Tim Tebow Mania Sweeps the World

Tim Tebow is arguably the greatest college football of all time, however when he entered the NFL, he was highly criticized for his playing style and abilities. Not being a classic pocket passer, Tim Tebow is forced to play the game with his legs, imagination, will and leadership. Tebow is a devout Christian, third-world missionary, and truly puts his life in the hands of God. This is much of the mystique around Tebow, and that has grown over the course of his first NFL season as starting quarterback.

Tebow took over for the Denver Broncos when the team was 1-4 and clearly out of the playoff picture. However, Tebow found ways to win football games, despite putting up bad statistics. Going into today, Tebow was 7-1 as a starter, including 6 4th quarter or overtime victories. Many people find that much of the reason he wins these games is because of his faith. On an NFL Films video, Tebow was seen singing "Our God is an Awesome God" during pregame warmups, even during the game. Trailing late he would bring Denver back, almost miraculously, to win another game. The magic of Tebow lives on.

One thing that is sweeping the nation is the act of "Tebowing". Tebowing is Tebow's celebration, where he drops to one knee and puts his fist to his head. The Broncos games are now the #1 game every week. In this weeks game against Tom Brady and the New England Patriots, it was Tebow who was the showcase quarterback instead of Brady, who is a worldwide star. Time will tell high deep Tebow-mania will go. I said on draft day that I thought Tebow would be a hall of fame quarterback and revolutionize the position. I hope I am right.

Running into Ryan Miller

It was clear that Nashville Predators wanted to make an impact in Saturday's game against the Buffalo Sabres, and he decided to do this by running Sabres goalie Ryan Miller in his first game back from a concussion injury. The concussion was sustained after Milan Lucic of the Boston Bruins had run Miller.

While not as blatantly obvious as the time that Milan Lucic hit Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller, it was clear that Jordan Tootoo of the Nashville Predators was intent on hitting Miller. I liked the response showed by the Sabres, who jumped the Nashville forward quickly. Paul Gaustad, who was injured during the fight, yelled at Nashville's goalie, "Your next!" on his way to the locker room.

Coach Lindy Ruff was extremely upset, telling Brendan Shanahan he was right about it being open season on running goaltenders. I only hope that Shanahan puts an end to this by giving Tootoo a multi-game suspension. Buffalo went on to defeat Nashville 3-2 in Miller's first game back.

Injured Sabres dominate Capitals 5-1

With nine regulars out of the lineup and the sting of Friday’s loss to Columbus still fresh in their minds, it wouldn’t have been inconceivable to think the Buffalo Sabres could be in for a long night against the Washington Capitals. But a trio of rookies provided just the spark they needed to handily defeat the listless Capitals 5-1 at First Niagara Center.

Luke Adam scored twice and Zack Kassian picked up his first career NHL goal to lead the way for Buffalo. Defenseman Brayden McNabb, recalled earlier in the day to replace the injured Robyn Regehr, skated 13:42 of ice time and chipped in a game-high six hits.

Adam and Jason Pominville staked Buffalo to a first period lead, then the Capitals cut that in half with a penalty shot goal by Jason Chimera 6:39 into the second. But rather than fritter away another two-goal lead, Kassian responded just 27 seconds later when he drove down the right side and fired a shot between the pads of Washington netminder Tomas Vokoun. It was a deflating goal that the Caps never recovered from.

“Obviously, anytime another team scores a goal you want to respond with either a good shift or maybe a goal or a hit or something like that,” said Kassian. “It worked out well. We just tried to throw it on net for a rebound off the pad with the middle lane driving. Lucky for me it snuck through the five-hole and it went in. It was a nice burden to get off my back and now I can focus on playing.

Lindy Ruff agreed that Kassian’s goal took the wind out of Washington’s sails for the rest of the night.

“I thought [the Kassian goal] was really a momentum killer for them. That could have taken them a long ways the other direction. I thought us answering right away put out a little of their drive.”

Playing in his second NHL game, Kassian also provided a big physical presence tonight with five hits. A glass-rattling check on Jeff Schultz early in the game seemed to set his tone for the night.

“It’s important. Part of Zack’s game has to be physical,” said Ruff. “Combined with the skill he’s got, [his physical game] should be a great weapon.”

Paul Szczechura, also recalled from Rochester today, assisted on both of Adam’s goals. Jochen Hecht scored his first goal of the year on a shorthanded breakway late in the third period to cap the Buffalo scoring. It was Hecht’s first goal since March 12 of last season in Toronto.

Washington superstar Alex Ovechkin was a non-factor in the game, finishing minus-4 and taking just two shots.

Buffalo Sabres defeat Carolina Hurricanes 1-0

Buffalo Sabres goaltender Jhonas Enroth got a chance to make up for a bad game right away.
With Ryan Miller out following a concussion, Enroth got the start even after he gave up five goals 2 days earlier. Enroth made up for it and then some - making 34 saves for his first shutout of the season, helping the Sabres beat the Carolina Hurricanes 1-0 Friday night.

Jason Pominville scored for Buffalo, which won its seventh road game. "We've been a pretty good road team," Pominville said. "We're happy with the way we play on the road."

Carolina has lost seven of its last eight games to sink to the bottom of the Southeast Division standings and prompt speculation about the job security of coach Paul Maurice. The Hurricanes have only scored nine goals in their last seven losses and have been shut out in back-to-back games after losing 4-0 in Montreal on Wednesday.

"The zero on our side tonight and the zero on our side against Montreal are two completely different animals," Maurice said. "We had maybe some chances in Montreal but gave up 10 to get each one we got."
Back-up goalie Brian Boucher made 19 saves for the Hurricanes while starting in place of Cam Ward. Boucher has yet to post a win this season.

Pominville extended his point streak to six games midway through the first period. With the Sabres on the power play, Pominville finished a scramble in front of Boucher by smacking a rebound into the top-right corner of the net. Pominville has three goals and five assists during his streak. Thomas Vanek got an assist on the play for his eighth point (three goals, five assists) in his last six games. Vanek and Pominville have combined on a goal 19 times this season.

Cowboys Kill Buffalo 44-7

The 5-4 Buffalo Bills dropped their second straight game with a 44-7 loss to the 5-4 Dallas Cowboys on Sunday afternoon. Ryan Fitzpatrick had a tough time getting the ball out in the contest, as he completed 20 out of 31 passes for 146 yards for one touchdown and three interceptions.  On the ground, Fred Jackson ran 13 times for 114 yards and had one fumble lost.


It was an ugly performance by the Bills, who got killed by Tony Romo and DeMarco Murray. Romo went 23 for 26 with 270 yards passing and 3 touchdowns. The game was over for all intensive purposes in the first half. Romo did not even throw a pass in the 4th quarter. Murray was sensational, rushing for 140 yards and a touchdown.


The Bills season is not over, but they may now have to finish the season 5-2 in their last 7 games to make the playoffs. They will meet the 2-7 Miami Dolphins next week in Miami.

Buffalo Sabres defeat Winnipeg Jets in overtime

The Buffalo Sabres made the Winnipeg Jets pay the price for their constant parade to the penalty box. The Sabres scored 4 powerplay goals, including the game winner with less than 30 seconds remaining in overtime to give the Sabres a 6-5 victory. The Sabres overcome four deficits to win for the third consecutive game.

Vanek's tip-in of a shot by Jason Pominville was the Sabres' fourth power-play goal of the night -- on their 12th advantage. It came with Blake Wheeler in the penalty box for hooking. The Sabres worked the puck around to Pominville in the left circle, where he ripped a shot that Vanek tipped past goalie Ondrej Pavelec. The goal was Vanek's second of the game and 10th of the season.

Mark Sanchez scared to death of Drayton Florence

Mark Sanchez had a very nice game passing the football against the Buffalo Bills sunday in the Jets 27-11 victory. However, late in the game when the Jets were looking to run out the clock, a funny play happened. Drayton Florence jumped at Sanchez causing him to jump away in fright. It's unfortunate that the Bills could not have put that fear into Sanchez before the game started.