offseason

We've pretty much run out of Sabres news for Bucky to offer his incisive commentary on (not that it really matters, as he's been writing the same column--resign Chris Drury!--since 2007 anyways), he's writing fluff. He's not very good at that either.

He was nestled under the sheets when there was a knock at the door of his home in Calgary. It was a subcontractor for the U.S. anti-doping agency, there to administer a random drug test.

This may be important later, I'm not quite sure.

The Buffalo native

These three words explain Bucky's angle. Which angle? Every angle.

and member of the four-man USA-1 bobsled team had no problem with taking the test other than dragging himself out of bed. He has emphatically spoken out against the use of performance-enhancing drugs and welcomes an Olympic-sized platform on which he can continue his crusade.

This is about bobsledding? Ok, I guess. He's a local boy who's an Olympian, and that's kind of cool. But Rochester sends local folks to each Olympics in the form of the fencing team. That doesn't mean people suddenly start to care about fencing.

This will likely be his last appearance. He was an alternate in 2006 in Salt Lake City and finished seventh in 2008 in Turin, Italy.

"It's a tough pill to swallow, but at the same time I'm more excited for what we get to do this year than I've ever been," he said. "I thought I wanted it so bad in 2002. In 2006, when we didn't get it, I thought I wanted it bad. I look back now, and I didn't know what "wanted it' was. Now, it's six months, and I'm chomping at the bit."

Does Bucky Gleason have an editor? At all? If he does, does this person know anything about sports? In any capacity? The Salt Lake Olympics were 2002, the Turin Olympics were 2006. This took me 90 seconds to verify. 2008 saw the summer Olympics in Beijing. Meaning it's either a remarkable feat that this guy managed to finish 7th in Turin in 2008, or incredibly pathetic as he appears to have been racing himself.

There's a perception that he's wealthy because he's a world- class athlete, but he's been broke the better part of his adult life. All along, he's kept his dream alive.

I, for one, find it hard to believe that a bobsledder's broke. What with all that endorsement money to be had.

One constant has been his desire to reconnect with Buffalo and bring the city a winner.

The implication here is that, since Buffalo has never won a Super Bowl or Stanley Cup, we've never been brought a winner. If an Olympic bobsledding gold qualifies as satiating that need, so should six International League baseball championships, four lacrosse titles, and perhaps even more significantly two AFL titles. Winning an Olympic gold medal in anything is impressive. But it doesn't really qualify as "bringing home a winner." No more so than any of those others.

He grew up on Potomac Avenue and was a track star at City Honors, but he remains a relative unknown in his hometown.

Because he's a bobsledder. I could be a world class judo gold medal threat, and I doubt anyone in the area would either know or care.

He recently hired a public-relations firm to help raise his profile and money for his cause.

What cause? Anti-doping? Anti-performance enhancing drugs? This was only alluded to above, I honestly have no idea what he's trying to accomplish as his cause. Bucky's given me clues, but no real answer. I'm reading a sports column, not a murder mystery, I shouldn't have to figure things out as I go. I'd had a bit of a revelation. Not only does Bucky not really know anything hockey, least of all the Buffalo Sabres, he also does not really know anything about writing. Not knowing about hockey, the Sabres, and writing is no real problem. But when they're the first three bullets in your job description, it's a different story.

"I want to be involved. I don't want to come, take money, and leave," he said.

Admirable, I guess. Unlike another local sports celebrity, at least.

Mesler is the kind of athlete with whom people would want to associate. He's a humble, hard-working guy.

He's also great in the dressing room, is a grinder, brings his lunch pail to work, does the little things, doesn't make the big mistake, and, I could keep going...

He's never been arrested or tested positive for drugs.

Not for nothing, but athletes are supposed to not get arrested or take drugs. Now we're giving them credit for simply not getting caught testing positive? I guess that makes me an athlete you'd want to associate with. Though I'm lazy and kind of a jerk.

But for reasons not entirely clear, Buffalo has been reluctant to embrace him.

Again, this may or may not be related to the fact that he's a bobsledder. And not a very accomplished one at that. His World Championship is impressive, but if bobsledding's anything like swimming "accomplishment" amounts to "Olympics or nothing." Kind of like figure skating, or skeet shooting, or archery. To top it all off, bobsledding provided its entirety of compelling stories in one movie. It's tough to try and generate something new and compelling, even for a local guy.

He has spent years envisioning coming home with the gold medal and sleeping peacefully forever.

This is so disjointed from the opening paragraph that I seriously had to read the column three times before I made the connection. He gets paid to do this?