Hey folks,

It's one of my favorite times of the year -- College football season. My preview technically started in a Buffalo.com chat room with UB's Jon Fuller and Buffalo.com's Evan Parker Pierce, looking ahead to the UB season. It was a great time, we had 250+ folks in the room, and I'd encourage everyone to log on to Buffalo.com every Wednesday at Noon for their IMportant people chat series (though I hardly qualify as important). Here are some highlights of the chat. Hope you enjoy, and I'll post another college football column later:


12:02 Buffalo.com - After years of struggling, it seems the UB Bulls football team has arrived - Turner Gill has been steering a turnaround for the program, with a shared MAC East title last year.

12:03 Buffalo.com - It seems the college football world is high on the Bulls for the first time. Jon, why do you think the Bulls are poised for a run this year?

12:04 Jon - Thanks for having me. Buffalo returns 18 starters to a team that won a share of the MAC regular season title last year and the players are playing under coach Gill for the third year. I think everyone is comfortable with the offensive and defensive systems and are excited to go.

12:05 Buffalo.com - Nick, what do you think about the Bulls' chances?


12:06 Nick - I just think it's difficult to not see the positives from a team that lost precious little in the area of assets. There are very few true weaknesses on this team, and one, linebacking, is more of an unknown than a weakness. Plus, senior quarterbacks are all the rage.

12:07 Buffalo.com - Speaking of senior QB's - Drew Willy is a finalist for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm award - what do you think his prospects are for this year, especially with so many talented offensive skill players coming bakc?

12:10 Jon - Drew Willy is beginning his fourth year as the Bulls' starter, so he is very experienced. He is comfortable running coach Gill's offense and coach Gill is more than comfortable will Willy at the helm. With weapons like Naaman Roosevelt, Ernest Jackson and Brett Hamlin, I think he will stand out as one of the elite quarterbacks in the MAC.

12:12 Jon - As always, the MAC will be a tough league. As far as the East Division goes, I think Miami and Bowling Green will be the teams to watch, However, Temple should be much improved and Akron and Ohio have always had solid programs.

12:12 Nick - The topic of Drew is a terriby enticing one. He's grown every year, and I can remember how excited Howard Simon sounded describing his first game. He's grown in order; confidence, getting rid of the ball and finally, something Coach Gill talked about last year, his body language. As Jon said, too, lost in the Buffalo media's understandable longing for Naaman Roosevelt, is Ernest Jackson's big play ability and toughness in traffic.

12:12 Buffalo.com - Whoops, sorry. Naaman's a junior


12:12 [Comment From BK]
Jon, how is the MAC shaping up this year? Tough or no?

12:15 Jon - Look out for Bowling Green and Miami in the East. They will be tough. Temple should be much improved so the MAC opener with the Owls on Sept. 13 will be a big game.

12:16 Nick - The MAC is a pretty tough contest, but I honestly find it hard to see it as any more difficult than last season. I'm not totally buying into the Bowling Green hype (They're pretty good). If UB can close the deal against Miami, I love their chances in the West. Ball State is the class of the conference, mostly because of quarterback Nate Davis who is a Meast... part-man, part-beast.




12:18 [Comment From GZ]
Who will have a better record this year - the Bulls or the Bills?

12:20 Nick - Well, GZ... The Bills obviously play more games than the Bulls, but in terms of true winning percentage it should be close. I like both teams to be a game or two above .500... Look for the Bills at 9-7, and the Bulls at 8-5 or 7-6 depending on their bowl opponent (Yeah, I said it. Handle it).


12:21 [Comment From DJ]
UTEP has a very prolific QB of their own in Vittatoe...how do you expect the UB defense to handle him?

12:22 Jon - Vittatoe is a very good quarterback, but I think one of the strengths of our team is a defensive backfield. So they should give him a good test. Safety Davonte Shannon was a first-team All-MAC selection last year and safety Mike Newton has nine INTs over the last two years. We are also pretty solid at CBs with Domonic Cook and Josh Thomas.

12:22 [Comment From not the islander]
sean taylor was the only meast, RIP. jon, how about fans? how do you fill the stadium this year? and nick, how do you see WGR covering the team now that you guys dont have the live coverage?

12:23 Nick - In terms of WGR coverage, we'll be there for all the home games and one or two of the road... although maybe I shouldn't say "we." Am I allowed to be honest here? I like the idea of going to the Pitt game, but I also like the idea of adult hops and barley. Also...

12:24 Jon - Tickets have been selling very well. We nearly reached our season ticket goal and the season hasn't even started. We have averaged over 100 new season tickets per week over the last 10 weeks. The community is rallying around this team and their support is very important.

12:24 Nick - I'm a season ticket holder, and I know several of the staff members will be headed to UB Stadium as well... some on the Time Warner TV broadcast (Howard Simon and Jeremy White) and some as true fans.

12:25 Nick - Jon, I'm responsible for six of those season tickets. Is it against NCAA rules for you to buy me nachos at the opener?

12:25 Jon - I think it takes seven season tickets for the free nachos.

12:25 Nick - Son of a....

12:30 [Comment From DJ]
Which player has the best shot of playing on Sunday's?

12:30 Nick - Do we have to go with seniors, Jon? Can I take an underclassman?

12:32 Jon - As far as seniors go, I truly think Drew Willy has a shot. He is big and has a strong arm. His accuracy is also a plus. Other seniors that may get a shot are WR Ernest Jackson and guard Jeff Niedermier.

12:33 Nick - Davonte Shannon is one of the most exciting players in the Mid American Conference. I love watching this kid play football, and he was First Team All-MAC as a freshman. That's ridiculous (in a good way). Even his media guide bio is something to root for (Greatest athletic experience: "Championship. Coming soon...) and (Lifetime goal: Go to Heaven). Nice.

12:33 Nick - He'll play on Sundays... almost guaranteed.

12:33 [Comment From Nate]
I'll be at the Bills game tomorrow. Any chance they'll be flashing the UB score on the big board? I'd like to see UB sports have a stronger presence in the local psyche.

12:34 Nick - Nate, even I picked the UB game... come on, man.


12:34 Nick - Plus, the Bills are playing on four days rest, who are the ad wizards who came up with their schedule?

12:35 [Comment From Nate]
Well, that Bills ticket is already paid for. I'm trying to make it down to Pitt next week

12:36 Jon - I think winning cures everything. Buffalo is a town that rallies around winning teams. Unfortunately, the team has struggled in year's past, so they were more of an afterthought. However, if the team can have a strong year, I think the demand from fans will be there and the media will give us as much coverage as the Bills and Sabres.



12:37 Nick - Also, Primanti Brothers in Pittsburgh is legit. Get a sandwich with coleslaw on it. Trust me.

12:37 Nick - and fries on that sandwich. Unbelievably good.


12:37 [Comment From drew willy-nilly]
jon, at what point does UB become the flagship program of new york state? syracuse appears to have serious long-term issues...and cornell hasn't been the same since they went back-to-back in 1921 and 1922.

12:39 Jon - I think UB is ready to become New York's flagship school. I think that coach Gill has this program headed in the right direction and if the team continues it's upward swing. The sky is the limit.

12:39 [Comment From GZ]
I'd like to know - to what extent does winning the MAC, or competing in a bowl, help recruiting?

12:40 Jon - Winning a MAC Championship would do wonders for the program. A MAC title would give the Bulls even more national exposure which in turn helps recruiting.

12:40 [Comment From morning man]
nick, i enjoyed the show this morning when jeremy complained about getting old. i also enjoyed when the old guy called and gave you guys a through scolding. old guys are awesome.

12:41 Nick - Old guys are the best. like Jeremy. He's 29. Might as well buy diapers.

12:41 [Comment From mike]
i like turner gill alot but another great season and he's likely outta here...which I think spells doom and gloom again.

12:43 Jon - If coach Gill would leave, he would leave the program in great shape. In year's past, when a coach left it was because the team was struggling. If coach Gill leads the team to a MAC Championship and decides to take another job, it would be a much easier program to sell to a high profile coach.

12:43 Nick - Again, I'm going to be honest here... I think Turner would only leave for a huge-time job... I mean if he didn't take off for Nebraska, what would it take? I think Turner is legit when he says he signed on for something. I'm not naive enough this think he wouldn't go to a nice program like Oklahoma, UT or Texas Tech, but to just think any job would make him move doesn't seem to fit his demeanor and attitude.

12:44 Buffalo.com - Speaking of doom and gloom:

12:44 [Comment From John K]
What do you think of the article that came out recently saying Buffalo was #3 on most miserable sports cities

12:44 Nick - I hate it and the person who wrote it.

12:45 Buffalo.com - An NFL team on the upswing, a reliably competitive NHL team, and a D-1 football program on the rise? That's miserable? Maybe unlucky is a better word to describe Buffalo's sports history.

12:45 Nick - But there's an aire of legitimacy in it... the truth is... it's the same city who ponied up over $123,000 in our Radiothon for Hunter's Hope, which we were happy to have Turner as a guest on. So if we want to play the tough guy role and be miserable, we're going to have to continue to pretty much be the best people around.

12:45 [Comment From DJ]
who do you guys think will be playing for the national title?

12:45 Nick - A Big 12 team against an SEC team. Does that count?

12:47 Nick - I'll write something more on it later, but if I had to guess... if Auburn's new coordinators work out, they'll come out of the SEC... but I like Florida if Percy Harvin heals well. Also look out for Georgia, as everyone has love for. How bout Oklahoma vs. Florida?

12:47 Nick - Maybe Texas.

12:47 Nick - Or Michigan/UB

12:48 [Comment From Nate]
Also, how effective to recruiting is having players drafted into the NFL?

12:49 Nick - That has to be huge, and not just for recruiting but for the players on the team. I ended up in touch with Trevor Scott after the Raiders picked him up. I think Trevor and Jamey Richard are revered at UB Stadium, and there have been others beforehand (Gemarra Williams, Ed Ellis, Chad Upshaw).

12:49 Nick - What do you think, Jon?

12:50 Jon - Very effective. When a recruit can walk into the coach's office and see a picture of Jamey Richard in a Colts uniform or Trevor Scott in a Raiders uniform, it gives our program a legitimacy in the eyes of recruits.

12:50 [Comment From mike]
i really like florida

12:51 Nick - You have to... I sort of wish the Bills had picked Derrick Harvey, but look what he got paid.

12:51 Nick - My goodness, college football is so much more fun than the pros.

12:52 Buffalo.com - If college football is so much more fun, would you say college football gets enough coverage in this area?

12:52 Nick - No. A resounding no.

12:54 Nick - Places like the Niagara Gazette have really upped their coverage of UB, even though it's not in Niagara County, and The Buffalo News' coverage has creeped up a little bit, but the numbers say that the Sabres and Bills push sales around here. College football fans need to make their voices heard. Trust me, as a member of the media, there are subjects we are dying to cover. You need to tell the people who matter that it matters to you.

12:54 Jon - I think that the media in this town in too focused on the Bills and pro football and in turn that helps the Ralph sell out every week. If UB football had two stories a day in the Buffalo News like the Bills do, I think local interest in the program would take off.

12:54 Nick - It's like those letter writing campaigns to Congress. Everyone says they are going to do it, but they'd rather forward chain mail about some rose that never dies if you send it to 10 people.

12:55 Nick - It doesn't work. No roses at the Mendola house.

12:55 Buffalo.com - We're getting to the end of our lunch hour here, so we'll toss out one final question: UB vs. UTEP - who you got, and by how many?

12:56 Jon - I think it will be an offensive shootout. Both teams have explosive offenses so it should be very exciting. But of course I have to go with UB.

12:56 Nick - Well, UB has some huge question marks at defensive end and linebacker, and I think the latter will be too green to shut UTEP down this early in the year, but I like James Starks to have a monster day, and look out for Ernest Jackson.

12:56 Nick - I say it goes like this...

12:57 Nick - Starks for 135 and a TD, Alex Pierre blocks a punt and the Bulls outlast the Miners, 32-31.

12:57 Buffalo.com - Let's hope for a high scoring affair.

As I'm sure all of you know, watching gymnastics is my life. I sweat gymnastics. Tiny little men and women jump out of my skin when I'm exercising and do backflips and stuff. It's awesome.

Seriously, though, it doesn't matter if you watch gymnastics once every four years or every other hour, a gymnast was hosed this week, and considering the week she had and the manner in which she lost, it's an absolute joke to a wonderful Olympic games.

America's Alicia Sacramone deserved better after a terrible week. Earlier in the games, she made a crucial error that cost the American womens team the gold medal.

Sunday's NBC broadcast showed much worse.

Sacramone finished in fourth place despite landing both of her attempts in the vault (or something like that). Home country hero Fei Cheng landed her first and fell on her second. Her average score still — somehow — was higher than Sacramone, but the punch line came just a few moments later.

Another gymnast landed on her knees, and was given a much lower score than Cheng. It was worse than questionable, it was deplorable, as Sacramone ended up medal-less. It's bad enough the Chinese seem to be using girls just slightly older than infants in these games. This was much worse.

I don't know enough about gymnastics to write more, so forgive me, but I'm as fired up as I've ever been. And to think, my Newcastle United squad pulled off a big road draw at Manchester United. I should be thrilled. Instead, there are little men and women doing floor routines all over my hard wood floors.

Email: nick@wgr550.com

So, I'm home, thank you, and glad to be after a splendid holiday in Italy. It's amazing how your venacular can change after a tour abroad. I've never had, "Did you mean football or soccer?", asked more to me in my entire life.

I'm going to throw up some Italy photos a little later, but I wanted to share some thoughts from the preseason game and the sports stories while I was away. So here's some quick hitters:

A) It took all of an hour for reality to slap me in the face for the 2008 Bills. Can anyone not see the fan base absolutely flipping on the coaching staff if things don't go well? Marcus Stroud, Spencer Johnson and Kawika Mitchell are the key to Dick Jauron's future, which is a bit of a shame, because the defense's success seems sure to be tied into how the secondary performs.

It's also clear that Trent Edwards feels very comfortable in his job - a good thing - laughing on the sideline after a miserable series, but how quickly will the fans turn on him as well, especially if J.P. Losman continues to provide glimpses of what a veteran quarterback should look like. Losman was still erratic even in his completions, but the touchdown to James Hardy was legit, and his patience on the screen play was something we haven't seen. Also, how about his roll-out on the 2-point conversion? Who knew he was mobile? Well, besides all of us? Anyway, remember all, it's one game, and Edwards is definitely your starter. Check in with me after the Pittsburgh game for at least an hour on not only the game, but how Toronto looked on TV. I think we'll all be sick on WGR, right? Tune in.

2) You're absolutely nuts if you don't think the New York Jets are immediately a better football team with Brett Favre, but you're also a little loopy if you think the Dolphins got worse by adding Chad Pennington. Pennington isn't going to win you a Super Bowl, but even his spaghetti arm got the Jets to several playoffs, and the guy is one of the era's more accurate passers in term of completion percentage. Granted so is Kelly Holcomb, but both New York and Miami likely increased their 2008 win total by two last week.

D) Speaking of New York, cute story out yesterday how Brett Favre is "one of the guys" at Jets camp, having to run a lap after a practice mishap. Right. Brett Favre is "one of the Jets" like Michael is one of the Jacksons (For those further interested in the metaphor, Nick Mangold is Jermaine).

5) The Teppo Numminen signing is a good one for the Sabres. Clearly, there's an understanding between the two sides. If No. 27 is still legit, he plays as often as he can and steadies and teaches for either Andrej Sekera or Mike Weber. If he's not-so-hot, he slides in for about half the games. Either way, $1.1 million is totally reasonable for a veteran of his caliber, and as long as the wheels didn't rust and his heart's in order, you could do a lot worse for the money. Another Sabres note, I'm glad they re-signed Portland Pirates captain Tyler Bouck, and not because he's played with three NHL teams. It's good to see the Sabres show respect for the Pirates franchise history.

Brussel sprouts) One of the coolest things about being in Europre is CNN International's 20-minute sports show, because it's a true glimpse into the world sports scene. In Italy, the Brett Favre story was mentioned just once in the eight days I was there. Feel free to envy me. Also, I didn't have to roll with rampant speculation about American roster moves. One day, Manny Ramirez was just wearing Dodger blue in the highlight package. It was a nice separation from the Sportscenter saturation, though I was glad to be back Stateside, with the Internet, for the Bills preseason game and UB Bulls football updates. "Fight, fight for Buffalo...Be proud to fight for your dear Blue and White...So hit 'em high, hit 'em low, throw 'em high, throw 'em low... Fight for your dear old Bulls..."

Aug. 28th at UB Stadium against UTEP can't come quickly enough.

51) Very happy for Padraig Harrington's back-to-back majors after this week. Seems like a classy lad, and I shall visit his country because of his accomplishments (Not really, but we are looking to plan a tour of Great Britain, particularly after a visit by our Manchester friend Ged for a good friend's wedding).

NUFC) Premiership soccer kicks off next weekend in England, and I'm so excited for Newcastle's fresh season of fixtures, even if their opener Sunday is against mighty Manchester United. I read Ged Clarke's remarkable book "Fifty Years of Hurt" about Newcastle, and I learned something about my "football team" of choice (For the record, I chose Newcastle years ago because I thought their beer was delicious).

Anyway, as it turns out, the team I selected is the Chicago Cubs/Buffalo Bills of English football. Always the bridesmaid, it turns out for me as a sports fan. Check out the book (I read it on the plane ride... it's a breeze), and check out the team. You can learn to enjoy the beautiful game at pubs with me all year long.

BDSL) A slap on the back to the Buffalo & District Soccer League for a brilliant set-up Sunday at Nichols school for the 1a and 1b championship games. The school's artificial turf field is exactly what a high-cost prep school should have. My team (Buffalo City Football Club) finished at the bottom of 1b, but being at the side-by-side championship games was a great time, and very well-attended. Hope to be on the championship pitch after the Fall season. www.bdsl.org

Welcome me back or tell me I'm nuts already: nick@wgr550.com