Buffalo Bandits Repeat as National Lacrosse League Champions Back to Back for the 1st time since 1992 &1993 in game #2 at the KeyBank Center in front of Banditland, by Chris Pomay

Buffalo, New York- (KeyBank Center)

Coming off a impressive 12-8 road win last night at the MVP arena in Albany, NY last night the Buffalo Bandits are back home at the sold out KeyBank Center (Banditland) for game #2 tonight with a chance to repeat as National Lacrosse League Champions with a win tonight over the visiting Albany Firewolves. The Bandits in game #1 were lead by star player’s Dhane Smith with 2 goals, 9 assists for 11 points and the NLL MVP Josh Byrne had 3 goals, 4 assists for 7 points in their win over Albany. The Bandits for the 6th straight game held their opponents till under 10 goals.

The visiting Albany Firewolves are led by goalie Doug Jamieson, rookie sensation Alex Simmons, and Tye Kurtz, and the Bandits are led by star player’s Josh Byrne (MVP of NLL) and Dhane Smith, along with goalie Matt Vinc. The Firewolves facing elimination on the road will have to get off to a strong start in the 1st quarter and silence the noisy sold out Banditland. For the Bandits to win game #2 at home they need a strong 1st quarter and not let Albany hang around in game #2 and stay out of the penalty box (stay disciplined). The Bandits are 5-0 all time against the Albany Firewolves in the post-season and 3-0 at the KeyBank Center.

The Bandits lead 4-3 after the 1st quarter at a very loud KeyBank Center on goals by Smith, Buchanan, Robinson, Nanticoke and Albany had goals by Simmons, Kaschalk, Firth.

Better second quarter for the Albany Firewolves cutting Buffalo’s lead down to 9-7 at half-time with 4 straight goals at the end of the 2nd quarter with less than a second left in half with a pulled goalie for extra attacker. The Firewolves in the 1st half were led by Sam Firth with 1 goal, 3 assists for 4 points and Josh Byrne led the Bandits with 7 assists for 7 points.

The Bandits offence found itself with outscoring Albany 5-1 in the 3rd quarter led by Buffalo’s Chase Fraser with 5 goals along with 2 assists this evening and the Bandits heading into the 4th quarter led Albany 14-8 before a very vocal Buffalo crowd. The Buffalo defense has done a nice job on Tye Kurtz holding him to only 2 assists after the 3rd quarter.

The Bandits in the 4th quarter had a big enough lead that even with Albany outscoring Buffalo 5-1 in the final quarter before 19,070 fans in a sold out & noisy KeyBank Center in downtown Buffalo, the Buffalo Bandits hung onto a 15-13 win over a very young, talented, hard working, well coached Albany Firewolves team to repeat as National Lacrosse League Champions 2023 &2024 and 6th NLL championship in team history.

Buffalo’s Josh Byrne who was recently named the National Lacrosse League Regular Season MVP, won the NLL Finals MVP and led the Bandits to a game #2 win and championship with another outstanding performance with 1 goal, 8 assists for 9 points. The Bandits had a well balance offence in this game vs Albany with Dhane Smith with 2 goals, 5 assists for 7 points and (18) points total in the 2 games vs Albany and could of easily been named MVP as well. Chase Fraser (British Columbia native) had one of his best games of the season with 5 goals, 2 assists for 7 points and the hard working Chris Cloutier contributed with 2 goals, 3 assists for 5 points & Kyle Buchanan with 1 goal, 2 assists for 3 points and goalie Matt Vinc with 36 saves in winning his 5th NLL championship in his 9th appearance in the NLL Finals.

The Buffalo Bandits are the 1st NLL team to repeat as NLL Champions since the 2015/2016 Edmonton/Saskatchewan Rush. Buffalo Head Coach John Tavares has been a part of all 6 National Lacrosse League championships with the Bandits, 4 as a player in 92, 93, 96, 08, and now as a Head Coach in 2023, 2024.

Please check out my post-game media interviews with Albany Head Coach Glenn Clark along with player Colton Watkinson and members of the Buffalo Bandits (John Tavares, Ian McKay, Kyle Buchanan) on my You Tube Channel along with a pre-game interview with National Lacrosse League Reporter & Writer Adam Levi and 2 pre-game interviews with Chelsea & Trevor Buffalo Bandits season ticket holders.

Adam Levi, NLL Reporter & Writer

Buffalo Bandits Head Coach John Tavares, Kyle Buchanan, Ian McKay Post Game

Albany Firewolves Head Coach Glenn Clark and Colton Watkinson in post-game with media

Final minutes of game #2 between Albany @ Buffalo

Buffalo Bandits season ticket holder Chelsea pre-game interview

Buffalo Bandits season ticket holder Trevor in a pre-game interview

Special thank you to Ryan Slabowski, Communications Assistant/Media Relations with the Buffalo Bandits for my media passes/opportunities in covering the 2023/2024 Buffalo Bandits home games this season at the KeyBank Center. The Buffalo Bandits are a first class organization and a great job by everyone from the game day presentation (Chris Swenson, Allie Brady, Buffalo Bandettes, video scoreboard team, Camera Operators, Security etc) and a terrific job by the team’s broadcasting crew in John Gurtler, Steve Bermel, Dave Buchanan on the CW-23 Network in Buffalo as well as 1520 The Bet and WGR 550 in Buffalo with their TV & radio coverage of the team.

If you have never been to a https://www.nll.com/ game before or a Buffalo home game in Banditland https://bandits.com/ check out their official websites and the Buffalo Bandits will be attempting to three peat as National Lacrosse League champions heading into the 2024/2025 season. I’ve been a fan of the National Lacrosse League for less than 3 years and every season I’m enjoying it more and more and the player’s across the league are very talented, skilled and hard working and I guarantee you if you come out to a NLL game whenever you live, you will enjoy the sport and want to come back again as a fan!

Please check out my website at: https://beacons.ai/chrisdpomay as well as my You Tube channel with all of my National Lacrosse League content from this past season: https://www.youtube.com/@chrispomaylivewithcdpsport5517/streams

Buffalo Bandits eliminate the Toronto Rock for the 3rd straight year and a trip back to the National Lacrosse League Championship Series for the 4th year in a row, by Chris Pomay

Buffalo, New York- (KeyBank Center) Tonight the Buffalo Bandits will be looking to eliminate their QEW rivals for the 3rd straight year with a win in game #2 tonight at the KeyBank Center in downtown Buffalo before a large crowd in Banditland. The Bandits are coming off their most impressive win of the season with a dominating 12-4 win over Toronto at the First Ontario Center in Hamilton, led by Kyle Buchanan with 3 goals, 1 assist for 4 points, Josh Byrne with 1 goal and 4 assists and goalie Matt Vinc who was outstanding in net for Buffalo with 53 saves and tying a franchise record he set last season with only allowing 4 goals to a very talented Toronto Rock team.

The Bandits have defeated the Rock three times this season with 16-14 regular season win at Hamilton, and 14-12 home win over the Rock on March 16th. The Buffalo Bandits are 8-3 all time against Toronto Rock in the post-season and 3-1 at home.

Key player(s) on the Toronto Rock to watch out for: Mitch DeSnoo, Corey Small, Challen Rogers, goalie Nick Rose, Mark Matthews, and for the hometown Buffalo Bandits: Goalie Matt Vinc, Dhane Smith, Josh Byrne, Kyle Buchanan who had a hat trick vs Toronto on Friday night in game #1 and the hard working Tehoka Nanticoke, Chase Fraser.

The Buffalo Bandits for the second straight game struck first with a nice goal by Dhane Smith assisted by Tehoka Nanticoke to go up 1-0 early in the 1st at the very noisy KeyBank Center. The Toronto Rock even up the score at 1-1 on a nice goal by Chris Boushy from Tom Schreiber and then another quick goal to take their 1st lead of this series at 2-1 on a goal by Dan Craig, assisted by Tom Schreiber and Mark Matthews.

The Buffalo Bandits lead 3-2 over Toronto after the 1st quarter on goals by Smith, Buchanan (PP) and Nanticoke before a nice Sunday crowd of 16,312 plus fans at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo.

The Toronto Rock playing their best quarter of the series outscored Buffalo 4-0 to take a 6-3 lead at half-time and their power play was very effective in the 1st half at the KeyBank going 3 for 5 helped on a late 5 minute major penalty to Buffalo’s Ian McKay. Toronto’s big guns Tom Schreiber 1 goal, 4 assists for 5 points and Mark Matthews with 1 goal, 3 assists for 4 points and Nick Rose was solid in net for Toronto in the 1st half.

The two teams exchanged goals in the 3rd quarter with the Toronto Rock fighting for their playoff lives up 7-4 over Buffalo after 3 quarters of play at the KeyBank Center in downtown Buffalo.

After a early goal by Toronto’s Mark Matthews extended the Rock’s lead to 8-4 with 10 minutes left, the Buffalo Bandits showed a lot of resilience and went on a 6-0 run led by the hard working forward #95 Chase Fraser with 3 goals in the final frame along with pair of goals from Josh Byrne, and a single from Tehoka Nanticoke all in a 8:10 minute span that had the 16,312 Bandits fans erupting in pure joy for their defending National Lacrosse League Champion Buffalo Bandits. The Bandits defeated their QEW rivals for the 3rd straight year and swept the best of 3 series in 2 games with a 10-8 exciting comeback win over a very good Toronto Rock team.

The Buffalo Bandits were led by star player Josh Byrne with 2 goals, 5 assists for 7 points and Byrne in his NLL playoff career hit 40 goal mark and now has 99 career playoff points in his career. My three starts of the game were: Josh Byrne, Chase Fraser with a 3 goal performance all in the final quarter, and from the visiting Toronto Rock forward Mark Matthews with 2 goals, 5 assists for 7 points in a losing effort for Toronto. The Buffalo Bandits are now the 4th National Lacrosse League team to play in 4 straight National Lacrosse League Finals (2019, 2022,2023, 2024) and will take on the Albany Firewolves who defeated San Diego (2-0) in their best of 3 series to reach the NLL Finals for the 1st time in franchise history.

In the 2023/2024 NLL regular season the Firewolves were 2-0 vs Buffalo winning both games at home and at the KeyBank Center by the score’s of 17-13 on opening night and 13-10 win over Buffalo at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo back in February.

The Buffalo Bandits defensively in their last 5 games (2) in regular season and playoff games vs Georgia & Toronto have allowed less than in 10 goals by their opponents: 7,5,9,4, 8 and this is due to the play of future Hall of Fame goalie Matt Vinc along with the recent acquisitions of Connor Farrell and veteran defensemen Paul Dawson who has provided leadership and experience to Buffalo’s defensive core.

The 2024 National Lacrosse League Championship Finals best of 3 will start in Albany, NY for game #1 on Friday, May 17th at 7pm EST, game #2 is back at the KeyBank Center on Saturday, May 18th at 7:30 pm and if there is a 3rd and deciding game in this finals, it will take place back on Friday, May 24th at Albany.

Please check out the post-game media interviews with Buffalo Head Coach John Tavares along with Bandits player(s) Chase Fraser, Dhane Smith as they all spoke with the local Buffalo media (including myself) after their comeback win over the Toronto Rock and having another chance to repeat as National League Champions for the Bandits 6th overall championship in franchise history and for the 2nd time in team history which was first done in 1992 & 1993 seasons.

I, did a pre-game interview with TSN National Lacrosse League analyst Pat Gregoire which you can view below courtesy of my You Tube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chrispomaylivewithcdpsport5517 and check out my pre-game interview with 2 member’s of Banditland (best fan base in the National Lacrosse League) https://youtu.be/bxTF5FEiDoE?si=xjYzte9KH9RCvGgO

TSN National Lacrosse League analyst Pat Gregoire

Buffalo Bandits Chase Fraser

Buffalo Bandits Dhane Smith

Buffalo Bandits Head Coach John Tavares

For more information about the National Lacrosse League please visit their website: https://www.nll.com/ and for tickets for the NLL Finals you can visit the Buffalo Bandits website: https://bandits.com/ and if you are travelling to Albany you can visit the Firewolves website: https://albanyfirewolves.com/

View my digital media content & previous radio shows with visiting my website at: https://beacons.ai/chrisdpomay

Leafs pushed to the brink of elimination with their latest loss to Boston 3-1 at home, by Chris Pomay

Toronto, Ontario- (Scotiabank Arena)

20,816 days since a Cup win in Toronto (1967) and their last Stanley Cup Final Appearance in the original six league.

1,526 days since losing to an AHL Zamboni driver.

23,763 days since winning a playoff series against the @NHLBruins in 1959.

Maple Leafs only one playoff series win since 2004, (2023 beating Tampa Bay in 6 games)..

1-7 record vs the Bruins in the regular season and in the playoffs combined and have not beaten Boston in the playoffs since 1959. Can the Leafs win 3 straight games vs Boston to win this series in 7 games and win 3 straight games at TD Garden in Boston?

Boston goalie Jeremy Swayman is now 6-0 vs the Maple Leafs this season 3-0 in regular season, and 3-0 in this series.

Auston Matthews, 69 goals in the regular season has only 1 goal in 4 games vs Boston and Matthews did not return for the 3rd period of this game (apparent speculation suffering from food poisoning) and the Leafs switched goalies in the 3rd with back up Joseph Woll in for starter Ilya Samsonov.

The Maple Leafs have not played in the Eastern Conference Championship series (3rd round) since 2002 vs Carolina and losing in 6 games to the Hurricanes.

If the Leafs lose this series in game #5 to Boston or even 6 or 7? MLSE seriously has to make major changes to upper management, coaching staff and trade John Tavares and Mitch Marner, as this core 5 has been together since 2016 they are no longer rookies.

Note: Make that 6 straight playoff losses at home for the #Leafs (Scotiabank Arena) Last playoff home win was Thursday, April 20th, 2023 defeating the Tampa Bay Lightning 7-2 in game #2 of their first round match up. The Leafs at the Scotiabank Arena since 2023 in the post season have now lost 7 out of their last 8 games, not much of a home ice advantage for the Toronto Maple Leafs these days.

Game #5 vs Boston is on Tuesday, April 30th at 7pm EST at the TD Garden in Boston, where the Leafs did win game #2, (3-2) on a Auston Matthews 3rd period goal.

You can check out my website at: https://beacons.ai/chrisdpomay

2024 NFL Opening Night of the Draft in the Motor City by Chris Pomay

Detroit Michigan- This year’s 2024 NFL Draft is taking place in the Motor City (Home of the Detroit Lions) and on day #1 over 275,000 people (record) are attending the opening round of the National Football League Draft with the Chicago Bears having the 1st selection.

Some early news that just broke, the Philadelphia Eagles signed WR A.J Brown to a 3 year extension with 96 million dollars. The Eagles have the 22nd pick in the 1st round of this year’s NFL Draft. Chicago, Washington, New England have the first 3 picks in the 1st round.

The Bears drafted #1 overall QB Caleb Williams out of USC, 30 TD passes, 11 rushing TD last season for USC and 3,633 passing yards. The Washington Commanders picking #2 overall took, Jayden Daniels QB, out of LSU the 2023 Heisman Trophy Winner. The New England Patriots also took a QB at #3 with Drake Maye out of North Carolina, 2022 ACC player of the year, and is being compared to Buffalo QB Josh Allen.

The Arizona Cardinals select WR Marvin Harrison JR out of Ohio State with the 4th pick, the son of NFL Hall of Fame Receiver Marvin Harrison, 1,200 plus receiving yards the past 2 season’s and one of the best receivers in college football. The Los Angeles Chargers picking #5 took Joe Alt, OT from Notre Dame.

With the 6th overall pick the New York Giants select WR Malik Nabers from LSU. The Tennessee Titans with the 7th pick select JC Latham, tackle out of Alabama a good choice for the Titans who need help on their offensive line, who started all 14 games for Alabama in 2023. The Atlanta Falcons picking #8 took QB Michael Penix Jr, out of Washington State.

The Chicago Bears with their second draft pick in the 1st round took Rome Odunze WR out of Washington with the 9th pick. The Minnesota Vikings with the 10th pick took QB J.J McCarthy, from the National Champion Michigan Wolverines who led Michigan to a perfect 15-0 season and their 1st National Championship since 1997.

The New York Jets with the 11th pick took OT from Penn State Olumuyiwa Fashanu. The Denver Broncos with the 12th pick select QB Bo Nix out of Oregon. The Raiders with the #13 pick took Tight End Brock Bowers out of Georgia and the Saints picking #14 took Taliese Fuaga, and picking #15 the Indianapolis Colts drafted Laiatu Latu, edge rusher out of UCLA.

Selecting with the 16th pick DT Byron Murphy out of Texas is heading to the Seattle Seahawks, a solid pick for Seattle. The Vikings made another trade via Jacksonville Jaguars, Minnesota selects EDGE Dallas Turner out of Alabama.

Cincinnati with the 18th pick took Amarius Mims, OT from Georgia to add depth to their O-line. The Los Angeles Rams looking to replace Aaron Donald, took Jared Verse, edge rusher from Florida State with the 19th pick of the evening in downtown Detroit. The Pittsburgh Steelers select Tackle from Washington Troy Fautanu with the 20th pick of the draft. With the 21st selection the Miami Dolphins select linebacker Chop Robinson from Penn State.

Philadelphia Eagles with the 22nd pick select CB Quinyon Mitchell out of Toledo, who had 6 interceptions in his career with Toledo and is very good at pass break up’s. 1st time since 2002, the Eagles drafted a cornerback in the 1st round. Jacksonville with the 23rd pick selected WR Brian Thomas Jr, out of LSU. The Dallas Cowboys completed a trade with Detroit and the Lions selected with the 24th pick Terrion Arnold, cornerback out of Alabama and Dallas will now select at 29 towards the end of the 1st round.

Green Bay Packers with the 25th pick selected from Jordan Morgan OT from Arizona, and Tampa Bay with the 26th pick choose Graham Barton center from Duke. Edge rusher Darius Robinson from Missouri was taken by the Arizona Cardinals as the 27th pick of the 1st round.

Kansas City & Buffalo switch draft picks with KC now picking 28th, and Buffalo with the final pick at 32 in the 1st round of the 2024 NFL Draft. The Chiefs take WR Xavier Worthy out of Texas who are looking for more receiver help for QB Patrick Mahomes.

With the 29th selection the Dallas Cowboys select tackle Tyler Guyton out of Oklahoma, former tight end and a solid addition to Dallas’s offensive line. Baltimore selecting 30th took CB Nate Wiggins out of Clemson. San Francisco and Buffalo finish off the 1st round of the 2024 NFL Draft with the final two picks. The Niners selected Ricky Pearsall, athletic wide receiver from Florida which will be a good addition to the SF 49’ers offence in 2024.

The 32nd and final pick belongs to the Buffalo Bills who traded down earlier with the Kansas City Chiefs, now traded their 1st round pick to the Carolina Panthers, who will select Xavier Legette, WR with South Carolina to conclude the 1st round of the NFL Draft in downtown Detroit.

For my 1st time ever at a NFL Draft this was quite the experience with over 1,000 other media members than and I’ve never seen so many camera’s at a media press conference before. I decided to take a Uber from Taylor, Michigan to downtown Detroit and special thanks to my Uber driver “Johnny” for going a little extra for me to get me as close as possible to the One Campus Martius building where I had to go to pick up my NFL Draft media pass and go through a security check. I ended up walking 6 blocks before finally arriving at my media destination at the OCM building. Parking in downtown Detroit for opening night was at a premium and very expensive rates going from $75-$100.00.

Downtown Detroit has been developed into a thriving city again and I could not believe how many NFL fans where at the opening night of the 2024 NFL Draft (275,000 fans) a record and of course there was a lot of Police, FBI, and even police officer’s from the Windsor Police at this event which was well organized. Unfortunately with a lot of major street’s closed for the NFL draft it was hard to get a Uber pick up after the opening night event ended and I ended up having to take an expensive taxi ride back to my hotel in Taylor, Michigan. If you have not been to Detroit recently, I would highly recommend it as the City is alive and well again with prospering business’s downtown and not to mention Ford Field, Comerica Park and Little Caesars Arena all within 4 minutes walking distance of each other.

Please check out my social media pages for photo’s, video’s and I was able to attend the post draft media conference with player’s Jayden Daniels QB drafted #2 by Washington, Drake Maye drafted #3 by the New England Patriots, WR Marvin Harrison Jr out of Ohio State taken #4 overall by the Arizona Cardinals and of course the Philadelphia Eagles 1st round draft pick Quinyon Mitchell, cornerback out of Toledo was taken by the Eagles #22 overall, 1st time Philadelphia has taken a cornerback in the 1st round of the draft since 2002, and I like this selection by Philadelphia Eagles GM Howie Roseman.

You can view the post draft media conference interviews with Daniels, Maye, Harrison Jr, Mitchell from my You Tube channel and the links are below here:

Washington Commanders 1st round pick, #2 overall QB Jayden Daniels out from the LSU Tigers

Wide Receiver Marvin Harrison Jr, out of Ohio State taken #4 overall by the Arizona Cardinals

QB Drake Maye, selected by #3 overall by the New England Patriots out of North Carolina

Quinyon Mitchell, 1st round pick (22nd overall) cornerback from Toledo drafted by the Philadelphia Eagles.

My quick thought’s on the top 3 draft picks and the Eagles selection of CB Quinyon Mitchell out of Toledo.

Here are some NFL notes below courtesy of the NFL Media Communications Department:

OFFENSE AT THE TOP: The first 14 selections in the 2024 NFL Draft were on the offensive side of the ball, surpassing the previous record of seven set in 2021 for the most consecutive offensive players chosen to begin an NFL Draft.
 

The 2024 NFL Draft saw 23 offensive players chosen in the first round, surpassing the previous record of 19 (three times: 1968, 2004 and 2009) for the most offensive players ever in the first round of an NFL Draft.

QUARTERBACKS GO FIRST: Quarterbacks CALEB WILLIAMS (No. 1 overall, Chicago), JAYDEN DANIELS (No. 2, Washington) and DRAKE MAYE (No. 3, New England) were selected with the first three picks in the 2024 NFL Draft, while MICHAEL PENIX JR. (No. 8, Atlanta), J.J. MCCARTHY (No. 10, Minnesota) and BO NIX (No. 12, Denver) were each selected in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft.
 

The six quarterbacks selected in the first round ties the 1983 NFL Draft (six) for the most quarterbacks chosen in the first round of an NFL Draft all-time and the 2024 NFL Draft is the first Draft ever with five quarterbacks selected in the top-10 picks. 

Since 1967, a quarterback has been selected first overall on 28 occasions, the most among all positions. 

The 2024 NFL Draft is the fourth in the common-draft era to have quarterbacks chosen with each of the top-three selections, joining 2021, 1999 and 1971. 

With the selection of quarterback Caleb Williams, the University of Southern California is the first college all-time to produce six No. 1 overall selections, breaking a tie with Auburn (five), Notre Dame (five) and Oklahoma (five). 

Williams, the 2022 Heisman Trophy winner, is the 11th quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy and be chosen No. 1 overall since 1967.

Special thank you to the National Football League Media Communications Department for this amazing opportunity to cover the 2024 NFL Draft (Opening Night) in Detroit, Michigan and overall it was a great learning experience (little overwhelming at times for this rookie) and as well as connecting with a lot of other media member’s from across the USA and ever getting a selfie with Indianapolis Colts 1st round pick (15th overall) from UCLA Laiatu Latu the 1st defensive player taken in this year’s NFL draft.

For all of my digital media content please check out my website at: https://beacons.ai/chrisdpomay

Buffalo Bisons continue their 1-90 NYS thruway series vs the Rochester Red Wings, by Chris Pomay

Buffalo, NY- (Sahlen Field)

The Buffalo Bisons will be trying to end their 3 game losing streak to their 1-90 rivals the Rochester Red Wings this afternoon at Sahlen Field on a warmer day (57 F) at beautful Sahlen Field in downtown Buffalo. Starting for the hometown Bisons will be Paxton Schultx, 0-0, 6.35 ERA vs Thaddeus Ward, 0-0 with 3.52 ERA for the visiting Rochester Red Wings.

Player’s too watch for the Rochester Red Wings are second baseman Darren Baker (son of Dustin Baker) and CF James Wood, and for the hometown Bisons, Spencer Horwitz, 1st baseman, and Addison Barger (3rd baseman).

In the bottom of the 1st, the Bisons loaded the bases and took a 1-0 lead on a walk to RF Will Robertson, after walks to Horwitz, Jansen, and Barger hit by pitch, the Bisons increase lead to 3-0 on a 2 run single to CF by Damiano Palmegiani.

Buffalo increases their lead to 4-0 in the bottom of the 2nd inning on a fielder’s choice by Addison Barger, scoring Spencer Horwitz, and Buffalo adds 2 more runs on a base hit and error by the pitcher Thaddeus Ward giving the Bisons a 6-0 lead by Will Robertson.

The Buffalo Bisons in the bottom of the 4th inning increase their lead 7-0 on a bases loaded walk to DH Damiano Palmegiani and another pitching change for the Rochester Red Wings Robert Gsellman. Rafael Lantigua a bases loaded 3 run double increases the Bisons lead to 10-0 and add one more for insurance on a base hit RBI by Steward Berroa and the Bisons lead Rochester 12-0 after 4 innings headed to the 5th inning.

The Buffalo Bisons went on to a 17-0 win over the Rochester Red Wings to improve their record to 8-6 and their largest margin of win in the Buffalo Bisons modern era and the Herd pitching staff held the Red Wings to one hit. Please check out my pre-game interview with Cam Eden, who was called up to the Toronto Blue Jays last September and Eden spoke with me about his experience in Toronto and what he is working on to improve his overall game in 2024.

The Buffalo Bisons, are now on the road this week for a 6 game series vs the Columbus Clippers. Special thank you Pat Malacaro, Manager of Communications and the Play By Play announcer for the Buffalo Bisons for having come down to cover the team this weekend as freelance media and if you’ve never been to a Bisons game at Sahlen Field, I’d highly recommend it and you can purchase tickets online at: https://www.milb.com/buffalo

Buffalo Bandits clinch a playoff berth with a impressive 14-7 win over the Calgary Roughnecks by Chris Pomay

Buffalo, NY (KeyBank Center)

For the 1st time since December 2021, the Calgary Roughnecks take on the hometown Buffalo Bandits on Fan Appreciation Night at the KeyBank Center for the best fan base in the National Lacrosse League “Banditland”.

Some key player(s) too watch out for on Calgary, Tanner Cook, Jesse King, and goalie Christian Del Bianco, and for the hometown Bandits, Dhane Smith, Josh Byrne, Chase Fraser and goalie Matt Vinc. With a win tonight, the Bandits will clinch a playoff spot and remain in the hunt for the #4 seed in the NLL playoffs which means having a home playoff game at the KeyBank Center. The Roughnecks are 7-9 and currently 9th in the unified standings and just one game behind the New York Riptide for the 8th playoff spot.

One of the Buffalo Bandits best 1st quarter’s of the season leading Calgary 4-0 on 2 special teams goals (Shorthanded & Powerplay) by Chase Fraser & Nanticoke on the PP.

The Buffalo onslaught continued in the second quarter with the Buffalo Bandits outscoring Calgary 5-2 and leading 9-2 at half time and the Bandits have been strong on both sides of the rink this evening before a very loud sell out crowd at the KeyBank Center. Buffalo’s Josh Byrne tonight scored his 50th goal of the season along with 3 assists for 5 points in the 1st half.

Much better 3rd quarter for the visiting Calgary Roughnecks who outscored the Bandits 3-2 to cut Buffalo’s lead to 11-5 with 15 minutes to go in this important National Lacrosse League game for both teams in terms of the playoff picture.

The Bandits would go on and defeat the visiting Calgary Roughnecks (7-10) by a score of 14-7 before a sell out crowd of over 19,000 fans at the KeyBank Center in downtown Buffalo. The Bandits were led by Josh Byrne (who scored his 50th goal of the season) along with 5 assists for 7 points, and the Great Dhane Smith with 1 goal, 6 assists for 7 points along with the hardworking Chase Fraser with 4 goals and Bandits goalie Matt Vinc, perhaps played his best of the season with his 47 saves and only allowing 7 goals to Calgary.

The Buffalo Bandits have clinched a playoff spot in the upcoming National Lacrosse League playoffs at 10-7 and currently are the #5 seed so they would have to start the 1st round on the road unless Georgia loses this weekend to the Rochester Knighthawks at home and the Bandits needing a road win at the Las Vegas Dessert Dogs on Saturday, April 20th at 10 pm EST/7pm PST.

I attended the post game media call with Buffalo Bandits Head Coach John Tavares who was pleased with his team’s effort on both sides of the rink and with player’s Chase Fraser and Josh Byrne and you can view my interviews courtesy of my You Tube Channel.

John Tavares, Head Coach of the Buffalo Bandits

Buffalo Bandits Chase Fraser

Buffalo Bandits Josh Bryne (50th goal)

Special thank you to Ryan Slabowski, Media Communications with the Buffalo Bandits for my media opportunities covering the Buffalo Bandits home games this season at the KeyBank Center.

For more information about the Buffalo Bandits you can visit their official website at: https://bandits.com/ and the National Lacrosse League’s official website at https://www.nll.com/ and of course my website https://beacons.ai/chrisdpomay

Buffalo Bisons lose both ends of doubleheader vs the Rochester Red Wings with Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Alek Manoah starting for Buffalo, by Chris Pomay

Sahlen Field- (Buffalo, NY)

On a overcast windy, (46 F temperature) Saturday in downtown Buffalo, a number of Toronto Blue Jays are with the Buffalo Bisons on rehab assignment (Alex Manoah, Danny Jensen, Erik Swanson, Jordan Romano).

Today’s starting pitchers for the 4-5 Rochester Red Wings DJ Herz 0-0, 6.75 ERA vs Alek Manoah 0-0.00 ERA on a rehab stint for the Blue Jays and the Bisons are coming off a 6-3 loss to the Red Wings on Thursday afternoon at Sahlen Field in a ABS (Automated Ball Strikes) game. The Red Wings in the top of 1st inning scored with hits by Darren Baker, (stolen base) and a base hit RBI by Juan Yepez. Alek Manoah, in the 1st inning, gave up 1 run, 2 hits, 1 stolen base, 1 pass ball with back to back strikeouts of Travis Blankenhorn & Jake Alu and both hits were infield hits.

In the 2nd inning Bisons starter Alek Manoah, had a scoreless 2nd inning vs Rochester, but gave up another 2 hits along with his 3rd strikeout of the game. The Bisons in the bottom of the 2nd inning tied up the game at 1-1 on a Luis De Los Santos single to left field and took the lead on a bases loaded 1 out walk to Cam Eden.

In the top of the 3rd inning the Red Wings scored a couple of runs on a RBI base hit by Juan Lepez, and satisfice fly by Jake Alu to shallow left field off of Buffalo started Alek Manoah. In 3 1/3 innings of work, Alek Manoah gave up 4 earned runs on 8 hits with 4 strikeout’s, 1 walk on 77 pitches thrown. The Red Wings added another run to increase their lead to 4-2. Alek Manoah, struggled at times and never had a 1-2-3 inning in his start vs Rochester, but told the local media he felt good out there and thought he had made some progress today in his start vs the Red Wings.

Toronto Blue Jays closer Jordan Romano is now in pitching the top of the 6th inning for the Bisons, as he is down in Buffalo on a rehab stint. Romano’s outing was cut short after 2/3 of a inning, giving up 0 runs, 0 hits, 2 walks, 1 strike out as replaced by Connor Cook who closed out the 6th inning for the Bisons still trailing 5-2.

Rochester, adds a few more runs in the top of the 7th inning to take a 7-2 lead over the Buffalo Bisons heading into the bottom of the 7th in game #1 of this doubleheader at Sahlen Field. Into pitch the top of the 7th inning for the Red Wings Jacob Barnes.

Rochester defeats the Bisons 7-2 in game #1 of the doubleheader at Sahlen Field, in 2:41 hours, loss to Alek Manoah, and the winning pitcher for Rochester Adonis Medina. Please check out my You Tube Channel with media interviews with Toronto Blue Jays, Jordan Romero, Danny Jensen, Alek Manoah, Erik Swanson.

In tonight’s second game starting for the 5-5 Rochester Red Wings, Spenser Watkins 1-0 record with 3.60 ERA and for the 7-5 hometown Buffalo Bisons (Chad Dallas). Rochester’s Alex Call with a solo blast over the left field wall gives the Red Wings a early 1-0 lead in the 2nd inning. The Red Wings in the top of the 3rd inning added 3 more runs against Buffalo started Chad Dallas to extend their lead to 4-0.

The Buffalo Bisons rally in the bottom of the 6th inning with 3 runs to tie up the game vs the visiting Rochester Red Wings, but the Wings rally to win the second game of the doubleheader 6-5 to win their 3rd straight game vs the Bisons to improve their record to 6-5, while the Bisons drop to 7-6.

The two teams conclude their 6 game series at Sahlen Field, with a Sunday afternoon game at Sahlen Field at 1:05 pm EST first pitch. Click on the You Tube Link below for more post game interviews with members of the Buffalo Bisons.

You can check out my website at: https://beacons.ai/chrisdpomay and my official You Tube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@chrispomaylivewithcdpsport5517

Biggest comeback of the season for the Buffalo Bandits as they stun the Toronto Rock for the second time this season, by Chris Pomay

Buffalo, NY- (KeyBank Center) The 67th all time meeting between the #1 seed Toronto Rock 11-2 vs the #5 seed the defending National Lacrosse League Champion Buffalo Bandits at the KeyBank Center before over 18,000 fans in Banditland. The Bandits defeated the Rock earlier this season at the First Ontario Center in Hamilton winning by the score of 16-14. The Bandits are coming off a 15-14 win in O.T vs Saskatchewan to even up their record at 6-6, and this week the Bandits added some experience and depth on defense with acquiring Paul Dawson from the Colorado Mammoth.

Player(s) to watch out for on the visiting Toronto Rock are: Mitch DeSnoo, Nick Rose, Mark Matthews and for the Bandits, Josh Byrne, Dhane Smith, Tehoka Nanticoke.

Exciting 1st quarter at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo as the hometown Buffalo Bandits lead the Rock 6-5 on the strength of goals by Kitchener, Ontario native Dhane Smith (2), Fraser, Nanitcoke, Robinson, MacKay, and for the visiting Toronto Rock led by Chris Boushy with a pair.

A strong second quarter for the Toronto Rock saw them outscore the Bandits 4-0 to take a 9-6 lead into half-time at the KeyBank Center in downtown Buffalo before over 18,000 fans. The Rock went 3 for 6 on the power play in the 1st half and were led by Corey Small with 4 goals and 1 assist and for the Rock, Dhane Smith with 2 goals, 1 assist for 3 points for Buffalo.

Low scoring 3rd quarter where the Bandits outscored the Rock 2-1, but still trail the Rock 10-8 going into the fourth quarter at a very loud KeyBank Center on their annual St Patrick Day theme night. One of the difference’s in this game is on special teams, Toronto for 4 for 8 and Buffalo just 1 for 6. Corey Small is leading the Rock with 4 goals, 2 assists for 6 points and for Buffalo Dhane Smith with 2 goals, 3 assists for 5 points.

The Buffalo Bandits played their most complete 4th quarter of the season vs their QEW rivals the Toronto Rock outscoring them 6-2 in the final frame with superstar contributions from Dhane Smith 3 goals, 4 assists for 7 points and Josh Byrne with 2 goals, 5 assists for 7 points and defeating the Rock 14-12 before over 18,000 fans at the KeyBank Center in downtown Buffalo. The Toronto Rock #1 seed in the National Lacrosse League drop to 11-3, while the Buffalo Bandits are back over 500 at 7-6 and now the #5th seed and just one game behind the Halifax Thunderbirds (8-6) for that all important #4 seed and having home advantage in the 1st round win or go home game. The Toronto Rock have now lost 8 out of their last 9 games vs the Bandits at the KeyBank Center and have been eliminated two years in a row by Buffalo in 2022, 2023.

The Toronto Rock were for 4 for 8 on the power play (mainly in the 1st half of this game) and the Bandits were 1-6 with the man advantage. The Bandits next three games are on the road vs Panther City on Friday, March 22nd, at 8pm EST, Saturday, March 30th at 1pm at Philadelphia and then Friday, April 5th at 9:00 pm EST vs Colorado, before returning home for their last regular season home game vs the Calgary Roughnecks on Saturday, April 13th at 7:30 pm EST. You can purchase Bandits tickets for their next home game on https://bandits.com/ and for more information on the National Lacrosse League at: https://www.nll.com/

Click on the link to my pre-game interview with Steve Bermel, the Buffalo Bandits color analyst on their radio broadcasts on 1520 AM The Bet and the CW-23 network in Buffalo along side play by play announcer John Gurtler. https://youtu.be/3cvhOnApmu4?si=KJX5pYvT8pdTMuXB and my official You Tube Channel at: https://www.youtube.com/@chrispomaylivewithcdpsport5517/streams as well as my website: https://beacons.ai/chrisdpomay

Albany FireWolves for the second time this season defeat the Buffalo Bandits the defending National Lacrosse League Champions at the KeyBank Center by Chris Pomay

Buffalo, NY- (KeyBank Center)

In their first meeting of the season on Saturday December 9th the Albany Firewolves defeated the Bandits 17-13 at home and tonight will travel to the KeyBank Center to take on the 5-4 Buffalo Bandits who are coming off a tough 14-12 loss at Halifax last Friday night on the road.

Some key player(s) to watch for Albany are goalie Doug Jamieson, Alex Simmons (Rookie) and Tye Kurtz, and for the Buffalo Bandits: Dhane Smith, Josh Byrne, Kyle Buchanan. The Buffalo Bandits will be without their starting goalie Matt Vinc, who was placed on I.R this morning, Devlin Shanahan will be in net for the Bandits.

The FireWolves come into this game at 7-2 while last year’s NLL Champs Bandits are the #5 seed at 5-4.

The Bandits struck early on a nice goal by Kyle Buchanan, from Byrne and Cloutier at 2:03 of the 1st and increase their lead to 2-0 on a pretty goal by Chase Fraser, from Byrne and Cloutier at 3:34 of the 1st at the KeyBank Center in downtown Buffalo. The Albany FireWolves scored 3 power play goals in the 1st and after an entertaining first 4-4 score.

The Albany FireWolves on the strength of 4 power play goals in the 1st half take a 8-7 lead over the hometown Bandits at the KeyBank Center in a very entertaining 1st half.

Albany scored the only goal of the 3rd on a nice goal by Tye Kurtz giving the FireWolves 9-7 lead heading into the 4th at the KeyBank Center.

The FireWolves on goals by Tye Kurtz (2), Grenon, and empty net goal by goalie Doug Jamieson would go and defeat the hometown Buffalo Bandits 13-10 to sweep the two game regular series vs the Buffalo Bandits. The FireWolves improve to 8-2 (#1 seed) in the National Lacrosse League while the Buffalo Bandits drop to 5-5 with a road game on Friday, March 1st at the Vancouver Warriors.

Buffalo Bandits goalie Devlin Shanahan made his 1st National Lacrosse League start for the Buffalo Bandits as starter Matt Vinc was out with a injury and placed on I.R. Shanahan, faced 59 shots and made 46 saves and I thought he was good in his 1st ever NLL start in net for Buffalo. Once again the Buffalo Bandits drew over 17,000 fans at Banditland (KeyBank Center). Albany was solid on special teams going 4 for 8 with the man advantage, while the Bandits were 0 for 1. The player(s) of the game for the FireWolves Tye Kurtz who had 6 goals, 1 assist for 7 points and the rookie Alex Simmons who had nice game with 1 goal, 5 assists for 6 points. Buffalo’s player of the game was Dhane Smith, Kitchener, On native with 6 assists for 6 points to lead the Bandits.

After the game I attended the post game media conference with Buffalo Bandits Head Coach John Tavares, Kyle Buchanan, Ian MacKay and you can view the interviews via my You Tube Channel links below.

The Buffalo Bandits next home: Friday, March 8th at 7:30 pm as the https://www.saskrush.com/ make their 1st appearance in Buffalo in a number of years. You can get tickets at https://bandits.com/

If you like to learn more about the National Lacrosse League, you can check out the website https://www.nll.com/ and for my website: https://beacons.ai/chrisdpomay

Kansas City Chiefs become Back to Back Super Bowl Champions after their exciting 25-22 win over San Francisco in O.T in Super Bowl 58, by Chris Pomay

Las Vegas, Nevada-(Allegiant Stadium) 

Kansas City Chiefs win their 4th Super Bowl Title in franchise history in O.T 25-22 over San Francisco, QB Patrick Mahomes is the new Tom Brady, Back to Back 1st time since the Patriots did in 03, 04! Patrick Mahomes is now 3-0 in the Super Bowl when trailing by 10 points or more. 

The first back-to-back champions in 20 years and only the 9th NFL team to win Back to Back Championships.

3 Super Bowl titles in 5 seasons for Kansas City.

Congrats on a dynasty, Kansas City Chiefs

San Francisco Head Coach Kyle Shanahan has blown a 10+ point lead in all three Super Bowls he’s coached in with Atlanta and SF.

Chiefs 4th Super Bowl title their most difficult in having to play 4 playoff games and 3 straight away from GEHA at Arrowhead, and beating quality teams like @MiamiDolphins @BuffaloBills @Ravens @49ers in O.T.

Chiefs are the 9th NFL team in history to win back to back Super Bowl Championships!

15-3 is a ridiculous playoff record for Patrick Mahomes and has won 7 straight playoff games and Mahomes winning his 3rd Super Bowl MVP joining Joe Montana and Tom Brady. 

The Kansas City Chiefs will be tying to be the 1st NFL team in history to 3 peat as Super Bowl 59 next year is in New Orleans, Louisiana. 

You can check out my website: https://beacons.ai/chrisdpomay