Sully on the Sabres

By Chris

News Columnist Jerry Sullivan has been on fire recently, and it's rare that I agree with him. But with recent columns on UB Football putting pressure on UB Basketball and yesterday's piece on why the Bills need to fire Dick Jauron, it's tough to find instances lately where he's really wrong.

And after all that's happened with the Sabres in the last two years, his column from last Thursday is pretty much dead on.

It's something I've been trying to make the time to analyze, so let's take a look at it now, Robistrator style.

This was clearly a very big day for the Buffalo Sabres. Eager fans lined up outside HSBC Arena before 10 a. m. Wednesday, waiting for the privilege of buying one of the new third jerseys at up to $295 a pop.

Bring out a new line of clothing and watch the people reach for their wallets. Sometimes I think it’s more about the jerseys than the team itself.

Hitting the nail on the head, it's evident with the influx of new jerseys (the home and away slug, the Winter Classic jersey and now the new third) and that ridiculous SabreStyle crap (or whatever it's called), they could put a picture of a third-world orphan on a T-Shirt, slap the word "Sabres" on it and it will probably sell out of the Sabres Store faster than you can say "Nathan Gerbe."

Who cares if Max Afinogenov is spinning around the ice with no apparent purpose, so long as the turnstiles and cash registers are whirring and the kids are content?

Max has been frustrating to say the least. But the kids love Max. Gotta play to your audience, right?

The way people respond to the Sabres, you’d think they had actually won something.

This is true. Almost 40 years in existence and no championship to show for it.

In that way, they’re a lot like the Bills. You have to admit, our two professional teams do a marvelous job of selling average teams to the public.

Although both have also struggled as recently as four years ago. A blacked out Bills game was a common theme a few seasons ago and I remember being in a half-empty HSBC Arena watching the Ducks come to town on a Wednesday night.

The teams have had some entertaining seasons lately and, at least in the case of the Bills, every offseason gives fans a reason to get excited again. Bringing in guys like Marcus Stroud, Kawicka Mitchell and James Hardy got fans pumped for the 2008 season and, looking back at August, it's tough to blame anyone for it. While the "splash" signing and draft picks may turn out to be somewhere between mediocre and bust, having Monday night games helps fill the stadium as well.

In the Sabres case, after the 2005-06 season, it became so hard to get tickets that many fans, myself included, hang onto my mini-pack just to guarantee that I'll be able to go to a few games (as well as the playoffs, knock on wood).

People act as if the Sabres are a sleeping giant, waiting to rediscover the magic of two years ago. How long must we wait? Going back to the start of last season, the Sabres are 49-54, including overtime and shootout losses.

Staggering numbers and the million dollar question: How long must we wait? Sully thinks we've waited long enough. Maybe we have.

So why all the fuss? Locking up players to long-term deals doesn’t make them stars. A big contract doesn’t make Jason Pominville an all-star. It doesn’t make Ryan Miller an elite goalie.

After more than 100 games, it stops being a slump. It’s a trend. They beat Boston on Wednesday, 3-2, but until proven otherwise, they’re average, without a consistent winning edge.

Pominville has never been an all-star. Miller might be an elite goalie. But we've locked these guys up for the long haul in fear of losing them to bigger markets. I would say that, individually, Pominville and Miller and much better than average. To say that the current team, however, the one we've watched since last October, with all of its flaws, is average is perhaps actually an understatement.

The core of this team rode Danny Briere/ Chris Drury to two Eastern finals. The Sabres lost their winning edge when those two left. They’ll stop hearing about it when they build their own legacy.

Who are those guys again?

Listening to the players at the morning skate, it sounded like last year all over again. Pominville said they needed to play with desperation and stay within the system. Toni Lydman talked about keeping it simple, going to the net and getting ugly goals. Same old stuff. They should just play a recorded message.

“It is a lot about the same,” coach Lindy Ruff said. “We should have won some games that we didn’t. But we’ve got to turn the corner quicker.”

A lot of this reminds me of Ryan's post a few weeks ago about "The System:"

With all that said, let's not talk about "The System" anymore. It obviously has no flaws, and if the players can't live up to "The System", we just need to find new players. Preferably robots who can focus on the multitude of rules and advice it offers for a full sixty minutes. Instead of talking about "The System" let's talk about another fun buzz word we throw around often: defensive responsibility.

Back to Sully...

On Thanksgiving Eve, the Sabres played with passion and verve befitting the occasion. But it’s no shock to see them play an inspired game. They’re a frontrunning group with maddening streaks of good and bad play. They want it to be easy. Never has a team gotten so full of itself with so little justification.

That right there is the essence of the Buffalo Sabres post-lockout. They play like they're on their high horse all the time when in fact they've had one great playoff run and one great regular season in the last three-and-a-half years. They do want it to be easy. Being able to rally from three goal deficits four years ago will give you that confidence. They know that they're talented enough to win games without putting in a full effort. However, it hasn't happened lately.

As Herb Brooks once said, "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard."

Management falls in love with its own flawed players. You’d think they were an elite team with a solid, veteran roster no kid can crack. Around the NHL, teams are playing kids and getting away with it. Phil Kessel and Milan Lucic in Boston, Sidney Crosby and Jordan Staal in Pittsburgh, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews in Chicago — all 21 or younger and thriving in the league.

Falling in love with players is a strong phrase here. Management knows that the game is a business and bad assets are going to be costly to your success.

Of all the players Sullivan named there, all were top 5 draft picks with the exception of Lucic. Since 1996, the Sabres have picked in the top 10 only twice.

They struck out in 1996 when the took Erik Rasmussen seventh overall but they seem to have hit a home run by taking Thomas Vanek fifth in 2003 (although it's tough to go wrong with almost any first round pick that year). Teams like Chicago and Pittsburgh now have those super-star young guns because they suffered through some awful seasons in order to select that high in the draft year after year.

It actually is a positive that the Sabres haven't had to rely on top picks to step in right away. Who wants to be the LA Kings?

Meanwhile, the Sabres keep their top kids down in Portland. Tim Kennedy is 22, Nathan Gerbe and Mike Weber 21, but we’re supposed to believe they need more experience riding the AHL buses. The Sabres have no one among the top 30 NHL rookies in scoring. Of course, until they brought up Mark Mancari, they didn’t have any rookies.

The Sabres have had success in keeping the young kids down. Paille and MacArthur could still be serious projects if they had been rushed up. Mancari took four years to develop into what looks like a decent checking winger with a little scoring touch (who hopefully can continue to improve).

While I'd love to see Kennedy and Gerbe up here to spark out lifeless team, it probably is best for them to stay where they are right now. Unless Regier makes some serious moves, there just isn't room for these players in the lineup. What good is bringing Gerbe up if he's limited to six minutes a game on the fourth line, where his small frame won't do much good in the hitting department?

If the Sabres are going to make the decision to go with the new recruits, then they need to feature these players on scoring lines. But that's not their style so until things change up top, we're going to see more of the same on the ice.

The Sabres won’t admit it, but they’re in transition. The hope is in Portland, and the sooner they bring up the kids, the better. What do they have to lose, except more games? Let the kids learn in the NHL, like all those other promising young players around the league.

The development is the big issue again. Forcing raw talents like Gerbe and Kennedy to go against seasoned players they're not yet ready to match up against could stunt their growth.

The Sabres are banking on them developing quickly though. With Connolly, Afinogenov, Kotalik, Spacek and Numminen all due for unrestricted free agency at the end of the season, it's a safe bet you're going to see Kennedy, Gerbe, Mancari, Weber and Butler fill those spots. Don't expect any free agent splashes as the Sabres already have nearly $30 million tied up in salaries for next season. The young kids are going to have their time, it's probably going to be later rather than sooner (barring any inevitable injuries).

It’s a joke that Afinogenov is on this team. He’s been here since 1999, and he’s still making the same mistakes.

Afinogenov should have been gone long ago. He and Tim Connolly are symptomatic of the Sabres’ tendency to hang on to soft, finesse players who hold a franchise back. They need to move on and prepare for life with the young players. They’re the future.

What other soft, finesse players have the Sabres hung onto that have held the franchise back? Sure there was Satan but he was 35 goal scorer who helped lead the team to a Stanley Cup Finals appearance. Pat LaFontaine, maybe? Because his number isn't in the rafters for decoration. Does he mean Milan Bartovic?

If anything, it's not Max and Connolly being on the team that's the problem. Neither are on the ice now anyways. Instead it's the stupid salaries they were signed to. The Connolly contract is one that still boggles my mind, considering he was probably in a coma when he signed it.

Just imagine the jersey sales.

Like the Sabres need to sell any more jerseys. Quinn and company are racking in a boatload. But bringing up the Gerbes and the Kennedys may not only bring in marketing revenue but maybe something close to a championship as well. I don't see it happening for a while, but just imagine...

Thoughts and prayers

The Buffalo News is reporting that one of its own, sportswriter Tom Borrelli is in critical condition after falling down a flight of stairs while covering a high school football game at All High Stadium on Saturday.

We here at the Roost wish Tom the best in a speedy recovery and hope you keep him in your thoughts and prayers as well.

Bad Designs?

by Ryan

There is always good news and bad news when it comes to new technology. The good news is that change is always happening and change means improvement. The bad news, however, is that change isn't always such a good thing.

For example, website designs can change anywhere from never (take a look around here, for example) to every eleven seconds. With every redesign comes new features and an attempt to better serve the user, which sometimes isn't the case with the finished product. A good example of this is Sabres.com, which is supposed to have a big year if the team has its way.

The problem with the site is that there just isn't much they can do with it. The league gives them a template to work with and there's just not much in the way of customization. If their web editor (who we may be Facebook friends with...) wants to give us a bit more insight that would be excellent, but if you take a look around the league you get the idea. The only difference seems to be the landing page, and those are clumsy at best.

Where the league does shine is with its home page, nhl.com. Over the summer the site went through a complete redesign with some pretty great results. The main flash box style is pretty tired at this point, but they did a nice job keeping it fresh with some interesting content and nice wide pictures.

The milestones box on the right rail is interesting, too. It's a good way to keep fans in the know on some upcoming records, and in a league that has so much going on it is nice to give one player some credit for personal goals. As much as they have tried, the NHL just isn't a star based league like the NBA. Something like this is a creative attempt to do so, though, and in a way it's nice to see.

One thing that is apparent with this new design is their use of video. One of the things the league as a whole is trying to push is their video library, both on the individual team sites and especially on the main page. From what I've seen this year they have done a really good job with uploading videos in a timely manner. Although, the ads are freaking annoying.

The reason I bring all this up is because if you haven't noticed, the Buffalo News site has gone through a bit of a redesign as well and I'm a bit curious to see what others think of it. To be honest, I'm not really a fan. The biggest problem is that it is in reality, only a few minor changes made up to look like a complete overhaul. The header is exactly the same along with the same too-short ad on top and clumsy link bar below.

In fact, aside from a few changes to a style sheet there isn't much different at all, which to me is a mistake. The front page was redesigned to look like Google News, whether for better or worse. All this means is the exact same content is just shuffled around on the page, which isn't all that much of an upgrade if you ask me.

The purpose of a redesign is to make things look better, and that isn't really the case. The header is still clunky and now looks too small with the bigger font below it. The video modules look tiny as well, and I suppose fonts are a personal preference, but whatever they are using looks kind of goofy. Since the new launch it appears they have fixed some byline problems, or maybe they have someone else uploading content. That's not something I can answer, but I give them credit for working out the kinks.

This all may seem petty and kind of stupid, but the Buffalo News is one of the major sources for sports news in the area. A redesign of their site is a big deal, especially in the modern newspaper age. More and more publishing companies are turning to the Internet as a means of staying alive, and how serious they take their website is indeed a big deal.

From what the News has done recently, it looks like they are trying a bit harder than usual. I give them points for the effort, but all in all not much has actually been improved. The purpose of site overhauls is to make things easier for readers, but not much headway has been made there. Sabres Edge is still at least two clicks away on the home page. For something that has become a must-read on game days, they sure aren't pushing it as such.

It's a start, but there are still things that can get better. Ad revenue in conventional newspapers is disappearing fast, and it's important that newspapers see the benefits of having a decent web site to supplement their daily paper. In my opinion the News isn't there just yet, but its good to see them trying.

Any thoughts on the redesign, or am I the only one thinking about things like this?

Any Ideas?

I stumbled across this tonight while searching for some pictures. Here is site I found it on, which seems to collect odd things from the Atomic Age. This certainly seems to fit the bill, so if anyone has any ideas as to what it is I'm all ears.

I would check the Buffalo News but they don't archive anything more than a week old without asking for your first born. Maybe someone lurking out there has the story...

Congratulations are in Order

by Ryan

To the writers from the Buffalo News, on winning four awards from the Professional Hockey Writers Association. You guys had plenty to write about the past year, and certianly made the most of it.

Tim Graham was one of my favorite TBN reporters before he moved to Florida, and he deserves the honor. His work is certianly missed, and I hope he enjoys covering the pitiful Dolphins in the beautiful Palm Beach weather. Yeah, I'm sure he's struggling there.

John Vogl also did some nice year. It's really nice to see the whole department get recognized for their hard work.

Wait, I didn't see a Gleason on there. Hrm... that's a bummer. He put some of his bitter best work out there this season, and it really is a shame he didn't get recognized. Perhaps this year's series "See, I told you so" will go over better than his last effort, "I knew something you didn't."

As usual, there is always next year.

At least Yahoo!'s optimistic

Day-to-day? That's a little generous, no?

In all seriousness, though, it's great to see that Richard Zednik is going to be okay. What happened on the ice Sunday night is one of, if not the, scariest thing that can happen during a hockey game. It's easy to forget that players are basically wearing knives on their feet and one little slip up could be fatal. Puts everything in perspective.

And in a historical perspective, it appears that Zednik's injury was actually worse than the one Clint Malarchuk infamously sustained in 1989.

From The Buffalo News' website:

The Clint Malarchuk comparisons can stop. Richard Zednik's injury was much more life- threatening.

"Clint actually cut his external jugular vein, which is quite different from your common carotid artery," Dr. Leslie J. Bisson said. "Your common carotid artery, when that's lacerated, it can very quickly become a fatal injury."

The four doctors who treated Zednik used words today such as "profusely," "devastating," "hanging by a thread" and "lucky" to describe the sliced carotid artery injury suffered by Zednik on Sunday.

The physicians who treated the Florida Panthers hockey player met with the media this afternoon. They described a scene that likely would have been fatal if not for a sequence of fortunate events.

Zednik, struck in the throat by the skate of teammate Olli Jokinen, was fortunate the blade cut only the carotid artery, barely missing the internal jugular vein and a web of nerves in the neck.

Still, the blow could have been deadly if:

*Zednik hadn't skated immediately to the bench, a 100-foot journey that left a wide trail of blood. That allowed trainers and doctors to reach him quicker.

*Bisson, the Sabres team doctor, hadn't been positioned next to the bench. He was able to hop out of the stands and meet Zednik near his bench. Bisson immediately put pressure on the gushing artery, slowing the bleeding.

*The artery had been completely severed. It wasn't, allowing Drs. Sonya Noor and Richard Curl to quickly find the injury and reattach it cleanly. If the artery had torn fully, it would have retracted and moved out of place.

"We all were very lucky last night, not just Richard," Noor said in Buffalo General Hospital.

The Roost's thoughts and prayers continue to stay with Zednik and his family throughout the recovery process.

What We Think We Know

By Chris


It's easy to forget where Daniel Briere came from.

Prior to becoming the Buffalo Sabres' first real superstar since Dominik Hasek, he had played just one full season in the National Hockey League, splitting time between Phoenix and its AHL affiliate in Springfield. The 24th selection in the 1996 draft finally broke out in 2001-02, putting up 32 goals, 28 assists and a +6 rating.

Then on March 10, 2003, the Buffalo Sabres traded Chris Gratton and a fourth round selection in the 2004 draft to the Coyotes for Briere and a third round selection in 2004. Briere scored 12 points in 14 games with the Sabres that season. He took on a leadership role in Buffalo and the rest is history.

So as the Sabres march out to the desert for a 4:00 faceoff against the Coyotes this afternoon, it's interesting that this piece of news found its way into the paper yesterday.

It looks like just another case of the Sabres trying to make excuses for themselves. Even though they had no real intention of re-signing Briere by lowballing him, they make it seem as if Briere was the one with a secret agenda. It's no real secret that Briere was going to go to Philadelphia if the Sabres were unable to come up with a strong offer. Common sense told anyone that.

We all know Bucky Gleason's angle. He's just as angry at the Sabres as a great majority of the fans are. He just has one of the largest public forums in Western New York to vent and does so a bit too often. But here he has a point.

Daniel Briere didn't do anything wrong.

When the Sabres failed to offer him a faircontract (if one at all), he knew he was going to be out of the area. There are rumors that Briere's house was already on the market before July 1 and that he was in Philly looking around. But as Bucky said, if Philadelphia was a team he knew would express interest (a rebuilding franchise with loads of cap room), it would make sense for him to check out the scene.

Just as long as he didn't talk to anyone in Flyers management. Which in this scenario, it sure seems like he didn't.

Briere may get booed in Buffalo, but it's obvious who really gave Buffalo the shaft. I'm not sure what Larry Quinn's goal is here by filing that request over six months after the fact (or if he filed it in July, why it took so long for the investigation to get underway).

But it does the Sabres no good on the ice. Briere's not around to score goals and Buffalo's currently in 12th place in the conference. And the streaky Sabres are currently in their deepest rut of the year, winners in just one of their last 11. We're still not completely sure of the identity of this team, other than the fact that they're Jekyll and Hyde personified.

Phoenix marks the second stop on the longest road trip in franchise history. Maybe they can find the new superstar in their midst in the desert this afternoon.

Turner Gill Watch

By Chris

It was revealed today that University at Buffalo Athletic Director Warde Manuel has granted head coach Turner Gill permission to interview with the Nebraska Cornhuskers for their head coaching position.

"I'm happy for Turner and his family about getting the opportunity to talk to Nebraska," Manuel said. "He's worked extremely hard and deserves this opportunity."

It also turns out that Nebraska big wigs interim AD Tom Osborne and chancellor Harvey Perlman took a flight to meet with LSU defensive coordinator Bo Pellini without LSU's knowledge.

Manuel believes an interview (with Gill) will take place "in the next day or so."

As the dominoes continue to fall, the Roost will provide coverage and links to all of the action.

The Final Cutdown

By Chris

The Buffalo Bills trimmed their roster to 53 players today and put defensive end Al Wallace on the Injured Reserve. Cop beater Anthony Hargrove was also officially placed on the suspended reserve list because he violated the NFL's Substance Abuse Policy earlier in training camp. "The Franchise," Craig Nall, will be looking for a new home and so will Shaud Williams and Jonathan "Fast Freddy" Smith after all three were among those released by the team.

Cutting Nall is a testament to how well Trent Edwards has progressed during his rookie campaign. And even though Losman is the starting quarterback this season, the pressure to perform is real. If Edwards' performance forced the coaching staff to cut a veteran after only four "games," then who knows how soon it will be until they believe that Edwards can be a very capable starting NFL quarterback?

Roost favorite Fred Jackson made the team, proving that there is some justice in the world. Jackson played his heart out in the preseason and was able to break some good, hard earned runs. Having him around should be good for locker room morale, reminding guys what the game is about. Losing Shaud Williams is really no big loss.

And the special teams should once again be outstanding this season. Sam Aiken, Coy Wire, and Josh Stamer made the team, showing the influence of Special Teams Coach Bobby April (who, from what I've been told, looks like my dad).

Also getting the axe was H-Back Brad Cieslak. So it doesn't look like he'll be doing any touchdown dances in Arizona in a Bills uniform this season.

Ice Bowl-O A-Go-Go

By Chris

Well, it's technically almost official. According to "various NHL sources," The Buffalo News is reporting that the Ice Bowl between the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins will be played on January 1 outdoors at Ralph Wilson Stadium on NBC. Still no word on how tickets will be distributed or how much of my paycheck will be going towards them.


An official official statement is supposed to come down from Sabres brass on September 10 and if that doesn't get you pumped for the new hockey season, NHL 08 will be released the next day. My toes are starting to get frostbite just thinking about it. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like the game will include an unlockable outdoor rink.

Darwin, we hardly knew you

By Chris

He never put on a uniform for us. He never played a down for us. He never even practiced for us. He didn't want anything to do with us; he just wanted his money and that's why Darwin Walker has been added to the Buffalo Sports List of Public Enemies. Without even taking a snap for the Bills, Walker has joined the likes of McGahee, Mularkey, Rob Johnson, Slava Kozlov, Doug Gilmour and Dominik Hasek as former Buffalo sports figures that have their own line of voodoo dolls for fans to play with.

Walker never wanted to be a Bill, at least not for what he was being paid. He wanted a raise for not proving anything and was willing to hold out until he got what he wanted. And now he's the Chicago Bears' problem, where he should fit right in replacing Tank Johnson for the first half of the season. The Bills would have been compensated with a 6th round pick from the Eagles, who would also get him back, if Walker didn't report to camp by August 5th. It didn't look like he was going to, so the Bills flipped him to Chicago for a 5th rounder.

It's still not a fantastic trade by any means, essentially a 5th for Takeo Spikes and Kelly Holcomb, but what can we do but continue to trust Marv and the front office? This may be the first "bad" deal they have made, but then again, they moved two players out who they didn't have in their plans, neither right now nor in the future. The Bills are bringing in who they want and who they feel will succeed here, and while we still don't know if it'll work, getting a likeable, competitive team to root for is better than the sad, mentally weak Bills we've had to deal with over the last 6 years.

With Walker gone, it opens the door for John McCargo, last year's second first round pick, to play a much larger role. Allen Wilson's piece in The Buffalo News today, obviously written prior to the trade, does a nice job analyzing McCargo's role on the defensive line as well as the expectations placed on him.

So what are we looking at? Quite simply, the Bills traded a guy who wanted nothing to do with the team in the first place and got a higher draft pick for him than they would have if they had done nothing at all. In that regard, maybe this isn't that "bad" of a trade after all. In Marv we trust....

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.

Sabres get their man in Drury

By Chris

See that headline? That was on the top of the sports section of the Buffalo News four years ago today. In a rare case of optimism, Jerry Sullivan's column lauded the move. It "could be the best deal Darcy Regier has made since becoming the GM, and it might wind up saving his job." It probably was, and it did.

I was hoping that this anniversary would be a happy one, but unfortunately, we all know what has happend since Black Sunday. I'm ready to move on and as Ryan Miller put it, "keep (Drury and Briere) in our rear-view mirror."

So we look to the future now. There are many important dates ahead, including tomorrow's 5 p.m. arbitration deadlines for Derek Roy, Nathan Paetsch, and Andrew Peters, and the actual arbitration hearings that we all dread begin on July 20.

And oh yeah, Bills training camp opens in 22 days. Only better days can come, right? Right?

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.”