BOTTERILL WASN'T KIDDING ABOUT UPGRADING THE AMERKS
When Jason Botterill was named general manager of the Buffalo Sabres, he said upgrading the AHL affiliate Rochester Americans would be a high priority. This was not lip service. We know that already.
Here are some encouraging notes on recent developments for Rochester (with a few more moves possible):
Goalies – One month ago, Linus Ullmark appeared to be the prime bait in the expansion draft for the Vegas Golden Knights. But Botterill arranged a deal with Vegas not to select Ullmark, who was then slotted as Buffalo’s backup to Robin Lehner. Botterill then signed veteran free-agent goalie Chad Johnson to back up Lehner.
It now appears that Ullmark, Rochester’s best player by far last season, will return to the Amerks. He likely will be backed up by solid proven AHL goalie Adam Wilcox. Jonas Johansson and Jason Kasdorf appear likely to start the season with Cincinnati.
Will Ullmark sulk with a return to Rochester? Probably not. He’ll be playing behind a significantly better team than last season’s Amerks. He appears to be Buffalo’s future franchise goalie, perhaps as soon as the 2018-19 season. And he’d be making the same money – a reported $750,000 – in Buffalo or Rochester.
Defensemen – Imagine Ullmark with a solid defense in front of him. Rochester’s defense last season was – to be kind – weak. The blue line already appears much improved for this season.
Casey Nelson, Justin Falk, Taylor Fedun, Matt Tennyson, Andrew MacWilliam, Anthony Florentino, Devante Stephens, Brycen Martin and promising Brendan Guhle are a deep and talented group
Forwards – The new regime in Buffalo should inspire big efforts from legitimate prospects Justin Bailey and Nicholas Baptiste if they begin the season (as expected) in Rochester. Alexander Nylander is likely to improve and might explode in his second AHL season. Veteran additions Kevin Porter and Seth Griffith provide skill and depth. Other forward candidates include C.J. Smith, Vaclav Karabacek, Sean Malone, Eric Cornel, Alex Kile, Kyle Criscuolo and Justin Danforth.
Rochester should have three solid lines and Cincinnati should be much stronger than the Elmira Jackals were last season.
Will the 2017-18 Amerks be a Calder Cup threat? Too soon to speculate on that. But this season’s team certainly will be an improvement over recent past seasons – and could be much better.
PUT ME IN THE “PACQUIAO WAS ROBBED” CORNER
The good news for boxing is that last Saturday night’s “Battle of Brisbane” between legendary Manny Pacquiao and hometown hero/underdog Jeff Horn was on ESPN and not on HBO pay-per-view.
More good news for boxing fans: Two more major fights are scheduled for ESPN later this summer – Vasyl Lomachenko vs. Miguel Marriage August 5, and Terence Crawford vs. Julius Indongo August 19.
One reason pro boxing has plunged in mass appeal in recent decades has been the proliferation of pay-per-view fights that too many former or potential new boxing fans can’t afford.
The worst thing about the “Battle of Brisbane” was the controversial unanimous decision in favor of the relatively unknown Horn. Bogus outcomes have plagued the sport for a long time. They’re alive and well – unfortunately.
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith called it “a bogus decision.” I seldom agree with Stephen A. but he was spot on regarding this fight.
I’m no boxing expert but I agreed with those who know much more about the sport than I do who said Pacquiao was robbed. I thought he dominated the fight. He threw twice as many punches and landed a higher percentage. Horn showed courage and refused to quit but it looked like Pacquiao dished out much more legitimate punishment than he took.
Many of Horn’s punches failed to connect but he did manage to log most of the neck holds and clinches. Horn’s face was a bloody mess from a fair shot to the eye by Pacquiao, who himself was bloodied by two head butts initiated by Horn.
The referee let Horn get away with borderline dirty tactics and Horn wisely took advantage.
I believe this was a classic hometown decision. I think the three judges were influenced by the enthusiastic pro-Horn crowd of more than 50,000. Were they intimidated or overly impressed?
Pacquiao was surprised by the outcome but a classy loser – until days later when he asked the WBO to follow up on a request by Philippine sports officials to review the decision. He said he wants the mandated rematch. He should be prepared to give Horn a bigger slice of the purse. Pacquiao reportedly was paid $10 million last Saturday plus a percentage of TV revenue in the Philippines. A slice of the live gate put Horn’s payday at around $1 million. A rematch in November reportedly would boost Horn’s take to at least $3 million.
Suggestion for Pacquiao: The rematch should not be in Brisbane or anywhere else in Australia. Ideally, Horn-Pacquiao II would be a farewell fight in Las Vegas or in Manila or anywhere else in the Philippines.
WHAT IF RON SHELTON HAD BEEN A BETTER BASEBALL PLAYER?
Ron Shelton played in portions of 66 games for the 1971 Rochester Red Wings – arguably one of the two best teams in Rochester’s long pro baseball history (the 1930 Wings were pretty good, too).
Shelton was Rochester’s backup utility infielder in 1971. He batted a respectable .26t0 (40-for-154) with 1 HR and 9 RBI. During games, he watched more-talented (in baseball at least) infield teammates Bobby Grich, Don Fazio and Mike Ferraro. Off the field, he took a lot of notes on his observations of his five-season minor-league career.
Shelton, a 39th-round pick by Baltimore in the 1966 amateur entry draft, retired from baseball after that 1971 season. He realized he had reached his zenith as a player and it was time to return to colled and prepare for something else.
If Shelton had been good enough to reach “The Show” (Major League Baseball), he might not have become a highly successful screen writer/director in show business so quickly.
His screenwriter and/or director credits include Bull Durham (arguably the best baseball movie ever made), White Men Can’t Jump (an excellent and underrated movie in my opinion), Cobb, Blue Chips and Bad Boyz II.
He’ll be at Frontier Field Friday for Ron Shelton Night.
When he was mostly sitting out the string for the 1971 Red Wings, I’m sure he could not have envisioned that 46 years later, Rochester fans would be lining up for 2,000 Ron Shelton bobbleheads and celebrating his induction to the Red Wings Hall of Fame.
He’ll have his plaque on the same wall as 1971 teammates Bobby Grich, Don Baylor, Johnny Oates, Jim Hutto, Roric Harrison, Fred Beene, Bill Kirkpatrick, Dave Leonhard, Mickey Scott and manager Joe Altobelli. Terry Crowley could be the 11th member of that team to be make the Red Wings Hall of Fame when he can squeeze a visit into his schedule.
THE RATTLERS ARE IN A SURPRISING SLUMP
The Rochester Rattlers ended the 2016 Major League Lacrosse regular season with arguably the best team in the nine-team league. But seven teams tied for first place with 8-6 records and Rochester missed qualifying for the playoffs due to a controversial tie-breaking system.
When this MLL season began, the Rattlers appeared to be at least as strong as last season. They got off to a 4-3 start while playing at less than full strength and there was cause for optimism.
But the Rattlers have lost three straight games to drop to 4-6 with four games remaining in the regular season. Sunday’s loss at the Chesapeake Bayhawks was particularly alarming. Rochester had a 5-0 lead after 9:41 but was outscored 19-4 the rest of the way in an ugly 19-9 loss. The Bayhawks surely impressed the banner home crowd of 10,002.
Rochester’s remaining schedule: Saturday, July 15, host Boston Cannons...Thursday, July 20, host Denver Outlaws...Saturday, July 29, at Atlanta Blaze...Saturday, August 5, host Ohio Machine.
Three of Rochester’s four remaining games are at home (although the official MLL schedule has posted TBD as the site for those games; that always worries me). The Rattlers are 1-3 at Capelli Sport Stadium this season and 3-3 on the road.
THOUGHTS ON THE NBA
I have no problems with Stephen Curry’s five-year, NBA-record $201 million super-max deal because he was grossly overpaid in his previous four-year deal worth $44 million.
My new favorite NBA East team is the Minnesota Timberwolves, with Jimmy Butler, Jeff Teague and Taj Gibson joining Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins. The starting five is very impressive. Depth could be a problem.
Can the Boston Celtics unseat the Cleveland Cavaliers in the East? The added firepower of newcomers Gordon Hayward and No. 3 overall draft pick Jayson Tatum is very impressive.
George Hill and Zach Randolph should help Sacramento. But I wonder why the Kings are interested in Vince Carter.
The additions of Paul George to Oklahoma City and Chris Paul to Houston probably erases any hopes of Russell Westbrook (Thunder) repeating as NBA Most Valuable Player or James Harden (Rockets) winning his first league MVP. Westbrook and Harden won’t be dominating the ball nearly as much.
I’m surprised that so many NBA fans believe that adding Carmelo Anthony and subtracting Kevin Love would bring the Cleveland Cavaliers closer to the NBA championship.
I’m trying to figure out why J.J. Redick is worth $23 million for next season to the Philadelphia 76ers.
I’ll admit that I’ve always thought former Syracuse U. star Michael-Carter Williams is an overrated point guard. Charlotte will be his fourth NBA team and I expect there will be a few more added to the list.
WHAT A WAY TO SPEND THE FOURTH OF JULY
The Rochester Red Wing had a crowd of 13,167 at Frontier Field for Tuesday night’s holiday victory over the Pawtucket Red Sox.
The six other International League home teams also had big holiday crowds: Indianapolis 14,366...Durham 11,897...Syracuse 11,731...Louisville 11,702...Scranton/Wilkes-Barre 10,000...Gwinnett 9,992.
Meanwhile, the Major League Lacrosse Denver Outlaws drew 26,614 to Sports Authority Field at Mile High and rewarded the huge crowd with a 24-12 romp over the Atlanta Blaze.
That crowd was more than any of the league’s eight other teams have drawn all season: Chesapeake 26,480 (for 5 home games)...Boston 24,178 (5)...Boston 24,178 (5)...New York 18,230 (4)...Ohio 10,500 (5)...Rochester 9,326 (4)...Atlanta 9,225 (5)...Charlotte 7,174 (5).
ZACK GRANITE CONTINUES TO BE ROCK SOLID
Rochester Red Wings center fielder continues to tear up the International League. His league-leading .365 batting average is .042 above No. 2 Tyler Wade of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Only five IL hitters are batting above .300.
I don’t know if Granite will win the IL batting title – though I like his chances.
For the record, here are the past IL batting kings (since the Red Wings began in 1928) who finished the season batting above .365:
Dale Alexander (Toronto) .380 in 1928
Dan Taylor (Reading) .371 in 1929
Rip Collins (Rochester) .376 in 1931
George Puccinelli (Rochester) .391 in 1932
Ike Boone (Toronto) .372 in 1934
Smead Jolley (Albany) .373 in 1936
Buddy Rosar (Newark) .387 in 1938...and then quite a gap to...
Ralph Garr (Richmond) .386 in 1970.
NO ROOM ON THE AMERKS FOR THREE VETERAN SCORERS
The Buffalo Sabres decided not to go the extra mile to retain three veteran forwards as organizational depth players for the 2017-18 Rochester Amerks. Let’s not be greedy.
Center Cal O’Reilly, 30, who had 9 goals and 33 assists in 47 games for last season’s Amerks before being loaned to the Toronto Marlies, signed a one-year, two-way contract with Minnesota ($700,000 NHL and $375,000 AHL). He had a one-way, $700,000 deal with the Sabres last season.
Left wing Cole Schneider, 26, signed a, one-year, one-way contract with the New York Rangers for $650,000. He led last season’s Amerks in scoring with 73 points (24 goals and 39 assists) in 72 games and had a commendable team-best +9 plus/minus rating.
Center Derek Grant, 27, signed a one-year $650,000 deal with Anaheim. He probably could’ve scored at least 30 goals for the 2017-18 Amerks (he had 11 goals and 8 assists in 23 games for Rochester last season) but didn’t do much help the Buffalo Sabres last season (0 goals and 3 assists in 40 games). In 86 career NHL games, he has yet to score a goal (but did “score” twice last season only to have them erased by offside calls).
SHORT SHOTS
I don’t know if amazing rookies Aaron Judge or Cody Bellinger will win the eight-man Home Run Derby next Monday night, but they’ll be the two main reasons the TV ratings will be sky high.
I hope ESPN was just trying to be make a little funny on the Fourth of July, but after Joey Chestnut ate a record 72 hot dogs in 10 minutes to win the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest for the 10th time, the network’s crack research staff noted that Chestnut now trails only Bill Russell (NBA) and Henri Richard (NHL) by a mere one for the most championship titles.
After Syracuse finished as a high also-ran in recruiting battles for several top-shelf basketball recruits in recent months, the Orange have received a commitment from 6-foot-8 forward Darius Bazley. The Cincinnati-area prospect is the 32nd-ranked player in the 2018 class by ESPN.com. Coach Jim Boeheim also believe East Carolina transfer Elijah Hughes will be a major contributor when he becomes eligible for the 2018-19 season.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...
Wednesday, July 5 – Jorge Polanco (24)...Megan Rapinoe (32)...Richie Incognito (34)...Marco Estrada (34)...Zheng Jie (34)...Jesse Crain (36)...Brandon Lloyd (36)...Amelie Mauresmo (38)...Chris Gratton (42)...Koy Detmer (44)...James Lofton (61)...Goose Gossage (66)...Gary Matthews (67. Huey Lewis (67) can sing Happy Birthday.
Thursday, July 6 – Andrew Benintendi (23)...Manny Machado (25)...Jae Crowder (27)...Christian Ehrhoff (35)...Pau Gasol (37)...Alvin Harper (49)...Lauri Merten (57)...Ron Duguay (60)...Willie Randolph (63)...Brad Park (69). Kevin Hart (38), Sylvester Stallone (71), George W. Bush (71), Burt Ward (72) and Dalai Lama (82) are invited to the birthday party.