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Sports January 23rd, 2008
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Sabres' postseason chances as real as Giants' in Big Game
Commentary
JASON NADOLINSKI Sports Reporter
There seems to be a lot going on at all levels in the world of sports these days - and we're barely a month into 2008:

  • You hear that sound? No, not the choking sound - although that is a related noise. I'm talking about what sounds like a herd of stampeding Buffalo. What you're hearing is all of the Buffalo Sabres "fans" jumping off the bandwagon and running away from their former favorite team faster than said squad's fall from grace.

    The Chris Drury/Daniel Briere leadership void has been beaten to death, but it's funny how what is essentially the same team - minus those two veterans - is floundering without them. Have the 2007-08 Sabres been plagued with injuries? Yes. But last year, the Sabres found a way to win facing the most dire of circumstances. This season, I'd be surprised if Buffalo can manage a top-10 finish. I'd really like to see them in the playoffs, but I think that's going to be a long shot at best.

    What's even more frustrating is team management's continual foot dragging and lack of learning from past mistakes. Since coming a game short of a Stanley Cup berth in 2006, the Sabres have lost key guys like Jay McKee, Mike Grier, J.P. Dumont, Martin Biron, Drury and Briere, as well as a few others, all for virtually nothing in return.

    The way things are shaping up, Buffalo fans had better enjoy the last 35 games of this season, since the chances of seeing Brian Campbell in a Buffalo sweater next year are slim to none.

  • Speaking of things that have virtually no chance of happening, I don't know about you, but I wish they'd just play "The Big Game" tomorrow and get New England's perfect season officially in the books.

    We get it already - the Patriots are a dynasty, a juggernaut, the end-all, be-all when it comes to professional athletics. The New York Giants just get the pleasure of being a foot note in another historical New England moment, edging out the 1972 Miami Dolphins - who will never again uncork cases of champagne at the demise of the last remaining undefeated team.

    Would I like to see Eli Manning lead the Giants to a win a week from Sunday? Absolutely, just so the juggernaut that is New England will have everything leading up to "The Big Game" wind up being for nothing. Am I a huge Patriots hater? Nope. But for a league where parity is so often played up, it seems that New England hasn't had too many bumps in the road since the turn of the decade.

  • Getting away from professional sports ... It's great that West Seneca East and West Seneca West's hockey teams will be jumping up to the Federation level, but as my colleague Patrick Nagy hit on a couple of weeks ago, when and where are all of these games going to be played?

    Facilities and, more importantly, ice time are already at a premium, so in order to get in the nearly 40 additional league games that will come with East and West's Fed debuts, is the league going to have to play games seven days a week, at nearly all hours of the day? Time will tell, but it will be an interesting logistical challenge to say the least.

    Given East and West's talent and success over the last few years, it'll be worth it for the Trojans and the Indians.


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