This Day in Buffalo Sports History: Destroyers roll an 11

   July 9, 1999 -- The Buffalo Destroyers had spent more than a year trying to break into the minds of Western New York's sporting consciousness. It was about at this point when it was easy to wonder when, and not if, those efforts would end.

    The Destroyers lost to San Jose, 52-46, to fall to 0-11 for the season. Little had gone right during the season, as could be guessed, as the team turned over its roster in furious fashion to find some sort of winning combination. The team never did find the right formula, moving to Columbus. Here's the beginning of the story of loss number 11:

    After nearly falling apart, the Buffalo Destroyers almost pulled off a miracle for their first-ever win.

    However, a fourth-down pass in the end zone fell incomplete and the Destroyerssuffered a bitter 52-46 loss to the San Jose SaberCats Friday night at San Jose Arena.San Jose seemed to have the game in hand after recovering an onside kick with 34 seconds left. But Buffalo defensive lineman John Dewitt recovered a fumble to give his team life. But the Destroyers were unable to snap their season-long losing streak, now at 11 games.

--- Budd Bailey