Leading Off: Everett’s talent, tragedy need to be separated

The ordeal of Kevin Everett is one that deserves extra-special care. Everett sustained life-threatening injuries while playing a game, two sentence fragments that should never be connected. His recovery is an amazing tale, and his strength and courage are more than simply commendable.
That said, a release sent by the Bills that said “Kevin will always remain a Buffalo Bill in the same way that Jim Kelly, Thurman Thomas and so many others before him are held in the highest regard by our franchise,” got me thinking. While Everett’s story is heartwrenching, his talent proved mediocre.
Is it possible to keep the two separate?
Thankfully, Everett is recovering, and hopefully he’ll lead a normal, productive life. And while we should revere Everett’s spirit, let’s hope we keep his on-field accomplishments in perspective.
Contact sports editor Tim Schmitt at 282-2311, ext. 2266.

Anchorman Challenge, round 3

“God no, it smells like, like a used diaper … filled with … Indian food. Oh, excuse me …”

Sorry Matt, Veronica Corningstone’s not diggin’ the scent your Round Two picks were giving off.

As I said earlier, we’ve set the flukes aside and gotten down to real hockey knowledge, which explains why I won three of the four series in Round Two in the Anchorman Challenge with Channel 2’s Matt Pearl.

Picking your spots is crucial — in the first round I gagged on the Ottawa pick, but in the second round, I picked Dallas in a six-game upset. In the conference finals, I’m not feeling any upsets … so:

EASTERN CONFERENCE:
Pittsburgh over Philly in 5: I genuinely think the Flyers have more in the tank than they’re getting credit for, but in the end, you can’t deny Hossa, Malkin and Crosby. In this round, at least.

WESTERN CONFERENCE:
Detroit over Dallas in 5: How do I slam a team that just got me the biggest win of the competition? Objectivity. The Wings are good, and deep. While Marty Turco’s been great, there’s only so much he can do alone.

No big upsets. No limb I’m leaning out on. But as we saw in Round Two, just good picks.

FYI, you can read Matt’s picks here.

Huh? Superfly’s alive?

Here’s the quirkiest story out of today’s Niagara County sports headlines — Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka will wrestle in Lockport on June 14 in a fundraiser for the Buffalo Gladiators semi-pro football team.

Here are a few questions (and I’m trying to not think about this for long):

• How did the Gladiators get hooked up with Snuka? Is he an NYAFL fan? Snuka’s probably got seasons for the CNY Express, right?
• Jimmy Snuka’s still alive? According to Wikipedia, Snuka was born in 1943, making him not just eligible for the Champions wrestling tour, but also his 401k.
• Where’s Cap’n Lou Albano?
• (From photo above) When did Robert Blake start wrestling?

And last but not least …
• Who’s going to help this guy when he slips a disk trying the Superfly Special?

This might be worth the 10 clams just for answers.

Resurrection — Anchorman Challenge, round 2 results

Sometimes, when a guy on the mound gets a big lead in the first inning, he starts mentally planning the post-game party. Who’s crib would be best? Did I finish off the Grey Goose? Think Rocket’s bringing McCready or Daly’s wife?
Next thing you know, sliders start coming in belt high and the game’s tied. Party over.
That’s kind of what happened with the Anchorman Challenge between myself and Channel 2’s Matt Pearl. After making some dumb mistakes early (I really thought the Senators might surprise), Pearl lost focus and put one right in my wheelhouse.
Here’s how it played out:

After Round One, Pearl held an 11-8 edge with the rules as such — 2 points per correct series winner, 1 bonus point per correct number of games. Round Two was clearly more indicative of our hockey knowledge.

I picked:
Montreal over Philly in 5: Oops. Sorry, Danny.
Pittsburgh over N.Y. Rangers in 6: So close to a bonus point.
Dallas over San Jose in 6: Ding, ding!
Detroit over Colorado in 6: Aging Avs turned in early.

Matt had:
Montreal over Philadelphia in 7: Ouch.
NY Rangers over Pittsburgh in 6: Ouch.
San Jose over Dallas in 6: Ouch.
Detroit over Colorado in 6: By picking prettier uniforms, my 8-year-old daughter probably could have gotten one of four right.

So …
The scoreboard has changed dramatically.
Schmitt 15, Pearl 13.

Expect my picks on Wednesday for Round 3. And expect Uncle Mo to stay seated in my dugout.

I will give TV Boy credit for one thing — I threw him a text at 2:30 a.m., right after Brenden Morrow scored in the fourth OT, expecting he’d be ticked to open his phone the next morning to trash talk. He called 10 seconds later, meaning he sucked it up and watched all four OTs, even though he was working in the morning. Too bad there’s no consolation prize.

In honor of the Resurrection, I dropped a little Geto Boys below.

College Hockey America’s imminent funeral

One of our writers likes to crack jokes about the fact that UB incessantly promotes the football team’s MAC East co-championship, which means that the Bulls simply finished in the top third of their six-team division.
Here’s a better one — with Wayne State’s college hockey demise, the winner of College Hockey America will have emerged from a field of four. That’s it. The four teams will play all those regular season games — 18 in league, they’re expecting — just to play a total of three games (two semifinals and a final) to determine who goes to the NCAA Tournament.
Crazy, huh?
In Friday’s paper, we had a story about how Niagara’s Ed McLaughlin has been promoted to CHA interim commissioner. While that’s great for McLaughlin, who has clearly been an advocate for college hockey since coming to Monteagle Ridge, it’s a peculiar job. McLaughlin said his biggest concern is to place all the conference’s team into other conferences, or figure out how the CHA can expand.
While Niagara will likely stand no matter what comes of the league’s dissolving, the most precarious perch is held by Bemidji State, which could become a big-time player in the WCHA with a new building or could become defunct.
This story in the Bemidji Pioneer shows the optimism. Coach Tom Serratore said:

“If we do things right, this could end up being one of the top five rinks in the country. The BREC could very well end up being a major asset not just for Bemidji and the region, but the entire state. All of college hockey is very excited to see what the final product will be.”

That’s not necessarily true. Too many schools have little stake in adding teams like Bemidji and Niagara, programs that are close to the elite level, but could bring in even better recruits with admission to a major conference. Sad, but true, and the NCAA has done little to help these teams.

Instead, it’s stood by while teams like Wayne State have finally thrown up their hands and packed it in.

TV clip: Motivation for Bills’ Hardy?

Bills’ second-round pick James Hardy might have a Thurman Thomas-sized chip on his shoulder when rookie camp gets rolling. Expected to go late in the first round, here’s a link to Hardy’s draft day coverage by his local TV station. He starts to squirm pretty bad once the second round starts.

Kelley: Anybody look dumber than the Sabres?

Jim Kelley isn’t just a good guy, he’s still one of the best at dissecting the NHL. In this week’s column at Sportsnet.ca, Kelley rips the Sabres at the bottom of his column — and this came before Daniel Briere scored Wednesday to lift Philly.

Is there an NHL team that looks dumber or cheaper than the Buffalo Sabres right now?
Former Sabre Danny Briere, who practically begged the Sabres to give him a reasonable contract offer last season, is leading the league in playoff scoring and is a big reason that the Flyers still have a chance to go from worst to first in a single season. The Sabres made it clear they had no interest in signing Briere (though for the record they did make a token effort hours before free agency opened, an effort that reminded many of their “attempt” to re-sign Ted Nolan as coach a decade earlier).

Checklist … run beside natural wonder, grab a Frappuccino, get engaged

According to Lisa Falzone, this photo taken prior to Saturday’s Envirun around Goat Island was shot a few hours before Neil Wieczkowski proposed! That would explain why he’s wildly overdressed for a 5K. As I left the race and drove up Third Street to stop at the Gazette building, I saw the two of them soaking up some rays and caffeine on the deck outside the Starbucks at the Crowne Plaza.

The e-mail didn’t say if Lisa said yes, but since she sent it, I’m assuming so. Also no word on if she had a chance to take a shower between the run and the proposal. Let’s hope so.

While Lisa and Neil didn’t know I was shooting this photo, it’s fairly obvious that the two ladies in the back are hamming it up pretty good for a cell phone shot. No word on their relationship status.

Tuesday’s column: Sabres must sign Gerbe

As I said in a column in Tuesday’s Gazette, the Sabres better make signing Nathan Gerbe a huge priority. This guy has set the hockey world on fire as few college players have in the past 25 years.

“The trials of Gerbe — and to a degree, Tim Kennedy — illustrate the best and worst the Sabres organization has to offer … Buffalo pulled Gerbe out of a fifth-round hat, the latest in a long line of draft-day heists. … But word has it the Sabres are tossing their typical low-ball offer, assuming fifth-round money will appease a fifth-round draft choice. It won’t.”

If he sneaks onto the U.S. team in the upcoming World Championships (he originally came in just for training camp), and does anything, the Sabres will have to give him a max deal.

Rome to UB’s Robinson: Switch fonts

Boy, poor Andy Robinson sure is getting hammered after the now-notorious Facebook incident. Robinson’s latest razzing came from none other than Jim Rome. Here’s an excerpt:

“My man, if you abuse opposing point guards the way you do the English language, why isn’t UB in the Final Four every year?”

It’s an important lesson for athletes. Wait, it’s an important lesson for everyone. Don’t put something online if don’t want the whole world to know about it.

Here’s Rome’s whole take, including a funny segment about bumping up font sizes to get the most out of your term papers.

P.S. What’s with this photo? Don’t go all GQ on us, Romey. It’s not your strength.