Author: Chris Ostrander

Deskchair Quarterback: Backups fall short against Steelers

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The first team carried their weight, especially on defense. Looking at the first half of football last night, the Bills defense was effective, the special teams were solid and they moved the football offensively.

However, the backups were less than stellar. Luckily, the backups aren’t going to be playing all at once this season.

Mario Williams picked up his first two sacks of the preseason against Pittsburgh.

The Bills managed field position for the entire first half thanks to stout defense and a number of phenomenal punts from Brian Moorman. While Ryan Fitzpatrick and the offense struggled to consistently move the ball, they did their part in controlling the clock and field. Of course, they only came up with seven points. A score matched by the Steelers’ 90-plus yard drive to close the first half.

However, Vince Young tossed a pair of interceptions, the Steelers second team offense cruised (sound familiar?) and they ran up 31 unanswered points in the second half. Young’s regression last night was unfortunate due to the previous progress that he built on over the first two weeks of the preseason.

There were standouts for good and bad over the course of the game. Terrence McGee looked like an aging veteran who just returned from knee surgery. Andy Levitre could be Buffalo’s most consistent and effective lineman and the tandem of Marcell Dareus and Kyle Willaims should wreak havoc on opponents this season. Depth still seems to be an issue for the Bills, however. With a number of rookie and first year players being counted on for primary roles on both sides of the ball, there will be plenty of growing pains this year.

The main issue that many fans had with last night was the third-straight loss and continued offensive struggles that the Bills have shown on offense. While the second-team contributions need to be ignored, the lack of a consistent attack with the starters could begin to be an issue as the season is set to begin. Continue reading →

Armstrong’s white flag should change nothing

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As someone who has been such a huge fan of Lance Armstrong for so many years, last night was a tough pill to swallow.

Lance Armstrong probably lost a lot of fans with the statement he decided to release yesterday. While there was no admission of guilt in the 800+ words, there was an admission of surrender. His decision to stop his fight against those who have long accused him of doping has opened the door for quite a bit of scrutiny.

Sorry, Travis. You can’t change that.

This changes nothing for me, of course. In 1999 I cared little about what a bicycle did besides taking me from a-to-b. By the end of his seven-year run I actually cared about the Tour de France and held Armstrong as one of the athletes that I have a supreme admiration for. That admiration will remain, no matter what Travis Tygart says.

As nearly every commentary on Armstrong’s decision has indicated, his decision to quit or give up on something seems strange. As someone who has always fought back and persevered, It was safe to assume the word quit was not in his vocabulary.

It is very encouraging to see so many sports writers proclaiming his legacy will not be tarnished, regardless of the titles that are to be stripped from him. What Armstrong has done physically, mentally and for others is unparalleled and no lawyer or drug administration can take that away from him.

Continue reading →

Dietrich makes a big splash early in his tenure

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Despite a heavy turnover with offensive talent entering the 2012 season, the Buffalo Bandits experienced a relative lull in production and success. The Bandits stumbled to a 7-9 record before a narrow, heartbreaking defeat to Toronto in the first round of the playoffs.

After some restructuring in the front office, new general manager, Steve Dietrich, has been busy this summer. In addition to applying the franchise tag to Tracey Kelusky and Anthony Cosmo, Dietrich re-signed John Tavares and pulled the trigger on three significant trades.

Shawn Williams was the prized acquisitions in a busy summer for the Bandits.

The first trade was easily the biggest. The Bandits acquired Shawn Williams, defenseman Brandon Doran, a 2012 first round pick and two 2012 second round picks in exchange for Buffalo’s first round selection in the 2012 draft. The draft is set to take place on October 1.Dietrich also acquired defenseman Glen Bryan and forward Jamie Rooney from the Toronto Rock in exchange for a second-round pick (14th overall) in the 2012 NLL Entry Draft and a fourth-round pick in 2013. His final trade brought in transition player David Brock and forward Mike Hominuck from the Philadelphia Wings in exchange for Kevin Buchanan and a third-round pick in the 2013 NLL Entry Draft.

The trade with the Wings signified the end of a short, disappointing stint with Buffalo for Buchanan. A talented forward, he struggled to get free in Darris Kilgour’s system and was never an effective piece of the offense. His inability to tally on outside attempts made him particularly impotent here. Hominuck is a steady offensive player who should fill a similar role as Buchanan on Buffalo’s second offensive unit.

The Hominuck acquisition could potentially be a wash if his return to the system is as rough as Buchanan’s introduction appeared to be. However, after seeing Hominuck for a number of years, and his brief history in Buffalo, it is safe to assume his game is versatile enough to work with Buffalo’s motion sets. Continue reading →

Arguing over fake football

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This originally ran on Buffalo Wins. Thanks again to Joe for having me contribute.

There are a number of important events that fall between the Super Bowl and the opening week of the next NFL season. For the record, the Pro Bowl is not one of them.

The Draft, free agency, training camp and the day that final cuts are determined are all important dates that are worth paying attention to. There also happens to be these four pesky exhibition games that are blown totally out of proportion by a number of fans and anyone getting a paycheck from a certain production company in Bristol.

The NFL preseason is becoming an annual chore that is more about keeping starters healthy than shaping the roster. However, each year your team lays an egg and suddenly 3-13 is on the table. Truthfully, there is far too much attention paid to the outcome and overall performance during preseason, by everyone.

Just look at that steaming pile of a morning show that Skip Bayless works on. When they’re not extolling Tim Tebow as football’s savior, they’re drumming up any bit of crap they can get their hands on. Most recently Kirk Cousins big night against Chicago’s backups became fodder for a “quarterback controversy” in Washington because RGIII didn’t rack up big numbers behind his patchwork line and against Chicago’s ones. Keeping things closer to home, Buffalo has had two dismal showings in their pair of preseason outings thus far. However, this is due to the participation of over 30 players who will not be on the team come September 9. Now, the starters haven’t been lighting things up, but about 60% of the Bills play thus far has come with a group of players who will not be playing as a unit in three more weeks. Continue reading →

What makes you elite?

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The word elite gets tossed around a lot by hockey fans and members of the media. It seems to be one of those terms that is easy to use to qualify a player’s talent level when discussing career potential or, more often, their trade value.

But is there a way to draw the line on elite players? Is there a specific number that represents the cut off between elite and very good players? Or perhaps the term is so arbitrary that it is nothing more than an adjective that provides a simple way to quantify certain players.

Is Rick Nash elite? Prove it.

What is interesting about determining “elite” players is that the qualifications seem to change every season. Not to mention the fact that those who fall into the “elite” category change on a regular basis.

There is a group of players at every position in the NHL who deserve to be called elite, or superstars. However, with this term being used so loosely, I wonder if the opinion of elite status is a bit skewed.

There is no doubt that players like Shea Weber, Sidney Crosby and Henrik Lundqvist are elite. Whether you’re talking centers, defensemen, wings or goaltenders, there is a magic number of true elite players and those who fall into other categories. It is my opinion that this is not only a sliding scale on a yearly basis but based on position as well.

Perhaps the league’s elite goaltenders fall somewhere in the 7-10 range, whereas an elite defensemen could potentially be found anywhere from the 15-20 range depending on how the players were ordered and, of course, depending on who is doing the ranking.

The issue is that there is no way to truly draw a line between “elite” and “not elite”. The gray area leaves room for debate (which is fun) but also makes the term rather arbitrary. Continue reading →

Ryan Miller is a what now?

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When NHL 13 rolls out next month, Ryan Miller will sport a 92 rating. That is a rating that comes in above such tenders as Henrik Lundqvist, Pekka Rinne, Jonathon Quick and every other goalie in the league.

Yes, Miller is the highest rated goalie in NHL 13 based on what is probably a crazy algorithm developed by EA Sports based on performance, stats and perhaps a spousal hotness x-factor. This rating was determined by a bunch of coding experts who developed that algorithm and poured over results from the past few years to determine the number.

The best part of all this is how infuriated all of Miller’s detractors will be. Continue reading →

Field goals: Receivers battle down to two spots

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The Buffalo Bills have assembled a receiving corps worthy of a cameo in Major League. It is a rag-tag group of former misfit toys that have come together to become a rather formidable group.

Looking at their draft status and pedigree, it would be easy to say “They’re shitty” or “Who the hell are these guys?”, but the group led by Stevie Johnson turned out to be one of the most consistent groups for the Bills last year.

However, while most of the cream has risen to the top, there are a few spots open and a number of players vying for the roster spot. The battle to round out the Bills’ receiving corps is as open of a race as you could find at most NFL camps.

Stevie Johnson, David Nelson, T.J. Graham and Donald Jones are all but assured a spot on the opening day roster. The remaining seven players – Kamar Aiken, David Clowney, Marcus Easley, Derek Hagan, Ruvell Martin, Naaman Roosevelt and Derek Session – are all clawing for a precious roster spot.

An assumed roster breakdown would have the Bills keeping six receivers on the 53-man roster, with Brad Smith filling a versatile WR/QB spot. Continue reading →

Unessentials: The Buffalo Sabres

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Puck Daddy is pretty much the gold standard for hockey blogging. Just about every guy or girl who starts up a hockey-centric blog is hoping to turn into Wyshynski one day.

This summer, Puck Daddy rolled out a new series call Essentials. This is a post that revolves around the Essential player, goal, season, game etc. about each team in the league. While the Sabres version has yet to come out, I wanted to have a little fun with this idea.

So, rather than step on the toes of Puck Daddy, Wysh and whichever Sabres blog is awarded the Sabres Essentials, I chose to go a different direction. This will be the Unessentials for the sabres franchise. For the most part this will just be the opposite of what the Puck Daddy series has highlighted. For example, the unsung hero may be an overrated player, the best game will be the exact opposite of that. Hopefully you get the point.

So, I give you, the Sabres Unessentials:

Player: Slava Kozlov

Kozlov was what the Sabres got in return for Dominik Hasek. The Sabres also ended up with a draft pick that was eventually ended up with Atlanta for the 2002 Draft. Kozlov’s tenure in Buffalo was short and uneventful. He played 38 games and scored nine goals before a laceration put him on the shelf for most of the year. Kozlov hasn’t been shy about complaining about the city and his time here. He is also probably a big reason why many Sabres fans think that all Russians are lazy jackasses.

Season: 2002-03

Six months prior to the start of the 02-03 season, John Rigas and his sons were shipped off to jail, the Sabres lost their owners and started on a spiral to the bottom of the league. At that point, “Hockey Heaven”was only drawing about 10,000 fans per game, the team couldn’t win and there were whispers that the Sabres could potentially leave town.

The 02-03 season led to the draft pick that became Thomas Vanek, the Golisano ownership, Daniel Briere’s arrival and the moves that would build the foundation for the 2005-06 team. However, the time after Hasek left in the early 2000s were dark days for the Sabres franchise. Continue reading →

Deskchair Quarterback: Bills preseason debut

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Ryan Fitzpatrick is not Jim Kelly, that much was assumed a long time ago. However, any doubters were likely converted while watching Fitzpatrick direct the Bills first-team offense last night against Washington.

Fitzpatrick trotted out with a number of open and spread looks in the brief time he and the starters saw last night. It was indicated that he was the one calling the plays while reading what the defense was giving him. The result was zero running plays and three points.

There were flashes of brilliance from the starters and there is the obvious fact that the gameplan last night doesn’t even represent a quarter of what the Bills will present in the regular season. So anyone who has proclaimed the sky is falling regarding the offense, team and season; take a step back.

To put things in perspective, Shawne Merriman looked like an All-Pro last year and the offensive line was leakier than the Titanic. As it turned out, Merriman was ineffective before missing most of the year and the offensive line proved to be rather stout for much of the 2011 season. The bottom line is that the preseason is all about evaluation and not about team performance. Or at least that is mostly what it is about. Continue reading →

History should speed up CBA talks

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Some people never learn. Of course, when you’re talking millions and millions of dollars, it is hard to figure out any sort of logic.

The last time hockey fans were facing labor talks between the owners and Players Association, a lockout was nearly a certainty. What resulted was a lost season, a crap TV contract, fan apprehension and a complete loss of respect from a sports network capable of pumping any event full of propaganda.

Maybe losing any sort of foothold on ESPN’ airwaves was a minor setback, but “the worldwide leader” is nothing more than a televised tabloid capable of steering sports fans interest towards a singular message if they so choose. Regardless, the lost season in 2004-05 was a massive setback for the NHL and caused the necessity for a whole lot of rebuilding.

Only seven years later we are almost back to where we started. Salaries have ballooned (thanks to skyrocketing revenues) and the owners are getting over their heads when it comes to paying out cash. With just over a month to go, it appears as if the worst may be on the horizon, another lockout. Continue reading →