North Coast Online

Delaware North

I often post about how professional sports just take money out of Buffalo without returning anything.  There's nothing inherently wrong with that, of course, as long as the money isn't extracted through taxes to constantly update Wilson Stadium.  It's just that we're told that pro-sports contribute to our economic development, while they don't -- with one exception.

Delaware North Cos.' Sportservice truly has a home field advantage in the World Series.

The Buffalo-based concessions giant handles concessions at the home stadiums of both the Detroit Tigers and the St. Louis Cardinals, giving Sportservice a lucrative source of extra business with every game.

"When you have extra games, it means extra revenue," said Rick Abramson, the Sportservice president.

To handle the World Series push, Sportservice has brought in 12 guest chefs from some of its other venues, including US Cellular Field and Petco Park, to come up with other dining options for fans, especially those in luxury suites.

"We're flying people back and forth" between Detroit and St. Louis, said spokeswoman Judy Lucas.

Delaware North is one of the largest privately-owned companies in the United States.  It reputedly employs some 30,000 world wide and, no doubt, has returned billions in profits to good old Buffalo.  In the end we're probably a lot better off having sold coffee, hot dogs and beer to sports fans in other cities than buying skyboxes in our own.

Gives 'Paying the Bills' New Meaning

I posted a couple nights ago about the absurdity of New York State's kicking in another $20 million for some renovations at Ralph Wilson Stadium.  There's an even bigger example of government-sports-spending absurdity in New Orleans as this Post-Journal letter writer points out.

OK, am I the only one who is appalled by the hoopla and absurdity surrounding the renovation and reopening of the New Orleans Superdome? $185 million spent on a new roof, fresh paint, state-of-the-art video boards, and revenue-generating club seats amidst all the rubble, caved-in cars, abandoned homes and boarded-up businesses!

Tell me, who is sitting in these club seats and who is benefiting from this revenue? I doubt if it is Joe Average who is still residing in a trailer or make-shift tent home. Other articles, reports and commentaries go on to say how this symbolizes the city’s rebirth and is a source of hope for the people of New Orleans. I’ve got news for all of them — I’d have more faith and hope for New Orleans’s future if I saw $185 million being used to fix homes, schools, neighborhoods, hospitals, etc...

I’d also like to ask how much money the NFL donated to New Orlean’s hurricane victims for rebuilding. Did the NFL at least match the $15 million contribution it made to refurbish the Superdome? How convenient, the NFL donated for the rebuilding of the Superdome; but doesn’t the NFL stand to gain more money if football is restored to that area? Sorry, but I can’t get excited over another ridiculous justification for spending a gazillion dollars on football all in the name of benefiting Katrina survivors’ morale. What a bunch of hogwash!

Madelaine Binner

Greenhurst

If it ended up that even 100 people returned to New Orleans for good because the Saints are once again playing downtown, I'd be amazed.  Many might claim that it figured in their decisions, but ultimately each person's individual well-being would determine the decision.

And of course, the same goes for the Bills in Buffalo.  We'd all certainly hate to see them leave, but no one here would move away for the lack of an NFL team just as no one here ever moved in because of their presence.  But the well-connected and the sports-addled sure do seem to have a big lobby.

Pedaling As Fast As He Can

Lance Armstrong retired -- but another American appears poised to win the Tour de France. Gotta love it.

Y'All Just Don't Get It

Media attempts to build up southern hockey only support an oxymoron that equals designer jeans or army intelligence.

Well, the Carolina Hurricanes did what they were supposed to do. They defeated a lower-seeded, injury-depleted Buffalo Sabres team. The hockey media outside of Western New York got what it seemed to want. Gary Bettman got what he wanted - Carolina in the finals gives the appearance that hockey in warm-weather cities is successful, even though unsold conference finals tickets prove otherwise. Small-minded outsiders got what they wanted - another handful of "Loser Town" insults to hurl at Buffalo.

Notice to all parties mentioned above: We're not going away. Sure it stings when our team barely lost when victory was in its grasp. Most people I talk to are finding solace in the fact that the Sabres win the series hands down with Kalinin, Numminen, McKee, Tallinder and Connolly in the lineup. Carolina can point to Cole, but he's only one man. One has a feeling that this is not the end but rather the beginning of something special in a great hockey town.

Like many 30-somethings living in Buffalo, many of my friends and family members have had to leave the area for greener economic pastures. A number of them have found a little slice of home at "Buffalo bars," which cater to displaced Buffalonians. Ever hear of a Raleigh bar?

There's something undefinable about Western New Yorkers. You see it on the roads when people actually let each other merge into traffic (try this in Washington, D.C.).

I admit, I was a nonbeliever at the beginning of the season. I picked the Sabres to miss the playoffs. I picked Philly. I picked Ottawa. I was an idiot.

Someone who was not an idiot once wrote: " 'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all" . . . There's room on the lover's bandwagon and I ain't jumping off again.

Sean Mahoney

Buffalo

The NHL would be smart to stick to a small-market, northern strategy.  The money-men want to believe they can grow the game in Carolina and Texas.  But they're overly-optimistic -- and wrong.  Soccer's been the next big thing in the U.S. since the '80's, but the World Cup still gets about the same attention here as a cricket match in Zimbabwe.

Quebec should have an NFL team and Duluth should, too.  Rochester or Syracuse would sell more tickets than Austin or Phoenix.  Sure, their TV markets are smaller, but if no one's watching, who cares? Owning a small-town northern hockey-club may not make you spectacularly-rich, but it might make you -- if you can field a decent team -- seriously-rich.

Golisano understands it, Peter Karmanos may not.  Golisano knows business and -- evidently -- hockey. The NHL should learn from him.  The media will follow, what choice have they got?

Racial "Progress:

Well, this is evidently welcome news in some quarters.

NBA team front offices had four black presidents and CEOs this season -- more than all other U.S. major professional sports combined -- earning the league high marks for the second straight year in a diversity study released Wednesday.

The league has received top grades among men's leagues in all 12 previous studies from the University of Central Florida's Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, and for the second straight year got an overall B+.

The president/CEOs were Terdema Ussery with the Dallas Mavericks, the Charlotte Bobcats' Ed Tapscott, Billy King with the Philadelphia 76ers and Steve Mills with the New York Knicks and WNBA's New York Liberty.

Because Mills is president of all team operations at Madison Square Garden he is also president/CEO of the New York Rangers. Aside from that, no other major pro sport has a single minority president/CEO, the study said.

The NBA also recorded its best-ever scores for race among professional jobs in the NBA league office (33 percent minorities); among senior and professional team administrators (20 percent and 26 percent, respectively); doctors and trainers (12 percent); and broadcasters (26 percent), study author Richard Lapchick wrote.

Bobcats owner Robert Johnson remained the only black team majority owner in all men's pro sports.

Women held 41 percent of the professional jobs in the league office -- down two percentage points but still higher than any other men's professional league in any previous report. Opportunities for racial minorities in the league office increased by four percentage points to 33 percent -- also higher than any UCF study on record.

Well, that's lovely -- kudos to the NBA.  This very diverse organization now faces a real challenge, though. A challenge that goes to the heart of maintaining their very well-remunerated, diverse paychecks.  How do you keep white males buying tickets when the game seems to be focused more and more on black thugs?  Helloooo, NASCAR.

This isn't "diversity," it's just substituting black for white.  Know what'm sayin'?

Could We Teach The Brits How To Save Soccer?

AMERICANS will gather tomorrow evening for one of their three great celebrations, festivities of family, freedom and football. They are culinarily distinct. Thanksgiving requires a turkey. The Fourth of July centres on the barbecue. The Super Bowl demands a ceaseless supply of ribs, chicken wings and chilli. Buckets of cheese puffs are optional but welcome. There are (other) reasons to be jealous of the secularism of Thanksgiving and an annual affirmation of national consciousness. But we could learn most from the Super Bowl, the finale of the American football season, a riot of razzmatazz that erupts tomorrow. It could just save English soccer.

Not Your Mother's Tennis Game

A Wimbledon referee has had it with at least one new trend in the game.

Mills, Wimbledon's chief official for 22 years who retires after this week's tournament, which begins on Monday, told The Sunday Times he believed coaches were teaching young women players to grunt.

"I don't like it at all. Today there is probably more grunting than there has ever been," he said.

"If I was playing an opponent making so much noise, I think I'd just laugh. But it's what young players are being coached to do.

"Many of the non-grunting players are unhappy about the noise pollution and a kind of counter-grunt culture has emerged in recent years whereby offended parties ape their opponent's noises."