WNY Sports and Food Reviews

A showdown in "Beantown". Miami vs Boston, seriously, does it get any better than this? You want to know how intense this rivalry is? The cheapest pair of tickets for tonight's game between the Heat and the Celtics according to Stubhub are $115.00 each. In Boston, this has the feeling of the Yankees vs Red Sox on a cool October evening in Fenway Park. You would be hard pressed to find a team that gives the Heat more fits than the Celtics. Boston has won ten straight regular season home games against the Heat. I can compare this rivalry to Notre Dame vs Miami, aka "Catholics vs Convicts" of the late 1980's. The Miami Heat like the 80's Hurricanes are filled with speed, flash, and an abundance of talent with an unbeaten streak that is a telling example of how good this team is. And then you have the Celtics. Like their Irish brethren Notre Dame they play the role of the team known for its rich past, looking to once again return to its former ...

Ottavino "Tovie" Asarese (right) intently watches a playoff game at the Asarese-Matters Community Center.    (For Bengal News Online) Inside the Asarese-Matters Community Center on Rees Street on a Monday or Wednesday night during the winter, next to the scorer’s table sits a man who has seen and done it all for sports in the West Side.     He’s 84-years-old, he currently uses a cane, he has aged greatly, but his mind and passion for helping kids in the community has never diminished.         His name is Ottavino “Tovie” Asarese, the founder and Commissioner of the West Side Play Area Street Hockey League.    Asarese has been involved in amateur and youth sports for over 50 years. From founding the West Side Little League Football Club, West Side Boys Baseball, West Side Ponytail Softball, and of course the West Side Street Hockey Program.     Although Asarese said that the hockey program...

Tonight at 9PM in Madison Square Garden, the fourth ranked Cardinals of Louisville will play the resurgent 24th ranked Fighting Irish of Notre Dame for a crack at the Big East championship. Tonight will be the third time Notre Dame and Louisville will go head to head in the Big East tournament. The Cardinals have won both previous meetings, including a 64-50 win over the Irish in last year's semifinals. The Irish and Cardinals split this year's series 1-1 with Notre Dame winning a five overtime thriller over head coach Rick Pitino 104-101 in South Bend, and Louisville returning the favor with a 73-57 drubbing of Notre Dame last Saturday. Louisville since their five overtime loss against the Irish have won every game since. The defending Big East champions and Final Four representative have won eight straight, winning by double digits in all but one of those games (A 58-53 win over Syracuse March 2). Photo courtesy of Sports Illustrated The Irish will have to contain...

It should be set in stone, Shaun White is the greatest athlete to ever grace the X-Games. White has won his sixth consecutive gold medal at Snowboard SuperPipe, becoming the second X-Games athlete to ever win six straight gold medals in the same event (the other Tucker Hibbert in Sno-cross). White started off with a 21' frontside air, with a backside double rodeo, scoring a 95.00 basically without breaking a sweat.  He then elevated his opening hit on his next run to over 24', the highest height recorded on the SuperPipe ever. White pulled mainly the same run, ending with a double-cork 1260, but upped his score to a 98.00 due to the higher elevation on his tricks. White cruised on his third run to secure the gold.  14-year-old Ayumu Hirano, scored a 92.33 on his second run, while bailing on the third hit on his last run. The eighth grader from Nigita, Japan finished in second, becoming the youngest medalist in X-Games history. Markus Malin had a 91.33 on his s...

Wow, what a way to end day two at X-Games Aspen with Torstein Horgmo doing a switch backside triple cork 1440 to win Snowboard Big Air, edging out Mark McMorris and Stale Sandbech in a wild Big Air Final. Sandbech was absolutely solid the entire night in both heats, knocking down two huge runs of 49.00 and 42.00 respectively in the Final. His best trick was a backside triple cork 1440 on his first go. After holding a lead for the majority of the final, Sandbech just waited for Horgmo and McMorris to jump and see if they could unseat the young Norwegian. Horgmo needed at least a 48.00 in order to take first place before McMorris jumped. Horgmo then broke out the never before seen in competition switch backside triple cork 1440 to score a perfect 50.00 to drop Sandbech to second. McMorris then needed a 49.00 in order to win the gold. McMorris unleashed a cab triple cork 1440 to score a 48.00 and tie Horgmo, dropping Sandbech from first to third in only two runs. Both Horgmo a...

Day two at X-Games Aspen started off with a bang with the Ski Slopestyle Elimination round, with sixteen riders looking to rule Buttermilk Mountain and qualify for the final Sunday. Defending gold-medalist Tom Wallisch who injured his knee in a previous event, bailed on his first run.  Wallisch two-handed on his double-flatspin 1080 off the down payment, costing him a spot in the final. "A little sketchy on my landings for sure." Wallisch said.   Ski Slopestyle has not had a repeat winner since Tanner Hall's three-peat from 2003-2005. And that trend will continue with Wallisch's departure.  James Woods from England who will represent the Brits in 2014, knuckled on the down payment on his first run. Woods responded with a full-pull on his second, highlighted by an octo-grab 1260 to not only bump out Kenworthy, but ending up in first place with a 92.33. Andreas Hatveit, a previous gold medal winner from Norway, had a flatspin over the wall on the plaza,...