Consider me flattered and honored to be able to present my opinions and views on local and national sports on this platform.
A refresher for those who may not know who I am.
I was born and raised in Niagara Falls and lived there for the first 20 years of my life. I attended 24th Street School, then Mount Carmel and Niagara Catholic High School. After getting my feet wet in the radio business with my time at then-Niagara County Community College and WJJL Radio, I left to move to Las Vegas to further pursue my goal to be in sports talk radio.
Eventually, that goal was achieved and have had the honor and privilege to work in local, national and satellite sports talk radio, the last 22 years at Sirius, then SiriusXM. I never wanted to work for a living and I would think a good amount of fellow colleagues would agree with me.
I’ve always been one to comment on several different topics, instead of one, so here we go with what my SiriusXM Radio colleague, the legendary Christopher “Mad Dog” Russo may say “your potpourri of items.”
Cap tip to my alma mater
Congratulations to my Alma mater SUNY Niagara for winning their first ever NJCAA Division III World Series championship, knocking off the three-time defending champion Rowan College South Jersey-Gloucester. (Western New York has experience with a three-time defending champion being eliminated in the NLL Juggernaut Buffalo Bandits, as I digress.)
I was aware that there had been success in the program under Matt Clingersmith, but never realized how much, with over 400 wins in the last 10 years, with 94 postseason wins and 10 trips to the World Series. It seems to me that, with a track record like this, the so-called “bigger schools” would be interested in Clingersmith, who clearly knows how to build and sustain a program.
I’ll be honest, when I attended SUNY Niagara, the sports programs were meh at best, but this program should have people beaming with pride!
Sabres in a snapshot
I think people have calmed down now about the Buffalo Sabres. While the talk lingers that they should have beaten Montreal and that they may have given Carolina a tougher time in the Eastern Conference final, the fact remains that, to succeed, you don’t lose three times in a series on your home ice.
With that said, this was an outstanding season for a franchise that had been mired largely in mediocrity over the last decade and a half. It certainly didn’t look promising early in the season with a sub .500 record, but some rumored inner discord with the players and head coach Lindy Ruff, plus the firing of general manager Kevyn Adams, somehow became the spark for a club that was the best team in the league for the last half of the season.
Rasmus Dahlin certainly looked like a Norris Trophy candidate. Tage Thompson is proving to be an elite goal scorer, while the acquisition of Josh “Zig-told-y’all-he’d-be-an-upgrade-on-JJ-Peterka” Doan was a huge shot in the arm with 25 goals. The playoff experience will help, although the Alex Tuch free agency saga will be a big storyline, as will the debate on whether their goaltending will be good enough going forward.
If I’m GM Jarmo Kekalainen, I’m at least placing a call to St. Louis about Jordan Binnington, or Winnipeg for Connor Hellebuyck, the goal medal netminder for the U.S. Olympic team.
Bills beat
As for the Bills, a good amount of the discussion this off season on SiriusXM NFL Radio has largely been about how Joe Brady makes the transition from offensive coordinator to head coach.
Make no mistake, Brady is well liked, maybe more so by the offensive players, since he worked directly with them. Now, he has to be an overseer on defense, and special teams, handle the media and be involved in a lot more than in his previous position. I’m certainly not worried about Josh Allen, though I wonder if the offense will be designed for him to not run as much as last year.
Here’s hoping new receiver D.J. Moore will find the form he had when was with Carolina, which were productive years when, oh by the way, Brady was on that staff. Will Ken Coleman finally become that big target for Allen?
Other questions I have: will there be enough faith in the receivers that the offense won’t seem so tight end-centric? No worries on James Cook, a premier running back, but, as Ray Davis said, he’d like to tote the rock more, which I’d like to see. Is Dion Dawkins still an effective left tackle? I want to see my guy Alec Anderson keep that left guard spot. I love his overall disposition on things.
To the defense, I loved the Jim Leonhard hire. When I watched him play, he always seemed like a coach on the field. Leonhard had some superb defenses at his Alma mater Wisconsin, which were always highly-ranked in the Big Ten. It was interesting to hear him say that, in the new scheme, the outside linebackers will line up like ends, where Gregory Rousseau and newcomer Bradley Chubb — an ideal fit, by the way — are currently expected to start.
It was also interesting to hear Leonhard say tackle Ed Oliver would be used in different places to make him “dangerous.” Maybe it’s just me, but I’m waiting to see a dominant Oliver, who was great in 2023 with a career-high in tackles and sacks with 9 ½, but hasn’t come close since. While I like the additions on that side of the ball via the draft and free agency, the one I was really intrigued by was safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, whom I doubt would have ever been added in the Sean McDermott high-on-character era. Gardner-Johnson’s played on multiple teams and there’s been the knock that he’s a trash-talker who’s difficult for teammates to handle. Yet, it seems as if the teams he plays for win, such as the Super Bowl champion Eagles of a couple of years ago. Quite frankly, maybe the “piss and vinegar” attitude was missing on this team, especially on the defense. If Gardner-Johnson can supply that, I’m all for it.
As to the recent blockbuster trades in the NFL and the questions about why the Bills weren’t involved: there was no way Buffalo was getting either A.J. Brown or Myles Garrett. Brown becomes a headache for Buffalo, as he’s now in the AFC East with the defending conference champion Patriots.
The deal had been speculated for months, as it was clear the relationship with Brown and the Philadelphia Eagles was beyond repair. We saw the photos on social media of Brown wearing a Patriots jersey as a kid. A couple of years ago, he received an autographed jersey from Tom Brady, which you’d have thought Brown was given the keys to Fort Knox. Plus, he’s reunited with his former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel, who’s had his own news cycle this off-season, with no need to rehash here. It made too much sense for both sides.
As for Garrett, the Rams had to give up an ascending pass rusher in Jared Verse (the Bills don’t have anyone like that on their defense), along with a first-round pick in 2027, a second-rounder in 2028 and a third-rounder in 2029, which can become a first if L.A. trades Garrett back to the AFC North, a clever piece of the deal by Cleveland GM Andrew Berry.
The Rams are a clear favorite for 2026, and should be. They have, to me anyway, the best roster in the NFL. They’re in win-now mode with 38-year-old quarterback Matthew Stafford on board for two more years. They’re deep on both sides of the ball and, if you could imagine, they could get a future Hall of Famer out of retirement, as, with the addition of Garrett, Aaron Donald may get the juices flowing to return after retiring two seasons ago.
Donald is said to keep himself in shape and, with the Garrett add and the Super Bowl game being at their home field of SoFi Stadium, it wouldn’t sun me at all if Aaron Donald teamed up with Myles Garrett and Braden Fiske and Poona Ford to have this generation’s version of The Fearsome Foursome, which comprised of HOFers Deacon Jones and Merlin Olsen, along with Lamar Lundy and Rosey Grier.
I look forward to presenting weekly thoughts and musings.