Sunday, January 3, 2010
Immediate Reactions, Wk17
5:39 AM | 
Posted by
Nick Mendola
For extra immediate reactions, head to my Twitter.com/NicholasMendola. Let us be friends, year-round!
Caption above: The Bills win over the Colts wasn't all smiles, as Buffalo fan Denis Pirincci forgot to take off his Trent Edwards jersey before burning it for warmth. You will be missed.... (This is a joke, weirdos).
Let's go Bills. Let's go Bills. Let's go Bills. B-b-b-b-b-b-Bills...
-- Let's just say the snow-filled contest made me wistful for late season games that mattered, when opponents would come in here and wet themselves thanks to the weather, crowd, and Bills. Do well, Buddy Nix. Do well!
-- For all the heat we deservedly give the Bills front office, how about a high-five for signing Fred Jackson to a four-year, $7.5 million extension this offseason. Maybe only a half high-five because there were rumours Fred would hold-out, but that's not a lot of cheddar for a guy who's looking like the Big Cheese.
Jackson carried 33 times for 212 yards, also catching two balls for 15 yards and a score. Common sense says he has to be the first D-III running back to go for over 1,000 yards in a season, and that figure means something again. When the league went from a 14- to 16-game schedule, it downgraded the 1,000-yard figure, but with the wealth of "run-by-committee" attacks in the league, this figure is significant, even in a rat salad of a season.
-- "T.O." knows PR. Owens giving a lap around the field to high-five fans after the game, and finishes the year without a significant blow-up. He'll get a look somewhere next year, and it could be here.
-- Jamon Meredith's first start in a while was a productive one. I'm hoping he's one of the second-stringers next year. Only definites for making the roster at offensive line next year: Eric Wood (if healthy), Geoff Hangartner, Andy Levitre and Brad Butler. You'd think Meredith and Andre Ramsey earned some valuable looks this year, too. Oh, and long snapper Garrison Sanborn, who's had a perfect rookie year if my oft-concussed memory isn't betraying me.
-- It'll be interesting to see which NFL gives Richie Incognito a good deal of money and for how long next year.
-- I really, really, really hope Aaron Schobel doesn't retire.
-- It goes without saying, but even more proof that the Bills really need a quarterback: When Indy has five players who finish the year with more catches than Lee Evans. Evans and Owens combined for 99 catches. Both Dallas Clark and Reggie Wayne broke the 100-catch barrier.
-- Would you have locked me up if I told you James Hardy, Stevie Johnson and Roscoe Parrish would combine for six catches total this year?
-- My wife with 3:37 to play a close shot of the Colts starting quarterback on the sideline, "They're making Peyton Manning stand out in the cold?"
-- Also, remember: Curtis Painter is the Colts' third quarterback.
-- Good looks to George Wilson and Paul Posluszny for topping the 100-tackle mark.
-- Class act Rian Lindell finishes season 28-of-33 and perfect from 40 yards and in.
-- I've been struggling to think of a ton of things to type, and the Sabres are on, so let's save something for my year-end report card coming soon.
Stat line I enjoyed:
Ryan Fitzpatrick, 16-of-25, 155 yards, three touchdowns, zero interceptions, zero sacks
-- Yes, it was against total scrubs, but I've felt strongly that Fitz can be a No. 2 quarterback for this team, and seeing him throw pretty well in the snow gives me a little relief going forward. Seems like they get themselves a No. 1 and continue to roll with Fitz at No. 2 and Brohm riding out the second-year of a trial contract.
Stat line I didn't enjoy:
Buffalo Bills, 6-10
-- Yikes.
Game ball:
Jackson
Lastly...
Tough year. The biggest failure of all was not completing "Operation 7-9."
Next Week:
The Bills hire Bill Cowher? Please? It's about the fairly reasonable way I could envision getting back in "season ticket holder" territory. Think about how perfect it would be to have him and a staff he assembled here. It would feel like a start to a movie script.
Email: nick@wgr550.com
Caption above: The Bills win over the Colts wasn't all smiles, as Buffalo fan Denis Pirincci forgot to take off his Trent Edwards jersey before burning it for warmth. You will be missed.... (This is a joke, weirdos).
Let's go Bills. Let's go Bills. Let's go Bills. B-b-b-b-b-b-Bills...
-- Let's just say the snow-filled contest made me wistful for late season games that mattered, when opponents would come in here and wet themselves thanks to the weather, crowd, and Bills. Do well, Buddy Nix. Do well!
-- For all the heat we deservedly give the Bills front office, how about a high-five for signing Fred Jackson to a four-year, $7.5 million extension this offseason. Maybe only a half high-five because there were rumours Fred would hold-out, but that's not a lot of cheddar for a guy who's looking like the Big Cheese.
Jackson carried 33 times for 212 yards, also catching two balls for 15 yards and a score. Common sense says he has to be the first D-III running back to go for over 1,000 yards in a season, and that figure means something again. When the league went from a 14- to 16-game schedule, it downgraded the 1,000-yard figure, but with the wealth of "run-by-committee" attacks in the league, this figure is significant, even in a rat salad of a season.
-- "T.O." knows PR. Owens giving a lap around the field to high-five fans after the game, and finishes the year without a significant blow-up. He'll get a look somewhere next year, and it could be here.
-- Jamon Meredith's first start in a while was a productive one. I'm hoping he's one of the second-stringers next year. Only definites for making the roster at offensive line next year: Eric Wood (if healthy), Geoff Hangartner, Andy Levitre and Brad Butler. You'd think Meredith and Andre Ramsey earned some valuable looks this year, too. Oh, and long snapper Garrison Sanborn, who's had a perfect rookie year if my oft-concussed memory isn't betraying me.
-- It'll be interesting to see which NFL gives Richie Incognito a good deal of money and for how long next year.
-- I really, really, really hope Aaron Schobel doesn't retire.
-- It goes without saying, but even more proof that the Bills really need a quarterback: When Indy has five players who finish the year with more catches than Lee Evans. Evans and Owens combined for 99 catches. Both Dallas Clark and Reggie Wayne broke the 100-catch barrier.
-- Would you have locked me up if I told you James Hardy, Stevie Johnson and Roscoe Parrish would combine for six catches total this year?
-- My wife with 3:37 to play a close shot of the Colts starting quarterback on the sideline, "They're making Peyton Manning stand out in the cold?"
-- Also, remember: Curtis Painter is the Colts' third quarterback.
-- Good looks to George Wilson and Paul Posluszny for topping the 100-tackle mark.
-- Class act Rian Lindell finishes season 28-of-33 and perfect from 40 yards and in.
-- I've been struggling to think of a ton of things to type, and the Sabres are on, so let's save something for my year-end report card coming soon.
Stat line I enjoyed:
Ryan Fitzpatrick, 16-of-25, 155 yards, three touchdowns, zero interceptions, zero sacks
-- Yes, it was against total scrubs, but I've felt strongly that Fitz can be a No. 2 quarterback for this team, and seeing him throw pretty well in the snow gives me a little relief going forward. Seems like they get themselves a No. 1 and continue to roll with Fitz at No. 2 and Brohm riding out the second-year of a trial contract.
Stat line I didn't enjoy:
Buffalo Bills, 6-10
-- Yikes.
Game ball:
Jackson
Lastly...
Tough year. The biggest failure of all was not completing "Operation 7-9."
Next Week:
The Bills hire Bill Cowher? Please? It's about the fairly reasonable way I could envision getting back in "season ticket holder" territory. Think about how perfect it would be to have him and a staff he assembled here. It would feel like a start to a movie script.
Email: nick@wgr550.com
Thursday, December 31, 2009
The 2000s so far: Moment No. 1
1. Buffalo Sabres at Ottawa Senators, Eastern Conference Semifinals, Game One -- May 5, 2006
1-0. 1-1. 2-1. 2-2. 3-2. 3-3. 4-3. 4-4. 5-4. 5-5. 6-5. 6-6. 7-6.
I've seen a lot of hockey in my life, but I had never seen anything like Buffalo's 7-6 win over Ottawa.
To set the scene, the Sabres were the upstart that year, though I'm not sure you could find more than a handful of fans who weren't feeling mighty good about Buffalo's chances after the team trounced Philadelphia in uproariously fun fashion. But Ottawa loomed, and it was a Senators team that had beaten the Sabres in five of eight regular season contests.
Yes, the Sabres had won the last two April battles decisively, and had a history of handling Ottawa in the playoffs, but some of the losses to the Senators were disgusting. Remember the 10-4 loss to the Senators on Nov. 2, 2005? Ryan Miller broke his thumb in the pregame skate, and Martin Biron was forced to start. Biron was pulled, Mika Noronen came in. Noronen was pulled. Biron came back in. Yikes.
So, that specter was looming. Both teams went 52-30 that year, but Ottawa was the East's No. 1 seed by virtue of three more overtime losses. The Senators mowed through the Lightning with even more ease than the Sabres dispatched the Flyers, and Buffalo had to go up to Kanata for Game One.
Most of The Howard Simon Show was at a local restaurant, packed with guys and gals in Sabres gear. During that run, bars, restaurants and living rooms felt almost as electric as the arenas hosting the games. This was the birth of car flags and odd collectibles, for better or worse.
The game got off to a great start for Buffalo, who got out of the gate in a hurry. Derek Roy fed Mike Grier for the game's first tally just 35 seconds into the contest. The marker was the first of many bookend goals of the contest, as the puck shot back-and-forth, from wire-to-wire, with no downtime.
Jason Spezza and Bryan Smolinski struck twice in fifteen seconds for Ottawa, restoring the feeling of home-ice advantage, but only for a handful of minutes. The two goals were the only consecutive goals scored by a single team until the thrilling final minute of hockey. Teppo Numminen's power play tally was the last of the first period's goals.
Martin Havlat put the Sens up very quickly in the second period, but Tim Connolly turned the tide with a goal that still leaves hockey fans breathless. Down a man, Connolly picked up a loose puck in his own end, made a Senator fall down and then stickhandled through two guys before putting a backhand from a seemingly impossible angle past Ray Emery (Thank goodness Emery was their goalie, by the way). It may have been Connolly's finest hour. I get a feeling Connolly's agent sent that goal on DVD to Darcy Regier every day last year, because for a moment $9 million doesn't seem that outlandish.
Just 46 seconds later, it was Dany Heatley's time to try and punch the Sabres in the gut with his third of the playoffs. Thing is, these Sabres were unable to be shocked, save for a horrifying run of injuries. With thirty seconds left in the second period, Derek Roy netted Buffalo's fourth goal, setting the stage for the most exciting period of hockey in a long, long time.
Mike Fisher's full-face mask watched the future Mr. Underwood put Ottawa up 5-4 just 16 seconds into the final frame of regulation, and it didn't look good when Brian Campbell took a penalty with a power play expiring.
The Sabres would be short-handed for 1:41 or less of the final 162 seconds. That's not a good recipe, but Buffalo had something cooking: another short-handed goal. Roy tipped the puck around Ottawa's point man and gave the puck to Connolly. The two broke away on a 2-on-1, and Connolly made another silly move before sliding the puck to Roy, who put the teams on level terms.
Re-enter Bryan Smolinski, who put Ottawa up 6-5 about 24 seconds after Roy's emotional equalizer. At that moment, there was no more disgusting sight in the world than the smug look on Smolinski's face. In retrospect, it's a wonderful look. His comeuppance arrived in short order.
Derek Roy dumped a shot on net with 18 seconds to go that Emery didn't cover up, even with the puck resting one foot from his foot. Daniel Briere swooped in and threw the puck on net with a back, and with 11 seconds on the clock, Connolly flicked a huge rebound into the net.
It was hysteria. People were jumping onto the tables at the restaurant, hugging total strangers. We were headed for overtime.
You know what happens next. Chris Drury beats Emery for the game-winner, with assists to Mike Grier and Ottawa's Zamboni driver. Senators defenseman Anton Volchenkov lost the puck in a pool of water. Grier scooped it up and dumped it off to Captain Clutch. Game over and, in a sense, series over. Ottawa won Game Four in Buffalo for their only victory of the series.
The series was unequivocably the No. 1 story of the decade mentioned by our staff. The 7-6 game was No. 1 by far, while Jason Pominville's Game Five goal was talked about almost as much. If you're talking 2000-09, you'll have a hard time finding a better moment for Buffalo sports, but feel free to try.
Here's to a much better 10 years.
Email: nick@wgr550.com
1-0. 1-1. 2-1. 2-2. 3-2. 3-3. 4-3. 4-4. 5-4. 5-5. 6-5. 6-6. 7-6.
I've seen a lot of hockey in my life, but I had never seen anything like Buffalo's 7-6 win over Ottawa.
To set the scene, the Sabres were the upstart that year, though I'm not sure you could find more than a handful of fans who weren't feeling mighty good about Buffalo's chances after the team trounced Philadelphia in uproariously fun fashion. But Ottawa loomed, and it was a Senators team that had beaten the Sabres in five of eight regular season contests.
Yes, the Sabres had won the last two April battles decisively, and had a history of handling Ottawa in the playoffs, but some of the losses to the Senators were disgusting. Remember the 10-4 loss to the Senators on Nov. 2, 2005? Ryan Miller broke his thumb in the pregame skate, and Martin Biron was forced to start. Biron was pulled, Mika Noronen came in. Noronen was pulled. Biron came back in. Yikes.
So, that specter was looming. Both teams went 52-30 that year, but Ottawa was the East's No. 1 seed by virtue of three more overtime losses. The Senators mowed through the Lightning with even more ease than the Sabres dispatched the Flyers, and Buffalo had to go up to Kanata for Game One.
Most of The Howard Simon Show was at a local restaurant, packed with guys and gals in Sabres gear. During that run, bars, restaurants and living rooms felt almost as electric as the arenas hosting the games. This was the birth of car flags and odd collectibles, for better or worse.
The game got off to a great start for Buffalo, who got out of the gate in a hurry. Derek Roy fed Mike Grier for the game's first tally just 35 seconds into the contest. The marker was the first of many bookend goals of the contest, as the puck shot back-and-forth, from wire-to-wire, with no downtime.
Jason Spezza and Bryan Smolinski struck twice in fifteen seconds for Ottawa, restoring the feeling of home-ice advantage, but only for a handful of minutes. The two goals were the only consecutive goals scored by a single team until the thrilling final minute of hockey. Teppo Numminen's power play tally was the last of the first period's goals.
Martin Havlat put the Sens up very quickly in the second period, but Tim Connolly turned the tide with a goal that still leaves hockey fans breathless. Down a man, Connolly picked up a loose puck in his own end, made a Senator fall down and then stickhandled through two guys before putting a backhand from a seemingly impossible angle past Ray Emery (Thank goodness Emery was their goalie, by the way). It may have been Connolly's finest hour. I get a feeling Connolly's agent sent that goal on DVD to Darcy Regier every day last year, because for a moment $9 million doesn't seem that outlandish.
Just 46 seconds later, it was Dany Heatley's time to try and punch the Sabres in the gut with his third of the playoffs. Thing is, these Sabres were unable to be shocked, save for a horrifying run of injuries. With thirty seconds left in the second period, Derek Roy netted Buffalo's fourth goal, setting the stage for the most exciting period of hockey in a long, long time.
Mike Fisher's full-face mask watched the future Mr. Underwood put Ottawa up 5-4 just 16 seconds into the final frame of regulation, and it didn't look good when Brian Campbell took a penalty with a power play expiring.
The Sabres would be short-handed for 1:41 or less of the final 162 seconds. That's not a good recipe, but Buffalo had something cooking: another short-handed goal. Roy tipped the puck around Ottawa's point man and gave the puck to Connolly. The two broke away on a 2-on-1, and Connolly made another silly move before sliding the puck to Roy, who put the teams on level terms.
Re-enter Bryan Smolinski, who put Ottawa up 6-5 about 24 seconds after Roy's emotional equalizer. At that moment, there was no more disgusting sight in the world than the smug look on Smolinski's face. In retrospect, it's a wonderful look. His comeuppance arrived in short order.
Derek Roy dumped a shot on net with 18 seconds to go that Emery didn't cover up, even with the puck resting one foot from his foot. Daniel Briere swooped in and threw the puck on net with a back, and with 11 seconds on the clock, Connolly flicked a huge rebound into the net.
It was hysteria. People were jumping onto the tables at the restaurant, hugging total strangers. We were headed for overtime.
You know what happens next. Chris Drury beats Emery for the game-winner, with assists to Mike Grier and Ottawa's Zamboni driver. Senators defenseman Anton Volchenkov lost the puck in a pool of water. Grier scooped it up and dumped it off to Captain Clutch. Game over and, in a sense, series over. Ottawa won Game Four in Buffalo for their only victory of the series.
The series was unequivocably the No. 1 story of the decade mentioned by our staff. The 7-6 game was No. 1 by far, while Jason Pominville's Game Five goal was talked about almost as much. If you're talking 2000-09, you'll have a hard time finding a better moment for Buffalo sports, but feel free to try.
Here's to a much better 10 years.
Email: nick@wgr550.com
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
The 2000s so far: Moment No. 2
2. Sabres stay put -- March 14, 2003
With victories, losses, free agency and trades, it's easy to forget that the word "Portland" didn't mean "minor league affiliate" in the early part of this decade.
The Sabres were in trouble. As it goes with Buffalo sports teams, it was another movie plot line. Their owner, quite literally, was a criminal and the team appeared on the pathway to doom. Even when things looked up, they were down: A business man named Mark Hamister wanted to buy the team, and was supported by the league. Turns out he didn't have a lot of money and wanted the government to help him a lot. Whoops.
Our own Bulldog lays out how precarious the team's future could've been under Hamister.
"Tom Golisano buys the Buffalo Sabres out of bankruptcy, keeping Mark Hamister and a proposal heavy on state aid from going through," Bulldog writes. "In case you forgot, the Hamister bid would have allowed the Rigas family to retain a partial ownership interest. Seriously. And most every local politician was on board. Hurray for regional leadership."
It was a frightening time to be a Sabres fan, especially for guys like me who grew up adoring ice hockey more than any other sport and was thrilled when his dad or mom got a pair of tickets from work. There was a sense of disbelief as we were forced to contemplate the very real fact that Buffalo could lose its National Hockey League franchise.
Luckily for Buffalo, the $92 million price tag was very appealing to Rochester billionaire Thomas Golisano, and the billionaire has done very well since purchasing the team. The Sabres have done alright, too, as Brian Koziol writes:
"I know this event isn't fun or even that exciting," Koziol writes. "The Winter Classic was more fun, the Music City Miracle was clearly the most memorable play of the decade, but no other event saved a franchise that is now so beloved by this city."
It wasn't a game. There wasn't a ticker tape parade or a memorable play-by-play call. You can't even write that much about it with great emotion. The fact remains that whether you love the way he operates his hockey club, Buffalo might not have their Sabres without the decision made that winter.
Email: nick@wgr550.com
With victories, losses, free agency and trades, it's easy to forget that the word "Portland" didn't mean "minor league affiliate" in the early part of this decade.
The Sabres were in trouble. As it goes with Buffalo sports teams, it was another movie plot line. Their owner, quite literally, was a criminal and the team appeared on the pathway to doom. Even when things looked up, they were down: A business man named Mark Hamister wanted to buy the team, and was supported by the league. Turns out he didn't have a lot of money and wanted the government to help him a lot. Whoops.
Our own Bulldog lays out how precarious the team's future could've been under Hamister.
"Tom Golisano buys the Buffalo Sabres out of bankruptcy, keeping Mark Hamister and a proposal heavy on state aid from going through," Bulldog writes. "In case you forgot, the Hamister bid would have allowed the Rigas family to retain a partial ownership interest. Seriously. And most every local politician was on board. Hurray for regional leadership."
It was a frightening time to be a Sabres fan, especially for guys like me who grew up adoring ice hockey more than any other sport and was thrilled when his dad or mom got a pair of tickets from work. There was a sense of disbelief as we were forced to contemplate the very real fact that Buffalo could lose its National Hockey League franchise.
Luckily for Buffalo, the $92 million price tag was very appealing to Rochester billionaire Thomas Golisano, and the billionaire has done very well since purchasing the team. The Sabres have done alright, too, as Brian Koziol writes:
"I know this event isn't fun or even that exciting," Koziol writes. "The Winter Classic was more fun, the Music City Miracle was clearly the most memorable play of the decade, but no other event saved a franchise that is now so beloved by this city."
It wasn't a game. There wasn't a ticker tape parade or a memorable play-by-play call. You can't even write that much about it with great emotion. The fact remains that whether you love the way he operates his hockey club, Buffalo might not have their Sabres without the decision made that winter.
Email: nick@wgr550.com
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
The 2000s so far: Moment No. 3
3. Buffalo Bills at Tennessee Titans, AFC Wild Card playoffs -- January 8, 2000
If you can believe it, even in retrospect, the Titans were just scrambling for an option to get themselves into field goal range. Down 16-15 with just 16 seconds on the clock, Tennessee special teams coach Alan Lowry leafed through his options and decided on a play to get them as far down the field as possible.
It was called "Home Run Throwback."
Having tumult to close the game was only fitting considering the way the Bills regular season had gone, and ended. The Bills lost big at Indianapolis to open the season, only to reel off four wins. At 4-1, Buffalo proceeded to drop two-in-a-row before winning six of nine, enabling coach Wade Phillips to rest his starters in Week Sixteen.
Problem is, backup quarterback Rob Johnson embarrassed the Colts, 31-6, and someone decided it was a great idea to start the kid over 15-game starter Doug Flutie. To be fair, "Flutie Magic" didn't really translate to stat sheet that year -- Flutie had tossed a modest 19 touchdowns to go with 16 interceptions.
Still, step back and imagine this scenario happened this week in the NFL -- Arizona's Matt Leinart lights up Green Bay in a meaningless Week 17 game, and Ken Whisenhunt installs Leinart over Kurt Warner as the starter for their Wild Card match-up. ESPN would actually start on fire. Merrill Hoge and Mark Schlereth would be in studio playing dodgeball with throwing stars.
That would be more exciting than the way the game began, with no scoring in the first quarter. A Jevon Kearse-sacking of Rob Johnson in the end zone was worth two points, and kick-started a 12-point second frame for Tennessee. Antowain Smith scored twice for the Bills to make it 13-12, but a two-point conversion failed, allowing the Titans to take a 15-13 lead on an Al Del Greco field goal.
Then Johnson, having a miserable day to that point -- and to be fair, overall -- lead the Bills on a thing of a beauty that culminated in a 41-yard Steve Christie field goal. Forget his 10-of-22 for 131 yards stat line, Johnson and the Buffalo Bills appeared headed to the next round, barring a miracle.
%$^&*%.
"You will never be able to convince me that the Bills would not have won the Super Bowl that year," WGR's Dan Cave writes. "Sure, there was the whole Johnson/Flutie thing that would have remained unsettled. I can't imagine Flutie keeping quiet had they adavanced much further, and as we know in retrospect, Johnson didn't exactly have a penchant for big games...or just games. But it's still fun to pretend."
It's fun to pretend, but it would be better if what happened could be erased from the history of Buffalo sports. Frank Wycheck heaved the ball across the field to Kevin Dyson, who raced 75 yards for a 22-16 lead. The feeling of futility while watching Dyson race down the sideline immediately following the thrill of Buffalo taking the lead made the loss even more gut-wrenching. There was a lengthy review that proved useless for Bills fans, and in the days that followed, newspapers would have physicists, professors and witch doctors detailing how the Earth's rotation and revolution made it the play a forward pass. That really happened.
"I don't presume to know whether the ball went forward or backward, but I do know this: That was the worst way to lose a game in the history of anything," Cave wrote. "If you are a Bills fan, the good news is, it will never get worse than that. If you are not a Bills fan, I pray you never go through that. It was a worse feeling than the Norwood miss because it's not as if Super Bowl XXV had been locked up and you were practically assured of victory. Norwood still had to kick the ball!"
I could tell you about the Bills firing 13-year special teams coach Bruce DeHaven and hiring the defensive coordinator of the team that beat them, but Mr. Cave is on a roll.
"This gets the top spot (in Cave's poll) for those reasons and because we all know what happened next," Cave continues. "Thurman, Andre, and Bruce were unceremoniously dumped, Cowart got injured, Johnson won the Great QB Derby, Tom Donahoe took power, Gregg Williams got hired (and Marvin Lewis and John Fox did not). Bledsoe got here, McGahee got here, Ruben Brown got unceremoniously dumped, Williams got fired, Mularkey arrived, J.P. Losman got drafted, it became obvious that Bledsoe and McGahee would not be what we hoped, Donahoe called us jerks, Moulds got into a shouting match on the sideline, Marv Levy took over (huh?), Mularkey agreed to come back, Mularkey quit, Jauron took over, and that should about bring you up to speed."
%^^**^(* Music City Miracle, man.
Email: nick@wgr550.com
If you can believe it, even in retrospect, the Titans were just scrambling for an option to get themselves into field goal range. Down 16-15 with just 16 seconds on the clock, Tennessee special teams coach Alan Lowry leafed through his options and decided on a play to get them as far down the field as possible.
It was called "Home Run Throwback."
Having tumult to close the game was only fitting considering the way the Bills regular season had gone, and ended. The Bills lost big at Indianapolis to open the season, only to reel off four wins. At 4-1, Buffalo proceeded to drop two-in-a-row before winning six of nine, enabling coach Wade Phillips to rest his starters in Week Sixteen.
Problem is, backup quarterback Rob Johnson embarrassed the Colts, 31-6, and someone decided it was a great idea to start the kid over 15-game starter Doug Flutie. To be fair, "Flutie Magic" didn't really translate to stat sheet that year -- Flutie had tossed a modest 19 touchdowns to go with 16 interceptions.
Still, step back and imagine this scenario happened this week in the NFL -- Arizona's Matt Leinart lights up Green Bay in a meaningless Week 17 game, and Ken Whisenhunt installs Leinart over Kurt Warner as the starter for their Wild Card match-up. ESPN would actually start on fire. Merrill Hoge and Mark Schlereth would be in studio playing dodgeball with throwing stars.
That would be more exciting than the way the game began, with no scoring in the first quarter. A Jevon Kearse-sacking of Rob Johnson in the end zone was worth two points, and kick-started a 12-point second frame for Tennessee. Antowain Smith scored twice for the Bills to make it 13-12, but a two-point conversion failed, allowing the Titans to take a 15-13 lead on an Al Del Greco field goal.
Then Johnson, having a miserable day to that point -- and to be fair, overall -- lead the Bills on a thing of a beauty that culminated in a 41-yard Steve Christie field goal. Forget his 10-of-22 for 131 yards stat line, Johnson and the Buffalo Bills appeared headed to the next round, barring a miracle.
%$^&*%.
"You will never be able to convince me that the Bills would not have won the Super Bowl that year," WGR's Dan Cave writes. "Sure, there was the whole Johnson/Flutie thing that would have remained unsettled. I can't imagine Flutie keeping quiet had they adavanced much further, and as we know in retrospect, Johnson didn't exactly have a penchant for big games...or just games. But it's still fun to pretend."
It's fun to pretend, but it would be better if what happened could be erased from the history of Buffalo sports. Frank Wycheck heaved the ball across the field to Kevin Dyson, who raced 75 yards for a 22-16 lead. The feeling of futility while watching Dyson race down the sideline immediately following the thrill of Buffalo taking the lead made the loss even more gut-wrenching. There was a lengthy review that proved useless for Bills fans, and in the days that followed, newspapers would have physicists, professors and witch doctors detailing how the Earth's rotation and revolution made it the play a forward pass. That really happened.
"I don't presume to know whether the ball went forward or backward, but I do know this: That was the worst way to lose a game in the history of anything," Cave wrote. "If you are a Bills fan, the good news is, it will never get worse than that. If you are not a Bills fan, I pray you never go through that. It was a worse feeling than the Norwood miss because it's not as if Super Bowl XXV had been locked up and you were practically assured of victory. Norwood still had to kick the ball!"
I could tell you about the Bills firing 13-year special teams coach Bruce DeHaven and hiring the defensive coordinator of the team that beat them, but Mr. Cave is on a roll.
"This gets the top spot (in Cave's poll) for those reasons and because we all know what happened next," Cave continues. "Thurman, Andre, and Bruce were unceremoniously dumped, Cowart got injured, Johnson won the Great QB Derby, Tom Donahoe took power, Gregg Williams got hired (and Marvin Lewis and John Fox did not). Bledsoe got here, McGahee got here, Ruben Brown got unceremoniously dumped, Williams got fired, Mularkey arrived, J.P. Losman got drafted, it became obvious that Bledsoe and McGahee would not be what we hoped, Donahoe called us jerks, Moulds got into a shouting match on the sideline, Marv Levy took over (huh?), Mularkey agreed to come back, Mularkey quit, Jauron took over, and that should about bring you up to speed."
%^^**^(* Music City Miracle, man.
Email: nick@wgr550.com
Monday, December 28, 2009
The 2000s so far: Moment No. 4 (tie)
4. (tie) Chris Drury and Daniel Briere skip town/allowed to leave as unrestricted free agents -- July 1, 2007
In what was seemingly the area's biggest "he-said-he-said-he-said-he-said" not involving the waterfront or an international bridge, the Sabres players, front office, Buffalo media and fans combined on a year-long contractual headache culminating in a 34-minute-or-so period that punched almost all involved in the throat.
The Chris Drury/Daniel Briere era of Sabres hockey provided Buffalo sports fans with something impossible to manufacture: innocence and euphoria. Their departure took the story in the all-too-familiar direction -- pain, misery, woe, dire straits, bickering, yadda yadda yadda. Worse, Buffalo felt the pain the of a jilted lover, as the two chose new jerseys reviled in the Queen City.
For our part, I remember coming into work on Sunday night because Briere had signed with Philadelphia. By the time the members of The Howard Simon Show had assembled in studio for a late night show, reports were surfacing that Drury was a Ranger.
How could the management let these two vital cogs skip town? Didn't they know there was a period of time before free agency to sign important players? And how could these two leave Buffalo for New York and Philadelphia? Didn't they care about the city as much as they said they had?
Both players were nice hockey players before they came to town, but Buffalo made Briere and Drury the stars they are now, especially No. 48. Both were cast-offs, as we've mentioned in other moments in this series. Briere was a mercurial player who never shook the reputation of "talented player who stays on the ice too long and doesn't play defense," while Drury's reputation as post-season hero wasn't enough to convince Calgary he was part of the answer after just one full season in Alberta.
So they came here, put lightning in a bottle and shook it around a bit. There's no way to capture that magic in simple words when dealing with such a negative story, but suffice it to say the Sabres were really good, and it was mostly these two who deserved the credit, along with Lindy Ruff and his coaching staff, who set up that whole "Danny, you go on one side of the net, Chris, you on the other. It's the power play, so pass it back and forth until one of you scores. It'll be cool."
Take a lot at their points-per-game before-and-after their time in Buffalo:
Daniel Briere -
with Phoenix: 258 gms, 70 goals, 76 assists, -19 (.566)
with Buffalo: 226 gms, 92 goals, 138 assists, +14 (1.02)
with Philadelphia: 138 gms, 54 goals, 64 assists, -32 (.855)
Chris Drury-
w/ Colorado and Calgary: 394 gms, 108 goals, 167 assists, +15 (.698)
with Buffalo: 234 gms, 85 goals, 104 assists, -2 (.808)
with NY Rangers: 194 gms, 52 goals, 76 assists, -17 (.660)
We haven't even mentioned the money. These guys, according to many including themselves, could've been had for a lot less a lot earlier than July 1. Instead, New York and Philadelphia paid a lot of green for the co-captains. Drury got five years and $35.25 million from the Rangers, while Briere received eight years and $52 million from the Flyers.
Not bad for guys who were worth about $5 million-per just a few months beforehand. You know the drill from then-on-in: a lot of bickering in Western New York. Larry Quinn, Darcy Regier and Tom Golisano were vilified. Television news broadcasters started showing up to hockey press conferences, asking awesome questions like, "What do you say to those fans who spent money on Drury and Briere jerseys?"
To his credit, Regier uttered a pretty funny response, pausing before saying, "Sorry?"
Whoever's fault it really was, it stunk, and shaped the Sabres for years, as Buffalo had no choice but to match Edmonton's massive offer sheet to restricted free agent Thomas Vanek. Whatever happens in the next few years, it'll be hard to forget how good it was, and how badly it was fouled up.
Email: nick@wgr550.com
In what was seemingly the area's biggest "he-said-he-said-he-said-he-said" not involving the waterfront or an international bridge, the Sabres players, front office, Buffalo media and fans combined on a year-long contractual headache culminating in a 34-minute-or-so period that punched almost all involved in the throat.
The Chris Drury/Daniel Briere era of Sabres hockey provided Buffalo sports fans with something impossible to manufacture: innocence and euphoria. Their departure took the story in the all-too-familiar direction -- pain, misery, woe, dire straits, bickering, yadda yadda yadda. Worse, Buffalo felt the pain the of a jilted lover, as the two chose new jerseys reviled in the Queen City.
For our part, I remember coming into work on Sunday night because Briere had signed with Philadelphia. By the time the members of The Howard Simon Show had assembled in studio for a late night show, reports were surfacing that Drury was a Ranger.
How could the management let these two vital cogs skip town? Didn't they know there was a period of time before free agency to sign important players? And how could these two leave Buffalo for New York and Philadelphia? Didn't they care about the city as much as they said they had?
Both players were nice hockey players before they came to town, but Buffalo made Briere and Drury the stars they are now, especially No. 48. Both were cast-offs, as we've mentioned in other moments in this series. Briere was a mercurial player who never shook the reputation of "talented player who stays on the ice too long and doesn't play defense," while Drury's reputation as post-season hero wasn't enough to convince Calgary he was part of the answer after just one full season in Alberta.
So they came here, put lightning in a bottle and shook it around a bit. There's no way to capture that magic in simple words when dealing with such a negative story, but suffice it to say the Sabres were really good, and it was mostly these two who deserved the credit, along with Lindy Ruff and his coaching staff, who set up that whole "Danny, you go on one side of the net, Chris, you on the other. It's the power play, so pass it back and forth until one of you scores. It'll be cool."
Take a lot at their points-per-game before-and-after their time in Buffalo:
Daniel Briere -
with Phoenix: 258 gms, 70 goals, 76 assists, -19 (.566)
with Buffalo: 226 gms, 92 goals, 138 assists, +14 (1.02)
with Philadelphia: 138 gms, 54 goals, 64 assists, -32 (.855)
Chris Drury-
w/ Colorado and Calgary: 394 gms, 108 goals, 167 assists, +15 (.698)
with Buffalo: 234 gms, 85 goals, 104 assists, -2 (.808)
with NY Rangers: 194 gms, 52 goals, 76 assists, -17 (.660)
We haven't even mentioned the money. These guys, according to many including themselves, could've been had for a lot less a lot earlier than July 1. Instead, New York and Philadelphia paid a lot of green for the co-captains. Drury got five years and $35.25 million from the Rangers, while Briere received eight years and $52 million from the Flyers.
Not bad for guys who were worth about $5 million-per just a few months beforehand. You know the drill from then-on-in: a lot of bickering in Western New York. Larry Quinn, Darcy Regier and Tom Golisano were vilified. Television news broadcasters started showing up to hockey press conferences, asking awesome questions like, "What do you say to those fans who spent money on Drury and Briere jerseys?"
To his credit, Regier uttered a pretty funny response, pausing before saying, "Sorry?"
Whoever's fault it really was, it stunk, and shaped the Sabres for years, as Buffalo had no choice but to match Edmonton's massive offer sheet to restricted free agent Thomas Vanek. Whatever happens in the next few years, it'll be hard to forget how good it was, and how badly it was fouled up.
Email: nick@wgr550.com
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Immediate Reactions, Wk16
It's all about the quarterback.
I could use some flowery language and pretend there was some sort of stage set for the start of something special, but the truth is far from it. The Buffalo Bills are a subpar football team ravaged by injury that's in great need of leaders and a quarterback, especially the latter. There was only one skill player on the entire field who did anything worthwhile, and he's thinking of retiring. Not only that, but Perry Fewell may one day be an NFL head coach. It shouldn't be here and now, though.
Sadly, let's break it down...
-- Fewell's a pretty decent coach, but he hasn't done a good enough to job to stop the major overhaul that is needed in many departments of One Bills Drive. Fans can put up with the garbage they've seen in certain scenarios because of injuries and poor personnel, but no one wants to see Fewell hide in a shell of Dick Jauron conservatism. Nothing is going to get done with weak punt calls on fourth-and-shorts in the opponents territory in a game you need to win to have a shot at the Buffalo head coaching job. It was unacceptable.
-- If there is anyone out there thinking that Brian Brohm is either brilliant or awful, please inform them they are trying too hard. To be fair, it may be impossible to judge the performances of any of the Bills signal callers this year, save for saying they aren't good enough to be No. 1 quarterbacks in the National Football League. Should Brohm start Week 17? Absolutely. The sad thing is, Brohm's 146 yards passing isn't even in the bottom of third of the Bills quarterbacks this year.
Fitzpatrick, 297 yards in Wk11
Fitzpatrick, 246 yards in Wk12
Edwards, 230 yards in Wk2
Edwards, 212 yards in Wk1
Edwards, 192 yards in Wk4
Edwards, 185 yards in Wk10
Fitzpatrick, 178 yards in Wk15
Edwards, 156 yards in Wk3
Edwards, 152 yards in Wk5
Brohm, 146 yards in Wk16
Fitzpatrick, 123 yards in Wk7
Fitzpatrick, 117 yards in Wk8
Fitzpatrick, 116 yards in Wk6
Fitzpatrick, 98 yards in Wk14
Fitzpatrick, 86 yards in Wk 13
-- The extra sad thing is Brohm may have been only one play away from having a stat line that looked a lot like Matt Ryan's Week 16 performance. Brohm tried to hit Terrell Owens on a deep ball that Owens looked less-than-interested in breaking up. No, it wasn't a good throw, but Owens gave his critics something to pick at on that play.
-- I do want to say this for the quarterbacks. Edwards won the job out of camp, and the quarterbacks numbers have declined week-by-week. Why is that? No, it's not Alex Van Pelt. The Bills lost Brad Butler in Week Two, and linemen were lost for the season bi-weekly afterwards. Even Jamon Meredith, who wasn't miserable, was absent from some contests with injury. Believe it or not, this offensive line doesn't need a major fix. It needs depth and a left tackle. Andy Levitre, Geoff Hangartner and Butler will be back and starting, and hopefully Eric Wood will heal correctly as well. If Richie Incognito wants to stick around as an extra linemen, that's probably okay, too.
-- If you're one of the folks thinking the dismissal of Langston Walker cost the Bills their season, you'll be happy to learn he doesn't even start for the 5-10 Raiders. Ahead of him on the depth chart at right tackle? Undrafted free agent Cornell Green out of the offensive line powerhouse than is the University of Central Florida.
-- Also, for those who want to argue that Turk Schonert would've done a better job than Alex Van Pelt, please go back and look at the games Schonert directed the Bills offense and then proceed to be quiet.
-- If Aaron Schobel wants to retire because he's an honorable guy who doesn't want to show up his organization by asking for a trade to a decent team, that's a shame. Schobel's three sacks give him 10 for the year and move him into the Top Ten amongst defensive ends, ahead of Mario Williams and Osi Umeniyora, one half-sack behind Julius Peppers. Schobel is also in the Top Five for tackles amongst ends. His recovery from a broken foot that hampered him throughout of 2008 is one of the only bright spots on the 2009 Bills. I sincerely hope he doesn't call it quits.
-- The defense can only take so much. Losing Jairus Byrd and Terrence McGee really lit the Bills secondary on fire. Drayton Florence is a fine No. 2 corner, but he doesn't work at No. 1. Donte Whitner shouldn't be a starting safety in the National Football League. I've given him every opportunity, maybe more than most because of the unfair label given to him for being the No. 8 overall pick. He's just not good enough to start.
-- Honestly, do you want the Bills to be a playoff team? All it takes is a quarterback to rectify most woes. Yes, even with a line this bad you can win games! Look at the difference in the AFC North. With Carson Palmer instead of Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Bengals have clinched the division, while the Steelers are fighting for their lives. Why? Well, Ben Roethlisberger missed one game against Baltimore this year, and Pittsburgh still only lost by three. They are 0-2 when he doesn't play the entire competitive portion of a game, as they lost in overtime to Kansas City when he was knocked out with a concussion (A game in which he threw for 398 yards).
-- There are other examples. Why were the Falcons a disappointing 7-7 before destroying the Bills on Sunday? Well, they were 0-2 without franchise quarterback Matt Ryan.
-- By the way, Bills fans, Charlie bleeping Frye threw for 333 yards on Sunday.
-- I'm cutting this short by saying it's all about the quarterback. All, and Brohm better start next Sunday, unless you plan on giving Gibran Hamdan a feel-good start.
Stat line I enjoyed:
Schobel, four tackles, three sacks
-- If he's leaving, Buffalo's in trouble. End should not be a Day One need next season, and the "for-sale signs on his yard" talk was unplanned.
Stat line I didn't enjoy:
Fred Jackson, 13 carries, 40 yards
-- Again, I love his story, but I'm not convinced he's a single feature back in this league. This team needs two of him.
Game ball:
Schobel
Lastly...
I got nothing.
Next Week:
Hot rumour is this game will be flexed to night. Sounds really cold. Indianapolis 31, Buffalo 11.
Email: nick@wgr550.com
I could use some flowery language and pretend there was some sort of stage set for the start of something special, but the truth is far from it. The Buffalo Bills are a subpar football team ravaged by injury that's in great need of leaders and a quarterback, especially the latter. There was only one skill player on the entire field who did anything worthwhile, and he's thinking of retiring. Not only that, but Perry Fewell may one day be an NFL head coach. It shouldn't be here and now, though.
Sadly, let's break it down...
-- Fewell's a pretty decent coach, but he hasn't done a good enough to job to stop the major overhaul that is needed in many departments of One Bills Drive. Fans can put up with the garbage they've seen in certain scenarios because of injuries and poor personnel, but no one wants to see Fewell hide in a shell of Dick Jauron conservatism. Nothing is going to get done with weak punt calls on fourth-and-shorts in the opponents territory in a game you need to win to have a shot at the Buffalo head coaching job. It was unacceptable.
-- If there is anyone out there thinking that Brian Brohm is either brilliant or awful, please inform them they are trying too hard. To be fair, it may be impossible to judge the performances of any of the Bills signal callers this year, save for saying they aren't good enough to be No. 1 quarterbacks in the National Football League. Should Brohm start Week 17? Absolutely. The sad thing is, Brohm's 146 yards passing isn't even in the bottom of third of the Bills quarterbacks this year.
Fitzpatrick, 297 yards in Wk11
Fitzpatrick, 246 yards in Wk12
Edwards, 230 yards in Wk2
Edwards, 212 yards in Wk1
Edwards, 192 yards in Wk4
Edwards, 185 yards in Wk10
Fitzpatrick, 178 yards in Wk15
Edwards, 156 yards in Wk3
Edwards, 152 yards in Wk5
Brohm, 146 yards in Wk16
Fitzpatrick, 123 yards in Wk7
Fitzpatrick, 117 yards in Wk8
Fitzpatrick, 116 yards in Wk6
Fitzpatrick, 98 yards in Wk14
Fitzpatrick, 86 yards in Wk 13
-- The extra sad thing is Brohm may have been only one play away from having a stat line that looked a lot like Matt Ryan's Week 16 performance. Brohm tried to hit Terrell Owens on a deep ball that Owens looked less-than-interested in breaking up. No, it wasn't a good throw, but Owens gave his critics something to pick at on that play.
-- I do want to say this for the quarterbacks. Edwards won the job out of camp, and the quarterbacks numbers have declined week-by-week. Why is that? No, it's not Alex Van Pelt. The Bills lost Brad Butler in Week Two, and linemen were lost for the season bi-weekly afterwards. Even Jamon Meredith, who wasn't miserable, was absent from some contests with injury. Believe it or not, this offensive line doesn't need a major fix. It needs depth and a left tackle. Andy Levitre, Geoff Hangartner and Butler will be back and starting, and hopefully Eric Wood will heal correctly as well. If Richie Incognito wants to stick around as an extra linemen, that's probably okay, too.
-- If you're one of the folks thinking the dismissal of Langston Walker cost the Bills their season, you'll be happy to learn he doesn't even start for the 5-10 Raiders. Ahead of him on the depth chart at right tackle? Undrafted free agent Cornell Green out of the offensive line powerhouse than is the University of Central Florida.
-- Also, for those who want to argue that Turk Schonert would've done a better job than Alex Van Pelt, please go back and look at the games Schonert directed the Bills offense and then proceed to be quiet.
-- If Aaron Schobel wants to retire because he's an honorable guy who doesn't want to show up his organization by asking for a trade to a decent team, that's a shame. Schobel's three sacks give him 10 for the year and move him into the Top Ten amongst defensive ends, ahead of Mario Williams and Osi Umeniyora, one half-sack behind Julius Peppers. Schobel is also in the Top Five for tackles amongst ends. His recovery from a broken foot that hampered him throughout of 2008 is one of the only bright spots on the 2009 Bills. I sincerely hope he doesn't call it quits.
-- The defense can only take so much. Losing Jairus Byrd and Terrence McGee really lit the Bills secondary on fire. Drayton Florence is a fine No. 2 corner, but he doesn't work at No. 1. Donte Whitner shouldn't be a starting safety in the National Football League. I've given him every opportunity, maybe more than most because of the unfair label given to him for being the No. 8 overall pick. He's just not good enough to start.
-- Honestly, do you want the Bills to be a playoff team? All it takes is a quarterback to rectify most woes. Yes, even with a line this bad you can win games! Look at the difference in the AFC North. With Carson Palmer instead of Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Bengals have clinched the division, while the Steelers are fighting for their lives. Why? Well, Ben Roethlisberger missed one game against Baltimore this year, and Pittsburgh still only lost by three. They are 0-2 when he doesn't play the entire competitive portion of a game, as they lost in overtime to Kansas City when he was knocked out with a concussion (A game in which he threw for 398 yards).
-- There are other examples. Why were the Falcons a disappointing 7-7 before destroying the Bills on Sunday? Well, they were 0-2 without franchise quarterback Matt Ryan.
-- By the way, Bills fans, Charlie bleeping Frye threw for 333 yards on Sunday.
-- I'm cutting this short by saying it's all about the quarterback. All, and Brohm better start next Sunday, unless you plan on giving Gibran Hamdan a feel-good start.
Stat line I enjoyed:
Schobel, four tackles, three sacks
-- If he's leaving, Buffalo's in trouble. End should not be a Day One need next season, and the "for-sale signs on his yard" talk was unplanned.
Stat line I didn't enjoy:
Fred Jackson, 13 carries, 40 yards
-- Again, I love his story, but I'm not convinced he's a single feature back in this league. This team needs two of him.
Game ball:
Schobel
Lastly...
I got nothing.
Next Week:
Hot rumour is this game will be flexed to night. Sounds really cold. Indianapolis 31, Buffalo 11.
Email: nick@wgr550.com
Thursday, December 24, 2009
The 2000s so far: Moment No. 4
4. (tie) The Winter Classic, Pittsburgh Penguins at Buffalo Sabres, Ralph Wilson Stadium -- January 1, 2008
If there's one thing Buffalo likes, it's tailgating and multiples -- multiple drinks, multiple friends, multiple vision. So, when the National Hockey League announced they were going to give the city an extra chance to do it on national television, the clamor for tickets was instant.
In what was probably the worst day for bandwidth and internet speed in the history of Western New York, Sabres fans jammed the ticket-buying sites on Sept. 17, 2007, to try and purchase some of the 73,000-plus tickets available for the contest which would later come to be known as the NHL Super Energy Drink Ice Hockey Contest of Greatness, Powered by Ninjas or something like that.
For my part, I was in the 20/20 Sportsbooth while the rest of The Howard Simon Show and our boss, Andy Roth, were at other computers trying to get through the online waiting room, which doesn't even have old magazines. I lucked out, and didn't hesitate to buy the maximum amount of tickets at the risk of my bank statement. Eight tickets. Thank God, I have a huge hockey-loving immediate family, or I would've had to host a Mortal Kombat-style fighting tournament including my friends.
While the NHL has upped the ante on outdoor games with contests in historic ballparks like Wrigley Field and Fenway Park (next week), don't let the novelty of the event taint your memories on what was one of the most exciting events in Buffalo sports history. The Sabres abandonned their maligned new uniforms for the old classic almost everyone wanted, and the Penguins went back to the days before everyone needed to wear black, donning gorgeous baby blue uniforms for the occasions.
They was grilling and Polish horseshoes, beer and banter, parkas and pucks. All seemingly without the threat of bloodshed in a parking lot. The city was still in the throes of iced hockey's glory, even with the team off to a sluggish start that wouldn't get any better. The explanation seemed too easy: "We're a heck of a town. Those are some really nice cameras. Let's show this country our best."
WGR's Brian Koziol and Corey Griswold will remember it as a moment for their city and its fans.
"As an organization, this was the pinnacle of the post-lockout run," Griswold writes. "The entire hockey world focused on Buffalo, and the city did not disappoint. An entire football stadium filled with hockey fans on a dreary, wet day to watch a great spectacle. It wasn't great hockey in a technical sense (hockey outside never is) and the Sabres ended up losing (and were never quite the same). Regardless, it was a banner day for local sports. Not only did the city belong in the big time of professional sports, it owned it. At least for a day."
"Best event of the decade to attend in person in WNY," Koziol added. "The snow, the fans, the uniforms, the stage of Crosby vs Miller -- It was almost perfect. Had the Sabres won, it would have been."
There 14,000 more people there than the 2003 Heritage Classic in Edmonton, and you sure could tell, even after Colby Armstrong scored 21 seconds into the game. Conspiracy Theorists just getting to their seats probably figured, "Great! The NHL is spotting Crosby one."
Through all the memorable moments, from the national anthems to Sidney Crosby's game-winning shoot-out goal, one still gives me chills -- the sound of 73,000-plus screaming to high Heaven as Brian Campbell's second-period shot found netting to tie it at one. Maybe the ice wasn't great, and yes, the weather wasn't ideal, but as Lindy Ruff told reporters after the game, "The hell with the cynics." This was a brilliant day for Buffalo, and the choir of all that is holy in hockey here sang out, sang out for all to hear.
For my entire life, I've adored the game of hockey. It started with skating at Brighton Arena and loving the feel of the ice beneath me. It turned into lacing them up on Ellicott Creek, or at Ives Pond, and dreaming of the name "Mendola" atop the No. 9 or 12 of a white home Sabres jersey. It now lives in beer leagues, on the Erie Basin Marina and in my Uncle Larry's frozen backyard with cousins and friends, and that day -- it was celebrated in the best darn hockey town in America.
Email: nick@wgr550.com
If there's one thing Buffalo likes, it's tailgating and multiples -- multiple drinks, multiple friends, multiple vision. So, when the National Hockey League announced they were going to give the city an extra chance to do it on national television, the clamor for tickets was instant.
In what was probably the worst day for bandwidth and internet speed in the history of Western New York, Sabres fans jammed the ticket-buying sites on Sept. 17, 2007, to try and purchase some of the 73,000-plus tickets available for the contest which would later come to be known as the NHL Super Energy Drink Ice Hockey Contest of Greatness, Powered by Ninjas or something like that.
For my part, I was in the 20/20 Sportsbooth while the rest of The Howard Simon Show and our boss, Andy Roth, were at other computers trying to get through the online waiting room, which doesn't even have old magazines. I lucked out, and didn't hesitate to buy the maximum amount of tickets at the risk of my bank statement. Eight tickets. Thank God, I have a huge hockey-loving immediate family, or I would've had to host a Mortal Kombat-style fighting tournament including my friends.
While the NHL has upped the ante on outdoor games with contests in historic ballparks like Wrigley Field and Fenway Park (next week), don't let the novelty of the event taint your memories on what was one of the most exciting events in Buffalo sports history. The Sabres abandonned their maligned new uniforms for the old classic almost everyone wanted, and the Penguins went back to the days before everyone needed to wear black, donning gorgeous baby blue uniforms for the occasions.
They was grilling and Polish horseshoes, beer and banter, parkas and pucks. All seemingly without the threat of bloodshed in a parking lot. The city was still in the throes of iced hockey's glory, even with the team off to a sluggish start that wouldn't get any better. The explanation seemed too easy: "We're a heck of a town. Those are some really nice cameras. Let's show this country our best."
WGR's Brian Koziol and Corey Griswold will remember it as a moment for their city and its fans.
"As an organization, this was the pinnacle of the post-lockout run," Griswold writes. "The entire hockey world focused on Buffalo, and the city did not disappoint. An entire football stadium filled with hockey fans on a dreary, wet day to watch a great spectacle. It wasn't great hockey in a technical sense (hockey outside never is) and the Sabres ended up losing (and were never quite the same). Regardless, it was a banner day for local sports. Not only did the city belong in the big time of professional sports, it owned it. At least for a day."
"Best event of the decade to attend in person in WNY," Koziol added. "The snow, the fans, the uniforms, the stage of Crosby vs Miller -- It was almost perfect. Had the Sabres won, it would have been."
There 14,000 more people there than the 2003 Heritage Classic in Edmonton, and you sure could tell, even after Colby Armstrong scored 21 seconds into the game. Conspiracy Theorists just getting to their seats probably figured, "Great! The NHL is spotting Crosby one."
Through all the memorable moments, from the national anthems to Sidney Crosby's game-winning shoot-out goal, one still gives me chills -- the sound of 73,000-plus screaming to high Heaven as Brian Campbell's second-period shot found netting to tie it at one. Maybe the ice wasn't great, and yes, the weather wasn't ideal, but as Lindy Ruff told reporters after the game, "The hell with the cynics." This was a brilliant day for Buffalo, and the choir of all that is holy in hockey here sang out, sang out for all to hear.
For my entire life, I've adored the game of hockey. It started with skating at Brighton Arena and loving the feel of the ice beneath me. It turned into lacing them up on Ellicott Creek, or at Ives Pond, and dreaming of the name "Mendola" atop the No. 9 or 12 of a white home Sabres jersey. It now lives in beer leagues, on the Erie Basin Marina and in my Uncle Larry's frozen backyard with cousins and friends, and that day -- it was celebrated in the best darn hockey town in America.
Email: nick@wgr550.com
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
