Scorecard: The Week's Winners & Losers
by Zachary Burns
15 Minutes
Calculating how many of their 15 minutes of fame these figures have exhausted.
Turner Gill
Football Coach
THE SKINNY: Despite signing a contract extension through the 2013 season with the University at Buffalo last year, head coach Turner Gill began his annual search for greener pastures, entertaining offers from the University of Kansas on Dec. 6. This is the first of what are sure to be several offers for the miracle worker, who flirted with leaving last year after leading UB to it’s first ever bowl game.
VERDICT: Gill’s 20-30 record in four seasons at UB doesn’t sound like much, but its hard to fully comprehend how bad UB was prior to his arrival. Needless to say, his coaching buzz is hot right now. Then there’s the whole race thing. Currently Gill is one of only 10 black head coaches in major college football, and his movements are watched closely by the national media. After Gill interviewed and was passed over for the top job at Auburn last year, former NBA star Charles Barkley proclaimed, “I think race was the No. 1 factor.” While Gill hasn’t ruled out a return to UB, you can be sure he’s on to bigger things and that the sporting world will be watching.
The Week's Winners & Losers
 The Olmsted Parks Mayor Byron Brown filed documents on Dec. 7 for the city to retake control of the parks system after five years of steadfast and efficient management under the non-profit Olmsted Conservancy. His first proposed order of business: patronage jobs! |
 Suburban SmokersThe Amherst Town Board voted on Dec. 7 to explore the legality of instituting a ban on hiring cigarette smokers to town positions. Council Member Mark Manna, who sponsored the bill, claimed the ban would help to lessen health insurance costs. |
 Geriatric Sex Offenders Theodore Sypnier, 100, the oldest registered sex offender in New York and a big fan of the early bird special, is set to become a free man after his release to a Buffalo halfway house last week. Sypnier had served 10 years in prison for molestation. |
 Apathetic FansLarge swaths of empty seats were visable at the Rogers Centre in Toronto during the Bills’ 19-13 loss to the N.Y. Jets on Dec. 3. Despite cutting ticket prices 17%, the game was a tough sell and may have alleviated fans’ fears of a hostile Canadian takeover. |
 Hiram MonserrateOne week after voting against gay marriage due to his advocacy of “family values”, the state Senator was sentenced for a violent domestic assault on his girlfriend. The victim told cops that during the assault, Monserrate was “posessed by the devil.” |
By the numbers...
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0
Total dollars in Buffalo mayor Byron Brown’s $27.6 million capital projects budget slated to go to the South Buffalo district, home of councilman Mickey Kearns’, the mayor’s opponent in this year’s Democratic primary race. |
17
Ranking of a University at Buffalo drug and alcohol use research study on Republican Senators John McCain and Tom Coburn’s list of the most wasteful stimulus spending according to a Dec. 8 release. The study received $389,357 in aid and paid 100 young adult participants to keep a daily record of malt liquor and marijuana use. |
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14,372
Number of Residential properties in Buffalo the city has reassesed at a higher value according to data released on Dec. 4. One of those properties slated for a property tax hike is the recently famous 228 Massachusetts St., site of the rehab on ABC’s Extreme Makeover Home Edition. The house’s assessed value increased from approximately $20,000 to $75,000, which would lead to an estimated tax hike of $1,014.76. |
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