’s bowl, other interior and exterior signage and branding, exclusive on-site ATM presence, television and other value-added promotional benefits. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
Continue reading ‘Sabres’ New Home: First Niagara Center’
 The Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL have signed former Buffalo State Bengal icer Nicholas Petriello to an entry-level contract.
Petriello is the all-time leading scorer in Buffalo State history with 133 points in 100 games. His 52 goals over four seasons are third-most in program history and his 81 assists are second-most. The 25-year-old was the conference’s rookie of the year in 2008 and received second-team All-SUNYAC accolades in both 2009 and 2011.
The Idaho Steelheads are an affiliate of the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League (NHL).
Buffalo State officially opens its 2011-12 men’s hockey season at Geneseo on Oct. 28.
 It’s been starting to appear that there would never be good news to come out of Buffalo Bills training camp again, but events over the past 12 hours can give fans a shred of hope.
Last night the team signed inside linebacker Kirk Morrison to a one-year deal. Morrison may not exactly be a Pro Bowl caliber linebacker, but on his worst day he’s still an upgrade over Reggie Torbor, who happens to be injured and is now in serious jeopardy of losing his roster spot all together.
Then this morning WGR 550 reported first that the Bills and key defensive tackle Kyle Williams are closing in on a contract extension. A complete no-brainer, keeping Williams long term is a positive move for the organization. Williams has one year left on his deal following this season. WGR also reported that once a deal is finalized; the Bills will turn their attention to extending wide receiver Stevie Johnson.
Continue reading ‘Cycle Of Good News For Bills Organization’
 The Buffalo Bills made an upgrade to the linebacker corps by signing inside linebacker Kirk Morrison to a one-year deal. Jeremy White of WGR 550 was the first to report.
A six-year veteran, Morrison, 29 played with the Oakland Raiders for five years before suiting up for the Jacksonville Jaguars last season. Strong against the run, Morrison has been effective if not flashy throughout his career, racking up 723 tackles, seven interceptions and five sacks.
It’s hard to imagine Morrrison’s arrival not helping the defense. Reggie Torbor has looked brutal in the preseason, particularly in nickel packages against Denver last week. With rookie Kelvin Sheppard off to an extremely slow start due to an injured leg, it’s almost a certainty Morrison will see plenty of playing time immediately.
Continue reading ‘Bills Sign Morrison; Dareus Injures Ankle’
 The Buffalo Bills have signed veteran free agent wide receiver Ruvell Martin, the team announced Wednesday.
Martin originally signed with the San Diego Chargers as an undrafted free agent in 2004. He was signed by Green Bay and in 2006, following a stint in the World Football league, had a career-high 21 receptions for 368 yards. He’s also played with St. Louis and Seattle over the past three seasons and has 65 career receptions for 1,006 yards and seven touchdowns in 54 games.
Martin joins Buffalo in part because the receiving corps has been depleted. Lee Evans was traded to Baltimore and Donald Jones, Roscoe Parrish, Naaman Roosevelt and Craig Davis have been hit by injuries.
Bills head coach Chan Gailey indicated Tuesday following practice the team would be looking at wide receivers via the free agent wire. How long Martin sticks around remains to be seen.
 In this exclusive report by Paul Hamilton from WGR550, it’s very obvious that Buffalo Bills running back Fred Jackson is not a happy camper these days.
Brian Galliford from Buffalo Rumblings lists Geoff Hangartner and David Nelson among five Bills players that have had a very quiet preseason to this point.
Injured Saturday night at Denver, the Bills expect Donald Jones and Johnny White back before their season opener, reports Chris Brown of Bills.com.
Despite a horrible start to the preseason, Mark Gaughan from the Buffalo News writes that the Bills see some reason for hope as the regular season draws closer.
Continue reading ‘The Daily Links – August 23, 2011′
 There hasn’t been much news of interest going on at Buffalo Bills’ training camp this summer, but perhaps that’s about to change. On the heels of a Tweet by Tim Graham of the Buffalo News Saturday evening citing sources that tell him the starting running back job is C.J. Spiller’s to lose, incumbent Fred Jackson had plenty to say on Monday.
Apparently, he’s not very happy.
Speaking exclusively with Paul Hamilton of WGR550 on the matter, Jackson feels disrespected by his team.
“Absolutely I do,” Jackson told Hamilton. “I’ve been saying it is, I feel like a number one back and I should be treated like one. I should know what’s going on and know where I stand and what the situation is.”
Continue reading ‘Report: Fred Jackson Unhappy In Camp’
 A pair of former University at Buffalo point guards have signed to play professional basketball overseas. Byron Mulkey will be playing in Morocco for AS Sale, while John Boyer will suit up for BK Decin in the Czech Republic.
Mulkey, a 2011 All-MAC Second Team and Academic All-MAC selection, had a breakout season for the Bulls as a senior. He averaged 13.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game. His 85 steals on the year not only set a school record, but rank fifth in the long history of the Mid-American Conference.
Boyer was a 2010 Academic All-MAC selection. He led the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.70) to go along with 7.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game as a senior during the 2009-10 season.
Continue reading ‘Pair of Former UB Point Guards to Play Professionally Overseas’
 The rumor mill had been rampant over the past week or so with many analysts predicting the Buffalo Bills would select Ohio State quarterback Terrelle Pryor with one of their two fourth-round picks in today’s NFL supplemental draft.
We’ll never know for sure if it would’ve happened.
Pryor was selected in the third-round by the Oakland Raiders this afternoon. As a result, the Raiders will forfeit their third rounder in next April’s 2012 NFL Draft.
Pryor’s stock went up after running an unofficial 4.41/40-yard dash at his Pro Day last Saturday; an event attended by approximately teams representing half the league, including the Bills.
Continue reading ‘Bills Pass On Pryor’
 The Buffalo Bills played a pathetic first half of football Saturday evening in Denver, particularly on offense as the team fell to 0-2 on the preseason with a 24-10 loss to the Broncos.
The offensive line was brutal over the first 30 minutes, especially left tackle Demetrius Bell, who was beaten for a sack by Elvis Dumervill and gave the appearance of a turnstile on several plays. Andy Levitre, already embedded in a battle with Chad Reinhart for the starting left guard job, did himself no favors either. He played well into the fourth quarter.
Denver led at halftime with most starters from both teams on the field, 14-3 on the strength of a pair of touchdowns by former Bills’ running back Willis McGahee.
Continue reading ‘Bills Look Sloppy In Loss At Denver’
 The University at Buffalo radio football team will have a similar sound in 2011 as the Bulls return to the airwaves on both 1230-AM in Buffalo – “The Breeze,” as well as “Hot Talk” 1280-AM in Rochester.
Calling all the play-by-play action of Bulls football for his 12th year, and fourth consecutive, will be WIVB-TV’s Paul Peck. Serving as the analyst for the second straight season will be Navy’s all-time leading passer and former Western New York Player of the Year Jim Kubiak. Nick Mendola will return to his sideline duties in 2011 and will also file profiles on Bulls’ players in the Bulls hour-long pregame show each week.
The new face in the Bulls broadcast lineup is Scott Wilson, who has worked at both WECK and WGR as host and producer and also served on the UB women’s basketball broadcast team last season. Wilson will host the Bulls pre- and post-game shows on the Bulls football broadcasts and will also serve as the host of the “Jeff Quinn Show” that will air on Thursdays on “Buffalo’s Breeze” 1230-AM.
Against my better judgment and surely not on the advice of others, I’ve decided to post a response following the aftermath regarding my Shawne Merriman story yesterday. I accept that roughly 95% of fans who read it have long passed judgment no column or explanation will change.
I can live with that.
What I won’t do, at all costs is retract a single word I wrote. I stand by my story, the source and won’t apologize, even if it’s clearly something no Bills fan wanted to hear.
Did I not expect a firm denial after the story was published? I’m not the brightest bulb in the world, but come on.
I’ve read an exuberant amount of complaints saying I made this story up out of the blue sky.
Simply put—- that’s preposterous.
I sent Merriman a tweet the morning after the incident, wanting to get comment or some sort of explanation from him, and also sent a text message to his representative.
Both were ignored.
Here is the Tweet dated July 29—- exactly three weeks ago.
Continue reading ‘About The Merriman Story’
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