Buffalo fans handing out history lesson

Foul, Lululemon. That’s the message Buffalo sports fans had for the high-end yoga accessory retailer for putting a “wide right” and “no goal” tile-floor mosaic at its Walden Galleria store.

The store quickly covered the mosaic in response to the outcries and is in the process of designing a new one.

As Buffalonians know, “wide right” refers to Scott Norwood’s missed 47-yard field-goal attempt that sealed the Buffalo Bills’ first Super Bowl loss in 1991 to the New York Giants. “No goal” refers to the Brett Hull’s foot-in-the-crease game-winning goal for the Dallas Stars in triple overtime of Game 6 in the 1999 Stanley Cup final, which deprived the Buffalo Sabres of a chance to win the Cup.

Both sear the hearts of western New York sports fans, who lit up social media with criticism for the store, interpreting the mosaic as a jab by outsiders at the city’s history of sports failures.

The store said the mosaic was meant to show its solidarity with western New Yorkers and to demonstrate its awareness of the region’s history and culture.

“Our intention was never to mock Buffalo. It was meant as a rally cry,” said Pamela Palmieri, the store manager.

Lululemon apologized “for offending the community” and said it will ask members of the community to help design a new mosaic to replace the controversial one.

“Our commitment is to remove the floor [it is currently covered with a rug] and represent Buffalo in a way that they are proud of,” Palmieri said. “We look forward to enrolling our community into design inspiration for the store.”

The mosaic will remain covered until it can be replaced.

Stinking it up

Webb Simpson didn’t play much golf during the Ryder Cup. After bombing with Bubba Watson in the opening session on Friday, Simpson, one of captain Tom Watson’s wild-card picks on the U.S. team, was relegated to the bench until he had to play in one of 12 singles matches Sunday.

Needless to say, Simpson wasn’t all that pleased with the Gleneagles experience.

“The golf side was a terrible experience because I only played in two matches,” Simpson said Thursday at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas. “I showed up in Scotland really ready to play and excited to play, and when you sit through three matches in a row, it’s tough.”

Simpson said he would have been on board if the U.S. had won.

“I mean, if I said the golf was great, you could call me a liar, and we didn’t win,” he said. “If I sit three matches and we win, I’ll have a different answer.”

For all of the talk about Watson’s decision making and, as Golf Channel analyst Brandel Chamblee said, his “bedside manner,” Simpson boiled down the week’s enjoyment to one thing: Winning.

“I think all of our team would agree that to an extent, the golf part did stink,” he said. “We lost. We lost the Ryder Cup, and nobody likes that.”

Talking the talk

Los Angeles Clippers star Blake Griffin, via ThePlayersTribune.com, on the difference between new Clippers owner Steve Ballmer and disgraced predecessor Donald Sterling: “Steve is a good dude. He’s like a cool dad who gives you candy. Donald was like a weird uncle.”

Brad Dickson of the Omaha (Neb.) World-Herald, after ex-NFL quarterback Brett Favre completed a triathlon: “It wasn’t easy. He retired six times during the bicycle portion alone.”

AP/SCOTT HEPPELL Webb Simpson said he went into the Ryder Cup ready and excited to play, but he had a different tune after sitting on the bench until the singles matches on the final day.