May Day 10

well that settles it.... well I guess it will be settled when the NFL awards the Patriots compensatory picks

Even for minor league she is starting to show her age. I think it is the oldest or second-oldest ballpark in the International League, and the 3rd-oldest in AAA baseball (makes you feel old!). I feel like neither the Rich family or the City of Buffalo has done too much as far as upgrades go. You could see the place showing its age. So I'm not sure it is even a high standard for AAA anymore. Some of the newer ballparks like Columbus, Charlotte, and Indianapolis look amazing.

The Amerks were.... OK. Murray to a point, and Botterill much moreso were big AHL guys. The Amerks' performance was driven by a lot of players who wont see more than a desperate callup to the NHL a few times in their lives. They have been lacking in prospect contributors as the last 2 Sabres GMs have been horrific at asset management, drafting, and developing players. Rochester has had a few good regular seasons, but failed to win a playoff... game.

I get it. Remember a lot of those guys came through here. Clubhouses are smaller and antiquated, minor league training facilities, behind the times lighting, etc... Pittsburgh makes a lot more sense. Although it would have been awesome and I am disappointed, I get it. I just dont have the energy to get worked up over this stuff and try to defend Buffalo's honor at any perceived slight. Until we get a Fortune 500 or 2 or 3 to headquarter downtown, I am afraid this will be the perpetual existence of Buffalo. No different than Syracuse, Rochester, Toledo, or Fort Wayne, but somehow with 2 Major League sports teams to keep us more relevant.

It would've been cool to see the mlb here for a season, but Pittsburgh makes sense. Just have them play day games for the conflicted dates

yeah, its typically like a telecom, giant insurance, energy, etc...

The NFL should immediately drop everything and plan for some kind of bubble situation. No sport is probably more studio-ready than the NFL. Fans are a pipe-dream at this point, and they could guarantee a full schedule on television and do a lot of cool things. I could already see the HBO series "Under the Bubble"

If they win a world series this season, it's totally ours.

I wonder who is going to buy them

Honestly, its easy to avoid worrying about all that and letting it affect me. First rule is dont watch cable news. Second rule is dont listen to for-profit divisive cage rattlers like Bauerle or Rush Limbaugh. Ignore sketchy social media sources. Do! pay attention to your local, county, and State politics. Vote every chance you get. I have yet to have anything taken from me. If someday, my high school mascot needs to change? I dont know. Not worth a lifetime of effort resisting the day that might someday happen.

I was going to post something of this sort. Not to mention the elderlies who somehow hang on in congress and rule in the Supreme Court (of course I know thats a lifetime appointment)

our troughs are already touchless

Your wrong. Coastal city hipster millennials are coming to take everything that is dear to you. Tom baurle and "sandy beach" told me

I dunno. I think the deep rooted legacy name is much more valuable than a short term merch bump. Individual teams' merch sales are a very small piece of the pie anyway. I'm sure bauerle refers to this menacing "they" that is hell bent on "taking away" everything you hold dear. Probably "coming for the bills next"

Kind of going through this with the Cleveland Indians as my team (I have been resigned to a change for a few years now)... Its a balance of traditional and good. As long as they dont fall into the 2 pitfalls of terrible names and a pet peeve of mine when it comes to this. Dont name it one of those 'trying too hard' 2-word nicknames that scream 00's minor league baseball. They are hollow, without tradition, and usually change when they move or need to sell more merch or grab a headline. "Rumble Ponies" "Iron Pigs" "Rail Riders" "Muckdogs" "Rock Cats" "Fisher Cats", etc... Also, dont name it like it was a MLS or Indoor Lacrosse team. Usually trying to be wise, not ending the name in an "S" and usually some sort of word for swift movement or something. "Rush", "Surge", "Wild", "Wave", etc...

Into the wild

gah. blues brothers. Cant believe that wasnt my immediate response. shame on me

No idea about this guy but he sounds like he has been around for sure. I will say that the renovations to Jacobs/Progressive Field are outstanding and its encouraging he had a hand in that

Casino was solid

I think one of the greatest myths carried amongst a lot of our fanbase is/was that Russ Brandon is some sort of irreplaceable marketing genius who by some miracle was selling tickets and single-handedly was making the Bills solvent. He did 2 good things and they were early on in his tenure. Moving training camp to St John Fisher and creating a fan event out of it was one. It was a trend-setter throughout the NFL, however, now teams seem to be moving away from that effort a bit and reeling things back closer to their headquarters. Somebody else would have thought of it eventually anyways. The second thing was hitting the pavement during "business backs the bills" days selling enough premium seats to businesses to justify the renovations in the late 90s. Flutie mania had a lot to do with the uptick of sales, but Brandon worked hard at it. Both those things earned the respect and adoration of Ralph Wilson, who gave him the keys to the kingdom so to speak. Russ Brandon did always want to be a GM. Baseball GM moreso, but he got his opportunity in football. From day 1 he intended on breaking through to that side, starting with John Butler teaching him. Absolutely nobody is rushing to make this guy team president.

Tailgating and a lawless party atmosphere sold tickets. Not Russ Brandon

They should just change it. Redskins is pretty blatant anyway. It doesnt bother me, but I get it. Just sick of the yearly debate. Get it done with so I can get used to the other name. Im a Cleveland Indians fan. It was the same way with the "Chief Wahoo" thing. I told people it was a matter of time and the team better just rip the band-aid off and re-brand now... not only the Chief, but the "Indian" name. Do it right instead of reactionary. I just want them to change the team name because they lack an identity without Wahoo anyways, and the debate and watching everyone dig in is tiresome.

Such a long and fruitful run. Lots of years even after suffering the negative affects of wearing the opti-grab

I do agree, and I go back and forth on my concern. If I had to wager my own money on it at even odds, I would definitely bet the Pegulas are/will be just fine. I am yet to see (or at least be made aware of) another professional sports team gutting itself like the Sabres have. I could be convinced that it is imminent for many, but it has not happened yet.

It wasnt just the scouting staff and a few assistant GMs though. With the part time employees, they were dragging their feet, moreso than their peers. There were mass firings of other Sabres' business executives previous to this. It is a stark departure from the Pegulas for the last NHL lockout where they kept everyone employed and invented a "Sabres University" thing where everyone learned different jobs and functions. It was great PR and in terms of someone with several Billion dollars, it was theoretically peanuts. There was the story of the strange meetings back in January and the "preserve lifestyle" bizarre thing. There also has not been any moves to try to open up their restaurants downtown. They also tried to carve a pound of flesh out of season ticket holders. Much beyond the little % increase they always get away with and blame on qualifying for revenue sharing. My season tickets went up 10% and I was forced to dump them (plus I have grown to hate the organization). I believe they are ignorant to the fact that people will bail en masse. It just 'feels' like there is some sort of cash crunch going on with the Pegulas. I hope not, I really do. It doesnt feel right though, and honestly, they appear to be the dumbest billionaires I have ever seen, they came on the scene and it was like Brewster's Billions since 2010. I fear where they might have had their assets tied into. I flip flop back and forth between it is obviously nothing, and the One Buffalo sky is falling. It is undeniable how much they have destroyed the Sabres' franchise though