The first quarter of the Bills –Patriots game couldn’t have been more boring,as the score was 3-0 for Buffalo. The rest of the game was nothing special, unless you’re a devoted follower of either Randy Moss, or the Patriots. The best investment in professional sports tickets in western New York, is definitely the Buffalo Sabres. They are an exciting team, with a super star caliber goalkeeper in Ryan Miller. I’ve had Sabres season tickets since the end of the lockout, and they still only cost me around $20 each. It’s the best investment I’ve ever made, outside of a few stock market moves that my broker has made for me over the years. Buffalo is partly a Canadian hockey market franchise. I know from the several games I’ve attended there with my friend Jim Devellano, Executive V.P. of the Detroit Red Wings and the Detroit Tigers, that there is a long line of vehicles at the border after the game, going back to Canada. In fact, it can take about a half hour or more to get through the line of cars at the Canadian border, so the Sabres serve not only fans in western New York , but from all over southern Ontario.
Their games, due to their affordability, cater to families. The Sabres in-game presentations are done properly, in that the music they play is not so loud, that you have to cover your ears, which is sometimes the case at the Air Canada Centre. Considering the turmoil that has been part of previous ownership with the Sabres,general manager Darcy Regier and coach Lindy Ruff have done an incredible job rebuilding the team in a short period of time, when they couldn’t keep star players on their roster due to financial constraints, such as Dominik Hasek, Mike Peca, and Brian Campbell. If the current owner, Tom Golisano, had been sharper on the hockey side, he would have authorized Darcy Regier to re-sign both of Chris Drury and Danny Briere , at a time when both could have been kept in Buffalo, for much less money than what they ended up with on their current teams, the New York Rangers, and the Philadelphia Flyers. On top of that , in a sports world of massive egos and similarly sized attitudes, Darcy Regier might be the most humble team executive you’ll meet anywhere. You want to see good people like him succeed, because they are so humble and pleasant to deal with.
I was blessed to receive high praise from veteran Toronto Sun baseball columnist Bob Elliott, in the Sunday December 20th paper, with the compliments he gave me, pertaining to my radio interviews with former Blue Jays, Devon White, and Paul Molitor. In fact, I have been quite fortunate to receive the backing of several colleagues in the print media, who have been tremendously supportive of me, in terms of the change in my career, through no fault of my own. Just like a professional athlete would most want the respect of his peers in sports, first and foremost, it is the same in journalism, where the highest compliment one can receive, is that of their colleagues in the same profession. Since my exit from the Fan in Toronto, I was very appreciative of the sentiments expressed in print and in spoken words, from some of the most well known and respected writers in the business. They include Dave Feschuk and Randy Starkman from the Toronto Star, Stephen Brunt and Bruce Dowbiggin from the Globe and Mail, as well as Bob Elliott’s Toronto Sun colleagues,Steve Simmons, Joe Warmington,Gareth Wheeler, Roger Lajoie, and former Sun journalist John Iaboni. In a challenging situation like mine, what an amazing inspiration that is. I am also truly grateful for the encouragement, of a very large number of my former listeners, who expressed their backing and loyalty for me in their own unique ways. Thanks again to everybody I mentioned, and to those who I may have overlooked , or was not aware of, in terms of their advocating on my behalf.