May Day 10

you are correct. mr wilsons death before the paint was dry on the renovations was crazy timing. a bit closer to that 28 million dollar buyout and it could have been iffy. without pegula it is very iffy, if not impossible. mlse/jon bon jovi doesnt have the liquid capital to compete on purchase price with pegula. add in a relication fee, 400 million lease buyout (or 7 seasons of lame duck games in front of angry demonstrative fans). also building costs. it was not feasible. an alliance with the rogers family might have made it possible... but after ted's death the family splintered a bit, they made a foolish bid for the nhl, and a lot of the money is tied up i do give credit to mr wilson for starting the bills and having them rooted in buffalo for over 50 years.

Im out. Part of it is buying currency with the wife so I can attend more WJC games. I know its not over.... but we have seen this movie play out over and over again with the Bills. For this season, it doesn't feel different (although I am encouraged for the future).

the way the bills can make gronk pay is to be extra focused and channel all their energy into beating them and spoiling their home AFC Championship game.... followed by beating them next season. Silly football fights never seem to hurt anybody

I agree with this. It seems like an easy decision. Looking at comments sections, even Pats fans agree that it was an awful thing. Such a cowardly and dangerous attack. The decision to suspend is easy, in light of all the factors (including the score/time of the game)... the hard part will be pushing it to more than 1 game (which IMO should be 3-4 games). The NFL will likely come up short.

I would say very bad. The more you are 'into' a band, the worse it is. Especially if they are a band who mixes up their sets

he deserves it. he got a real crap deal and it was undeserved. something he loved got ruined. he handled the whole thing with incredible class and dignity.

People always bag on various figures in the Buffalo sports media because they are too 'negative'. What do you expect? Just graze the history of the Bills. Had a blip in the late 80s and early-mid 90s... but other than that, one of the worst NFL franchises historically. To add to the Bills' struggles of 17+ seasons, The Sabres possess the 2nd longest drought in the NHL, and are embroiled in what is by far the worst era of the franchise. Trust me. These guys want these teams to do well. They are tired of the same cycle, same talking points, same callers, same results. Its groundhog day and it has to be very tough to create content and make it interesting with the state of things. The program directors, at least for the afternoon show force them to focus on Bills and Sabres only. That's tough. Schopp's main base of knowledge are baseball, tennis, and he loves analytical stuff, especially when it comes to odds-making. And, to be honest, they arent really that negative, and WGR in particular has definitely softened the tone since they became the Bills' broadcast home.

this is the one that always comes to mind. a forgotten game in drought lore. we were so innocent there, with our 4 year drought.. it felt like the bills had them at almost every point of the game... and somehow, the patriots took it away.

nobody really knows. it was all sealed via ndc. the facts are .. they hired him to run the sabres. then he was vanquished just 2 or 3 months later. they hired him with a lot of fanfare... and publicly he was saying all the right things. his philosophies on how to build the organization were music to my ears. and he had craig patrick coaching him up. it appears that his authority was limited when the chips were down at the trade deadline. there was a major systemic disagreement and he bounced. pegula, fearing the public backlash of a divide with a nearly flawless and universally popular spprts figure, likely bought his silence on the matter. imo, this, along with some of pegulas public statements since reeks of pegula meddling. there has been a pettiness on the sabres side too. lafontaine is scrubbed from highlight videos they show. they had a bobblehead voting process. i and a cpuple others voted a lot for lafontaine. he didnt "make" the final 10. a winner like pat kaleta was there... and housley.

yeah. i get frustrated at their decisions and vent sometimes... especially when it comes to the sabres. a degree of criticism is warranted. there have been systemic errors and bungling. i also feel that organization comes up short in a number of areas, not just on the ice.... but there is no local owner who would/could own the teams. pegula is willing to lose money and pour it into the team. he also is unlikely to hold a loaded gun on us when it comes to stadium plans and funding. he is dedicated to winning. he is committed to the area and has heirs. and he and his family is very likeable. i want them to succeed.

Zero chance. It wouldnt be a good idea either (and Im a czar guy). Gotta let this one play out and see if it bears fruit.

They chased LaFontaine and Patrick out after about 5 minutes (all secret behind closed doors which reeks of petty nonsense brought on by poor management structure) Then the steering wheel was given to an under-qualified Murray (whose demeanor showed plainly he wasn't capable of being the HMIC). I was irate when the LaFontaine firing/resignation went down and panned Murray and Pegula's management pretty bad. If I cared to, and if anyone cared (which they dont) I could provide proof of it on a Sabres board I frequent. Nothing revisionist there. Now the team is a smoldering husk.

I thought the secondary would be a raging wildfire of fail and be the first weakness that brings down this version of the Bills.

It was scary. Got really scary the night Hammister's team/bid fell apart (which probably was a great thing in hind-sight). I had started to try to come to terms with the fact that the Sabres were going to move. Golisano did a good thing. He ended up making some money, but he came in and bought the (financially struggling, non-solvent) team, just before the labor fight. The team was managed quite well. I always did have the feeling though he wasn't in it for the long haul, and he resented the fans and media for the backlash he got when the team struggled. Was always nervous for what was next. I never thought he would sell to anyone who would move the team.... but how long would he be willing to hold out before selling to someone he was maybe 75% sure would keep the team here? Outside of Pegula.... who owns these teams? What local money? I would say the Riches, but it really isnt their style. Bob is kind of a frugal guy to be honest (for a skyrocketing billionaire) and if they were interested, I think they would have checked in with the Sabres in 2002 and Bills after Wilson passed.

Not really Sabres were in danger in 2002. There was no owner, but the league stood firmly in Buffalo's corner and waited it out. There was zero chance Golisano was going to sell to Balsillie... and probably a smaller chance the NHL would approve the sale and allow the team to move to Hamilton or Kitchiner or wherever he wanted that arena.

I agree with everything in the OP for the most part. Since they bought the Sabres, they have rejected experienced eyes and management. They have bungled nearly every on-field/ice decision, and I do not have great faith in the 1st time HC/GM combinations, based on the Pegulas' track record. The Sabres, IMO the poop is going to start to hit the fan. After this season, they will almost certainly fall below the STH cap, and that will cascade through the STH base as there will be almost no reason to hold season tickets.... if you can just act later and pick them up on a later date instead of blow thousands of dollars withstanding an indefinite amount of bad seasons. There are going to be very small crowds and paid attendance next season unless things improve. And if you look. Under Pegula-only ownership, the Sabres hold the 2nd longest playoff drought in the NHL, and I believe it is a top-10 all-time drought. With all that said, Pegula is all in. I don't think there is a chance he sells. We can only hope he keeps learning lessons, and maybe gets it right. I do respect his willingness to spend, and also the stability his family provides for these franchises. I wish I can just lock him in a room for an hour and try to convince him the benefits of hiring a Football/Hockey 'ceo' and let the build programs from the top down.

the Bills havent truly rebuilt since Donahoe tried to. They have continually tried to band-aid a sinking ship.

While I do agree to a point. I was shouting before the season for a complete tear-down.... but you have to think they wanted to employ those 3 guys you listed to rub off on the team and help instill a culture of dedication/professionalism.... and hand it down to the young guys. At least 2 of the 3 guys you listed who were shipped out work against that culture. Not sure about Darby. Watkins was going to be a battle and it was likely the only way to retain him would be a malcontent franchise tag.

this is correct. its tough... and made tougher to deal with in light of the 5-2 start. behind closed doors, beane and mcdermott were probably "hoping" for 6 wins in a transitional season. the bills' roster is terrible on multiple position groups. they are showing it on the field. teams are exposing weak spots on the o line and lb corps. shredding. they probably recognize, even an 8-8 6th place is fools gold and this team doesnt stand a chance to win at a division winner. they know a franchise altering qb decision is looming, and they wanted to see if they had anything in peterman

I might be able to come around to Jerry Jones' side here.... but the fact that he appears to be acting like a child in the face of a suspension for domestic abuse to his own team destroys his case and position.

He is a good guy. I think his role of covering these teams who have been stuck in neutral for so long effects his moods on the air sometimes. It is the same thing, groundhog day over and over, same callers with the same viewpoints over and over, and they need to invent new angles to talk about mediocre Sabres and Bills. Program directors do not let them outside the Sabres and Bills bubbles much. People say guys like Schopp, Sullivan, Gleason, etc love the failure, but the truth is, they would be jumping for joy if either or both teams rose to the national stage and had big games and big moments. Schopp's wheelhouse is actually baseball, tennis, collecting, and analyticals/statistics.

to be clear, Schopp takes a position that will result in the most activity in the show by the way of callers/people paying attention.... and several-page threads on message boards talking about him. He may not necessarily agree with it in real life. He is just creating content for an entertainment program.

Make it happen Beaner

I tried to plug in the worst case scenario for each AFC game in the NYT calculator, and the Bills fall to <1% with a loss against the Colts in week 14 and 0% eliminated cant be 'accomplished' until week 15 (even with a win). That is with losing every game and choosing all the teams right behind them and the Jaguars to win all their games possible.

I have been one of the most consistently outspoken Brandon-firers for almost a decade. I have been skeptical with every half measure they have taken to make 'changes' that always resulted in Russ Brandon remaining untouched and front-and-center. I know his dream and career goal was to be a football (or baseball) executive (on the GM side), and Ralph Wilson really had an affection for Brandon, and prioritized giving him the opportunity to learn and GM.... while shielding him from the fans' ire (such as the Buddy Nix 'general manager of football' circus. At this point, I am satisfied with the evidence that he has finally been walled-off enough from the football side. McDermott and Beane finally break up the joke of the lineage of Levy-Brandon-Nix-Whaley that was largely designed to preserve the influence of Brandon and a few lifers. McDermott and Beane, unlike those other guys, are strong voices from the outside, with lofty aspirations. They would not agree to take jobs here if they needed to defer to unqualified people (this is why the Bills were never able to get any serious consideration from any coveted Head Coach candidate or FO candidates who matter). It is also why our only two 9-7 coaches quit. Under Brandon, they dont make these moves this season, especially the Watkins one. They would have rode him out to either a Franchise Tag battle, or just off a cliff. Trading down the way they did was a good move for the future.... The team failed to see more than 1 move ahead for the last 20 years. As somebody well studied in droughtology.... this is different, and I am willing to see this rebuild through.