Tribute to BUFFALO NY!

I'm from Buffalo. We eat chicken wings, not Buffalo wings. Jack Kemp is a quarterback, not a politician. We drink Labatt Blue and love it. Mighty Taco always has preference over Taco Bell. Pop, not soda and Pepsi, not Coke.

They are sneakers not tennis shoes. It's a sucker, not a lollipop. Bison chip dip, La Nova Pizzeria, Aunt Rosie's Loganberry, Chevettas Chicken, Peter K's Potato Pancakes and Ted's Hot Dogs are all too familiar...not to forget Taffy's Shakes and Charlie the butcher.

A fake ID is unneccessary, there is always Canada...But we have them anyway. Our bars don't close until 4amm and we DO sell beer in a grocery store (Tops or Wegmans), which always makes for early starts and late nights. Jim's steak out at 4 in the morning is calling it an early night...

We never cuss, but we swear entirely too much. We know that a 65 mph speed limit really means 80. We will cut you off, swear, and give you the finger if you are keeping up AND do it all in the snow, while expecting nothing less in return. Driving in the snow not only comes naturally, it is fun.

We know what Artvoice and Nightlife are and we either love them or try to burn every copy we see. We start the weekends off right at Thursdays in the square while enjoying beer, free music, and an interesting crowd.

We lived through Wide Right, The Forward Lateral, and No Goal. Dubbed by Dan Marino as "the meanest fans because no-one actually wants to live here..."

We all know he wouldn't stand one winter up here. We love the Bills (no matter what) and accept that it takes 2-4 hours to get home from a game. Nothing closes in 3 feet of snow or -20 windchills...In fact, that's how we prefer to tailgate.

We can correctly pronounce, spell, and identify Chippewa, Scajaquada, Lackawanna, Cheektowaga, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Olean, Tonawanda and Gowanda without hesitation. When giving direction it's not "take I-90 to Route 33 east" it's " take the 90 to the 33 east"..."the" is not an option.

We are 30 minutes from another country, one of the seven wonders of the world, and even a few beaches. It's the second largest city in New York.

I AM FROM BUFFALO, a drinking town with a sports problem, and damn proud!

LOVE IT OR HATE IT!

Lindell loses job to Hopkins

PITTSFORD – When the Buffalo Bills used a sixth-round draft pick on a kicker, Rian Lindell hoped the rookie would be a dud.

That would’ve made the situation easier for Lindell. He could compete against the kid and not feel one bit conflicted.

“When I first met him, I kind of hoped he’d be a knucklehead,” Lindell told The Buffalo News on Monday. “Maybe that would give me a little bit of an advantage.”

Dustin Hopkins, though, turned out to be the genuine article.

The Bills conferred the job to Hopkins on Friday by releasing Lindell, the most accurate kicker in club history. Lindell was Buffalo’s longest-tenured player, entering his 14th NFL season and 11th with the team.

Hopkins will be the first rookie to kick field goals for the Bills since Jake Arians replaced Steve Christie in 2000.

“He’s good,” Lindell said of Hopkins. “He’s as advertised. He’s a good kid, a hard worker. He’s going to be good.”

Hopkins learned he’d won the job when Lindell sent him a congratulatory text.

“I find myself kind of in a paradox,” Hopkins said after Friday’s practice at St. John Fisher College. “This is something I’ve worked my whole life for. …

“But at the same time, it’s the bad part about pro sports, parting with a guy I have a lot of respect for and have admired watching for a long time and has meant so much to the community.”

Lindell’s leg has lost power. The Bills drafted kickoff specialist John Potter last year with the intention of carrying two kickers on the roster. The Bills cut Potter during the season because he wasn’t generating touchbacks. Still, former coach Chan Gailey didn’t trust Lindell to try field goals longer than 50 yards.

The team’s doubts about Lindell resurfaced when they drafted Hopkins in April.

Hopkins kicked in the first half of each preseason game. He was perfect on four field-goal attempts, making kicks from 24 and 23 yards in the opener against the Indianapolis Colts and from 39 and 35 yards Friday night against the Minnesota Vikings.

Lindell kicked a 30-yard field goal in Indianapolis but didn’t try any Friday night.

Lindell found the competition to be fair and blamed only himself for losing his job.

“I just didn’t kick like I wanted to kick,” Lindell said. “I should have kicked better. I think I’m better than I’ve showed. I just didn’t hit as clean a ball as I feel I could have. That’s a little frustrating.”

Lindell holds club records with an 83.3 career field-goal percentage, a 92.0 field-goal percentage in 2006, 18 consecutive field goals made in 2007 and 225 consecutive successful extra points.

He ranks second in all-time Bills scoring with 980 points, 31 points behind Christie.

Lindell told The News he won’t retire yet, that he’ll try to hook on with another team this preseason.

“I’ll keep trudging along and hopefully go somewhere and get a look,” Lindell said. “I’ll keep searching for that perfect step, that holy grail of hitting the ball squarely down my line whenever I want. That’s the quest.

“I’ll just have to do it in another uniform.”

But Lindell also declared he’ll forever be a Bills fan. He thanked the team for signing him three times.

“I appreciate all the fans that gave me the benefit of the doubt,” Lindell said. “There are so many that come up to you and say, ‘Go Bills,’ through thick or thin. I suppose it’s easy in a way to be negative with no playoffs or whatever, but there’s a lot of people out there that have always been positive toward me.

“So, ‘Go Bills.’ It’s nice to have a team to root for. I’m all in, man. I love that franchise.”

Drake Coming to First Niagara Center

Buffalo, NY (WKBW/FNC Release) - Drake will be coming to First Niagara Center, with special guests Future and Miguel, on Wednesday, October 16th at 7:30pm.

Tickets go on sale Friday, June 21st at 10am. Tickets are $99.75, $69.75 and $49.75 (includes $2.50 facility fee) and can be purchased at the First Niagara Center Box Office, online at www.tickets.com or by calling 888-223-6000. A random handbill policy will be in effect. A limited number of handbills are available now. All tickets subject to applicable service charges and fees. No service charge applies at the First Niagara Center Box Office.
Dates and times subject to change without notice.

Kevin Kolb: "I'm here to win a Super Bowl. Period." - OH!

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (WKBW) - The Buffalo Bills have announced Monday the signing of veteran free-agent quarterback Kevin Kolb.
Kolb was an Arizona Cardinal the past two seasons. The 28-year-old is a six-year veteran.

According to Buffalobills.com, Kolb has never played a full 16-game season in his career. This is in part of the fact he's always served as a backup, or was injured. He took over for injured QB John Skelton last season in Arizona.

Kolb will now be competing for the Bills' starting QB against Tavaris Jackson and Aaron Corp.
Terms of the deals were not disclosed per team policy.

For More Football and Sports action, go to http://www.gotaction.com

Thank you!

Chris Melling vs Dennis Hatch (BuFFalo Native) Mosconi Cup 2012

 TEAM EUROPE won the second session of the 2012 Mosconi Cup by three points to two to leave the annual Europe v America match dead level at the halfway stage. There were wins for American pairs in the first and last doubles matches of the day while Europe took both singles matches as well as the second doubles match. With America leading 3-2 from the first day’s play but underdogs at the start of the competition, there was a feeling that both teams would have been happy being tied at the end of the day. It was Johnny Archer, playing in his 16th Mosconi Cup and Shane Van Boening who squared it up in the final match of the evening as they beat the stellar European team of Darren Appleton and Niels Feijen. It was another 5-4 match – the fourth of the competition and the fourth won by the American team – but Archer and Van Boening came with some great shots under pressure to record the win.

 The Europeans got off to a bad start to the session though, as the English duo of Darren Appleton and Chris Melling lost a squeaker to Mosconi legend Johnny Archer and Mike Dechaine. The Americans had lead 4-2 before Europe clawed their way back into it with a pair of quality run outs. At 4-4 Dechaine broke, but Archer missed a fine cut on the 1 ball. Melling was left with a full table pot on the one but it failed to drop and in the end Dechaine took the point with a 6/9 combination. That took the overall score to 4-2 in favour of the away team but Archer was as cautious as a man who has played in 15 Mosconi Cups could be; “It is going to be nip and tuck all the way, any match you could lose it at any time or you could win it at any time. We made a mistake tonight but we have to take advantage of whatever first shot we have and Melling made a mistake to give us the opportunity. “I want to say congratulations to Mike because he felt bad after losing yesterday but he came out today and played wonderful like the champ that he is.”

 Dechaine enjoyed the moment, “It is incredible; I feel I have had to go back to basics with my game because of the crowd yelling and everybody cheering Europe on. I feel that might put some more pressure on them as well because they have to win in front of their own crowd.” That put enormous pressure on European captain Johan Ruijsink as arguably his weakest player Nick Ekonomopoulos went out to face the pick of Team USA in Shane Van Boening. However, the nervy Greek debutant clearly hadn’t read the script as he powered to a 5-3 win to pull his team off the floor and set the York Hall on fire. Aided by one or two rolls at opportune times, Nikos, as he is known in his home country, stayed with Van Boening in the opening stages before the tide turned. At 3-3, the American looked a little less confident than at the outset when he shot into a 2-0 lead. Ekonomopoulos looked a different player from yesterday’s slow-paced bundle of nerves as he moved swiftly around the table punching the cue ball with authority. He took the final two racks to take his team to within one of the Americans. “I feel great, with so many people cheering,” said a delighted Ekonomopoulos. “It was a very difficult game and Shane Van Boening is a very good player, a great player. I tried to be relaxed, I think I was relaxed and I won. We lost three matches 5-4 and I believe we were unlucky. But now it will be better for us I think. I think the crowd helps me, I like to play in front of these people.”

 There was more joy for the Europeans in the next as the dynamic Dutch duo of Nick Van den Berg and Niels Feijen turned the momentum in a big way as they beat Dennis Hatch and Brandon Shuff 5-2 in front of an increasingly vocal York Hall crowd. Everyone was talking about a miracle jump shot that Van den Berg executed to set up a run out at a decisive point in the match. Using a strange looking Perspex bridge, he dug into the cue ball and clipped the orange 5 down the rail. Afterwards Van Den Berg said, “Unbelievable, did I make that shot?! I was running to the table to get the rest and I heard the shot clock so I just totally went for it. “I just couldn’t reach it with my bridge hand so Darren Appleton had said before the match that he had this tool and I said we would never use it! I have never used that before.” Feijen added, “I played horrible shape for him to get there. There was nothing for him to do, he couldn’t reach the jump, he couldn’t reach with the normal cue, the extension was gone and he had only 10 seconds left, so he is running back to the chair to get this thing

. ‘Where is that thing?’ he said, and I said ‘What thing, you have five seconds!’ He runs back, manoeuvres it around and 3, 2, 1, boom he makes it.” Chris Melling piled on the misery for the Americans in the next as he outplayed Dennis Hatch to give the Europeans the lead for the first time in the Mosconi Cup. The boisterous crowd gave ‘The Hatchetman’ a run for his money and he seemed to lap it up but it was Melling who cashed in on Hatch’s errors to run out a 5-3 winner. And in the final match of the day Archer and van Boening levelled it to leave the 2012 PartyPoker.com Mosconi Cup intriguingly poised at five points each. Play continues on Wednesday with more doubles and singles matches commencing 7.00pm UK time.

Gene-ius Ink - You Can't Handle The Truth

Buffalo Native - Professional Pool Player - Uncle Ray Ray

Downtown Buffalo Cruise! #Buffalife.com - Buffalo, NY - Chippewa Street

 Last call is at 4 a.m. in Buffalo, rather than 2 a.m. as in most other areas of the U.S. This is often attributed to the historically high density of industrial facilities and the demand of second and third shift patrons. It is also because New York law allows bars to be open until 4 a.m. (However, local municipalities can override it to an earlier time.) This law was actually designed to accommodate the thriving late nightlife of New York City, but the state's "Second City" has adopted it as well. Several distinct and thriving nightlife districts have grown around clusters of bars and nightclubs in the city. The most visible nightlife district is West Chippewa Street[60], located between Main Street and South Elmwood Avenue.

 The area is home to high-energy dance clubs, crowded bars, trendy coffeehouses, and restaurants. Some of the most popular hot spots in Buffalo New York are: Coles, Mr. Good bar, Side Bar, Geckos, MT Pockets, Shadow Bar, Checkers. Allentown, where bars are as numerous but the atmosphere is a bit more relaxed, is a several minute walk north to Allen Street. Some of the bars on Allen street in bBffalo New York include, La Tee Da, Gabriel's Gate, Brick bar, Hardware, and sample bar/restaurant. Allen Street near Main Street houses several gay bars, while Allen near Elmwood has many bars that feature live music.

Continuing up Elmwood Avenue from Allentown is the Elmwood Strip, which runs about two miles to Buffalo State College.

This strip has numerous small boutiques and restaurants, with few large corporate establishments. Crowds on this strip include everyone from college students to families to the elderly. The city and surrounding Niagara Region also have an active summer concert schedule, a large portion of which are free and easy to access. The events are well planned and are spaced out through the week.

 Artpark on Tuesday nights, Buffalo Place hosts 'Thursdays at the Square', The Canal Concert series is on Saturday nights in Lockport and new for 2008 is a Friday night series on the Erie canal in North Tonawanda.