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Sports

Are Buffalo Sports Eternally Doomed?

Aaron Maybin, Bills First Round BustThe Buffalo Sabres got their first win in five tries last night. It came by way of a(nother) great performance by goalie Ryan Miller. They have seven wins in this lockout-shortened season. Strangely, they are currently the worst team in the Eastern Conference, and yet they are only four points out of the final playoff spot.

The level of ineptitude (and apparent apathy) that they have displayed thus far was actually sufficient to cause the organization to fire their coach of sixteen years. (Which, honestly, even though it happens all the time in the league, many people in Buffalo figured it would never happen here!)

And now, the Buffalo Bills, who cleaned house at the end of the last season, are potentially not going to draft a quarterback in the first couple rounds?

Are we ever going to see a championship team here in Buffalo?

They really have come close. Obviously the Bills in the late 1980s to mid-1990s, a Ronnie Harmon catch away from six straight AFC Championship games. SIX, people! And the four straight Super Bowl appearances will likely never be rivaled. And, the Hall of Fame inductees from that team keep coming.

Tyler Myers - SabresThe Sabres have a couple Stanley Cup Finals appearances to their credit. (But no Cup…) They have a President’s Trophy (first place in the league for the regular season) and that team had some really notable names… but they are all gone.

Now names like Tyler Myers, and Tyler Ennis, and Stafford, Foligno, Enroth, Grigorenko, Brennan, McNabb, Adam, and on and on, are leaving a bad taste in the mouths of Buffalo sports fans everywhere.

Why can we never catch a break?

Free Agency is coming up for the Buffalo Bills. It begins on March 12th. The draft follows that in late April. The NHL trade deadline is much later than usual this year (because of the shorter season) at April 3rd. The Sabres’ deal makers have repeatedly stated that they are interested in making moves, “but we need to have a partner. It’s not like XBox.”

Since late last year, the Bills have said they want to draft a top-notch QB.

But since the new coaching staff has come in, they have been releasing (or not re-signing) veteran players at an alarming rate. This leads one to believe that they will use the draft to fill those holes. (Oh, and they also re-signed QB Tarvaris Jackson, and “reinstated” QB Ryan Fitzpatrick by publicly announcing that he and Jackson will compete for the starting job.)

With so many “new” holes, and making that move at quarterback (along with what most who follow the draft say is a “weak” class of QBs) does that mean that the Bills won’t draft a QB in the first couple rounds??

It may not even matter.

Unfortunately, the Bills’ recent track record with the draft goes something like this:

  • 2012: Stephone Gilmore, Cordy Glenn, T.J. Graham
  • 2011: Marcell Dareus, Aaron Williams, Kelvin Sheppard
  • 2010: C.J. Spiller, Torrell Troup, Alex Carington
  • 2009: Aaron Maybin, Eric Wood, Jairus Byrd, Andy Levitre
  • 2008: Leodis McKelvin, James Hardy, Chris Ellis
  • 2007: Marshawn Lynch, Paul Posluszny, Trent Edwards

No QBs. And not a great list overall, though there are some good players there. (Even a couple Pro Bowlers in Byrd and Spiller.)

It’s a bit unfair to come to any real conclusions regarding last year’s draft (though, it does seem they did get a very solid player with the pick of Gilmore), and one must also consider that there were two different “regimes” overseeing those drafts (Jauron/Levy, Jauron/I forget, and then Nix/Gailey).

But the italicized players are no longer with the team, and in some cases, no longer in the NFL. These are guys picked in the top three rounds.

C.J. Spiller is going to be great. And there’s no way that BOTH Byrd and Levitre leave Buffalo (they just are not currently signed). But the rest…

It sure seems like perpetual, eternal sports doom for this city. For both of the major pro sports franchises.

I do find myself hoping that the bottom really falls out for the Sabres. From what I’ve read, there are three really good prospects in the 2013 NHL Draft. So, if we add one of those guys to some promising young players already part of the organization at some level … seems good, no?

But then you remember the whole Buffalo thing.

It seems like we have a lot of this to look forward to in the near future…

“Tarvaris Jackson throws it deep to T.J. Graham… he’s got his man beat! … OH! He drops the ball and the game is over! I don’t know why they didn’t give the ball to Spiller a whole lot more than they did in that game, do you, Mark?”


“Tyler Ennis makes a move to get around Chara… a beautiful pass across to Myers… OH! He fanned on it! But the Sabres get it back again, Leopold around behind the net… out in front to Foligno…. OH! He fired it badly wide of the open net! Rask was completely out of position, but he fired it WAY wide!”


Yep. Seems to be the way it shall forever be…

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Sports

End Of The Lindy Line

Lindy Ruff of the Buffalo SabresThe Buffalo Sabres announced today that they have “relieved Lindy Ruff of his coaching duties”.

That is the “nice” way of saying, “We fired him.”

It’s been asked for, begged for, longed for, pined for, and even fully expected for a few seasons now. Sabres fans (and players?) have felt the need for change due to the teams year after year being appropriately labeled “Underachievers”.

Actually, it is only because of loyalty to the man who has spent 25 years of his life with the Sabres organization, both as a player (1979-1989) and as its head coach (1997-2013) that he was still employed by the team.

Strange. Writing that closing date for Ruff’s coaching career felt a bit like an obituary just now.

Prior to today’s announcement, Ruff had been the second-longest tenured coach in American pro sports. Now the silver medal would currently go to Barry Trotz of the Nashville Predators. (This could be the proverbial writing on the wall for Mr. Trotz…)

I actually remember the day, as a long-time Sabres fan, when the team went through coaches as fast as their Buffalo pro-sports counterpart have in the last decade and a half, or so. Rick Dudley, John Muckler, Ted Nolan… all fine coaches, actually. But they all only lasted a few years, then they were “let go”.

Lindy Ruff 1998But not Ruff. His record at his departure: 571-432-162. That’s one thousand, one hundred and sixty-five games. That, folks, is rather impressive. Even if you’re not a fan of his coaching of late (or ever) you’d have to give at least a slight tip of the hat to his incredible longevity. (And a winning percentage of .560 over that span, as well.)

Only three coaches in NHL history have coached more than a thousand games with the same team.

The Sabres have replaced Ruff with Ron Rolston, who was the head coach for their farm club, the Rochester Americans, up until about 5pm ET today.

And thus begins a new era.

I’m not really sure what to expect. I am an eternal optimist, and even I have been saying for a few weeks now, “I guess it’s time they fire Ruff!” The players have been lackluster (by many accounts) in several of their games this season. The 2013 season began well, with two straight wins, but since then the Sabres are 4-10-1.

Some of their wins have been fantastic. A 7-4 win in Boston, scoring four goals in the third, and overcoming a 3-1 second-period deficit as well. They’ve even looked pretty good in at least a couple of the losses: this past Sunday 4-3 to Pittsburgh, and a loss to the Ottawa Senators by the same score a couple weeks prior.

Were the players purposely not playing their best or their hardest to force management’s hand? Did they hope to see Ruff’s tenure severed?

No one can know that but the players.

We will now test that theory beginning tomorrow. The Rolston era will begin in Buffalo.

Boy, that sounds weird.

I look forward to seeing a new and different Sabres team. It can only get better, right?

And I wish the man, Lindy Ruff, who has lived for a while now in one of my home towns (Clarence, NY) only the best. Whether he coaches somewhere else or not—the affirmative being most likely—he will be forever admired and loved by the Buffalo community.

He’s a bit of an icon.

And now he’s gone. May he rest in peace.

Well, at least, his longest tenured coach bit.

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Sports

The State of the Buffalo Bills

Buffalo Bills vs New England Patriots Sep 30 2012It’s ugly.

No way to sugarcoat that. It’s just ugly. BUT, as with all things, there’s always hope.

First, though, here’s what’s wrong.

Loser Mentality

There is still a feeling among Bills fans—and apparently among the players, too—that the Buffalo Bills are supposed to lose. In the past, that may have been so, with second-rate players and coaches, and roster depth at next-to-none. Is that really where we are now? What about the offensive line that had the team near or at the league lead in rushing, and essentially allowing zero sacks through one game? What about having the league leader (or near it) in rushing and all-purpose yards last year and this year (before injuries)? (And, they were two different players!) What about Fitz still leading the league in TD passes? Stevie Johnson is the first Bill ever to have two straight 1,000-yard seasons; Kyle Williams, Marcell Dareus, even the somewhat inconspicuous Mario Williams… our whole D-line! Plus Chan Gailey and Dave Wanndstedt are two fairly respectable names around the league on offense and defense.

This team does not lack for talent.

What they also do not lack is a preponderance for self-doubt, throw-in-the-towel, fatalistic, roll-over-and-die…ness.

Chan Gailey mentioned this in the preseason. He saw it in the game against Pittsburgh—you know, the one where the teams play all their starters for most of the game? He said (my paraphrase) that the team gave up too quickly on defense. They had been completely dominant up until allowing Pittsburgh a third-and-very-long conversion from their own goal line. Then they were just in a daze, which the Steelers were happy to take advantage of, marching down the field for a score before half-time. Prior to that, the defense was truly amazing. After that, they were truly horrendous.

Somewhere on this team (I’m still hoping it’s not all of the team) there is a good deal of “loser mentality” that accepts (almost welcomes) being run over (literally) by the opponent.

Somewhere else, there’s the never-give-up, fight to the finish that we saw last year. But it’s been gone for a while now, and the team’s record shows it. They are 3-10 since last October 30th.

(Note: I offer that statistic knowing full well there are many factors. It is still factual. 3-10.)

Thurman Thomas' Super Bowl XXVIII fumble

The Thurman Thomas Fumble

What Bills fan can forget the four straight Super Bowl appearances? We may try, but it’s still enough of an accomplishment that it’s oft-mentioned with pride.

There was the heart-breaking wide right of Super Bowl XXV, then the dominant performance by Mark Rypien and the Redskins offense in Super Bowl XXVI, the disastrous blowout in Super Bowl XXVII, followed by the deflating fumble by Thurman Thomas in Super Bowl XXVIII.

Do you remember that play? The Bills had a good lead into the third quarter of that game. On an offensive possession in the third quarter, Thomas fumbled the ball away, and the Cowboys scored on the return. After that score, the game was still tied, but that didn’t matter. Somehow (see above) the Bills knew they were going to lose—and they played like it.

The Cowboys went on to score a few more times and ended up with an “easy” win, when the reality was, the Bills had been in it, even winning it into the third quarter.

I believe that same thing happened in yesterday’s game.

The Bills had a good, solid lead into the third quarter. Donald Jones scored on a long TD play from Fitzpatrick to make the score 21-7. The Bills had held New England in check (well enough that they had only scored 7 points!) and they had been able to move the ball and score. All was well.

Then the Pats answered.

They moved the ball by running AT WILL. It was bad. Large chunks of yards. It really seemed like the defense was stunned. (See #1 above…) I think they actually were. They were barely moving at the snap of the ball. They seemed shocked that the Patriots—or anybody—could put up yards like that against them on the ground.

(This is almost a case of the opposite of the “loser mentality”, where they seemed to think they were “too good” for that to be happening.)

The Patriots marched down the field and scored their second touchdown of the game, and even though the Bills were still winning, the entire team was completely deflated and had (apparently) already given up the game.

Just like in Super Bowl XXVIII.

Too Much Money?

Everyone in Buffalo is questioning Mario Williams.

Clearly, the expectations were high (probably too high) when he arrived. He was to be the savior of the team. The next coming of Bruce Smith, forever beloved by all Bills fans everywhere.

But Mario Williams was not and is not and will not be Bruce Smith. So far, he’s not even Aaron Maybin. (OK, maybe not that bad…)

The craziest part to most of us fans aside from just being unnoticeable is that he also seems to not care. You can’t really know whether or not someone “cares”, but he just doesn’t seem to “go after it” as they say. There’s no energy to his play. And he’s going up against guys he should just completely dominate as a former 1st overall pick (or even just as a 6’6″ 292 lb “freakish” athlete, as some of his teammates have described him).

My wife commented earlier in the preseason that Fitzpatrick “doesn’t seem to care”, either. Is there something to this? What’s going on with these guys with their mega-bucks contracts? Is part of the reason for (at least slightly) lackluster play or effort due to the fact that they’ve already made their (guaranteed) millions? Perhaps…

I’m actually (strangely) hoping it’s more due to #s 1 and 2 above. But, when you’re not working to get paid … it’s easy to get a tad (or more than a tad) lazy.

Conclusion

What do we say then about these Buffalo Bills? After week one, they were the laughing stock of the NFL. The hapless NY Jets (who have indeed appeared quite hapless since week one) put up 38 points on their newly renovated, brick wall defense. Then a pretty sound thrashing of Kansas City (akin to what NY had done to them one week prior) turned the conversation around—or, at least, confused it—and all was at least OK again in Buffalo. After a comfortable-but-challenging win (on the road) in Cleveland—with zero INTs from Fitzpatrick—things were looking up again, even to the third quarter of the game against New England.

45 second-half points later, and the sky is falling, the season is over, and all the familiar refrains resound throughout Bills-landia.

WHEN will it EVER END!?

It only ends when this team decides that they can and they will win. Two big (and I do mean “big”) setbacks are the loss of Cordy Glenn and Kraig Urbik will both be out for 2-3 weeks or more. That’s not good news for a line that was looking like it might be the best in the NFL (until yesterday). Add on the upcoming schedule: @ San Francisco, @ Arizona, Tennessee, @ Houston, and @ New England (followed by Miami at home 4 days later)… things do not look well for the Bills.

However, there’s still reason for hope. (If you’re an optimist like me.)

Surprisingly, Ryan Fitzpatrick leads the league—all by himself—with 12 TD passes. (He also has thrown 7 INTs, which also ties him for the league lead, unless Jay Cutler has a bad night tonight… hmm… doesn’t he always?) CJ Spiller doesn’t lead the league anymore, but he’ll be a week healthier next week, as will Fred Jackson. Scott Chandler seems to be a top-tier tight end. We do still have Kyle Williams, Marcell Dareus and the rest of the DL (even if Mario is a no-show). Leodis McKelvin has been pretty impressive when returning kicks (didn’t really get to yesterday).

If this humiliating defeat was a good, hard slap to the face for the Bills players (and, if they actually do care about winning) then I expect they’ll have a big turnaround in effort, attitude, and hopefully results this week. San Francisco lost to Minnesota (they did!) but they also shut out the Jets. (In New Jersey, no less!!) So, it’s a tall task, especially if you watched that 45-pt second half unfold. But it’s doable.

All depends on how the team responds to what happened yesterday.

If Buffalo is cursed, I guess there’s not much we can do. Otherwise, I think they do have the talent they need to have a winning season. They’ll have to win at least one more than they lose the rest of the way to do that.

At this point, that feels like wishful thinking. Sunday in San Fransisco, they get a chance to start making it reality.

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Sabres Exit Early, Here’s Why

Buffalo Sabres exit the playoffs in the first roundThe Buffalo Sabres 2009-2010 season ended tonight in Boston. They were the losers of Game 6 of the best of seven first round series, and that loss closed the doors on only the sixth season where Buffalo were the champions of their division.

In many ways, this team had everything going for it. Third seed in the Eastern conference. Worked hard all year long to get there. They were 30-0-0 in the regular season with a lead going into the third period. (That means they were dominant.) They had the best goalie in the league for much of the year. (He was overtaken late in the year by the goalie who manned the pipes at the opposite end of the rink in this series, Tuukka Rask.)

But they came up short. Very short.

Now, usually when that happens to one of the higher seeds, it’s cause for tongue lashings and many calls by the fans for the heads of this player or that, or even the coaches and GM. But this series was really, very close. They were essentially all one goal games, with the only exceptions being Boston’s 5-3 victory (thanks to an empty net goal) and Buffalo’s 4-1 win—the only game where there was a 2-goal lead at the end of the game.

The goalies played great. The teams gave tons of effort. And each game was a battle throughout.

The Sabres wish they had a couple of second periods back. They wish they hadn’t given up two 2-goal leads. And, well, they wish they were playing in round two.

They are not. And here’s why.

0-22.

The Sabres were zero for twenty-two on the power play. ZERO. You can not win with those numbers. In contrast, the Bruins were something like 6 for 22 for the series. By far, that was the advantage the Bruins were able to turn into a series win.

Add to that the inability of some of the Sabres’ key players to “step up” to the playoff level—really, to even regular season level—and help push their team to the next level. Players like Tim Connolly, and Derek Roy, and Drew Stafford, and even Raffi Torres. Players who had scored a good number of goals in the regular season, but who contributed next to nothing (or, actually, nothing) in the post season.

That’s also going to kill you, every time.

Players who did impress include, of course, Ryan Miller. He is the real deal, and will be for years to come. That’s awesome. Mike Grier was clearly the missing piece as he returned to the Sabres after two years in San Jose—two years that the Sabres did not make the playoffs. Of course, it apparently wasn’t quite enough. But he was fantastic.

The two Tylers were very impressive. Myers and Ennis both will be fixtures on this team, as well as perhaps Nathan Gerbe, who despite his (super) diminutive stature, was winning puck battles, hitting guys all over the ice—including 6’9″ Zdeno Chara!—and was rewarded with a goal in the final game.

Henrik Tallinder and Toni Lydman played well. Thomas Vanek even played really well while he was in there. (Was out for three and a half games.)

Overall, the Sabres really don’t need to be disappointed with their effort this series. Of course they wish they were still playing, but they, as a team, really did compete hard, and this season, they had grown accustomed to Ryan Miller being spectacular enough to pull out such close games in the end.

Sadly, his counterpart was equally (if not more) amazing.

Bruins advance 4-2. They’ll face either Pittsburgh or Montreal in the next series. (If Montreal beats Washington.)

As the Sabres advance to the offseason, it’s time to move on from a few experiments. Please, Sabres GM Darcy Regier, start moving these guys off the team. If you can find a willing partner, trade Tim Connolly, Derek Roy, and Drew Stafford immediately. If no one will trade, then cut them. Now.

Similarly (but oppositely) it’s time to re-sign Henrik Tallinder, Toni Lydman, Adam Mair, and Mike Grier. Bring in more scoring, and guys who know how to play in the playoffs like Boston’s Mark Recchi.

After all, isn’t that all that matters?

Where did our #3 seed season get us? An early offseason. That’s where.

The Sabres have a good team. They’re fun to watch. Cut away the dead wood. Prune the branches. And next year we won’t have to shave our playoff beards so early!!!

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Sports

Thoughts on the Buffalo Bills 2010 Draft

Buffalo Bills RB C.J. Spiller and Roger GoodellYou really never know right away how well a team fared with their draft selections. There are some who love every pick, some who love a few, and of course, many who hate everything about the picks. And all this despite the fact that you rarely know how a draft actually pans out for at least two or three years. It never matters, we all feel the need to “grade” or in some way rate the picks of our favorite teams.

Apparently, I am no different. 🙂

I was never on the “draft-a-QB” bandwagon. So that was not a disappointment to me, as it seems to be to some Bills fans. (Even though we DID draft a quarterback in round seven… that was not the guy most anyone wanted us to draft.) I was a bit surprised—though I should not have been—that they passed up some of the lineman that seemed like great choices, and were available at spots where they were selecting.

But overall, I really like it.

C.J. Spiller -  Buffalo BillsHere’s the list of the 2010 picks:

  1. RB C. J. Spiller
  2. DT Torell Troup
  3. DE Alex Carrington
  4. WR Marcus Easley
  5. LT Ed Wang
  6. DE/LB Arthur Moats
  7. DE/LB Danny Batten
  8. QB Levi Brown
  9. G Kyle Calloway

Spiller, a running back, was a surprise to some, since the Bills have two better-than-average RBs already, but first, coach Chan Gailey has already said they wanted to add a third RB, and second, this guy is exactly what they were looking for. More of a “home run hitter” so to speak. He’s been compared to Reggie Bush and Chris Johnson. He compares himself to Warrick Dunn. And from the sounds of things, this guy will at the very least be exciting. His numbers are impressive (the only comparable player in the NCAA record books is Reggie Bush. That’s good company.

The first pick was not what many were expecting, but I think Spiller will be what the Bills were looking for: a TD scorer.

(I also think it may spell the end of Roscoe Parrish’s Buffalo Bills career… Spiller is also a kick returner with a record-tying 8 return TDs in his college career.)

The next two picks are not the DLs that most expected the Bills to draft, but both are rated fairly highly by scouts. They both also have experience and the skill set to fit into the new 3-4 defense that the Bills will be running in 2010. That was clearly a big consideration in drafting Troup and Carrington.

Marcus Easley is another tall, fast receiver. James Hardy was drafter a couple years ago. This offseason we signed free agent Chad Jackson from the Denver Broncos, another tall receiver. And of course there’s Steve Johnson who has shown some promise in the limited action he’s seen.

With Owens and Reed (and even Justin Jenkins) all allowed to go on their way this off season, that leaves the Bills with a rather inexperienced (though quite tall) team of receivers. After Lee Evans—whom some would call and “all pro”—the Bills have (in order of experience): Roscoe Parrish (5’9″), Chad Jackson (6’1″), Steve Johnson (6’2″), James Hardy (6’5″), and Felton Huggins (6’2”). That’s a fairly tall receiving corp. Aside from Parrish, whom I still feel is going to be expendable, with the addition of Spiller.

The Bills finally addressed their offensive line needs by drafting Ed Wang to fill the LT position. They are rather thin at that spot with Demetrius Bell being the “incumbent”. Wang is a big dude, with good “feet” (according to Bills’ GM, Buddy Nix) and should compete for the starting LT spot.

Moats and Batten are a couple more 3-4 defense guys, whom the Bills have been seeking out in their transition to the new defense. They are listed in some places as LBs, and in some places as DEs, so I’m not sure exactly what role they Bills drafted them for, but it was definitely for the 3-4 defense. And, apparently, special teams. (Check out this glowing review of the Bills draft from the NFL Network guys.)

Finally, in the seventh round, the Bills drafted their quarterback. There were some rumors that the Bills were trying desperately to trade up to get Tim Tebow in the first round, as the Denver Broncos did. However, the Bills deny this, and as was apparent from their passing up of both Jimmy Clausen and Colt McCoy, they really had their sights set on Levi Brown, their eventual 7th round pick.

Brown was the top player in his conference last season, and definitely comes from a winning program, which is something that has been lacking in recent QB selections by the team. But, it’s fairly rare to find a starting QB in the final round of the draft! (Many like to remind nay-sayers however that Tom Brady was a 6th round selection. Bills fans, though they may not much care for Brady, would love to see a similar outcome for their final-round pick.)

Gailey has already stated that Brown will be allowed to compete for the starting QB position along with the three incumbents from last season. Should be an interesting competition this offseason.

Lastly, the Bills drafted an OT whom I have read they intend to move to guard. Calloway may or may not make the team—the Bills drafted two (starting) guards in the 2009 draft—but it was good to see that six of their nine picks went toward linemen, offensive and defensive. (Due to his size, 6’7″ 323 lbs, I’m not sure about that move to guard. So perhaps he will compete more at the RT spot.)

Conclusion
The Bills did not select the players that anyone expected them too. Not even Spiller, whom some are calling the “best player in the 2010 draft.” However, they really did address all of the positions that they needed to. If the guys they got—whom they say are all guys they had targeted—turn out to be viable NFL players, well, then they did an excellent job!

But, that’s the thing. That’s the part we don’t know for a couple of years.

There’s some who think Spiller could be in the running for Rookie of the Year, based on his talents and work ethic, but of course you can’t really predict such a thing. If that’s the case however, then the Bills definitely already improved their team.

Overall, seems like a great job by the Bills! (How often do we Bills fans get to say that???)

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Sports

Buffalo Sabres: 2010 Northeast Division Champs

Buffalo Sabres LogoI would like to acknowledge the recent accomplishment of my favorite hockey team, the Buffalo Sabres: winning the Northeast division of the Eastern Conference! Nice job, guys!

For the past two years the Sabres have been just outside the top eight teams that make the playoffs (only missing by a few points!) and so this is not only a return to the playoffs, but complete with a large exclamation point!

They have three games left—all against playoff teams, and all on the road—and a good shot at claiming the second seed in the conference.

The star of the team this year has been their goalie, who became a bit more famous with his MVP play in the Olympic winter games. Ryan Miller has won 40 games this season, and a lot were certainly credited to him. He’s been fantastic.

Add some key young guys to the mix this year: rookies Tyler Myers, and lately, Tyler Ennis, and a veteran player on his second stint with the team: Mike Grier, and apparently you have a pretty good recipe for a victory.

Thankfully, they do not play their nemesis in the first round, the Ottawa Senators. So far this year the Sabres are 0-5-0 against them. (Yikes!) They have one more chance this weekend in Ottawa to at least beat them once in the 2009-2010 season.

Likely first round opponents would be Montreal or Philadelphia. There’s an outside chance that Boston or even the NY Rangers could move up to play the Sabres, but my guess is Montreal. (With the Sabres getting the #2 seed.)

Eventually, they may have to get past Ottawa, though. That will be the true test of this team, I suppose.

Looking forward to the playoffs… starting next week! Go Buffalo!

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Sports

Olympic Hockey: National Personalities?

Ryan Miller - Team USA
Team USA, on the strength of Ryan Miller’s shut out, and Zach Parise’s two goals, advanced to the Olympic “final four” yesterday. It was a fantastic day of hockey! The Canadian team looked super impressive, beating up on the Russians, 7-3… but making it look even easier than that. (And Russia is loaded with NHL all-stars!) Actually, all of the teams—not just the Russians—are loaded with NHL all-stars.

(Except for the United States team. Fascinating.)

Team USA has had superb goal tending—much like the Buffalo Sabres—and are the only undefeated team left in the tournament. They are also “scrappy” and physical, and they just play like they won’t accept losing. Aside from the Canadian players, it was interesting to see the “personalities” of each nation’s players. The United States players are as I described above. Mostly second and third-line players who are the “heart and soul”, the “grit” of their teams. You can’t win without them. (But usually, you can’t win if they are your whole team… So, we do have Patrick Kane and even Zach Parise, who are more “skilled players” and natural scorers.)

Then there is the Russian team. If you look at their roster, it’s just staggering how much fire power they have. Alexander Ovechkin is the leagues top goal scorer. And right behind him—sometimes in front of him—is Evgeni Malkin, and right behind them in the scoring column is Ilya Kovalchuk. All three are members of the Russian team, along with a handful of other amazing, all-star players.

But what I noticed about these guys was, they almost looked inept. They were definitely not the offensive machines that they are each night in the NHL. Yes, Canada had a good defensive scheme and some pretty talented defensemen (and a talented goalie) but, they face that from most teams in the NHL.

What they were missing was their teammates.

They needed the guys who are on Team USA. The grit guys. They needed the guys on Team Canada, the guys who set up their scoring. They need the skill and experience of the Fins and Swedes… the savvy veterans who set up their amazing scoring plays. Sadly, even their goalies (who are equally amazing) just looked silly, as all these highly skilled scorer try to play defense in front of them.

I just found it really intriguing to see how a country could have a hockey “personality.”

It’s certainly why the Russians lost. For the most part, every NHL team would want any of those top 6 or 7 guys on the Russian’s team… but with a few guys sprinkled in to help them thrive.

The four remaining teams seem to have a bit better balance. (Though, as I mentioned, Team USA is the most unbalanced, with hardly a “star” player on the roster.)

Really fun hockey being played these days. The semifinals are tomorrow. USA vs Finland, and surprising (but talented) Slovokia vs the homeland favorite, Canada. A rematch of USA vs Canada (which team USA won 4-3) would be a fantastic Gold Medal game … but all four of the remaining games should be fantastic. Can’t wait!

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Bills’ Choice Continues to Baffle

Marty Schottenheimer wanted Buffalo Bills gigAccording to this blog post, former NFL head coach Brian Billick was very interested in the Bills vacant head coaching spot—filled yesterday by Chan Gailey—but the Bills showed no interest in him. Marty Schottenheimer has said the same thing.

In Marty’s case it’s interesting in that he and Bills’ GM Buddy Nix are good friends, who have spoken since Nix took over and the search for a head coach was on (just not in regards to his being a candidate for the head coaching job.)

What’s most baffling is that the Bills did not even grant these fellas an interview. Seriously, Bills??? They say they have the guy they wanted all along. Again, we will only know if they start adding up some ‘W’s.

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Sports

Seriously, Bills?

Chan Gailey Buffalo BillsAfter all of the talk of Bill Cower, and Marty Schottenheimer, and Mike Shannahan. Even Jon Gruden and several more lesser known, but highly-qualified candidates. After all of the “due process”.

The Bills announced today that Chan Gailey will be their next head coach.

Chan Gailey. Former Dallas head coach (for only two seasons). Former Miami Dolphins offensive coordinator. Former Kansas City offensive coordinator (who was let go before the season began last year, in much the same fashion as our own Turk Schonert.

Lots of “formers”.

Maybe this time will be different? Maybe he’ll become a legendary coach who “turned the Buffalo Bills around” much like Marv Levy, and Chuck Knox, and Lou Saban? Those guys took Bills teams who had been struggling near the bottom—much like the current Bills—and turned them around quickly. Within a year or two.

Could that be Chan Gailey?

That is apparently his history. In an article from the Buffalo News, Mark Gaughan listed some of Gailey’s accomplishments, and they were at least intriguing.

Gailey took the Miami Dolphins (as their offensive coordinator) to two straight 11 win seasons, after Dan Marino retired. They were the 8th ranked offense with Jay Fiedler at QB!

Also, in his only head coaching stint, Gailey took over the Dallas Cowboys after a 6-10 season, and in his first season with them they won their division with a 10-6 record. He made the playoffs his second season, too, even though they only managed an 8-8 record. Dallas owner Jerry Jones said this about Gailey this week:

“The most unfair that I’ve ever been in anything in sports and maybe in other parts was dismissing Chan after two years,” Jones said. “That wasn’t right. . . . That is one thing I look at today in my mirror and say you just weren’t as fair as you needed to be there to the team, the fans and certainly to Chan to make that change after two years.”

Huh. I’m still not convinced. But… huh.

Yes, Chan Gailey is the offensive-minded, experienced head coach that we need, but … what happened to the “big name” angle? Are they going to pay Gailey the same money they were reportedly offering to Bill Cowher? Hope not…

So, we’ll see what the new head coach can do. Who will he assemble as his coaching staff? Which players will make the cut, which will they get to perform much better than the Jauron regime could draw out of them? Will the Bills have the 8th ranked offense, even with their current players?

Will they be better?

I guess, in all honesty, you never know. You can’t know. You can’t predict 19 players in the injured reserve, either. So, the Bills are re-tooling, and perhaps they will get it right this time.

The pieces are being put into place: Buddy Nix at General Manager, Chan Gailey at Head Coach. Now the other coaches will be brought in … then maybe a QB?

For now, I’m not holding my breath. I think the Bills may have to go 10-0 in 2010 before I believe they’ve made the right choice…

A decade of losing will do that to any fan.

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Sports

Regarding The Buffalo Bills

Perhaps you have heard that the professional football team nearest to the Campbell family hearts both geographically and emotionally has recently been making some changes. Starting a couple months ago when they fired their head coach, Dick Jauron. (Well, they really started just before the season began when they fired the offensive coordinator, Turk Schonert, and released the converted-to-starter LT Langston Walker. Yes, just days before the season began. Neat.)

The shake-up continued when they announced that they had hired “football man” Buddy Nix (technically, he was promoted from within the organization) as the new General Manager. For a few years, Russ Brandon (former Marketing Guru for the Bills) has been handling those duties… sorta. Now he has been promoted to CEO. (I believe his official title is President and CEO. Impressive.)

Following that job responsibility shifting (and press conferences with Hall of Fame Bills, Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas) the Bills then announced that every single member of the coaching staff had been fired. But they said it nicer, something like, “The coaching staff has been told that they have completed their obligations to the Buffalo Bills.” (That probably makes it easier to swallow?)

Rumors are flying everywhere about whom the Bills are interviewing and who might be the next Bills coach. Bill Cowher, Mike Shannahan, Charlie Weis… (Yes, he was actually mentioned as an option!) We now know that Shannahan and Weis are with their 2010 teams. Cowher won’t decide till after the season (and post-season) are over. And the Bills continue to interview lesser-known candidates. (Though, intriguingly qualified… more than the recent list of head coaches.)

If last year’s signing of Terrell Owens is any indication of what the Bills organization is intent on doing, there is a good chance the Bills might actually have a recognizable name listed as their head coach in 2010.

Many Bills fans long for someone like Cowher who not only has the highest winning percentage of any current coach (not sure how he’s a current coach, but, I just report what I read/hear/see) he also brings discipline and toughness that has not been part of Buffalo Bills football for quite a while. At least, it has not been very evident to the fans.

Personally, I like the idea of Marty Schottenheimer. I’ve said that before (when I was doing the Buffalo Bills Review in years gone by) and I maintain that he would at least bring wins back to Buffalo. He’s always done that. In fact, I believe he has the second best career win percentage of any current coach. (Maybe it’s “available” coach?) The knock on Marty is that he can’t win playoff games. And, his record does show that.

At this point, Bills fans just want to GET to the playoffs!!!

Schottenheimer is also a former Bills linebacker, from the AFL championship teams in the 60s. (I believe he was on those teams.)

The Bills have also reportedly interviewed (or are seeking an interview with) his son, Brian, who is the offensive coordinator for the NY Jets, and has been sought by other teams for their head coaching position.

So… the intrigue continues. Bills fans are hoping that the Buffalo Bills of 2010 and beyond will look different than the Buffalo Bills of the aughts. (They ought!)

Perhaps they just need new uniforms…