Buffalo Rising Online

Nov 28th 2008, 3:54pm By BlueDevil

The season demands we take time to give thanks. So, in the spirit of the holiday, we want to run down the list of perennial Buffalo-area underachievers who should be the most thankful this year.

1.) Ryan Miller - The Sabres goalie signed a five year, $6.25M per year contract over the summer. This lucrative contract extension came despite the fact that his stats over the past few years have been very middle-of-the-road. Has the money made him a better goalie? Well, he's currently ranked 19th in save percentage and 17th in goals against average. At least he didn't let the money change him.

2.) Dick Jauron - After joining the Bills with a mediocre record as a head coach, Jauron has shocked almost no one by continuing his mediocre record with consecutive 7-9 seasons in his first two years with the Bills. Indeed, in his five years with the Bears, Jauron had a 43.5% winning percentage. After two years with the Bills, Jauron had a 43.5% winning percentage. Imagine that - past results were an indicator of future performance. There are unconfirmed reports the Bills offered Jauron a contract extension after the Bills raced out to a 5-1 record this year. Let's hope that offer was contingent on a winning season this year.

3.) JP Losman - After Trent Edwards led the Bills to a 5-1 start, it appeared that JP Losman single-handedly held the Bills franchise down for the past couple years. Sure, he was sprouting roots in the City and did a lot of positive things for Buffalo, but he made bad decisions and took too many sacks. Of course, it's now obvious to everyone that Losman was merely a symptom, not the root cause. Just like Todd Collins, Doug Flutie, and Rob Johnson. The Bills, like a fish, rot from the head down, and they've been rotting for over a decade since Bill Polian left for Indy. Losman can be thankful that the franchise has been exposed as the problem and he can hope that he's still young enough to get a chance to play somewhere more interested and capable of achieving success.

4.) Dale Volker - In a historic 'thrown the bums out' year, local state Senator Dale Volker managed to win re-election despite his unimpressive 30 year record in Albany. Volker managed to defeat Dave DiPietro in the Republican primary which allegedly contained some old-fashioned ugly politics. Then Volker beat Kathy Konst in the general election despite Konst's backing by Golisano and Pigeon's Responsible New York. Surely, Volker must be giving thanks as he gets to continue the Buffalo-Albany shuffle.

5.) Tom Bauerle - A Buffalo radio fixture, Bauerle, who received some national attention for his boundary-stretching interview with Hillary Clinton, was particularly exercised during 2008 as he constantly hammered on "Barrack Hussein Obama." For a conservative shock jock, it's good to be part of the opposition. And given Obana's electoral victory, Bauerle will get the chance to rattle off the President-Elect's middle name for at least four years. For that, Bauerle can be thankful. And for his apparent fondness for feline figurines and his ripped-from-1987 glamour shot on the WBEN site, the rest of us can be thankful.

Any other Buffalonians who should be giving special thanks for 2008?