Where's Winn?

[Bona3550]

PEZZIMENTI: Winn’s clinic absence a mystery
07/28/2006

Tim Winn has slipped into the same category as Carmen San Diego, Waldo and Bucky Phillips.




Where in the world is he?


The former St. Bonaventure basketball star/current ABA all-star was supposed to be in Olean Thursday afternoon to give a clinic to area youngsters. That was the plan at least.


But the scheduled appearance at the William O. Smith Recreation Center came and went without Winn, a guard for the Buffalo Silverbacks who suited up for the Bonnies from 1996 to 2000. A clinic was given, but by Winn’s teammate Modie Cox.


Even before Cox showed up in town Thursday Winn’s no show was already a formality. For whatever reason he wasn’t going to make it.


The fiasco started Wednesday for City of Olean Recreation director John Anastasia, who helped in setting up Winn’s appearance. Anastasia was informed by a Silverbacks’ office secretary that Winn was no longer conducting clinics through the franchise. According to the secretary she wasn’t at liberty to provide answers.


Anastasia continued looking for answers. By Thursday morning when he showed up at The Times Herald, he still didn’t have any.


All an apologetic Anastasia was sure of was there would be no Winn, that the Silverbacks were sending Cox in his place.


Cox showed up as expected. Meanwhile, Anastasia learned from an unidentified source within the Silverbacks organization that he couldn’t comment on Winn but that a press release would eventually solve the mystery.


A message left for Silverbacks’ coach and general manager Richard Jacob by The Times Herald Thursday was not returned.


Something sure seems fishy.


If the franchise is no longer allowing Winn to conduct youth clinics, what else might he be barred from doing?


This time last week all seemed fine. Winn was excited about the trip to the town where Bonnies’ supporters once adored him and where many still do.


He told me about the basketball and life skills clinic called “Do your best, never quit.” He said he had given over 20 separate talks to children throughout Western New York since May. The goal for he and Cox was to conduct a combined 100 clinics before the end of summer.



To the Silverbacks’ credit, the show went on with Cox. The former University at Buffalo standout was engaging, and had a great rapport with the 20 or so youngsters in attendance.


He signed autographs and shook hands after speaking. To be certain, Winn wasn’t missed. Cox delivered the message perfectly and with a personable smile.


The majority of the children on hand were between 7 and 10 years old, meaning their only knowledge of Winn would be from stories told by elders. The kids didn’t care it wasn’t Winn. They enjoyed the hour regardless.



But Winn’s whereabouts is a whole other issue. He gave up a marketing position in Rochester to join the expansion club last fall.


Winn is the face of the topsy-turvy franchise. Besides being an all-ABA player, he works in the front office and even is an assistant coach.


Winn’s good-deed clinics have drawn rave reviews. WGRZ-TV did a news piece on him and the clinics last week. The publicity was enormous for a franchise that barely stayed alive through its first season.


In November, owner Gary Nice couldn’t make payroll. The ABA eventually took the franchise from Nice while the team played a few games in a 250-seat high school gym due to financial troubles.


New ownership is in place with plans to keep pro basketball in Buffalo. The team did after all make the playoffs last season.


Having Winn around would only make things easier. Time to crack the case.


(Vinny Pezzimenti is a sports writer for The Times Herald)




©Bradford Publishing 2006

[Bona3550]

Chirp Chirp (crickets)

[sbu83]

Jail?

[southhampton]

driving around campus in a dodge caravan?

[remus]

Does that mean no more Winn Wagon, Rapids/Silverbacks, season ticket ploys because it's for the children (read: team is bankrupt). Do you people still think he would be a great assistant coach? Somebody please refresh me on what a stand-up guy with great character he is.

[DemBonnies]

remus said:

Does that mean no more Winn Wagon, Rapids/Silverbacks, season ticket ploys because it's for the children (read: team is bankrupt). Do you people still think he would be a great assistant coach? Somebody please refresh me on what a stand-up guy with great character he is.

Fro does your hatred for Jim Baron run so deep that you must denigrate all of his recruits too?

I mean afterall he did recruit JR which your man JVBK turned into the greatest NBA prospect to come out of Bonas since Bob Lanier.

[remus]

Dem,

First of all, I am not Fro. Sorry to disappoint you. The fact that I haven't praised JVBK at all should be strong enough of an indication, but obviously some people are too stubborn to believe reality when it clashes with their own perception.

If you think I denigrated Tim by stating the facts then so be it. I guess to some, The Truth Hurts.

Now instead of trying your infamous ploy to take any thread off topic, why don't you respond to what was said, rather than respond to who you think said it. Ok?

You are welcome to offer your thoughts on the merits of Tim's character and if he would have been a good coach in our program, or if you fell for the season ticket scam with the premise that it was to help children. However, I fail to see how questioning who I am etc., fits in with this forum.

[DemBonnies]

remus said:

Dem,

First of all, I am not Fro. Sorry to disappoint you. The fact that I haven't praised JVBK at all should be strong enough of an indication, but obviously some people are too stubborn to believe reality when it clashes with their own perception.

If you think I denigrated Tim by stating the facts then so be it. I guess to some, The Truth Hurts.

Now instead of trying your infamous ploy to take any thread off topic, why don't you respond to what was said, rather than respond to who you think said it. Ok?

You are welcome to offer your thoughts on the merits of Tim's character and if he would have been a good coach in our program, or if you fell for the season ticket scam with the premise that it was to help children. However, I fail to see how questioning who I am etc., fits in with this forum.

Taking a thread off topic...who was it that used to accuse me of that---that's right it was F. Munga.

It's not so much taking things off topic but exposing people's agenda like when they hate a coach that took Bonas from the depths of despair and brought them to the NCAA's----stuff like that

Oh sure you're Fro/Truth Hurts/remus all wrapped up in one warped Sybil-esque package but that doesn't matter...I think Tim Winn would make an excellent assistant coach if he brings only half as much drive to coaching as he did during his playing days at Bonas.

He had an insight to the game and what it took to be a winner...he chose Bonas over larger schools and that alone could give him the tool he needs to land a recruit.

At first blush the tickets for youth seemed an admirable gesture but the devil in the details seems to point other directions.

Whether Tim was knee deep in a scam or blindly trying to help youths and build attendance for the team is a question I don't have the answer to.

I do know that having a scrappy floor general like Tim on the Bonnie bench would help at crunch time.

[DemBonnies]

bonabuff said:

Talk about exposing someone's agenda. Or is it just blind faith in someone you don't even know because you liked his dribbling abilities?

Probably just blind faith based upon his dribbling abilities!!!

I don't recall all of the specifics, nor do I defend pugilistic tendencies but I seem to remember that there was prior problems between Tim and the other party.

Be careful where you tread when you accuse people of financial improprieties....slander/libel laws can reach across the internet too.

I am disappointed that Tim didn't uphold his promise to the youth of Olean but that doesn't turn him into a despicable character or is that , perhaps, your agenda?

[innerbarry]

How does failure to show for an event (for which I might add, an event where a suitable replacement was found) automatically equal evidance of a ticket scam?

Quite a leap being made there.

[TransplantedBonnie]

I'm not totally shocked by the turn of events on what has happened here, but I'd like to think better of the situation. I, like many of you, don't know Tim for more than the basketball player/student he was/is. For all the good he had done on the court, the issues this post brings don't lend well to one's persona. I am hoping there are good reasons for him missing as he could have missed the camp (where I agree they did get someone to do a decent replacement job, not name wise though) for illness or some other dire personal reason and I hope that is the case.

Unforunately, the ticket sales, which sounds a bit shady not becuause of who posted it, but rather by the respecitablity of the league (which has played in grade school gyms), has yet to be proven as a solid charitable move (unless someone has proof it actually is in existance other than some online posts). And given his past, which does stay with him no matter how much good he does afterwards, doesn't help.

I am not trying to be negative here, but rather hope there is some greater reasoning behind all of this and wish before we rush to judgements, we are able to find out why.

[remus]

I think it speaks volumes that the Silverbacks won't say anything other than he isn't conducting clinics for the franchise anymore, and that you have to wait for a press release. I don't sit around and pray that others have misfortunes but I think it's fairly clear that the press release won't contain good news about the career of Tim.

Oh, and just for the record, I was the first one to call into question the season ticket scam (thanks, your applause is appreciated). I was villified when I called into question the season ticket endeavor, but my how quiet those detractors are when it comes to facing the music. Unlike a certain someone, I stand by my convictions and i'm not afraid to call it as I see it. Too bad backpeddling isn't an olympic sport because I know of someone who can do it better than anybody else.

[DemBonnies]

remus said:

I think it speaks volumes that the Silverbacks won't say anything other than he isn't conducting clinics for the franchise anymore, and that you have to wait for a press release. I don't sit around and pray that others have misfortunes but I think it's fairly clear that the press release won't contain good news about the career of Tim.

Oh, and just for the record, I was the first one to call into question the season ticket scam (thanks, your applause is appreciated). I was villified when I called into question the season ticket endeavor, but my how quiet those detractors are when it comes to facing the music. Unlike a certain someone, I stand by my convictions and i'm not afraid to call it as I see it. Too bad backpeddling isn't an olympic sport because I know of someone who can do it better than anybody else.

Sniff Sniff----anybody else get the aroma of a FroMunga from this post.

Brimming with braggadocio and arrogance, the absolute absence of humility and a healthy whiff of churning against Bonas in general...yup that's him alright.

All we need is the Midnight Jimmy for the cherry on the top.

[keystone]

I gotta hand it to you, just when I thought this board lost all it's appeal you go back to our favorite game of guessing who people are instead of talking about the topic. Just to recap where we last left off I think we determined that all the B_E_V's are one person, Dem is Sneakers, Finkle is Einhorn, Batman is Bruce Wayne, and Remus is Fro Munga.

In all seriousness myself and some of my colleagues were also skeptical of the charity due to it's affiliations with a financially struggeling corporation however I think we are jumping to way too many conclusions here. Couldn't it be the possibility that Tim got traded or something and he no longer represents the team? If it were something negative we would probably know already and not be awaiting a press release? Maybe they traded him for some much needed cash?

I am just making some guesses here but he at least deserves not to get bashed here until some facts are known on what did or didn't happen.

[remus]

Keystone,

If the team has financial problems, trading away one of the local products that might put 10 additional people in the seats doesn't make sense. Also, the original plea to buy season tickets claimed Winn was the General Manager, so either that title was wrong or he'll be the first GM traded in any sport that I can ever recall.

If he was traded why all the secrecy? It's a has-been league that nobody on this board would care about if they hadn't come here looking for handout. Are they concerned the citizens of Buffalo/Niagara Falls will revolt if a player on a team nobody cares about is traded?