I’m not a fan of losing streaks. They’re demoralizing, they’re painful, and they make the recipient of a losing streak the butt of jokes and the pity of everybody else in the league.
You may not have heard of the Buffalo Stampede. They play in the Premier Basketball League, the nine-team minor league circuit for which I photograph and do other jobs. Local hoops fans might remember Markus Price, who played at Siena; he’s a starter for the Stampede.
Last year, the Stampede won their first game of the season – then proceeded to lose their next nineteen contests. In a city where sports fans are cruelly reminded of “Wide Right Norwood” and “Brett Hull’s skate was in the crease,” nineteen straight losses in a 20-game season is almost par for the course. As league photographer for the PBL, I went to several Stampede games, both their road contests and their home games at the Koessler Athletic Center (Canisius College). The team was competitive each night, it wasn’t as if they just took the court, handed the ball to their opponent, and sat on the bench.
When the 2009-10 season started, the Stampede proceeded to lose three more matchups, dropping a road contest to the Quebec Kebs, then a two-game home series against the PBL champion Rochester Razorsharks and the newly-formed Maryland GreenHawks. Message boards devoted to minor league sports quipped about whether Buffalo would go completely winless, or whether the newly-hired head coach should be relieved of his duties.
That changed last night. On Saturday night, there were four contests in the PBL. The Lawton-Fort Sill Cavalry (with former Patroons head coach Micheal Ray Richardson) went to Arecibo, Puerto Rico for a game against the Capitanes in a matchup of unbeatens. Lawton held serve the first three quarters, but the Capitanes roared back in the fourth and won 101-94. The PBL champion Rochester Razorsharks faced off in Manchester, NH against the Millrats, in a rematch of last year’s PBL semifinal playoffs – Rochester took the win in overtime, 130-117. In Nova Scotia, the Halifax Rainmen and Vermont Frost Heaves battled back and forth, giving up the lead, taking it back, until the Rainment defeated Vermont 119-109.
But in a road contest in Rockville, Maryland, the Buffalo Stampede finally put a win on the board, stopping the Maryland GreenHawks 124-114. Five players on the Stampede scored in double figures, including Siena’s Markus Price (19 pts), team leading scorer Derick Payne (25 pts), and Mike Norwood, who never kicked a field goal for the Bills in his life (12 pts). And thus, the Buffalo Stampede losing streak is over.
Does this mean that the Stampede should start printing up playoff tickets? Still too early to tell. Buffalo’s next two opponents are Rochester and Puerto Rico, both of which haven’t lost a game this season. However, if the Stampede win one more contest this year, they are at least assured of not finishing worse than their 1-19 record from last season. And in a 20-game PBL season where the top four teams make the playoffs, there’s still a glimmer of hope for a postseason for the Stampede.
And no team deserves to go 0-20 in the PBL.
Chuck The Writer 