In a release that has been expected for weeks, the Buffalo Bulls football team announced a partnership with popular Main Street bar, The Steer.
"Let me tell you something brother," said steer owner Clint West. "The players spend so much time in our facility, we felt responsible to pay back the athletic department and the University as a whole for their patronage."
Official numbers have not been reported, however it is believed that West and the Steer paid well over $2 million to have their name coincided with the Bulls.
Bulls head coach Turner Gill is not concerned with the teams new sponsor linking Buffalo to alcohol.
"We all know that students are going to drink. It's a fact of life," Gill said. "Just like you have to drive through Missouri to get to Arizona, students are going to drink. Let's just be honest with ourselves."
Buffalo athletic director Warde Manuel sees this as strictly a business decision.
"We realize that games are not the only thing that the team is losing. It's time they pull their own weight around here," Manuel said. "Entering into a partnership with the Steer is going to supplement the money we have lost on this team since joining the MAC. I mean firing Eddie Asbie isn't going to save us that much."
A major part of the agreement is that the Bulls have agreed to officially change their name to the Buffalo Bulls of the Steer. Where the names on the back of the jerseys used to be, the Steer's address will be instead. Also, Buffalo players will be awarded with shot glass stickers to put on the back of their helmets if they make a good play during the game.
"Ohio State puts buckeyes on their helmets," Manuel said. "If we're going to start a new tradition, why not copy the best?"
Former Buffalo defensive end Rich Sanders does not see a problem with the team's new affiliation.
"Some people are worried about defacing the program or ruining the tradition of the team," Sanders said. "That's bullshit, any kind of tradition or memories this team has is negative and maybe this will give them a fresh start."
Associate athletic director for communications/sports administration Paul Vecchio agrees that this can only be good for the team.
"Any publicity is good publicity," Vecchio said. "ESPN wants to write a story on us and it actually doesn't involve having a black basketball head coach, football head coach and athletic director. This is nothing but good for the university."
While the partnership with the Steer will bring money back to the university, there are people such as vice president of student affairs Dennis Black, who is appalled by the collaboration.
"What are we telling our kids today?" Black said. "This sponsorship is telling underage kids that it is OK to drink. Next thing you know they will be doing drugs, then worse - listening to rock and roll music. These kids should be doing something productive with their lives. If not I'm going to take them all to the treeline."
While Black feels that the partnership between the Bulls and the Steer is promoting underage drinking, Mayle wants it to be known that no underage student that he knows of has ever patronized the Steer.
"We have several bouncers at our bar, it is very difficult to enter my establishment if you are underage," West said. "Of course people can slip in, but everybody that we id can be proven to be 21."
The Bulls-Steer partnership will be officially unveiled at the Blue-White game, April 14. Former Buffalo quarterback Randall Secky will perform the national anthem before the exhibition game.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
