You can take the kid out of South Buffalo, but you can't take the South Buffalo out of the kid

Well Buffalo Native Patrick Kane had a fun time in his hometown this weekend. And by fun, I mean a trip to the holding center, and we all know how fun that place is lately.

Looks like the Kane's went all "do you know who I am" on a local cab driver. But to be fair local taxi service is expensive. 12 bucks from Chippewa to Canisius? Are you kidding its like a 5 minute ride. No excuse to allegedly assault a cabbie for 20 cents. From the details I would like to break down how this all happened.

(Chippewa 430am)

James Kane: Oh boy Patty, I drank my face off tonight. We got so many free drinks. People love you.

Patty Kane: Yeah, who doesn't love the PK. We need to get a cab because I couldn't drive to the net, let alone a car. Getting a DWI would be bad for my image, so my agent says. Mug shots don't make for good publicity, whatever, PK does what PK wants.

James Kane: Yeah, you're the man Patty. WOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! Hey theres a cab, lets get that one.

(flags down cab)

Cabdriver: Hey boys, fun night out? Where you want to go?

Patrick Kane: Oh man I don't want to go home. I still need to party, got anyone you know Jimmy.

James Kane: Well there is this house on Eastwood, that is filled with some girls. And they would love to meet you.

Patrick Kane: Oh yeah, everybody wants a piece of PK. Screw TO, PK is the man in Buffalo.

Cabdriver: Guys where we going, meter is running.

James Kane: Hey this is Patrick Kane you have in your vehicle, when we decide, we'll let you know, so just drive.

(cabdriver starts van, starts driving)

Patrick Kane: Eastwood then?

James Kane: We all know how those Canisius girls are.

Patrick Kane: Yeah I hear they are fine upstanding young ladies.

(both start laughing)

Ed note: Canisius girls are the finest women in all of Buffalo.

James Kane: Oh man I wish you played for the Sabres, we could do this all year long, instead of the Summers.

Patrick Kane: If I played for the Sabres, I wouldn't play in the Playoffs.

James Kane: Oh Man BURRRRRRRRN!

Cabdriver: I think the Sabres have a chance this year.

Patrick Kane: Yeah a chance to suck.

James Kane: Dude, you are so on fire.

Cabdriver: So awesome duo, what house number on Eastwood.

James Kane: I don't know Your momma's house number.

Patrick Kane: OHHHH He got you old man.

Cabdriver: That didn't make any sense.

James Kane: Oh man I am wasted.

Patrick Kane: Me too, now I'm kinda hungry.

Cabdriver: We're here!

James Kane: Can we go to Jim's?

Cabdriver. NO NO NO, its 5am and its closed. I'm not going any farther with you two idiots. Now get out of my cab and its $13.50.

James Kane: Here's $15

Cabdriver: Oh, I don't have 20 cents change.

James Kane: WHAT? YOU TRYING TO STEAL FROM US? JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE PATRICK KANE IN THE CAB AND YOU THINK HE HAS ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD?

Cabdriver: No I just dont....

(James Kane Punches him the face. Takes money back)

James Kane: BOOM BITCH, Thats how you roll in the SOBUFF.

(Patrick Kane continues the pummeling)

Patrick Kane: I'm ON A ROOKIE DEAL! I MAKE NOTHING! DON'T STEAL FROM ME!

(They get out of cab, cabbie radios the police)

James Kane: We showed that guy he can't mess with the Kane Boys. We keep it real. We're from the street.

Patrick Kane: Yeah we're super tough. Thats how you are raised in South Buffalo.

(Both see black person and hide behind a park car)

James Kane: That was close, we almost got jacked.

Patrick Kane: Canisius is such a rough area, I don't know how people learn here.

(cops arrive)

Cop: Whats going on?

Cabdriver: These two assaulted me and stole money from me.

Cop: Is this true guys?

Patrick Kane: We stole money? He tried to play off the old "I don't have 20 cents bit" THATS MY MONEY I WORK FOR MY MONEY!

Cop: Don't you have a lot of money?

Patrick Kane: I'M ON A ROOKIE DEAL!!! I MAKE SQUAT!

Cop: Ok we're going downtown. Turn around you're both under arrest.

James Kane: This is harassement. This is bias, you're only arresting us because we're famous.

Cop: This is why I got out of the South Buffalo beat to begin with.

(and scene)

Thats how I think this incident went down. I could be wrong, probably totally wrong, but whatever. These two idiots will get some low level misdemeanor conviction at city court, just like everyone else and pay some fine and get some community service. This won't do anything to Pat Kane's image.

Canisius Sports Roundup

Well the Griffs are playing tonight against lifelong Arch Rival Niagara tonight. Who they never beat, because they are usually not as good as Niagara. The Griffs 2-1 in their last 3 games, and Niagara is 1-2 in their last 3 games. (Though the Griffs lost 4 in a row before that and Niagara won 3 in row before that. This was the only way I could make the Griffs look good.)

The Griffs in the past couple weeks have pulled themselves from the basement in the MAAC to 2nd last place in the MAAC, and with some good play, could move into the middle. You know maybe get a win in the MAAC tournament, before being dispatched by a much better team.

But Frank Turner is leading the team in most statistics, which is good because he's the team leader and everything goes through Frank. Chris Gadley has become a good transfer for the Griffs and Julius Coles and Greg Logins are also solid pieces in the puzzle. But then the offensive depth drops off after that. They are still growing into what they need to become. They are better then last years awful team, and will improve next year. Though on average are being outscored 5 points per game.

Niagara is not a good matchup for the Griffs. So don't except a Griff win tonight, especially in the Gallagher Center.

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The Womens team, is a different story. They are having quite the year. They are tied for 2nd in the MAAC and 15-5 on the year. They have won their last 3 games, and 12-1 in their last 13. They are hot and playing well heading into the most important time of the year. We can expect good things from the Lady Griffs come March in Albany. (The only good thing we can expect in Albany)

Utah transfer Marie Warner is powering the Griffs with 17 points per game, almost 8 rebounds a game and a 45% shooting percentage. If only the Griffs could pick up more Canadians who wanted to be closer to home. Russell and Cavo are helping out with 11 and 9 points per game. But its obvious the team is riding Warner towards a MAAC title, hoping to beat mighty Marist.

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The Men's Hockey team, is the definition of .500. Well they were until yesterday, after a sweep by RIT. Canisius' budding rival in Atlantic Hockey. The Griffs swept Air Force last weekend, leading into high hopes against RIT at home. But as usual the Griffs don't pull through. They are now 9-10-4 overall and 7-8-2 in conference, good for 6th place. The Griffs usual place in Atlantic Hockey Conference.

Dave Kotusch is the leading goal and point scorer on the Griffs with 15 goals and 23 points, in 23 games. Jason Weeks has 22 points and Josh Heidinger has 21 points. The griffs have 8 guys in double digit scoring. Which is good for 23 games. They have balanced scoring. They are also decent in net, well when Andrew Loewen is between the pipes. His .917 sv% and 2.93 GAA are pretty decent for College Hockey.

The Griffs have conference mate Sacred Heart at home this weekend, so lets hope for a sweep to move above that .500 mark.

Sorry for the abscence

I have been detained the past few days, with work and with personal life. That kept me away from the blog. Yes I know, very sad. But I should be coming strong this week. The Sabres are on the road. College Hoops is really heating up. And the league championships are this weekend.

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Lets talk about football.

I watched a bunch of the games. Didn't catch much of the Steelers Chargers game. Because I knew how that was going to turn out. The Chargers are ok, and squeeked by last week. The Steelers are always ready at home. Which was going to lead to a non competitive game. But how bad is Quarterback play in the NFL now? Or are the playoff defenses that much better? Arizona made Jake Delhomme look like a rookie. Joe Flacco is a rookie and plays like one, seriously he isn't that good. Kerry Collins was just as bad. Kurt Warner is actually playing well, since teams are giving him time, so he'll rip you to shreds. Eli Manning was terrible, Mcnabb was okay, but nothing special. I though the phone thing was funny and odd. But Roelisberger has his typical day, nothing fancy, just getting the ball around and they run the ball. Rivers got down and had to throw, so his stats were high. But almost completed just 50% of his passes.

You think with the final 8 teams, we could get some decent quarterback play from at least half the teams.

Also, why is it called the divisional round? Theres nothing divisional about it. Which brought my idea up, if they have the names already, why not bump up the playoffs to 8 teams. Have the Wild Card teams play one weekend, then the Divisonal winners play each other one weekend. Then Winners all meet the following week in the Semifinals. Then the conference semifinals the following week, followed by the Conference Championship. Its an extra week of playoffs, more money for the league and Tv, plus it would be awesome. The teams get a week off if they win. It keeps the incintive to win the division. The wild cards are usually better then the division winners anyway, so it won't hurt anyone.

Divisonal playoffs makes zero sense. That has to change. Say, the conference semifinals. That sounds better.

Anyway thats just something that was bothering me. I'm sure it bothers 4 other people.

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On to Hockey.

Well the Sabres went 1-1 on the weekend. Not too bad. Though they really relied on Ryan Miller on both nights. I honestly though they were going to get a point in Detroit. But just fell apart late, and thats all it takes for the Red Wings. But I don't mind losing to the Red Wings in Detroit. The win against the Rangers was good. They really turned it on in the 3rd period. Usually when the Sabres get down the stay down. But fought hard and got the win in the shootout. They have really played much better since the Washington disaster.

And the fact that expiring contracts maybe in vogue for NHL teams to trade for, Max might actually pull in a actual player. The extra room the Sabres have, could really benefit them, and with the amount of money thats expiring for the Sabres this year, they could pull off dead weight for dead weight. Someone who needs new scenery. (They mention Dustin Penner) He makes too much, but I think might bring something for the Sabres, if Brian Burke doesn't snag him first. When thinking trades over the next month or so, think dead weight, the sabres have the right kind of contracts. Max, Connolly, Teppo, Kotalik, that others might want to clear some room this year off their books. Creative accounting trading. With that the Sabres might pull in a interesting player.
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The Griff men lost again, to Fairfield, the crappiest school in the MAAC. No matter who I know who works there. Which drops them to 0-6 in conference. Which will come in handy conference tourney time, when they are the last seed. But seriously, how have they gotten better. They can't score, the don't win close games, its same old same old. Time to hire a new kind of coach.

The Griff women, won for the 9th straight time. Which makes them 12-4 and 4-1 in the conference. They seem to have the right players. Play good basketball and score. Hey Canisius. Why not make the Womens coach, the Men's coach. He's good, I'm sure he can coach the mens team to some success.

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Anyway, more later. But its good to be back.

Canisius is good with Bats.

So I guess I was ignoring spring sports, since I never really went to any of the games when I went to school, so I really don't care. But I thought I would check into how things are going with Canisius spring sports. Which have to be the worse, since you play in crap for the entire season. But a shocking thing came to my attention the Baseball team is really good. Like hey they might make the tournament good. When did baseball get good?

Record 22-4
MAAC 5-1
Road 13-2

They are miles ahead in the MAAC standings, and I'm pretty sure if you win the MAAC you get a shot at Omaha. Which is a great story that no one in town is following. Plus the team is full of decent players. Only one of the regular starting players is hitting below .300, and he's hitting .299. Their opponents ERA against them is 8.17. And their team ERA is 4.12. Which isn't very good but their top 3 starters who are 13-2, are pitching below 3.25. They have solid numbers across the board and I'm assuming with the nicer weather, they'll only get better.


Softball

The ladies aren't far behind. They don't have the flashy record, 17-10, but have gone 11-2 in their last 13. And with their MAAC schedule left, they will only improve that record. I love going through Softball stats, because the elite pitchers have insane stats. They really need to move back the mound, to make softball a little more offensive. Top level softball is all about pitching. The Griffs apparently only need 4 pitchers? And the team ERA is .220.

The hitting also seems kinda average, which could cost them later on when trying to make the tournament, which seems to be annual trip for the Canisius Softball team. They are always good and this year there is no exception. But good as in small northeast softball team good. Not UCLA good. The team batting average is only .275, but 4 girls are batting over .300.

Well bottom line, it looks like both teams with bats, could be making the tournament at the end of spring. Which is good for the program, and the region, showing our area can compete in spring sports.

A win and a lost

Hey lets start with the good news, our beloved Canisius College Golden Griffins actually won a game on Friday! Yay, and they blew Fairfield out. Winning 88-60. The main man, Frank Turner was hot with 26 points and the Griffs were red hot from the floor shooting an amazing 61.7% from the floor, hey maybe things are coming together near the end of the season. A nice home win for the fans, over those dreaded stags. 4 other players scored in double digits for the boys in Blue and gold, with Logins, Bevilacqua, Frazier and Robinson all scoring above 10 points on the night. Vazquez Simmons held another block party with 5 blocks on the night. The win pushed the Griffs to 4 wins and 2 conference wins. Yah baby that win over Niagara wasn't a fluke.

Then Sunday happened, the much hyped before the season Loyola Greyhounds, came to town. And gave Canisius a cold shower and stopped their winning streak at 1 game. (yes 1 win is a steak for this team) The Griffs dropped this one 74-62. With the Greyhounds shooting above 55% for the game, the Griffs had no chance, since they were back at their normal shooting level, you know, not good. When Vazquez Simmons is your leading scorer, thats not a good sign for the game. He lead the team with 15 points. With Elton Frazier and Greg Logins also scoring in double digits. This loss dropped the Griffs to 4-18 on the year. Ugh just pitiful.

Next up Iona in New Rochelle on Friday. Enjoy the week boys lets get to 5 wins!.

Holy Crap they won a game!

You could have colored me surprised when I read that Canisius beat someone. Especially with such a big win. I didn't even know they could score 88 points. Of course Parrotta pulled out the old Polish Rifle Pawel Malesa for this contest. He scored a career high 25 points with 21 of those from the 3 point line. I guess the coach was like who hasn't fucked up for me yet. Pawel, go out there and shoot it, can't hurt. I guess when you shoot 54% for a game you're bound to win one of them. And keeping the cold shooting Willie Hassell on the bench for half the game helps to. But he was on fire shooting, going 5 for 7 from the field.

But it was finally nice to see Frank Turner break out this year. 17 Points, 13 assists, 6 rebounds in 39 minutes of action. Plus he only had 2 turnovers on the day. The Griffs need Frank Turner to play like this, night in night out for them to succeed. They can't expect The Polish Rifle to fire like that every night. Of course he doesn't play that much to begin with. But a win is a win and a big win like this can only inspire confidence in the rest of the troops.

Fun with Tom Parrotta Quotes

“This win is a good reward for the guys,” Canisius head coach Tom Parrotta said. “This goes to all the hard work and for not giving up. We wanted to play Canisius basketball and that’s what we did this afternoon.”

Well I think the problem was, you were playing Canisius Basketball and somehow Saturday afternoon, you played someone else's style and that helped.

Next game Wednesday at Robert Morris.

Brian Dux update

Well I wish I could say I have some good news, but things aren't looking good for Brian Dux.

"Guildford Heat Basketball Club this morning confirms that the injuries sustained by point guard Brian Dux in the early hours of Saturday morning appear to be potentially far worse than previously thought. Discussions between Dux family members and Frimley Park Hospital consultants have now taken into consideration the possibility that Brian Dux may have suffered permanent disability from his single car automobile accident."

"After speaking with Brian Dux’s parents, Mark and Lynda last night, Heat head coach Paul James had this to say, “Last night I spoke at great length with Brian’s family and the news I received left me very shaken. While there still remains a great degree of uncertainty about the extent of Brian’s long term injuries the fact is clear that they are now indeed very serious. His brain has suffered significant trauma and doctors are concerned with the amount of time Brian remained untreated in his car before he was rescued. He has yet to regain consciousness and the wait for this to occur may go on for quite some time. Brian is still in a stable condition, and the hospital are carrying out more procedures to aid recovery and to keep him comfortable.”

Well thats some news I didn't want to hear, but it seems he will survive so thats a positive, and he can fight back from there. He obviously didn't quit on his basketball dream, so I don't see why he would give up here. Well my thoughts and prayers are out for you Brian.

Well heres a nice article on Yahoo about Brian, written by a former Bona Grad.

GET BETTER BRIAN!

This weekend in Canisius Sports

A somewhat busy weekend for the Griff athletic teams. But with Hockey and Basketball getting going, it should be a more active report in the coming weeks. So who did what?

Mens Hockey.

Well the Ice Griffs on their first of 3 road trips. Opened with split with Holy Cross. On friday they lost 3-2, with the Crusaders scoring twice in the third to pull out a victory. Josh Heidinger(3g) and Dave Cianfrini(4g) scored for the Griffs, and Bryce Luker took the loss. On Saturday they took their revenge by beating Holy Cross 4-2 in Worcester. With Kyle Bushee played the hero with 3 points. Weeks (1g), Wright(1g) and Heidinger (4g) also tallied for the Griffs while Andrew Loewen got his first win of the year.

Next up two games at American International next friday and saturday.


Ladies Basketball.

The Women opened up their season at West Virginia and took the beating that could be predicted, losing 76-49 in Morgantown. Micayla Drysdale was the leading scored for the Griffs with 13 and Brittani Russell followed with 11 points. Shooting 35.6% for the game isn't lighting it on fire, but they are playing a tougher Big East team and only were 61.1% at the line. If they want to do anything this year the ladies gotta put in the free points. Laquita Owens led the Mountaineers with 21 points.

Next up Colgate at the KAC on Monday at 7pm.

Mens Basketball

The Men haven't played yet but have two games on the schedule this week. Tuesday the home opener against Colgate at 7:30 at the Koessler Athletic Center, then a much tougher test on Friday when they head into Penn State to take on the Nittany Lions. That game can be seen on ESPN 360 so fire up those computers and watch the Griffs take on a Big Ten Opponent. That game starts at 7:00pm.

Women's Volleyball

The ladies finished off the season strong winning their last 4 of 5. But it was too little too late and will not qualify for the playoffs. But still a strong season finishing 10 and 8 in the MAAC. They won their last two matches of the season, beating Manhattan on Sunday and Saint Peters on Saturday.

Other sports

The Men and Women of the Cross Country team went to Boston this weekend to compete in the NCAA Northeast Meet. The Men finished 26 out of 34 and the women finished 24 out of 36. Which isn't that bad, for a school that doesn't put any money into cross country. And they both beat Niagara, which is the most important stat. Suck on that Purple Eagle runners.

Next Week ECAC Championships.