I have pontificated in the past that the Buffalo Bills’ future in our city is indelibly tied to a replacement venue for the still functional yet aging Ralph Wilson Stadium. If I had my druthers, the Bills new home would be somewhere on the periphery of downtown, perhaps between the Cobblestone District and the Larkin Exchange, it would sport a retractable roof and would double as a new convention center, with other amenities and features providing for year round use.

And how about architecture? Check out these stunning renderings for the new stadium for Liverpool F.C. The venue is being designed by Dallas based HKS architects.

Could you even imagine a building like this here in Buffalo? *sigh* One can only dream…

There is still no “field” to speak of, and lots of dust and construction materials, but that didn’t stop enthusiastic baseball fans from visiting Coca Cola Park, the soon to be home of the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs, at an open house this past week. The AAA farm team of the Philadelphia Phillies will be bailing from Ottawa at the end of this season and heading to Allentown, Pennsylvania in 2008.

Here is an update from the Morning Call.

The USRT will definitely be traveling with the Buffalo Bisons next season to check out the new ballpark.

Today was the big day… Arena Bowl XXI, and the Buffalo, err… Columbus Destroyers were facing the San Jose SabreCats for supremacy in all of arena football. For the Destroyers, it was an improbable run… they had lost 5 of their last 6 regular season games, squeaking into the playoffs with a 7-9 regular season record.

But then they caught lightning in a bottle, squeaking by Tampa Bay, then beating Dallas, and then Georgia, all as the road team, all for the right to face San Jose, who had won 2 of the previous 5 championships.

But this title was not meant to be, as San Jose gave the Destroyers a 55-33 beatdown in Arena Bowl XXI, played for the first time ever at a neutral site, New Orleans Arena.

If there were any sulking Buffalo Destroyers fans who gathered today to watch and reminisce about the good ole’ days back here in Buffalo, wearing their Bobby Olive jerseys and holding their “Whinham Must Go” signs, I’d really like to know who they are.

But Harwell’s appearance before the Detroit City Council failed to sway the members, who voted today 5-4 to begin the process to demolish Tiger Stadium and advance redevelopment plans. Two weeks ago the city’s Planning Board had voted to delay demolition until all possible alternatives could be fully examined.

Here is the timetable approved by the Council:

By Oct. 15: The Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy must have preliminary designs plans and cost estimates to the city .
By Oct. 23: A contract for demolition will be awarded.
By Nov.1 : The city will put out a Request for Proposal to find a developer for Tiger Stadium.
By Jan. 22, 2008: The Economic Development Corporation will select a developer.
By Sept. 1, 2008: Demolition and site preparation complete
By April 25, 2009: Start of construction by developer and The Old Tiger Stadium Conservancy.

More from the Detroit News.

Pete Weber might now be the voice of the NHL Nashville Predators, but baseball, and especially minor league baseball is still where his heart is. Pete was up here at Dunn Tire Park this spring during the Sabres playoff run, and we asked him how things were progressing for the proposed new ballpark in downtown Nashville.

“Not good”, Pete forlornly replied, then telling us that the entire plan was in disarray. The $47-million ballpark was to be financed through a consortium of twelve banks, and the remaining portion of construction costs would have been assumed by a developer named Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse, Their vision saw the ballpark as the central part of a $200 million retail, entertainment, and residential complex, which was expected to continue the revitalization of Nashville’s “SoBro” (South of Broadway) district.

Pete told us that the stadium had even sold naming rights. “First Tennessee Field” died in mid April when the developer couldn’t provide specific financing plans and a timetable as required by the Nashville City Council.

Nashville Sounds (Class AAA; Pacific Coast League) GM Glenn Yaeger now sounds serious when he says there’s a chance the team could leave town because of the lack of a suitable venue. It’s been known for years that Greer Stadium didn’t meet MLB facility requirements, but with a new downtown ballpark in the works that really didn’t matter. Now that the Sounds’ quest for a new downtown ballpark is dead, the team is looking at alternatives.

Buffalo baseball fans can well remember the Nashville Sounds, who were locked in an epic month long battle with the Bisons for the American Association division pennant back in 1990. That fight took a one game playoff to decide, and that game took 18 innings to complete, one of the most dramatic games ever played in Buffalo and one that ended brutally for Buffalo fans. Nonetheless, those were heady days for Buffalo baseball - packed houses night after night, the announcement of a MLB expansion team seemingly imminent, and Buffalo craving its first minor league championship in the Modern Era.

It was a great rivalry back then. If the Nashville Sounds were no more, that would not be a cause for celebration.

But apparently the Buffalo News’ Bob Dicesare doesn’t think so.

The story about Michael Peca being interested in returning to the Buffalo Sabres has been swirling for a couple weeks now, ever since the team’s debacle earlier this month in losing their two most prized assets.

Peca’s departure from Buffalo was an acrimonius one - back in the late 90’s he demanded a 4 year deal from Buffalo which would have paid him somewhere between $14-$16 million dollars for the life of the contract. The Rigas ownership balked, Darcy Regier said no way, and Peca ended up holding out, while the Sabres dug their heels in. In the end, the team ended up trading him to the New York Islanders, and picked up Tim Connolly and Taylor Pyatt in return.

Says Dicesare…

Peca got his trade, to New York, and an excessive salary that typified the Islanders’ penchant for overpaying.

An NHL player being overpaid for the value of his services? No way Bob! Say it ain’t so!!!

Here is the curious part relating to Peca’s departure from the Sabres. Peca really never left. He and his wife Kristin kept the same home they lived in when he played for Buffalo despite three team changes. They have since started a family and the Pecas and their two children make their offseason home in Getzville. When I talked to Michael last winter and asked him why he lives here when he has the financial means to buy a place anywhere he wants, he replied, “Why would I want to move elsewhere? The people here are so warm and friendly, it’s a great place to raise a family, and it’s close to my wife’s family and mine as well.”

Here is what Peca brings to the table - immediate leadership in the locker room, a probable claim for the “C” on the jersey, the grit and toughness that this team so needs and might have propelled them further on this past year’s squad. Make no mistake - had Peca’s year not come to an early conclusion in Toronto because of a broken leg, the Leafs would have been in the playoffs. At age 33 he may not be the prolific scorer he was when he played here in the late 90s, but the intangibles and the toughness can’t be measured on the stat sheet. When he left the Buffalo Sabres, the team was worse off because of his departure. I see him as a poor man’s Chris Drury.

Read through Dicesare’s piece and a lot of personal slant and nastiness comes bubbling through. I can’t dispute where much of this is coming from, for I have heard stories of Peca’s past aloofness with the media, his obstinance and apparent greed in holding out for a breakout contract, even wife Kristin was not immune from public ridicule.

But that was then. People change, people mature as they get older; the Pecas are dealing with parenting, middle age and eventually life after hockey, and their commitment to Western New York has been solid and unwavering despite all the bad feelings of the failed contract dealings in the past.

Michael Peca is exactly the type of athlete that Buffalonians love to embrace - tough, gritty, lunch bucket. He is a Buffalo guy through and through, and even as a fourth line center, his return to the Sabres would instantly make the 2007-08 squad a better team. Perhaps a much better team.

It was the spring training home of the Philadelphia Phillies for more than a generation… the prototypical “neighborhood ballpark” sandwiched into a residential subdivision just north of downtown Clearwater, Florida. The Phillies vacated Jack Russell after the 2003 season for new digs five miles to the east along US-19.

This past weekend Jack Russell Stadium was finally demolished.

This article in the St. Petersburg Times recaps some of the history and great moments and the great players who graced this field.

Our USRT visit to Jack Russell was in 2003, when we did a whirlwind tour of a number of Grapefruit League ballparks. Parking was $3, every front lawn in the neighborhood was put to use for parking capacity, the streets around the venue were like one big party, the food selection was pretty varied, including the famous Philly cheese steak, and tickets cost $8, $6 and $5. We snagged credentials through the Phillies, and remember well the amazing dessert cart in the media/scout dining room.

In the first base concourse on the fence was a huge mural of the replacement ballpark. “Coming in 2004! Bright House Networks Field!” Our first thought was BOHICA! (Bend Over Here It Comes Again)

Sure enough, an examination of the 2004 Spring Training media guide confirmed what we expected was coming… “Ticket Pricing, $24, $18, $16, $14… Parking $10 general, $15 valet… club members get access to the private Tiki Bar”.

We’re heading down to Tampa Bay next March for an NCAA basketball subregional, and plan a Phillies game at BHNF as part of that journey. Our fervent hope is that the dessert cart made it over to the new ballpark!

Yesterday was no ordinary day up in the pressbox at the Bisons doubleheader. For the record, the team split the two games, winning the opener 3-2 and then dropping the nightcap 6-2. But lots was going on behind the scenes, and all had to do with the parent Cleveland Indians, where rumors are hot and heavy regarding roster moves and trades as the MLB trading deadline approaches.

Aaron Laffey was the starter for the Bisons first game, and being a 7 inning game, one would figure that Laffey would most likely go the distance, as he had displayed his endurance skills in previous outings, and had even gone 8 1/3 in Rochester last month with an awesome pitching performance.

So here it is, the third inning, score tied 1-1, 2 men on and 2 outs, and Manager Torey Lovullo pulls Laffey. “I didn’t know that I was leaving until I heard the ball hitting the mitt out in the bullpen” Laffey admitted later. But this was no normal exit from the field. There were huge smiles, high fives from a number of the players, a scene you would see if a pitcher was walking off after tossing a two hitter. Something was up.

The Buffalo News’ Mike Harrington knew it, and got on the phone with his media contacts in the Cleveland area, and the media department at the Indians. He shared what he knew about all the behind the scenes stuff as he was learning it, and also told us of an incident in the Cleveland clubhouse the previous night, where apparently the doors stayed shut long after that game had ended, and rumors of an argument between pitcher Cliff Lee and catcher Victor Martinez being the possible reason.

After the games Torey Lovullo knew what questions were coming and was prepared to handle them. He said the Laffey pitch count limit was decided before the game, but despite all the smiles and body language we had witnessed earlier, refused to confirm that a move was in the works or give us a glimpse of the bigger picture, only admitting that he didn’t know everything that was going on and that Laffey would remain in the Indians organization.

What was fascinating watching this unfold was the song and dance that the involved people at the Indians and the Bisons were handing out, on what would normally be a routine player move up or down which happens dozens of times throughout a season, suggesting that there were much bigger issues in play here.

Mike Harrington and his associate Jackie Friedman had a great story here, and they were gracious enough to share the unfolding drama with the rest of us on this day (Dave Ricci, Jon Splett and I in attendance in the box). It was their story, so I thought it fitting not to report in this space until it ran in the Buffalo News. Here is Jackie’s story. Mike’s blog posting is linked here.

While a reporter often keeps a breaking story quiet, such is not the case in the Dunn Tire Park media circle. Mike Harrington often shares and freely discusses topics of the day with the rest of us, offering us a regular heads up as to things going on with our team, the parent club and the rest of baseball. It is that sort of interaction that makes the media experience at Bisons games so remarkable and such fun to take part in. Small wonder why all the reporters who cover Bisons games have become such good friends and are such a tight knit group.

All in all it was a fascinating lesson and a window onto what news gathering and reporting is really all about. But for all the detective work and day long speculation through 14 innings of baseball yesterday, Bisons PR director Brad Bisbing cleared the mystery up down in the clubhouse after the game with just one sentence: “Yeah his (Laffey’s) locker is all cleaned out.”

Toronto’s CN Tower lit up in the colors of the Canadian flag.

What started out as the annual Kevin Dale weekend road trip bash morphed into a quickie day trip up the QEW, with just three of us in tow, me Kevin and his buddy Nate. Pete’s away on vacation this week so he missed out on this roadie. Still a great time… dinner at the Wheat Sheaf, the Jays game, and then a nightcap at some little bistro off Spadina. Toronto has such an amazing energy, especially at night.

Game itself was a bit of a snoozer… Mariners 4, Jay 2, Adrian Beltre’s homer the difference.

This week in Artvoice we examine some of the changes that have happened at Toronto’s Rogers Center Centre, and the Toronto Blue Jays’ emphasis on fan friendliness and the game day experience.

One of the more interesting side discussions that took place while we talked with Jays management representative Will Hill over breakfast last week: How does the team deal with the fan who tries to take on a tried and true ballpark tradition… sneaking down into more expensive seats?

At Rogers Centre such a venture can be a tantalizing prospect. The team averages around 25,000 patrons at a game, meaning empty seats are there to be had. Check out the Blue Jays seating and pricing chart. Skydeck seats are a bargain at $9, but jump quickly once you venture downstairs and they top out at $70. (No we’re not going to even mention those VIP behind home plate seats, those are for British royalty anyway.)

Hill was somewhat bemused at the question, but insisted that it has not been a problem since he took over the Guest Services department. “Really, the only complaints we get are from the people who actually paid the big money for those tickets, and then ask who is letting people into their sections who really don’t belong there.”

Last season Hill fielded a complaint from a fan who had tickets six rows off the field, but then moved down to empty seats in the first row. The usher in that section made the fan move back to his seats. “It’s really an issue of security.” Hill explains. “There are no partitions or security walls between that first row and the field, and we have to make sure we know who is in those seats in case an incident erupts. Looks what happened in Chicago a couple of years back. Today they don’t even allow fans with upper deck seats into the lower concourse, much less close to the field.”

In true proactive guest services fashion, Hill contacted the aggrieved fan to explain the policy and present the team’s viewpoint. “By the time I was through, the gentleman fully understood where we were coming from and was thankful for the call. We turned a negative into a positive.” said Hill.

Andrew brought up a story from 2003, when ESPN writer Jim Caple and two colleagues executed a tour of all 30 MLB parks and graded the venues. One of the criteria was called “the trading up factor”.

Caple on the Rogers Centre…

Trading-up factor: My friend, Scooter, and I bought tickets to the upper-deck in left-center and easily sneaked into much better seats down the right field. But when we tried to move behind home plate, an usher stopped us and demanded to see our tickets. We tried the same move a couple sections over and made it past that usher, only to have the previous usher leave her post and chase us out. She must be a Mountie in her day job.

But Caple does a rebound on grading the friendliness of the staff…

Friendliness and helpfulness of ushers: Other than when they were shooing us away from the boxseats, they were pleasant and unobtrusive.

“I know Jim.” Hill replies. “Yeah I’m not sure if he gave us high marks overall, now that I think of it.”

No he didn’t, Will. He ranked you 24th out of 30 overall. Even the USRT showed you more love than that!

We’ve been harsh at times in our stories when it comes to what we call the sphincter police. But talking to Hill gave us both a fresh outlook from the team’s side of the table. And by taking the time to explain all this to us rationally and in an accommodating manner, Hill demonstrated once again what true “guest services” is all about.

If so, the Sabres are looking for YOU!

Today’s press release…

SABRES ANNOUNCE JUMBOTRON EMCEE CONTEST

BUFFALO, N.Y. (July 19, 2007) — The Buffalo Sabres today announced they will hold a competition to find the next in-game Jumbotron host for select home games for the upcoming 2007-2008 season. With the help of on-line fan voting, the winner will be chosen by the Buffalo Sabres.

The initial entry for the contest will consist of an on-camera audition, explaining in two minutes or less why the contestant would be a unique and interesting in-game host. The winner of the contest will receive the opportunity to host 10 home games during the regular season. The contest will be a four-round elimination where the top four finalists will compete during portions of two Sabres home games at the beginning of the season (October 11 and 13). The winner will be announced live during the Sabres game on October 19 against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

There are three ways for interested candidates to enter. There will be a live casting call at HSBC Arena on Saturday August 4 from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Members of the Sabres staff will be available to video tape candidates. A DVD, VHS or Mini DV, along with a headshot photo can be submitted via mail. Video messages and photos can also be dropped off in-person to the Account Services office at HSBC Arena during normal business hours.

Application forms and official contest rules can be found at Sabres.com or at the HSBC Arena Account Services office.

I’m hoping the online voting also has a choice called “none of the above”. How about a season free of the noise and cacophony of these moronic game night hosts, and just organ music, cool music bumps and video clips during stoppages in play.

“Toronto’s Game Day Experience”

This week’s Play Ball. Check it out!

We’ve hacked this story to death… and Pete and I have very differing viewpoints on the topic of how hard the media should go after the Sabres ownership and management about the way they run the team, and as a result that has led to spirited debates between us. We’ve also engaged in mutual commentary with our partner sports sites at WNYMedia, and yesterday Kevin Pritchard at Bfloblog checked in with this piece touching on the latest pile-on, that being Bob Dicesare and his take on the goings on with the team. Once again, Kevin’s spin had me nodding in agreement.

Not to be outdone, Donny Osmonde’s latest pile of crap yapping about “big box stores” runs today, this one night after an assortment of macadamias gathered at this so called “forum” to tear apart the Canal Side vision yet again.

So is there a conspiracy at the News? Is there a jihad, as I have called it?

I got a detailed commentary from a good friend an unnamed source at the Buffalo News this past weekend, someone who is a regular reader of this space and whose opinion I greatly respect. Here’s what was shared:

A lot of people are talking about Bucky’s combative nature with Quinn et al. I guarantee you this is intentional. The News didn’t fail to re-sign BOTH captains, the team did… And then arrogantly defended their decisions by saying there was nothing they could have done about it when everyone knew better.

Should the paper do a better job supporting the team?

Not our job. Period. Not any paper’s job. Don’t get confused by Ch. 2. It WAS their job to support the team because they carried the games so they’re never going to say anything perceived as negative. You said in your post “we need to move forward and rally around the team now more than ever.” Perhaps the fans do. But we’re not rallying around any team. That’s not the media’s job.

The corporate philosophy at The News was clearly for them to WIN the whole thing. Paper sales would have been wild during the finals and we were going to do a coffee table book had they won. So to say The News doesn’t support the team — and you hear that constantly from callers on WGR — is missing the big picture.

Why does the News keep hammering the point of the poor decisions made by the team over and over again?

What are Bucky and Sully supposed to write through all this? That the Sabres are doing a great job of maintaining fiscal responsibility? Of course they’re going to hammer the team. This is a team that’s getting laughed at across Canada. What would any big-city US paper write about their MLB team for instance if they let their top two players just walk in free agency — when both guys would have stayed had the team not been so cheap? Has that EVER happened anywhere other than maybe the ‘97 Marlins? This is an instant, historic dismantling of a franchise in the four major team sports, not just some bump in the road for our beloved Sabres. We covered it that way — like any paper in any big city would.

This is where I part company with my unnamed source and I replied in kind. I don’t see all of Canada laughing at the Sabres, more of an attitude like “gee that sucks for you”. The loss of two co-captains doesn’t even begin to touch the garage sale that happened with the Florida Marlins. This is still a team that will be exciting, competitive and hopefully in a position to again make a run for the Cup.

Lastly, is there a Jihad within the Buffalo News?

There is none of that. There are no back-door meetings, no plans to get anybody…Just imagine the stories about “Regier the builder” had they won the Stanley Cup. To say they’ve done pretty good with four trips to the final four is absolutely true. But this season was a failure because of their own marketing campaign — the media didn’t start up One Team, One Goal. They did. So they failed to meet their own expectations.

Most of our staff meetings frankly discuss things like graphics, photos, how long each story is going to be, who is doing what story. There is ZERO talk of any agenda. It’s the No. 1 fallacy people have of journalism, that we sit there and conspire and plot what we’re doing. Nope.

My unnamed source admits that the Regier “devil photo” was silly and called it a cheap shot. As well as stating that Bucky is all wet in terms of his oft predicted meltdown in ticket sales and the soon to come yawning gap of empty seats.

I’m sure that anyone is welcome to join the Bucky and Jerry show in the News’ cafeteria, they are always eager to share a plate of falafel and other delectables permitted under the Halal diet. And I am VERY appreciative to my unnamed source for sharing these thoughts and opinions with me. It certainly gave me a new perspective on things.

As a member of the media, what will be very interesting to observe this coming season is how Sabres representatives and management will interact with the Buffalo News journalists at hockey games, practices and other Sabres events. Will it be business as usual? Will the chilly frost be in the air? Watching this scenario as it unfolds might be one of the more interesting side stories of the 2007-08 season.

After attending a game of the NYCBL Niagara Power last week, we had some things to say about the experience and the event, and other than doing this report, me and our host Doug Smith debated the issue some more via email.

Ahh, good ole’ Doug! He does a weekly baseball column for the Niagara Gazette, and guess what his topic was about this week?

Yep. It was all about us and the article here on WNYMedia.

Doug staunchly defends the sport that he so loves and the team he now proudly represents. Why shouldn’t he? He is investing his time and devotion to making this work in the Falls, and we applaud him for that.

A couple quotes jump out here that merit at least some response…

His take on the Ultimate Baseball Roadtrip posting: “Doomed to failure?” Don’t hold your breath. Fellowship of Christian Athletes has been around since 1954. Christianity has survived 2000 years.

Nobody’s predicting or suggesting the doom of Christianity, because some college boys are doing their Hosannahs during the 7th inning stretch. The point here is if you want a minor league baseball team to make it in this world (i.e. sell tickets, put fannies in the stands, sell merchandise, sponsorships etc), you have to cast your net in the community beyond Christian groups.

Next…

Paranoia prevails in Peter’s post. He seems terrorized by faith, shocked that a faith-based sponsor would market its “product,” even as Dunn markets tires and the Senecas market casinos. Yes, they care about your soul, but they’re not going to wrestle you for it.

Paranoia! Terrorized! Shocked!…. Ouch!

There is a big difference in selling tires or lottery tickets or orange juice at a baseball game, as opposed to proselytizing a religious belief and spiritual way of life. Does this sort of stuff really belong at a sporting event?

No we did not walk out of Sal Maglie last week scarred for life. Just a bit amused at the spectacle of the whole thing. Tim Schmitt’s advice last week - “Just put up with it or ignore it.” The best advice of all.

The Buffalo News’ Bucky Gleason is just so desperate to see his prediction come true.

On no less than two occasions, he has pontificated in his columns about the coming meltdown in ticket sales, and how Sabres fans are on the cusp of abandoning the team in droves after the team’s front office incompetence in failing to resign their marquee players. But the reaity is quite the opposite, interest in Sabres tickets remains strong and even he admits that for the most part, the calls the Sabres are fielding are from fans asking if they have moved up on the season ticket waiting list. (Something you already learned days ago if you are a reader of this space.)

But Bucky won’t give up easily… his latest plan? RAISE TICKET PRICES! And to back up his rationale, he turns to one of the greediest money mongerers in the city, someone who has given almost nothing back to this community, Delaware North’s Jeremy Jacobs. (By the way Jeremy, how’s Seth doing?) Says Jacobs…

Jacobs was recently elected as chairman of the board of governors. He said Rochester billionaire Tom Golisano is the right owner for the Sabres, but Jacobs believes higher ticket prices would ease the financial pressure on the organization.

“We’re still driven very much by our ticket revenue,” Jacobs said. “The attendance in Buffalo is strong. Buffalo has had a very low ticket price for a number of years. As long as the interest is strong as it is, it may be painful, but people may have to pay more for tickets. . . . On a comparative basis, when you’re paying comparative salaries, you need comparative income.”

Bucky goes on to suggest that a modest $2 hike in ticket prices would be the panacea… raising $1.5-million.

This is where Bucky needs to get out of his popcorn munching, free-wified pressbox cocooned world and spend some time in the stands with the ticketed consumer. For the Sabres DID indeed raise season ticket prices, and the average increase was? Yes, $2. Furthermore, single ticket prices and gold, silver, bronze and value categories have yet to be announced. My guess is that you will see a more substantial increase for those single tickets, and more games being designated into that gold and silver category.

I will say it again… when it comes to marketing this team, selling tickets, and keeping fans satisfied, the Sabres get it. They understand this market, and while they could always do some things to improve, this is one area of the organization where they should be commended.

Your next fatwa oh al-Bucky? Inshallah, we all await!