Hunting squirrels with a rimfire rifle is one of the ultimate tests of a hunter’s stalking and shooting skills and also one of the most enjoyable. Squirrels constantly challenge your patience, eyesight, ability to move stealthily through the forests and, perhaps most critical, the skill and …
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Local Sports
(Editor’s note: This is the first in a three-part weekly series with Olean native Colby Cummings, a trading analyst at BetRivers, on the current nature of sports betting. Today, betting on the Bills in an uncertain season.)
ALLEGANY — The Portville boys soccer team rallied to salvage a tie in its season-opening game Friday night, trading goals with Avoca/Prattsburgh in the Gator Cup.
HORNELL — The Wellsville girls volleyball team took the first two sets in its trip to Hornell Friday night, but could not finish off the win.
ST. BONAVENTURE — Coming off a national championship just nine months ago, it would be easy for St. Bonaventure’s women’s rugby team to be a little cocky as they head into their fall 15s season this Saturday at Cornell.
Dale MacArthur admits he’s a little embarrassed by it.
PORTVILLE — If there were any questions about this year’s Portville/Cuba-Rushford football team, they sought to answer them handedly in a favorable 46-20 win Thursday over Gowanda/Pine Valley.
NEW YORK — Jessica Pegula shrugged off a sluggish start and came back from a set and a break down at the U.S. Open to defeat Karolina Muchova 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 on Thursday night for a berth in her first Grand Slam final.
ALLEGANY — The Allegany-Limestone boys soccer team started its season in blazing fashion, putting away Bradford 4-0 in the Gator Cup.
PORTVILLE — After its Tuesday season-opening win on the road, the Portville girls volleyball team started its league campaign on home court Thursday, sweeping Fredonia.
HAMBURG — Portville got exactly what it was looking for, coach Mike Matz said. It just, narrowly, didn’t get a win to open its girls soccer season.
SALAMANCA — In Franklinville’s first meet as its own girls swimming and diving program in more than a decade, the Panthers fell on the road to Salamanca Thursday night.
Like it or not, narratives play a big part in who wins awards, especially in sports.
It doesn’t matter how long he’s been coaching, Chad Bartoszek’s opening week nerves have never wavered.
National Sports
The Buffalo Bills have locked up right tackle Spencer Brown through 2028. The Bills announced Friday that they've signed Brown to a four-year extension. Brown was selected by Buffalo in the third round of the 2021 draft out of Northern Iowa, and was entering the final year of his rookie contract. The 26-year-old has been a starter since a month into his rookie season, and overall has 41 starts in 44 career games. Listed at 6-foot-8 and 311 pounds, Brown was part of an offensive line that allowed an NFL-low 24 sacks last season.
ATLANTA (AP) — Two teams that have struggled to fill the most important position on the field are taking another crack at settling their quarterback dilemmas.
Much has changed in Buffalo and Arizona in the four years since the teams last met in the desert, when Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray sealed a 32-30 win with a last-second touchdown pass to DeAndre Hopkins. The play was instantly dubbed the “Hail Murray.” The two non-conference teams meet for the first time since to open the season at the Bills on Sunday. In Arizona, Murray is seeking to reclaim his place among the NFL's elite after missing 11 months spanning the 2022-23 seasons with a torn ACL. In Buffalo, the four-time defending AFC East champions are coming off an offseason overhaul that led to the departures of six of eight captains.
HOUSTON (AP) — Stefon Diggs doesn’t really set personal goals before each season, instead preferring to focus on the team.
Jessica Pegula has pulled off a major upset at the U.S. Open by beating No. 1-ranked Iga Swiatek 6-2, 6-4 to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal. Pegula's victory on Wednesday night in Arthur Ashe Stadium came after she had started her career with an 0-6 record in major quarterfinals. Swiatek served poorly in the first set and her forehand was a real problem. Pegula used terrific defense to keep forcing Swiatek to hit an extra shot. The No. 6-seeded Pegula is a 30-year-old American. She has won 14 of her past 15 matches and will play Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic on Thursday for a berth in the final.
A year after making the cut to successfully resume his football career following a near-death experience, Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin reached a new plateau in his comeback in being selected a season-opening starter. Coach Sean McDermott announced the news by saying Hamlin will be paired with Taylor Rapp when the Bills take the field in hosting the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. The fourth-year player was hardly assured of winning a staring job, even with both spots being open. The promotion for the 26-year-old Hamlin comes some 20 months since he went into cardiac arrest and needed to be resuscitated on the field during a game at Cincinnati.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Patrick Queen is well-versed in the labels attached to him. They pop up whenever the Pittsburgh Steelers inside linebacker happens to search his name in social media.
Brian Daboll has confirmed what has been obvious for the last four or so months. He is going to call the offensive plays for the New York Giants this season. The third-year head coach has acknowledged that he is replacing offensive coordinator Mike Kafka when it comes to determining what plays Daniel Jones runs. Daboll called the plays in the preseason and the minicamps. The Giants went 6-11 last year. They host Minnesota on Sunday in their season opener.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Cam Heyward isn’t going anywhere.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Spencer Anderson was an underclassman at Maryland when one of his coaches approached him to talk about how injuries had started to pile up along the offensive line.
As they position themselves for a possible new domed stadium, the Cleveland Browns are renaming their current one. The NFL team announced a 20-year agreement with Huntington National Bank, a partnership that includes naming rights. Cleveland’s lakefront stadium will now be called Huntington Bank Field. The Browns open the 2024 season at home on Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys. The new partnership comes as team owners Dee and Jimmy Haslam consider moving the team out of downtown and into a domed stadium. The team recently unveiled plans for a $2.4 billion dome to be built in Brook Park, Ohio. The team’s lease at its current stadium expires after the 2028 season.
Jessica Pegula is back in the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open after a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Diana Shnaider. Monday's win put Pegula in her seventh Grand Slam quarterfinal. Now comes the hard part: Pegula is 0-6 at that stage over her career, and she plays No. 1 Iga Swiatek on Wednesday. The No. 6-seeded Pegula is on quite a run at the moment, having won 13 of her past 14 matches, all on hard courts. That included her second consecutive title in Canada and an appearance in the final at the Cincinnati Open, where she lost to No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka. Also reaching the quarterfinals were Karolina Muchova, Beatriz Haddad Maia, Daniil Medvedev and Jack Draper.