Life must somehow go on Friday morning as we try to deal with the horrible plane crash in Clarence. I've already heard from a friend who's dad lives next door to the house where the plane hit, and to think that a friend of mine shot at the basketball hoop in the picture that's on our web site next to a hellacious fire is very emotional. My prayers are with everyone who needs them, and here's hoping for anything remotely positive that can come out of this does. Email: nick@wgr550.com

Something happened Tuesday night that made me realize it's trade season. Although I was quite aware that it was the one-year anniversary of Richard Zednik getting his neck cut at HSBC Arena, a text message from a good friend sent me into an information-searching frenzy:

My friend's text: "zednik are you kidding me"

Call your sources, Nick! In my mind, the Sabres had traded for Zednik, and even more bizarre, it made a lot of sense for me. As I ripped through the Internet, I learned the truth: Zednik had scored the game-tying and game-winning goals in a comeback win over the Maple Leafs on his "anniversary."

It was time to start typing trade.

So, I got to thinking about players that could be coming to Buffalo, with the knowledge that Darcy Regier told Mike Schopp and The Bulldog that the Sabres would not be pulling off any "Zubrus-type" deals (1st-round pick and a prospect with NHL experience).

Here are five players that make sense to me:

1. Richard Park, New York Islanders -- Turning 33 in late May, Park is a solid penalty-killer who doubles as a threat to score on opposing power-play units' mistakes or overconfidence. He's a minus-5 with 24 points in 54 games with the Isles, who are almost certainly looking to add a useful body or two.


Park is signed through 2010 at 750k per season, and had notched eight points in 38 playoff games.

2. Marty Reasoner, Atlanta Thrashers -- While he would essentially be a rent-a-player, the 32-year old Reasoner makes a reasonable 1 million per year, and is a smart two-way player who is top-notch in the faceoff circle (52 percent this year).

Reasoner has seen action in 23 playoff games with the Blues and Oilers, and hails from Honeoye Falls.

The fake No. 3. Jere Lehtinen, Dallas Stars -- A four-million dollar rent-a-player? Totally up Darcy Regier's alley. He'll play right wing with a unicorn and Steve Winwood.

According to Wikipedia, Lehtinen is a huge fan of Slayer, so Toni Lydman would be jazzed to hang out, and Drew Stafford could have a metal line-mate.

The real No. 3. Radek Bonk, Nashville Predators -- Here's a rent-a-player that makes Sabre sense. Killer face-off winner who is down to block shots with his molars.


4. Samuel Pahlsson, Anaheim Ducks -- How much would you have to give up to snag an underachieving, at least points-wise, Cup-winning center who's bound for free agency in a few months? As a million-plus cap hit, perhaps the Ducks are resigned to losing Pahlsson, and perhaps the Sabres could receive a player who can counter-attack on a penalty kill with the best of them.

Pahlsson is currently recuperating from a viral infection, and is out until at least mid-February.

5. Zednik, Florida Panthers -- Call it a "blink" decision, but Zednik's always been just dangerous enough to hurt the Sabres, with 14 goals in 42 games against Buffalo. Has a history as a trade deadline success (Nine pts. in 12 games with '01 Montreal) and failure (Three pts. in 15 games with '07 Isles). How scientific is this: it just sounded right to me on Tuesday, and it still sounds about right now.

Honorable mentions:

Adam Hall, Tampa Bay Lightning -- a puzzling former prospect who looked like he was coming into his own with the Rangers a couple years back. Signed through 2011 at 600k per year.

Jeff Halpern, Tampa Bay Lightning -- paid a little too well for Buffalo at 2 million per year through 2010, I'm not sure Tampa would hand over one of the cogs in the Brad Richards deal. One of the top face-off men in the league at 57 percent.

Trent Hunter, New York Islanders -- This one's a dream, since Hunter should've been named captain of the Isles after only he, Park and Rick DiPietro bothered to show up to their first round series with the Sabres in 2006-07. He's gritty, he can score, and he's locked up through 2013 at just 2-mil. Turning 29 in July, Hunter should be a real player on a real team one day.

Email: nick@wgr550.com

bet you're not down with people burning the American flag, right?

Me, neither, and I'm ready for the next chapter of my sports rooting life. I've attended almost everything -- from preseason basketball to the American League Championship Series to a bowl game. I've seen the Celtics in Boston, the Cubs at Wrigley and the Crew in Columbus. Throw in a bunch of Sabres playoff games, and it was only logical that I move past the professional atmosphere.

Tomorrow, I'm going to root for America to kick the crap out of Mexico.

Relax. I'm talking about our national soccer teams. I'm not Rush Limbaugh.

The States and our neighbors to the South will be tangling in the third round of World Cup Qualifying, and it generally gets pretty intense. A few years back in Mexico, the American team was saluted upon their exit of the stadium with the site of their flag being burned outside their bus. They would've complained, but there were a lot of Mexicans burning an American flag outside their bus... in Mexico.

Split-heritage midfielder Jose Francisco Torres recently chose the United States over Mexico. Split-heritage defender Edgar Castillo was born in New Mexico, but chose Old Mexico for his team (although he likely won't be in the line-up Wednesday).

Why are these games fun? I'm about to find out, but the last few games lead me to believe it'll be bananas in pajamas. For example, streakers at Bills games tend to be either drunk 40-year old men or their 19-year old sons. At soccer games, we tend to get hippie women.

So, two days worth of vacation should be well-worth it, even if the 60-degree weather means I won't see the Mexican team skip out on warm-ups, like they did last time they played in Columbus (It was plenty cold).

The only time I've rooted for my country in person was the US womens volleyball team in the World University Games, unless I'm forgetting something. I'm pumped for Round Two.

Any ideas/experiences? nick@wgr550.com

My wife short-circuited my plans to watch Alfred Hitchcock's "Rebecca" with her desire to watch the Grammy's, which worked out well for me. As the night wore on, too many stupid things happened for me to not "blog" about it. So, sorry there won't be too many sports mentions here...

Have the Grammy's always been awful?

A message to Coldplay's Chris Martin on a night that couldn't have been one of his favorites. First, your wife, Gwyneth Paltrow, spends three hours introducing "the most important foreign band out there," and everyone on Earth is preparing for her sucking up to her husband... and she does the correct thing by introducing Radiohead.

I wonder if Martin was thinking, "Aw, that's nice honey, but we're not performing... OH CRAP. RADIOHEAD?!?! REALLY?!?!? I WROTE 'CLOCKS'."

By the way, Chris, you've already said you want to be U2, so stop trying to pass Sgt. Pepper's look as patchwork. We know you pass your time sewing-- no lie -- but I'd guess Betsy Ross isn't losing her legacy as a top-notch seamstress.

Then again, you did win song of the year for a riff 20 years old and written by someone else. That said, I own several of their albums. "Parachutes" is legit.

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To Kanye West... I was on-board, man. The "cocky as a shield for insecurities" thing was awesome for a spell, but it's time for something new, especially if you are going to rock a mullet. That's awful, man. You look like Kenny Loggins.

Someone needs to either cover "Danger Zone" or make a Kanye & Messina album.

Seemingly gone are clever lines like, "If you a stripper named Porsche, and you get tips from many men, then your fat friend, her nickname is Minivan." Instead, it's a concept album with singles involving talking on the phone at 3 a.m., and his girl being like Dr.Evil. Yikes.

Maybe he's trying to Andre 3000 his career, but it's not working for me. Regardless, West is still probably a good dinner guest, and he's at least as original as anything else on display last night. When Robert Plant is looking like Richard Branson in an age machine, weird is the theme of the night.

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Natalie Cole won a Grammy for "Still Unforgettable," an album that would've been better-titled, "I'd Like Another Grammy, Remember When I Sang 'Unforgettable' With My Dad?"

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Jamie Foxx should thank his lucky stars he was asked to be an honorary Four Tops member. Smokey Robinson was obvious, Ne-Yo wasn't a surprise, but Jamie Foxx? Are they making a Four Tops movie? Motown was the best, and all four did well.

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The Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl looked like a little kid playing the drums for Paul McCartney, and why shouldn't he? It's like being invited to write a book with Raymond Carver -- bad choice, he's dead -- or Richard Russo. The Foo Fighters are what pop music should be, and I mean that as a compliment. Grohl and company are influenced by music, not blatant rip-off artists.

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Nine-months pregnant to the day and M.I.A. rapping happened...

Um, yeah...

Email: nick@wgr550.com

My football-watching brain is friiiiiiiiiiiied, so this may end up being another short one. Let's face it: if this game really mattered and went down the way it did, we may never stop talking about it.

For those of you who missed the in-game break-in, President Bush was giving his farewell speech from Iraq this afternoon (American time) when an Iraqi reporter took off his shoe and fired it at Bush. The president ducked, an in came shoe No. 2. You see, throwing a shoe at someone is considered the ultimate insult in Arab culture. I say this because I've had several conversations since the Bills game ended in which someone has said;

"Would someone toss a shoe or two at Dick Jauron?"

Here we go...

— Why in the world were they passing on 2nd-and-5 with just over two minutes to play and the lead? That was easily the dumbest play call of the year. Bar none. I want you all to send me emails about dumber play calls and I will tell you why this one was worse. Horrible, horrible, horrible.

— I can't say enough about Marshawn Lynch. After coming out and — as Duke Preston admitted — getting his line riled up by taking the blame for a tough year, he goes straight "Beast Mode" for 60 minutes. In the wake of his "hit-and-run" issues — something that admittedly still rubs me the wrong way — he's been a very fun player to watch.

— The Bills didn't have a single three-and-out on offense. They did have a one-and-interception, two-and-interception and four-and-touchdown... but no three-and-outs.

— How about the Bills defense on that play-action naked bootleg? Everyone fell for it. Everyone. I'm not even mad. I'm impressed.

— Good on Steve Johnson for getting his first career touchdown. He's a keeper, but think about the receivers under contract next year: Evans, Reed, Parrish, Hardy, Johnson. Then there's Jenkins as a relatively important special teamer. Don't be surprised if the Bills don't snag a wide-out in the offseason.

-- Also on Johnson... great, if unoriginal, touchdown celebration. The "football's-stuck-on-my-hand" is almost always funny.

— James Hardy was carted off with a knee injury. It's a shame, because he was due for a big catch.

— Brett Favre had a very similar game to Losman in terms of numbers, turnovers and accuracy, yet Dan Dierdorf hailed Favre as gutsy, and Losman as wild. I love Favre as much as any football fan, but that was tough to endure.

— I am liking Derek Schouman and Derek Fine as tight ends. Not saying they're my idea of a No. 1, but I'm not sure what that would look like in this style Bills jersey. When Jay Riemersma and Pete Metzelaars are the two best tight ends during your time as a Bills fan, you should probably question your allegiance... or tell the Bills to draft more tight ends with hard-to-pronounce last names. Maybe Devin Frischknecht of Washington State?

(Note: It'll be interesting to see where blocking tight end, and local boy, Dan Gronkowski of Maryland ends up).

— So, here's the drill: In my dismay during the past few weeks, I neglected to start by Bills MVP competition on time. So we're going to make this more "fan interactive." We'll go from 16 to 8 this week, eight to four after the Broncos game, and then four to two after the Patriots finale. After that, i'll put a web poll up with the final two players. It'll be "fun."

Here were the match-ups heading into this week:**

No. 1 Marshawn Lynch vs. No. 16 Chris Kelsay
No. 2 Lee Evans vs. No. 15 Roscoe Parrish
No. 3 Fred Jackson vs. No. 14 Bryan Scott
No. 4 Josh Reed vs. No. 13 Kawika Mitchell
No. 5 Marcus Stroud vs. No. 12 Paul Posluszny
No. 6 Leodis McKelvin vs. No. 11 Terrence McGee
No. 7 Langston Walker vs. No. 10 Ryan Denney
No. 8 Jabari Greer vs. No. 9 Darian Barnes*

*The reason Darian Barnes is No. 9 is because I wanted Jabari Greer into the next round, and because they cut him when they were 4-0, so.... if you really have a problem with it, I'll bump Barnes into Round Two.

**Apologies to Brian Moorman and Kyle Williams. Didn't really consider anyone else.

The round-up:
- Lynch over Kelsay. The reigning champ wins, with no explanation needed.

- Evans over Parrish. Roscoe is explosive, but what he's thinking when deciding whether or not to field a punt is beyond me.

- Jackson over Scott. Good to see Fred finally get a touchdown, and it was a beast of a run.

- Reed over Mitchell. Reed had another gutsy game, even if he did make a couple boners. Mitchell looked awful on a Favre pump fake in the third quarter.

- Posluszny over Stroud. Stroud's been better all year, but Posluszny had important tackles and a pick against the Jets.

- McGee over McKelvin. Terrence was just McBetter today, even if Leodis' growth will be pivotal to next year and beyond. Like the Posluszny/Stroud match-up, McKelvin would've won the year-long battle.

- Walker over Denney. Paul Hamilton would say I'm crazy, but I think the two most-unheralded seasons belong to these two. Denney absolutely over-performed as someone who should be a situational rusher, batting down a ton of passes.

- Greer over Barnes. Again, if you have issues, email me: nick@wgr550.com

ROUND TWO:
No. 1 Lynch vs. No. 12 Posluszny
No. 2 Evans vs. No. 11 McGee
No. 3 Jackson vs. No. 8 Greer
No. 4 Reed vs. No. 7 Walker

(I can't believe five offensive players move on, but I had to go with my gut).

Stat line I enjoyed:
Lynch, 21 carries, 127 yards; three receptions, 13 yards
— Sensational.

Stat line I didn't enjoy:
Losman, 24-of-39, 148 yards, three sacks, 1 TD, 3 INT, one fumble lost.

(Bills) Game ball:
Lynch.
— Unquestionably, with a nod to the run-blocking of the line.

Lastly...
I really like the way Thomas Vanek has reshaped his game.

Next week:
Thank goodness the Broncos won't need the game. I vote for Denver 27, Buffalo 20.

Email: nick@wgr550.com

(WGR 550) -- For those Sabres fans staring at the Eastern Conference standings, with the number 8 sitting next to Buffalo, and wondering what the team's next move will be, ponder this:

Where would they be without No. 26?

As Thomas Vanek continues to lead the team in almost every important offensive category, the Sabres continue their fight to stay above .500. Where's the league's leading goal scorer in all this? Backchecking, blocking shots and, on Monday in Pittsburgh, shoulder-to-the-goal-post, attempting a save.

Another thing: He's 24 years-old.
Lindy Ruff has asked his left winger to be better, and Vanek has complied, while Ruff continues to call Vanek's play to be "just the tip of the iceberg."

Somewhere in that tip, there's now leadership by example.

Throughout the course of last year's roller-coaster ride to a long summer, Vanek was always available in the locker room after games, understanding his responsibility as a $49 million man in Buffalo. Throw-in an extremely rocky start to that campaign -- he didn't score his 20th goal until Feb. 12 in Ottawa -- and a new baby, and Vanek had a lot of growing up to do.

Recording four hat-tricks in the last 27 games of 2007-08, Ruff then asked his star to do what any other head coach would: backcheck and penalty kill. Right.

While some would have doubted the idea, Vanek has responded by being one of only two regular skaters with a positive plus/minus ratio and pacing the league's third best penalty kill. He's also second in the NHL in shorthanded goals (2), game-winning goals (3) and power-play goals (8). By the way, he's only missed one regular season game in his career -- April 3, 2006 -- and has suited up in 198 consecutive games.

This year, the team is 3-7-1 when he doesn't register a point. (He also leads Austrian-born NHL players with 18:34 of ice-time per game. Take that, Andreas Nodl).

All this with team goaltending that, statistically, has been in the middle of the pack, 14th in goals-against average (2.81) and 18th in save percentage (.900).

So, let's ask again: Where would the Sabres be without No. 26?

At some point, we might want to talk about thanking Kevin Lowe. (Not really).

Email: nick@wgr550.com

Stupid Bills.

What in the world are we supposed to do with that? I really mean that question.

Ugh...

-- The first place I'd like to start is Roscoe Parrish. Now, I absolutely admire his positivity before that final punt return, bobbing his head to and fro, enjoying the music that announced the arrival of the football in his hands.

Now me, if I were him, I'd be thinking about the touchdown I dropped. You know, the one that would have tied the game, and not made math your most important ally for all of December.

-- I like Fred Jackson. Great guy, I mean it, but if it's 3rd and short, and the best running back on your team has gashed a defense for over 130 yards, give him the football. Please. I totally understand that Derrick Dockery and Jason Peters decided to block the same guy on the play, but still, give it to Lynch, and if he doesn't get it, give it to him on fourth down.

Disagree? Jackson averaged 1.6 yards-per-carry, Lynch had 8.4. Even without the 50-yard run, Lynch would've averaged over five yards per carry.

-- Ron Pitts is the worst play-by-play announcer in the NFL. Tony Boselli, on the contrary, is a pretty good color guy.

-- I don't think it's too much to assume that the defense has had enough of the offense's shenanigans. Your defensive ends got you three sacks, allowed ten points, and gave up a paltry 52 meaningful yards in the second half. The opponent was San Francisco, and your quarterbacks need to be able to come up with 10 points in 60 minutes.

-- Between Trent Edwards and Jack Losman, the Bills were 21-of-37 for 205 yards and three sacks. Sometimes numbers don't tell the story, as inaccuracy plagued Edwards and indecision punished Losman.

When Losman's sent packing after this year, you'll need a veteran back-up, and you'll also need to pick up another quarterback, whether on Day One or Day Two of the draft is your call.

-- The major difference between Edwards and Losman today was that Losman was sacked on plays that Edwards would've dumped it to his running back or tight end. How do you get this far in your career without knowing the rush is coming.

-- That said, Parrish dropped a touchdown. Did I mention that?

-- My golly, what happened to Rian Lindell? I know the weather was awful, and has been awful, but his performance was inexcusable.

-- This team needs to practice outside, and if they do, then they need to practice outside more. When you have elite, effective athletes like Leodis McKelvin and Marcus Stroud saying, "It's going to be a cold one and we'll have to stay warm," (I'm paraphrasing), it's time to change your routine. You're a cold weather team, play cold weather football.

-- Patrick Willis is really good at playing tackle football.

-- Six penalties is too many.

-- Between you and I, it's going to make me sick to listen to all the "We just have to go out and win the rest of our games and hope for the best" comments for another year. I went to college for this.

Stat line I enjoyed:
Lynch, 16 carries, 134 yards, TD
-- He's really good at football, too.

Stat line I didn't enjoy:
Lynch, 16 carries.
-- Don't overthink it. Just give him the ball.

Game ball:
Ryan Denney and Chris Kelsay, 10 tackles, three sacks
-- Can't put it on the defense this week.

Lastly...
Nice home game, team. Stupid.

Next week:
Don't call it a home game. Bills 20, Miami 17 in Toronto, Ont., Canada, North America, Western Hemisphere, Earth, Milky Way, Universe.

Email: nick@wgr550.com

(WGR 550) --You'd think experts would know what they're talking about.

Despite ESPN bowl projections that currently have UB travelling to either Hawaii or Las Vegas for a bowl date due to weak power conferences, it is simply untrue, according to a school official.

Now that Buffalo has won the MAC East Division, they can only appear in one of its conference's three bowl tie-ins. So, here are the three dates to keep open, if you're trying to keep your travel schedule open (courtesy of NCAA.org):

Dec. 26, 2008 - Motor City Bowl (Detroit, Mich.) -- MAC vs. Big Ten (7:30 p.m. kick-off, ESPN)

Jan. 3, 2009 - International Bowl (Toronto, Ont., Canada) -- MAC vs. Big East (Noon kick-off, ESPN2)

Jan. 6, 2009 - GMAC Bowl (Mobile, Ala.) -- MAC vs. Conference USA (8 p.m. kick-off, ESPN)

On the opinion side, Toronto makes sense to me and several extremely knowledgable folks I've spoken with regarding the college bowl system. Not only is the Buffalo to Toronto commute the shortest of the Mid American Conference teams, but it has long-been whispered that the International Bowl would love to have an invasion by the Buffalo market.

In case you're wondering what match-ups these bowls held in the past, here's a five-year refresher:

Motor City Bowl:
2007- Purdue 51, Central Michigan 48 (MVP- Curtis Painter, Purdue)
2006- Central Michigan 31, Middle Tennessee 14 (MVP- Dan LeFevour, Central)
2005- Memphis 38, Akron 31 (MVP- DeAngelo Williams, Memphis)
2004- UConn 39, Toledo 10 (MVP- Dan Orlovsky, UConn)
2003- Bowling Green 28, Northwestern 24 (MVPs- Josh Harris, BG/Jason Wright, N'western)

International Bowl:
2008- Rutgers 52, Ball State 30 (MVP- Ray Rice, Rutgers)
2007- Cincinnati 27, Western Michigan 24 (MVP- Dominick Goodman, Cincinnati)

GMAC Bowl:
2008- Tulsa 63, Bowling Green 7 (MVP- Paul Smith, Tulsa)
2007- Southern Miss 28, Ohio 7 (MVP- Damion Fletcher, SMU)
2005- Toledo 45, UTEP 13 (MVP- Bruce Gradkowski, Toledo)
2004- Bowling Green 52, Memphis 35 (MVP- Omar Jacobs, BG)
2003- Miami (OH) 49, Louisville 28 (MVP- Ben Roethlisberger, Miami)

The Bulls have two games remaining before bowl season, closing out the regular season at UB Stadium against Kent State. It's an afternoon contest on Nov. 28, the day after Thanksgiving. The MAC Championship game will be against either No. 15 Ball State (11-0, 7-0 MAC), Central Michigan (8-3, 6-1 MAC) or Western Michigan (9-2, 6-1 MAC).

In terms of the Motor City Bowl, the Big Ten currently has seven bowl-eligible teams, with Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota the current unranked teams. No. 22 Michigan State would be an intriguing option at 9-3 and at least one of the MAC Michigan schools available.

Bowl-eligible teams from the Big East include Rutgers, Pitt, UConn and South Florida, and would-be potential dates for an International Bowl dance. In an extremely-intriguing option, Notre Dame is often considered a Big East team if they do not qualify for a BCS spot.

Finally, bowl-eligible teams from Conference USA are currently East Carolina, Tulsa, Houston and Rice. Teams that can become eligible with a win in the final week of their season are Southern Miss, Memphis and UTEP.

Email: nick@wgr550.com