May Day 10

If/when Murphy retires, I hope they dont go the route of that dummy for Minnesota or have someone in like Ron Wolfley for Arizona. I get being a homer, but yelling and screaming, calling the team "us" and "we", and taunting the other players over the air is terrible. Van Miller used to paint the scene so well. Down, distance, direction, formation, fluidity of the play, distance, player names, etc. It was all given in such a clear manner. His voice and delivery would subtly change at important points of the game to give an air of urgency. What a gem, we were so lucky. Murphy's voice is alright. I like the guy and don't think he is embarrassingly bad. You can definitely do a lot better though. He fails at all those things Van Miller used to nail.

Those minnesota guys make me cringe. Don't want overweight advanced age loser cheerleaders. Murphy is ok to poor. He doesn't paint the picture well. There can be a pass and you don't know if it was 4, 10, 20 yards until way later. Down, distance are sometimes forgotten. His tendency to repeat words as filler when something big is happening is annoying too.

OK. Im actually fine with this

Yeah, it really shouldn't be rocket science. The Leafs were last in the NHL for a year 7 years ago and have been a 100+ point team ever since. Somehow the Sabres have finished dead last in the league 4 times since this drought started and 2 of those times since the Leafs got Matthews New Jersey was worse than the Sabres last year and is somehow 13-3-0. The Rangers had a 2 year rebuild a few years ago. The Islanders got good almost overnight when they signed Lamoriello and Trotz. Vegas never even had to rebuild. But here it is this giant process constantly mapped out to keep the window of competing like 3 years in the future.

I think pretty much everyone (realistic) agrees. I said mid-80s to 90s would be good progress (as long as it isnt the formula where they are out of it by Christmas and go on a tear in meaningless games in February and March vs backup goalies and no pressure.) They are pacing toward 76 points again which is no-man's land. Vegas books, who is good at this stuff had them between 77 and 78.5 (6th or 7th lowest in the league I think?). Maybe that is just how good they are and all this 'wanting to play in buffalo' thing is marketing and window dressing. That is not progress. I don't understand how the goalie situation is the way it is while Adams has been here this long. You have young players who you want to develop? Give them something better than a 70 year old Craig Anderson and Comrie. I am still hopeful they pick it up and stack some wins again. 4 of the next 5 are very winnable. At least we aren't Ottawa who pushed chips in the middle and are at the bottom. I get the whole effort and try hard thing... but that Vegas game was tough. The Sabres lost numerous effort-battles that resulted in goals, when they had reason to be inspired and had a decent crowd behind them.

I just dont get what the expectations are. I hear a lot of 'well we arent supposed to be good' talk still. This is Adams' 3rd full season as GM. Where are we? A 76.5 point pace and 2nd last in the Division. I guess that is a 1.5 point improvement over last season and the exact same as Botterill was doing 4 and 5 years ago so there is that. They should probably race to give the GM and coach more extensions. They just allowed Eichel to drag his sack over their and our fanbases' faces the other night. At some point they need to make actual gains in winning and the standings. What is going to change next season to make them a playoff team if they are still stuck in the 70s-range in points (which is the bottom quartile of the league in a typical season with loser points)? a lot of this is venting, but its also true.

That's really a crummy and unfair "LOOK AT ME" thing to do. He should just stick with his awful music takes

They should have dropped allen back after a fake handoff, then had him throw the ball 500 feet in the air out of bounds to kill the clock

Senseless play

i dont think that is necessarily true. I thought that of the Chiefs back to the season they lost the the Patriots in the AFCG

The Republicans are in a tough spot. It's clear they need to move on from Trump. He is a liability, turns off people in his own party, and energizes the opposition. They have a firebrand with desantis who has a lot of momentum rolling downhill. Trump's ego and mental deficiencies will never allow for desantis (or anyone else but especially desantis, a protégé in a lot of ways). He will attack desantis, the party, the primary process on his way out. He will sabotage the republican chances in 2024. The Frankenstein monster they created with Trump and his loyal base will finally turn on their master and start smashing the lab. It will probably gift the dems the white house, I can still see a R congress in 24 though. In the long run it'll be a good thing. Get the crazies out in a new party, R can move toward the middle. The D party would need to split at some point because a center-ish republican party would likely dominate.

Overall, I'd say a terrible night for Donald Trump. He will say it's good though, except where he was cheated, and make his announcement in 2 weeks.

I expected Ed Oliver to emerge this season as a dominant DT in the NFL, and the Bills to be unable to sign him.

I wondered at the deadline... If they didnt pay Knox, could they have gotten Hockenson? That guy could be a terror in this offense with this QB and turn into a generational TE as he was billed.

Davis and Knox. Also Crowder

These games happen to every team. Even when its not expected. All 32 teams are filled with world class athletes and top notch strategic minds who are hyper-competitive. Looking at the Jets yesterday, they were a motivated, driven team with young talent who played like their season and reputation was on the line. The Bills looked kind of like they felt like they already had been awarded the win and just needed to not lose it and get through the game. Hopefully lesson learned and it sharpens their drive and preparation moving forward. I would rather have this happen now, than go 16-1, and fall on their faces in the Divisional Round

I get it, small talk about recipes and kids, then a switch flips into angry fan mode. Great. The first time I got it.... then it just became predictable and repetitive. It needed more/something to flip it on its head. They tried it with the "game is almost over" thing but it didn't work for me.

I agree. The slug is/was actually embarrassing and I still cannot fathom how that thing passed through all the processes of design and approval before it was sewn onto an actual jersey. The goathead really isnt bad. Many Sabres fans (mostly 40 and over) hate it, mainly because we already had/have one of the best looks and color schemes in the league. The original is a classic and anything else is a downgrade The goathead logo and color scheme was a money grab, trying to get in on the 90s black and red craze, and also coupling the franchise with adelphia. Overall, hockey/NHL fans look back on it with nostalgia and it was a pretty well-received logo. The sabres had some great seasons wearing it. But yeah, they should never consider straying from the original logo/royal blue and gold ever again other than novelty jerseys

I went through my prime sports consumption period as a kid from the late 80s and most of the 90s... It was so good back then. The Bills were always in the conversation for the Superbowl. The Sabres were actually a star-studded team before Hasek (I remember in like 1992, were the Hockey Digest pick to win the cup)... but just were stuck in a division of death. Then the Hasek years. It seemed like it was just how it was supposed to be and would last forever. I remember Ralph Wilson quoted one time in that period, advising people to enjoy it because it wont last. We all know about the Bills drought. The Sabres have won 4 playoff series since 2001 (in the span of 2 seasons), and have only qualified 4x (and not in 11 years). If the Sabres can get going.... this will be awesome, as I believe the Bills are built for the mid and long term as well.

I guess depending on how this weekend's game goes and the SEC Championship. If they are both close and exciting.... give me a few more rounds in the playoff for all the marbles along with Ohio State or Michigan. This is a season where an expanded playoff would be a good thing. If TCU runs the table, they have as much (or more) of a claim than Clemson IMO

Honestly should probably be Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and the winner of the Ohio State/Michigan game

I really like the deal for the Broncos. I get why Miami did it... but Im not sure this is a great move for them. He is a UFA after this season, its a full rental. Is this really a Superbowl contender?

Pretty huge game here. Basically a Division Title game/MAC semifinal... although if Ohio wins, UB still has a chance but would need help.

It is going to be an uphill climb to fill the building, even if the team continues to remain in the thick of things. The ticket pricing is way too high. The false demand of the waiting list allowed the Sabres to keep increasing prices over a decade-plus. People were hanging on due to the threat of the waiting list and FOMO. The STH bubble burst and the market is way out of whack. People around here have been pretty detached from the Sabres over the past 10-15 seasons. $40 for a ticket in the 300 corners (which are a mile away from the ice) on a Monday night Halloween, or the upcoming Wednesday game is a tough sell. Upgrade the seat location and its going to increase. I just looked up Tampa Bay Lightning tickets for tomorrow. You can get into the building with comparable seats for $20, 100 level seats for $65. That is a more affluent market with decent demand, amidst kind of a dynasty. All their pricing is lower. I said it before, but they really should have slashed STH pricing before this season. Could have loaded up with more new STH, then if they do make the playoffs, people would flock to buy tickets and sign up for next season. Could re-create the market in 2006-07 when tickets were low-priced, but they created demand, then had the waiting list, and giving them control to keep bumping up pricing. People always say 'you need to increase ticket pricing to get revenue sharing'. That is not true, directly. You need to increase revenue by a certain % to get revenue sharing. If you fail to increase revenue, the team needs to submit a plan/report to the NHL owners on how they will increase revenue moving forward (and they still get revenue sharing).

I was in the hospital and watched the game from there