May Day 10

Eball- regier hung himself plenty and was allowed to continue on. Ruff too. Those two firings were made early in seasons and separate. Botched and waited too long, squandering years worth of time. Ruff was fired after like 12 games after an entire season and a half season lockout... I think Pegula gave both extensions at some point too. The entire hockey world was puzzled why r&r were still here. Pegula himself said he didn't see the light until a chance bumping into Lafontaine at a conference. I do agree we appear to be in a great place now... but pegula made a lot of early blunders with running the sabres.

Man how awful does brady look to the world at this point?

completely self imposed. The Patriots have handled this entire thing as poorly as possible. Acting different, give an apology and a BS excuse super bowl week and the 'no big deal' camp would have won out before the superbowl. The fierce denials and the lying and stomping of the feet have made the entire thing worse

IMO, just upward trajectory and progress is fine. #10 isnt a playoff spot... I was speaking in terms of conference finish. Top 8 make it. If they are #10-12 this year and dont really improve on that the following season, I will start to get weary I guess. But we'll see, there are so many other factors and variables involved. What if they miss and end up getting a top 1-3 pick in the lottery? Playoffs this year would be great. I just think they are a bit too young and inexperienced to really expect it.

CIRCUMSTANTIAL! He was just up for new every 2.

Buffalo chosen as a finalist for the 2018 WJC!

no. Not to that extreme at all. Just them staying on course. Results need to come now in the way of a steady upward trajectory. A 'competitive team' in '15-'16 who finishes between 10th and 12th-ish and shows promise is fine. Then in '16-'17 they need to be probably no worse than very close to a playoff spot... then after that we need to see them rise to join the 'class' of the East. I love the rebuild. They have done it well... but there has been some risks taken that do not have positive results yet. Reinhart/Eichel have 1 NHL assist, E Kane's character flags, huge contract to ROR, dealing away some pieces that could sting later. I like it all, but with no data yet, I don't want to give it an A or B. I don't blame people for looking at future outlook and hopes for a higher grade. There aren't any hard rules here. For this exercise, I only used what has tangibly happened... and also ignored/downplayed the great peripheral stuff that has gone on like the Harbor Center, Combine, Draft, arena improvements, etc.

from 2007, when the Bills were waiting on owners to vote on the Toronto series http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/28/sports/football/28bills.html "Of the Bills’ 48,000 season-ticket holders, 11 percent come from Canada. As many as 15,000 Canadians attend home games."

I thought it was a good article. Effective in it painted Maybin the person... created conversation on whether or not people are behind him at all. We often hear stories on players who literally gave everything to this game, and/or completely squander their earnings. I don't think I mind seeing someone leech off the game, even though it was largely at the Bills' expense. As far as the paintings. I think they are good. What has happened in this thread is exactly what Maybin intended for his 40 million dollar slaves painting. People see it and it provokes different reactions, from anger, disgust, empathy, etc... I think it is effective, thus a good piece of art. Although Im not sure I 100% agree with it... it is interesting to hear Maybin's perception of the process of becoming an NFL player. As far as his side of the story. Initial reaction reading it was 'man that sucks'... but then I think if he were to accept some blame on not making it, it would lend his 'side' a lot more credibility. Always seems to be someone else's fault and/or he didnt care enough.

I meant by record. I havent looked it up, but I would assume the last 4 years are easily the worst W-L record for this franchise which has always been historically reasonably successful (in the regular season). The 'worst' period was brought on by the Rigases (but they werent the owners)... Summer of '01 - '03. Really sucked and was scary. No fans in the arena and games were depressing. I really thought when Hammister pulled out of his interest the Sabres were cooked in Buffalo. When the Rigases were owners and we didnt know they were looting their company... those were good years, thanks Hasek.

"performance so far" there has been a lot of disfunction and a lot of it is self-imposed. Some very bad signings. Should have 'rebuilt' earlier and had a golden opportunity for McKinnon in the lockout season... Haven't gotten any pay-off yet. I believe it is coming, but I don't think the grade should reflect potential future results. Trying to look objectively at the Sabres' past 4 years, I do not think a grade above a C has been earned. Mind you I really like the Pegulas and dont want a different ownership and I'm extremely grateful of what they have done. The intention of winning seems to be 100% in the right place... but as Buddy Nix kind of said... show me the baby. Its been a tough 4 seasons. Granted the last 2 were by design... and I agree with it. But I think we still need to see on ice results to determine the rebuild as a 'success'.

I guess we have to see what the position entails to really make judgement. It seems like it may meld sometime into a PS&E Overlord who oversees the new football stadium, possible sports network, Bills, and Sabres. Wouldnt be shocked to see a "president" of each the Bills and Sabres in the next 5 years. I hope as a Sabres fan that they dont lose the engagement with fans. They asked us, we said Kevin Sylvester is awful, and they immediately stopped grooming him for the heir apparent to RJ and took him off the broadcasts. We hated the 3rd jersey, they turfed it. Ted Black met with Season Ticket holders before home games (I was selected this year for one). It was great, we were treated very well, he spoke about the organization and gave insight people dont typically get... he took questions and gave honest answers, Girgensons came in to thank us, gave away auto'd jerseys, they provided snax & beer, gave us visiting team's family tix as upgrades, etc... It has been great. Many people complained about concessions... now they are much more friendly and efficient (while it took me almost a whole quarter to get pizza logs made for me at a Bills game last year with no line). On the flip side, I dont feel nearly as engaged as a Bills fan. Maybe a case of the Pegulas continuing to take over

I put down a 'c'. Haven't seen the payoff yet which would raise it to an 'a'... I'm very happy with where they sit now. Through the ownership so far they have bungled around a bit. Like keeping r&r way too long and only making changes when riots nearly were occurring. Should have been wholesale day after the season but waited until seasons were lost. Also let regier stay and pull out that Ron Rolston joke. The Lafontaine thing was also a bit strange and had an unsavory feel to it. Now this ted black move seems out of left field... mind you ted black has been very kind to the fans and directed a lot of bullets for the organization toward himself. A lot of it was learning how to be sports owners... I do like where the sabres sit now. If we count the commitment to buffalo and other off ice stuff I give them an 'a'.

follow a different team because I have a slightly different opinion than you? How mature of an outlook. I didnt like that there was no changes while in the midst of the longest playoff drought. I really like the transactions since. I'm hopeful and excited for the season. Sth through it all What a horrible and fake fan. What I mean to say in this thread is the grade for the bills is incomplete. IF it works out it'll be awesome. If not it may mirror the sabres' transition which I would give a fairly low grade... I'd we are not taking into account stability and aspirations. I do have little doubt the pegulas will get us there sometime and somehow

These same guys have failed at and/or ignored the qb position for years. How easily could we have Carson palmer? Also the joke hiring of marrone. Complete losing culture. Just like the sabres purchase... a complete license to bring some winners in. The lack of action with the sabres cost 4 seasons now. When changes were made it was half assed. Squandered offseasons... I believe ruff and regier were both fired early in the season when it should have been at the beginning of offseasons. This could work out here. I hope it does. I'm very excited. But if if it goes south they will look very bad and it's going to take awhile to fix and might take a revamping like the sabres. I still think it was a mistake not bringing in experienced outside eyes like accorsi. Hoping this is a huge season and wouldn't bet against it.

It's tough to say. I wanted a 'house cleaning' just like the sabres purchase and it didn't come. However I love the moves and am very hopeful for the season. If it goes well its great. If it fails then pegula will get panned a bit. Kind of unfair waiting for hindsight. But I'm On board with every move

He said he never offered any input on the roster... I find that far fetched

With the Sabres we have the most data. Ran very poorly. Should have nuked the front office. It was obvious it should have happened. Kept trying to bandaid Regier and Ruff's shortcomings with $ which only amplified the issues. Then took a half measure by firing Ruff. Regier continued to putz around with Rolston and eventually the change did come... But then that led to a ridiculously long GM search and the whole LaFontaine leaving thing. Now this. I like the direction of the team. If results come, the grade should skyrocket... but for now its been the worst period in team history. Bills is incomplete.

I forgot about the prospects game too. Almost 18,000 for a scrimmage game in July for the worst team in the NHL... and you had to pay for tickets. I just hope the media's narrative doesnt continue to be that Black was screwing the pooch. It seems its just their grand One Buffalo structure coming into reality, and Brandon is the man they want for the job and there is no room for Black under the new structure.

I wonder what the story is... Im sure it isnt 'just' maximizing revenue. the Pegulas seem like they would prefer to be loyal to a good guy and someone the fans like/relate to and 'maxing out' at revenue +1 is not the most important thing. Just look at the out-of-pocket improvements at the arena and the willingness to buy players out. The combine by design was also a money-loser and basically money invested to expose up and coming prospects to Buffalo in the summertime. Its likely that either the Sabres are missing the mark by a ton and screwing the pooch (I dont believe that to be true)... or the Pegulas have their entire vision and 'chose' and believe in Brandon to execute that vision over Black... and Black was not willing to take a back-seat and they signed a severance.

so are they creating a new business overlord position? Or does he just hold the Presidents' role with each time simultaneously?

It was a lump sum cash grab and nothing else.

the team has been the worst in franchise history. NHL is generally boring now. There is almost no way the Sabres could have generated a lot of in-arena excitement... especially in light that everyone wanted them to lose. The Bills' presentation is awful too. The only saving grace is you have 63,000 drunken blue collars. Look at the combine. That is something the Sabres procured... and also revolutionized the format and got rave reviews from all involved. 2016 NHL Draft they got. Telecasts have improved a ton. They have responded and acted on many fan initiated suggestions in and around the arena... and maintained a strong and hungry fan-base despite being really bad for a long time.

you know my opinions of Brandon by now.... But for this, there is just no real information on the structure, what was apparently happening behind the scenes, etc to really form an opinion other than feel bad for Black because he is a very nice guy. (Also from my standpoint, the Sabres seem to be doing just fine in terms of fan interest/engagement). The Pegulas have some sort of vision (although I'm growing a bit weary of these major changes in direction that seem to happen every 6 months or so with their sports franchise) and they feel that Brandon can/will get them there.