January 28, 2012 - 12:10 AM |
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January 28, 1995 -- Shutouts are quite common in outdoor soccer -- maybe too common. They are very rare in indoor soccer.
Therefore, a shutout by the Blizzard in a game in Buffalo was big news. A crowd of 6,287 in Memorial Auditorium held its breath until the final buzzer when the Blizzard had finished a 23-0 romp over the Dayton Dynamo.
Tony Meola did the honors for the Blizzard. There had been 27 shutouts in the National Professional Soccer League until that point, and this one had more points scored by the winner than any of them. What's more, it came on a day when posters of Meola were handed out to fans, with the caption, "Keeping. It's all about getting it done."
Meola told Robert J. Summers of The News after the game, "It [the quote] is something I believe in. My theory has always been that I don't have the greatest technique, but I just find a way to get it done. It doesn't matter for me how I save the ball, as long as I save it."
The save of the game came with less than four minutes left when he got a hand on a shot by Chris Pfau. The shutout was a nice response to a loss the night before, a 15-7 loss to Harrisburg.
--- Budd Bailey
January 27, 2012 - 12:18 AM |
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January 27, 1991 -- I know, I know. It still hurts.
The Bills lost, 20-19, to the Giants in Super Bowl XXV in Tampa. You may remember some of the details.
For what it's worth, Scott Norwood got an instant "bad rap" for missing that field goal. A 47-yarder on natural grass was out of his range, and he shouldn't have been expected to have made it. Too bad the rest of the nation couldn't figure that out.
It was one of the great Super Bowls in history, as the lead went back and forth. New York kept the Buffalo offense off the field, about doubling the time of possession figures. The Giants erased a 19-17 Bills' lead on a field goal by Matt Bahr with 7:20 left.
From there, the Bills had the ball twice but couldn't score the winning points. Buffalo drove down the field in the last two minutes, but didn't have enough time to get any closer. Norwood's kick was long enough but pushed just a little bit to the right.
"I hit it solid, but I guess I tried to kick it too hard," Norwood said. "I needed more follow-through; I should have brought my hips into it quicker to make the ball draw."
--- Budd Bailey
January 27, 2012 - 12:07 AM |
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By Gene Kershner
On Sunday afternoon, the undefeated Hansen will take on five other colts in the first of three prep races scheduled at Gulfstream Park as horses attempt to gather much needed graded earnings to qualify for the Kentucky Derby. Hansen, with his Breeders' Cup upset victory over the highly-regarded Union Rags, will have more than enough earnings to earn a starting gate in Louisville.
The roan colt has entered the Grade 3 $400,000 Holy Bull Stakes as his first race of 2012 and appears he will take the Florida route to the Derby, one that's been successful for 3-year olds such as Barbaro and Big Brown in recent years.Let's take a gander at the field (trainer, jockey in parenthesis):
1 -- Silver Max (Romans, Leparoux). As what happens when the Derby trail heats up, horses that have been racing mainly on turf take a shot on the dirt. Leparoux gathers the mount for the first time, as Algorithm's jock Javier Castellano helped him break his maiden going a mile the last time out after five straight second-place finishes. Talk about being the bridesmaid and not the bride. The rail post is winning at a phenomenal 22 percent clip; this colt could catch a piece of the trifecta or exacta.
2 -- Consortium (McLaughlin, JR Velazquez). Love the jockey/trainer combo here and the Bernardini colt is running with first time Lasix, an angle that has proven time and again to be one not to ignore. He had a sharp workout Jan. 21 and ran a close second to 6-Algorithms in an allowance race here in December. Dangerous player.
3 -- My Adonis (Breen, Trujillo). He had a rough outing in his last out in the Delta Jackpot over the bullring at Delta Downs. He's been firing bullets at Palm Meadows since after Christmas so he appears to be fit and ready to roll here. Owned by the Halls, who won the Belmont Stakes with Ruler On Ice. His two tries at a mile distance have been impressive, with a 5-length victory in a non-graded stake at Delta and a half-length loss to Jackpot winner Sabercat. If someone goes with Hansen and sets insane fractions, this one could pick up the pieces.
4 -- Hansen (Maker, Dominguez). Ramon flies down from New York for the mount and has won two of his three rides at Gulfstream this winter. Hansen will be sure to be on the lead as he has in his first three races unless his connections start experimenting to see if he can rate, something that is almost a necessity when it comes to the Derby's classic 10-furlong distance. The is one to beat.
5 -- Fort Loudon (Gold, Maragh). After winning three straight non-graded stakes at Calder, he faded to seventh after being caught 4-wide early in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. He's probably a little overmatched in here.
6 -- Algorithms (Pletcher, Castellano). Todd Pletcher will be a factor on this year's Derby trail and this race is no different. The five-time Eclipse winning trainer has a solid crop of 3-year olds taking aim at the Run for the Roses. Algorithms should have no problem stretching out to a mile based on his pedigree. The Bernardini colt will be running only his third lifetime race after breaking his maiden impressively in June at Belmont. Pletcher is white hot at Gulfstream, currently winning at a 35 percent clip. I'm going to favor the chalk here based on the mile distance.
Consortium interests me with the first time Lasix angle and McLaughlin is 26 percent using this move. Algorithms should be coming late and will challenge Consortium for place honors. Throw in My Adonis for your trifecta and superfecta plays underneath these three.
Post Time Outlook: 1-Hansen; 2-Consortium; and 3-Algorithms
Good luck this weekend and let's go cash some tickets!
Gene Kershner is a Buffalo-based turf writer and handicapper who blogs at equispace.blogspot.com and tweets @EquiSpace.
January 26, 2012 - 7:08 PM |
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Vacation time is about over in running circles. It's time to get back to work.
I ran in my first "guess your time" race last week in Delaware Park. I had no idea what conditions would be like when I sent in my registration form a couple of weeks in advance,
which made it difficult.
Saturday came up pleasant if cold, and the Ring Road was nicely plowed for the most part. I finished 6.6 seconds faster from my prediction, and I was happy about that. Still, I only finished eighth overall. Some people really do have clocks in their head.
Last week the running column had some statistics, courtesy of Fritz Van Leaven. Here are 2011's biggest races in terms of registered finishers:
Race - Finishers
Turkey Trot - 11,880
Around the Bay (Hamilton) - 5,878
Shamrock Run - 3,572
Buffalo Half Marathon - 2,553
Niagara Falls International Half Marathon - 2,208
Flower City Half Marathon (Rochester) - 1,862
It's a Wonderful Run (Seneca Falls) - 1,820
Rochester Half Marathon - 1,657
Johnny's Runnin' of the Green (Rochester?) - 1,655
JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge - 1,508
The race calendar comes from buffalorunners.com, as usual. It looks like February and March have gotten less crowded than in previous years. Something to keep an eye on.
On Sunday, the annual Penguin Run will be held 2425 Niagara Falls Blvd. in Amherst at 11 a.m. Call 549-6307 x201. It's one of the best buffets of the year from a race.
--- Budd Bailey
January 26, 2012 - 12:18 AM |
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January 26, 1979 -- Front office change is no stranger to the Buffalo Bills ... as long time fans of the team know all too well.
The Bills changed general managers on this date. Bob Lustig had been serving as vice president and general manager of the team. However, he left the Bills' organization to become the CEO of a new insurance company that Ralph Wilson was creating in Detroit. You probably wouldn't see a move like that today; it was a sign of how the football business was changing.
Former Bills offensive tackle Stew Barber, one of the top players from the team's glory days, was promoted to GM on his day. Barber had served as a scout and as an assistant general manager for the team. When he took the job, he became the first, and to this point the last, ex-Bills' player to serve as general manager.
Barber certainly played a role in the rise of the Bills upon his arrival, as the team returned to the playoffs in 1980. However, coach Chuck Knox probably got more of the credit for that one.
Barber might be best remembered for the fact that two top draft choices "got away" during his tenure -- Tom Cousineau and Jim Kelly. Barber stayed through 1983, when he was fired and was replaced for a short time by Pat McGroder and then by Terry Bledsoe.
--- Budd Bailey
January 25, 2012 - 12:17 AM |
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Jan. 25, 1983 -- By the time the 1982 season ended, it was more or less an open secret that Chuck Knox's days of coaching the Buffalo Bills were about over. He made it official on this date.
Knox was a rare hire by the Bills in their history … a big-name coach. He had been with the Rams from 1973 to 1977, where he won five straight division championship. However, Knox never could get the Rams into the Super Bowl, so he jumped to the Bills.
There he took the Bills up from more or less dead to respectability. Buffalo reached the playoffs in both 1980 and 1981, and the team beat the Jets in a first-round playoff game in 1981. However, the team went 4-5 in 1982 and had some internal problems caused by the strike of that season.
Knox also supposedly had trouble reaching an agreement with owner Ralph Wilson about a contract. So, he left the Bills at that point and immediately jumped to the Seattle Seahawks as the head coach.
In Seattle, Knox reached an AFC championship game in his first season, but lost to the Raiders. Knox later went back to the Rams for three seasons through 1994 and then retired.
Knox never did get to a Super Bowl in his career as a head coach, but he won a lot of games in trying to reach that goal.
--- Budd Bailey
January 24, 2012 - 12:19 AM |
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January 24, 1981 - When the Buffalo Stallions first entered the Major Indoor Soccer League, their "most famous" player probably was goalie Jim May. He was the first player signed by the franchise.
But the Stallions had another goalie on their roster who was pretty good too. Scott Manning turned into something more than a backup during the course of his career.
Manning was born in Rochester and played college soccer in Cortland. He even was picked for the U.S. Olympic team of 1980, which stayed home instead of traveling to Moscow because of the boycott.
Manning took to the indoor game quite nicely. On this day, he recorded the first shutout in Stallions' history, a 5-0 win over Philadelphia.
After spending two years with the Stallions, he moved on to other teams. Manning played for Phoenix, Baltimore, Wichita and Dallas. Eventually he landed a job as a high school soccer coach for a Baltimore-area high school.
--- Budd Bailey
January 23, 2012 - 12:17 AM |
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January 23, 1984 -- Talk about road warriors.
Travel seemed to agree with the Buffalo Sabres at this point in their history. They took their 10th straight road game, beating the Bruins, 5-3, in Boston Garden.
It's never easy to win in Boston, and this was a close game throughout. Ric Seiling, Dave Andreychuk and Brent Peterson had scored for the Sabres to set up a 3-3 game in the final minutes. Then Dave Andreychuk beat Pete Peeters with 2:09 left to put Buffalo ahead, 4-3. Paul Cyr scored an empty-netter 10 seconds later, and that was that.
Tom Barrasso had the win in the nets for the Sabres. He and Peeters both finished with 27 saves. It was the end of a five-game road trip for Buffalo; remarkably, the Sabres won all five.
The streak had started in Boston on December 10, 1983. So the Sabres went more than a month without a road loss. It finally ended on February 2 in, you guessed it, Boston.
You can make your own comparisons to what's happening in hockey around town now.
--- Budd Bailey
January 22, 2012 - 12:21 AM |
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Serena Kessler, a 1990 graduate of Clarence High School, took part in the U.S. Olympic marathon trial in Houston on Jan. 14. It's quite impressive for the chance to line up with America's best runners with three trips to London at stake.
She wrote down some of her observations about the experience, and generously offered to have them published here. We thank her for that and wish her well:
The Starting Line: Humility and Pride
I swelled with pride and humility as I stood on the starting line of the 2012 Olympic marathon trials, listening to Joan Benoit Samuelson, winner of the first women’s Olympic marathon in 1984, offer words of encouragement to the 191 women, ages 22-50, about to embark on the next 26.2 miles of a journey to discover what we are capable of as runners and as women. I was proud of the work I had done to land myself a spot among such an elite group of marathoners, and incredibly humble thinking about what the top tier athletes standing at the front of the pack – who would be running close to a minute faster per mile than I was – had done to make themselves contenders in the strongest field of American women marathoners ever assembled.
Mile 8: Cooperation and Competition
At mile eight, I found myself comfortably ensconced in a pack of about 30 women running 6:15-6:20 pace – the pace we had needed to run to qualify for the event. We were a happy, solid pack, secure in the knowledge that we had no chance to qualify for London, but nevertheless pushing ourselves to do what we knew we were capable of and to enjoy the positive energy of the day. At one point a spectator yelled out for us “break up the pack” and “compete,” to which one of our pack responded, “we love our pack.” What the spectator didn’t understand – but what the athletes who will represent us in London do, as we found out when they discussed their race at the awards lunch – is that cooperation and competition can co-exist. Sure, each one of us wanted to finish ahead of all the others, but we also knew that running as a group would make us all run better and that running our best would require both cooperation and competition.
Mile 18: Suffering and Elation
Just before mile 18, the race started to get hard. Glycogen stores were breaking down and I was beginning to suffer. Then, as our pack approached the final 8 mile-loop of our course, the lead motorcycle whizzed by us, with Meb Keflezighi who had just taken a convincing lead over Ryan Hall close behind. At mile 26 for him (the men started 15 minutes ahead of us and ran the same looped course) and mile 18 for us, we cheered along with the crowds as Meb cruised by us and headed into his final 400 meters. The crowds were wild and the energy propelled us forward, with the joy of being in that moment making the physical pain barely noticeable.
Mile 20: Alone and Together
By mile 20, our group started to break up. We were all suffering to varying degrees, and though we were still together in small clusters, each was alone in her pain. At this point, we were each relying on the grit that got us to the starting line in the first place to get us to the finish. I got passed by a few people in those final miles, and passed an equal number myself, and I felt a comforting solidarity, despite knowing that the only way to get to the finish line was through my own power.
The Final Paradox: There is no finish line
While I had been on pace at 20 miles to run 2:44, my final 10K was not blistering. I fell off pace considerably, but did not completely fall apart. I finished in 2:47:44, my second fastest of the 10 marathons I’ve run in the last 15 years. I’m looking forward to a nice long rest, celebrating my 40th birthday, and then competing once again. The final paradox is that while I’m satisfied with my performance on Saturday and thrilled that I was part of such an amazing event, I know that I have a faster marathon in me. 40-year-old Sheri Piers ran 2:37:09 on Saturday, and 50-year-old Linda Somers Smith ran 2:37:36. They are proof that age is not our enemy, and inspiration to continue this fantastic journey.
--- Budd Bailey
January 22, 2012 - 12:19 AM |
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January 22, 1985 -- Buffalo Bills fans had been waiting a long time for this news bulletin: A Bill has been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
While the Bills had plenty of great players back in the 1960's, Simpson was an easy choice for the voters who determined who would be doing to Canton. He was the first runner to go past 2,000 yards in a single season, running for 2,003 in 1973. What's more, he did it in a mere 14 games.
Simpson finished his career with 11,236 yards rushing, and led the league four different times. He also was one of the few running backs in history who seemed like he was capable of running for a touchdown on every single play.
Simpson was part of a rather impressive class at the Hall. He was joined by Joe Namath, Pete Rozelle, Roger Staubach, and Frank Gatski.
His election then raises an interesting question now. In the light of Simpson's "troubles" after his retirement from football, would he still gain admission to Canton if the voting were held today. Some opinions might have changed since 1985.
--- Budd Bailey
