Page 2 SPORTS & LEISURE MAGAZINE Summer 2011

SPORTS & LEISURE MAGAZINE Summer 2011

Court cases seem muchmore exciting on TV.

Legal dramas are a stapleof primetime TV, but asfootball fans around thecountry are learning, hear-ings, briefs and rulings justaren’t going to fill the voidleft by the NFL lockout.

For yet another month,we offer our sincere hopethat the summer of discon-tent ends soon and theleague gets back to doingwhat it does best-stirringour passion and capturingour full attention.

It doesn’t get any betterthan Bills vs. Patriots,Dolphins vs. Jets, Skins vs.Boys. Players vs. Owners?Not so much.

We picked the locks onthe league to bring you alittle bit of NFL news thisissue. The Bills definitelyhad a type in this year’sdraft. We take a look at thenewest Buffalo Bills andfind that the adjectives“large,” “versatile” and

“defensive” seem to fit justabout all of them.

Now if only we could getthem on the field!

While we wait for reso-lution with the NFL, whatcould be better to pass thetime this summer thangrilling? And what couldbe better to grill with thanfuture Hall of Famer AndreReed’s “Over the Middle”All Purpose Sauce? Whilethe league squabbles overrevenue, pick up a bottleor two and help supportKids Escaping Drugs.

Even though hockey andbasketball are drawing to aclose, we have some greatarticles to beat the summerdoldrums. Steve Mesler,Buffalo’s own gold-medalwinning Olympic bobsled-der, was recently inductedinto the National JewishSports Hall of Fame andultra-endurance athleteSam Pasceri is busy train-ing for a 200-mile racewith a 78 hour time limit.

No less impressive, we talkto Pat Hotung who beganplaying hockey just beforehis 40th birthday anddoesn’t show any signs ofslowing down 12 yearslater.

••••••••A special congratula-

tions goes out to my son,Chris Evans and his wifeMeagan. Chris was a StJoes grad and he andMeagan both graduatedfrom RIT with their under-graduate degrees and theirmasters in Chemistry.They both recently com-pleted their doctoratedegrees in Chemistry atThe University ofRochester. After elevenyears in college they areembarking on a new chap-ter in their lives. Theyhave recently moved toChicago to work on theirpost docs while they pur-sue employment in theirrespective fields.

From the Publisher

Sports & Leisure Magazine469 Virginia Street, Buffalo, New York 14202Tel.: (716) 876-2738, Fax: (716) 874-8289

Email to: [email protected] us out on the web at www.sportsandleisuremag.com &

www.hugesportz.comPublisher & Editor Marian GiallombardoAssociate Editor Jeffrey LevineFeature Writers Robert Caico, Rick Davenport, Mike Fox, Shirley Giallombardo, Ivan theImpaler, Ed Kilgore, Joe Kirchmyer, Shawn Krest (Buffalo Managing Editor), GeorgeKuhn, Jeffrey Levine, Adam McGill, Brian Michalek, Ron Montesano, Len Mytko, GaryReeves, Charles Roberts, Dave Sully, John Williams, Rick Zurak (golf editor)Chief Photographer Jeff BarnesStaff Photographers Ryan Bartholomew, Bob Conlon, Nick LoVerde, Joe Valenti, MikeMajewski, Holly MalinowskiCover photos Marcell Dareus by Jeff BarnesAdvisory Board: Phil Haberstro, Adam Lingner, Denny LynchContributing Writers Bob Conlon, Mike Dyer, Scott Eddy, Craig Gusmann, HollyMalinowski, Bob Plezia, John Ranic, Dave Ricci, Robert Salzman, Angela Stephano, PhilTaylor, Bob Timkey, Carrie StevensLayout & Cover Scott Appleby, Graphic artist Liz SeivertAssignment Editor Shawn KrestCopy Editors and Office Assistants Len Mytko, Justin Vernold, John WilliamsPlease send your letters, questions, and comments to: Sports & Leisure Magazine, 469Virginia Street, Buffalo, NY 14202 or e-mail [email protected]. Pleaseinclude your name, address and phone number or your letter can’t be published. All lettersand responses become the property of Sports & Leisure Magazine, they may be printed, andare subject to editing. Sports & Leisure Magazine is circulated throughout Western NewYork and Southern Ontario. All rights and trademarks reserved. Reproduction in whole or inpart without the express written consent of the publisher is strictly prohibited. ©1997 -2011 Sports & Leisure Inc.Facebook: Sports and Leisure Magazine

Summer 2011 SPORTS & LEISURE MAGAZINE

By Shawn KrestThe Buffalo Bills

devoted the 2011NFL Draft to shoringup their defense.

The Bills selecteddefensive playerswith their first fourpicks. Then, aftertaking a break to grabtwo offensive playerswithin an 11-pickspan in the middle ofthe draft, the Billswent back to defensefor their final threeselections.

“I think it’s obvi-ous that we’re notwhere we want to bedefensively, and we’retrying to fix that,”Bills GM Buddy Nixsaid.

With the thirdoverall pick, Buffalotook Alabama defen-sive tackle MarcellDareus. The 320-pounder ran the 40 inless than five seconds, mak-ing him a rare combination ofsize and speed.

Dareus was defensive MVPof the BCS championshipgame in 2009, when ‘bamawon the national title, and itwas his hit that knockedTexas quarterback ColtMcCoy out of the game.

“We didn’t think he’d bethere,” Nix said. In mostmock drafts, Dareus was slot-ted for the Denver Broncoswith the second pick. On

Draft Day, Denver surprisedeveryone by opting for VonMiller, the outside linebackermost—including Sports &Leisure—thought would endup in Buffalo.

Dareus will anchor themiddle of the Buffalo line,stepping in next to KyleWilliams, who had a break-out season for Buffalo lastyear. The Bills may takeadvantage of his speed andmove him around, however.

“The great thing about

Marcell is we sawhim playing onthe tight end, thetackle, guard, andon the center,”Bills coach ChanGailey said. “Hegives you a lot ofversatility, andwe’ll play him atdefensive end,but I can see himlining up in a lotof differentspots.”

He joked onthe draft telecastthat he would“bring somewarmth toBuffalo.”

“I’m going toput a little lightup under every-body and warm itup,” Dareus said.

“I’m a hungryyoung man readyto make the tran-sition and cause

havoc in the league.”The Bills added another

wide body to the line withtheir last pick in the draft,choosing Bethel’s MichaelJasper. The defensive tackleplayed at 448 pounds lastyear but lost 70 pounds whilepreparing for the draft.

“He’s drying up to noth-ing,” joked Buddy Nix, whoalso praised the big man’sathleticism.

In the second round,Buffalo took Texas corner

Aaron Williams.Like Dareus, the Bills were

impressed with Williams’ability to play multiple posi-tions.

“Everything goes in cyclesin football and it’s gotten nowto where you’ve got bigreceivers and you need bigcorners, and they’re hard tofind,” Nix said. “This guy istalented. He’s really a goodathlete and he’s got some ver-satility. He can play corner,obviously, he can play in theslot in the nickel, and wethink he can play safety.”

“We’ll start him at corner,and if we decide to move himinside, it’d be a lot easiergoing in that direction,” Nix

added.The Bills devoted two

other picks to defensivebacks. They added NorthCarolina safety Da’NorrisSearcy in the fourth roundand corner Justin Rogers ofRichmond in the seventh.

“You can’t have too manycorners,” Nix said afterselecting Rogers. “You oughtto take one every year, andsome years, you need to taketwo.”

In keeping with the themeof the new Bills defenders,Searcy has a combination ofsize and versatility.

“Da’Norris is a little bit of adifferent guy,” Gailey said. “Alot of those other safeties on

the board were 195-200pounds. Here’s a 225-poundguy that is a ball hawkingkind of guy. He’s even playedcorner before at that size.”

The Bills finished theirdefensive work with a pair ofinside linebackers. Buffalotook LSU’s Kelvin Sheppardin the fourth round andMississippi State’s ChrisWhite in the sixth. Sheppardwas praised for being tall forhis position and able to moveinside and outside.

On offense, Buffalo addedgigantic tackle ChrisHairston out of Clemson andversatile running backJohnny White from NorthCarolina.

Bills add size and versatility to defense in draft

Photo by Kent Gidley/University of Alabama AthleticsThe Bills added size and versatility in theirdefense-first draft, headlined by Alabama’sMarcell Dareus.


By Mike FoxYeah. I know how

you feel. After drawingthe No.1 pick in one ofmy leagues, I confident-ly selected the “no-brainer,” one AlbertPujols. Two monthslater, his fellow ownersand I are pronouncinghis name in a less-than-complimentary fashionas we stare at stats thatbarely rank him in thetop 10 among first base-men, much less overall.Giving up on Albert atthis point really isn’t anoption, because, well,he’s Albert Pujols, buthere are some points toconsider as you try tomuddle out the truthbehind some of theother early surprise sto-ries, both good and bad.

Prince Albert hasplenty of company onthe list of early-roundunderachievers. Names likeTroy Tulowitzki, EvanLongoria, Car-Go andHanley Ramirez were longgone by the end of the firstround in most drafts, andother than Tulo’s hot April,none has come close toapproaching expectations.Like Pujols, the first threeseem like healthy bets toeventually right the ship, but

Hanley owners might bewondering why their spidey-senses are tingling. Maybeit’s because what we weredismissing as an off-year2010 has carried into the endof May 2011. Maybe it’sbecause memories of FrediGonzalez’s accusations oflaziness still linger. Ormaybe it’s because when youlook at “Hanley” sideways, it

kinda looks like “Manny”,but something doesn’t feelright.

Jose Bautista led themajors with 54 homers in2010, a full dozen morethan No.2-ranked Pujols,and the entire fantasyworld was apparentlythinking “BradyAnderson.” How else canwe explain the fact thatBautista was not draftedhigher than 17th in anyCBS Sportsline league thisyear? Let’s face it, we wereall wrong. Bautista’s 20home runs not only lead allof baseball, it’s also morethan the Minnesota Twinshave hit as a team. Evenmore ridiculous may be his.800 SLG% and .500 OBP,figures that haven’t beenseen since that guy withthe big head was launchingshots into San FranciscoBay. It’s time to believe,folks.Most of us assumed Lance

Berkman had finally hit thecliff last season, when he reg-istered his worst battingaverage (.248) since hisrookie year and the fewesthome runs (14) of his career.Instead, he’s experienced arebirth with St. Louis,pounding out 11 homers inhis first 56 games with arobust .338 batting average.

While it may be unrealisticto expect the 35-year-old vetto sustain that pace over theremaining three-quarters of aseason, the lifetime .297 hit-ter should continue to seelots of good pitches as longas he’s surrounded by Pujolsand Matt Holliday in theRedbirds’ lineup, and hisfirst 30-homer season since2007 could well be in the,uh, Cards.

Not all the early successstories may be destined tohave happy endings. JeffFrancoeur was widelyviewed as a rising superstarafter following up his 2005N.L. Rookie of the YearAward with a pair of 100-RBIseasons. Since then, he’sbecome one of those fringe-type players who is a popular

early waiver wire pick eachyear, then eventually findshis way back into the hatafter his fantasy owners tireof his prolonged slumps.Francoeur’s started hot againthis year (.273-9-30), andhe’s in his age-27 season, butI’ve been stricken byFrenchy Fever before, so I’llremain skeptical for at leastanother month before I buyinto the concept of anupcoming career year.

The last time we saw theCleveland Indians perform-ing at this heightened level,Charlie Sheen was their clos-er, and leading the way hasbeen Asdrubal Cabrera. The25-year-old shortstop hasmotored his way into thetop-10 overall roto rankingsafter a sizzling .296-10-36-7

start to the season, withthose 10 homers alreadyalmost doubling his formercareer best of six. Much asI’d like to believe thatCabrera and the Tribe willcontinue to write the scriptfor Major League III, itseems likely a few valleyswill be following their cur-rent peaks. Cabrera might bea top-30 player at season’send, but top-10 is still a fewyears away at least.

One closing note: Keep inmind that it’s been a cold wetspring across the country,and baseball is a game bestplayed in hot dry conditions.As the weather improves,correction periods will beforthcoming.

Fantasy baseball

Photo courtesy MLB PressboxLance Berkman’s stock has risenfrom bargain-basement to top-shelfthis year.

By Charles Roberts

Something just wasn’tclicking for BuffaloBisons first basemanValentino Pascucci. The32-year-old slugger wasstuck in a rut and could-n’t quite figure out why.

“It’s been a little frus-trating because I’ve feltso good at the plate,” hesaid. “I feel like I’ve beenseeing the ball great.[But] borderline pitcheshaven’t been going myway and when I havebeen hitting the ball hardit’s been at somebody.”

On May 10, that allchanged when Pascucciknocked in six runs andbecame just the 10thBison to record six ormore RBIs in the lastdecade, and only the sec-ond in the same timeframe atCoca-Cola Field.

“Pascucci really camethrough tonight–six RBIs,”Bisons manager Tim Teufelsaid after Pascucci’s big night.“I think he’s been pressing alittle bit. He doesn’t want to bethat guy way down in theorder, not contributing. Hehas a lot to show and a lot tooffer.”

The veteran hitter is nostranger to knocking thestitching out of the ball. Lastyear he was tied for second onthe team in home runs, with17. Three of those long ballscame in the same contest–anaccomplishment boasted byonly two other Bisons in theballpark’s history.

Despite the early-seasonstruggles, Pascucci stressedthat his approach neverchanged.

“I stick to my routine–keepdoing the same things I’vebeen doing: getting myswings in the cage, taking itout in B.P. (batting practice),”he said. “It just came togethertonight. I felt like I was righton the edge of putting ittogether and I did tonight.”

Pascucci clearly shed what-ever was ailing him. He fol-lowed the May 10 outing witha six-game hit streak–batting.421–and has since been oneof the most productive battersin the International League.In fact, he accounted for theBisons’ first grand slam of the

season during the first ofa twin-bill on May 29,which also was the firstin his two-year Buffalocareer.

Selected by theMontreal Expos in the15th round of the 1999First-Year Player Draftout of the University ofOklahoma, Pascucci’scareer to date alsoincludes minor-leaguestints with the LosAngeles Dodgers,Philadelphia Phillies,Chicago Cubs, FloridaMarlins and San DiegoPadres. His currentminor-league contract inBuffalo is actually thesecond time around inthe New York Mets’ sys-tem, where he previouslyhad a deal in 2008. At

the time, the Mets were affili-ated with the New OrleansZephyrs.

Pascucci made 32 big-league appearances with theExpos in 2004–the only of hiscareer thus far–but managedjust two home runs during 62at-bats.

Without intending it,Teufel seemed to havesummed up the well-traveledslugger’s career.

“Sometimes you’re the goatand sometimes you’re thehero,” he said of Pascucci.

In the early goings of a sea-son drowned in rain and aMets’ public relations disaster,Pascucci has certainly been abright spot–and by no meansa goat.

Pascucci a bright spot for Bisons during water-logged month

Photo courtesy Buffalo BisonsFirst baseman Valentino Pascucci hasbeen swinging for the fences and,more often than not, connecting forthe Bisons.


By Jeffrey LevineWhile most people

approaching their 40thbirthday are content to buy aspeedy two-door with ahigh-revving engine or take atrip across the Atlantic toexperience Europe, PatHotung opted for a differentoption—hockey.

At first glance, deciding toplay hockey appears to be acurious choice for Hotung.Having grown up in HongKong, hockey was not some-thing on young Pat’s radar.Although there are now afew rinks in operation, at thetime, hockey was virtuallynon-existent. Instead,Hotung channeled his solid

work ethic and naturaldesire to compete into swim-ming.

It wasn’t until coming toAmerica as an adolescentthat Hotung was introducedto hockey; first on a pondwith borrowed skates as amember of the Boy Scoutsand later on flooded tenniscourts in Connecticut duringwinter. His mom evenbought him a pair ofskates—figure skates, unfor-tunately—so he could playtwo-on-two, hanging up hisskates a few months laterand leaving them there for adecade or two.

After moving to Buffalo in1995 and attending his fair

share of Sabres games, Patfound the opportunity toplay once again, or rather,the opportunity found him.

“My friend played pick up[hockey] and knowing that Ihad played a bit when I wasyounger said I’d be perfect,”Hotung explained. “When Istarted there were 20-25guys, new skaters, and wewould do drills and thenexposition games. It was agood way to put on theequipment and see if youlike hockey; you could fallon your face and no oneminded. We all wentthrough the program andjoined a league. The firstyear we lost every game. The

second year we lost everygame but managed two ties.”

Twelve years after he firststarted, Pat has worked hisway up from the bottom ofthe rat hockey pile andbeginners leagues to face offagainst some of the bestBuffalo has to offer: graduat-ed D1 college players; formersemi-pros who were team-mates with Brian Gionta andTim Connolly; old-timerswho learned to skate beforethey could walk. Behind thatsuccess, however, is sheerdetermination.

“For the last eight yearsI’ve played at least four timesa week,” Hotung said whiledescribing his regimen. “I try

and spend 15 minutesevery day doing dry landexercises. I’ve done skatingclinics where I was in my40s and the next oldestskater was 16. I want tolearn and don’t care what Ilook like.”

Helping to guide thathard work and dedicationis pro skating coach (andSports & Leisure colum-nist) Gary Reeves. Citing alaundry list of problemswhen Hotung first came tohim—posture, crossovers,hockey stops—even aninstructor like Reeves whohas seen it all has to standback to take in the enormi-ty of what his student hasaccomplished.

“Pat today has totallytransformed all his defi-

ciencies into the propermechanics that are the foun-dation needed to further hisambition to becoming a bet-ter hockey player,” Reevesexplained. “Pats success,without question, is hisdesire, dedication and selfdiscipline to better himself.Pat, at the age of 51, hastaken and used the toolsoffered to him in such amanner that if he had thistraining as a young 14 or 16year old he could have con-ceivably turned pro.”

Not surprisingly, some ofHotung’s teammates havetaken to calling him ‘Paille’after former Sabre and cur-rent Bruin Dan Paille, anoth-er student of Gary Reeves.

With age, however,comes both wisdom andaches. Hotung is theoldest player on one ofhis teams and he worksso hard that his wifewas genuinely con-cerned at one point hewould have a heartattack. Despite an acutearthritis that makesmorning skates diffi-cult, Hotung continuesto work, leading one ofhis captains to remarkthat he’s the only playerhe knows who actuallygets better as he getsolder.

Hotung’s longevityhas also allowed him toshare the game with hisdaughters, who, not

surprisingly, had no choicebut to play hockey.

“I told my girls that if theygrew up in Hong Kong orHawaii that they’d be on aswim team, but we’re inBuffalo,” Hotung recalled.“It’s a great hockey town andyou’re never going to get abetter chance to learn hock-ey. We’re in buffalo, we playhockey.”

Now, as he crosses thethreshold into his 50s,Hotung shows no signs ofslowing down.

“I have no intention ofquitting anytime soon. Infact, I’m concentrating ongetting better.”

From Hong Kong to Hockey: Pat Hotung

Photo courtesy Pat HotungPat Hotung has made the most ofhis 12 years on the ice.

By Ed KilgoreCh.2 Sports Director

Although I’d really justlike to have somebody wakeme up when the NFL ownersand players finally reach adeal to figure out how to dis-tribute $9 billion a year inrevenue, it is part of my jobdescription topay attention. Atleast I’m notforced to PAY,like the fans whohave to watchthe worthlessrhetoric comingfrom both sidesabout how nei-ther side reallywants to “dowhat it takes” toget a new CBA.

As you’ll recall, it wasRalph Wilson, the Billsowner, who was one of onlytwo NFL owners to say afterthe last collective bargainingagreement that they’d justagreed to a “terrible deal.” Atthe time he was quietlylaughed at as a senile oldman who had lost touchwith today’s NFL economics.

As it turns out, no he had-n’t, but I haven’t seen any-body thanking him recently.

The owners will eventual-ly get some concessions,because they have all theleverage. They’re rich menwho are willing to sacrificean entire season if that’s whatit takes for them to lower orat least slow down risingcosts in order to increasetheir revenue. They probablyrealize by now they won’t gettheir 18-game seasonbecause the players seem tobe pretty solidly against it.They’ve already backed offtheir figure of another billiondollars off the top of the esti-mated $9 billion in revenueper season to be spent onstadium improvements andmarketing, and some sourcesthink that figure is downfrom that wishful figure by aconsiderable amount.

The owners do seem to“get it” that the game mustbe tinkered with a touch toreduce the rising number ofinjuries, while not takingaway the violent high speed

crashes that make the gameso popular. That’s whythey’ve already moved thekickoff up to the 35-yard linefrom the 30, which manyfans are already complainingabout, because such a highpercentage of injuries comefrom kickoff returns. But

there isn’t amore excitingplay in the gamethan a 98 yardreturn for atouchdown, andthe number ofthose types of“home runs” hasbeen increasingyearly. Thenumbers ofgame-breakingreturns is now

certain to be reducedbecause there will be manymore touchbacks.

The owners, by and large,knew this thing was headedfor a lockout all along, anddon’t for a minute think theywere thrown for a loss byJudge Doty’s ruling they can’thang on to their $4 billionnest egg from the TV net-works to tide them overthrough these tough times.They’ve been ready for thisfor a while now, and unlikemany players who still, forsome unknown reason livepaycheck to paycheck, won’tmiss a single nice vacation orexpensive dinner.

The owners want a “part-nership,” but they don’twant the players to see theirbooks. I think some ownersdon’t want other OWNERSto see their books, that’swhat I think, and the face-to-face meetings not yield-ing any significant progress,we could be facing a longand convoluted legal processthat will wind up with manybillable hours—at leastSOMEBODY will makemoney out of this thing—they may have to open thebooks anyway.

Already many fans arebeing turned off by the fan-tastic numbers they keephearing and reading about—the increasing revenues andsalaries that are so out ofstep with what’s happening

in the “real” world.It’s estimated that EACH

NFL city will lose $160 mil-lion if the players are lockedout in 2011, and even ifthat’s a generous estimate,you get the point. It’s alsoestimated over 115,000 jobswill be affected. Many NFLteams, including the Bills,have already given acrossthe board pay cuts to every-body from the head coach tothe scouting staff secretaries.

In a perfect world, BOTHsides would realize this $9billion a year in revenue cancontinue growing if youdon’t TOTALLY alienate ALLthe fans, which means morefor the players AND owners,so why not try to give atleast a little something backto the fans who continue tooverpay for the product?Charge less for the presea-son games, for instance.Even put ticket prices onhold for a couple years,‘cause all the other revenuesare going up anyway, andmaybe, who knows, atten-dance may increase enoughto actually make up the dif-ference! The goodwill ges-ture alone would be price-less.

Maybe they could evencome up with a stock optionplan like other corporations,where players would sign forfixed dollars so teams couldplan their budgets, and thenif the overall revenueincreases, the owners will beonly too happy to share thewinnings. If the revenuedoes NOT go up, the playersdon’t lose a thing. No bigdeal for the owners, becausethey take most of the risk inthis business partnershipanyway, at least financially.

Oh, they’ll eventually getthis deal done in time for afull season and maybe eventraining camps, but listeningto the details of the negotia-tions make it pretty tough topull for either side; theyBOTH come out of it look-ing like their greed farexceeds their concern aboutthe people who ultimatelypay those salaries—the fans.

NFL owners and players are not making points with fans


By Joe Kirchmyer

After graduating fromCity Honors High School inBuffalo in the mid-1990s,Steve Mesler headed southto chase his dream, and thecompetition, around thetrack at the University ofFlorida. He spent countlesshours training as a decath-lete on the Florida squad,and an equal amount oftime dealing with trainersand doctors.

While his heart and hishead were telling him to gofor glory, other parts of hisbody were in revolt. Meslerfound himself hurting allthe time. There was a dam-aging hamstring tear, not tomention three ankle injuriesand an elbow injury.

It was a difficult decision,but Mesler knew he had toput his decathlon dreamsbehind him. But that didn’tmean leaving the world ofcompetitive sports behind aswell. A college coach pointedhim in the direction of bob-sledding. After giving it somethought, he contacted theUnited States OlympicCommittee and shared withthem his characteristics andtraining history. The story justtook off from there, andbefore he knew it, Mesler wastraining on the U.S. Olympicteam.

In 2010, at the WinterOlympics in Vancouver, thekid from Buffalo wouldbecome a household nameacross America. His four-manmen’s bobsleigh team struckgold — the first U.S. goldmedal in the sport in 62 years!

“As a kid growing up, andas an adult, you watch thosegreat moments that athleteshave,” Mesler said. “Mymoment came after the race(in Vancouver). After cele-brating a little, I was able toclimb over the railing andthrough the bleachers and seeand embrace about 20 familymembers and friends whowere there.” It’s the one mem-

ory that he holds closest.His Olympic dream

achieved, Messler has noplans to make another runat a gold medal in the 2014Winter Olympics in Russia.

“No, I’m done,” the 33-year-old Mesler said. “Ihave what I want and I’mlooking forward to doingsome other things. That‘thing’ that was pulling atmy heart and soul forsports is gone, and I’m OKwith that.”

Even though his days asan Olympian are nowbehind him, Mesler stillstands in the sports worldspotlight. In late March, forexample, he was inducted

into the National JewishSports Hall of Fame at a cere-mony held in Long Island.

“That was pretty cool,”Mesler admitted. “My momwas there with me, and she, ofcourse, was very proud. I wishher parents — my grandpar-ents — could have been therewith us. They would havebeen so proud as they wereboth very much involved inthe Jewish community. Itwould have been amazing forthem.”

Family, as you can probablytell, is very important toMesler. In fact, he and his sis-ter, Leigh Parise, are nowworking together on a new

project called ClassroomChampions. According toMesler’s website,w w w. s t e v e m e s l e r. c o m ,“Classroom Champions is anongoing non-profit programthat pairs Olympians andOlympic hopefuls with class-rooms across the country. Theprogram utilizes technology,such as video messages, blogsand live video chats, to teachthe lessons of hard work, per-severance, goal setting andhealthy living.”

“It’s sort of like 21st centu-ry penpals,” Mesler said of theprogram. “It will connectOlympians and other high-profile athletes with class-rooms throughout the coun-

try. My sister and I started theprogram when I was still anathlete and now it’s reallymoving forward.”

When he’s not working onClassroom Champions,Mesler travels from state tostate as a motivational speak-er, addressing business profes-sionals and students. Heshares with them a messageabout high performance, howto deal with adversity and fail-ure and how to cope with it,and how to focus when you’reunder tremendous pressureand need to deliver winningresults.

“Business, sports ... it allcrosses over. It all ties togeth-er,” Mesler said.

Between all of his travel,Mesler still finds time to visithis hometown. He was homein late December to partici-pate in some local hockey-related events, and plans onbeing in Buffalo again in lateApril to spend time with hisparents who still live in thecity.

In the meantime, he’ll con-tinue to share an uplifting andpositive message with enthu-siastic audiences, and contin-ue to make Western New Yorkand the City of Buffalo proud!

Joe Kirchmyer is president ofKirchmyer Media. To commenton this story, send an e-mail [email protected].

From Olympic medalist to Classroom Champion, Steve Mesler’s incredible journey continues

Photo courtesy National Jewish Sports HOFOlympic gold medalist and home-town hero Steve Mesler at theNational Jewish Sports Hall ofFame induction ceremony.

By Bob Timkey

The Navajo tribe’shistorical Long Walkfrom Arizona to thePecos River Valley inWest Texas was 450miles and took over18 days. The tribe cov-ered an astounding 25miles per day over thenearly three-weekperiod. The fabledAppalachian Trail,which runs from themountains ofNorthern Georgia allthe way to Maine, is2,181 miles. Everyspring, thousands ofhikers set off withintentions of hikingthe entire distance andabout a quarter ofthem reach their goal.Of those that do, theaverage time is aroundsix months. The suc-cessful hikers travel –on foot – about 12miles a day. Studiesusing pedometers(simple devises thatcount the number ofsteps one takes whilewearing the monitor on theirbelt) have shown that theaverage American walks lessthan three miles per day.

Sam Pasceri, Western NewYork business owner turned“ultra-endurance” athlete,has become accustomed tolonger mileage. A “good” dayfor Sam is one where he setsoff on a rural trail to com-plete a 100 mile ultrama-rathon – in one day. His sportrequires a longer perspective.

Around 3 a.m. on aSunday morning, Sam is onhis knees, doubled over withhis forehead pressed againstthe asphalt surface of theroad that has occupied hisattention since early the pre-vious morning. He’s clad inblack running tights and aform fitting, reflective yellowjacket that accentuates hischiseled physique. As anambulance sits idle in thelane of traffic with red lightsdancing, the paramedicsapproach Sam with standardquestions, “Are you OK?What’s the matter?” Sam

holds up a finger as if to askfor “just one moment.” He isasthmatic and in the throesof an attack. An albuterolinhaler is located and a quickpuff restores his normalbreathing within minutes.Moments later, Sam is smil-ing and resumes trottingalong the side of the road.This episode occurred in themidst of Sam’s first “DoubleIronman” triathlon whichconsisted of 4.8 miles ofswimming, 224 miles ofcycling and two back-to-back marathons (52.4 milesof running) with a 36 hourtime limit. Sam completedthe challenge with some timeto spare and returned a yearlater to complete the “TripleIronman”…you do the math.

I asked Sam a few seem-ingly obvious questions andreceived some not-so-obvi-ous answers. I wonderedaloud why one would putsuch stress on their body.Sam’s response, “I don’t lookat it that way. Going out torun a really, really hard

marathon - that’s stress-ful. It eats up your body.A 100 miles, you enjoyyourself a lot more. Alocal 5k fun run lastsabout 25 minutes. Amarathon takes a recre-ational runner 3 1/2 to 4hours. With a 100 mileryou’re usually on a beau-tiful course in the moun-tains or in thewoods…you just get toenjoy yourself that muchlonger. This is how Irelax.” Relax! The manactually used the word“relax.”

Sam began runningabout 12 years ago afterdabbling in body build-ing and kickboxing for acouple of years. Hebegan with a local 5k funrun and still remembersthe uneasiness he feltwhen he entered his first10 mile road race. Now,when he slips on his run-ning shoes, a ten milerun is considered a“recovery” day. To date,he’s entered (six)Ironman triathlons

(140.6 total miles of swim-ming, cycling and running inone day) and completed(five) of them, plus hisDouble and Triple Ironmanfeats. He has entered (six)100 mile ultramarathons andcompleted (four) of them.He comments, “If I finishedevery race I entered, andnever struggled through arace, I probably would’vestopped running years ago.You learn the most from yourfailures. No matter who youare, you’re going to DNF(Did Not Finish) at somepoint or another…you learnthe most on those days.”

Sam’s primary athletic goalfor 2011 is to complete theViaduct 200 in Pennsylvania.This race requires 200 mileson foot with a 78 hour timelimit. You can follow hisprogress at www.SamPasceri.com

Bob Timkey is an Ironmandistance triathlete and outdoorenthusiast who lives and trainsin Lockport, N.Y.

A longer perspective

Photo courtesy of Rohto EyedropsSam Pasceri finishing a double iron-man in patriotic style.


If you are looking for afun, exciting way to stay fitthis summer, consider theincreasingly popular sport ofrock climbing. You will findfew activities that are sophysically, mentally, and psy-chologically challenging asthis once “alternative” avo-cation.

It is difficult to knowwhere to begin writing abrief study in this sport.Originally born in moun-taineering in the Alps, thesport has evolved to one inwhich most practitionersrarely get more than 100 feetoff the ground. In fact, manyclimbers have moved on to asub-group of rock climbing,called bouldering, in whichthe climber stays fairly closeto the ground, climbingwithout ropes, harnesses, orother equipment, and is freeto move over the rock, expe-riencing the pure joy of diffi-cult movement withoutthese hindrances. Make nomistake, though, boulderingis serious business, and per-haps most of the climbinginjuries I have seen in mycapacity as a physical thera-pist have involved relativelyshort bouldering falls.

The movement patterns inrock climbing and boulder-ing are really infinite. Onestands on his or her feet,pushing upward. Thisrequires strong contractions

in the gastrocs andsoleus, the calfmuscles. One canalso hook on high-er holds with theheel, firing thehamstrings toassist upwardmobility. Coremusculature isextremely impor-tant for turningthe torso, in a con-trolled fashion,from one side toanother in order tomaintain balance.If you have everrock climbed, youwill undoubtedlybe familiar withthe extreme “fore-arm pump” whichevery climber hasfelt. But the backmuscles, lats, teresmajor, trapezius,and rhomboidswill all be con-tracting strongly.To all of this add avery intense needfor superior men-tal focus and con-centration, andyou have a prettyideal cross trainingactivity. In fact, rock climb-ing can be quite addicting,and many have gone on tomake it their primary formof recreation, and a luckyfew have become expert

enough to become profes-sionals.

Among the attractions tothis sport is the fact thatwomen are able to partici-pate at very high levels, such

that the very bestwomen climbersare quite close intechnical ability tothe top men.Women in generaltend to be morethoughtful, flexi-ble, and “balancy,”not relying on purebrute force to hauloneself, hand-over-hand, up verticalor overhangingrock. Back in theday when I used tosupplement mysummer incomeby guiding andinstructing rockclimbers, it wouldnot be unusual forthe women in thegroup to get upmore difficultroutes than themen, on their veryfirst day. Strengthto weight ratio ismore importantthan pure strengthin this sport.

So now thequestion is, “Howdo I begin?” I real-ly recommend get-ting expert

instruction. A good place tofind out if you’ll enjoy thesport or not is at an indoorrock gym, which present arelatively safe and controlledenvironment where one can

first start the process of mov-ing over steep terrain. I thinkthis is the best way to begin.Focus on the movement.The other technical aspects,anchoring, equipment,belaying (holding the ropeso your partner doesn’t fall),these can wait. Start byclimbing. In fact, if youdecided to really go out andsee “real” live bouldering,the Niagara Glen, on theNiagara Parkway betweenNiagara Falls, Ontario andNiagara on the Lake, hasexcellent bouldering, andvisitors have traveled therefrom all over the world forthe fine bouldering andbeautiful views. When yousee really good bouldering,you will know it instantly. Itis breathtaking. An expertboulderer will move acrossthe rock effortlessly, on ter-rain where you will likelynot be able to even get off theground. If you are luckyenough to find such a per-son, politely ask for advice.Most climbers are pretty coolpeople, and if you are notbeing rude, they will usuallybe helpful. While ropedclimbing is illegal in NiagaraGlen, I think you will findmost expert boulderers willhave sound knowledge ofropes and the technicalaspects of climbing as well.

Other climbing areaswithin a short drive of

Buffalo include the NiagaraEscarpment, running fromnear Hamilton, Ont., up intoGeorgian Bay. Miles andmiles of limestone cliffs ofvariable quality await. TheAdirondack Park has a fan-tastic new guidebook,“Adirondack Rock,” whichhighlights the many new andexciting cliffs in the NorthCountry. The authors alsomaintain a great websitewith new additions, adiron-dackrock.com. Whereas inmany climbing areasclimbers try to find newroutes to the top of cliffs, inthe Adirondacks, whole newcliffs are still being discov-ered. The Shawangunks are aworld-class destination forrock climbers (and boulder-ers) from around the world,and is located just outside ofNew Paltz, N.Y.

I hope I have piqued yourinterest in this sport, whichlargely dominated my life forover 20 years. I climb prettyinfrequently these days, butam still very interested in it.I hope you find it as interest-ing as I have.

David Brzykcy is a PhysicalTherapist at the McGuireGroup’s Northgate location,and is the Coordinator ofOutpatient Physical Therapyfor the McGuire Group. Tocontact David, email [email protected].

Rock climbing for cross trainingBy David Brzykcy, PT

If you’re looking for an exciting way to stay inshape, rock climbing may be your answer.


By Holly MalinowskiIn 1985, Andre Reed was

drafted in the fourth roundby the Buffalo Bills out ofKutztown State, and spentthe next 15 seasons thrillingNFL fans. By Reed’s ownadmission, “they were thebest 15 years of my life.”

During his illustriouscareer, Reed accumulated951 receptions, en route toseven pro bowls, and fourSuper Bowl appearances. “Iplayed with Hall of Fameplayers, coach, and anowner,” Reed noted. “Youcan’t get it any better thanthat. You’re only as good asthe people around you.”

Currently, No.83 is takingon another challenge; cook-ing.

Reed has started a newbusiness focused on themaking of an “all-purposesauce” titled Over theMiddle (OTM). The saucecan be used with beef, chick-en, or pork. Continuing atradition he had started dur-ing his playing days, a por-tion of the proceeds fromWestern New York OTM

sales will benefit the KidsEscaping Drugs Program,WNY’s only long-term resi-dential treatment facility forteens addicted to drugs andalcohol.

“My father, who passedaway 15 years ago, told me,‘Son, if you have a chance tomake a difference, if you canhave a voice, then you’ve gotto take advantage of that andmake a difference,’” Reed,founder and owner of OTM,explained. “My passion forgiving back, combined withmy father’s vision inspiredthe creation of OTM. I’mexcited about the launch ofOver the Middle in theBuffalo area and hopefullyplenty of sports fans inWestern New York will makethe sauce a part of theirgrilling routine. More impor-tantly to me, many childrenwho are battling addictionwill benefit from the salesthrough The Kids EscapingDrugs Campaign.”

“We’re looking to expandand get better, just like Itried to do on the field,”Reed added in regards to the

introduction of a wing-sauce.

OTM is available atBuffalo area marketssuch as Wegmans,Tops, and Dash storesas well as online,www.andrereed-d o t m . c o m .Purchases madevia the websiteenroll indi-viduals in acontest foran all-inclusivegolf tripw i t hA n d reR e e dat his

S e c o n dAnnual Celebrity GolfClassic in Allentown, Pa. onJuly 17, 2011. Andre has alsojoined with Tops

Supermarketsfor a “freeCoke” promo-tion where 25

c e n t sf r o me a c hbottle of

Coke soldduring the

event willbe donated

to The KidsE s c a p i n g

Drugs program.The event has atentative end date of July 6and anyone who purchasesOTM’s All-Purpose Sauce at$4.99 will receive a two-literof Coke for free.

When he’s not busy withhis new business and philan-thropic venture, Reed hashad time to reflect on hispotential inclusion in the ProFootball Hall of Fame. “I’vebeen close the last couple ofyears, and I believe my timeis coming soon. I’ve seen myteammates elected: Jim Kelly,Bruce Smith, ThurmanThomas, James Lofton, andcoach Marv Levy. My statssupport my entrance, and Iwas part of something spe-cial when I played. You don’t

catch balls without a goodQB. It would be a validationof what I did, how Iapproached the game, and avalidation for the city. Goodthings come to those whowait.”

With a lockout looming,Reed still takes great interestin his hometown team.“Patience is a virtue, teamsgo through transitions; it’s aprocess. I think [the Billsare] on the cusp…fans havebeen used to the team win-ning, being in the playoffs.Takes time to go throughfree agents to get talent, andget everyone on the samepage. The team is on theright track, and the third and

fourth year play-ers need to makean impact.You’re going tohave veterans,but the youngguys need tostep-up and leadby example. It’s ayoung footballteam. I was for-tunate to havefour to five Hallof Fame playerson the team Iplayed on, not

every team is going to havethat.”

Promising to represent thefans to the fullest if he’s everenshrined in Canton, Reedhas a very simple messagefor Western New York as itrelates to his sauce: “If [you]support me, [you] supportthe charity that’s dear to myheart.”

For more information onAndre Reed’s Over the Middleall-purpose sauce, visit:www.andrereeddotm.com.Andre can also be found onTwitter @Andre_Reed83 andon Facebook via Andre Reed’sOver the Middle All PurposeSauce.

Reed is “Over the Middle”

Photo courtesy Andre Reed’s “Over the Middle All-Purpose Sauce”Even though he is retired, Andre Reed continues togive back to the community.


By Ronald S. MontesanoTimber Ridge golf

course, in Brockport, maybe the most excited golfingenterprise in Western NewYork in 2011. The course,formerly known asCardinal Creek, was pur-chased in April and a newprofessional team wasinstated, including TomMulka, a golf professionalwith over 25 years of expe-rience in the PacificNorthwest. ThinkingSeattle? Yep, but think evenmore pacificy and morenorthwesty; how aboutAlaska!

Depending on whom youask, Timber Ridge was builtin the late 1980s or early1990s, and winds throughsome farmland and a fairamount of woodland.Corridors for fairways werehewn from the trees, givingthe course the needed claus-trophobia to counter itshumble (5,600 yards fromthe tips) length.

“The course, for a fair

number of years, had been aone-man band, so to speak.The owner was the pro andran the show himself,”Mulka revealed. Situated ina golf-rich area of westRochester-Brockport, thecourse showed a fairlydiminished clientele whenthe new management teamtook over. “We’ve had somemajor renovations thus far.We’ve paved the parking lotand gutted the clubhouse,so the feel of the complex is

different fromthe get-go,”Mulka added.Timber Ridgecontinued toimprove aes-thetics byadding new teemarkers andhole signs,along with afleet of 46 newelectric golfcarts.

“ T i m b e rRidge is a fairlyflat golf course,

which makes it an easywalk. We’re hoping to re-establish our niche withseniors and ladies, as thecourse and its amenities fittheir styles of play,” Mulkaexplained. “We’ve complet-ed many major projects inthe past two months andnow we need to turn ourattention to the golfcourse.” Timber Ridge tookthe first steps toward estab-lishing enviable playing

Timber Ridge golf review

Timber Ridge is off to a good start withbeautiful grounds and lush scenery.

Mill Creek,Rochester’shigh point of golf

By Rick ZurakThey call Mill Creek Golf

Club, “The High Point of Golfin Rochester”, and they arenot kidding. Located in thesouthwest corner of MonroeCounty in Churchville (on theBuffalo side of Rochester),Mill Creek sits up on a hillthat offers tremendous views,not only of its own golfcourse, but the entireRochester area.

“You can see the city sky-line from the tenth tee,” saidMill Creek PGA HeadProfessional and GeneralManager Jim Edmister. “Wedon’t really have a signaturehole, but people always talkabout the views from Number10.”

While you can see the sky-line of Rochester to the north,you can catch scenes of theFinger Lakes to the south.Built on 320 acres, Mill Creek

features a links-style course ofrolling hills and fescue alongwith selected tree-lined park-land holes for a great mix.There are five sets of tees sothey cater to all levels of golferwith a course that plays from5000 to over 7000 yards. Thegreens are large with the aver-age size over 6,000 square feet.

“The thing people loveabout our course is that it is abeautiful place to play and it isalways in tremendous condi-tion,” said Edmister. “Theother thing is, at $39 we arethe best value in the Rochesterarea. Seniors play for $34!And not only can you comehere and play, but if you wantto work on your game wehave two full driving ranges,practice greens, bunkers with

greens and a short course.”The renowned golf course

design team of RaymondHearn and Paul Albanese cre-ated Mill Creek using the nat-ural aesthetics of the land andplenty of risk/reward shotsalong the way. If you like achallenge, Mill Creek can giveyou that and more. Betweenlength, elevation changes,large greens, and testing put-ting surfaces you can pushyour game to the limit. Or, onthe flip side, go out and enjoya fun day on one of the pre-mier courses in Western NewYork.

If you want a full day at MillCreek, here’s a plan. Start atthe adjacent short course. Get

Mill Creek offers some of the best scenes around.

continued on page 15continued on page 15


New track record at Buffalo RacewayNew Album with driver

Jason Bartlett established a

new track record of 1:55.0

at Buffalo Raceway for 3

year old pacing fillies on

Sunday June 5 in the

NYSS. The NYSS racing

continues at the Hamburg

Oval June 17, June 22 and

June 26.

June marksstart of sum-

mer fishing funThe hottest time of the

angler’s calendar is finallyhere, as June marks thestart of summer fishing funacross the Empire State.Bass and Muskellunge sea-sons open for full businesson June’s third Saturday,and with the unusually wetspring, water levels in allarea lakes and streams cre-ate some added challengesto pursuit of your favoritefish.Bass

Although the officialopen season does not beginuntil June 18, black bass areon the prowl as the annualspawn starts to get rolling.With high water levels justabout everywhere in WNY,coupled with the coolspring, spawning patterns(triggered by water temper-ature) could prove pro-longed in even the shallow-est of ponds and lakes.

Lake Erie smallmouthshow good activity for areaanglers in the waters offBuffalo. Hamburg Beach andMyer’s Reef locales provevery productive for anglersworking tube jigging anddeep-diving crank baits,with larger fish being veryactive during early morningand late afternoon hours.Concentrate efforts in the18-25 foot depths.

Chautauqua Lake large-mouth and smallmouth basskick into their early summerpatterns, offering a wide-range of options for thispopular bass fishing desti-nation. Spinnerbaits runalong structure deliversstrikes from actively feedingfish, while a Texas-riggedplastic worm delivers dur-ing slow period. Do notoverlook a Carolina-riggedworm or salamander whenfish are on the feeding flats!Trout and Salmon

Lake Ontario and LowerNiagara River salmonidsbegin slowing in the streamsbut kick into activity in theLake and off the NiagaraBar, with boaters trollingspoons and stickbaits pre-sented 40-45 feet down overdepths of 150-200 feet hav-ing the best action. Expectfish to move out deeper aswater temperatures climb.

Inland trout streams and

lake have all received theirannual stocking, and flyanglers should enjoy a superJune, with emerging andhatching aquatic insects set-ting the stage for some greatdry fly action. A blue-winged olive or paleevening dun draws goodattention especially duringthe afternoon.Pike and Muskellunge

Northern pike activity inUpper Niagara River andBuffalo Harbor waters startpicking up as June marcheson. A white spinnerbait istough to beat for these pred-ators. Barge canal offeringsof a large chub presentedunder a float will do won-ders during all hours of theday, provided the watersclear up from the heavystain seen throughout May.

Anglers must wait untilJune 18 to pursue musky,but Upper River prospectslook very good for a hotopener. Inland waters suchas Cassadaga Lakes andChautauqua Lake offer cast-ers a great chance usinglarge bucktail spinners orlarge jerkbaits, especiallywhen presented well outsideof the outside weed edges.Walleye

Action on the “Big E”starts heating up as watertemperatures rise. Expectfeeding activity primarily atnight in the shallows to pickup along the Blasdell/Lakeview shoreline area,with stick baits trolled on aflat line, at 2 MPH, in watersbetween 14 and 18 feet wellafter dark to produce onnights that afford good fish-ing conditions. Larger, resi-dent walleye hunker indepths over 50 feet in areaswest of Van Buren point.This and that

Baitfish regulation com-

ment period closed May 23.Things look promising forthe establishment of a trans-port corridor before the endof June.

Additional proposals forregulations changes nowposted on the DEC site.Many changes being pro-posed, and each proposal isseparate, allowing interest-ed anglers the opportunityto comment on specificdetails on a “per issue”basis. To review the propos-als, go tohttp://www.dec.ny.gov/out-d o o r / 7 3 7 6 2 . h t m l .Comments being acceptedthrough June 24, 2011.

Erie County Federation ishosting two free FamilyFishing Clinics this June,one at Tifft Nature Preserveand the other at ChestnutRidge Park. Dates are June11 for the Tifft event, andJune 25 for Chestnut Ridge.Contact Dave Barus, 716-597-4081 for more informa-tion.

Tonawanda’s GatewayHarbor is hosting a taggedfish derby June 25 and 26,in the waters of the BargeCanal. The “Hooked on theTonawandas” tournamentcosts $15 per adult anglerprior to June 19, $20 there-after. For more informationon the tournament pleasecall the Chamber ofCommerce of theTonawandas (716) 692-5120.

June 25 and 26 alsomarks the NYS “free fish-ing weekend,” the onlychance during the year thatanyone over 16 can fishwithout having a fishinglicense.

Remember, take a kidfishing, and give the giftthat lasts a lifetime.

Rich Davenport is co-founder ofWeLoveOutdoors.com, anavid Outdoorsman and mem-ber of the NYSOWA. Hisworks are also published inNY Outdoor News,Walleye.com and the BuffaloNews. Rich is also theRecording Secretary for theErie County Federation ofSportsmen’s Clubs, Secretaryof the Western NYEnvironmental Federation,member of the Erie CountyFisheries Advisory Boardand is the Region 9 RepNYSCC Big Game andHabitat/ Access Committees.Email [email protected].

Photo by Rich DavenportTim Kernahan of Wheatfieldshows off a fine springtimeCrappie.

Doctari’s Fishing Forum with Rich Davenport

May I have yourautograph, please

No one knows better thanformer Niagara Universitystandout Calvin Murphyabout autograph collectors.Murphy, now 63 and a mem-ber of the Basketball Hall ofFame, has his own collectionof great autographs.

The three-time NCAA All-America is proud to show offsignatures of NBA greats BillRussell, Bob Cousy and OscarRobertson. A one-timeHouston Rocket, Murphyaveraged 33 points a game inhis three varsity years atNiagara. He spent 13 yearsplaying in the NBA.

Sports memorabilia hasswept the nation for manyyears. Collector’s conventionshave been set up in everystate and at least a dozen con-ventions within 30 miles ofHSBC Arena will be openedin 2011. Autographs are a bigpart of the conventions.

Autograph collecting hasbeen traced back to theGreeks and Romans. In Japanand China, autographs wereused to decorate the insidesof temples and private hous-es.

Through the years, athletesin all sports have beenencouraged to sign auto-graphs for the fans. You’ll findmembers of the Bills, Sabresand Bisons spending theirspare time signing auto-graphs during pre-game prac-tices. The most popular itemsfor signatures are the sportscards. But 3-by-5 index cards,glossy photos, baseballs andfootballs also make excellentautograph vehicles for thecollectors.

Many of the professionalplayers follow Baseball Hallof Famer Bruce Sutter’s phi-losophy. “Part of my job,”Sutter once told me, “is tosign autographs. We want toplease the fans.”

Ex-Cincinnati Reds’ catch-er Johnny Bench, a formerBuffalo Bison, told me he

signed more than 2,000 auto-graphs during his playingdays.

The best places to obtain aballplayer’s signature are atthe ballpark or arena. You’llalways find a large crowd ofsignature-seekers at HSBCArena, Coca-Cola Field andat Bills games. Pens andpaper in their hands, fansawait their favorite players.

Fans must be patient andcourteous when asking forplayers’ autographs. The ath-lete’s schedule may not givehim much time to sign for thefans.

Always be polite whenmaking a request. Use theword “please” in makingyour requests.

Once you start this hobby,you’ll learn it’s very habit-forming. But it’s also veryrewarding in the end.

I was able to amass morethan 3,000 sports autographswhile reporting on New YorkCity sports back in the 1970sand 80s. The only ones whoturned me down were WillieMcCovey (baseball), MikeNewlin (basketball) and for-mer Montreal Canadienscoach Claude Ruel (hockey).

The top signatures in mycollection included Joe

DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle,Willie Mays, JackieRobinson, Satchel Paige, andBob Feller (baseball); WayneGretzky, Gordie Howe, MarioLemieux, Mike Bossy, BobbyOrr and Bobby Hull (hock-ey); Lawrence Taylor, O.J.Simpson, Frank Gifford, WaltMichaels, Jim Kelly and PeteRozelle (football); MichaelJordan, Bill Bradley, JuliusErving, Larry Bird and MagicJohnson (basketball); andWalter Ray Williams Jr. andPete Weber (bowling). Upcoming Shows

Show promoter RobSchilling tells me his nextmajor show is slated for Oct.30 in Cheektowaga. He alsoexpects to run a two-dayshow next March 31-April 1.Oct. 16 is the date of a sportsmemorabilia and toy col-lectible show at the New YorkState Fair Grounds inSyracuse. Call CNYPromotions at (607) 753-8580 for more details.

A retired sportswriter, MikeDyer now lives in Cheektowagaand is the author of two sportsbooks. You can contact him bysending email to [email protected].

Collecting Memories with Mike Dyer

Photo by Paul White


By Mike Fox

Sports fans havebeen treated to yetanother exciting NBArace to the Finals. Aswe reminisce about thefeats of players likeBird, Magic, andMichael, a few of thecorrect answers willremind you that newlegends are alwaysbeing born.

1. There have beenfive occasions where aplayer has hit nine 3-point shots in a playoffgame. Who was themost recent?

a. Rex Chapmanb. Jason Terryc. Ray Allend. Vince Carter2. The L.A. Lakers

were NBA champions in2009 and 2010. Prior tothat, who was the last teamto win back-to-back titles?

a. Houston Rocketsb. L.A. Lakersc. San Antonio Spursd. Chicago Bulls3. Who is the only play-

er ever to score 40 or morepoints in six consecutiveplayoff games?

a. Jerry Westb. Michael Jordanc. LeBron Jamesd. Charles Barkley4. Only five players have

scored at least 30 points ineach game of a Finalsseries. Elgin Baylor was the

first, in 1962. Who was themost recent?

a. Kobe Bryantb. Tim Duncanc. Shaquille O’Neald. David Robinson5. Who holds the record

for most free throws madein a playoff game without amiss?

a. Rick Barryb. Calvin Murphyc. Dirk Nowitzkid. Paul Pierce6. Only two players have

ever recorded ten blocks ina playoff game, Mark Eatonand who?

a. Wilt Chamberlainb. Yao Mingc. Wes Unseldd. Hakeem Olajuwon7. There have been

seven Boston Celticsplayers who haveclaimed seven or morecareer championships.Who is the only non-Celtic to win sevencareer titles?

a. Elgin Baylorb. Jerry Westc. Wilt Chamberlaind. Robert Horry8. Who is the only

player to make 30 freethrows in one playoffgame?

a. Scottie Pippenb. Bob Cousyc. Bill Sharmand. No player has ever

made 30 in a game.9. Who holds the

record for most steals ina Finals series, with 20?

a. Larry Birdb. Rick Barryc. Isiah Thomasd. Dwyane Wade10. Who holds the

career record for mostoffensive rebounds inFinals games, with 124?

a. Bill Russellb. Kareem Abdul-Jabbarc. Dennis Rodmand. Moses Malone

NBA playoffs trivia

Photo courtesy NBA Media CentralDirk Nowitzki hit 89 percent ofhis free throw attempts in theregular season.

Love of racing leads

Haight toBatavia postBy Bob Salzman

Todd Haight fondlyremembers one of his firsttrips ever to Batavia Downs.He was all of 16 years old andcashed his first winning ticket.

If it seems like that was along time ago, it is—1973 tobe exact. What makes thememory even more remark-able is that Haight, more than afew years later, is now one ofthe guys running BataviaDowns.

About a month ago, Haightwas appointed the manager oflive racing at the historicGenesee County oval, movingup from his previous positionas the track’s marketing moguland chief handicapper.

He takes over for MichaelKane, who has been promotedto Western Region Off TrackBetting president and chiefexecutive officer. WROTB, apublic benefit corporation,owns and operates BataviaDowns Casino.

To say that Haight is a long-time fan of the sport of harnessracing would be an understate-ment. It is one of his passionsalong with his profession.

“I just love harness racing,”Haight explained. “This is veryexciting for me to have theopportunity to make a contri-

bution to the sport in WesternNew York.

“I can really relate to thehorseplayers and the fansbecause, at heart, I am one ofthem,” Haight continued. “Iwant to be visible and help tomake people feel welcomewhen they come to the race-track. Everything we do isdesigned to make their experi-ence with us as enjoyable aspossible.”

Haight is quick to point outthat most of the track’s mostpopular promotions, many ofwhich he implemented, willcontinue when the nation’soldest lighted harness trackopens its doors for its 65th sea-son of live racing on Monday,July 25.

Among them are the drivers’bicycle races, the wiener dograces, 50-cent hot dog night,the College Scholarship race,and a series of handicappingcontests. There is also talk thatBatavia may be involved in anationwide, multi-track exoticwager that could boast somevery large payouts.

Haight was hired in 1998 by

OTB and in 2002 moved intohis role as track handicapperand host of the track’s in-housetelevision show, whichincludes his handicappinginsights along with some ban-ter with track announcer JoeZambito and Zambito’s racecalls. The program can also beseen on some local TimeWarner Cable TV outlets.

“We have a commitment toharness racing here,” Haightsaid. “You won’t see any othertracks of our size producingtheir own program like wedo.”

In 2005, Haight also took onhis role heading up promo-tions and came up with manyof the on-track events so pop-ular with the fans today.

If he thought he was busybefore, by comparison, he waswrong. Haight’s new responsi-bilities range from the mutualclerks at the betting windowsto the racetrack maintenanceto the racing officials, to thedrivers, trainers and ownerswho provide the horses that inreality are “the show” eachnight.

“We have a very strong rela-tionship with the horsemen inWestern New York and we allwant to see our live racingproduct thrive,” Haightexplained. “We work hand inhand together to keep thefuture of harness racing in thisarea strong. We all plan onbeing around for a long time.”

Back when he was 16 androoting home his first winner,little did Haight know justwhere the racetrack wouldtake him.

Photo courtesy Todd HaightTodd Haight is BataviaDowns’ new general manag-er of live racing.

Answers1. b2. b (Lakers won three in a row from2000-02.)3.a 4.c 5.c 6.d 7.d 8.b 9.c 10.b


By Adam McGillAfter one grueling 2011

season, the local collegeteams are finally home forthe year. This was one of themost tumultuous seasons inrecent history, as each pro-gram had at least a tenth oftheir schedule postponed orcanceled due to inclementweather. The year did show-case some young local talent,who will make baseballexciting in Western NewYork for years to come. Nowto take a closer look at eachprogram’s performance.Canisius College

The Griffins had anothervery strong 2011 campaign,finishing with a 25-31record. More importantly,the team was 12-10 in theMetro Atlantic AthleticConference and entered theconference championshipsas a four seed. The Griffinslost in conference tourna-ment to a number one seed-ed Manhattan team that beatthem in the bottom of theninth inning. Canisius madethe tournament for a fifthconsecutive time and is qui-etly becoming a baseballpowerhouse in the Buffaloarea.

Shortstop Sean Jamiesonhit to both sides of the field

and carried a strong battingaverage of .350 this season.The senior was named theCo-MAAC Player of the Yearand was the most dangeroushitter in the Golden Griffinslineup. Jamieson was thethird player in school historyto be given the prestigiousaward and showed unbeliev-able power from the short-stop position. He led theteam in most offensive cate-gories: batting average(.350), runs scored (59),extra base hits (28), homeruns (13), RBI (51), sluggingpercentage (.635), walks(34), on base percentage(.475), stolen bases (22),and a .959 fielding percent-age.

Hitting behind Jamiesonin the lineup was first base-men Brian Burton. The sen-ior was third on the teamwith five homeruns and wasone of the most exciting longball hitters in WNY thisspring. The Canadian has asmooth swing, allowing himto bat .308 in the 2011 sea-son and helped him drive in47 runs, which was good forfourth best in the confer-ence.

Canisius had some qualityarms in their rotation andthey were led by the veteran

leadership of their numberone and two pitchers. ShaneDavis was the squad’s mostefficient hurler, with amaz-ingly only 35 earned runs in97 2/3 innings pitched. Davishad a team best 3.23 ERA,five complete games, andstarted the most games forthe Golden Griffins. BehindDavis in the rotation wasBilly Martin, a tall, two-pitchpitcher. Martin’s ability toattack either side of the platekept batters guessing allyear.

The Golden Griffins willbe losing some of their keyplayers this offseason, butwere able to put together oneof the best runs in recentmemory. The team will berelying on some of theyounger players to step up in2012 and could be primed tomake another run at thecrown. Erie Community College

The Kats stormy schedule(nine postponements or can-cellations) didn’t affect theirability to win some games.ECC went 30-18 this yearand while the team togetheronly hit 11 home runs, theyplayed some of the most wellrounded baseball in the area.The team lost in the NJCAAWorld Series to Eastfield, the

eventual nationalchampion, but stillmanaged to finishin fourth place.The Kats went 2-2in their four gamesin the series andfell just short ofmaking the cham-pionship game.

Offensively theKats were one ofthe most completehitting teams inthe NJCAA. Theyhad a good mix ofright-handed andleft-handed hitters,who could all hitfor average.Outfielder NeilDeMartin (GrandIsland, N.Y.) wasnamed to the All-NJCAA WorldSeries team for hisstellar performance duringthe World Series. The sopho-more went 9-19 in the team’sfour games and kept up hissolid play from the regularseason. He was also namedto the All-Region III Firstteam, along with freshmanshortstop Joe Pantano(Fredonia, N.Y.). Pantanobatted .376 on the seasonand led the squad with 33RBI. He is a strong younghitter, who should matureinto the Kats leading hitternext year.

Additionally at the hotcorner, third basemen EmiloArteta was a surprising sparkwith his bat, as he drove in28 runs in only 88 total atbats. The sophomore maynot have been the best field-er, evident by his six errors,but he was a tremendousoffensive asset. Arteta’s .445on base percentage wasamong the best on the teamand was critical to help theteam get some runs downthe stretch.

The team heavily reliedupon starting pitchers AlexDonnett and Ron Lawrenceto lead their rotation. Theduo combined for an amaz-ing 12-3 record and 116strikeouts in only 123 2/3innings pitched. Donnetthad a sensational 2.13 ERAand was virtually flawlesswhen his breaking ball wasworked for him. Lawrencewas more of a fastball pitch-er with the power to dial itup to the low 90s in the reg-ular.

The Kats consistently havestrong teams and are seem-ingly getting better with eachpassing year. They will lose amajority of their playerssince they are only a two-year institution, but will nodoubt get a strong class offreshmen coming in for2012.Niagara University

After a promising offsea-son that brought in someyoung talent, Niagara lookedlike they were drowning formost of the season. The teamfinished 8-40 overall, butmore importantly only man-aged to be 5-19 in theMAAC. Niagara had a goodmixture of upperclassmenand freshmen, but the inex-perience of the team’s pitch-

ing staff showed as the sea-son went on.

The NU pitching staff wasthe youngest rotation in theconference. They were leadby freshman Drew Fritty(North Tonawanda, N.Y.),sophomore Kody Kasper,and freshman Joel Klock(Grand Island, N.Y.). Frittywas the ace with over 65innings pitched and had ateam best 3-7 record. Frittywas an innings monster, butat times his commandlooked off, as he had a teamlow 23 strikeouts amongstarters while walking 45batters. Kasper had a solidyear, but the second yearplayer didn’t get any runsupport. He finished with arough 0-9 record despitehaving the lowest ERA onthe team at 6.05. With moreruns to give him breathingroom Kasper could developinto a solid number twostarter and will help to men-tor the flux of young pitch-ers behind him.

Junior outfielder AdamWagner was the only Niagarahitters to hit over .300 (.327)and was the team’s best all-around hitter. He may nothave hit any homers, but hisgreat ability to get contactmakes him the most danger-ous stick in the lineup.Senior outfielder CamStykemain was a serviceableleadoff hitter for the team, ashe hit a respectable .293throughout the year.Stykemain was able to leadthe team in runs scored with30 and played in all 48games this season.

NU will have a strong coreof talent moving forward,but will have a tough timereplacing Stykemain and acouple other valuable sen-iors. Niagara’s experiencethis season will allow themto be more competitive inthe MAAC next year, makingthem a tougher match up fortheir conference opponentsin the future. University at Buffalo

As they watched from thebottom of the Mid-AmericanConference, Buffalo couldonly be hopeful for next sea-son. Despite their youthfulexuberance, Buffalo finished14-38 (only 3-22 in theMAC) and was dead last in

the conference. The teamwill be returning the majori-ty of their starters from thispast year after having one ofthe youngest teams in theconference in 2011.

Catcher Tom Murphy(West Monroe, N.Y.) was themost dynamic part of theBulls lineup. The sophomoreboasted a .384 batting aver-age with 10 home runs and44 RBI. Catcher is normallythe position with the mostresponsibility, but Murphyshined with all the extrapressure put on him. Theonly other player who battedover .300 in the 2011 seasonfor Buffalo is Alex Baldock.He was hit by a pitch morethan any other player (11times), which shows that heis not afraid to stand hisground in the batter’s box.The sophomore also batted.320 while establishing him-self as a premier hitter in theBulls lineup. In the outfield,Matt Pollock was the anchorthe team desperately needed.He batted just under .300 (at.298) but more importantlyhit six home runs. Pollockled the team with 53 strike-outs however, and the soph-omore has to be more patientat the plate in order to helphis team more consistently.

Atop the Bulls rotation isthe senior southpaw JoshEdwards. Edwards led theteam with 78 2/3 inningspitched in 2011, includingtwo complete games. He hada 5.83 ERA, but his 2-7record wasn’t indicative ofthe solid performance he putup in his last year at UB.Additionally, the Bulls gotsome strong performanceout of junior right- handedpitcher Kevin Crumb. TheMissouri native had a teamhigh 52 strikeouts in just 732/3 innings of work. He hada 3-8 record on the year andis the kind of pitcher wholives or dies with his fastball.

The Bulls are in strongshape for the future, as theywill be returning all of theirtop hitters and most of theirpitchers. Buffalo struggled toscore runs at times, and willneed to bring in some stronghitting recruits to remaincompetitive in the alwaysstrong MAC in 2012.

Local college baseball being waived home

Photo by Paul Hokanson/UB AthleticsBulls catcher Tom Murphy really hit his prime this season.

By Charles Roberts

College students whograduated in 2009 and2010 earned 10 percentless than those whoentered the job marketbefore the financial cri-sis, according to a newreport. University atBuffalo senior JoshThomas–who recentlywas drafted by theDallas Cowboys–seemsto have escaped thecommon anxiety amongtoday’s soon-to-be andrecent college gradu-ates.

In fact, you might sayThomas landed a dreamjob–if the NFL lockoutis lifted–because theCowboys are the teamhe grew up rooting for.

“This still feels like abig dream,” Thomas,who was raised inCedar Hill, Texas–about 45minutes outside ofDallas–said. “As far as play-ing for the Cowboys andhaving Jerry Jones call meand being on cloud nine–Idon’t think that’s going toend any time soon.”

Thomas, a defensiveback, was drafted in thefifth round–143rd overall.Since 1969, only EdEllis–taken 125th in1997–was selected higher.

“Every day at practice wehad an NFL team represen-tative here at the Universityat Buffalo watching J.T. anda number of other seniors,”UB head football coach JeffQuinn said.

Despite the current labordispute, Thomas looks andsounds eager to earn the

fabled Cowboys star.“I’m ready to play right

now,” he said with a brightsmile. “I have so much toprove. I can’t wait for thefirst day of practice.”

Barring that Thomas isn’ta late-summer roster casual-ty–and that the lockout islifted–he will be the seventhformer UB player currentlyin the NFL. Also represent-ing the school are runningback James Starks, GreenBay Packers; quarterbackDrew Willy, New York Jets;defensive end Trevor Scott,Oakland Raiders; widereceiver Naaman Roosevelt,Buffalo Bills; guard JameyRichard and safety MikeNewtown, both with theIndianapolis Colts.

The recent flock of ex-UB

players in the NFL–espe-cially Starks, who became ahousehold name with theSuper Bowl-winningPackers–certainly shines abright light on the universi-ty and its football program.

“It helps us tremendous-ly. All of our coaches are outright now in spring recruit-ing. They know about J.T.,they know about UB andStarks and Super Bowls.That’s what this is all about.Giving these young men achance and an opportunity,”Quinn said.

While most college sen-iors are encouraged at anysign of future employmentas graduation nears,Thomas is living his dream.

“I can’t be more grateful,”Thomas said. “I can’t.”

UB’s Josh Thomas on cloud nine

Photo by Nick LoVerdeJosh Thomas is the most recent of seven UB Bulls to be draftedinto the NFL. Even better for him, it’s for his hometown Dallasteam.


By Scott EddyFollowing International

Prep at Grover’s boys’ bas-ketball sectional title winover Tapestry Charter lastmonth, head coachShaunessy Ryan made therounds handing out high-fives to members of histeam.

Among them was hisassistant coach, RebeccaRyan. The scene of celebrat-ing on a basketball courtmight have brought backmemories for the coaches –that of their wedding.

Shaunessy and RebeccaRyan are the only husband-wife coaching duo in theCity of Buffalo, a fittingpairing considering thecouple began their livestogether by exchangingmarriage vows on a basket-ball court.

The couple was marriedin a 2005 ceremony at theDaemen College athleticfacility where each playedduring their college careersbefore moving to the side-lines as assistant coaches.

“She came out of the play-ers’ tunnel. It was like beforea game except she had a wed-ding dress on,” Shaunessyrecalled. “After we said I do,we both ran out giving peo-ple high-fives. It was aninteresting thing.”

It was basketball thatbrought the couple together.They met while both playersat Daemen, later trading their

gym shorts for clipboards fol-lowing graduation.Shaunessy, a Kenmore WestHigh and Erie CommunityCollege grad, was a memberof the coaching staff for threeNAIA National Tournamentteams under head coach DonSilveri in nine seasons withthe men’s team while Rebeccaassisted the women’s staff ofDave Skolen for the sametenure. The pair moved tothe high school coachingranks at the former GroverCleveland High – Shaunessyas varsity boys’ assistant andRebecca as modified boys’

coach – three seasons agobefore promotion into theircurrent roles.

In their first year togetherat the helm of the varsitysquad, the Ryans led I-Prepto a Section VI, Class Cchampionship as well as acity title and Far WestRegional crown culminatingin a trip to Glens Falls andthe state championships.

During games, it’sShaunessy, a history teacherat I-Prep, who is more likelyto be working on the clip-board, setting up the nextplay. Rebecca, a consultantteacher at the school, standsas the more vocal of thecoaching duo.

“Shaun has a real basket-ball brain. He knows the X’sand O’s and how to get thekids to realize what theyneed to do,” Rebecca said. “Itend to be a little more emo-tional. He’s strategic and thenyou have me on the motiva-tional side. We complementeach other very well.”

The couple has alwaysbeen at home on the basket-ball court. Their bond grewduring long hours workingon their games together inthe gym.

“The game brought ustogether,” Shaunessy said.“When we were playing,we’d work out together andput up a lot of shots.”

And from the start, ahealthy rivalry was born, too;one that still remains.

“I don’t want to say whowins shooting contests,”Shaunessy says with a laugh.“I might get hit. There’s nodoubt there’s some healthycompetition between us.”

While the Ryans are creat-ing local history as the onlymarried coaching tandem onthe same staff, Rebecca hasblazed her own trail as theonly boys’ basketball coachin Buffalo.

“Other coaches recognizethe respect my boys giveme,” she said. “By them see-ing that, the other coachescan realize I’m for real and

I’m not doing this for a pay-check. It’s because I love thegame of basketball and work-ing with these boys.”

“She’s one of the top bas-ketball minds in the area,”Shaunessy added.

In a memorable seasonwhich didn’t end until anovertime loss in the statesemis, it was a simple coach-ing moment that stands outthe most to the couple.

“My favorite moment ofcoaching together was play-ing OTC (earlier this sea-son). Shaun looked at meand asked for an opinion,

and I told him what Ithought we should do and itworked,” Rebecca said. “Weworked out a play together.The guys got to see us work-ing together.”

With the success so far, theRyans plan on keeping the I-Prep’s boys’ basketball coach-ing tree under one roof.

“It’s been a great thing forus,” Shaunessy said. “It’s niceto have your wife as yourbest friend and be a part ofthis. What we do here issomething we can both beproud of.”

Coaching couple leads I-Prep

Photo courtesy Ryan FamilyShaunessy Ryan and hisassistant coach, wifeRebecca, helped leadInternational Prep at Groverto the Section VI, Class Cboys’ basketball champi-onship. I-Prep advanced tothe state championship inGlens Falls before falling inthe semifinals.

By Craig Gusmann

The goal of all players inany sport is to play at thehighest level. At the high-est level, teams look totheir affiliates to make sureplayers are ready for thatlevel. In hockey especially,there’s a constant give andtake. Teams draft players,develop them in theminors, bring them upduring injuries or on a trialbasis, then send them backdown if the player doesn’tlive up to expectations.The Portland Pirateslearned this the hard waythis season, as the BuffaloSabres had a need for vari-ous call-ups throughout theyear.

Developmentally speak-ing, this year will go downas successful from aPortland point of view:Derek Whitmore had acareer year; Jhonas Enrothspent much of the season inBuffalo; as did MarkMancari and Luke Adam,who also won the AHLRookie of the YearAward–Portland’s third in arow behind Tyler Ennis andNathan Gerbe; Marc-AndreGragnani won the AHL’saward for top defenseman,and also looks to haveearned a spot with theSabres in the upcoming sea-son.

However, Pirates headcoach Kevin Dineen isweary of basking in theaccomplishments of hisindividual players. “We’reproud of the acknowledge-ment that Luke receivedbeing named Rookie of theYear. We’re proud of Gragsbeing named TopDefenseman. MarkMancari’s honored as an All-Star. Those are instanceswhen we’re proud of guyson an individual basis,” heexplains, “Those are awardsbut at the end of the day it’sthe team success, on bothlevels, that you rate how youdo.”

Portland’s team success

was disappointing not onlybecause of their individualsuccesses, but because oftheir success during the reg-ular season, finishing sec-ond in the league with 103points. As Dineen will tellyou, their second-roundousting at the hands of theBinghamton Senators hurts.“Anytime the season endsand you don’t feel like yourteam’s achieved and reachedtheir full potential it’s gotsome sting to it. You reflectand you get some feedbackfrom the players but certain-ly I thought we were betterthan being done this way.”

It would be hard to findanyone within the Piratesorganization, player or oth-erwise, to disagree with thatstatement. Derek Whitmoreelaborates, “Portland’s beena great home for me… Wehad a great group of guysand I definitely thought wedeserved a better outcomethan we had.” With the sec-ond-round loss, Whitmorecan still look inward andtake pride in his accom-plishments, as coach Dineendid. “I wanted to be a differ-ence-maker, and I wanted toscore goals. That’s some-thing I’ve always beenable to do throughoutmy entire career,”Whitmore saidduring his exitinterview. “I

really wanted to have a solidyear this year, and I was ableto do that. I think thebiggest reason was just theconfidence. Knowing that Icould score goals at thislevel made a difference forme.”

Whitmore is quick to givecredit to the coaching staff.Regarding his personaldevelopment he says, “Ithink they’ve done a greatjob on developing me. I’m26 years old, I’m not ayoung prospect anymore.Sometimes it takes guyshaving four, five years in theminors before they get to theNHL. I think I’m prepared,mentally at least, to get tothe next level. It’s just a mat-ter of physically, you know,getting stronger, gettingquicker in the offseason andnot giving up the dream.”

Darcy Regier, the BuffaloSabres General Manager,thinks that the job Dineenhas done with the Sabresprospects has been“…tremendous. I can’t sayenough about the job thatKevin, Eric, and the staff dohere. Preparing players toplay on the short-term basisand developing them in thelonger-term, I think all youhave to do is look at theirtrack record. If you want tolook at their track record Ithink all you need to do islook at our lineup inBuffalo. There’s no bettertestament to the job thatthey do.”

While he might hope formore team success, in itsabsence Dineen was contentwith watching his playerscontinue to grow. With arecent promotion as headcoach of the FloridaPanthers, coach Dineen willget to see the fruits of hislabor sitting on the oppos-

ing bench.

In the midst of developing, the Portland Pirates reflect

Photo by Joe ValentiMark Mancari’s AHL all-starseason was punctuated byplenty of ice time with theSabres.

Bryce Edmister of Rochester won the USGAPublinks Qualifier at Ravenwood. With rounds of71 and 75 he qualified for the National Publinks atBandon Dunes in Oregon next month. Edmister fol-lowed up his win at Ravenwood by setting a newcourse record at Mill Creek with an 8-under par 64.Bryce will be a sophmore on the BinghamtonUniversity golf team in the fall.


By Ivan GodzukRiding shotgun on the

QEW North on an overcastafternoon, it seemed to be atypical trip to Toronto to seethe Jays, Leafs, a concert or aPapal Visit. As you pass St.Catherines, then Hamilton,then Burlington, etc., youcan’t help but notice thatthere’s actually a lot of busi-nesses, i.e., an economy-something we’re not used toin the Nickel City.

But, listening to theToronto radio stations, therewas a sense of a SPECIALevent afoot. Even news sta-tions were talking aboutUFC 129, which took placethat night at Rogers Centre(nee “SkyDome”).Approximately 55,000 wereexpected, which would makeit the largest UFC crowdEVER.

Mixed martial arts (MMA)is one of the, if not THE fastestgrowing sports in the world.UFC is the Kingpin of thegenre, having also built theWEC brand and buying rivalStrikeforce. Ontario legalizedit last year. New York State isstill holding out until someassembly members can get the“donations” necessary tomake it happen.

Upon arrival at about 2p.m., parking was at a premi-um. Well, parking spaces wereplentiful, but prices were at apremium ($40C).

There was a spot for $50Cnear Rogers Centre. Oddly,across the street was one for$30C. Normal rules of Supplyand Demand were out thewindow today. A $2 veggiedog from a friendly street ven-dor sent me on my way.

The media/suite level ofRogers is pretty impressive.There are photos of greatmoments in Blue Jays history(yes, younger fans, there WASsuch a time). Also, there weresome portraits of the CFLArgos and of Toronto’s nextpro team, the Bills.

And now, the fights them-selves:PRELIMINARIES (Internetfeed on Facebook)

Smart booking by UFCpresident Danna White: Ten of

the 12 fights have a Canadianparticipant. Crowd noiseshould equal a Leafs-Habsgame, or more specifically,Leafs vs. Russian nationalteam...

Pablo Garza (145) vs. YvesJabouin (146)

A fighter and the ref areboth named Yves- Could thisportend a Swerve? Yves startedwith effective kicks, but Garzacaught him in a flying triangle,then forced a tapout with a tri-angle.

Garza wins via tapout at4:31 of 1st Rd.

John Makdessi (155.5) vs.Kyle Watson (155)

Makdessi won with a spec-tacular spinning backfist earlyin the third. The win makesCanadian fighters 1-1 tonight.

Makdessi wins by KO at1:27 of 3rd Rd.

Jason MacDonald (185) vs.Ryan Jensen (185)

Herb Dean is your referee.McDonald comes in with a 4-inch reach advantage.McDonald catches Ryan in atriangle and it’s over quickly.

McDonald wins by tapoutat 1:37 of 1st Rd

Ivan Menjivar (136) vs.Charlie Valencia (135.5)

By now the building wasabout 60 percent full. Big JohnMcCarthy is the referee.Valencia enters to “Low Rider”by War; it doesn’t helphim...Ivan catches him withan elbow and it’s a TKO.Canada is now 3-1.

Menjivar wins by TKO at1:33 of 1st Rd.

Claude Patrick (169.5) vs.Daniel Roberts (170.5)

Patrick is fromToronto. Heresponds to thecrowd support bybeing absolutelygassed after tworounds. In the firstfight going the dis-tance, Patrick gets a29-28 win acrossthe board. To say Idisagree with thisresult is an under-statement. Canadais 4-1.

Patrick wins byU n a n i m o u sDecision (29-28 all).SPIKE TV

Jake Ellenberger (170) vs.Sean Pierson (170)

Jake + left jab = TKO @2:42. Canada is now 4-2.

Nate Diaz (171) vs. RoryMacDonald (170.5)

If Diaz has trouble, will hisbrother Nick & Shields dorun-in? Diaz, The UltimateFighter 5 winner, is a strikerstraight ouutta Stockton. BigJohn McCarthy is the ref.Crowd is going absolutelybonzo, a combination of Rorybeing Canadian and fans hat-ing All Things Diaz. Diaz trieda takedown!

Round 3 is quite the specta-cle. MacDonald channels KurtAngle and hits THREE suplex-es on Diaz. It’s an upset ineveryone’s mind except theMcDonald camp. Diaz gots k u n k e d .MacDonald wins by unani-mous decision (30-26, 30-26,30-27)

UFC plays an impressivevideo on the Jumbotron ofrecent highlights to theaccompaniment of The Who’s“Baba O’Reilly.”PAY-PER-VIEW

Ben Henderson (156) vs.Mark Bocek (155)

Yves Lavigne is the referee.Henderson pretty much con-trols, although he had to slipout of a guilotin. Ben tries forface pop, but this is Canada,and Ben isn’t Canadian.

Henderson wins by unani-mous decision (30-27).Canada is 5-3.

Jason Brilz (204.5) vs.Vladimir Matyushenko(205.5)

No Canadians in this fight!Vlad the Janitor, a native ofBelarus but a college wrestlingchampion on these shores,connects with a left, and thengrounds and pounds to a winin 20 seconds.

Matyshushenko wins byTKO in 0:20.

After a preliminary matchaired for the PPV televisionaudience, we were treated towhat would (hopefully notbe) the last match of Hall-of-Famer Randy “The Natural”Couture.

Randy Couture (203.5) vs.Lyoto Machida (204.5)

It’s former LightHeavyweight Champ Machidavs. ex-Light Heavyweight andHeavyweight champ Couture.Randy enters to “LunaticFringe” and a huge pop. Firstround is pretty even, butLyoto catches Randy in themouth with a bicycle kick inthe 2nd. Ref Yves Lavignestopped it; admittedly, it wasthe right call. The crowd gaveRandy a Standing Ovation.During Joe Rogan’s post-fightin-ring interview, Randy con-firmed his future: “This is it,”said Couture.”I think the lasttime we had this conversationI had all my teeth....The fanshave always treated me great,but to go out on that ovationwas very special.”

Machida wins by KO at1:05 of 2nd Rd.FEATHERWEIGHT. TITLE:

Jose Aldo (C) (145) vs.Mark Hominick(145)

Big John McCarty is yourofficial. Aldo won 11 in a rowdating back to WEC days andhas Dwight Howard arms.Many (including Yours Truly)felt that Hominick got the titleshot mainly because he’s fromOntario.

Aldo dominates with hisstriking; he scores a third-round knockdown, Bocek iscut. Another right jab knock-down by Aldo late in the 4th.Bocek is bleeding, and lookslike he has a golf ball implant-ed in his forehead and a dillpickle under eye. The provin-cial doctor conducts an exambetween rounds, including aneurological and peripheralvision test. He seems to indi-

cate to the ref that althoughBocek’s face is not aesthetical-ly pleasing, there is no medicalreason to stop the fight. Nomatter, it’s a matter of time yousay. Right? Right?

In a stunning turnaround,Hominick is pounding Aldo inthe fifth round, both standingand on the ground. Crowd isabout to blow the roof off ofRogers Centre. Aldo is in trou-ble at points, but smartly ridesout the storm.

Aldo wins and retainsFeatherweight Title by unani-mous decision (50-43, 48-46,49-46). I may have misheardthe announcement, but can’tbelieve a judge would’ve giventhe last round to Aldo.WELTERWEIGHT. TITLE:

Georges St-Pierre (C)(169.5) vs. Jake Shields (169)

Shields is undefeated in hislast 15 fights; admittedly, mostwere in Strikeforce and wasn’tthe level of competition GSPfought.

Jake does enter to RageAgainst the Machine’s“Renegades of Funk,” whichshould be half point in hisfavor. GSP almost does theHHH water-spot upon enter-ing. St-Pierre has a 4-inchreach advantage. Herb Dean isthe ref. Did I mention thatGSP is regarded by many/mostCanadians as their nation’sGreatest Athlete?

Fighters bow to each otherduring intros. Late in the firstround, GSP caught Jake with aleft jab, but Jake recoversalmost immediately (somethought it was only a slip).Lots of circling going on; didGSP do the Ali Shuffle?Second round was pretty even;GSP got a quick knockdownon an inside kick, but Shieldsrecovered immediately withno damage. This round couldgo either way.

GSP is fighting very defen-sively and very effectively. St-Pierre is stuffing all of Shields’offense, and gets a takedownwith a minute left. Fourthround is mostly the same,with Georges picking up thepace. A quick double-leg take-down and another kickgrounds Shields, but a right byShields later opens up a cut on

the nose. That restored someconfidence for Jake, whomotioned to GSP and yelled“C’mon!”

No dramatic 5th Round likethe fight before, GSP stuffedShields’ offensive and rode offto victory. The only surprise isthat two judges scored it 48-47.

St-Pierre retainsWelterweight Title withUnanimous decision (49-46,48-47, 48-47). Final is Canada6, World 4.Post-Fight Press Conference

Dana White confirms thefollowing figures; A sell-outcrowd of 55,574, with gatereceipts of $11.5 million (C)and $12.075 million (US).

He also notes that St-Pierreand Couture won’t be at thepost-fight presser. He isn’t surewhy Georges wasn’t there (itwas a minor eye injury).When somebody asked whyCouture wasn’t there, Danareplied he got his mouthkicked in.

He alluded that the nextstadium show they’d like totry is Dallas. When asked ifthey’ll becoming back toToronto, he said we’d be herenext week if we could.

By the time the press-con-ference ended and the mediadrones left to either file storiesor drink on Younge Street, itwas nearly 2:30 a.m. Wedecided to head back toBuffalo, but aroundBurlington, decided we need-ed gas. We pulled into an all-night mart, which was locked,yet open. The friendly atten-dant was sound asleep.Yelling, pounding on the win-dow, beeping the car hornwouldn’t wake this hard-working man from his well-earned(?) slumber. Finally, allit took was tapping a quarteron the window to awaken thegentleman.

He was probably the onlyperson in the Toronto areawho didn’t put in their bestperformance that day.

NEXT ISSUE: Dana Whitehas some interesting com-ments on why MMA isn’t yetlegalized in New York State,and it has nothing to do with“safety issues.”

UFC 129 shakes Toronto to its very foundation

Photo by Jeff BaronUFC President Dana White neverminces words at post-fight press con-ferences.

Photo courtesy Global Boxing PromotionsMariusz Wach (left) is a Polish boxer fighting in the heavyweight division. He is called “ThePolish Giant” by his fans. He stands six-foot-eight and has a srecord of 24-0-0. He is promotedby Global Boxing Promotions and Jimmy Birchfield’s Classic Entertainment & Sports.In the fall of 2010 Wach moved to the US to train. He has begun training with buffalo resident,Juan DeLeon, in New Jersey. DeLeon trained local heavyweight “Baby” Joe Mesi through thecourse of his career. DeLeon is also working with a number of other rising prospects.Wach is fighting July 15. DeLeon and his team are trying to bring Wach to Buffalo for theAnnual Polish American Festival this July in Buffalo. “I’ve worked with Mariusz for approxi-mately one month and I believe he has all of the tools to become a great heavyweight champi-on. He has the work ethic. He remembered me from my work with Joe Mesi,” DeLeon said.


By Bob Caico

The Flare Center onLeroy Ave. in Buffalo heldan amateur program on May21 with clubs fromRochester, Buffalo, St.Catherine’s and Salamanca.Rochester St. Martin’s clubwas the big winner asKieshawn Stone, SequanAnthony, Michael Reeves,D’Andres Hockerson,Niasheen Williams andWilmont Wood proudlyrepresented their team withvictories. JermainHechavarria from Ralston’s,Bryce Stahlman and BruceJemerison (Salamanca),Dante Palmer (LackawannaBoxing), Robert Diaz (RocBoxing) and JermaineCostner from the host BombSquad team were also victo-rious.

••••••••Amateur boxing and

MMA in the southern tier

lost a valuable and impor-tant person last month.Michael “Snake” Tome ofthe Knockout Factory wastragically killed in a motor-cycle accident. Mike wasinstrumental in bringingboxing to the Seneca Nationand putting on MMA showsin Salamanca and Irving,N.Y. He will be missed.

••••••••Jordan Gaines of Buffalo

improved to 2-0 on May 20with a first round TKO onPaul Marinaccio’s show inRaleigh, N.C. John Butler(23-3) formerly of Buffaloalso scored a knockout onthe show.

••••••••Lionell Thompson regis-

tered his fifth knockout onMay 20 in Merriville, Ind.Lionell stopped his oppo-nent in the first round toimprove to 7-0. Thompsonis now trained by former

world title contender Ross“The Boss” Thompson andmanaged by TimothyZiccardi

•••••••• Vincent Arroyo (11-1),

Felix Mercedes (11-0) ofBuffalo and Kenny Abril(11-3-1) of Rochester havescheduled bouts in June.

••••••••Nick Brinson (7-1-1),

Tony Brinson (2-0) andAleem Whitfield (2-0) all ofGeneva, N.Y. will be on DonPatterson’s professionalboxing show at theFlickinger Center on June18th. The card will have fiveprofessional fights alongwith five amateur contests.Lamar Pace, JohnEvangelista, Jack Grady andMitch Ford of Buffalo arescheduled to box in theamateur portion.

Local boxing happeningsBy Ivan the Impaler

Here’s everything you needto know to plan your June.

Next month: A Tribute toRandy “Macho Man” Savage, alook at the return of NWA NoLimits TV (see below), andRing of Honor Wrestlingshould be returning to TVthis fall.

Sat. June 4: ESW - St.Johnsburg Fire Hall, 7165Ward Rd., - NorthTonawanda, NY, 6 PM.

Sat. June 11: WWE - RawHouse show - Blue Cross WarMemorial - Rochester, NY,7:30 PM.

Sat. June 11: Alpha-1Wrestling - 863 King St E.,Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, 4PM.

Sat. June 18 - NWA NY - AllStar Sports Arena -557 RidgeRoad E. -Rochester/Irondequoit, NY , 6PM.

Cheech defends his NWANY title against Sean “X-Pac’Waltman...It’s a TV Taping!(see below)

Sat. June 18: TNA/Impact -Coca-Cola Park - Buffalo, NY -7:30 PM. Prices range from$20 -$60.

Sat. June 25: Neo Spirit ProWrestling- Niagara Falls FightClub -4536 Portage Road -Niagara Falls, Ont., Canada,Time TBA.

Sat. July 23: WWESmackdown (House Show) -CONSOL Energy Center -Pittsburgh, PA., 7:30 PM.

Sat. Aug. 27: NWA NY – goto www.nwany.com for details.

Tue. Sept. 13: WWESmackdown (TV Taping) - AirCanada Centre - Toronto,ONT., Canada, 6:45 PM.

While it has not been madeofficial, sources indicate thatthe Sun. Sept. 18 WWE PPV(Night of Champions) atHSBC Arena in Buffalo hasbeen CANCELLED. Visitwww.wwe.com for info.

TELEVISION

The Finest WrestlingProgram in WNY isWrestlevision/No LimitsTV, featuring New Matchesstarting in late June! Catch the

action, crafted by Big GuyProductions, on the followingstations:

-In Rochester at 3 PMSundays on My18 (WBGT-TV). (Replays lateWednesday/Early Thursday at2:30 AM, as well as lateSaturday/early Sunday at 2PM.).

-Suburban Erie County, it’son Time-Warner Cable Ch.20 every Saturday at 4 PM,with replays Mondays at 11:30PM.

-Elmira/Corning, stay gluedto WYDC-TV (Big Fox) at1:30 AM late Saturday/earlySunday. Or, watch WJKP-TV(Ch.39) Sundays at 4 PM.

RADIO

The Pain Clinic is in sessionSaturdays at 10 AM onWHTK-AM (Hot Talk 1280)in Rochester. Cashman RichJones and his entourage haveall your wrestling news andinsight, along with specialguests. Not in Rochester? Noproblem! You can listen onlineat www.feelthepain.net.

Pro Wrestling calendar

a small bucket and hit someballs on the range. Thenenjoy one of the greatest parthree courses ANYWHERE.You can take any of the parthree holes on this 9 hole lay-out and drop them in themiddle of Oak Hill and notmiss a beat. The short courseis that good. Then hop backin the car and go up the hillto the championship courseat Mill Creek. Play the whitetrees at 6365 yards which isplenty. There are a few blindshots, nothing severe, but forthe most part the course isright there in front of you foryour scoring pleasure. Youcan make a few birdies, a cou-ple of doubles, but overall, it’sjust a great golf experience.

And you are not done aftergolf. You need to head inside

to their great “timber lodge-style” clubhouse for the 19thhole and dinner. It’s a beauti-ful facility that holds up to144 for golf outings or for amore friendly meal head out-side on the deck and enjoythe views, drinks, and greatfood. Friday’s fish fry of beerbattered haddock filet orsalmon filet are popularchoices.

Mill Creek is just 15 min-utes from downtownRochester and just 45 min-utes from Buffalo. It’s part ofthe Finger Lakes Golf Trailjoining Greystone,Ravenwood and BristolHarbour Resort as part of anawesome stay and play pack-age that is a great get-awaythat is not far-away.

“We get a lot of traffic from

Buffalo and Canada,” saidEdmister. “We have a greatcourse with great green feesand practice facility. Whenpeople get done playing thefirst time their first commentis “I can’t wait to come backand play it again.”

For more information,rates, pictures of the course,directions and more go tomillcreekgolf.com or call 585-889-4110.

Rick Zurak is the GolfEditor of Sports and Leisure.He is also the host of the WNYGolf Report TV Show Tuesdaysat 6:30 on Time Warner Ch. 20in Buffalo/N. Falls andDirector of the NYS Jr. GolfTour. Contact Rick at zurak-golf@adelphia

Mill Creek from page 9

conditions by hiring super-intendent Joel Bradwell.Bradwell had worked as anassistant at Oak Hill coun-try club in Rochester, site ofnumerous US Open, PGAand Ryder CupChampionships. Bradwellhad previously served athree-year stint at neighbor-ing Brockport Country Clubbefore accepting the headposition at Timber Ridge.

“In addition to condition-ing,” Mulka relayed, “weneed to tackle drainage,especially this year.” Theridiculously wet Spring of2011 revealed to all areacourses just how good theirdrainage really is. TimberRidge wants to make surethat the next time a wetSpring comes our way, theircourse will be ready for playfrom the start.

If Timber Ridge soundslike a gentle walk in thepark, it might be. However,don’t be fooled into think-ing that you’ll come out thefirst time and shoot a careerround. A number of sharpdoglegs force the golfer tohit the tee ball to the properspot or face a lay-up or

punch-out on the ensuingstrike. It is possible to cutcorners on short holes andMulka agrees that the risk-reward element to thecourse makes it fun.

Timber Ridge wants toestablish a sense of commu-nity throughout thegrounds. To that end, man-agement has decided to nothave league play, ensuringthat the first tee will mostlikely be open, should youwant to pop out for a quicknine or 18 some weekdaymorning or afternoon.“We’re open to suggestionsfrom our golfers,” Mulkastated. “We want TimberRidge to be a place wherecustomers feel at home andwe plan to do this throughconditioning, access and afew, year-long specials.”Recently announced dealsinclude Marathon Mondays,when a golfer pays $25 andplays all the golf that she orhe can handle, with powercart included. If that’s notenough, come back the nextday and take advantage ofTwofer Tuesday, when yourfriend plays for free whenyou pay the way.

“We’ve scheduled sixto eight charity or cor-porate golf tournaments

this year, so there will bevery few days when thegolfer comes out and findsthe course unavailable,”Mulka concluded. In thegolf-rich Brockport area,there is no shortage of finegolf courses for the publicconnoisseur to access.Mulka and the other mem-bers of the managementteam know that there willbe a finite number of roundsplayed in the area in 2011.Their goal is a simple one:to establish Timber Ridge asan enjoyable place to playand hang out for golfers ofall ages and ability levels.

Through course condi-tioning, a reasonable ratestructure and clubhousefacilities that welcome allages and genders, TimberRidge will reach its destina-tion.

Timber Ridge is located at7061 W. Ridge Road,Brockport, 585-637-2582,www.timberridgegolfing.com.

Ronald Montesano writesabout golf in western NewYork on his website, www.buf-falogolfer.com.

Timber Ridge from page 9

Page 2 SPORTS & LEISURE MAGAZINE Summer 2011

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