The first thing we'll remember about 2020 in sports is the silence. From mid-March until July, the games were stopped because of Covid-19. From little leagues to the big leagues, there was nothing for the first time in our lifetime. You had to go back to the late 1800s to not have at least one of the four major North American sports leagues operating.
The games came back in full force in July, but fans have been mostly kept out in Western New York, save for some high school events. Still, in the front offices and on the field, once play resumed, plenty of captivating moments highlighted the year.
Here are our choices for the Top 10 sports stories in Western New York of 2020, the year we'll never forget.
1. Bills rise to the top as Josh Allen becomes a star: The year began on a down note as the Bills' second-year quarterback short-circuited in the late going of the Jan. 4 wild-card playoff game at Houston, with his mistakes a big factor in turning a 16-0 third-quarter lead into a 22-19 defeat. Allen refocused on his mechanics, grew together with his teammates and is now the main man in town as the leader of the Bills' first AFC East championship team since 1995. He's joined Drew Bledsoe as the only 4,000-yard passers in franchise history and is firmly cemented as the long-awaited heir apparent to Jim Kelly. A push for a return to the Super Bowl looms.
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At no time was the community love for Allen on display more than in November, when fans donated more than $700,000 to Oishei Children’s Hospital – mostly in $17 increments emblematic of his uniform number – in honor of Allen's grandmother, Patricia, who died suddenly the night before the Bills' 44-34 win over Seattle on Nov. 8.
"Words can't really describe how I feel, how my family feels," Allen said. "Every time I call my parents and let them know the new number, they just start bawling all over again. And to know that people care and that so much good is coming out of a tough situation, it means the world to myself, it means the world to my family."
2. Rinse and repeat: Sabres miss playoffs, shake up front office. The shortened 2019-20 season saw the Sabres finish 30-31-8 and miss the Stanley Cup playoffs for the ninth consecutive year by a points percentage margin of just .007. Jack Eichel's 36 goals were a career high, and so were his 1.15 points per game (78 in 68 games). But two six-game losing streaks derailed Ralph Krueger's first year as coach.
Sabres president Kim Pegula gave third-year GM Jason Botterill a vote of confidence May 26, but the franchise abruptly pivoted June 16 by firing Botterill – and nearly two dozen others in the hockey department. Senior VP of business and former LECOM Harborcenter general manager Kevyn Adams, a Clarence native who won a Stanley Cup with Carolina in 2006, was named the Sabres' GM.
"We felt like we weren't being heard," said owner Terry Pegula. "I'm not going to sit here and dish on Jason Botterill, but we have a vision and we want to see our vision succeed."
3. Digging the deal: Bills fans generally consider the 1987 trade for Cornelius Bennett with Indianapolis as the key deal that helped build the 1990s Super Bowl teams. Perhaps the 2020s will similarly look back on March 16, when Pro Bowl wide receiver Stefon Diggs was acquired by GM Brandon Beane from Minnesota for four draft picks that included the team's first-rounder. Diggs instantly gave Allen an experienced No. 1 target and set out to rewrite the franchise record book, breaking Eric Moulds' single-season records for receptions and yards.
4. Buffalo to the big leagues: The impacts of the pandemic canceled the minor league baseball season, leaving the Bisons off the field for the first time since 1978. But the parent Toronto Blue Jays, banned from playing games at home by Canadian health officials, announced on July 24 they would play their schedule at Sahlen Field. A multimillion dollar retrofitting of the ballpark took place over the next 2 1/2 weeks, and Buffalo hit the big leagues for the first time since 1915 on Aug. 11, when the Blue Jays pulled out a 5-4, 10-inning win over the Miami Marlins. The Jays notched several dramatic victories in their adopted home, going 17-9 and clinching their first playoff berth since 2016 with a 4-1 win over the New York Yankees on Sept. 24. Visitors included the Yankees, New York Mets, AL champion Tampa Bay Rays, Boston Red Sox and the Philadelphia Phillies.
5. Sabres sign Taylor Hall/trade for Eric Staal: Adams made a quick upgrade to his roster Sept. 17 by trading Marcus Johansson to Minnesota for veteran Eric Staal, a former Carolina teammate and an instant fit for the club's No. 2 center. But an even bigger move came Oct. 11, when the Sabres signed Arizona winger Taylor Hall to a one-year, $8 million free agent contract to play alongside Eichel. Hall, a former No. 1 overall draft pick in Edmonton and Hart Trophy winner in New Jersey, was lured here by a big sales pitch from Krueger, who was his head coach in 2013 in Edmonton.
6. UB football goes from no season to a historic one: The Mid-American Conference canceled the football season in August, then opted to play in November. Good thing it did for the University at Buffalo. Behind running back Jaret Patterson, the Bulls won their first five games and cracked the Top 25 for the first time in school history. The ranking was lost, however, with a disappointing 38-28 loss to Ball State in the MAC championship game Dec. 18 in Detroit. UB finished with a 6-1 record after the Bulls' 17-10 win against Marshall on Christmas Day in the Camelia Bowl in Montgomery, Ala., the program's third consecutive bowl appearance and second win. Patterson became a potential Heisman Trophy candidate on Nov. 28 against Kent State by rushing for a MAC-record 409 yards and tying the Football Bowl Subdivision record with eight rushing touchdowns in the 70-41 victory.
7. Major signings: Williamsville South's Amari DeBerry signed her national letter of intent to play for legendary coach Geno Auriemma at Connecticut in November, easily making the 6-foot-5 standout the most highly coveted recruit in local girls basketball history. Lew-Port's Roddy Gayle, heading into un uncertain junior season, committed to Ohio State and then announced last week he would transfer to Wasatch Academy in Mount Pleasant, Utah.
8. Covid-19 cancellations: One of the first things lost to the pandemic was March Madness, for high schools and colleges. Some teams had been eliminated, some were moving on and some, like the St. Bonaventure men, saw their season end just before their first postseason game at the Atlantic 10 tournament in Brooklyn. The high school spring season was wiped out, and high school football was shifted to the spring, minus a state tournament. The high school soccer, field hockey, cross country, gymnastics, swimming and golf seasons were delayed, but completed this fall without regional or state playoffs. High school sports have yet to begin this winter and the state tournaments in basketball, hockey and wrestling have already been canceled.
9. From Amherst to the Athletics: After parts of seven years in the minors, Amherst High graduate Jonah Heim started the season as the No. 3 catcher for the Oakland Athletics, working out at their Alternate Training Site. On Aug. 24, he got his first callup to the big leagues for a series in Texas. The next night – with his family watching on a backyard television in Amherst – Heim started behind the plate and got his first hit, a single to left. Heim hit .211 in 13 games for the A's with five RBIs.
First career hit ✔️Jonah Heim will never forget this one. pic.twitter.com/KoiNd5det1
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) August 26, 2020
10. Queen of the Court: Franklinville guard Dani Haskell finished her career as WNY's all-time scoring leader in girls basketball with 3,227 points after averaging 31 points per game as a senior. She ended as No. 2 in state history behind St. Johnsville's Caryn Schoff, who scored 3,548 points. Through five games of her college career, the 5-foot-5 guard is leading Canisius College in scoring at 11.4 points per game.
Honorable mention
• One NBA career began and one ended as Park School's Jordan Nwora was drafted in the second round by the Milwaukee Bucks, but Burt native and former Canisius coach John Beilein agreed to step down as coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers after going just 13-40 in his first season.
• Dick Gallagher, the "Patron Saint" of WNY high school sports and the area's premier expert on scholastic football for more than 30 years, died June 22 at 79.
• Orchard Park senior Leah Pasqualetti was named Track and Field News’ High School Girls MVP for the 2020 season after setting a national record for high school athletes and those Under-20 when she cleared 14-8 1/4 without a miss during a national-level competition at a private facility in California in June.
• Former Bisons outfielder and Buffalo Baseball Hall of Famer Dave Roberts managed the Los Angeles Dodgers to the World Series title, joining Toronto's Cito Gaston as the only minorities to direct a Series winner.
