OK folks get your minds in tiebreaking mode, December NFL style as the baseball season is down to its final day and the National League still has four teams fighting for the wild card and the NL East crown. While things aren’t as complicated as they were as of last Thursday, there are still enough possilibilities to make heads spin.

Right now the Phils and Mets are in a dead heat at 88-73, while San Diego(89-72) leads the Rockies,Mets, and Phils by a game for the wild card. So yes, there is still a possibility of a four team tie at 89-73 if the Padres lose and the others all win. That scenario would involve three days of tiebreaking games as the Mets/Phils would settle the NL East, then the loser would join a two day playoff with the Western clubs with Colorado being given a bye thanks to head to head record.

If there’s a three way tie between the Mets, Phils, and Padres the Eastern clubs would settle the division with the loser facing the Padres for the wild card.

A NL East playoff would be in Philadelphia, Colorado would host any other club in a wild card playoff. The Mets would host the Padres, and the Padres would be home for the Phillies.

Confused? Good. Now kick back and enjoy as the madness unfurls. Let’s Go Mets!

So that’s how they spent the money that didn’t go to Drury and Briere:)

The Sabres closed out the preseason with a 4-3 win over the Penguins as Jason Pominville and Tim Connolly score third period goals to rally the team to victory. Derek Roy and scoring machine Dmitri Kalinin had the other marks for Buffalo. For Pittsburgh, Maxim Talbot, Sergei Gonchar, and Colby Armstrong had goals for the Pens.

But the big star of the night hung above center ice as HSBC Arena has finally left the 90’s behind in scoreboard technology with its new four sided HD videoboard complete with ribbon boards above and below the screens to fit in nicely with the ribbon board on the balcony.

Speaking of which, those end zone ribbon boards that Andrew ripped on in the Columbus report were improved as it was much easier to view. I was still a bit disappointed with not seeing an out of town scoreboard there at the time. After chatting a bit with Mike Gilbert he stated that ” it’s still a work in progress”. Indeed, indeed. At very least, when things are up to speed it will be nice not to see out of town scores featuring SOU v SOU and TEX v TEX. Gilbert also pointed out that the video shown on last night’s game was in standard def as well and that all should be ready for the official unveiling for Friday’s regular season opener.

Other items of note:

So refreshing not to hear “Better Days” during the intro montage, I get sick just listening to it.

Sidney Crosby was up in the box instead of on the ice tonight, seems pretty excited about his next appearance in Buffalo….ummm….make that Orchard Park.

I know they have become pretty obsolete. But is it better to have the goal judges up on press level than their longstanding position behind the net?

Friday’s just five days away, can’t come soon enough!

I got a sniff of this down at the arena last weekend, but I was asked to keep this under my hat until it became official.

There will be big changes in the sports department lineup come this fall. Buffalo Sabres beat reporter Tim Graham is leaving the News to take a new job with the Palm Beach County Post in Florida, where he will be covering the Miami Dolphins. John Vogl moves into the #1 Sabres slot, and Mike Harrington will take Vogl’s old position in the #2 slot.

Rodney McKissic will assume the #1 chair covering college hoops.

Really the guy at the center of all this is Mike Harrington. Mike has been a very thorough and capable journalist for the News covering not only college basketball but also baseball, both at the Major League level and here with the Buffalo Bisons. The paper regularly sends him to represent Buffalo as part of the media corps at the LCS’s and the World Series, and the men’s basketball Final Four. Last fall Mike eagerly awaited our report and profile on University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, projecting that a Final Four was inevitable for that venue, and how he couldn’t wait to do that one. Ain’t happenin’ anymore Mike!

We are sorry to see Tim Graham go, he really is one of the Buffnews’ “cool guys”. My signature moment with Tim was when we first started covering the Sabres after the lockout; he approached me and invited me and Pete to join the Professional Hockey Writers Association (Tim is the Buffalo chapter president). I was awed and humbled that I would even be asked, but I did sign up and by December he presented us our official laminated membership cards.

Knowing Mike as we do, he will be an excellent addition to the media roster on the hockey side and we can all look forward to his good work. It will be great rubbing shoulders with him not only at Bisons games, but at Sabres games as well.

Four games left in the regular season in Major League Baseball and the situations in the two leagues couldn’t be more different. In the American League the field is set, with Boston, New York, Anaheim, and Cleveland all having clinched a spot in the postseason field with only jockeying for position in the seedings ongoing through Sunday’s finale.

But in the National League, boy oh boy if you don’t have MLB League Pass you are wishing you had it now. Eight, count ‘em, EIGHT clubs still fighting for the postseason with not a single spot clinched. A quick rundown as follows….

The Mets in a freefall holding a one game lead on the Phillies and a four game edge on the Braves who are still mathematically alive for a spot. The Central features a do or die two team sprint to the finish with the Cubs holding a two game edge on Milwaukee. And out west, the D’Backs hold a one and a half game edge(thanks to this afternoon’s win at Pittsburgh) on San Diego(Milton who?) and two and half over a surging Rockies club that has won its last ten games. And the wild card couldn’t get much wilder with the Padres up by a single game over both the Rocks and Phils.

And yes, this pile on does create some interesting season ending scenarios. There is a possibility of a five way tie at the end of the season at 89-73 involving the Mets, D’Backs,Phillies,Rockies, and Padres….How in God’s name do they even begin to break such a thing. And that says nothing about the simple possibility of a Brewers/Cubs deadlock at season’s end.

Think the NFL’s tiebreaking scenarios are nuts. Try Jayson Stark’s article.

The Mayor of Omaha is heading to Washington DC to tour the site of the new DC Ballpark.

Mayor Mike Keane and his delegation want to glean ideas about ballpark related development and how it would apply to their own city and coming decisions on whether or not to build a new venue for the College World Series.

Now mind you, what the good mayor is going to see is a lot of nothing on the banks of the Anacostia River in DC, and a ballpark springing up in the middle of that nothing. Furthermore, any development models and projections surrounding a new major league ballpark would have absolutely nothing to do with a minor league town like Omaha.

Nonetheless, check out the link above and this visit is big news in Omaha. But I’ll call it for what it is… a junket, and a nonsensical one at that.

I felt a twinge of sadness when the Sabres news release hit my email box this afternoon.

After a 33 year stint with the Sabres - 7 as a player and 26 as a broadcaster, color commentator Jim Lorentz is retiring from the broadcast booth. He cited the long season and the grueling travel schedule as the main reasons for his decisions.

Jim Lorentz is one of the nicest and most down to earth persons you would ever want to meet… I have shared many an elevator ride at the arena with him and have seen him down around the locker room area, and he always says hello and offers a nice word or two. On a couple occasions he has given me his time for an interview or shared his wealth of knowledge with me as I was doing an article.

Of course, my signature “Jim Lorentz Moment” surely has to be Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals back in 1975. Yes I was fortunate enough to be in the building that night, and the picture of Lorentz waving his stick in the air above the face off cicle and knocking that bat down is still seared in my memory.

Another interesting tidbit in that release… doing the color for Wednesday’s radio broadcast will be none other than Matthew Barnaby.

Heh heh… “Bam Bam” the new color guy? If that’s what ends up happening that works for me!

Props to Mark at All Things Buffalo here at WNYMedia for giving us the first glimpse of the new high-def scoreboard at HSBC Arena.

I am searching for the design element of this contraption which is unique and distinct to Buffalo, and it appears that the metal brackets holding up the screen are done up like crossed Sabres.

Can’t wait to see them fire up this puppy!

I’m divvying up these suckers and getting them ready for delivery.

The January 1 Winter Classic game isn’t included. On the enclosed letter John Sinclair informs us that those tickets won’t be sent until November.

Lots of work for me breaking the tickets apart, but I always enjoy doing this. Oh, and for all my troubles I get to keep the Sabrebucks… Off to the team store I go!!!

They said it was a full house (18,690 uh huh, yeah right), some sloppy and ragged play, the Buffalo debut of newest goaltender Jocelyn Thibault, and a 4-1 Columbus victory.

That pretty much describes the preseason home debut of the Buffalo Sabres.

A first period scrum involving all ten skaters resulted in major penalties and a game misconduct for Andrew Peters, earning the crowd adoration as he offered the fans a salute. Clarke MacArthur’s one timer from the point in the 3rd period was the lone Buffalo tally.

Walking down to the arena from my usual parking spot, it felt a lot like the Stanley Cup playoffs. The sun was shining, the air was warm and sultry. But this was not the playoffs, and as I arrived near the corner of Washington and Perry, it was not packed throngs of people and live music out on the plaza. Just the quiet shuffle of patrons making their way towards the building, and the arena music piped out onto the street.

It feels a little naked and incomplete sitting in the seating bowl without a centerpiece scoreboard, and is reminiscent of the ’96-’97 debut season, when the first Jumbotron went crashing to the floor, and fans spent most of that season depending on the end zone small scoreboards for their game info.

Such was the case tonight, but the difference is that the Sabres have installed dot matrix ribbon scoreboards across the end zone fascias of each 300 balcony. And folks, the review from here is not a positive one. To put it bluntly, these boards suck. Blue background with white lettering, the information is scattered and disjointed and all in different fonts, and the penalty clock font size is so small it makes it hard to read. I’m really hoping others notice this and fix the software or whatever to make these boards useful.

Moreover, if this new technology is a precursor to the much anticipated new HD scoreboard, then my anticipation immediately turns to disappointment,.

The pressbox crowd was very sparse tonight, but it was good to see some the regulars who sit down at our end – our seatmate George Kuhn from Sports and Leisure Magazine, Dave Sully from WJJL, Steve Manson and Randy Schultz from WNY Hockey, Matt Ondesko from Metro Source and Mike Haim from AP, among others. Pete will be in the AV chair next Saturday for the Pittsburgh game, and they’re passing out the 07-08 season creds, so I’m dropping by as well.

“This Is Going To Be Big!”

Puck Stop is back for the 2007-08 season in Artvoice.

I’m heading down to the arena tonight for the Sabs/CBJ preseason game… pressbox seat awaits!

It was one of the coolest and quirkiest signature elements in any of the venues in the four major sports - this massive mural of Queen Elizabeth II. Yes the Queen gazed down on the fans at Winnipeg Arena when the old Winnipeg Jets were a part of the National Hockey League.

Well Winnipeg Arena is now history, demolished in 2005 to expand parking for an adjacent shopping mall, and hockey fans there now enjoy their dazzling new MTS Centre and hope for a return to the NHL someday.

But the mural survives, and according to this story on the CBC News website, it is in storage in a facility in Whitby, Ontario until a new home can be found for it.

I would send this sucker right back to Winnipeg and hang it in their arena… I mean, where else could this garish and funky element fit and look like it really belongs?

People are coming back to Arizona Diamondbacks games at Chase Field, and it’s not only because of the team’s success on the field.

The D-Backs opened a full two level nightclub in center field this past April, and it has become one of the trendy hot spots for the youth crowd to enjoy baseball in a contemporary club setting, and even the velvet red ropes outside, the VIP list and the mailing list invites lend it an air of exclusivity.

This article in today’s Arizona Republic lays the whole concept out in more detail.

I just love this quote:

It’s populated by the buxom and beautiful, the hard-bodied and handsome. The people who pay $30 for a seat on one of the Diamond Club’s two levels are the same people who are on the VIP and preferred-customer lists at a variety of Scottsdale nightclubs and magazines.

Did they say “hard bodied”? Uh-boy. Even with all the USRT mojo and connections, I think that me and Peter are going to find ourselves on the outside of those red ropes looking in!

If today’s press conference at Ralph Wilson Stadium is any indication, then January 1 will rank among the epic sports events EVER to be held in Western New York.

The National Hockey League today formally unveiled the “Winter Classic”, the league’s first outdoor game to be held on American soil. The Sabres will play the Pittsburgh Penguins at 1 PM in a game which will be televised nationally on NBC, and across Canada on CBC and RDS (French channel).

It was a packed house on the field today, with the league televising the event via satellite and local TV and radio affiliates carrying the press conference live on local channels. Sabres play by play voice Rick Jeanneret hosted the show, opening with a video montage of two previous outdoor games, the frozen “Heritage Classic” held in Edmonton in 2003, and the “Cold War” held in East Lansing , Michigan in 2001, between Michigan and Michigan State Universities.

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman explained the huge logistical challenges to putting on such an event. “This is a massive undertaking, putting in the piping, getting the ice up, configuring the boards and the glass.” Bettman stated that they will begin work eight days before the actual game. He also indicated that there are plans for both teams to practice on the ice the day beforehand, but that as of this time there are no plans to make that practice open to the public.

Sabres owner Tom Golisano admitted that he ended up blowing off a World Series game back in 1956 for which he had tickets, and ended up missing Don Larsen’s perfect game. “I had plans to be in Naples on New Years Day, but no way am I giving this up.”

Andrew Peters got the biggest laugh of the day, when Rick Jeanneret called him up to the dais and asked him when was the last time he played a game outdoors. “This past summer my brother and I played on the Playstation on my patio” Peters quipped.

Managing Partner Larry Quinn said that the 2003 Heritage Classic in Edmonton resulted in over 950,000 requests for tickets, and predicted that demand will be strong. “It’s going to put Buffalo on the map. When’s the last time we did the first thing in history in Buffalo?”

OK here are some details as far as ticketing and pricing…

-Tickets go on sale tomorrow (Sept 18) at ticketmaster.com, and the ticket offices at RWS and HSBC Arena. Prices run from $225 for the indoor clubs down to $10 for obstructed seating in the first few rows.

-Season ticket holders were notfiied today that they will receive ther seats in the mail separate of their season ticket packet, with their seat assignment roughly corresponding to their arena prices (note - we own 100 level II and 100 level III seats and they will be seating us in the $60 seats in the lower bowl.

-Season ticket holders will be able to order additional seats before Sept 28; after that any extras will be released for general sale.

-Bills club seat season ticket holders will have rights to purchase their seats for this event.

-Tailgating and parking will be coordinated by the Bills staff. I couldn’t get a firm reply on parking rates (I tried to put Bettman on the spot and wanted to ask if the league would offer free parking, but they cut the conference off just when I was the next question… aarrgghhh!!). But the implication was it would be the same rules like a Bills game, meaning lots open 4 hours beforehand, and *sigh* $25 to park your vehicle.

Yes, and the league press kit (which the Buffalo News John Vogl got along with all of us today) has the seating chart showing pricing from $29 and up with the front row seats just labeled as “obstructed”, while the seating chart sent out with the mailer (and the one WNYM received this past weekend) shows those obstructed seats priced at $10. So his article today was right, and we were right. Make sense? Hope so!

Lastly, looks like we are going to have to apply to the league for press credentials, as they are running the show here. Back when this event was first announced, Pete told me “you can have the pressbox seat I’m sitting in the stands.” At the time I said fine with me, but already we got the email from Gary and The King from NYC who want to come and want tickets, others will surely be calling as well. Looks like Pete may have the better part of the deal after all. But press pass or no, we are getting the tailgate going early!

After the jump…

They had the hockey configuration set up on the field for all to see

Even mockup nets and wooden figures in place

On the dais (l-r) NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, Sabres owner Tom Golisano, and players Ryan Miller, Brian Campbell and Andrew Peters

Brrrr!!! They showed a cool highlight video that included scenes from the 2003 Heritage Classic in Edmonton

Gary Bettman addresses the sizable media contingent

In today’s Buffalo News, John Vogl delves into further details and pricing for the “NHL Winter Classic” game on January 1 at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

Hitting the mailboxes of all season ticket holders this morning is the pictured seating chart, along with all attendant information that customers need to know about securing their seats to the event.

Of course, readers here at WNYMedia already knew of some of this information Saturday. While Vogl’s article states that ticket prices will run from $29-$225 (yeah those indoor suite seats do go for $225), he neglects to mention that there WILL be an obstructed view seat available for $10 in the lowest reaches of the seating bowl. Oops.

The NHL will lay out all the information we need to know this afternoon and I will be covering the press conference on behalf of Artvoice and WNYMedia. So check back later for more!