Sunday Drafting...

Some Sunday drafts:

• Brown and green don't always make for the most appealing color scheme, but it's looking pretty good just south of downtown Buffalo. I always love hearing about things that reinforce the fact that Buffalo is experiencing a resurgence, and the latest photos of the "Steel Winds" project in Lackawanna is pretty exciting stuff. The energy generating wind turbines are being erected on the eastern edge of Lake Erie, but it's the ground they're occupying that's important. Instead of taking up space on potential commercial/residential or light industrial waterfront space, the wind turbines sit on some of the most polluted areas of the former Bethlehem Steel campus. Renewable energy on a defunct industrial brownfield. Green and brown. It's said to be the first project of it's kind in the US, and the turbines will become the 3rd tallest structures in WNY. The city of Lackawanna, which has struggled to recover from Bethlehem's massive closings in the 80's is harnessing the winds off of Lake Erie that once blew so many pollutants from the steel furnaces into residential yards, that laundry hung out to dry would be pulled off the line dirtier than before it was washed.
• Everyone in the hockey world is talking about the recent home-and-home series between the Sabres and Senators, so here are my thoughts. While it seems that the general consensus among hockey broadcasters is that Chris Neil's late blindsiding of Sabre captain and leading goal scorer Chris Drury was legal but dirty. From trolling through some message boards and forums however, fans are split mostly down the middle, if not favoring the view that Neil's hit was unnecessary, dangerous and generally crappy. I think that what is completely ludicrous is the criticism of Lindy Ruff for sending out his enforcer/goon line immediately after Drury was leveled. I'm not sure what coach, at any level of hockey hasn't done this following a play where they felt the opposing team was taking liberties.
• What's up with the uni's in college basketball this season? Not only does it seem to me that numerous teams are no longer wearing home whites, but the additional piping accents are absolutely hideous. Watching Ohio St at home vs Wisconsin this afternoon it just seemed weird to watch the home team wearing grey. I understand that grey is an integral part of OSU's color scheme, but it simply doesn't look like a home jersey. With the student body shirts also being grey, the OSU arena looked like a bad attempt at a playoff "white-out" that's become common in the NHL and NBA.
• I think the new movie 300 looks sick and I can't wait to go see it.
• A great article today in The Buffalo News regarding Sabres' GM Darcy Regier and his legacy. With news today about Atlanta picking up Alexi Zhitnik and Keith Tkachuk, the pressure is on for Regier to bolster the Buffalo line-up. While you don't want to see your team overpay in any trade, does anyone care if that team wins a championship?
• The more I think about it, the more I think it could be possible for Buffalo to keep its captains, Daniel Briere and Chris Drury next season. More to come this week.
• It's funny how old traditions die hard. I watched the Sabres game last night with my 80 year old grandfather, one of the biggest sports fans I know. Twice the Sabres trailed by 3 goals in the game, and twice my grandpa stated disgustedly that the game was over. Twice the Sabres came back to tie the game. 3 years ago, I would have been right with my grandpa, but the fact is, the NHL is a different league, and the Sabres have one of the most resilient teams that I've ever watched.
• There was news today that the Bills are interested in dealing RB Willis McGahee, perhaps to the NY Giants. I can't understand why the Giants would be interested in McGahee when they already have a big, powerful back in Brandon Jacobs. The fact is, teams that were successful last year didn't rely on two big backs, but rather one bruiser, and quick speedy option. Chicago, New Orleans, New England and Indy all were successful using two backs, but none featured two bruisers. McGahee is in the last year of his contract in Buffalo, and apparently rather than re-sign him, the Bills are interested in seeing what they can get for him. Personally I like the idea of trading him for a 2nd round pick. McGahee is a useful back, but RB's that can pick up 1,000+ yds a season are a dime a dozen. If Willis goes, I'd love to see the Bills pick up a smaller speed back in the draft, and pair him with Anthony Thomas.
• I missed The Office this week, and I feel like my life has been much less funny as a result.
• Encouraging news about the growth of the banking industry in Buffalo, with news that Citigroup will add between 700 and 1,000 jobs in a back-office banking center to be built at CrossPoint business park (where I go to work everyday at GEICO). After talking with my cousin this weekend who lives in Washington, D.C. it makes sense to me why large coroporations would be more than happy to build here. While NY State taxes are mostly absurd, corporations are still able to offer salaries here that are higher than the local average, but much cheaper than what employers have to pay out in Chicago, DC, NYC and Boston. What's great is that even though the salaries being offered are for less money, the cost of living in WNY is so fantastic that anyone can be comfortable. What my cousing is paying for a 600 sq/ft apartment in DC, she could be living in a fully furnished, gorgeous, newly-rehabbed apartment downtown.
• The Oscars apparently are tonight and I honestly could care less. For my money, the best movie I've seen since Lord of the Rings was Children of Men.

Closing Time in Buffalo

This coming Tuesday at 3pm marks the close of the NHL shopping season, an event that is quite unlike any other in professional sports. For the past week, and especially the next 3 days clusters of fans across the United States, as well as most of the population of Canada, will find themselves continuously updating bizarre blog sites, downloading applets such as cbc.ca's Trade Tracker and generally do more gossiping about nothing than a pledge class of drunk sorority girls.
While the NHL cannot compete with the coverage that the national media devotes to the NFL, MLB, college b-ball and football and even the NBA at times, it does not mean that the game or the league has nothing to offer. There are few sporting events as dramatic or passion filled as an NHL game between rivals in a sold out arena. Many of my friends in the midwest don't understand this, seeing that basketball is THE winter sport along Interstate 90, stretching from Erie, PA to Chicago (and probably a bit beyond...at least to Joliet).
I have no problem with this...it makes sense. Chicago hasn't had a competitive hockey team in close to two decades, a crime for an Original 6 franchise, with quite possibly the best jerseys in all of sports. While Bill Wirtz was busy running peanut vendors out of the United Center and his team into the cellar, the Bulls were busy winning 6 NBA titles with the most recognizable athlete the world has ever seen.
Heading East from Chicago, you travel through Indiana, which ever since the release of Hoosiers has been generally accepted as the capital of high school basketball. With no pro hockey team in the state, and probably the fewest ice rinks of any northern state, it's no wonder that hockey fans are few and far between.
Ohio isn't much better... Columbus has a gorgeous arena, but who's kidding themselves into believing that the Blue Jackets will ever be anything other than back page news to Ohio State football and basketball. Cleveland's pro hockey days ended after a brief 2 years when the Barons were folded and merged with the Minnesota North Stars (who later moved to Dallas). Hockey in Cleveland has always seemed to have a bit of a cult following, and is scheduled to once again get a minor league AHL team, the Lake Erie Monsters who begin play next fall. Is it any wonder why the NHL can't pull ratings?
Yet the league that has become a punch line in sports media can boast about a few things it does better than any other pro sports league, including it's trading season.
The NHL deadline falls a week earlier than it has in years past, but with approximately 75% of the 82 game season complete teams have a very solid understanding if they are "buyers" or "sellers". The NFL's early deadline (Week 6 of 17...just 35% of the season complete) isn't really conducive to trades at all. With an added emphasis on parity, only if a team is 1-4 or 0-5 are they TRULY out of a playoff spot, unless they play in the NFC, so there's really no need to have a fire sale. Also, when was the last NFL trade of any consequence? Herschell Walker from Dallas for 37 draft picks in 1989? Has there been a trade since then that has had any impact on the league?
Baseball's July 31st deadline occurs with a solid 2 months (about 55 games) remaining, with about 65% of the season complete. Yet the July 31st deadline isn't a true hard and fast deadline. From August 1st to the end of the season players can still be traded, only after they clear waivers. While this means that generally only role players of little consequence are moved after August 1st, it's still possible for teams to acquire an additional bat or defensive specialist for the stretch run.
The NBA's deadline occurs with about 65% of the season complete and though I plead ignorance, appears to be hit and miss. This season only 3 teams were involved in trades on deadline day, and none of the moves were very substantial. Historically there have been some major blockbuster moves close to the deadline, like in 2oo3 (Seattle and Milwaukee's Gary Payton/Ray Allen deal), but for every year that NBA teams are active, it appears the next season's trade deadline is a dud (2000, 2007). What's odd about the NBA deadline is that the deals made never seem to make much of an impact on that current season. The top teams in either conference are hardly ever involved, it's generally bad teams that are attempting to makeover their roster for next season, or teams that get bounced in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
Only in the NHL is the trade deadline as important for the front runners as it is for teams that are mired in basement. Unlike in baseball, there is no second chance to pick up a role player later. For teams that are headed to the playoffs, making a deal is considered almost mandatory. It's generally accepted that a key ingredient in any Stanley Cup winning team, is a player acquired around the deadline.
The Buffalo Sabres' situation has changed in recent days due to an unprecedented streak of injuries to their forwards, but let's think back to two weeks ago. The Sabres had been at the top of the NHL, or within 4 points, since the beginning of the season. For 55 games they had been undoubtedly the top team in the Eastern Conference, and had rivaled Anaheim, Nashville and Detroit all season for the overall league lead in points. The Sabres boasted a team-based offensive attack, unreliant on production from just one line, defensive depth and the best goaltending tandem in the league.
So what was Buffalo sports talk centered upon? The necessity of the Sabres making a deal at the deadline. No matter if a team is 4pts out of the playoff race or if a team is 14 pts up in their division are NHL teams satisfied with standing pat at the deadline.
Nashville has already overpaid for again superstar Petr Forsberg and his 1 healthy foot, despite the fact that Nashville is comfortably heading to the playoffs and already had a potent group of forwards.

Fast forward 6 home games for the Sabres, and suddenly they are missing 7 starters from their lineup. Honestly, it isn't really that big of a deal though. The players injured may be starters, but they don't really contribute that much.

• Chris Drury - team captain, leading goal scorer, best faceoff man, top defensive forward, leads the team in PP goals and is one of the top penalty killers. Oh, Drury is also considered to be soul of the team.
• Max Afinogenov- one of the most dynamic offensive threats on the team and is one of the most elusive players in the leage. Was having a career year before breaking a bone in his hand.
• Paul Guastad - if Drury is the soul of the team, Gaustad is the heart. A physically imposing, versatile player that had played with Drury on the 1st line and Peters and Mair on the 4th line, was a solid faceoff man and could play the wing or center. Was a presence on the ice and one of the Sabres best forecheckers. While his stats will never be eye-popping, "The Goose" had become a beloved player this season for his honest blue-collar effort night in and night out.
• Al Kotalik - played with Drury for most of the season and has the hardest shot on the team. Was a integral part of the PP, simply because teams had to overplay his side, attempting to negate any shots from the high slot. Was 7th on the team in points and one of only 6 players with 10 or more goals at the time of his injury.
• Jiri Novotny - a solid role player that centered Buffalo's 4th line when everyone was healthy. Not the biggest offensive threat, but a responsible two way player.
• Daniel Paille - a rookie who had contributed reasonably well so far and looks to have a strong future with the team in the coming years. A prototypical Buffalo forward, fast, good hands, on the smallish side and scrappy when pressed.
• Jaroslav Spacek - Buffalo's only offseason acquisition has been a disappointment offensively, but posesses a cannon shot from the point and a is a solid defenseman. His return to the lineup provides Lindy Ruff with depth on defense and offense, by allowing Ruff to be flexible with super-rookie Nathan Paetsch.

So, what do I hope Buffalo GM Darcy Regier does at the deadline? Acquire Kevyn Adams from Phoenix. He's gritty, will add toughness, and most importantly is excellent at faceoffs and penalty killing...two areas that no team can win in the "2nd Season" without excelling at. He should be relatively cheap to acquire (a prospect and draft pick should do it), thus allowing Regier to keep his depth at goaltending. Finally, his contract fits in with the room the Sabres have to work with. Here's to Tuesday and here's to the NHL.

Sabres VERSUS Flyers

I'm trying a running blog tonight during the Sabres/Flyers game for a couple of reasons. One, because I have a shiny new blog and I want to play with it. Also I'm interested in really listening to the VS broadcasters, and comment on their presentation of the game as a whole. John Forslund and Daryl Reaugh commentating.

1st Period

• Pre-game interview: Bob Harwood with Vanek, asking how he went from a -11 player to a +26, and just 1 goal shy of being a 30 goal scorer. Vanek responds by noting that alot had to do with learning how to play a long season, and learning how to "play smart" when the legs aren't there.
• Campbell and Umberger going at it! "Where do you think this stems from?" comment the VS announcers...I'm guessing we'll see Campbell's hit from Game 1 of the playoffs at least 3 times tonight.
• Pretty accurate recap of the Sabres/Flyers rivalry, noting the 1975 Finals match up, playoff series and the 9-1 game earlier this season.
• 1-0 Buffalo. Roy on the PP, off a nice shot on a rebound that Roy puts top shelf (where momma hides the cookies). Good analysis by the color man, stating that Esche had absolutely no idea where the puck was. Continues on with stating that Roy is usually a set-up man (10 goals 29 assists)
• Peters and Fedoruk are fighting at center ice. Lots of grappling, Peters got a couple good punches in, but a draw overall. Two consecutive fights where nothing much happens.
• Bob Harwood is actually on the Sabres bench, interviewing Nathan Paetsch during the 1st period commercial break. Couple relevant, quick questions regarding the Flyers "physical" start to the game, and Paetsch gave good answers - nice point about Soupy drawing an instigator penalty on Umberger, which gave the Sabres their PP goal.
• The play by play man is doing a very admirable job of describing the play and mixing in appropriate stories. Honestly, I'm pretty impressed so far. I've yet to hear the statement that any two players are "playing catch" with the puck, which for some reason I find to be the very grating.
• Good call at w/ just over 10mins to go by the broadcasters to notice that Drury was in excellent position to break up a Philly scoring chance.
• Harwood with Zhitnik who is playing in his 1,000th NHL game. A little hard to understand, simply because Zhitnik kept missing the mic high and wide with his answers.
• Gagne scores with 8:35 to go on a pretty impressive individual effort. Somehow Miller didn't get his stick all the way down, and had it slide through his legs.
• Great rush by MacArthur and oh my goodness...ANDREW PETERS pokes in a rebound of a point shot. Dear lord. I'm speechless.
• (still speechless)
• The crowd is chanting "PETERS, PETERS, PETERS", which is hilarious! Peters used a "goal scorer's touch - for a guy getting rid of a zero (no goals this season) he looked like he knew what he was doing!" haha
• I really like Tony Lydman's play so far tonight.
• Damn, Clarke MacArthur is fast.
• John and Darryl comment that there has been a good cadence to the game, which is accurate, and continue on to say that it has had "everything you'd like to see". I know I'm cynical, but I can't help but feel that anytime an NHL broadcaster comments about how good the game is, they're simply doing so to fulfill a requirement mandated by the NHL.
• Derek Roy is mic'd up! Surprisingly, there was no useful audio that came from Roy's 1st 6 shifts. I'm not sure why Marty Biron doesn't just have a microphone permanently installed in his shoulder pads. "Hey Lindy!"
• Great PP pressure by Buffalo at the end of the 1st
• Again -"Everything you'd want to see in a hockey game" is tossed out at the end of the period, meaning John only has 4 more "this is a great game and has everything you'd want to see" mandatory statements.
• Andrew Peters is 2/3 towards a "Gordie Howe" hat trick and is the 1st intermission interview. I would like to state that two weeks ago on Chippewa, on a Saturday night after the Sabres lost a road game in Long Island, Andrew Peters showed up with a small following of tools at 67 West. He saddled up to the bar right next to me and my group of friends, and was promptly handed a case of Labatt Blue Light. Cans. Peters proceeded to pass out CANS of beer to pretty much anyone around him who came up and said - HEY! You're Andrew Peters! You played 3minutes tonight, and sat throughout the last 16 minutes of the 3rd period! I think that the NHL should probably get word of this, and use it for their uber-effective marketing campaign "Hockey players are just like you and me, just really really good at hockey". Except, Peters and his boyz were the ONLY people I've ever seen drink straight out of CANS at a bar, let alone a trendy one downtown. Speaking of the ad campaign, I understand the premise of trying to make the players in the league easier to relate to, but I want my sports idols to be cooler than me. I don't want to think of them as regular people, struggling to get Kit-Kats out of a vending machine, quitting on video games or drinking out of CANS at bars. I want to think of hockey players as cool, rich and not worrying about losing $0.55

2nd Period

• 3-1 Buffalo - A point shot gets tipped in, after a "filthy little move by Roy", a GREAT comment. This is at least the 3rd game in a row that Roy has pulled a ridiculous misdirection move just inside the blue line. So great.
• I've really really liked the way that Buffalo has come to play tonight. I suppose there could have been a chance to look past this game to Thursday night vs Ottawa
• 4-1 Buffalo - Paetsch from the point and Briere gets the tip. Wow. 27th of the year for Briere. Another PP goal, which means that in his last 2 games in the HSBC Arena, Robert Esche has allowed 13 goals. Yummy.
• The Sabres did something I never noticed before after the 4th goal...they blew 4 short blasts on the fog horn, rather than the standard, long continuous blast which has been used as long as I can remember. I hope this doesn't become a trend. Color me conservative, but keep it simple and classy.
• Apparently I can turn the game off at 15:58 left in the 2nd. The Sabres are 27-0 when leading by 2 goals at any point in the game.
• When you watch a goalie like Esche struggle with rebounds, you really appreciate what a black hole Miller is on most any shot he can see. Ryan Miller's crest - where point shots go to die.
• Lindy Ruff is live, with a headset on...Bob Harwood is getting nachos apparently, and honestly he didn't really say anything of importance. I like the touch of interviewing coaches during breaks in games - they're generally intelligent and it's cool to hear what they're thinking. Baseball did this throughout the regular season and playoffs last year and it was great. If this catches on in the NFL, I'll be shocked.
• Flyer goal. 4-2 Buffalo. Gagne gets an absolute garbage goal, somehow banking in off Kalinin's leg 3 feet away from the net.
• VS get's their 3rd required "it's a good one" comment in, during the game recap with 7:30 left in the 2nd.
• Does anyone else think that the Rock'em Sock'em Robots/Dodge Ram commercials are complete ripoffs from Toyota Tacoma's Meteor proof/Lochness monster proof ad campaign?
• John states that the Flyers are trying to work hard to rebuild their team and are "in the neighborhood" of doing so. What neighbohood is this? The Flyers are currently using public transportation and squatting in an abandoned warehouse.
• The Biron question - to trade or not to trade- is addressed for the 1st time tonight.
• Dear lord- what a save by Miller - dove across the crease and stopped Gagne from getting his hat trick. The Flyers have really been taking it to the Sabres the last 5-6 minutes, which the VS broadcasters have just appropriately pointed out.
• Miller is plugged as "THE" guy for the US Olympic team in Vancouver 2010. If he is, the Americans will get at least a silver.
• Good rush in the last 30seconds by Philly, drawing a penalty to Lydman just before the end of the 2nd. Not a bad 1st 10 minutes for the Sabres, but the Flyers were pretty much buzzing around the Sabres zone for the last half of the period.

3rd Period

• As well as the Sabres played in the first 30 minutes, the last 10 minutes of the 2nd period were not very good. It will interesting to see how much Ruff continues to roll 4 lines in the 3rd.
• Pretty solid analysis by Bob Harwood on the different expectations for the rookies playing for Buffalo and the rookies called up to the Flyers. The Sabres rooks are expected to be plugged in, produce, and keep the team rolling. The Flyers are using the call-ups as more of an evaluation process.
• Flyer goal. 4-3 Buffalo - Kapanen scores on a 1-1 vs Kalinin. A pretty point blank shot on Miller, and suddenly it's a game.
• Buffalo gets a PP with 12 mins to go...need some good pressure here.
• 5-3 Buffalo Drury from Briere- thus increasing the amount of money they'll get in the off season, and simultaneously decreasing the chances that both will be wearing Sabres sweaters in 2007-08.
• The goal seems to have energized the Sabres, who are back to attacking the Flyers more aggressively.
• I think this postseason I'm going to try and keep track of the number of times that a broadcaster/journalist notes that Chris Drury won a Little League World Series when he was 12. At what point in someone's life does this stop having an impact? Are you labeled a "winner" for the rest of your life, just because you won the LLWS 20 years ago? I mean if I'm 47 and I'm posting for a new position at Bank of America, do I include my LLWS championship on my resume? When asked how I respond in stressful situations, do I talk about how in the Regional semi-finals Jimmy, our 3rd baseman couldn't find his Rawlings batting gloves, and I realized that I could share mine, and I ran out to the on-deck box and gave Jimmy my gloves? Does Drury being on the winning team when he was 12, help him at all compete in the 3rd period of a playoff game?
• 7:21 left and Miller just reminded everyone in the building that he's about as good as it gets these days moving laterally across the crease. Damn.
• Oh hohohohohoho ho WOW! Great pass from Briere to Pominville. 6-3 Buffalo. Good night. Drive home safely.
• The Sabres have fortunately returned to their classic 1 long horn blast after a goal, because if they gave 6 short blasts, it would sound really gay.
• VS just showed the Eastern Conference standings, and jeez...what the hell happened to Montreal? I know that Huet is down and out, but holy crap, they're in 10th place as of tonight, and it seems like 3 weeks ago they were comfortably in 4th. Unbelievable.
• Poor Michael Ryan just got robbed. This just came after Daryl Reaugh commented that the Sabres young guys look like clones.
• I honestly think that Geoff Sanderson and Simon Gagne are the only two Flyers that would have a chance at making the Sabres roster.
• All wrapped up from Buffalo - very nice effort tonight by the Sabres, and honestly a very solid production by Versus. I liked John Forslund more than Doc Emmerik, and just about as much as any of the play by play men that work for CBC.
• This was the 10th game this season that the Sabres have scored 6 goals or more.

Sunday Drafting

As I opened up an internet window this morning, I was confronted with "10 reasons to watch the Daytona 500", which apparently is today. I don't believe I've ever watched more than 3 or 4 consecutive minutes of any NASCAR race in my life, and would absolutely consider myself someone who does not believe that racing cars should ever be considered a sport.

However, it seems that I am in a shrinking segment of America's sports-crazed population. What will be interesting to watch this "season" is the effect that NASCAR's return to ESPN will have. People may love or hate ESPN - or experience both emotions simultaneously- but no one can deny ESPN's importance in the American sports universe. ESPN in some ways, is the ultimate Gatekeeper, to borrow a term from 7th grade journalism class, and what it decides is cool, interesting or important gets the bulk of its coverage/hype. Of course, what ESPN is broadcasting (and thus drawing ratings) plays a large part in the head honchos in Bristol deciding what sports and events they should hype.

The NHL is a perfect example. The league that no one (south of Pittsburgh at least) noticed go on strike 3 winters ago, lost their contract with ESPN, and since the rebirth of the league, has struggled to regain a foothold in the national sports scene. Relegated to the VS. network, a channel that reaches approximately a third of the homes that ESPN does, it is doomed to the nether regions of cable, surrounded in basic cable packages by The Food Channel 2 and The Trading Spaces Channel, while ESPN sits between regional sports stations and CNN. I'm a huge hockey fan, and even I forget to check VS to see if games are on. It's a problem. When ESPN had a vested interest in the league, they were more concerned with promoting it. While the channel is at least showing highlights again on SportsCenter, they continue to make it seem like every NHL fan is akin to Barry Melrose, whose hair only gets worse with time. Try out this SAT analogy. Barry Melrose:NHL::Sean Salsibury:NFL.

Recently, much ado was made about how few viewers tuned in to the NHL All-Star game, which was moved to a mid-week affair in hopes of gaining some attention, rather than getting drowned out in college basketball hoopla. The move made little sense, seeing that Saturday night has been a traditional hockey venue, and honestly, who really is going to go out of their way on a Wednesday evening to check out ANY all-star game? It was estimated that only around 620,000 US households tuned into VS/CBC, compared to the roughly 37 million that tuned in American Idol during the 9pm time slot. The ratings failed in comparison with the roughly 2 million households that took in the 2000 NHL All-Star game in Toronto which took place on a Sunday afternoon. Hmmm...imagine that, more people were interested in watching hockey on a Sunday afternoon as opposed to a mid-week school night. All the NHL needed to do was market the game on NBC as a replacement for Sunday afternoon football (aka the NFL, aka the most highly watched sports programming in the history of man). Viewers are already used to habitually turning on the tube Sunday afternoon and trolling for sports from September to February. On the first Sunday since September 11 without professional sports programming, why not hold the NHL All-Star Game, rather than holding it on a weekday hump night, going up against American Idol.

Saturday night the NBA held their dunk competition in Las Vegas, which appears to being billed as the "coolest thing to ever happen - since Super Bowl XLI". I watched a bit of the festivities, and while I honestly didn't recognize the names of any of the dunk contest participants (sorry, I live in Buffalo!) I did think that the NBA did a nice job of catering to the casual fan. The names participating in the contest may not have captivated my attention, but the judges sure did. Sitting a table just inside the half-court line were MJ, Dr. J, Dominique Wilkins, Charles Barkley and Kobe Bryant. Even I knew who all these people are. More importantly, with a bunch of hall-of-famers (and 1 rapist) doing the judging, dressed up in flashy sport coats, the NBA limited the amount of ghetto towel tossing and reactions by judges who can't quite figure out if they just watched a dunk or just realized they were standing on hot coals. This means that people who really could care less about the NBA, and think a bunch of "punks" play in the league, could stand to watch. I watched for almost 30 minutes, saw a number of cool dunks, heard a decent argument over who the best dunker to ever play was, and didn't see Stephen A Smith once. It was a good night.

Tonight, the NBA All-Star game will take place, and I'm sure there will be people who compare the ratings to the NHL game, and then I'll have to listen to Colin Cowherd talk about how dead the NHL is. You know what? I could care less. The NHL All-Star game received a 7.1 ratings share in Buffalo, and was the most watched program on cable that night. I guarantee that the ratings for the NHL All-Star game will trump the NBA game, despite the NBA game taking place on a Sunday night, as opposed to a Wednesday.

Unless of course, the Daytona 500 runs long.

In this corner...

I suppose there's really no shame in starting a blog, though I'm sure a few of my friends will disagree. Yet after reading at all of Eli's witty electronic publishing (http://tee-gee.blogspot.com) it's hard for me not to think, I should be at least trying this.

What will this blog become, I have no idea. I will probably try to make thought-provoking, sarcastic comments about sports, specifically regarding the teams that I follow the closest: the Buffalo Bills and Sabres. I'm sure that none of these comments I make will be as witty or as funny as Bill Simmons, nay, even Eli Gieryna, but I think as long as I admit that up front my meager attempts at publishing are permissible. For those of you who live in the midwest and still are wondering what the Sabres are, they are an organization in the National Hockey League, which supposedly has a self-created entry on Wikipedia.

Of course, there's more to Buffalo, than the Bills and Sabres, and I think this might be a good place for me to write about the redeeming qualities of the city, the people and other things that catch my interest. I suppose that's what blogs generally cover, right? I think ESPN is mostly awful, I can't stand the NBA, I am intrigued by uniforms and field maintenance and have spent upwards of $47 one night trying to compile early 90's pop songs off of iTunes.

Here's hoping:
1. This is the low point for this blog.
2. You enjoy.