May Day 10

I believe in Amerks/Rochester fan circles, they have not been pleased with the Pegula era because there has been an unwillingness to spend on AHL vets who typically push teams over the top. It is however, a golden age over the Golisano years of cost-cutting there, sharing with Florida, then bailing. Has Pegula been a good owner for the Bills? It is hard to argue against it. Has Pegula been anything short of an unmitigated disaster into perpetuity for the Sabres? It is hard to argue against it. I will say, you can't 'stumble' into success, especially sustained success in the NHL. Head coaches are not as important nor should be influential. 1 or 2 Players do not move the needle, and there is nobody who would have the same effect as a top-5 franchise QB. You need to have a competent front office on various fronts. Amateur scouting, development, pro scouting, and team-building are paramount.

People forget how the Bills were run just prior to McBeane. Pegula was impressed with Russ Brandon in the purchasing process and they foolishly continued his influence on the franchise. You had a dysfunctional period with Whaley/Brandon/Marrone that culminated with Marrone walking away voluntarily after an OK season to be an O-Line coach. Then you had "dont let him leave the room" Rex Ryan, Brandon advising Ryan what kind of wine to bring the Pegulas and that circus. Then you had Ryan getting fired, Whaley not being "privy" to the coach being fired, then conducting an embarrassing and inhumane "operation human shield" using Anthony Lynn. It was not going well at all. McDermott was a godsend. He has the perfect personality for dealing with Terry Pegula. He earns trust and is a good guy, is respectful, but also forceful and gets what he wants. I also think that even without Allen, his floor is pretty high, and worst case, if we are in QB purgatory again, he can pull off the Mike Tomlin smoke and mirrors bit.

I think he wants out bad. I also suspect that his agent/camp keeps floating balloons out there creating a buzz and a market out of thin air. It happened at the deadline too.

True.... but just the franchise slot alone is valuable. They wouldnt need to be the sabres, wear ugly black uniforms 20 times a season, play in a dump, and have an unqualified balding turd as a general manager. They can be the Houston Aeros playing in the 6th largest TV market within a couple years... with real management

He would make a ton of money on a Sabres sale. NHL properties are very valuable, north of $1 Billion now. The Sabres are not tied to Buffalo for long at all, and easy to relocate to a larger market.

That whole genre was absolutely beaten to death. There was so much zombie-related media out there, movies, video games, books, tv shows, etc. For a time, it seemed that all anyone could create was something to do with either superheroes or zombies.

Im skeptical that there are these Iranian sleeper cells sitting here waiting. Im not sure why they would be waiting or what they would be waiting for. The leadership already hates and distrusts the USA to the maximum and would have just struck. They had a gun to the head of Israel to a point and also had Russia in its corner. However, Russia is preoccupied and weakened by the Ukraine situation, and Israel has recently devastated Hamas and Hezbollah. Iran's best defense was to have a large fighting force, decently modernized, with Russia using them as a proxy, and depending on a regional war aimed at Israel. Most of that opportunity is gone as is the deterrent for 'intervention' as we have seen in the past 10 days.

I can go on about this subject... I do think the recent rules are an improvement: Clock, ghost runner (regular season only), bigger bases, Minimum batters for reliever, limiting pickoff moves, etc. I do like pitchers hitting, but I understand why that has been legislated out. I also wish we could go back to locked-in starting rotations with pitchers who regularly finish games, but I get the evolution. I HATE steroid ball. I stopped paying attention throughout the steroid era. I would much rather watch a crisp 2:40 game that ends in a 3-2 score. I think there is plenty of star-power in MLB without the roids (or at least detected): Ohtani, Tatis, Guerrero, Judge, Betts, Soto, Acuna, De La Cruz, etc. To me, baseball has cut off its legs a bit. All MiLB have capitulated into a purely developmental/scrimmage leagues. Furthermore, MLB has culled dozens of professional baseball teams out of communities across the United States. I think that is a big, long-term mistake. People across the country become baseball fans watching their local team compete. I remember "big" Bisons games and some intense moments, including huge brawls. Now, it looks like the players are practicing and don't want to be there. I used to be able to travel short distances with my dad and attend professional baseball games in Welland, Niagara Falls, St Catharines, Jamestown, Elmira, Batavia, and Geneva. Each ballp[ark had their regulars and actually decent crowds consuming baseball. All wiped out. I believe the economics of baseball are also getting to a breaking point. There has always been a history of the Cardinals and Yankees of the world spending, and the A's, Senators, Phillies (long ago), White Sox) developing and selling/losing players to the big spenders. But with a society who struggles with attention spans, you have like 75% of the markets who cannot retain their biggest stars into their prime. This is not good, and will be poison to future nostalgia for fans in many regions. IMO, the greatest thing that can happen, (I realize many things would need to be reset in the way of finances, contracts, CBA, etc), would be a full-on, 4 to 6 tier Promotion/Relegation system. Restore competitive baseball that means something to all corners of North America. Force teams to compete or be relegated. Allow a wealthy mogul in a market like Charlotte, Nashville, Indianapolis, or even Buffalo to make a splash and try to build to be promoted to the highest level.

The NORAD Santa tracker app is pretty nice

I think it could be appealing to the NHL in that it is a sports town with no NBA competition locally. The arena was new but that was almost 20 years ago and I would think a new owner would want to/need to put some money into it. The district by the arena is cool. It all kind of rides on having an owner there though who wants to spend that kind of money on an NHL team. Cities don't buy teams and the NHL doesn't give them away.

I dont think Quebec city, Hartford, or any nonsense like that is getting a team anytime soon. Need corporate money, population, television market. Houston, Atlanta, Phoenix, all probably guaranteed as the next 3. After that, probably something like indy or KC.

Atlanta was never good either. A perperually bad nhl team is a dreadful product. I grew up a huge hockey fan and played much of my life and I cannot watch the sabres, it is so boring.

I would say it is pretty awesome to have an infinite amount of information in the palm of your hand, ready for recall in a matter of seconds. I can decide to look up Tris Speaker's OBP from 1920...... It was .483. It took me 7 seconds to find that. Additionally I learned he won the MVP in 1912 and I hadn't realized he finished his career with the Philadelphia A's at the age of 40 in 1928. Social networking/social media is a pretty neat thing too if used in moderation. You can be in touch with so many people with similar interests, stay connected with friends throughout the different phases of life. There is a lot of bad things with social media too I realize and people who mis-use it and base living off it. Streaming in general. Podcasting, youtube, music apps, streaming television. Wonderful. Some downsides with it. I can think of something or a scene I saw 40 years ago, and watch it on youtube usually. Music video, sporting event, funny movie scene, tv show, etc. The audio things hook up seamlessly in my car. I know it is in fashion to publicly loathe technology and go back to simpler times, but it is pretty awesome. Other than that, relative peace (sorry Ukraine, Gaza, and Ethiopia). General prosperity/comfort for middle class.

Good for Diggs. Live it up

Yeah, my wife was watching it. It was kind of throwing shade at buffalo a bit in my view. I don't get offended at that stuff though

Gotta keep the deck clear for Appert to take over.

Never liked the show. Had no idea it still existed

Like I said before. No shame in losing to the Panthers in 7. That team was built to win playoff games

I think the Leafs are just fine to be honest. They are probably the 2nd or 3rd best team in the NHL. They have just been stuck in a brutal Division with Boston, Tampa, and now Florida. Florida is a wagon. I believe hiring Berube put them a step or 3 closer to being a cup-winning team. I had thought this might be the year.

The roids/HGH is a different thing altogether. Those people arent banned. They just can't get enough votes. I wonder if Rose and Jackson get in... and also a fringe HOF player like Cicotte.

With all the sponsorships, there might be mandatory gambling I'm kind of mixed on this. Probably more in favor than not. The way Manfred made the rule (deceased players may be eligible/reinstated) makes it much better and im for it. It'll be interesting if that classic baseball committee votes them in and if they do right away. Pretty sure the neckband writers wouldn't

The most important thing in the world to me is this scenario. Fans storming the field at the last game of Rich Stadium for an AFC Championship, a truly unique and wonderful scene for the NFL and a send-off for the old barn. Then a Super Bowl victory, then opening the new stadium with a banner. It would exorcize all demons.

I typically hate 3rd uniforms, especially in the nfl. I commend them for keeping that at bay all these years for the classic looks. However, I would really get excited for that nickel city look. That would be pretty awesome

I dont think anyone would have though of/said JP Losman or EJ Manuel

I agree with that. The Sabres make me feel like I am a fan of the worst franchise in the league. The glassiest of houses. Completely irrelevant and the Leafs travel to worlds we cant even comprehend as Sabres fans. Eichel too. I hated him, but now, you know, he was probably right. Why should he be expected to waste his career here?