Each year we get the chance to sift through dozens of interesting sports stories to pick our favorites for an end-of-year column, and this year is no different. Here in Buffalo in 2007, the Sabres’ run for the Stanley Cup fell short again, Niagara University made it to the Big Dance, the NCAAs came to Buffalo, the Bills overcame an 0-3 start and two devastating last-second losses to make a respectable season, and the Bisons were a big snooze on the field, though their 20th-year downtown party was awesome.

As we look back on 2007, we send a big thank you to our posse here at AV and also to our WNYMedia.net family; props to the management at the Buffalo Sabres and the Buffalo Bisons, who are a joy to work with; a shout out to our colleagues in the sports media, many of whom we call our friends; and lastly thanks to our loyal readers.

See you at the arena and at the ballpark in 2008!

V-C-U!…V-C-U!…

Duke is stunned at HSBC Arena

Three NCAA basketball sub-regionals in the past decade have given Buffalo hoops fans a treasure trove of memories to enjoy and embrace. But could anything top the upstart Virginia Commonwealth University Rams upsetting the Duke Blue Devils?

The date was March 15, and another packed house downtown welcomed March Madness to Buffalo. With all their pomp and swagger, Duke University and Coach Mike Krzyzewski came to town, expecting to roll through to the Sweet Sixteen.

But standing in the way was a guard from VCU named Eric Maynor, putting together his own storybook ending. Helping Maynor and his teammates were the Buffalo crowd, who clearly got on the underdog bandwagon and cheered on his team.

As this game evolved, Maynor stole the show, making play after play. His 14-foot, game-winning jumper with 1.8 seconds left gave Virginia Commonwealth a 79-77 win. The players piled onto the court, radio announcers were high-fiving on media row and the noise in the arena was absolutely deafening.

For Buffalo and Western New York, the tournament was a great opportunity to showcase our community, and this time we were up to the task. Trains ran on time, restaurants were ready and for a few days the streets of downtown Buffalo were alive with people and activity. And again, visiting schools gave us top marks.

The best news? The sub-regionals return to Buffalo on March 19 and March 21, 2010, which is roughly 813 days away. Anyone else counting the days?

Tim Hardaway: “I hate gay people”

When retired NBA center John Amaechi became the latest athlete to announce to the public that he was homosexual, the reaction he received to his coming out was overwhelmingly supportive. But not from everybody.

Appearing on a radio show in Miami, former Miami Heat player Tim Hardaway said, “You know, I hate gay people, so I let it be known. I don’t like gay people and I don’t like to be around gay people. I am homophobic. I don’t like it. It shouldn’t be in the world or in the United States.”

The reaction to Hardaway’s comments was swift and harsh. Miami Heat coach Pat Riley stated that Hardaway’s attitude would not be tolerated in their organization. NBA Commissioner David Stern took it even farther, banishing Hardaway from the NBA All Star weekend in Las Vegas, stating, “It is inappropriate for him to be representing us given the disparity between his views and ours.”

When Hardaway realized what a pariah he had become, he went in to spin mode and tried to apologize, with little success. His beliefs were so far from the mainstream and he knew it.

Yet consider this—as 2007 comes to a close, we still await the first coming out announcement of an active player in the four major sports. Perhaps there are more Hardaways out there than we’d like to believe.

The night we believed the Cup would be ours

The dream season for the Buffalo Sabres, the one where Buffalo fans fantasized of the celebration to come and the parade and festivities, was quickly falling apart. After winning the President’s Trophy, the team stumbled through the first round of the playoffs against the Islanders, and now had their hands full with the New York Rangers. What happened? What was wrong with this team?

Then came game five on Friday, May 4, at HSBC Arena. With the series tied at two, it was the Rangers who got the first goal with 3:19 left in regulation. All seemed lost until Chris Drury somehow managed to light the lamp with eight seconds left in regulation. Maxim Afinogenov’s shot off the point at 4:39 of overtime gave the Sabres the incredible victory.

While the Sabres closed out the Rangers two nights later, their 2007 Stanley Cup hopes were quickly extinguished when they faced the Ottawa Senators in the next round. Overcoming a 2-0 deficit suffered on home ice would prove to be an impossible task, and it was the Senators who celebrated with the Prince of Wales Trophy on Buffalo ice.

Yet stepping out into the balmy night outside HSBC Arena on May 4, who among the faithful did not believe that the magic was back? For one night, it was like the Sabres of old; for one night, we believed that this was the team that would at long last bring the Stanley Cup to Buffalo.

O.J. in trouble again? No!

If there’s one thing as certain as death and taxes, it’s the Juice getting in the news again and again, and not in a good way. Since his 1995 acquittal on murder charges, O.J. Simpson has been hit with a $32-million civil judgment, had numerous domestic disturbance calls to his house and been busted for selling cable TV devices to pirate signals illegally.

In September, he was arrested in Las Vegas, allegedly for being part of an armed group that burst into a local hotel room and snatched memorabilia from his own sports career.

Simpson told reporters that he was merely tying to retrieve some of his belongings, but prosecutors painted a much dimmer picture of the events as they occurred.

Simpson is expected to go to trial in 2008, and at long last may receive the justice that been elusive since the deaths of Ronald Goldman and Nicole Simpson in 1994.

ALCS game seven: Joel Skinner puts up the stop sign

Who in Buffalo wasn’t rooting for the Cleveland Indians in this year’s ALCS? With so many former Buffalo Bisons in Cleveland’s lineup, and former Bisons manager Eric Wedge running the big club, it was easy to cheer on the Tribe.

But Cleveland’s season ended in yet another brutal heartbreak. Despite taking a 3-1 series lead, the Indians allowed the Boston Red Sox to climb back, and it all came down to a final game seven at Fenway Park.

The series was essentially decided in the seventh inning. With Cleveland trailing by a run and one out, the still speedy Kenny Lofton reached second base on a pop-up error in left field. Then a single gets stroked to right field, yet with Lofton picking ’em up and laying ’em down, third base coach (and former Bisons manager) Joel Skinner puts up the stop sign.

The end result? That game-tying run, Kenny Lofton, was left stranded at third. Boston would then go on to score eight runs, cruising to an 11-2 win and a trip to the World Series. Cleveland was left haunted by the image of Joel Skinner holding his arms in the air, and the club’s 59th year without a world championship.

A special baseball goes

to Cooperstown

When fashion designer Marc Ecko bought the baseball which Barry Bonds hit to break the all-time home run record, Ecko decided to set up a Web site to ask fans to vote on the ball’s fate. Tens of thousands of fans chimed in and voted on all sorts of crazy suggestions, including sending the ball into outer space.

The winner? The ball would be sent to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. But the artifact would first be branded with an asterisk, representing fan dissatisfaction with Bond’s accomplishment set in the backdrop of baseball’s steroid era.

Bonds simply dismissed Ecko as “an idiot,” while Hall of Fame President Dale Petroskey stated, “We’re delighted to have the ball. It’s a historic piece of baseball history.”

While it is not certain when the ball will go on display, one thing is for certain—the recently released Mitchell Report promises to rock the baseball world and make 2008 a difficult year for the game. Roger Clemens using illegal substances? Say it ain’t so!