Dear Bucky Gleason,

by Ryan

It's July. To say nothing is going on in the sporting world would be ridiculous. Sports news this July can be summed up with three names: Mike Vick, Tim Donaghy, and Barry Bonds.

It's a depressing collection of trash to say the least, but don't let that get you down, Bucky Gleason is here to make everything better. Wow, glad you put that all into perspective for us. Thank you Bucky, you nearsighted moron.

Listen, buddy, I know it's July and there is nothing going on of interest in Buffalo, but that load of garbage you just made the news print is irreconcilable. I may go and plant a tree or two right now just to make up for your utter waste of printable newspaper. I'm still shocked that somehow you made 590 consecutive words morph into a huge, heaping pile of badger feces.

Just to be clear, let's recap. Bucky blamed us for tampering with the NBA, dogfighting, Rae Carruth, rape, steriods, ticket prices, and Tonya Harding. Wow, I'm not even mad; that's amazing.

But I guess we do owe Bucky an apology. It is our fault that we all don't follow his vendetta against Sabres management. Of course many of us are upset with how the offseason has worked out, but none of us have been banging the war drums and insisting we knew things they didn't. Now we are the true reason this offseason hasn't worked out, and why ticket prices are going up eight percent, prompting him to lash out with this:

"Funny, but every time you hold people accountable in sports, you’re certain to hear from people who want to know why you’re picking on their favorite teams. Gee, I don’t know. My guess is that some of us are more interested in facts over self-serving fantasy. "

Ah, there it is again, our ignorant, uneducated ways clashing with his valliant effort to unearth the truth down at Sabres HQ.

Bucky Gleason has no right to tell us how to be fans. There is no need for lecture or scolding, no compulsatory retraining on his behalf. Telling a sports fan they are the cause of everything going wrong in sports is not only shortsighted, but utterly stupid. Just because we make the industry move doesn't mean we are to blame for every misdeed found within. No Falcons fan wants Oookie doing God knows what in his home. No basketball fan wants the sancity of their game tampered with. No Sabres fan wants management to drop the ball on July 1st.

We, Bucky Gleason, are not enablers. We are fans. Fans of a pure, beautiful thing called "the game." When the realted stories become more important then "the game," we all bow our heads in shame.

Don't you dare tell us otherwise.

All Dogs Go To Heaven

By Chris

So the Feds finally got to Mike Vick. I guess it was only really a matter of time. The rumors of dog fighting have been circulating for months and Vick is a huge fish to catch in that pool. So one has to wonder what the NFL and Atlanta Falcons are going to do next.

Roger Goodell has been trying very hard to clean up the image of the league, highlighted by the Pacman Jones and Tank Williams suspensions. But will he finally be able to pull the trigger on Vick? It's not like he's got a spotless record, from the Water Bottle Incident back to the Ron Mexico lawsuit. And it's not like he comes from a picture perfect family--his brother Marcus' career was never able to take off because of character issues both on and off the field. Is the dog fighting indictment the final straw?

Goodell must take a stand here and let players know that any sort of legal problems will not be tolerated. And Vick is a high enough on the food chain that if Goodell makes an example of him, it will certainly grab the attention of the players. But Goodell also must keep the financial interests of his league in mind and the media buzz following animal activists who are planning to protest at NFL games is potentially very bad business. So Goodell has to take charge and do whatever is necessary to eliminate any negative publicity stemming from these incidents. And it starts with suspending Mike Vick.

As for the Atlanta Falcons, they need Vick to play. He's a big draw and is one of the few athletes that can get casual fans excited to watch a football game. If Vick's playing, it will be entertaining. So if Vick's sitting out, that means less people probably in the stadium and less money coming in. Financially, the Falcons need Vick and for those reasons will do everything in their power to sway Goodell's opinion into letting him dress.

But if the Falcons put team first, then maybe they'd support a Vick suspension and show their players what is expected of them off the field. Maybe they wouldn't win as many games, but it would be building character through adversity, in this case without your best player.

And would the Falcons trust Joey Harrington enough to start the 2007 season under center? He's been nothing more than awful since he came into the league in 2002 and hasn't shown he's capable of leading an NFL franchise.

So would the Falcons be interested in Daunte Culpepper? He was terrible last season coming off that major knee surgery, prompting the Dolphins to go with the aforementioned Joey Harrington. A year later, the knee has to be stronger, right? Would the Falcons try the same experiment of a Culpepper-Harrington one-two punch if Vick's unable to suit up? Either way, I would like to think Atlanta would be looking for an upgrade at the quaterback position.

But if the Falcons show no interest in Culpepper, the only teams off the top of my head that he'd legitimately have a shot of starting with are Detroit, Carolina and Minnesota. Would they take the chance on him?

Morning Musings: Porn, Drugs and Portis

By Chris

Just some quick thoughts on a beautiful Wednesday morning:

-Steeler’s offensive line coach Larry Zierlein reportedly sent what the Steelers are calling an “inappropriate e-mail” from his Pittsburgh office to “unintended recipients” throughout the NFL last Friday. Zierlein, as Buffalo fans may recall, was an assistant line coach for the Bills last season. Mike Florio’s blog, ProFootballTalk.com broke the story and it was finally confirmed yesterday. Apparently, according to Sports Illustrated’s rumor site FanNation, the porn message made its way up the ranks from important Steelers officials all the way up to commissioner Roger Goodell himself. It’s nice to know that the players aren’t the only ones who don’t know how to handle themselves in the NFL.

-Jason Giambi failed a test for amphetamines within the last year, according to the New York Daily News. So I guess when he said he was wrong for doing “that stuff,” amphetamines weren’t included. There’s also a rumor that the Angels would like to trade for him. Owner Arte Moreno always likes to look for a big move and Giambi would be an upgrade offensively over any of the first baseman currently on the Halos roster. Unfortunately, with all of the trouble Giambi was now dug himself into, who knows if he’ll even be in the game much longer. With the positive amphetamine test, Giambi subjected himself to six additional tests for one year, making his statement to USA Today about being “tested more than anyone” all the more true. The Daily News couldn’t have picked a hotter time to leak those test results and they couldn’t have done it at a worse time for Giambi.

-The Ducks advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals with a win over Detroit last night. Now I can have a rooting interest and I may be able to stomach watching this series. Ottawa has the ability to adapt to Anaheim’s defensive style from the blue line out, but it will ultimately be the goaltending that will keep Canada from its first championship since 1993. It’s very hard to see Ray Emery outplaying former Conn Smythe winner J.S. Giguere on the biggest stage of all. I see the Ducks taking advantage of all those juicy rebounds Emery will leave on the doorstep and taking the Cup in five.

-Clinton Portis makes me laugh. From his goofy disguises in post game interviews to his recent comments about Mike Vick and dog fighting not being a problem, I just can’t wait to see what he does next. I love how he couldn't even keep a straight face during that dog fighting interview. A reality show is a no-brainer. Unfortunately, such a series might jeopardize Goodell’s efforts to keep the image of the league clean. And those efforts are working out reeeeeeeeally well right now.

-The Spurs are up 2-0 against the Jazz already? Really? Does anyone even expect Utah to win a game? And notice that since Bill Simmons’ ESPN the Magazine column was published last week, everyone is now praising Tim Duncan as “the greatest player in the past decade.” Coinicdence? And also, is there is a reason as to why there needs to be a four day lay-off between games in that series? I blame Tom Bergeron.

-The University at Buffalo finally finished their new 12,000 square foot training facility last month. The old weight room inside Alumni was a joke for a Division I program and hopefully the new facility will help sway athletic recruits to the Bulls program. The Morris Sports Performance Center will actually be able to house whole teams! And it’s good to hear they’re not settling with just this new facility, as Rodney McKissic writes in The Buffalo News today: “The Morris Center is a precursor to a projected 200,000-square-foot indoor multipurpose field house that will include a 120-yard football field and an estimated 20,000-square-foot weight room, which would be one of the biggest in college athletics. The field house, nevertheless, is in the embryonic stages of planning.”