May Day 10

I wonder if Sal is a WGR employee therefore, there is a barrier to him being the official host of that show? I know though, that he fills in from time to time... but maybe that is considered a "WGR" show and not a "Bills" show when that happens? Or maybe he declined because too much workload? Or maybe he wasnt asked. Im not the biggest Sal fan (although I have warmed up a bit because he has gone easy on the yelling into the microphone for no reason), but he seems like a natural fit to host One Bills Live. But yeah, Brown and Glab sounds like a bad show. I dont mind Brown in spurts. Glab is in no way an 'expert' or even particularly knowledgeable. This is fine if you are the 'broadcaster professional' who keeps the show moving, helps dialog along, etc.... but she gives the vibe that she isnt great behind the mic and often it sounds like a college radio station.

Murphy and Tasker just seem to go through the motions on the show. Its a same tired plug and play formula every day and a boring listen. Poll of the day to drive the day's discussion with callers.... the "Tweet Sheet", etc. Wouldnt be surprised if Murphy is just bored with it and is at an age where he is looking to get away from the daily grind. Brown is always good when he is on. I don't mind Glab on the occasional appearance or hosting. She is kind of the 'noob' to the area and team so its kind of fun hearing people fill her in and hearing her perspective as a Buffalo/Bills outsider. I think its going to be terrible on a full-time basis. I dont mind Murphy as pbp, but I dont think he is particularly good either. He does a terrible job of painting a picture for each play. He doesnt do a good job of describing distance. A pass could be 3 yards or 30 and you dont know for a little bit.

Russ Brandon really wanted to be a GM. A pro sports (particularly baseball) General Manager was his dream and why he got into the business. As defacto owner, he was able to do that and was involved in most decisions, hoping that he would set himself up for notoriety to get a position post-Bills. This is why they swung for the fences with Watkins, doubling down on their EJ selection (I remember some of the leaks while Tyrod was playing fine were 'pro Manuel'). Most of the leaks reeked of Brandon posturing. I can guarantee he didnt really enjoy his 'promotion' to the head of the Sabres and the Bills. It moved him further away from what he wanted to be doing. McDermott essentially (finally) walled Brandon off from the football department and it was the best thing that could have happened.

I feel like it was Brandon. They seemed to increase in frequency after the pegulas came on the scene. Brandon was losing his grip as defacto owner, president, and gm, so he was pulling shots to try to improve his standing and image. They never painted him in a bad light, and I even recall the ridiculous one that the raiders were beating on his door to make him their president. It seemed that la canfora was the source of most of that nonsense and russ was feeding him la canfora was doing favors And lol https://www.syracuse.com/buffalo-bills/2014/12/oakland_raiders_reportedly_interested_in_buffalo_bills_president_russ_brandon.html

I hated erkel. Family matters devolved into the erkel show

I get it, but when I watched, I didnt really like The Rock. Some of it was writing too I guess, but his character was so repetitive, predictable, and boring. He just had his shtick, and did the same thing over and over. None of his story-lines were good or interesting at all. His matches were also just 'standard'

HHH Kurt Angle Michaels Dudleyz Rowdy Roddy Flair Macho Man

Hasnt Cox been complimentary about Buffalo since his playing days? I could have sworn he has given the franchise and fans kudos a number of times. It was just a fun rivalry and he made it better. I have nothing against him.... its not like he was a criminal or took out Jim Kelly's knee or anything.

No. Cant punt on 1st round ELC players 2 straight years IMO

Im not sure I would enjoy it though not being permitted to attend games (nobody in attendance) and not being able to enjoy it with friends, going out, parade, etc. Not only would it feel strange and in a vacuum.... it would be like some sort of twilight zone/alfred hitchcock tragedy. I would forever feel like I/we missed out. Shortened season with fans and all... sure. I dont want to hear otherwise. Ill bathe in the Title.

That's reassuring. I was hoping they didn't have too much invested in the fracking world, and this is truly a realignment/streamlining of their sports enterprises.

I have and even I said that I thought they sold a bulk of land rights prior to the Bills purchase... But I see in other places that the Pegulas own 2 other fracking companies who were doing poorly, even before the pandemic/Russia-Saudi oil stuff, and the Pennsylvania one even halted operations last year, and I think the one out west did as well. Near 100% doesnt seem accurate if 2 oil extraction companies are included

it makes me worried of what they may have lost in fracking and the current (and previously on-going) oil/energy price drop. If the bulk of their portfolio is now (and moving forward) the Bills and Sabres, then we are in for a world of hurt.

Shortened season is fine If it's a studio-only season with no fans... then it will kind of stink.

It really wouldnt have been that hard to run the Sabres well. They inherited a team with a locked in waiting list for season tickets and perpetual sellouts and all the good will in the world. It is remarkable what they have done to the franchise. remarkable. And not defensible.

It appears fine now. But I do remember Terry holding a stopwatch and a clipboard "helping" evaluate quarterbacks. We have had a daughter dating a fringe tight end. Who knows if a family member ends up with a position in the organization who buts heads with McDermott? You could get a Linda Bogdan situation real easy. Once McDermott gets enough personal capital where he could write his own ticket, and doesnt need the Bills, it could be possible. It seems like unicorns and rainbows now, but hands-on owners typically desire subservient execs at some point. The story I heard from credible people that LaFontaine's resignation was due to disagreements with Kim Pegula that boiled over. I just want a guy like Kraft who sits in the press box, claps, writes checks, and accepts trophies and praise.

it doesn't always work. But what about things like Lou Lamoriello and Waddell. IMO the Sabres are in need of it because their Hockey department is in such disrepair and hasn't really been completely with the times since probably the 90s. And as far as coaches go. Another problem with the Pegulas is they look at it like the NFL. In the NFL, the coach holds a lot of power and molds the whole organization. In the NHL, coaches are independent contractors who are entirely disposable and interchangeable. The Pegulas do it backwards and look for NHL coaches like they are looking for a life partner, and it appears like they view the coach as separate manager who reports to ownership and not the GM. A GM should have the ability to cast the coach off whenever they please. Specifically the Pegulas got in too deep personally with Phil Housley and they even funded his wife's US Senate campaign. I'm sure they are all goo goo over Kruger's phony Six Sigma shtick.

I wonder how much is wasted on terrible hires and paying people not to work. They were at the very top of the NHL in salary this season. So much so that they had to juggle players in and out of Rochester to try to stay within the cap, and they still likely ended up over and will be penalized. With a team that was probably in the bottom 5 in the league. And they still, for some reason spent assets and money on upcoming UFAs such as Simmonds and Frolik. Maybe cut it out with this marketplace of ideas approach and get some help to refine and run the hockey team the right way. Home playoff games that we havent seen in nearly a decade, mean breaking even to most small market hockey teams. The next step (this summer or next) is promote Kruger to GM and Taylor to HC. Cant wait to watch more inexperienced people fail again for 3-4 more years before we can hope the Pegulas back into the right philosophy.

Thank you It just feels like an amateurish mess with little attention to detail. Heap in the shoddy game presentation and the embarassing hasek jersey retirement ceremony. They also forgot that the Sabres Hall of Fame exists. Its attention to detail. They are 100% in control of this stuff, unlike the luck needed with drafting, development, etc... there is no excuse to visibly fall short in so many places

Kim pegula is not qualified to run operations of a sports team, let alone like 4 of them. So, the most senior sports business guy? Kevyn Adam's. His qualifications are that he played in the nhl and lives in buffalo. He is in over his head. So you see countless mishaps like alumni jerseys with mis-spelled names that arent even correct or authentic jerseys. They miss the deadline to change to royal blue this year. Miss the deadline to wear the black/red jersey this year for a special event. They completely forget "hockey is for everyone night", first say it was because there were already too many theme nights, then say they had it planned all along and it is some un-named game (with like 4 left). They missed their own deadline to release pricing to season ticket holders for their "ez" renew program. On the eve of the deadline, they sent an email out to sth revising the t&cs to buy them 15 more days. Then, they completely butcher sth pricing. Chopped the arena into 40 price levels that are confusing and you cant even look at in good faith on their web site. My 300 level tix that I hung onto for the past 10 miserable seasons only due to preserving my seniority and seat location went up by about 10% or roughly $350. Just because they are close to center ice in the 300s. Great. Punish me for being loyal now. Let's alienate everyone! Not surprising the team is locked into the bottom of the nhl ON the ice. It's a circus, and this is just what we see. The pegulas need help. Its amateur hour. Mark my words that the Bill's will have their "polian moment" as well if things appear to be going well.

I was under the impression he sold off a lot of his stuff prior to the Bills purchase, but also held onto some land.

came close to buying a few new Sonos components. Then thought better and just sitting on it

I cant read the article. Sabres have been run into the ground though. I had to dump my season tickets last month as I cant in good conscious spend almost $3,500 on a product that gives me nothing but frustration.

The Gretzky trade had a bunch of factors, none of which exist with the Sabres/Eichel situation.

Honestly, unless this thing turns into a biblical-level disaster, not much will change permanently, at least once we have a vaccine and/or herd immunity. We may see a bit of shifting with small businesses and restaurants going out of business and starting up for a bit. The one change that I expect (and hope for) is a global mitigation strategy and extensive cooperation to prevent this from happening for the next 100 years )until humans forget that this is a threat again). At the very least, locally in the US we develop a better store of emergency equipment and a better tracing/tracing/technological strategy.