Play ball.
Or hockey.
Or something, anything, already.
Thanks to the National Hockey League lockout that officially ended Friday, Western New York has been 100 percent free of major league sports since Jan. 2, the day the Buffalo Bills' National Football League season ended with a home loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Of course, some might argue that the Bills and Sabres have barely qualified as "major league" for most of the century, but that's another discussion for another time.
Nearly eight months since the last for-pay game that counts represents the longest gap without live competition from a local entry in the NHL or NFL since the winter, spring and early summer of 1970, the months before the Sabres' inaugural season.
There were a couple of pluses to the down time.
Some tremendous accomplishments, like Niagara Falls High School's state championship in boys' basketball, the first trip to the NCAA tournament by the Niagara men in 35 years and the University at Buffalo's near-miss, didn't have to share the spotlight with another failed playoff push by the Sabres.
And the relative calm among the local populace in the absence of hockey should counter the argument that Western New York simply couldn't survive without professional sports the next time an owner demands public money for a new stadium.
But let's face it. Things are more interesting around here with the Bills and Sabres than without them. And with the former about to head to training camp in suburban Rochester with a new starting quarterback and the latter gearing up to return as part of an almost-new sport, there's never been a better time for baseless speculation and pure conjecture about both.
The Sabres haven't announced an advertising slogan for the 2005-06 campaign, but it should be "No More Excuses."
The franchise milked the "small market" alibi through the final years of the Rigas regime and the dawn of the Golisano era. General manager Darcy Regier and coach Lindy Ruff kept their jobs for longer than anyone had reason to expect, due to the instability above them in the organization, despite the lack of success below.
With the supposed leveling of the playing field, or ice surface, brought about by the new collective bargaining agreement, it's time for the poor-mouthing to end.
That also goes for managing partner Larry Quinn. In one of the most remarkable image resurrections in modern times, the man who oversaw the near-destruction of the franchise in the late 1990s is now portrayed as something of a sage in the local media, his smug grin splashed on the front page of Saturday's Buffalo News.
Seemingly forgotten is Quinn's undermining of former team president Doug Moss in a successful effort to get that position, the meddling and backbiting that led to the team finishing one season with both the NHL's executive and coach of the year and beginning the next season with neither and his ignominious firing in 1998, a couple weeks before the end of a playoff-bound season.
Somehow, the same guy who made himself the star of the team's television commercials and insisted that he play goalie in an alumni game slithered himself into another chance to screw things up. He even somehow scored a seat on Buffalo's new waterfront commission, showing that his sycophantic skills are as sharp as ever.
Since good feelings abound in the hockey world and we do live in an area that doles out second and third chances freely, we won't begrudge Quinn his. But, like Regier and Ruff, he'd better get it right this time.
On the ice, Buffalo is positioned as well as anyone in the new NHL. Management has enforced its own salary cap for years, leaving the team in a position to retain the players it wants to keep and add needed components.
The Sabres' year off also allowed young players like goalie Ryan Miller and forward Thomas Vanek to spend a full season playing every night in Rochester, rather than shuffling back and forth to limited playing time in Buffalo.
Not only do Vanek's size and skills suit him well to what the NHL promises will be a more wide-open game, but his development -- 42 goals in Rochester last season -- will make it easier to either bargain with free agent Miroslav Satan or let him go to the highest bidder.
And Miller's workhorse season for the Amerks (41-17-4 with a 2.45 goals-against average) should establish him firmly as Buffalo's No. 1 backstop, ending the goalie-go-round that's personified the Sabres since Dominik Hasek's departure.
By the time the Sabres open their regular season in October, the Bills will have either built on their 9-3 finish to 2005 or reverted to the form that got them off to an 0-4 start.
While Losman has been the center of most offseason speculation, he's not the only vital unknown.
Even if he has learned the offense as well as his coaches say and possesses the necessary vision and instincts to solidify a position that's been in either flux or decline since Jim Kelly retired, it's not going to matter unless the offensive line can keep him out of the hospital.
The biggest concern there is at left tackle, where the scheme to replace Jonas Jennings is sketchy, at best.
Plan A is Mike Gandy, who had trouble staying healthy during four seasons in Chicago. Even when he was in uniform, he wasn't exactly All-Pro material. Last year, the Bears released him in mid-season after he washed out at left guard.
Now Buffalo is counting on a guy who couldn't cut it with one of the league's worst offenses to fill the most important spot on the line.
Which takes us to Plan B. Special teams terror Jason Peters, officially a 6-foot-4, 328-pound tight end as a rookie in 2004, has been shifted inside to tackle. There's no disputing offensive line coach Jim McNally's credentials, but harnessing Peters' athletic skills and making him serviceable at a new position could be his greatest challenge.
For those who think you can stick any large body into the starting lineup and make it work, remember these two words -- Jerry Crafts.
The Bills, fresh off four straight trips to the Super Bowl, inserted the massive but inexperienced Crafts at left tackle to open the 1994 season. He quickly earned the nickname "Route 66," as he provided the most direct path to the quarterback and was back on the bench after a few weeks.
If Gandy can't play better and stay healthy and Peters isn't ready to step in, their next option would be moving center Trey Teague back to left tackle, causing a disruption in cohesion that could take months to overcome.
The hole at defensive tackle left by the departure of Pat Williams is almost as large.
Fifth-year veteran Ron Edwards had his moments, like two sacks against Miami, last year, but has never demonstrated that he's anything more than a serviceable backup. Tim Anderson showed little as a rookie, while Justin Bannan, known mainly for serving as an offensive guard in goal-line situations, figures into the mix, as well.
Those positional battles begin in earnest on Saturday, when practice opens at St. John Fisher College. And after eight months of talk about salary caps, revenue linkage and the protracted departures of Drew Bledsoe and Travis Henry, it'll be nice to have the sports world back to normal.
| Niagara Falls Reporter | www.niagarafallsreporter.com | July 26 2005 |