Some food for thought as we head toward the new year:
Jasen Carlson is quietly putting together a fine career as a guard on the University at Buffalo's football team.
The 6-foot-1, 301-pound junior was recognized as the Bulls' offensive lineman of the year and the recipient of the UBelieve Award at the season-ending banquet earlier this month.
Article Photos
Success has followed Jasen Carlson from Southwestern Central School to the University at Buffalo.
Photo courtesy of UB
The 2010 Southwestern Central School graduate is no stranger to success on the gridiron. In his high school career, he helped the Trojans to back-to-back state titles while twice earning state Class C player of the year honors.
Carlson started the last four games of the 2011 season and then turned in a banner campaign this fall as the anchor of the line.
The last 12 months have produced some amazing accomplishments by area athletes and many of them were chronicled in a story in Wednesday's Post-Journal. One that didn't make the list, but is clearly the most notable was Jenn Suhr's gold medal in the pole vault at the Summer Olympics in London. How I left the Fredonia native and Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame inductee out of the story is beyond me.
Meanwhile, Frewsburg Central School tennis standout Rachel Mole was included on the list of top 2012 performers, but her accomplishments require clarification. Not only did she land a berth in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association tournament this fall, but she also did so in 2011.
Back-to-back appearances at the states, in combination with one of the best careers in the history of Chautauqua-Cattaraugus Athletic Association girls tennis, places her among the finest to ever serve and volley in these parts.
A few nights ago, I caught a television interview that local sports historian Greg Peterson did with former Buffalo Bills quarterback Frank Reich. Produced a couple of years ago, it was very interesting to hear Reich's recollections of the Bills' 41-38 playoff victory over the Houston Oilers on Jan 3, 1993. In that game, Reich led the Bills on a 35-3 run in the second half and overtime, which is still the largest comeback in NFL history.
I covered that game and was sitting in the press box at Rich Stadium as Reich worked his magic. As I recall, I didn't take a single note in the second half. All I did was sit dumbfounded as the Bills rallied for the incredible victory.
Thanks, Greg, for making one of my fondest professional memories come alive once again.
See KINDBERG, Page B3
From Page B1
While it was nice to hear that the Bills and Erie County have agreed on a new lease that will keep the team in Western New York for the next decade, it may be that long, in my humble opinion, before die-hard fans experience a playoff game in Orchard Park.
Watching Buffalo this season - it enters Sunday's final game with a 5-10 record - has been so painful.
And to think there was so much optimism in the preseason.
Heck, Hall-of-Fame running back Thurman Thomas told me in July that he expected the Bills to win 10 or 11 games.
I can only imagine how Thurm feels today.
On my to-do list in 2013 is to get to a Sherman-Clymer girls basketball game. The Lady Wildcats' Elle Reed and the Lady Pirates' Dani Reinwald are putting up incredible numbers on a nightly basis.
Jamestown High School boys basketball coach Ben Drake needs one more win to reach 250 for his career, which began in the 1998-99 season. When he reaches that milestone, Drake will tie Roland Taft for most victories by a JHS coach. Taft was 250-119 from 1937-57.