Commentary
Win all they want, Sabres still second fiddle
MATT KRUEGER Sports Reporter
The Buffalo Sabres may be the best team in the NHL, but in their home city, they're still second

behind the beloved Bills.

Is it fair? Not really. The Sabres have injected more excitement into the fans through nine games this season than the Bills have in the past six years. And we still have 73 more to go. Oh, and don't forget the playoffs, assuming Buffalo doesn't pull an el-foldo the likes of which only Boston Red Sox fans can relate to.

Let's face it, Buffalo is now, always has been, and forever will be a football town. The sports fans in Western New York eat, sleep and breathe Buffalo Bills football. And only when things are at their grimmest for the gridiron guys do fans turn their attention elsewhere. You know, like now.

During the fourth quarter of Sunday's shellacking at Ralph Wilson Stadium, the fans who hung around long enough to watch the final seconds tick off the Bills' 28-6 loss to the Patriots started chanting, "Let's go Sabres!"

Yes, Joe Buffalo has a new favorite in the undefeated Sabres, but you know it will only last as long as the current Bills' slump. Once football takes off again and the general manager-coach combo of Marv Levy and Dick Jauron turn things around at 1 Bills Drive, the Bills will once again be the people's choice.

While the Sabres may be the trumpeted beacon in Western New York, the focal point remains on the Bills. Monday morning, the discussion around every office was not how the Sabres demolished the Boston Bruins Saturday night, 6-2, and were just one game away from setting a new record for wins to open a season. It was about the Bills' collapse in the shadow of Patriots coach Bill Belichick for the seventh game in a row. Glove saves and hip checks just don't mean as much as missed tackles and dropped passes.

Did anyone else notice the Bills and Sabres scored the same number of points against Boston-area teams this past weekend? Too bad the Bills couldn't limit the Patriots to a safety.

Yes, the Sabres are playing great with the league's leading goal scorer Chris Drury, the top point-getter Maxim Afinogenov, superstar goalie Ryan Miller and mastermind coach Lindy Ruff. But the names most tossed around in any sports discussion in Western New York are J.P. Losman, Willis McGahee, Terrance McGee (and the target on his chest) and Jauron.

This is just like Boston, where fans live and die with the Red Sox. Even when the Patriots won the first Super Bowl in franchise history, the thousands of fans who turned out for the celebration vocalized their love for the "Sawx" by deriding the archnemisis from New York with a "Yankees Suck" chant. While I doubt the fans of Buffalo would celebrate a Stanley Cup victory with a "Squish the Fish" party, the Bills would remain in the forefront.

The Sabres are the younger brother, the second in command, the runner-up, just trying to claim some of the spotlight for themselves. And they're doing it with hard work and a team-first attitude.

But that's the nature of the beast. When you're the second choice, you have to wait for the top dog to screw up.

And if you think the Sabres have it rough, imagine what it's like for the Bisons.

e-mail: mkrueger@beenews.com