Briere: On the Trading Block?

The title above finishes the old cliche, and applies to the prominent players who have left the Sabres to seek riches in other cities.  It also plays on the word “green” which alludes to money which is why players like Daniel Briere, Jay McKee, Chris Drury and Brian Campbell exited WNY.

I was thinking about this subject when word came out over the weekend about the Flyers looking to deal Briere, to provide cap relief with the recent trade for Chris Pronger.  I wondered if deep down, a guy like Briere regrets leaving Buffalo.  Of course, the money was just too good and the chance to set your family up for life is too strong a pull for all these players.  But Briere left a winning team where he was a star and a leader.  He was well on his way to owning this town and all that comes with that.  He appeared to be comfortable here, his family was settled into the community, and he wasnt’ far from home in Ottawa.  If in fact he was offered a $5 million dollar a year deal, you wonder if Briere ever has any second thoughts.  Do those happen now that it appears he’s fallen out of favor in Philly, and could be traded somewhere beyond his control?

Same factors would be at play for the other prominent players who left Buffalo.  Coincidentally, an article on SI.com by prominent hockey writer Michael Farber list Briere, Drury, McKee and Campbell as marquee free agent disappointments.

I’m the last guy who likes to bring up names from the past and what-ifs?  You can get that other places in town.  But as the big money gets thrown around starting Wednesday, you can’t but think about what might be different if it wasn’t just money that drove these decisions.

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Click here to see a list of all the area fireworks displays

UB's James Starks (AP)

2009 and into the 2010 draft could be a banner year for WNYer’s in the NFL Draft.  Four could be picked, which may be a record.  Two players from UB are already getting a lot of love from a very legitimate source.

NFL.com draft guru Gil Brandt is currently ranking the top players at each  position heading into the college season.  At running back, Bulls star James Starks (Niagara Falls) is rated by Brandt as the 10th best back.  Heading into his senior year, Starks has already run for over 3000 career yards and 34 touchdowns.

Teammate Naaman Roosevelt (St. Joes) is rated by Brandt as the 14th best wide receiver.  Roosevelt had 104 catches and 14 TD last season.

Both Starks and Roosevelt’s production in 2009 will depend on how quickly new Bulls quarterback Zach Maynard adjusts to starting.  Of course, their production will impact their draft status.

The other two WNY players with draft potential are Arizona TE Rob  Gronkowski and Syracuse WR Mike Williams.  Gronkowski was third-team All-American last year, and is only heading into his junior season.  Another productive year could put Gronkowski (Williamsville North) high on the draft lists.

Williams has been very productive as a receiver on some bad Orange teams.  He sat out last year after a grade issue, but is back and starting in 2009.  He is big and athletic, traits NFL teams love.

With two WNYers drafted in 2009 (Derek Kinder & Dan Gronkowski), this is shaping up as a great era for producing outstanding football players.

Streets will be closed to inbound vehicular traffic beginning Friday, June 26 and continuing through Saturday, June 27 and ending on Sunday, June 28 at midnight due to the Gus Macker 3-on-3 Charity Basketball Tournament.

Streets to be closed

Brush Up Buffalo, a not-for-profit, all-volunteer organization focused on revitalizing City of Buffalo neighborhoods.

Click here to contact Brush Up Buffalo and for more info.

Click the link below for help from NYS related to debt collection

Attorney General’s guide for coping with consumer debt

Jonas Jerebko

I hope you had a chance to see our story Tuesday on NBA draft prospect Jonas Jerebko.  If you’re still watching Thursday’s draft after Jonny Flynn gets picked, keep your eye out for Jerebko to be picked late in the first round, somewhere around the 25th pick.

Jerebko’s story is a classic Buffalo sports story, even if didn’t grow up here.  He’s got the local connection of his family, the local connection of almost playing for U.B., and the connection every Buffalo sports story must have….What if?

There’s a couple of other facts about Jonas that I did not have time to include in our TV story. 

*Jonas’ dad, Chris, was a standout HS player at St. Francis.  He played at Syracuse for Jim Boeheim in the late 70’s.  Then, he went to Sweden to play professional basketball.  He married a Swedish woman, who was also a basketball player.  They decided to raise their family in Sweden, and that’s how a guy from Depew has a son who’s from Sweden.

*Jonas at one point decided he wanted to play American college basketball.  When UB’s Reggie Witherspoon and his coaches (who knew Jonas’s uncle Pete, the ECC Athletic Director) heard this, they offered him a scholarship on the spot.

*Jonas also had offers to play at Syracuse (his Dad’s alma mater) and West Virginia (coached then by John Beilein, who was uncle Pete’s coach at LeMoyne College in Syracuse).  He chose UB to be closer to his relatives in Buffalo.

*Jonas has been playing for Biella, a team in the Italian Pro League.  His is under contract next year, but his buyout is not large.  So whichever team drafts him could have him stay in Italy and play, or could immediately bring him to the NBA.

CBSSports.com has an excellent profile of Jonas.  They have him as the 33rd best prospect.  One of their mock drafts has him going to the Lakers with the 29th pick.  That’s the team the family seems to be hearing about the most.

Its been fun doing some stories on the NBA Draft connectins this year.  We don’t usually cover the NBA much, because we’ve never gotten the sense that it means a lot to the majority of sports fans in WNY.  Do you agree?  Are you interested in the draft only because of Flynn, Jerebko and Paul Harris?

It began as a simple way to help the troops and now, Jammies for GIs is about to shine in the national spotlight.

Get more info here

Buffalo musicians host a 25 hour non stop free event to aid in ending hunger issues in WNY.

More info and a link to the website here.

AP Photo

Here we go again.  Another pro sports analysis telling us why we’re a bad sports city or why we’re going to lose our team.  This one is focused on hockey, and comes from Business First, a Buffalo based publication.  You’d think they know better.  It says the Sabres are the 6th likeliest city to lose its NHL team.  Huh?  What?  Really?  Nashville.  Atlanta.  Florida.  Phoenix.  Phoenix?  You’re really grouping us together with a bankrupt team. Ugh. 

The study, as most of these do, puts us in trouble because Buffalo is a shrinking city with a small TV market.  Yeah.  Thanks for the breaking news.  Did anybody at Business First bother to notice what goes on here during the season.  People go to games, buy gear, watch the games on TV and live and die with every game.  That’s what really matters.  No where in this study does it mention that Buffalo gets the highest TV ratings of any U.S. city.  It barely touches on the fact that the team plays to 99% capacity.  It doesn’t mention that the NHL felt so strongly about the market that it kept the team alive during bankruptcy (which was brought on by bad ownership more than any team issues).  This is an important hockey market for the NHL, despite all those reasons laid out by this ridiculous study.

The study cites as a negative the fact that another team in Toronto is nearby.  When has that ever had anything to do with Buffalo?

Hey Business First.  Get your head out of the economic spread sheets and go watch a game.  It might make you think twice when you do this study next year.