UB Blue White Scrimmage

The UB football team concluded their spring practices with the annual Blue White scrimmage. It was dominated by the Bulls offense who put up 73 points. Drew Willy went 16 of 22 for 197 yards. He had 1 touchdown to St. Joe's, Naaman Roosevelt who finished the game with 44 yards. James Starks, the sophomore running back from Niagara Falls didn't see very much time. He had just 2 carries, as Turner Gill was trying to see what his reserves could do. A couple of standouts: Brandon Thermilus led the running backs with 91 yards on 12 carries, including a 16 yard touchdown. Ernest Jackson had 4 catches for 66 yards. 3 of those were 18 yards or more. The Bulls return 18 starters this season, and continue to say "Bowl or Bust". They will continue to work out this summer as they get ready for their season opener on August 28th at home against UTEP.

Golisano Interview

I spent the morning in Rochester, at the office of Sabres Owner Tom Golisano. We conducted an extensive interview with Golisano which will air in three parts, starting next Monday on News 4.
Among other things, Golisano talked about the departure of Chris Drury and Daniel Briere last summer, and he disputed reports that the Sabres and Drury had an agreement in principle in the winter of '06-'07, on a new contract extension.
"There were conversations, dollar amounts discussed," Golisano told me, "but no agreement." He thinks fans and some media have spent too much time focusing on the departure of Drury and Briere, and said the Sabres were handcuffed by the NHL salary cap.
Golisano also said he remains interested in committed to the hockey franchise, despite not making it to Buffalo for as many games this past season. He told us Sabres fans should not worry about his commitment, and denied that the Sabres are for sale.
The interview will air starting Monday April 14th on News 4, and I'm sure we'll post substantial portions of the interview on our web site next week.

Home Opener

I had a chance to spend an hour or so at Dunn Tire park tonight, as the Bisons played their home opener. There was a little rain, but it passed after about a 20-minute shower. And the buzz of the opener was prevalent throughout the ballpark.
Twenty years after it opened, the downtown ballpark still looks fantastic. The field was in great shape, the scoreboard is solid. The concourses and hallways were pristine, almost as if they'd been polished to a shine this afternoon. Dunn Tire Park remains a baseball treasure in my mind. When it opened in 1988, I can remember thinking that Buffalo had built a modern-day Dodger Stadium, with perfect sight lines and the best in fan amenities. Now, 20-years later, I can say it stands up as a great ballpark and an outstanding experience.

Kelly Disappoints

How interested were the Buffalo Bills in WR Malcolm Kelly's workout today? Interested enough to send two coaches, Offensive Coordinator Turk Schonert and WR Coach Tyke Tolbert, to Oklahoma to watch Kelly. They could not have been impressed with what they saw. Kelly previously had been clocked in the mid 4.5s in his 40-yard dash time. Today, he ran 4.68 and 4.75. The Bills and other NFL teams could probably handle a 4.5, but much slower than that could be a problem. Kelly had plenty of excuses afterwards, telling reporters at OU that his workout was "terrible." He blamed the Field Turf, which he said he did not want to run on. And he hinted that some OU coaches deceived him about the extent of his thigh injury last January, telling him it was only a bruise. Kelly discovered at the Senior Bowl he actually had a torn thigh muscle, and that's why he didn't play in that game, and hasn't run until now. The upshot? The Bills may still be interested in Malcolm Kelly, but probably not as a first round selection. I still have a feeling they'll go with a cornerback with the 11th overall pick.

Self-Centered

Are we really supposed to believe that Bill Self would leave Kansas, for a job at Oklahoma State? That's one of the rumors floating around, after the Jayhawks National Championship win over Memphis. Self says he wants to talk to KU officials about an extension, and he says he's looking for some security. Translated--OSU is throwing megabucks at me, and it's time for KU to step up. That's the way it works in big time college basketball these days. Self just got a five year contract extension from Kansas last year, worth more than $1.3 million a year, with a chance to make another $350,000 in incentives. But Oklahoma State just got a $165-million endowment from billionaire alumnus Boone Pickens, and Self is a graduate of OSU, so anything is possible. On some level, however, Self has to know that he's already coaching at one of the top 2-3 basketball programs of all time, a program that lists Phog Allen, Dean Smith, Larry Brown, and even James Naismith as contributors. His flirtation with OSU smacks of opportunism, quite frankly, and it adds a little tarnish to the Jayhawks championship season.

Hall of Famer AD in Buffalo

The doors to the basketball Hall of Fame will swing open for seven new members this year, including one player who began his NBA career in Buffalo. After a standout college career at Notre Dame, and a gold medal winning performance at the 1976 Olympics, the Buffalo Braves made Adrian Dantley the 6th overall player chosen in the 1976 NBA draft. He didn't disappoint. Dantley led a bad Braves team through the season, and was the 1977 NBA Rookie of the Year. He was the third Braves player to win Rookie of the Year honors in a 5-year span (McAdoo and DiGregorio were the others). But Dantley had the misfortune of joining a Braves team that was in the process of being dismantled by owner John Y. Brown. He was traded to the Indiana Pacers in 1978 for Billy Knight, and then he bounced around a couple of other NBA outposts for a while. He had his most success with the Utah Jazz, when he was the league's scoring champion in 1981 and again in 1984.

Offseason Priorities

It's interesting to hear that Sabres Managing Partner Larry Quinn intends on signing both Ryan Miller and Jason Pominville to long terms deals during the upcoming offseason. Of course he does. He probably intended on signing Chris Drury and Brian Campbell to long term contracts, also. You know how that turned out. The Sabres have usually said all the right things in the last year or two, when it comes to keeping their soon-to-be free agents. But the evidence shows they rarely follow up their words with action. Both Miller and Pominville have one year left on their contracts, so it behooves Sabres management to get busy with the signings sooner, rather than later. That means they'll have to fairly and accurately judge the market value for each player, something they have consistently failed to do with other recent free agents. And if the negotiations drag on too long, say into the '08-'09 season, look for the same outcome. Expect the player to talk about avoiding contract talks during the season to elmininate distractions, etc. The onus is on Quinn, Regier, and especially Tom Golisano to get these deals done. It's fine to outline your plans for the pair, but talk is cheap. Sabre fans are worried that the team may be also.

1st Round Receivers

If the Bills draft a wide receiver in the first round, and you're thinking that guy is the immediate savior of the Bills offense, beware.
In his weekly column on SI.com, Peter King presents these statistics about the last 34 receivers taken in the last 8 first rounds: Only 3 have caught 60 passes in their first year (Mark Clayton, Dwayne Bowe, Andre Johnson.) It just illustrates the point that receivers have one of the hardest transitions to the NFL as rookies.
Its why many of us were hoping the Bills would sign a veteran wideout to start this year. That didn't happen. So either Josh Reed continues to start, the Bills make a trade for a veteran, sign some free agent, or hope that whoever they draft breaks the trend.
I wonder if this track record will discourage the team from taking a receiver first. I'll have to check on those second round receiver rookie stats.

Quinn Targets Miller, Pominville

I'm glad Sabres Managing Partner Larry Quinn told the Associated Press that the team has targeted Ryan Miller and Jason Pominville for long-term contracts. He said the decision has already been made to get those deals done. But I'm still not buying it. After the last two offseasons, the Sabres don't get any breaks...until the deal is done. They said the same things about Drury, Briere and Campbell. I was there last summer when they said that the focus was on getting a deal done with Campbell. Their intentions have always been good, but when it comes down to paying the price, they've choked. Does this pronouncement mean they're willing to pay Miller $6-7 million? No matter how he ended the season, he is THIS TEAM'S elite goalie and has to be paid like it. It doesn't matter if he may not be an NHL elite goalie. Starting goalies in the league get paid, and every team must have one. If in fact the other players were let go to ensure cap space and money for the team's most important player, then don't insult us with more talk. Call me when you're ready to announce the deal. They can start talking July 1st. I'm keeping July 2nd open on my calendar.