Farewell Lindy Ruff

by Steve

In my customary form I will write a farewell fill in your name here for who ever was fired from a Buffalo sports team.  This time it is Lindy Ruff. A day I seriously never thought would happen especially if Darcy Regier was still the general manager of the Sabres.  What the fuck took so long?

How did this guy survive through four different owners (assuming you count the NHL)?  It was between Lindy and cockroaches and my money was on Lindy.  The media loved him, the owner was just a fan boy and the fans want a statue of the guy on their own front lawn.  So why now, what changed?

I honestly don't know. But I do have a hunch. And that hunch is Ken Sawyer.  He is basically the new Larry Quinn as Terry Pegula's shadowy right hand man.  Presumably he saw the writing on the wall and told Pegs to tell Darc to ax Lindy.  What, sixteen years of losing wasn't enough of a track record to go on?  Does anyone truly believe it is only the players fault this team has regressed for half a decade, never won a cup and only won two division titles in 15 seasons?

Has anyone ever heard this Sawyer character talk?  I haven't even really heard his name ever mentioned until Regier's press conference Wednesday.  Does anyone really believe while fighting back tears that it was Regier's idea to ax the coach?  Of course not.  We'll probably never know.  But my guess is Sawyer.

Back to Ruff, sports is a cut throat game, players get cut, coaches get fired, so I shed no tears for this guy.  At the absolute worst Ruff should have been fired after the debacle in '07 when the team didn't even show up against the Senators in the ECF.  That was six freaking years ago! What was the point of bringing him back after that series?  He clearly demonstrated then that he was a loser.

Oh well, here's hoping the Sabres tank the rest of the season because at this point they aren't going any where any way. (plus a better draft pick although all 14 non qualifier teams get a shot at #1 overall) Also that means Regier will be fired and a new GM will hire a new coach from outside the organization.

At least we have Sawyer to believe in with a backbone.

What Are the Buffalo Bills Doing?

by Steve

The Buffalo Bills are in full on offseason mode.  Last week they cut some dead weight (albeit not enough) and resigned a quarterback (has he even been assigned a number?).  This team has needs throughout the roster and is no where near competing.

Doug Marrone said last week there will be an open competition at every position.  With little to no depth and very little talent those competitions are going to be ugly.  Ryan "$10.45 million" Fitzpatrick will allegedly be back to compete with Tarvaris Jackson and two or more rookies Bud Nix hopefully drafts.

Why is Fitzpatrick being brought back?  True his $10 mil counts against the cap so cutting him will save a paltry $.45 mil (although a ton of actual cash) but he sucks and we all know it. The Tar-Var signing was cheap ($1.75 mil) and is still an unknown since he didn't even dress for a game last year.  Thanks Chanwhick.

Cutting Nick Barnett and George Wilson were good moves.  Neither is very good and weren't worth their cap figure.  I could have survived with Barnett still on the roster but he did fail a physical so tough titties.  My question is why haven't Kelsay and Brad Smith been axed yet?  That is another $6-9 mil in savings.

The Bills allegedly have something like $20 mil in space although that doesn't count a potential Jarius Byrd $6.2 mil franchise tag (which has to happen) and $5 mil or so for drafted players.  Free agency starts March 12th. I'd say the Bills will be sitting out any big signings but who thought last year would have happened?

I'm just hoping the Bills don't go all out to sign has-beens from the Jets like Bart Scott and Jim Leonhard just because of the Mike Pettine  hire.  In reality I would be more worried about not signing the likes of Kyle Moore and Andy Levitre.  If Levitre in particular walks I blame the Bills brass for sitting on their hands and not signing him earlier.  Then again some comments made by Levitre after the season leads me to believe he is looking forward to a pay day and why would anyone wanna stay in a losing organization like this.

Biggest needs:
Quarterback
Linebacker
Wide Receiver
Safety
Guard

Once cuts and things begin to clear up I'll be back to preview free agents more thoroughly.

Buffalo Sports Coach Power Rankings

by Steve

Slow time of the year with the Sabres already basement dwellers in the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League.  So, lets rank all the coaches in Buffalo Sports as of today, holy shit, this is going to be ugly.

1. Mark Schmidt
Who? The coach for St Bonaventure basketball asshole.  Sure The Bonnies are tied for 12th in the Atlantic 10 this season and only 10-11 overall but this team and this coach have had the most success over the last 12 months.  NCAA birth, conference championship, had a player drafted in the first round of the NBA draft and resurrected a program left in the ashes after some suicide.

2. Joe Mihalich
Niagara basketball coach out on Mounteagle Ridge.  Niagara (rpi 120) is 10-2 in the MAAC and two up on anyone else.  Jaun'ya Green and Antoine Mason have this team poised for an NCAA birth.  True, they'll have to win the MAAC tourney which is never easy but Mihalich has a team on time convincingly in a season with limited expectations.

3. Doug Marrone
This guy is way to high on the list but since he is 0-0 it is a better record than anyone else in Buffalo in the last ummm forever?  The guy will probably fail, especially because it is the Bills. Also, Syracuse wasn't good when he was their coach and the Big East sucks in football.  I give no one the benefit of the doubt and when he drafts his boy Ryan Nassib at # 8 overall he will plummet in any future rankings.

4.  Jim Baron
This list is heavy in basketball coaches because they are the only ones that are even modestly successful at this point.  Our ol' boy Baron returns to Western New York to coach Canisius (RPI 109) and has them as the surprise of the conference. The Golden Griffs are 8-4 in conference and tied for second place.  Who woulda thought this team, that went 1-17 last season, with the coaches kid, would not only be competitive for a change but actually be pretty good?  The MAAC tournament will be the ultimate test but who would have thought anyone would be excited about their chances of actually winning it before the season started?

5. Reggie Witherspoon
This guy is worse than Rasputin.  He'll never freaking die! Yeah, the UB Bulls were a game away from winning the MAC last season and were a bit of a surprise, but this season?  They are abysmal. Javon McCray is a beast and the rest of the team doesn't even exist.  He has never made the NCAA tournament as other MAC teams make legit runs in the tourney.  His team is 3-6 in conference this year and tied for second last overall.  He has survived multiple AD's and keeps chugging along.  Typical of a Buffalo sports team.

6. Lindy Ruff
The main question is how is this guy not last on this list?  Might just be testament to the awfulness of coaching in this town.  16 years, zero cups, one cup lost, makes the playoffs half the time, most of the time doesn't even see the second round.  Doesn't get enough out of his players and has more fans in town than free fucking pizza.  I will never understand it.  He and his GM have some weird umbilical cord esque connection that can not be questioned by 4 different owners. Four different owners?!?? Wow just wow. Oh and they are off to another great start this season in he cellar in the division.

7. Jeff Quinn
Not only does this guy not know how to coach he doesnt know how to recruit. He and the UB Bulls have been a joke in the MAC each season he has been at the helm. Losing must love losing because AD Green decided to give this loser an extension in the offseason. Darcy Regier would blush at that ineptitude. Joe Licata better turn into a player or this program may fall into... wait can it fall further?

Super Bowl Picks

Steve 51-39-3 Best Bet 7-11-2

San francisco -4 and under 48

Wreck 49-45-1 Best Bet 8-11-1

Baltimore +4 and over 48

Stevie Johnson Meltdown?

by Steve

It all started yesterday on the Jim Rome Show when Stevie Johnson, the Bills beloved overrated wide receiver bragged about not lifting weights since the combine before he was drafted. Rome asked him if he was serious and he continued that his only work out in the offseason is basketball and running around the block with his wife.

Um, what?  I mean yeah the guy plays hurt and doesn't miss games but he isn't some superstar with break away speed and crazy stats.  Furthermore, the Bills were talking about putting him in the slot before Gailey was fired. So, why are you bragging about ignoring the team's offseason work out program?

So of course the fallout began right after WGR replayed his comments all afternoon.  Schopp and the Bulldog ripped him all afternoon and rightly questioned his leadership and intelligence in airing such questionable information.  Then SJ13 went off on twitter:

schopp and bulldog: ive done shows w/those clowns 2 yrs straight. they should have a much greater sense of the effort i put in for Buffalo

poodle and chap along with everyone who've witnessed me work in training camp, prac., and during games should know i give everything on SUN.

torn groin. torn ligaments in fingers. hamstring. torn rib cartilage. shoulder injuries. etc. etc. How many games have i missed? chap & mut

 my wrkouts are Uncomplicated, Simplified and Effective for Stevie Johnson. individually ive done ok. im advancing my work; hopefully it help

i don't lift weights... 'Whoopee' ill not workout for an entire year and still run circles around these keyboard olympians chap and poodle.

Haha damnn, clowns, keyboard olympians, chap and mut, chap and poodle.  So much for their regular Monday show, Mike Schopp, Bulldog and Stevie Johnson.  Cold bloodedddd.

Nothing from Schopp or Bulldog yet today but "Chap" did have some stuff yesterday: The Stevie comments are flat-out outrageous. "Who knows what would happen if I really put in work?"!! Know when to put the pom-pons down." "Why wasn't Stevie Johnson drafted higher?" "I wonder how hard Wes Welker works in the off-season."

Superbowl Preview

By Steve

Live from New Orleans, it has been a crazy week down here literally below sea level. The french quarter has been filled with poor people from Baltimore and gay people from San Francisco. And we all seem to be getting along swimmingly,  drinking together and waking up in each others beds.

The over under has come down from 50 while the line has been shifting towards Baltimore since opening at SF -6. Ray Lewis the murder cover-upper is on some weird velvet from deer skull extensions and Randy Moss is pretending to be relevant again.

Kaepernick v Flacco, Harbaugh v Harbaugh, espn v the world, Dan Marino v paternity tests, Roy Fox (of Harbowl fame http://www.breitbart.com/Breitbart-Sports/2013/01/25/NFL-Bullies-Man-Over-Harbowl ) v the NFL and me vs the world.

Actually wait, I have off Monday it will be me vs beer, pizza, wings and dumb commercials, I'm gettin crunked!

I am picking San fran and the points. Baltimore and Joe F are due for a bad game. Kaep barely ran the ball in the NFC C and may choose to run wild against an average Balt defense. The Ravens just simply have the Cheatriots number. I don't give them much credit for that victory.

Also I see a lower scoring affair. The defenses are both average or better neither team has a lot of SB experience and a tight low scoring affair is my expectation. The notion that games in NO are usually ugly also adds to my speculation.

My only concern with picking the 49ers is that they have lost some ugly games, Baltimore has the us against the world mentality and I have an underlying disrespect for Jim Harbaugh. Guy loses his cool and that can cloud judgement. Still I like SF.

Official score picks tomorrow.