Top Stories of 2007

Here are my top stories of 2007 for Buffalo sports in no special order

-Buffalo goes Sabres crazy. You could not go anyway without seeing people wearing Sabres gear. 10,000 people standing outside the HSBC Arena to watch the playoff games on large screens. It felt like the Bills of the early 90's.

-Sabres win President's Trophy. First time in franchise history they had the best record in the NHL.

-Sabres lose in Eastern Conference finals for second straight year.

-Briere and Drury leave as free agents on the first day of free agency.

-Bills have third straight losing season, still have not made the playoffs since 1999 season.

-Mary Levy steps down as Bills GM

-JP Losman loses starting job to rookie third round pick Trent Edwards.

-Willis McGahee shoots off mouth, and then is traded to Baltimore

-Bandits lose in Eastern Division finals in OT

-Bandits trade 2006 NLL MVP Chugger to Calgary for Sean Greenhalgh, who tears his ACL in a preseason game and will miss the 2007 season.

-NLL cancels season, then comes to an agreement with the PLPA and uncanceled the season.
Because arena dates were already released the schedule is goofy and Bandits get an extra home game.

-Bisons miss playoffs for second straight year, first time while affiliated with the Cleveland Indians.

-Bisons celebrate successful 20th season at Dunn Tire Park

-UB wins five games, which is good for second in the MAC Eastern Division. One win short of the six needed to make it to a bowl game.

-Niagara Purple Eagles win MAAC Championship but must play in the NCAA play in game, which they win.

-Queen City FC wins the Eastern Conference of the NPSL in their first season. They fall short in the championship game. They also won a game in the US Open Cup.

Looking forward to 2008 and the top stories. I can see a few already.

-NHL Winter Classic

-John Tavares passes Gary Gait for the NLL's all time leading goal scorer, giving JT the goals, assists and points records.

-New GM named for Bills.

And a few stories I would like to see in 2008

-Niagara wins back to back MAAC Championships

-Niagara hockey makes the NCAA Tournament

-Bandits break championship drought.

-Sabres win first Stanley Cup.

-Bisons make playoffs

-Cleveland Indians decided to pass on Columbus and sign agreement with Bisons.

-UB Football makes its first trip to a bowl game, making the International Bowl and thousands of UB fans follow the team to Toronto.

-Bills make the playoffs.

Buffalo Bills 17, Washington Redskins 16

It was an emotional game for the Washington Redskins after the death of Sean Taylor this week. It was an ugly game for both the Washington Redskins and the Buffalo Bills, but in the end the Bills came out with a 17-16 victory. It seemed like a normal Trent Edwards start to me. The Bills offense moves the ball well, but can't get the ball in the end zone. Five field goals and a safety was all the offense the Bills could get. While the 'skins got in the end zone, and their offense also moved the ball, it also had problems finishing the job.

The defense played a normal Bills defensive game. They bend but don't break. The 'skins moved up and down the field, but the Bills forced them into field goals once they got in the end zone. The Bills still had problems getting the Redskins off the field on third down. Why this team can't stop anyone on third down early in the game I don't know. But I was surprised to see the Bills hold Clinton Portis in check all day. He really went nowhere on the ground. Is this a turnaround for the defense or just a bad day for the 'skins running game?

I still don't know if I believe in Trent Edwards. First off he needs to release the ball higher. He has way too many passes tipped at the line. That will lead to INTs if it keeps happening. Second, he has to get the ball in the end zone. Yeah I realize that is not an earth shattering statement, but it is the truth. How many games can the Bills in without scoring a TD?

In the big picture, the Bills are still alive for a playoff spot with the 0-12 Dolphins coming to Orchard Park. The Fish got blown out today by the Jets. So it looks like the Dolphins may actually do the unthinkable, lose every game this season. The lose in the mud in Pittsburgh seems to have been the nail in the coffin for Miami. So if the Bills win next week, they would have a huge game three hours away in two weeks against the Cleveland Browns. The Browns lead the Bills by one game for the last playoff spot. I really don't know how I am talking about the playoffs. This Bills team has looked as bad as you can on more then one game this year, and yet they are still alive. I guess that shows how bad the NFL has became, with 6-6 teams in the playoff hunt, and not the most talented 6-6 teams. But I must give the Bills credit, they are still alive longer then most of us in Western New York thought they would be.

Buffalo Sabres 8, Carolina Whalercanes 1

Well, if you are a Hurricane fan, there was not much that went well. The Sabres scored early and scored often againts Canes backup goalie John Graham. The did not look anything like the team that got beat in North Carolina. Even Max had a great game, getting a goal and flying all over the ice. Of Course Ryan Miller gave up a goal with a couple minutes left to blow the shutout, but he does that pretty much every game that he has a shutout that late. So the Sabres are hot, but here comes the tough part. They have a west coast swing this week with games in Anahiem, LA and San Jose. It is hard enough for an east coast team to head to the west coast, but they have to play two pretty good teams. The Ducks have a bit of cup hangover, but they are still a very good team. The Sharks are one of the best teams in the NHL. Yeah the Kings are pretty bad, but it will still be a tough game and a very tough trip. If the Sabres can get 3 points I would call it a sucess.

And the best part, the Senators keep losing. Their lead over Montreal is down to three points and their lead over Buffalo is down to nine points. Yeah that is still pretty large, but it was seventeen points not too long ago.