Students: Joseph Hartman, Morgan Rago, & Sean Steckelberg
Overview
Sports are a major part of the Buffalo community because of money, stadiums, and community involvement. Sport teams in Buffalo give to the community because sports provides people events to watch and activities to attend. The Buffalo Sabres and Buffalo Bills get the community to come together and support Buffalo. Sports bring people together as a community; most people who live in buffalo support the local teams, giving everyone a common interest.
History of Buffalo Sports
There have been many successful sports teams in the Buffalo area. For the Buffalo Bills the best era was the "Super Bowl" years. From 1991-1994 the Bills were one of the most dominant forces in the NFL. The Buffalo Sabres had a very strong season in 1999. The strongest year was in 2007 when they won the President's trophy.
Hall of fame players
Buffalo Bills: O. J. Simpson, Dick Duff,
Billy Shaw, James Lofton,
Marv Levy, Thurman Thomas, Jim Kelly
Buffalo Sabres: Clark Gillies,
Tim Horton,
Gilbert Perreault,
Dominik Hasek,
Pat LaFontaine
Websites for History of Buffalo Bills & Buffalo Sabres
http://www.buffalobills.com/history/index.html
http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nhl/buffalo/sabres.html
Videos of Buffalo Sabres and Buffalo Bills
Buffalo Sports Teams Giving Back
Buffalo Bills: The Buffalo Bills give back to the community by providing: Rookie Club, Community Ticket Program, Kids Escaping Drugs and many more organizations.
Read more about the community programs: http://www.buffalobills.com/community/CommunityPrograms.html
The Rookie Club is when the newest players of the team get involved with Western New York's community. The players make special appearances around the community.
The Community Ticket Program is a program developed to give people tickets. The guests are given game tickets along with a food and beverage voucher form coaches and players. The group and the player's donation there are banners along the ring wall and an announcement welcoming the guests on the scoreboard.
The Kids Escaping Drugs Program was developed for kids to win a $20 cash card for Dicks Sporting Goods. This also gives you a one hour autograph session at the Walden Galleria Mall.
The Buffalo Bills also give back to the community by donating money to special needs programs. For example the Bills give money to breast cancer patients and the local blood drive.
Future for Buffalo Sports Teams
Buffalo Bills:
The Buffalo Bills will stay in the city to be co-owned by every person in the city. Like the Green Bay Packers. Every tax payer would have a share in the Buffalo team.
Ralph Walson Stadium will be closed and a new mall would be built. The stadium would be moved to where Bass Pro left an empty lot waiting for someone to take it.
Buffalo Sabres:
The future of the Buffalo Sabres lies in Tom Golisano's hands. The team will remain successful. Soon they will win a Stanley Cup due to great management decisions and fan support.
More Future Considerations
- Get more fans involved with sports
- Bring more people to Buffalo for spots
- Keep students in Buffalo to sustain population
- Get more funding from local government for sports
- Get support from high-profile citizens to make a difference in sports