Sully on Sports

Live Chat With Jerry Sullivan

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I haven't done a live chat since April 10. I'm sure you've missed it as much as I have. Today at 1 p.m., I'll be live chatting for a couple of hours, just to catch up. There's lots to talk about, beginning with last weekend's NFL draft. The Bills' draft has received generally positive reviews around the country, though reaction to drafts is usually all over the place. You never know until the guys get on the field.

We could always discuss the Red Sox and Yankees. Yesterday, I wrote a column about the big baseball rivals, using Jacoby Ellsbury's steal of home as a starting-off point. Naturally, the Yankees won big after I talked about all their issues, and the Red Sox saw their 11-game winning streak come to an end.

Last night, I was waiting for my daughter to shop at the mall when I wandered over to the book store to kill time. I'm generally reluctant to pay full price for books. On my way out, I sifted through the bargain book bin, just in case. I found a book about the 1975 World Series between the Red Sox and Reds. It's called The Long Ball, by Tom Adelman, and got pretty good reviews in its day. Newsday, my former employer, called it "one of the best baseball books ever." I had never heard of it. I grabbed it for $3.99.
 
I have vivid memories of that 1975 season. It might have been my favorite baseball season ever. Imagine being a fan of the Sox and having Fred Lynn come up as a rookie and win MVP. And Jim Rice, who was also a rookie, wound up having a Hall of Fame career. That World Series is considered by many people the best in history. Anyway, I'm hoping this book can approach some of the best baseball chronicles I've read -- particulary David Halberstam's accounts of the 1949 and 1964 seasons, and just about everything in the Roger Angell oeuvre (surely the first time I've ever used that word).

Don't forget. Live chat at 1 p.m. Bring your A games.

Live Blogging on Day 2 of the Draft

6:05 p.m. -- The temperature is up to 77 degrees. It has risen steadily since the draft began. I hope some of you people got out on the golf course today. I'm thinking of playing nine holes in the morning.  

5:59 p.m. -- Bills have made their pick in the seventh round. What else? Another cornerback: Ellis Lankster of West Virginia. I guess you can never have enough defensive backs. It's worth noting that Terrence McGee will be a free agent after this season. They took Leodis McKelvin in the first round last year and also drafted Reggie Corner. They took Jairus Byrd in the second round in this draft. Looks like they're bolstering the secondary in case McGee goes the same route as Jabari Greer.

5:40 p.m. -- Seventh round is under way. I'm underwhelmed. Still no Drew Willy. It's probably best for the former UB star if he doesn't get drafted now. That way, he can pick his spots as an undrafted and try out with a team where he has a decent chance to make a roster -- even on a practice squad. He might have a better chance at making an NFL roster next season than J.P. Losman. Losman is still out there and there doesn't seem to be much interest. Not surprising.

4:26 p.m. -- Russ Brandon is a big basketball fan. Brandon grew up in Syracuse and is a huge fan or the Orange. I'll have to ask if he's watching the Bulls-Celtics game, which is late in overtime.

4:22 p.m. -- Bills take Cary Harris, cornerback out of USC. That makes back-to-back Harrises for the Bills. Don't know much about Harris. He wasn't ranked very highly among defensive backs. I have a question. Did every member of that USC team get drafted?

4:14 p.m. -- Allen Wilson points out that the Bills have drafted four players they intend to move to new positions in the NFL: Harris, Eric Wood (center to guard), Jairus Byrd (cornerback to safety) and Andy Levitre (tackle to guard). Versatility is nice, but it's no easy thing for a rookie to learn a new position at the NFL level. Again, at times you'd be led to believe this team was rebuilding. 

4:07 p.m. -- Bills seem to have a thing for moving players to new positions. Their fifth-round pick, Nic Harris, played safety at Oklahoma. The Bills plan to use him at linebacker. Harris is 6-2, 234 pounds. Are we looking at another Keith Ellison here? Dick Jauron has a thing for smaller, quicker defenders, but it hasn't been a rousing success during his time in Buffalo. They're weak at outside linebacker and I'm not sure this makes them appreciably better.  

3:50 p.m. -- Celtics and Bulls are in overtime. Somehow, the Bulls allowed Ray Allen to get wide open behind the three-point line and he nailed a three to tie it. Great series. Shoot me, but it's a tad more compelling that who gets drafted in the fifth round.

3:47 p.m. -- Nate Davis of Ball State goes to the 49ers in the fifth round. UB's Drew Willy is still on the board. I wasn't that impressed with Davis in the MAC championship game, but he had an amazing career. I'm not pleased to see that Chase Daniel, who had such a great college career at Missouri, isn't considered an NFL prospect and probably won't be drafted. You can't tell me  Drew Willy is better than Daniel.

2:10 p.m. -- Most interesting pick of the draft so far is Miami taking West Virginia quarterback Pat White with the 44th overall pick. The Dolphins insist they intend to play White at QB, which means the "Wildcat" offense will be even more dynamic next season. White is a sensational talent, but scouts questioned his ability to play QB at the next level. If Bill Parcells thought White was worth the pick, who am I to question him? Parcells has more credibility than the guys running the Bills draft.

1:23 p.m. -- Bills use the 121st pick of the draft to select Shawn Nelson, a tight end out of Southern Mississippi. Nelson was rated the 44th-best talent in the draft by Mel Kiper.  Bills scouts are in the room and say he's very athletic with skills in the vertical game. They called him "light in the pants", which is today's top cliche. He is 6-5 and was 240 pounds at the combine. They'd like him to get up to 250 by the start of the season. Sounds like this kid is going to do some eating.

He's a legit 4.5 in the 40. Should be a legitimate threat down the field. Nelson's blocking leaves something to be desired. But this fills a crying need for a tight end who can stretch defenses.

1 p.m. -- We're five picks away from the Bills and lunch has been served. I'm not a fan of starting the draft at 10 a.m. on a Sunday morning. Of course, I'm not a big fan of the draft period. I especially loathe the second day.

Anyway, it's amazing what a wide variance of opinion there is on the Bills' first day. A lot of fans hate it. They felt the Bills should have addressed their needs at outside linebacker, offensive tackle and tight end. It's a valid criticism. But apparently, the Bills felt they had more pressing needs and feel better about some of their players than the public does.

Some of the national experts think the Bills did a good job. ESPN's Todd McShay said Buffalo had one of the best drafts on Day One. The general feeling is the Bills addressed two big needs -- defensive  end and O line.

It looks like Langston Walker is going to start at left tackle. They think he's a better pass blocker than Jason Peters. I don't. But we'll see how Walker holds up at the most important position on the O line.

The Bills clearly believe that Derek Fine, their draft pick from a year ago, has big upside at tight end. Outside linebacker? They have to do better than Keith Ellison, and Kawika Mitchell is below average in my opinion. They signed Pat Thomas to a one-year deal. But Thomas was a backup last year on a bad Kansas City defense. Maybe the Bills will sign a free agent linebacker. Freddie Keiaho, who started the last two years for Indy, is still out there and would fit in the Bills' scheme.

Live Blogging at the NFL Draft

9:35 p.m. -- Had to take a couple of hours to write the column for the paper. The Bills end up with four picks in the first 51. Three of them are linemen, which is somewhat encouraging. Jairus Byrd, the second-round pick, will be given a shot at the starting free safety job. That means Donte Whitner stays at strong safety. They're high on Byrd's ballhawking skills. Byrd was a cornerback at Oregon.

The Bills gave Dallas a third-rounder and fourth-rounder to move up and take Andy Levitre in the second round (51st overall). Levitre plays guard and tackle, which provides more depth on the offensive line.

Bottom line: They used a first- and second-round pick to compensate for getting rid of Derrick Dockery and Jason Peters. I'm not sure how this makes them better, though they believe they're rebuilding the line with character (there's that word) guys who will mesh well together.

They haven't added a linebacker or tight end, two perceived areas of need. They still have plenty of money to spend. Maybe they're still targeting a player or two in free agency.

7:39 p.m. -- Spoke with my buddy, Hobson, who writes for the Bengals website. He's familiar with Eric Wood, a Cincinnati kid who played against his son in high school. Says Wood is a smart kid and a great guy. Hobson is familiar with Bills' history and knows how highly regarded Kent Hull was among the media here. "He's another Kent Hull," Hobson said. If he can play, it'll be all the better.

7:16 p.m. -- We should  be hearing from the Bills' brain trust soon. Ralph Wilson's wife told me a couple of weeks ago that the owner would be in Buffalo for the draft, but I haven't confirmed that yet.

7:11 p.m. -- Bills take Eric Wood, the third-ranked center in the draft, at 28 overall. Wood, out of Louisville, is considered very mobile for the position. He's one of the fastest centers in the draft. This means the Bills will play Geoff Hangartner, their prize free-agent pickup, at guard.

7:00 p.m. -- Three hours in and 27 picks. Not bad at all. I seem to recall the first round taking about six hours a few years ago. I'm told that we're one hour, 25 minutes ahead of where we would be if every team took their allotted 10 minutes per pick. I might get to the Wellington early.

Colts (and Bill Polian) took UConn running back Donald Brown with 27th pick. Amazing, but Ohio State's Beanie Wells is still on the board. Maybe the volatile redhead saw Brown run all over UB in the International Bowl. 

6:55 p.m. -- Pats trade again, sending 26 overall to Packers. Green Bay takes Matthews. So Bills won't have shot at Clay III, whose father picked off Jim Kelly at the end of the 1989 playoff game in Cleveland. At least Matthews won't be in New England, tormenting the Bills.

6:43 p.m. -- Two more picks, then the Bills go at 28 overall with the pick they got from the Eagles. It has to be a linebacker or tackle. Two of the USC 'backers are still on the board -- Matthews and Maualuga. Matthews is an outside guy. Mark had him going 12th, so it would be a value pick and they need help badly. Maualuga is a beast, but he plays inside. 

6:36 p.m. -- The Patriots traded out of the 23rd pick. Baltimore got the pick and used it to pick Michael Oher, the offensive tackle who was featured in Michael Lewis' book. Typical Pats. They already had 11 picks in this draft, including six of the first 100. Belichick must have his eye on someone who's likely to slide into round 2. 

6:16 p.m. -- Eagles traded up to get Cleveland's pick at 19 overall and took Jeremy Maclin, the game-breaking wideout from my alma mater, Missouri. Looks like Philly is determined to build up the offense for Donovan McNabb in his twilight years. Jason Peters, of course, is Philly's new left tackle. 

6:13 p.m. -- Maybin spoke with the Buffalo media by a telephone conference call. Seems like a pretty solid young man. Was far more articulate than Leodis McKelvin a year ago, that's for sure. Maybin was 6 years old when his mother died giving birth to his sister. He was raised by his stepmother. Al Wilson will have more in Sunday's paper.

5:40 p.m. -- More on Maybin. He just turned 21. Lives in Ellicott City, Maryland, went to Mount Hebron High there. Began last season as backup for Penn State. He took over for Maurice Evans in the third game of the season. Maybin made the most of his chance, earning first-team All-America honors and ranking seventh in the nation with 12 sacks. His bio calls him "personable and hard-working". Was enrolled in the College of Communications at Penn State. So it seems character might have been a factor here.

5:33 p.m. -- The Redskins take Orakpo at No. 13. Another Texas player to keep Mike Williams company. I suspect we'll spend some time comparing this pick to the Maybin pick in coming years. At draft time, most mock drafts had Orakpo going before Maybin. Kiper had Orakpo going to Buffalo at No. 11 and Maybin going 15th.  

5:29 p.m. -- Al Wilson tells me Maybin is a little light (249 pounds and over 6-4) and not strong against the run. Could we be looking at a true bookend for Aaron Schobel, a terrific pass rusher who is suspect against the run? Maybin could be one of those "situational" players at the start, an end who plays in obvious passing situations. What, you draft a guy 11th overall and pay him $20 million for situational use?

5:24 p.m. -- They're showing Aaron Maybin on his cell phone. Remember McGahee in '04 with the phony cell phone call? Steve Young says the Bills "underachieved" last year. What does that mean? Do these announcers have an obligation to be kind. The Bills lost eight of their last 10 games. Here's the pick. It is Maybin. A Penn State guy to go with Posluszny. Mark had him going 24th. Makes you wonder if they could have traded back here.

5:21 p.m. -- There he goes. Crabtree goes to the Niners with the 10th overall pick. Who's their quarterback? Bills on the clock. Brian Cushing is there. So is Brian Orakpo. Brian Bosworth -- not available.

5:20 p.m. -- By this point in the 2006 draft, the Bills had already taken Donte Whitner and were scheming to reach for John McCargo. Ah, memories.

5:18 p.m. -- Michael Crabtree is this year's player who does a freefall through the draft. Crabtree is a great talent, but his character appears to be an issue. Since when did character matter in this league?

5:14 p.m. -- Packers take B.J. Raji. Bills would have been fortunate to get him at 11. They can use help at defensive tackle. They can use help at a lot of places. Mark Gaughan has them taking Brian Cushing, the USC linebacker.

5:09 p.m. -- Second on line for dinner. John Wawrow of AP cut in front. Sense in the room is Bills would take Raji if he fell to 11. I don't think he did. Looks like Raji to the Packers.  

5:00 p.m. -- Scheduled dinner time. I'm coming out of my stance.

4:56 p.m. -- Raiders on the clock. Everyone seems to think Al Davis will draft someone who runs real fast, because he has a fascination with speed and the deep passing game. What happened to Michael Crabtree? Here it is, the Raiders take Darrius Hayward-Bey. High fives all around for Mark Gaughan, who predicted the pick. Now, if only JaMarcus Russell figures out how to throw the ball straight. Lisa Wilson, Allen's wife, isn't thrilled. Long-suffering Raidah fan.

4:53 p.m. -- Seven minutes to dinner, four picks to Bills. Andre Smith to the Bengals with sixth overall pick. That's two offensive tackles in first six picks. Will the Bills be chasing their tail on offensive tackles for years to come after trading Jason Peters? Just asking.

4:41 p.m. -- Lots of buzz in New York City from Jets fans, who aren't booing. Sanchez could be an upgrade from Brett Favre, who was miserable in the second half last year. Jets do take Sanchez. Fans better hope he's better than Matt Leinart. Of course, if the Jets get a franchise quarterback, it's bad news for the Bills.

4:37 p.m. -- News photographer Jim McCoy just stopped in and says he took photos of Brad Pitt getting on the Maid of the Mist today. Jim, who has been known to butcher his facts, says McCoy is making a movie in Albany. No sign of Angelina. Back to the draft. Big AFC East news: The Jets have traded up to No. 5, presumably to take Sanchez.

4:33 p.m. --  Seahawks take Aaron Curry, linebacker from Wake Forest. Some people felt Curry was the best talent in the whole draft. Look out for Seattle if he lives up to the hype. The Seahawks got big production from rookie defensive players when they went to the Super Bowl three years ago.

4:23 p.m. -- Pick is in. Kiper was right. They went for Tyson Jackson. First draft pick for former Pats personnel guru Scott Pioli.  Allen Wilson thinks it's a reach. Might have been able to get him lower. In the Sporting News draft issue, Jackson was rated as the eighth best defensive end, a third-rounder. Maybe Pioli is reaching to show that he can identify great defensive linemen without Bill Belichick's help.

4:20 p.m. -- Trey Wingo on the set now. I just like typing the words Trey Wingo. Purple ties seem fashionable today. A couple of reporters speak highly of the rock group Kings of Leon. A friend gave me a tape last week. I should listen to it more closely. Van Miller in the house.  

4:14 p.m. -- After all the blather about Sanchez, the Rams take Jason Smith, as widely anticipated. Mark Gaughan is 2 for 2 in the News. Big pick coming up. There's lots of differing opinions about KC. Mel Kiper has the Chiefs stunning the football world by taking Tyson Jackson, a defensive end from LSU. Jackson has really come on lately. I don't know why. I'm guessing he's excellent in space.

4:11 p.m. -- Lots of talk about Mark Sanchez. Until someone picks him, it'll be the dominant theme of the early first round. Less than 50 minutes until dinner.

4:10 p.m. -- I'm trying very hard not to dwell on the fact that I could be out golfing today. How about a golf shirt for one of the draftees? Shorts?

4:05 p.m. -- I'm  switching to real time now. Waiting on the second pick, which is the Rams. Everyone has them going for the tackle from Baylor. Chris Berman is a buffoon. I spent time with some top sports columnists recently and was surprised to find how widely despised Berman is among the sports writing community.

Draft time: The commissioner puts the Lions on the clock. Here we go. They're taking Matthew Stafford. People are booing. A question: Is it absolutely mandatory for the players to wear suits and ties? I mean, if someone showed up in a nice open-collared shirt and jeans, would it be some major violation? Would the commissioner suspend him for the first two games of his career? It's football, not Project Runway. But again, I'm just trying to be contrary. Heaven forbid any of these outstanding ex-college students have a mind of his own.  

5-minute warning: I'm not Vince Lombardi, but I get tired of hearing how certain defensive players are only suited to a 4-3 or 3-4 scheme. I'm especially tired of hearing about Dick Jauron's defense and how it favors quick, penetrating linemen. Hey guys, find a great football player and turn him loose. Draft players who are so good they defy the precious system. This is the most alarming thing about Jauron -- that he's a supposed defensive whiz whose very philosophy of defense is in question. In retrospect, that might be why they fell for John McCargo a few years ago and reached for him. He fit the system. I learned years go to be wary of coaches who pump the system and try to fit players into it.

12:12 to the first pick: I'm told the Bills included only one running back on their 50th anniversary team -- Thurman Thomas. Seems like a clear attempt to keep O.J. Simpson off the team. Their justification is that the Bills had a three-wide receiver offense during the Super Bowl years. Sure. If they're so embarrassed to be associated with O.J., they should take him off the Wall of Fame, as I suggested a few years ago.

36:40 to the first pick: Another hot cliche -- talking about how a player "gets out of his stance quickly". I'll be springing out of my stance at 5 p.m. or so in the media room, when dinner is served.

40:00 left to the first pick: ESPN is reporting that Russ Brandon says it's unlikely the Bills will package the 11th and 28th picks to move up in the draft. Gee, you think? Why would a team with so many needs and a reluctance to pay the big money (Jason Peters?) want to move up for a top five pick? There's a lot greater chance they'll move down in the draft.

1:07.30 to the first pick (Stafford): Periodically, I'll be selecting some of my favorite draft cliches to break up the day. I might even make my annual draft sojourn to the Big Tree to ease the monotony. One of my favorite cliches is "he's good in space". When I hear this, I picture a 330-pound lineman floating around in outer space, looking for someone to block. I don't do well in space. I'm better in clutter. My daughter is in space a lot of the time. Sorry, I'll try to take this more seriously. 

I don't think the Bills should take an offensive tackle at No. 11.  

1:24 left until the first pick: Settling into the media room at One Bills Drive. I couldn't find a parking place in the media lot. Apparently, they're announcing the Bills' 50th anniversary team today inside the stadium. Anything to distract fans from the plight of the current team, I suppose.

I am not a fan of this event, let me be clear from the start. The NFL draft is the single most overhyped, overrated and overcovered event in sports. I don't have a draft board. I haven't watched film. I watch some college football, but not enough to have an informed opinion on Eugene Monroe, Aaron Curry or Brian Orakpo. It amuses me how these players rise and fall in the days and weeks before the draft, without even playing games.

I'm also amused to find that former Bills offensive tackle Mike Williams has signed with the Redskins. How fitting to have that news arrive on such a day.

I'm suspicious of all the intelligence out there. At least I admit I don't know anything. There are three USC linebackers expected to be picked in the first round. Apparently, no one can decide which one is the best of the three. Three guys on the same linebacking crew are that good? How did USC ever lose a game? Could it be that players look better in a USC uniform, because of all the studs around them in the football factory?

I think the Bills need someone who can rush the passer. Someone better than Chris Kelsay, who said last year he's not one of those Aaron Schobel guys who gets a bunch of sacks. Refresh my memory. What exactly are they paying Kelsay $6 million a year for? And what NFL team would want to trade for him and be saddled with his $3 million salary?

Sabres' future shutdown D

Sabres fans don't have a lot to root for in the Stanley Cup playoffs (unless there are any Chris Drury fans left). But they can take comfort in the fact that one of the team's top young prospects is thriving in the junior hockey playoffs. 

Tyler Myers, the team's first-round pick in last year's draft, is playing for the Kelowna Rockets in the WHL's Western Conference finals. Myers, a 6-7 defenseman, has been shadowing Vancouver Giants star Evander Kane, who is expected to be a high pick in this year's draft.

Myers is 19, but it's evident that he is advancing quickly. He made a strong impression in last yera's Buffalo training camp. Maybe by next year's camp, he'll be ready to make a serious push to make the Sabres roster. The Sabres have a crying need to get younger and bigger on the blueline. It's something to ponder while suffering through another spring without the Sabres in the playoffs.   

Back in the Saddle

So I get back from my Las Vegas/Grand Canyon vacation to find two major developments on the Buffalo sporting landscape: Darcy Regier and Lindy Ruff are still here, and Jason Peters is not.

You'd think the typical Buffalo sports fan would wish that the opposite were true. But as Allen Wilson pointed out, there has been very little outrage about the Bills' decision to trade Peters to the Eagles. It's not altogether surprising, though. A lot of Bills fans had developed an antipathy for Peters, who wanted to be paid as the top left tackle in the NFL and hurt his team by holding out of training camp last season.

It's the typical reaction among Bills fans. When a player demands to be paid the big money, he becomes the embodiment of all that is evil. It's a lot easier, I suppose, than blaming management for allowing an elite athlete to get away by failing to pay market value. The player is dismissed as greedy and duplicitous, and fans nod their heads in disgust.

It reminds me of what happened with Chris Drury. The Sabres failed to anticipate a shifting marketplace and let the soul of the team get away. And once he was out there door, a lot of Sabres fans were happy to trash Drury, accusing him of being greedy and misleading the team. He became the villain. To a lesser extent, the same thing happened with Daniel Briere and Brian Campbell. And going back further, with Michael Peca.

Peters had three years left on his contract when he held out a year ago. I can understand how fans would be resentful. But the bottom line is, another talented Buffalo player is gone and people don't seem all that upset about it. How does this make the Bills a better team? They have piles of money to spend. Why not pay Peters, who is acknowledged as one of the top left tackles in the sport?

Meanwhile, it's status quo with the Sabres. Larry Quinn did his thorough, top-to-bottom evaluation and decided to stay the course with Regier and Ruff. What else did you expect? What Tom Golisano needs is a respected veteran hockey guy, someone to tell him what he needs to hear -- not what he wants to hear. Regier is the guy who turned the Sabres into a soft team that doesn't show up every night and isn't physically tough to play against. If Quinn felt there was something essentially wrong with the roster, he should have booted the guy who put it together. And if his successor wanted to fire Ruff, so be it.

I think they've all gotten far too comfortable over at the Arena. Maybe that's what happens when you have an absentee owner who invests too much power in a non-hockey guy. Quinn did his evaluation and he pointed at the players. Apparently, they're the only problem.

At some point, it's also about the guys picking the players. The Bills miss the playoffs every year. Ralph Wilson whines about a lack of talent. But the same two personnel men, Tom Modrak and John Guy, remain in control. The Sabres miss the playoffs two years in a row and Regier stays in power as the GM. I guess it doesn't matter if you leave for a week or a year. In Buffalo, it's status quo. Same as it ever was.

Like the Sabres, I'm on Vacation

Just in case anyone suspects I'm falling down on the blog: I'm on vacation this week in Las Vegas. So I won't be blogging or chatting until I return next Wednesday, just in time to look ahead to the Bills' draft.  I assume I'll be blogging live or chatting from the event at One Bills Drive. I've never been to a sports book before. Which NFL long shot will I bet to win the Super Bowl this year?

Whitner

We're well past the point where the Bills could claim to have some higher standard of character. The Marshawn Lynch arrests, the drafting of James Hardy, the Ko Simpson fiasco -- it's pretty clear that the Bills have as many knuckleheads on the roster as the average NFL team.

But the news of Donte Whitner's arrest early Saturday was a big blow to the organization. In case you haven't heard, Whitner is accused of resisting arrest and aggravated disorderly conduct after a "near riot" outside a bar in his native Cleveland. Police used a Taser device to subdue Whitner, who reportedly attempted to force his way past officers to get to an area where several fights were in progress.

Whitner will get his day in court. But this is bad news for the Bills, just two days after the NFL suspended Marshawn Lynch for three games for running afoul of the law twice in nine months.

Lynch is an acknowledged problem child. Whitner has been portrayed as a leader and stand-up guy since coming to Buffalo three years ago. He's a willing and often eloquent spokesman. He works hard and has defensive teammates over to his house once a week to study film. Last year, he guaranteed the Bills would make the playoffs.

It's alarming, at the very least, to read about Whitner having to be subdued by cops in the early morning hours during a near riot outside a bar. He's 23. You can't expect him to sit home all the time. But if Whitner is going to pass himself off as a leader, he should hold himself to a higher standard. From the report, it sounds like he was trying to get to a fight, which might have involved his friends. But he got himself tossed in jail and he embarrassed the organization at a time when they've been embarrassed enough.

Whitner has also compromised himself as a leader. Gee, wasn't it Terrell Owens who was supposed to be the distraction? The only guarantee I want to hear from Whitner this year is that this sort of thing will never happen again.

Chew On This

From what I'm told, Sabres owner Tom Golisano is not happy at the media for bringing up his promise to chew on a microphone if his team failed to make the Stanley Cup playoffs again.

Talk about thin skin. What did Golisano expect when he made the comment? Is he that devoid of a sense of humor? A college women's basketball player, Courtney Paris, promised to give back her $64,000 scholarship if her team didn't win the NCAA title. You didn't hear her ripping the media for talking about it later.

Forget about chewing the microphone. Tom, how about chewing on a dog bone instead?

Yes, as punishment for the Sabres missing the playoffs two seasons in a row after winning the Presidents' Trophy, Golisano gets sent to my doghouse. He will remain there until the Sabres conduct a post-season press conference and tell their fans how they intend to remedy the situation.

Live Chat With Sully

Welcome to this week's chat. I promise to spend more time than I did last week at the Final Four.

Thanks for taking part in the chat. See you in two weeks.