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for November 2011
 There’s some good news stemming from reports today out of Buffalo Sabres practice. Head coach Lindy Ruff said that winger Tyler Ennis could return to the lineup as early as Friday, while giving at least a possibility of Ryan Miller returning sometime this weekend.
Ennis played in just seven games this season before injuring his ankle at Tampa Bay and has been on the injured list since October 24. The young sniper was off to a dreadful start; being held scoreless on the season. His speed and playmaking ability would come in handy for a Sabres offense that’s scored just eight goals in their last five games, counting the five spot they put on Washington last Saturday.
Continue reading ‘Ennis, Miller Could Soon Return For Sabres’
 Four University at Buffalo football players were named to the All-Mid-American Conference Football Team announced on Wednesday. Running Back Branden Oliver and linebacker Khalil Mack earned first-team honors. Wide Receiver Marcus Rivers was named to the second team and Terrell Jackson earned honorable mention honors as a punt returner.
Oliver had a record-breaking season for the Bulls. The sophomore back became the single-season leader in rushing attempts (306), rushing yards (1,395 rushing yards, breaking the school mark of 1,333 by James Starks in 2008), all-purpose yards (1,760, breaking Starks’ record of 1,694) and 100-yard rushing games in a season (8). He ranks second in the MAC in rushing yards per game (116.2).
Continue reading ‘Four Bulls Named to All-MAC Football Team’
 In what’s seemingly becoming a weekly tradition, the Buffalo Bills made another addition to their ever-growing Injured Reserve list early Wednesday morning, placing Torell Troup on I.R. and promoting fourth-year defensive tackle Lionel Dotson from the practice squad.
Troup was a complete non-factor in his second season with the club, mainly because a lower back problem many fear has become chronic. With Kyle Williams unhealthy since training camp and eventually lost for the season, the club counted on Troup to step up his game this year but his back wouldn’t allow it. Troup played in just six games this season; recording eight tackles and no quarterback sacks.
Continue reading ‘Troup Becomes Latest Bill To Hit Injured Reserve’
 Head baseball coach Larry Sudbrook has announced the signing of eight players to National Letters of Intent to begin play with the Bonnies in the 2012-13 season.
The group who committed to Sudbrook’s program are: Dominic Edwards (Cleveland, Ohio/Mentor), Drew Teller (Cleveland, Ohio/Mayfield), Josh Martin (Buffalo, N.Y./Depew), Alex Bell (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair), Steve Klimek (Rochester, N.Y./Greece Arcadia), Sean Sleigh (DuBois, Pa./Treasure Lake), Thaddeus Johnson (Frewsburg, N.Y./Frewsburg Central School) and Tom Styn (East Amherst, N.Y./Williamsville East).
Continue reading ‘Bona Baseball Inks Eight To Letters of Intent’
 To say the Buffalo Sabres are struggling offensively right now is a massive understatement. Playing at home in the First Niagara Center Tuesday night against the league’s worst offensive team, Buffalo managed just one goal in a 2-1 loss to the New York Islanders in front of a disappointed home crowd.
The Sabres had 30 shots on goal and many chances, including a two-man power play for over a minute and a half with under nine minutes left to play, but couldn’t bury a puck behind New York netminder Al Montoya.
Buffalo is just 1-3-1 in their last five games and have averaged less than two goals per game during the skid.
Continue reading ‘Sabres Offense Hits Skids In Loss To Isles’
 Buffalo State’s men’s basketball team climbed three spots in this week’s D3Hoops.com national poll to the No. 16 ranking after its 2-0 start.
The Bengals have outscored their opponents 235-143 in their first two games, defeating D’Youville, 141-93, and rolling Pitt-Bradford, 94-50. Buffalo State has had outstanding scoring depth with five players averaging in double-figures, led by preseason All-American Jake Simmons with 22.5 points-per-game.
Senior forward Ahmed Nagaya has picked up where he left off in the playoffs last season, averaging 14.5 points and 5.0 rebounds, and freshman Roderick Epps has supported the Bengals’ up-tempo attack, averaging 11.5 points.
Continue reading ‘Buffalo State Hoops Ranked 16th In County’
 Buffalo Sabres General Manager Darcy Regier announced that the team has signed defenseman Joe Finley to a multi-year contract.
Finley has two points in 18 games played with the the Rochester Americans and leads the team with 57 penalty minutes. Finley is in his third professional season after spending parts of the 2008-09 and 2010-11 season with the Hershey Bears. In 26 career AHL games, Finley has three points (1+2) and 79 penalty minutes, posting a plus/minus rating of plus-16.
The Edina, Minn. native was originally selected by the Washington Capitals in the first round (27th overall) of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. He was signed to an AHL contract by the Rochester Americans on Oct. 4, 2011.
 Freshman Juan’ya Green’s layup with .2 seconds remaining in the game handed Niagara a 65-63 win over the St. Francis (Pa.) Red Flash to complete a ferocious second half rally on Monday.
With the game tied at 63-63 with nine seconds left, Niagara (3-3) had to go end-to-end. After receiving the ball at the top of the key, Green released his runner in the paint with two seconds on the clock and the ball eventually dropped through the basket with .2 seconds left. Niagara intercepted the en suing possession’s inbound pass as time expired.
“Juan’ya (Green) was terrific tonight,” head coach Joe Mihalich said. “He created something out of nothing and at the end of the day, Juan’ya Green made us win.”
Continue reading ‘Green’s Buzzer Beater Lifts Niagara To Win’
 Admittedly, it’s getting harder each week to find something positive to write about the Buffalo Bills. For a lack of a better term, the Bills are in a straight-up tailspin. Their once promising season is now a distant memory. The 3-1 and 5-2 starts that had fans feeling a legit postseason chase, if not playoffs through the holiday season have gone up in smoke. Buffalo is 5-6 and alive in the AFC playoff race via mathematics only.
It doesn’t take a genius to figure out this year’s edition is the same as the 11 that proceeded it—- toast.
Going back and re-watching the loss at New York yesterday made me resolute to find good in what’s become a dreadful season. Despite nothing jumping off the page other than Ryan Fitzpatrick atoning for a horrible previous three weeks, I found something Bills fans can hold their hats on; the rapid emergence of a rookie presence on the playing field.
Continue reading ‘Bills 2011 Rookie Class Contributing Heavily’
 I like Stevie Johnson. He’s charismatic, personable, colorful and highly opinionated. More importantly he’s a heck of a football player. He’s far and away been the most productive Buffalo Bills wide receiver over the past two years and his numbers place him in the upper echelon of receivers in the league.
Unfortunately he’s also his worst enemy, beginning last year with his “why so serious” t-shirt homage to Chad Ocho Cinco and Terrell Owens, which was a precursor for the overtime disaster against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Well, maybe it’s time he did get serious.
Continue reading ‘Time For Johnson To “Be So Serious”’
 Congratulations to the Orchard Park high school football team, who won their second-ever New York State Class-AA championship in Syracuse Sunday evening, defeating Section IX champion Newburgh, 21-13 at the Carrier Dome. Orchard Park finished their perfect season at 13-0 and won the state title for the second time in four years.
David Crowley hit Ben Johnson with a 25-yard touchdown pass and James Fitzgerald rushed for two touchdowns as the Quakers built a 21-0 lead before holding off a Newburgh rally late. Okoya Anderson ran for over 1,700 yards and 31 touchdowns this season but was held to just 49 (20 carries). However, he intercepted a Hail Mary pass in the end zone as time expired to preserve the win.
Johnson caught six passes for 109 yards and was named the game’s MVP. Johnson finished the season with 11 touchdown receptions, tops in Western New York by one over Kyle Briggs (St. Joe’s) and Jordan Williams (Bishop-Timon).
Southwestern also represented Section VI in the State Class-C title game, but fell short 39-0 to Dobbs Ferry.
 We have to begin with the painfully obvious— the Buffalo Bills are alive in the AFC playoff race by way of mathematics only. Realistically at 5-6 they’re done. It’s a stunning development and disappointing considering the Bills were 5-2 exactly one month ago. Buffalo took a fourth quarter lead in New York but failed to close the show, losing to the Jets 28-24 in fashion that’s hard to believe. Buffalo could’ve won, should’ve won, but didn’t. How this loss carries over for the remainder of the season remains to be seen, but there’s a bunch of broken spirited players getting ready to board a plane back home right now, I assure you that much.
Having said that, I’m impressed with the spirit Buffalo showed today. Going on the road in a hostile environment on a losing streak and a roster decimated by injuries, I wouldn’t have been surprised to see the Bills on the receiving end of another blowout. Yet the Bills matched and for the most part, outplayed the Jets. They put themselves in a position to win the game and had they made one more play—literally, things would’ve been radically different Monday morning.
On to some thoughts, completely random of course:
Continue reading ‘Jets 28, Bills 24: Random Smatterings’
 The Niagara men’s hockey team (3-5-4, 2-2-3 AHA) was unable to hold a 4-1 lead, surrendering three unanswered goals in the third period to come away with a 4-4 draw to the Sacred Heart Pioneers (1-12-1, 0-8-1 AHA) at the Webster Bank Arena Sunday evening.
Forward Isaac Kohls had a goal and an assist while teammates Patrick Divjak, Marc Zanette and Dan Baco each added a goal. Niagara goalie Colby Drost finished the game with 34 saves, including three in overtime, and added an assist on Kohl’s goal.
“Not a lot to like about tonight’s effort,” said head coach David Burkholder. “Only positive is that it’s a point on the road, but we wanted it easy and they never quit. They didn’t play scoreboard and we did.”
Continue reading ‘Niagara Hockey Plays Sacred Heart to a 4-4 Draw’
 The Canisius College hockey team used a late goal to earn its second-straight 2-1 victory against host AIC on Sunday afternoon. The Griffs are now 4-6-3 on the season and 4-1-2 in Atlantic Hockey play, while the Yellow Jackets drop to 3-10-2 and 2-5-2 against league foes.
“It was a great weekend for us,” said Canisius head coach Dave Smith. “We got a huge goal by Patrick Sullivan late in the game to get us four points for the weekend. We played real smart hockey and our compete level was high today. We were patient but aggressive and we took another step forward as a team.”
Sophomore Patrick Sullivan and freshman Tyler Wiseman both scored their first goals of the season in the win.
Continue reading ‘Canisius Hockey Completes Sweep of AIC’
 The University at Buffalo women’s basketball team gave it their all on Saturday night, but it wasn’t enough as the Bulls fell to Connecticut, 90-34, on the second day of the World Vision Classic. UConn came in to the game ranked second in the nation in the latest USA Today/WBCA Coaches Poll.
The first half got off to a great start for the Bulls as they were able to exchange baskets with UConn, even taking an early lead at the 17:33 mark. It was just the second time this season that UConn had trailed in a game. However, UB had a tough time dealing with Connecticut’s full court pressure, as it turned the ball over 20 times in the opening half. When the Bulls did get an open look, they struggled to convert, shooting just 26.1% from the floor.
The Huskies again used their pressure in the second half as they continued to build on their lead. Senior Tiffany Hayes had a career day for UConn as she finished with 30 points in 30 minutes. UConn was able to capitalize on 30 Buffalo turnovers, which it turned into 39 points. The other key for the Huskies was rebounding as they outrebounded the Bulls, 49-22. The Huskies had 26 offensive rebounds, which they turned into 27 points.
Continue reading ‘UConn Too Much For UB In Women’s Hoops’
 Well, it was fun while it lasted.
The Buffalo Bills once promising season has come to a scratching halt and with essentially a must-win at the New York Jets, running back Fred Jackson has already been ruled out from the game by head coach Chan Gailey because of a calf injury. In fact, Gailey wouldn’t rule out Jackson being forced to miss the rest of the season. Quite apparently, the injury suffered at Miami last Sunday was far worse than anyone expected.
It doesn’t take an expert to realize the Bills were already in bad shape and without Jackson in the backfield, have no chance of salvaging fading playoff hopes this season. Jackson hasn’t only far and away been the most valuable player on the Bills this season; he’s been one of the best running backs in the entire NFL.
Even the most optimistic of the Buffalo faithful know this team can’t go anywhere without Jackson. In his place, C.J. Spiller will get the start.
**UPDATE** It’s season-over for the Bills MVP. Buffalo officially placed him on I.R. early this evening and picked up running back Tashad Choice off waivers….sigh
 The Buffalo Bills made two roster moves on Tuesday to add wide receivers, promoting Kamar Aiken from the practice squad and signing free agent Derek Hagan. To make room, the team officially placed wide receiver Donald Jones and cornerback Terrence McGee on injured reserve.
Aiken has spent the entire season on the practice squad. He was an undrafted free agent out of Central Florida.
Hagan was originally a third-round pick in 2006 by the Miami Dolphins and has also spent time with the New York Giants and Oakland Raiders. He has 96 career receptions for 1,083 yards and five touchdowns. Hagan played against Buffalo earlier this year while with Oakland and caught five passes for 61 yards. He was cut by the Raiders earlier this month to make room for T.J. Houshmandzadeh.
With McGee on Jones now on Injured Reserve, the list has grown to an even dozen of Buffalo players who have had their season end because of injury. The team record is 17 players on Injured Reserve, set in 2007.
 I spoke to a source close to the case and have learned that former Jamestown high school basketball star Jaysean Paige will win his appeal, have his initial ruling overturned and will be eligible to play his senior year by at Perry County Central High school in Hazard, Kentucky this season.
Although nothing has been announced, I’m told an official comment will come either Friday or Monday.
Paige averaged 26.2 points and eight rebounds for Jamestown as a junior last year, leading Jamestown to a Class AA Section VI championship over Niagara Falls and helping his team advance to the New York State semifinals. For his efforts, Paige was named the Buffalo News Player of the Year as well as the Buffalo Sports Daily player of the year.
Continue reading ‘Source: Jaysean Paige Will Win Appeal In Kentucky’
 Not long ago the dilemma with the Buffalo Sabres revolved around what healthy defensemen would be sitting in the press box on game nights. That’s certainly no longer the case. Last week Mike Weber suffered an “upper body” injury that will keep him out of the lineup for the forseeable future and now Tyler Myers is expected to miss at least a month after hurting his wrist Saturday night against Phoenix and having surgery Monday, head coach Lindy Ruff said.
With their depth suddenly dwindled, the Sabres recalled defensemen T.J. Brennan to the main roster. He’ll be paired with Marc-Andre Gragnani; who partnered with him in Portland (AHL) for most of last season. Meanwhile Christian Ehrhoff was paired with Andrej Sekera at practice Monday and Jordan Leopold was with Robyn Regehr.
The loss of Myers is particularly painful because after a horrendous start to the season that saw him be a healthy scratch for the first-time in his three-year career recently, Myers was starting to play excellent hockey. He had two goals in his first game back from the benching and Ruff said he was getting back to playing strong, physical hockey.
Continue reading ‘Sabres Get One, Lose One On Injury Front’
 In the 24 hours since the Buffalo Bills’ complete and utter disaster in Miami, I’ve forced myself to listen to sports talk radio and investigate countless team message boards to get a pulse on how fans are feeling. Predictably, the overwhelming cry at this point calls for the head of current defensive coordinator George Edwards.
I feel your pain, folks. Edwards has failed to come up with any consistent schemes that work and I’m thoroughly confident at this point with the exception of a miracle turnaround over the last six weeks, he’ll be looking for work elsewhere within two months. However, it’s shortsighted to pin all the unit’s deficiencies on Edwards when the last three weeks have shown he’s bringing a knife to a gunfight.
To be perfectly honest, I’m not sure Dick LeBeau, Rex Ryan, Buddy Ryan, Bill Parcells or other defensive gurus could do a whole lot to turn this unit around. While it’s frustrating to watch and convenient to pin the blame on a coach, Buffalo’s defense flat-out lacks the talent necessary to be competitive on a weekly basis.
Continue reading ‘Defensive Woes Go Far Beyond Edwards’
 Junior guard Eric Mosley scored a career-high 18 points and senior forward Andrew Nicholson posted 14 points and 12 rebounds to lead St. Bonaventure to a 64-58 win over Siena at the Times Union Center.
Demitrius Conger scored 11 of his 15 in the first half and hauled in eight rebounds for the game to help SBU to its first lead with a 3-pointer just 2.1 seconds before the break. The triple was part of a 16-5 run that bridged the halftime gap and helped the Bonnies (2-1) keep just in front of Siena (2-1).
The Saints cut the lead down to one on consecutive possessions midway through the second half and kept the game tight down the stretch, but SBU, led by Mosley’s 6-of-6 outing, went 9-of-10 from the free throw line in the final 70 seconds to seal the win.
Continue reading ‘Bonnies Defeat Siena to Retain Franciscan Cup’
 Niagara dropped its first game in the CBE Classic Subregional to the South Dakota State Jackrabbits, 79-71, on Monday.
“We played a very good team tonight,” head coach Joe Mihalich said. “We had some chances at the end and it was one of those games when our guys get older and get more experience they can finish.”
Niagara’s 15-6 run late in the second half cut the lead to 71-68 with four minutes left, but the Purple Eagles (1-2) were unable to erase the 12-point second half deficit in the first-ever meeting between the schools. The run was capped by a 3-pointer by Marvin Jordan, his first of the game; though SDSU (2-2) would score the next six points and finished the game at the free-throw line.
Continue reading ‘Niagara Nipped By South Dakota State, 79-71′
 University at Buffalo running back Branden Oliver was named Mid-American Conference East Division Offensive Player of the Week on Monday after his record-setting day against Akron on Saturday. The sophomore running back set a Division I-A school record with 235 yards rushing on 29 carries (8.1 yards per carry). He also scored a pair of touchdowns in Buffalo’s 51-10 rout of Akron.
Oliver broke the previous record of current Green Bay Packer James Starks who ran for 231 yards against Toledo on Oct. 13, 2007.
Following his big day, the sophomore back now has his sights set on another Starks’ record – the single-season rushing mark. The Miami, FL native is 65 yards shy of Starks’ single-season school record for rushing (1,333 yards in 2008). The Bulls have one game remaining against Bowling Green on Friday at noon at UB Stadium.
It is the second time this season Oliver has earned recognition from the conference. He was also named MAC East Offensive Player of the Week after running for 179 yards and three touchdowns against Ohio on Oct. 8.
 If there was any question before, there’s no longer any mistaking it. The Buffalo Bills are a down-and-out football team after getting crushed in Miami by the Dolphins Sunday, 35-8 in a game here the score still was indicative of how lopsided the contest was. After starting the season with four wins in five games, the wheels have completely come off the Bills season. They’ve lost three straight by a margin of 106-36; the largest three-game stretch in the history of the franchise.
There’s plenty of room to spread the blame for this latest debacle all over the place. Offensively Ryan Fitzpatrick was awful and has now thrown four touchdowns and eight interceptions since signing his $50-million extension about a month ago. He certainly didn’t receive much help from his receivers, who dropped passes—two of which directly led to interceptions. Erik Pears and Chris Hairston both took turns getting abused at tackle while Andy Levitre was a disaster filling in at center for the injured Eric Wood, prompting head coach Chan Gailey to admit in his press conference after the game that he put Levitre in a “bad spot.”
You think?
Continue reading ‘Bills Broken In Miami’
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