SportScape

These Guys Might Be On To Something

2012-02-09T12:10:00.001-05:00

I was in attendance at a Buffalo Sabres game for the first time in almost two years last night when they took on the hated Boston Bruins last night. What a treat I got too. The Sabres' season is on life support. They have put themselves in a hole that they are unlikely to get out of, and allows for almost no mistakes if they are going to. They were without their best skater, injured winger Thomas Vanek, and their head coach was absent from behind the bench due to the injury he suffered in practice two days prior. Their opponent was the defending champs, current division leader, and general bully and thorn in the side of late. I honestly expected a loss. My hope was that they might find a way to keep it tight and squeeze one point out of the game so they weren't giving up too much ground in the standings.

What happened greatly exceeded what I had anticipated. The win was great, but there was so much more to it. They have been playing good defense recently, and that continued. Ryan Miller earned his second shutout in a week and made some very clutch saves to do it. Their offense has struggled lately, and they exploded for a season high 6 goals (all at even strength). The most encouraging part of last night's win however was the energy and emotion with which they played.

There were three fights in the game. I don't recall seeing a game with that many fights very often recently. If someone had told me ahead of time there would be that much fighting I would probably think advantage Bruins. They have the reputation as the more physical team. If you were scoring the fights then it would appear Boston did win. In actuality that wasn't the case.

The most impactful player last night for Buffalo was Patrick Kaleta. I think he played his best game as Sabre. What made him so good last night was that he managed to get under Boston's skin. As the game progressed the Bruins looked less and less composed. The Sabres were able to dictate the way the game was played and Boston lost their composure. Kaleta was the physical and emotional leader.

They played as close to a perfect game as one could imagine. They have been on a mini tear for the last couple of weeks. They have won games and picked up points in a variety of ways lately. They have 7 of their next 8 games at home where they haven't lost in regulation since December 10th. The next two weeks mean a lot in terms of what this team will look like going forward. They have shown that they have a game like last night in them. I was ready to write them off for dead, but now I'm cautiously optimistic that Sabres fans could be in for an exciting spring.

Just getting to the playoffs would be a good achievement at this point. Expectations were higher at the start, but based on where they fell to the goals have to adjust. Even if they get bounced from there, I have to believe that being in the playoffs is better than not.

Sports: The Lucy to WNY's Charlie Brown

2012-02-07T15:58:00.001-05:00

As a lifelong Western New Yorker and sports junkie I have learned nothing if not this much: Western New York LOVES sports - however sports seldom seem to return that love. You'll find fans as passionate and devoted to their favorite teams here as you would anywhere. The unfortunate reality is that sports continue to find ways to kick this area in the pants in return.

The most recent installment happened yesterday when Buffalo Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff broke 3 ribs after being upended by one of his own players at practice. Ruff was not at practice today and is reportedly "day-to-day". Come on, man! The COACH is uncertain for the next game because of injury? This doesn't seem to happen to other places like it does here. Sure Saints coach Sean Payton had his knee tore up in a sideline collision during a game, but that seems a bit different than a freak accident during practice involving people only on the same team.

It seems symbolic of how there always seems there's forces at work to make certain that sports remain a source of misery for many in this area. Tom Brady had some not so nice things to say about Buffalo last week that got some attention. The majority of Sabres fans can't watch their team's games on television because of a dispute between the network and the top (in many cases ONLY) cable provider. The Bills have the longest playoff drought going in the NFL. The Bills are widely known for their terrible failures when they did get on the big stage. The Sabres have had their share of postseason letdowns too, highlighted by some questionable calls by officials. Can this area get a break ever?

There's an inferiority complex/jealousy factor that is a big aspect of the rivalry that exists with other regions. Boston is tops on my list of sports cities to I currently loathe. Just in the last decade Boston fans have been treated to 3 Super Bowl titles, 2 World Series wins, an NBA championship, and a Stanley Cup. There's 12 year old kids in Boston who have been to 7 parades.

Fans here are resilient though. They keep coming back for more. I'm typing this while watching coverage of the Giants' Super Bowl celebration and I am imagining how great it'll be when this area gets its day in the sun. Times like these will make it that much sweeter.

Reaction, Final Thoughts, and a Look Ahead

2012-02-06T12:23:00.001-05:00

Another fantastic Super Bowl in the books. Turns out in my little predictions I made Iwent 5-5. I got the winner wrong, but asI indicated in my previous post I am far from surprised. The game was every bit as close and back andforth as I had anticipated. It wasslightly lower scoring than I figured. Ithink both quarterbacks played quite well. Brady certainly played well enough to win; I think the difference isthat the team around him is not as talented as the team around EliManning. I don’t mean that at all as aslight to Manning either. To me I thinkthe top take away from this game is just how great Eli really is.

Sure, a lot of people will take delight and satisfaction inBrady and Belichick coming up short yet again, but I still can’t see it beingthe result of them being at all over rated. I think it’s as simple as two things: 1) The New York Giants simply havemore talent as a team than the New England Patriots. New Englandis built with a lot of late round draft choices, small college guys, andundrafted guys playing big roles whereas the Giants’ roster is composed of alot more high draft picks and proven athletes. 2) There are from time to time instances in sports where certainmatchups just favor one team. The Giantsare just put together with a style that coupled with their superior athleteswins a lot of the battles against a team like the Patriots. The last four times these teams have playedhave all come down to the final possession to determine the winner. Twice now in the Super Bowl the Patriots hadthe lead with a minute or less to go in the game. It took a last minute touchdown in bothinstances to give the Giants the lead, and Brady has not been given enough timeto answer.

Today can be referred to as overreaction Monday. It’s easy to want to put this year’s Giantsamong the all time greats, and just bury the Patriots. I think this Giants team is special, and oneof the best angles of this whole story is the story of Eli Manning. I love how for all of the attention he getsplaying the position he does in the media market he does and being a member ofthe family that he is that he just seems like such a soft spoken “aw, shucks”guy. Much was made of him tellingMichael Kaye before the season that he thought he was an elitequarterback. Eli didn’t make a big dealof it. He was asked a question, which heanswered very frankly and honestly without making a big thing of it. The best part is he backed it up. He set the franchise record for passing yardsthis year, putting up more than big brother ever has. He made the plays his team needed when neededin the playoffs this year. He has beenon the biggest stage in the game twice in his career with his team trailing inthe dwindling moments of the game, and has delivered the winning score bothtimes. Is he elite? Hell yeah he is, and last night was for allthose who still questioned it.

The Super Bowl game itself is so over analyzed and talkedabout that it’s hard to come up with much to say that isn’t already saidmultiple times in other places as it pertains to the game itself and what itmeans for the principle players going forward. I have some thoughts on some other aspects of the weekend:

Where the hell was Peyton Manning? I didn’t see him at all yesterday during or after the game. I’ll give him credit for laying low and letting the game be the focus, but I’m surprised that the media folks didn’t figure out a way to at least get an image of him.
On the post game show on NBC they showed the reaction of Patriots owner Robert Kraft to the final play of the game. It was kind of depressing. He just looked so sad. I absolutely was thinking about the fact that his wife passed away last year, and I had a part of me wanting his team to win so he had something good happen for him (not that I really think he has a bad life). He just looked so sad.
I didn’t watch the halftime show (not my thing, I purposely made myself busy), but from the way I’ve had it described to me it was as good as one could ask for. It is supposed to be a show, and it sounds like it was.
The likes of Christina Aguilera and Steven Tyler should feel like even bigger bags of douche after Kelly Clarkson’s National Anthem. She absolutely did it right. She has a fantastic voice, but she didn’t try to overpower the song. She simply sang it, and sang it well. The song itself is very powerful and meaningful to Americans, sometimes less is more.
Something that really chaps my ass – people who care entirely too much about the commercials. I struggle with the words to express just how much I can’t stand that. Don’t get me wrong, there are a few chuckles from me every year, and I recognize the tradition of flashy and memorable expensive Super Bowl Ads, but I’ve you’ve ever uttered a phrase such as “I’m more/only interested in the commercials” or “What a lame Super Bowl, the ads were terrible this year” or something along those lines then quite frankly I don’t like you very much.
The Football Hall of Fame blew it again this year. I’ve already given my position. I’m at a loss here.
Remember when there was a debate over whether Aaron Rodgers or Drew Brees should be the MVP? Rodgers got 48 of 50 votes, and the voters overwhelmingly got this one right.
Roger Goodell left the door open to the possibility of eliminating the Pro Bowl if the quality of the game doesn’t improve. Could be a good idea.
Somewhat down the list of things worth talking about this weekend, but an awesome thing happened on the PGA Tour this weekend. Kyle Stanley overcame an eight shot deficit to get his first win at the Waste Management Phoenix Open on Sunday. This was just 7 days after he made a triple bogey on the final hole to lose his 3 shot lead at Torrey Pines. Seeing the way he lost last week was brutal, and I felt bad for the guy. It was heartwarming to see him bounce back the very next week.

The season is finally over, which can be tough for afootball junkie like me. At least inthis day and age there really isn’t a true OFF season. There are plenty of fascinating aspects tothe “business” season of football. Peyton Manning appears to be the new Brett Favre, so if we haven’talready we are certain to have our fill of that. Andrew Luck’s name will be said a lot, but Ithink the more interesting player coming into the draft is Robert GriffinIII. We all know where and to whomAndrew Luck will be drafted, so to me it really isn’t much of a story until hestarts playing. There is a tremendousamount of uncertainty when it comes to RG3 though. The mock drafts commonly have him going to Cleveland with the fourthpick, but I just don’t think he’ll still be there then. I expect there to be a trade up to 2 or 3 toget him.

Hockey is fixing to really pick up. The trade deadline is only a few weeks away,and teams are fighting for position and determining whether they’re buyers orsellers. The Sabres have had a nicelittle surge going. Those two pointsthey got Saturday were huge. I hope it’snot too late for them. I will actuallybe making my first trip to a Sabres game in person in almost two years thisWednesday with my best good pal Minch, who happens to write things that wind up on the internet too.

The NBA has grown on me in the last five years or so, and Idig this current season because of how compressed it is. The games mean a little more because there’sfewer of them. I don’t think it’s aterrible idea from a fan interest perspective to have fewer games, but it’s atough sell from a revenue generating standpoint. Some of these seasons are just too long (I’mlooking at you, Major League Baseball). Speaking of which, pitchers and catchers report in 13 days.

The above mentioned things along with select eventslike March Madness and the golf majors (I expect Tiger to finally win anotherone this year) and there will be plenty of intrigue. I also am hopeful for my other favoritehockey team, the Rochester Americans. History says this town goes crazy when the Amerks make a strong playoffpush. The team has been in a weird placefor a few years, and the new ownership has really got things on theupswing. Here’s hoping they keeptrending up.

Super Predictions That Probably Won't be Super

2012-02-05T03:51:00.002-05:00

The big day is finally here. I’ve complained before about a lack of belonging I feel every year onSuper Sunday. Somehow I manage to find away to enjoy it as much as I possibly can every year. I like getting together in a group to watchthe game. I also particularly enjoy theexcessive amounts of food and beverage on hand for the game. Another thing I enjoy is looking up thevarious proposition bets that people can wager on for the game. A couple of years ago my wife and I actuallyprinted out a list and filled in our answers and kept score to see who won (shedid unfortunately). I have thought aboutmaking that a thing I do with some friends, but I always think of it too lateto really put it together. I decided totake a select few prop bets I’ve seen and give predictions here. We’ll see how I do. Bear in mind for the most part I’m justmaking total guesses without a lot of real study. There’s a reason I don’t bet sports.

1) Whowins the coin toss? Um, I guess the Patriots. The NFC has won 14 in a row, that streak isbound to end. However I expect thatregardless of who wins the toss the Giants will start with the ball first. The Patriots have elected to defer the last29 consecutive times including playoffs that they have won the toss. The Giants have chosen to defer twice in thelast 33 chances they’ve had, receiving 31 times.

2) Thefirst score of the game will be – I figure it’ll be a field goal. Iactually expect it to be a game that starts slowly, and then heats up down thestretch. I would think the score will bepretty low by the start of the 4^th quarter, and then the offenseswill light it up in the last 10-15 minutes.

3) Whowill score the game’s first touchdown? I’mgoing with Victor Cruz of theGiants. I think he could have a biggame, and if the Giants win I think he could likely end up being the MVP.

4) Whowill throw the first interception? Ihave to think it’ll be Tom Brady. I don’t anticipate a completely turnover freegame. Brady struggled in his last game,and I think he’ll have a rough go at times in this game.

5) Whowill score the first touchdown for New England? I think it will be BenJarvus Green-Ellis. I think he’s going to be a considerable factor in this game. As I mentioned before Brady’s in kind of afunk, and one of his favorite targets, Rob Gronkowski, is banged up and kind ofa wild card at this point. The Giantsstrength is their pass rush, so there are some things that suggest to me thatthe Patriots will make an effort to run the ball. They had success with Green-Ellis against Baltimore in the AFCChampionship game. He could be asurprise MVP of this game if New England wins.

6) Whowill have more passing yards Brady or Manning? I believe it will be EliManning. I’ve already said Ithink Brady will have some struggles and I expect the Patriots to run theball. The Giants can have some successin the vertical passing game. Theydefinitely have some Nicks, Manningham, and Cruz are all capable of making thebig play. Considering New England’s poor pass defense I can easily see a couple of very longcompletions for the Giants. On the flipside, the Giants will be able to generate pressure on Brady. New England’spassing game is not really built around doing a lot of things to stretch thefield vertically. Welker runs mostlyshort crossing routes, and their next best receivers are tight ends. I think New England’spassing game will be much more of the “dink and dunk” variety. I think they’ll be successful, but thepotential for the big play and the better match up points to Eli having moreyards.

7) Thelargest lead of the game for either team will be over/under 13.5? I think the under is the play here. I don’t think the Giants can really blow anybody out right now, and theymatch up too well with the Patriots to allow them to jump way out infront. I think it’ll be tight the wholegame, and will likely come down to who gets the ball last. That’s how every Patriots Super Bowl in theBrady-Belichick era has gone, and they have all been decided by exactly 3points.

8) WillDavid Tyree’s catch from Super Bowl XLII be shown over/under 2 times during thebroadcast? I have to think over. Especially if it’s as tight as I expect it tobe and the Giants need a drive late in the 4^th.

9) PeytonManning will be shown on television over/under 4 times during the game? This should be the easiest money on theboard. It has to be over. He’s beenprominent in football news, his little brother is playing in the game, andtheir playing the game in Indianapolis!!!!! This could come in before the first change ofpossession, especially since I expect Eli to have the ball first.

I’ve only bothered to guess on a couple of the “sillier”bets out there. I don’t care enoughabout whether Kelly Clarkson screws up the anthem or how long it takes her orif her belly is exposed. I care evenless about the Madonna halftime show. Thereare bets out there pertaining to how many times they show Gisele Bundchen andwhether or not Tom Brady’s son will be wearing a Tom Brady jersey if they showhim. I stuck mostly with bets having todo more directly with what I expect of the game. Now it’s time for the big prediction:

10) Which team will win Super Bowl XLVI? I’ve had as hard of a time picking who Ithink will win as I have in years. I’vepicked the AFC team in the previous 9 Super Bowls (that makes me 5-4). The last NFC team I picked was the Rams inSuper Bowl XXXVI that lost to New England. The Patriots are technically the favorites,but the Giants are the popular pick among the experts. There are a lot of reasons to pick theGiants. A lot of the match ups favorthem. Picking the Giants seems a littletoo easy for me. I think Brady andBelichick are being discounted, overlooked, or taken for granted. The two of them are as good at what they doas anyone has ever been. I think theyget it done this time. My officialprediction is that the New EnglandPatriots will win the game, by a score of 30-27. I think it will most closely resemble SuperBowl XXXVIII between the Patriots and the Carolina Panthers. It will start slowly, and even seem a bitsloppy early, but the offenses will ultimately ignite and the fourth quarterwill be very wide open and back and forth. These are two great quarterbacks, and I think that when it gets tocrunch time they will put their teams on their backs and make the plays theyneed to when they need to.

There, ten predictions that will likely end up proving I have no clue what I'm talking about. Ultimately the only thing that would really surprise me is ablowout. I think this will be every bitas exciting as could be expected. Thisgame should live up to all of the hype. I’ll be happy for either team if they win. There are compelling angles on bothsides. Whether it’s Belichick and Bradysolidifying their places among the all time greats, or the Patriots rallyingaround their owner in the season they dedicated to his late wife who passedaway this off-season, or the simple revenge factor for New England, or if it’sthe younger Manning winning one more Super Bowl than his big brother in thatbrother’s home stadium they would all be significant and interesting. Above all my favorite from this particularSuper Bowl is the story of the Giants’ Mark Herzlich. Herzlich was a standout at Boson Collegewho was diagnosed with bone cancer in 2009. It appeared at one point that not only might he never play footballagain, but he may never walk again. Hetweeted earlier this week “2 yrs ago I was told I’d never walk again, JustWALKED off plane to #Indy to play in #SuperBowl #TakeThatCancer”. It gave me chills when I saw it. That seems like a good way to end this. Enjoy the game and #FUCKCANCER

The Squeaky Wheel Got More Than Expected

2012-02-03T16:59:00.001-05:00

Okay, so I bitched about the Amerks earlier. It only seems right to allow them their shot at redemption. I received a phone call today from Rob Kopacz who is the team's Vice President of Business Operations. I absolutely did not expect that. I would've been happy with a form letter or something. He did his best to explain what the issues were last night, which I understand and appreciate. The more important thing he did was listen and let me run my mouth.

It's funny, nothing was exchanged other than words, but I got off the phone feeling much better about the situation. It didn't require any excuses or explanations, or any free crap, just a conversation. It occurred to me at the end of the call that maybe I just needed to use up someone's time like mine had been used up. That or maybe I just needed to be mad for a while. Either way I'm pretty sure we both came out better understanding each other's perspectives.

At any rate, I still haven't met Jason Pominville, and I still haven't seen the first period of the game last night, but my relationship with my hometown team has grown. I'm not sure that anything could've been done better, but it's fantastic that the effort was ultimately made.

It's great to be in this age where we can be that close. It's a great thing that there can be events like the appearance last night, but I think it's greater that as a fan I can connect with a team this way.

I've been going to Amerks games as long as I can remember or even longer. I felt distant from them with the whole falling out with the Sabres, but am very excited for what's ahead now that they're reunited. While I really have nothing to do with what happens to my team, as a fan there is a certain level of pride an ownership I can take in them. My relationship with them goes back farther than most who work for them. They represent their fans and their city. I wish not only for excellence in competition, but for them to be great in all aspects. They really don't owe me anything, but it's nice to be noticed and appreciated.

What I expected was above and beyond what could've expected, so I salute them for that. When given a challenge they responded, and let me be the asshole.

Is It That Hard to Say Sorry?

2012-02-03T14:20:00.000-05:00

Last night the Rochester Americans game was highlighted inpart by it being one of their series of “Legends Nights”. The promotion involved former Amerk andcurrent Buffalo Sabres captain Jason Pominville appearing. The published agenda included an autographsigning in the upper atrium of the arena and a ceremonial puck drop. The autograph signing was scheduled to beginat 6:30 PM and the game itself started at 7:05 PM.

When I first saw this I questioned the schedule of events. I wondered if they were allowing enough timeto meet the potential demand. Pominvilleis a very popular player in these parts, so I figured that once the word gotout that there would be a decent turnout with most people being drawn by theopportunity to meet him. My best guesswas that there would be a high demand, and that they would not be prepared tosatisfy it. Turns out I was at leasthalf right.

I feel like I need to start this off by sharing that I’venever really been an autograph or collectible guy personally. I don’t go crazy over meeting famous people,be they athletes, music artists, or Hollywoodtypes. I have had the opportunity tomeet a few in my day, but I don’t think I go crazy. Perhaps my favorite encounter with a pro athletewas the night I went to dinner and met former Sabre and Amerk Daniel Paillewith Ryan Callahan and Dan Girardi of the New York Rangers chilling at the barand sat and had beers with them while watching the Beijing Olympics for acouple of hours. My wife wanted to takea picture with our daughter and Paille, which they did. I was in the parking lot when the picture wastaken. When I came in, I thanked him andI was invited to sit and chat and it went from there. Any time I’ve requested anything it waseither for my wife or my daughter. Theyboth are to be into it more than I am. Personally, I could’ve done without even going to the game last night,and certainly didn’t need to stand in a line to meet Jason Pominville. I like the guy as a player, but I guess Idon’t think it’s a big deal if I ever get to spend a few seconds with him so hecan sign something that will likely get lost or destroyed. I’m more interested in him scoring goals andwinning hockey games for the team I care about. I share all of this to make the point that I am not trying to sound likesome kind of entitled, ungrateful, spoiled jerk as a result of what transpired last night. I was trying to do something nice for myfamily, and was very let down.

As I mentioned, Pominville is very popular among hockey fanshere. In fact, many would call him theirfavorite player. My wife is among thosewho would say that. We decided as afamily to attend the game with the primary goal of getting to meet thecaptain. Gates opened at 6:00 PM (5:45for season ticket holders). Due to mywife’s work schedule we arrived right at 6, and headed straight for the linefor the autograph signing. The line wasalready a good size by the time we got in it, which was not unexpected. My wife, my mother, my daughter, and I waitedin our spot in line for close to 90 minutes. Based on reports I got from passers-by and judging from the movement ofthe line it seems that everything actually started pretty much on schedule. We were still in line when the game started(yeah, that puck drop never happened), and even missed the first goal of thegame. We weren’t sweating it too muchthough; it seemed worth it for a chance to meet Jason. There was a group of 3 people directly in frontof us in the line. When they got to theon deck spot in line the security personnel closed off the line, stating thatJason had to leave, so no more people would be able to meet him. They had everyone that was still waitingleave their information because they were going to send stuff to those peopleas a sort of make good for the disappointment. So here we are, having stood in line for an hour and a half for anautograph and meeting we never got and we’ve missed almost the entire first periodof the hockey game. All they have to sayis that’s it, give us your information and we’ll send you something. Not even anything resembling a real apologyfor this disappointment. Not getting themeeting was a let down, but I’m much more let down by the way the situation hasbeen handled.

I’m frustrated about this thing last night because I knowhow disappointed my wife is. Iunderstand that stuff happens, but like I said before this whole thing, Ididn’t think they allowed enough time to accommodate the demand. It ended up being even worse than Ianticipated. The fact that people suchas us who got there that early and waited that long still didn’t get to thefront of the line is pathetic. Thedemand wasn’t even close to what it potentially could have been. The official attendance figure I have forlast night is 4,483. Their average thisseason is 5,345. Their capacity is 11,200. I actually expected a lot more, and wassurprised that it was a below average attendance night like it was. I feel like they should've been more prepared for the demand or don't even bother having the event.

I’m anxious to see what they do to make it up to the peoplethat got left out. So far I am quitedisappointed in their handling of it. Itseems that they think if they send some signed picture that makes up foreverything. For someone like myself,that is just plain not good enough, and it indicates to me that they don’t quiteget it. It’s not about the stupid signature. I can get that a lot of ways, so they’re notreally doing anything special. In fact,I actually had his autograph in my possession at the time we were turnedaway. My uncles were at the game and gotthere before us and had a chance to meet him, so they got his autograph andgave it to us. The point is that we madea conscious choice on how to spend our disposable income and free time as afamily with the understanding of what to expect, and when circumstancesprevented that from being possible (which I totally get and understand), theorganization offers what to me seems very little consolation. We made sacrifices to be there for somethingwe didn’t get, at least show that you value us as paying customers and don’twant us to walk away feeling as we did.

I have spent many years myself as a retail storemanager. I draw on that experience a lotwhen it comes to my perspective as it pertains to handling thesesituations. I know that I personallywould never want a customer of mine to get to the point that I have gottento. Last night turned into anopportunity for them, and they blew it. Imagine pre-ordering some product at a store and you show up early onthe release date. You wait in line forover an hour and when you get close to the front an employee makes a generalannouncement to the line to inform you they ran out, but if you leave your nameand address on the pieces of paper they left out on a table they’ll send you somethingsome day and left it there. Most peoplewould be pretty pissed, probably to the point of at least being reluctant toshop there in the future. Now imagine ifthey made it a little more personal. Suppose the manager shows his face and gives people the opportunity to voicetheir frustration. Suppose he expressesa level of empathy for what you’ve gone through. Suppose the manager and store personnelpersonally collect information. Simplelittle things that can be done that allow the disappointed customer to vent,rather than let them walk away without having that opportunity to have itstored in them until they get home and have a chance to tell their friends orblog about what a bunch of screw ups who don’t know or care about customerservice they are. Never let yourcustomers walk away upset. Somethingalong those lines happening last night and I assure you this post eitherdoesn’t exist or has a far different tone to it.

Unfortunately there are a lot of people out there who simplyexpect free stuff when they don’t get their way, so many think doing that issufficient. It’s really about HOW thefree stuff is given that makes the difference. To me it’s about how you value your relationship with customers. I was further annoyed when I sent the Amerkssome feedback on this last night via Facebook and Twitter and was ignored. Here’s a thought, instead of just retweetingand acknowledging only the positive feedback you receive, how about taking the timeto respond to or acknowledge those who have a complaint or concern or that have been let down? Again, a simple response andI’m sending a different message right now.

Sure it was disappointing that we didn't get to meet Jason Pominville, but ultimately it was far more disappointing to see the way the Amerks responded to the fans they let down.

An Awful End to a Great Thing

2012-02-02T10:58:00.000-05:00

Last night’s Sabres-Rangers game really got me workedup. There was a lot to enjoy aboutit. Both teams took turns controllingstretches of play, and looked pretty even. The goaltenders were outstanding. I have always been a big fan of great goaltending. When the end of overtime was reached, Ienjoyed the fact that I had watched a great hockey game where to goalies playedso well. It was ruined for me thenthough, knowing that a shootout was coming next. I immediately hated the fact that the great play was going to be nullified by such a farce.

I have been anti shootout for as long as it’s been athing. I’m not even really a fan of theextra point teams get for an overtime loss. Last night’s game is a pretty compelling example of why this seems likean idiotic way to determine the outcome of the game. Nothing about the way the game was played for65 minutes looked very much like a shootout. Both teams played good team hockey. Each took turns controlling the puck for stretches, and when thathappened I thought each team responded by being sound and responsibledefensively. As a Sabres fan I wasparticularly encouraged at their commitment to defense as they have oftenlapsed in this particular area. I waseven more encouraged because they played with a lot of energy and emotion. Often I feel that those things are lackingfrom this team, so I enjoyed that they played at that level, particularly onthe back end of games on consecutive days. I couldn’t help but think that it would be neat if Buffalo can make some sort of heroic run to 8^thplace and get a playoff series against the Rangers. If last night was any indication it could beone entertaining series.

I just can’t get behind the idea of determining the outcomeof a team game, particularly one that was played so well by both teams AS TEAMS,with an individual skills competition. This is even sillier because they don’t decide playoff games this sameway, which thank goodness they don’t or I would consider not liking hockey anymore. I do understand that it is not agood idea to do overtime until a goal is scored in the regular season. My question is what’s so bad about ties. Ties seem to actually provide the best metricfor determining the best teams. Whenonly wins, losses, and ties are considered (forget this overtime loss nonsense)then a tie truly does represent a half win and half loss.

I found this website where they have this really neatthing. It only has information for thiscurrent NHL season and the two prior. You can view the actual NHL standings, and then you can adjust it toeliminate the bonus points for shootouts and overtime losses, which they referto as “Loser Points”. I played aroundwith it, and found it interesting. Themost interesting thing I found is looking at the current Western Conferencestandings, where currently the Saint Louis Blues are in 5^th place,but if loser points are eliminated they would be the top team in the west, andonly 2 points behind the Rangers for the top record in the entire league. The Red Wings would drop from 1^st to4^th. I’m interested to see ifthe Blues surprise come playoff time, and if Detroit makes an early exit.

I looked at last year’s Stanley Cup champions the BostonBruins. There were 7 teams in the leaguelast year that won more games than they did. When the shootout victories are no longer included, only 1 team won moregames than them, and go figure it was the other team that was in the finalsagainst them. Simple eyeball test –which seems like the better indicator?

From what I have been able to figure out so far, it doesn’tsurprise me to see that the area of the standings where the biggest shifts inposition are is in the area of 6^th-10^th in eachconference. The best teams seem to stillbe the best, and the worst as well. Itmakes sense that it’s the average teams where this factors the most. In the previous 2 seasons The Los AngelesKings, Colorado Avalanche, and Montreal Canadiens all earned playoff spots thatif not for the shootout would have gone to the Dallas Stars, Calgary Flames,and New York Rangers respectively.

I would be surprised if the shootout goes away, but itsimply does not make sense that it’s a part of the league now. In the last couple of years it has donelittle to separate the best teams. The onlyinstances of it impacting the top four in either conference was last year inthe east Washington and Philadelphia would have swapped between 1 and2, and the 4 vs. 5 matchup would have been the same two teams, but Tampa Baywould have been the higher seed and had home ice advantage over Pittsburgh.

Another negative aspect of the shootout is how it skewscertain stats. With Tuesday’s win over Montreal, Ryan Millerrecorded his 234^th career win as a Sabre which ties him with DominikHasek for the all time franchise record. I was at one of my favorite local watering holes with some friendswatching the game and when we saw that graphic I was a little surprised tolearn that. It didn’t occur to me atfirst, but thanks to some folks much smarter than I that I follow on Twitter, Iwas reminded of the fact that when Hasek was in Buffalo there were no shootouts. Ryan Miller has won 32 games in his career ina shootout. That’s close to a season’sworth of wins that Hasek would have never had a chance at. I know it’s a small sample size, but Iremember Hasek in his prime being pretty good in shootouts. It's amusing to me watching that when Harry Neale says then "we don't want this in the NHL" and the complaints of what a brutal way to lose it is.

NFL Parity - The Great Deception

2012-02-01T17:22:00.001-05:00

For quite some time we have been fed this myth that the NFLis all about parity. The NFL pridesitself on being the league where supposedly everyone has a chance tocompete. It may just be the bitter fanin me, but I haven’t been able to buy this for quite some time. I finally decided to look into it a littlebit to examine just how much truth there is to the argument that the NFL morethan any other major team sport in this country has the competitive balance itclaims to have.

The first Super Bowl was played in January of 1967, theculmination of the 1966 season. TheSuper Bowl era seems convenient for many to mark the “modern era” ofprofessional football, so I went back that far. I looked at the NFL, Major League Baseball, the NBA, and the NHL. This time period also seems to work prettywell for the other sports too as all of the other leagues started expanding ona large scale in this time period. 1966-1967 was the last year of the NHL only having six teams, as theystarted expansion the following season. I looked at the respective championshipgames/series for each league, and how many different teams competed in/won ineach as a percentage of the entire league.

Looking at championship appearances, the NBA is the leastcompetitive. Only 70% of teams haveappeared in an NBA Finals. The NHL is abit better, where 80% of teams have appeared in the Stanley Cup Finals. One little side note I’d like to mention isthat while the Minnesota Wild have never appeared in a finals, the Dallas Starsappeared in the finals twice as the Minnesota North Stars before they moved, sowhile Minnesota’s current team has never been, the fans there have had thatexperience before. Here comes thesurprise though. The NFL was only secondbest at the percentage of teams playing for a title. 88% of NFL teams have played in the SuperBowl. Major League Baseball was actuallythe best believe it or not, though the advantage over the NFL wasminiscule. 90% of teams have played in aWorld Series since 1966.

I not only looked at the number of teams to appear, but I wantedto see just how top-heavy the leagues are in terms of teams that make itextremely often. I noticed that in theNBA 63% of teams have appeared in the finals more than once. The NHL is only slightly worse with 60%. The NFL actually has the lowest percentagewith 56 % appearing in the Super Bowl more than once. Major League Baseball has the best percentagewith 67% of the league appearing in the World Series multiple times.

I also looked at the top 10 teams in each league in terms ofchampionship appearances as a percentage of all appearances. The top 10 in the NBA account for 77% of alltotal finals appearances. The top 10 inthe NHL account for 70% of finals appearances. Major League Baseball’s top ten account for 68%. This is one stat the NFL had the mostfavorable number, with it’s top ten making up 64% of the totalappearances. The top ten teams in termsof Super Bowl appearances have all gone to the game 5 times. There are 3 teams that have gone 4 times(Bills, Vikings, Colts). If theirappearances are factored in, the top 13 of 32 teams, which is only 41% of theleague, account for 71 of 92 Super Bowl appearances, which is 77%.

Next I looked at the percentage of teams that have actuallywon a championship. Once again the NBAshowed to be the least competitive. Only50% of teams have won an NBA championship since 1966. What was surprising here is that the NFL isactually second worst, where 56% have won a Super Bowl. The NHL is slightly better with 57% winningthe cup. Major League Baseball onceagain appears to be the most wide open, with 67% of teams winning at least oneWorld Series.

Finally I looked at numbers for teams with multiplewins. The NBA was the worst here, withonly 8 teams (27% of the league) winning the championship more than once. Those 8 teams account for 38 of 45championships. That’s 84% of all thechampionships going to less than 1/3 of the league. The NHL isn’t much better. 9 teams (30% of the league) have won multipletitles. They combine for 36 of 44titles, which is 82%. There have been 11of the 32 NFL teams (34%) that have won more than one Super Bowl, accountingfor 39 of 46 titles (85%). Major LeagueBaseball once again has the best looking number with 14 of 30 teams (47%)winning multiple times, taking 39 of 45 titles (87%).

What can I take from all of these numbers? If nothing else, there does not to appear tobe a league that really can honestly boast that their level of competitivebalance far exceeds any other. Even ifthere is, the numbers don’t indicate that it would be the NFL. I was most surprised that Major LeagueBaseball, which is often perceived to have very little competitive balance andbe the example of the haves and have-nots actually appears by the numbers tohave more parity than the NFL does. Simply put, I’m sick of hearing about parity in the NFL because itsimply isn’t there. Heck, there haveonly been 3 AFC teams to make it to the Super Bowl in the last 9 years. They’re trying to sell the idea of paritywhen one conference has been the Patriots, Steelers, Colts, then everyone elsefor the last decade.

28 NFL teams out of 32 have at least played in the SuperBowl at least once. Houston’s team has only been in existence since2002, so they have had 10 tries without getting there. Jacksonvillehas been around since 1995, so they’re 0 for 17 in trying to get there. Clevelandhas had 43 failed attempts. Detroit is the only teamthat has existed for all 46 Super Bowl seasons without ever getting there.

Here’s a fun fact. Ofthe four cities that have never seen their team play in a Super Bowl, three ofthose cities have actually played host to the big game. Houston and Detroit have each hosted twice, and Jacksonville has once. That means that 31 of the 32 NFL teams haveeither played in or hosted a Super Bowl, making them or their city somehowdirectly involved in the event itself. The odd team/city out is Cleveland. No NFL city or team is less a part of SuperBowl Sunday than Clevelandand the Browns. Sure, Baltimore stole their team in 1996 and won aSuper Bowl for themselves four years later, but for many including myself thatonly makes it suck more.

As a Clevelandfan, the Super Bowl is this thing that I watch every year because it’s a bigdeal, but I don’t really feel like a part of it in any way. It’s like this thing that the rest of theleague at one time or another has had the opportunity to enjoy, and Cleveland is just anoutsider. You can tell the story of theSuper Bowl without Clevelandor the Browns being mentioned. This iswhere that bitter fan in me comes out this week every year. I’m at the point where just once I want to beable to have that Super Bowl party and get to watch my team compete for thebiggest prize in the game. I am onlyfurther annoyed that so many “experts” continue to perpetuate this falsehoodthat any team can win in this league, even more so than in others.

Dear Canton, In Case You Forgot...

2012-01-31T14:10:00.001-05:00

Among the many highlights of Super Bowl week is theselection of the newest class of Hall of Fame inductees. This year, there are 15 modern-era finalists,of which a maximum of 5 can be selected for enshrinement this year. I am a fan of the idea of a Hall of Fame, andbelieve it is a great honor for those who are enshrined. The selection system is flawed though. Each sport has issues with selectinginductees that quite frankly confuse the hell out of me. Limiting the number of selections per yearseems kind of silly to me. I suppose Iunderstand that in some years it could lead to a lot of them, making theinduction ceremony seem crowded and resulting in the honorees getting less thantheir deserved amount of time in the spotlight for what in many ways is onefinal day in the sun to celebrate them. What doesn’t make sense to me is that it results in guys being on theballot for several years before finally being selected. I understand and agree with the requirement thatthey be retired for five years before being eligible to ensure that theircareer is indeed complete. Beyond that,what does additional time do to make one a Hall of Famer?

One of the more notable stories in recent years that finallygot the payoff was that of Major Leaguer Bert Blyleven. Blyleven was on the Baseball Hall of Fameballot for 14 years before finally being selected in 2011. Blyleven last played in 1992, and was firston the Hall of Fame ballot in 1998. Foryears I read and heard about him being one of the best pitchers not in the Hallof Fame. When he was finally selected,my thought was “what happened?” After 13chances without being voted in, what finally happened that in his 14^thattempt, 19 years after he last played, that made him a Hall of Famer?

To me it should be simpler. Either they are, or they’re not. A lot of baseball voters in particular have this mindset of adistinction between a Hall of Famer, and a first ballot Hall of Famer. They will intentionally not vote for someonethe first year so they will not be a first ballot Hall of Famer. I have been to Cooperstowntwice, and I don’t ever recall when visiting the hall of enshrines seeing aspecial section or even a distinctive marking that separates the guys who gotin on the first ballot. So really,what’s the freaking difference?

As I look at the list of finalists for the Pro Football Hallof Fame for this year, I know already I am going to be annoyed anddisappointed. I see more deservingcandidates than selections that will be made. Most of them have been on the ballot for multiple years and have yet tobe selected. For a few, I believe it’san honor that is long overdue for them, and I anticipate that for some theirwait will continue. There are threefinalists in particular that stand out to me. All three of them belong in my opinion. All three of them were wide receivers. All three of them played the bulk of their careers in the 1990’s. All three of them at the time of theirretirement were second only to Jerry Rice (who happens to still hold all therecords as he sort of Gretzky’d the record book) in one or more of the majorstatistical categories for their position all time. The three men are Andre Reed, Cris Carter,and Tim Brown. I’ve talked about theseguys with some very casual sports fans and they are often surprised not justthat one of them isn’t in the hall, but become even more shocked to learn thatnone of them is.

I just don’t understand what more was required of theseguys. The only remotely legitimateargument might be that the three combine for zero Super Bowl wins. Reed went four times and lost, Brown went andlost once, and Carter never got there. There are plenty of other guys in the Hall of Fame that were among thebest at their position without a championship to really nullify that argumenthowever. I think of guys like SteveLargent, Kellen Winslow, Ozzie Newsome, Barry Sanders, and Dan Fouts as far asguys who never even played in a Super Bowl. I suppose with Carter his personality and past substance abuse issuesmight be counted against him, but again we could come up with some guys thatalready made it in that could be considered similarly (I’m looking at you,Michael Irvin).

Carter may have the best chance to get in first, as hisnumbers are probably the most impressive and he is so easy to remember. Brown was a much quieter player who overalldidn’t play on as good of teams as Carter did. Reed I think may end up being the one to never get there. Several of his teammates from thoseoutstanding Bills teams of the early 90’s are already in. For some reason Hall of Fame voters have ahard time with the idea of a lot of Hall of Famers being on one team. They tend to think that there can’t be thatmany players that great on one team at one time, especially since that teamnever won a championship. Yes, thoseBills teams never won a Super Bowl, but they did achieve a lot of greatthings. Getting there four times in arow is something that even though I saw it with my own eyes I still can’t getmy mind around a team actually doing that. Sadly, by never winning they are remembered by many as being losers.

One big strike against these guys is they played in JerryRice’s era. Rice was playing a differentgame than anybody else. To hold otherreceivers of his time to that standard is somewhat unfair. It’s seems unfair to other great receivers ofthe 90’s to be forgotten entirely because of one man’s dominance.

All three of them may also be victims of the evolution ofthe game. They ended their careersrelatively recently, but really played in a different era than we knownow. Because of the changes that favorpassing offense, their numbers don’t hold up against what guys are doing now. Here’s their ranks all-time in three majorreceiving categories at the time of retirement and where they rankcurrently. Reed has been retired 11years, Carter 9, and Brown 7.

Reed: Receptions – 2^ndall time at retirement, 10^th now

Yards – 4^that retirement, 12^th now

TDs – 5^that retirement, 12^th now

Carter: Receptions – 2^nd at retirement, 4^thnow

Yards – 4^that retirement, 8^th now

TDs – 2^ndat retirement, 4^th now

Brown: Receptions – 3^rd at retirement, 5^thnow

Yards – 2^ndat retirement, 4^th now

TDs – 3^rdat retirement, 6^th now

Their numbers are falling down the all time ranks due to thenew era of passing the likes of which we’ve never seen. I would argue that these guys helped pave theway for this new era. The Hall hasseemed to skip over the great receivers of the 1990’s. At this rate the only thing that more timewill do is lose them further into obscurity, Reed in particular. Honor them now, before they are lost.

Hey, It's That Guy!

2012-01-29T15:04:00.001-05:00

I had to take a ride out to lovely Basom today to make a transaction with the natives. During the ride out, I opened up the Watch ESPN app on my phone to occupy myself. PBA bowling was on, and I figured what the heck, that'll do. I was pleasantly surprised when I tuned in and was greeted by the unmistakable pipes of Gary Thorne doing play-by-play.

My initial reaction was to think it was nice of the Worldwide Leader to let him out of the cell they store him in when the Little League World Series isn't going on. I then thought about growing up watching hockey in the United States in the 90's. Skating Fox Robots, glowing hockey pucks on TV, and Gary Thorne's voice calling the action.

As I'm typing this the NHL All Star Game is fixing to start soon, and I'm thinking of All Star Games of my younger years and it's Thorne and Bill Clement's voices I hear in my head. Every time I watch something he's calling I think about how much I wish he still did hockey. It sure doesn't look like it'll happen, and it's too bad. To me, he's just what hockey sounds like. In Canada, there's the Jim Hughesons and Harry Neales and the like. We get Mike Emricks and Joe Beninatis and the like, and it's often painful. Gary Thorne could make a grass growing contest interesting and informative. The guys doing hockey games in America now would make me question watching the Super Bowl (even more than the guys that actually do the Super Bowl). If nothing else, I wish they used Thorne more than they do.

Sorry Jack, Tiger (Just Might Be) Back

2012-01-28T13:46:00.001-05:00

Tiger Woods has a 54 hole lead for the first time in over two years. His disappointing stretch between then and now is well documented. Most including myself have doubted that he would ever regain the form we were accustomed to. He's finally showing some signs it's possible.

For a while I wondered if he'd win again at all. Then he got close in Australia in November and won the Chevron World Challenge in December. I was excited for him. Say what you will about his vices (I agree that being unfaithful to your wife and the mother of your children is despicable), I am a fan of Tiger the golfer.

Even though he finally got a win, it's easy for people to discount it because it was a limited field invitational event that he hosts on a course he is very familiar with. That was a pretty elite field albeit limited.

I'm curious to see how the reaction will be if he wins in Abu Dhabi this week. It's a full field event, with many of the top ranked golfers in the world. The field in that event is probably even tougher than the one playing in San Diego on the PGA Tour this week. Also, it would be at a venue he's never been to before.

I think pulling off the win this week would be an extremely positive sign that Tiger is close to being the force that he was for much of the previous decade. Winning against that field on a course that's new to him for his second win in as many starts is a pretty good indication he's at a high level. Even more impressive is the way he's playing. Two bogey free rounds and only two dropped shots in three rounds is tough to beat.

For the first time since his scandal I think he looks like a serious threat to go on a tear and rattle off multiple wins and make a serious run at Jack Nicklaus's record for Major Championships. I know it's early, but I am already fired up for Augusta.

All Star Games - Who Shives a Git?

2012-01-27T11:49:00.000-05:00

This weekend is a big one for all star games. There’s the Senior Bowl, the AHL and NHL AllStar Games, and the Pro Bowl all happening. Can we agree that all star games suck? I don’t believe I need to spell that out. They can be great until you hit about age 9or 10. When you’re a kid, games aregames and they’re all great. You likeall star games because it looks a lot like any other game and you know who justabout everyone playing is. Then you getsmarter, more mature, start actually playing these sports and you learn aboutthe subtleties of them. You start torealize that these things are almost nothing like the games these guys play allyear that “earn them spots” there in the first place.

To me, all star games don’t represent what they should. Being an all star doesn’t seem to be a bigdeal any more. Some leagues haveprovisions where every single team must be represented. To me that goes against the very spiritbecause they’re not always picking simply the best. The fan votes turn them into popularitycontests and often the most deserving don’t get picked. For example, Joe Thomas (left tackle for theCleveland Browns) has been selected to the Pro Bowl every year of hiscareer. He’s a good player, but I’veseen every snap of his career in addition to a lot of other football games andhe hasn’t been the best left tackle in the AFC every year for the last fiveyears. He gets picked every year becauseof the hype and reputation he has as an elite tackle. As a Browns fan, there’s part of me thatlikes seeing one of their players be recognized and rewarded, but he hasn’talways deserved it and I know that so it cheapens it. Whenever you see a Browns game thebroadcasters always take time to point out Joe Thomas and call him one of thebest and tell you how many Pro Bowls he’s already gone to. That’s something that only perpetuatesit. They let fans vote on this stuff. Survey 100 fans and ask them how manystarting left tackles in the NFL they can name. I’m shocked if most can name more than a couple. Hell, I can’t name that many off the top ofmy head. I know I’m guilty of votingonline for the Pro Bowl and when I get to certain positions, I just vote for aguy because I’ve heard of him. I wouldlike to see a selection process that somehow ensures that the best players arepicked, which would probably involve taking the vote away from the fans andsaying screw the notion that every team needs to be represented.

Being selected as an all star should be an honor. I played a variety of sports as a kid, andwasn’t very outstanding at any of them. I was an okay bowler for a while, and I did have a few years in littleleague I was pretty proud of, but I never was very outstanding. I never got picked for an all star game. There were a couple of times I felt I shouldhave been picked and felt I wasn’t because my parents weren’t friends with theright people. That may or may not betrue, but the point is it was something I aspired to be. I would have been tremendously honored tohave been selected. Guys get picked tothese things now and don’t even want to be bothered with showing up, let aloneparticipating. I understand legitimatereasons such as injury or other personal conflicts, but that skews it evenfurther. Derek Anderson can say he was aPro Bowl quarterback in 2007. It’s truehe was. What rarely gets mentioned isthat he played because he was an alternate who took Tom Brady’s spot after heskipped it because he got beat up by the Giants in the Super Bowl the weekbefore.

The most enjoyable aspect of these all star events for me isusually the various skills exhibitions. The Home Run Derby, the NHL skills competition, the NBA slam dunkcontest and 3 Point shooting contest, and the NFL has done various things overthe years and should grow this idea (I remember the Quarterback Challenge as akid, is that still a thing?). I like theidea of the skills displays actuallybeing the all star festivities. Don’t give us some crappy game that doesn’t matter (I don’t want to getsidetracked into the whole MLB game deciding World Series home field, I’ll justsay that’s stupid and should end), rather give us something that is low injuryrisk that gives the best a chance to showcase what they do best. I would hope that would entice more playerswho were selected to attend if they don’t have to play in the stupid game. It would be far more entertaining for morepeople. The only downside I see is it’sone less way for the leagues to make money. That’s the sad truth, it’s about the money. I don’t dismiss the idea that if theyeliminated the game itself and expanded the skills exhibitions they could finda way to make that money anyway.

Despite all my bitching, I will probably find myselfwatching at least some of just about all of them this weekend, thus I willcontinue to be part of the problem. Ihave to have something to watch Sunday between the Farmer’s Insurance Open andthe new episode of Californication, and Lord knows I can’t be bothered with “realnews”.

An Age Old Question

2012-01-26T10:31:00.000-05:00

Tom Brady is playing in yet another Super Bowl thisyear. No quarterback has played in more,and only Elway has played in as many. Ifhe wins, it’s ring number four and no quarterback has more (only Bradshaw and Montana have as many). If he’s the MVP, that will be his third (onlyMontana hasdone that). When a player is in pursuitof all-time record achievements, it’s easy to start a debate about thatplayer’s place among the all-time greats. I will simply say I think Brady is the best, but what I really mean ishe’s the best of his era, and among the best of my generation. I never saw Otto Graham, Bart Starr, JohnnyUnitas, Roger Staubach, or Terry Bradshaw play. I can’t speak to their greatness, but I don’t deny it. I did see Joe Montana, Dan Marino, JohnElway, Jim Kelly, and Brett Favre play. I can speak to their greatness, and they all were. I think to try and compare players acrossgenerations is a fool’s errand because the game changes. Marino played a different game than OttoGraham played. I do find it interestingto compare players from the same eras and debate who the best is.

For much of my youth a huge debate was who was betterbetween Joe Montana and Dan Marino. Manybelieved it was one of those two that was the best. Montanawas the winner. Four Super Bowls, threeSuper Bowl MVPs, and the guy was clutch. His stats were very good, but there were multiple guys including Marinothat had remarkably better numbers. Marino was the stat guy. OneSuper Bowl appearance (lost to Montana),but retired the all-time leader in just about every passing statistic thereis. This current era has sparked adebate over whether Tom Brady or Peyton Manning is the best. The perception is that Brady is like the Montana and Manning islike the Marino. Brady is recognizedmore for the winning and the titles, Manning for the stats. Brady is absolutely the better winner, but Idon’t think Manning is all that statistically superior.

I went and looked at some stats to see if there’s reallymuch truth to it being that different between them. Brady has played in a total of 161 games,starting 159 of them. With 16 games in ayear, that’s pretty much the equivalent of 10 seasons. Here’s some of his regular season numbersversus the first 10 seasons of Manning’s career. If Manning is really statistically superiorit should show here:

Yards - Manning 41,626 Brady 39.979 (a difference of 12 yards/game)

Touchdowns - Manning 306 Brady 300

Interceptions - Manning 153 Brady 115 (less is better right?)

These next two I only have Manning’s career number, notthrough 10 seasons.

CP% - Manning 64.9% Brady 63.8%

Rating - Manning 94.9 Brady 96.4

Pretty close to the same guy, and Brady’s even thrown a lotless interceptions. Now let’s get in tosome “winning” numbers:

W-L Record - Manning 105-55 Brady 124-35

Game Win Drives/

4^th Q Comebacks - Manning 31 Brady 34

Losing Seasons - Manning 2 Brady 0

Head-to-Head Wins - Manning 3 Brady 6

And here are some playoff comparisons:

W-L Record - Manning 7-7 Brady 16-5

Game Win Drives/

4^th Q Comebacks - Manning 1 Brady 6

Head-to-Head Wins - Manning 1 Brady 2

SB MVPs - Manning 1 Brady 2(and a shot at another)

SB Record - Manning 1-0 Brady 3-1

(Manning went to another in year 12 and Brady is yet to play in one)

I don’t think it really is a winning versus statsdebate. Brady is pretty clearly thebetter winner and more clutch, but the stats are pretty even.

Throw in the fact that Brady had to fight and overcomeincredible adversity to even get a chance to play in the league and that onlyadds to Brady’s legend. He was notreally recruited a lot coming out of high school. When he got to Michigan there were 7 quarterbacks there andhe had to fight for reps. Once he becamethe starter, they tried to give his job to Drew Henson. He didn’t really get looked at seriouslycoming out of college. 6 otherquarterbacks were drafted before he went 199^th overall. A lot of 6^th round picks don’tever see the field and are out of the league in a couple of years. He worked hard to prepare and when he did gethis shot he absolutely made the most of it, making a Hall of Fame career out ofit. It’s still mind blowing to thinkthat Chad Pennington (meh, he was okay), Giovanni Carmazzi (who the hell isGiovanni Carmazzi?), Chris Redman (career journeyman), Tee Martin (the guy whoreplaced Manning at Tennessee and not muchelse), Marc Bulger (had a small window where he was alright), and Spergon Wynn(nice job Cleveland)were all drafted before Brady. Redman isthe only one still in the league. If youwatch the documentary “The Brady 6”, one of the more hilarious moments is whenSpergon Wynn was playing for Cleveland against Baltimore, and Brian Billick(Ravens coach) says to Chris Palmer (Browns coach) that he had no idea who thatwas and he never heard of him.

I’m reluctant to call anyone the best ever, but it’s hardfor me to think it’s anyone other than Tom Brady.

What Do You Want on Your Tombstone?

2012-01-25T13:47:00.000-05:00

Today is the day Joe Paterno is laid to rest. His name has become quite polarizing for alot of different reasons. Right now,when I see or hear his name I feel very sad. I feel sad first and foremost because at this point I just aboutimmediately think of the Jerry Sandusky scandal, and the fact that suchmonsters exist that would do those sorts of things with young people. I feel for the victims of the abuse and theirfamilies. I am at a loss to even imaginehow that impacts their lives, but my heart does go out to them.

While they are the victims most wronged by the actions ofone, there are plenty of other people who are hurt when someone does what Sandusky did. It hurts a lot more people. Yes, there are others who are guilty ofvarying levels of wrongdoing in this situation, but in a sense they weresecondary victims as well. I say theyare victims because they were put in a position that they did not ask to be putin by a disgusting individual and it simply fucked up their shit. They should not have been made to be involvedin this mess because one asshole does what Sandusky did. To my knowledge no one else stands accused of being involved in directlyacting to harm young children like Sanduskyis. The ones I feel least badly for arethe ones who had knowledge and either didn’t act or acted to cover things up. They deserve to be held responsible forcontributing to the bad.

Then there are those who reacted, but probably didn’t doenough. The poster boy for this group isJoePa himself. An employee came to himand told him about that he saw someone else who was no longer a member ofthe coaching staff at the time doing something beyond inappropriate. I’ve been in a middle management positionmyself where I’ve had it brought to me by an employee that they witnessedsomeone doing something they are not supposed to (fortunately it was far lesssevere than the wrongdoing in this case), but something that isn’t seen everyday and doesn’t regularly fit the job description. Personally, one of my very first feelings insuch a case is to be hit with a sense of panic, or not knowing what exactly to do. Yes, you want to stop the wrong, but if youare like me and want to be a good employee, you have the interests of youremployer in mind and want to act in a way in accordance with their wishes totry and protect them (they make sure I get paid every week after all). So where was the first place I went? I talked to my supervisor. I want to go after the bad guy, but I want toprotect my employer where possible, as they are not directly responsible forsaid wrongdoing happening to begin with. In that situation, if my boss leads me to believe that they are going tohandle the situation; I would be inclined to trust them. I think that’s what happened to Joe Paternohere. Maybe I can learn a lesson fromthis situation, maybe he should have done more, but I can understand how hefelt he did the right thing at the time. On one hand he did the same thing that Mike McQueary did and he’s theone who actually eye witnessed the offense. Paterno just had what someone else told him to act on. Could he have done more to correct thesituation? Probably. Is he a criminal or a bad person for hisinvolvement? Not even close. I think he’s more of a victim of this shittysituation.

I get that because of the fact that this happened underPaterno’s watch and wasn’t fixed that he has a level of responsibility. I even get that it can lead to him losing hisjob. I just don’t think he deserves tobe vilified the way he has by so many. You would think he’s the one who did the crime. It’s just sad. It’s sad because for so long Joe Paterno hasbeen a symbol of so much good. He hasbeen a positive role model and citizen for so many for so long. I don’t necessarily think he was that greatof a coach in terms of X’s and O’s or wins and losses (he should win that manygames if he’s at that school that long). Anyone really think Penn State is an elitefootball program? They’re like the thirdor fourth best program in their own conference at best. Paterno stood for much more than thathowever.

It’s sad he had to deal with this at all. It’s sad that it led to him being disgracedthe way it did. He was a part of Penn Stateand the source of so much good for so long that to end this way doesn’t seemfitting. Did he hang on too long? Yeah, but he was pretty good at what he didand a lot of people were happy to have him.

The saddest part of the whole situation is that he passedaway so soon after the real shit hit the fan. I’m not even overly sad that he died. 85 is a pretty good life span. Myone grandfather died at 66 and the other barely saw 70. I had hoped that he somehow someway wouldhave a shot at redemption. I don’t thinkwhat Paterno himself did was even close to what Michael Vick did, yet thatasshole got a shot to redeem himself. Ifnothing else I wish he could have had time to let some of the wounds heal sothis horrible story wasn’t so fresh in everyone’s minds as we remember his lifeand write his epitaph. Personally, Iwill remember him not only for all the positive, but also as a victim. A victim of terrible circumstance caused byan awful man who was supposed to be a friend, and also a victim of hissuperiors who let him down as well. Remember they are also facing charges for actual wrongdoing as well.
Again, there is no greater tragedy in this whole situationthan the young people who were hurt as a result of one monster’s actions. Yes, there are others who were in a positionto put an end to it and prevent it from happening further, and they have thaton their hands. I don’t believe thatPaterno had any intent to hurt anyone, it’s just not consistent with the way heled his life. I just hope that peoplecan ultimately see that he was not the real villain here.

Hey Lindy ... I'm Blogging!

2012-01-25T00:24:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning feeling similarly to how I felt as a BuffaloSabres fan a year ago – miserable. Thisteam is broken, and something drastic needs to happen to fix it. I was thinking this a year ago, then TerryPegula bought the team, defined a new model for running it, and things startedto change. It started off wellenough. Seemingly overnight the team wasreborn. They started winning – a lot. They went from the cellar to a playoff teamby the end of the season. There was apretty fabulous flame out in the playoffs, but hell they weren’t supposed to bethere anyway right?

Then came the offseason, and holy shit they made moves! They added veteran pieces with an eye on gettingbetter right away and making a serious playoff run. They started the regular season lookingpretty good. Unfortunately at some pointthough things went sideways, and it hasn’t gotten any better. Some of those offseason moves have not turnedout so well (I’m looking at you, Ville Leino). There also have been a large amount of injuries too, but that shithappens.

So here we are, a year later, and again this team is broken,and something drastic needs to happen to fix it. As Howard Simon (whose radio show featured arecurring skit that inspired the title of this post) wrote Tuesday on WGR’s website “It’s time Mr. Pegula.” Now Ireally liked how when Pegula took over he gave Darcy Regier and Lindy Ruff avote of confidence and decided to give them a chance to operate with his newmission statement in mind. But I am ofthe mind that it is foolish to think it a good idea to charge the manresponsible for building the mess with rebuilding it differently and better. I like what Bulldog had to say here. That’s why as much as I like Darcy Regier andappreciate the job he has done over the years, it’s time for someone new.

This roster is all kinds of screwed up. They strike me as selfish, individualistic,lazy, and overpaid among other things (I’m looking at you Derek Roy). They have almost no ability to beat thegoalie. There are a few guys such asVanek, Stafford, and Pominville who havedemonstrated some ability to do this at a high level at times, but they havealso demonstrated an equal ability to just vanish for long stretches. Sure that can happen to most players, butwith the lack of overall offensive depth it creates a huge problem for thisteam. The goalie situation is a messtoo, but I’ll get into that in a minute.

I admire the hell out of Lindy Ruff. I liked him as a player. I remember meeting him when he played in Rochester at the end ofhis professional career. I think he hasbeen a fine coach for this franchise. But this team does not look like a Lindy Ruff team. They don’t play his style of hockey atall. They don’t have much of any stylefor that matter. There’s a lack of anidentity, as well as a lack of accountability. I believe Lindy too needs to be shown the door. I don’t doubt that before long Lindy wouldland a new gig and probably do very well in it (hope he doesn’t speak French –keep him out of our division please).

Now back to the goalies. I wish I could really make up my mind on this one. It’s especially hard for me to remove emotionfrom the situation (which I believe is part of management’s problem). Ryan Miller is my personal favorite currentBuffalo Sabre. He has been since he tookover as the full time starter in Buffalo. Throw in that performance of his at theVancouver Olympics and I grew to admire him even more. He won the Vezina two years ago, but he quitefrankly has not been very good since. Controversy really heated up when he got hurt at the end of last yearand Jhonas Enroth stepped in and won some big games. It continued early this year under similarcircumstances. As the year progressedEnroth started to suck too. Here’s mytheory – it’s not the goalies, it’s the assholes skating in front of them.

Prior to Enroth taking over as the full time backup, theSabres had a string of terrible backup goalies that couldn’t be trusted. When Miller went down late last season,Enroth was very unproven and stepping in on a team that had been conditioned tonot trust its backup goalie. If youwatch the games, they became a different team when Enroth went in. All of a sudden they started playing smart,defensively responsible hockey. Theydidn’t ask much of their goaltender, manufactured “just enough” offense, andwon games (the kind of system that’s won the Devils 3 Stanley Cups and madeMartin Brodeur a Hall of Famer while barely facing 20 shots a game). What a concept! Same can be said of early this season. They have for quite some time nowpersistently played loose, irresponsible hockey in front of Ryan Miller withthe only logic behind it that I can figure that “our goalie’s good, he’s gotthis.” I saw the same thing start tohappen in front of Enroth as confidence seemed to grow in him.

Where I get mixed feelings is when it comes to what to dowith the goalies going forward. I likeMiller, and I think they can win with him if they fix the issues in front ofhim, but he is aging and does make a shit ton of money in a salary capleague. That cap space, plus the factthat Miller could be attractive to another team in a trade could go a long waytoward building the overall health of the team. I think Enroth is pretty good too. He’s younger, makes less, and could be a good part of a goalie tandemthat could be less of a cap hit combined than Miller is alone. The bottom line remains that what is donewith the goalies matters little without fixing other issues.

If you couple the on ice issues with the fact that thelong time voice of the Buffalo Sabres, Rick Jeanneret, is getting on in yearsand only working a limited schedule now, leaving us with Kevin Sylvester’svoice calling the action and the loss of MSG Network on Time Warner Cable whichmost people have for TV in these parts (I’m not affected, I have DirecTV), andit’s pretty miserable in Sabreland these days.

Oh wow. Earnest Byner just made a new friend.

2012-01-24T20:14:00.000-05:00

This is what I posted on Twitter and Facebook Sunday evening immediately after Kyle Williams of the San Francisco 49ers fumbled a punt return in overtime of the NFC Championship game that set up the game winning field goal for the New York Giants. I felt so bad for the guy to have that happen to him. Overall this past Championship Sunday will likely be remembered largely for the "goats". Kyle Williams was not the first player to make such a terrible blunder, nor will he be the last.

As I've already brought up, my mind immediately went to Earnest Byner. For those who are unaware (not sure why you'd be reading this, but anyway), Byner was the Cleveland Browns running back who famously fumbled the ball on the goal line as he was about to score a go ahead touchdown late in the 1987 AFC Championship against the Denver Broncos. Though I am a little too young to remember this as I was only three years old when it happened, it is an image that as a Browns fan I am forced to see over and over, especially this time of year.

I hate how people are villified for such blunders. I was especially bothered when I heard of the various threats sent to Kyle Williams on this occasion. I know it's not the first instance of this, and I always hate it, but the recent occurence is what prompts me commenting. Personally I believe that every asshole that bothered to take the time to direct some sort of threat of bad things to come to Kyle Williams should be hunted down and have whatever they threatened to Kyle Williams executed on them. There's just no excuse for it. It's a freaking game for crying out loud!

I know how upsetting and mind-numbingly frustrating it is as a fan to be so close to what you want more than anything else out of sports and to fall just short - we all have been there at some point or another. I can even relate to directing your frustration at a particular individual for their level of responsibility in the matter. However, to go so far as to actually reach out to that person with threats of violence and harm is shameful and beyond disgusting. The guy fucked up. He knows he did. Everyone knows he did. I'm willing to bet that despite what people say and do that there is no one on this earth that hates him for it more than he hates himself. It's clear that wasn't his intended outcome, and I don't see what the point is of going out of one's way to dump on the guy to that extreme. Sure, if you were happy they lost then go ahead and enjoy the fact that he fumbled the game away in such humiliating fashion, just don't make it more personal than it deserves to be.

Perspective would sure help too. How many people had the 49ers anywhere near where they ended up when they were looking ahead before the season? I thought they might have a good chance to win their terrible division, but not a whole lot beyond that. They exceeded the realistic expectations, and have a lot of reasons to think they'll be back. I hope they are around for a while. I find them very likeable and easy to root for. Though I am also quite jealous of the success they enjoy. What I wouldn't give at this point to see the Browns come even close to that kind of season - terrible heartbreaking end and all. I'd sign up for that right now if I could.

Oh well, at least with my team's football season being done I can turn my hopes and dreams to my next favorite sport... oh wait as of me typing this the Buffalo Sabres sit alone in last place in the Eastern Conference. Well they're playing the Devils tonight and I might even watch some of it. Either way my next post is sure to have more on that sore subject.

The Pilot: Why am I here?

2012-01-24T15:18:00.000-05:00

I like sports... a lot! The goal of this blog is to provide a means for me to share opinions and commentary on various aspects of the sporting world in a deeper way than Facebook and Twitter can allow. My hope is to have this be a way to connect with others who are also looking for a way to share thoughts and opinions on these topics. Sports are not my sole interest however, so I will not limit my posts to just sports topics and will chime in on other topics from time to time as I deem fit.

I am quite the novice when it comes to the world of blogs. I know a lot of people have them, and even more people read them. I've only followed a select few myself and they have largely disappeared. It's kind of nice to have a medium such as this for literally any asshole to share whatever they want. My dear friend Minch fairly recently started his own blog over at Minch vs the World which is quite entertaining and should be checked out by all. I had this idea running through my head to have some way to share what's on my mind prior to that, however once I saw him start doing it I only had more of an urge to do something myself. I've been holding off for a while because of this thought I've had about simply just copying his idea and feeling weird about it.

Okay, I promised some sport stuff. I'm not even sure where to start. I like a lot of sports, but truly have only a few teams I am really passionate about. My absolute love is the NFL's Cleveland Browns. I went to a game in Cleveland when I was 7 years old and have been hooked ever since. I was alive for "The Drive" and "The Fumble", but was 2 and 3 years old respectively when those games were played so they were before anything I can actually remember and before I stated I was a Browns fan. In 20 years as a fan I have still had more than my share of misery. Only two playoff appearances, a lot of painful and embarassing losses, their arch-rivals playing in four Super Bowls (winning 2), and the ultimate agony of the team leaving town and getting a sorry expansion team as a replacement after 3 seasons with no team at all. The last part was only made worse in 2000 when my old team went on to win the Super Bowl. I absolutely hated seeing Baltimore celebrate what should've been Cleveland's Super Bowl. That being said, I was very relieved when Billy Cundiff (former Brown and current Ravens kicker) piss down his leg on National TV on Sunday and cost the Ravens a chance at another Super Bowl. I now don't have to watch one of the teams I most hate play on Super Sunday like I had to last year.

I live in Rochester, NY about an hour east of Buffalo. This area is primarily Buffalo Bills fans. My formative years as a football fan (ages 6, 7, 8, and 9) all saw the Bills go to the Super Bowl. I have a level of disdain for the average Bills fan I encounter that stems from the way they choose to express their passion for their team in a way that I personally find very obnoxious and outside of the real world. I love my team, but I try to maintain a level of perspective and reality that I don't see from a lot of people I encounter. My team sucks, and I'll grant that, but I still like them and want to see them do well. I stuck with them through not existing for 3 years, there really isn't any changing my mind.

I bring all of this up because of a lot of the reaction around here to the Patriots being in the Super Bowl again. I already shared with you that I wanted the Ravens to lose because I don't like them for the reasons I stated. However, I can acknowledge that they are a very talented team among the best in the league this year. Had Cundiff made the kick or even Lee Evans held on to that pass or anything else been different and the Ravens won the game I would be disappointed, but would recognize what they had accomplished and look forward to the Super Bowl. I get the fact that Bills fans hate New England. They've been getting beat on by them for a long time. I get why people don't like Belichick. I even get why people don't like Brady, though I personally have a great deal of admiration for him which I'll share in a later post. Where you lose me is when I see and hear reaction about what a terrible game that was and how the Super Bowl matchup sucks this year (cause the last time these two teams played in the Super Bowl it totally sucked right?). This Conference Championship Sunday was maybe the best I've ever seen and this Super Bowl matchup is about as exciting as it gets. Anyone who can't acknowledge that is someone who doesn't like football, doesn't understand football, or has their feet too deep in fandom to get it.

Personally I think this is a great Super Bowl matchup. I like Brady going for his 4th ring, I like Eli going for one more than big brother, I like the rematch aspect of it, and I like the idea of the Patriots winning one for their owner Robert Kraft in the year they are honoring his late wife. I'm sure in the next two weeks leading up to the big game I will have plenty of time to share lots more on this.

Point being, I love my team but I love the sport as a whole too. It really gets me going when "fans" can't recognize the greatness of the sport because they have blinders on that only allow them to view things in such a skewed way. I think this is an appropriate way to start this blog, as it gives a good idea of how I view sports. I think I'll call it quits for now, but I have plenty more to come. Future posts will have my thoughts on Joe Paterno, Earnest Byner's new friend, the best quarterback ever, and the misery that is being a Buffalo Sabres fan. I hope to make this a thing that lasts and people like. Thanks for reading, and tell your friends.