Kirby Jackson

That’s certainly true to an extent. The only major difference is the precedent that’s been set. It’s easy in stadium financing to go the public/private route because some government will. That gives you the leverage with your government. It’s been done so many times that it’s just the way that it is. In terms of handling a pandemic everyone is doing it for the first time. Every league, team, concession company, etc... is flying blind. They are trying to learn from people operating low Korean Baseball and the Bundesliga. At the same time there isn’t a playbook. It’s trial and error as opposed to a proven recipe.

Was Jason Botterill considered a great hire? Kruger was about their 10th choice. The arena is falling apart. That’s all a part of it. Ownership is in charge of EVERYTHING. They’ve failed as owners of the Sabres to this point. They’ve done it while acquiring 2 generational talents. That’s hard to do. In terms of the Bills, they got the right people. It was a mess prior. Now they are hands off there. We can go back and forth all night but it’s exhausting. You believe that they are good owners. I believe that they are bad owners. To each his own I’d bet every dime that I have that if the Sabres went up for sale tomorrow the sale price wOils be north of $500M.

Couldn’t agree more here. You almost have to try to fail. Imagine if they were in South Florida doing this?

Yeah, I like that bet at +300. As calculated as Brees is, those are great odds. He’s going to do whatever makes him look the best.

1. Of course they can make whatever decision they want. They aren’t immune to criticism either. 2. Define “making money.” A franchise value increase of $25M if certainly a good year. In terms of the Pegulas they have been a godsend to Buffalo for saving the teams. They aren’t good owners. Both of those things are true IMO. They were extremely fortunate to get Beane and McDermott. It took a few tries but they were able to get elite leadership. They still haven’t managed that with the Sabres.

Make that money!! https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2020/06/odds-of-drew-brees-kneeling-during-the-national-anthem.html%3foutputType=amp

Because my point was the parent organization was profitable. There is so much crossover. It was 104 PSE employees furloughed and 21 PSE employees fired. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/29036724/sabres-parent-company-announces-layoffs-furloughs-125-employees%3fplatform=amp The organization that I worked at is the same model (Saints and Pelicans) and they didn’t do that with anyone. In terms of profitability I didn’t want to go too far down the rabbit hole. Sports are different from other businesses. The value of the Sabres was up $25M last year. Obviously, this year is going to be different for everyone but the point remains. This wasn’t a necessity. This was an effort to save money because they WANTED to not because they NEEDED to. https://www.forbes.com/teams/buffalo-sabres/#68324f9464f3

Not the case look up a few posts.

Feel free to quote where I said that and then we can discuss...

I didn’t say the Sabres. I said PSE

Then why is protesting cancer okay during a game? That’s where I’m having a hard time seeing the difference. Both are topics that we universally agree with. If someone DOESN’T agree than the protest is even more necessary.

Sarcasm it is

I appreciate that. It was a couple years of the worst situation that you could imagine. It’s a brutal, brutal disease. In terms of the “when” I guess that the anthem is better than 2nd and 6. I’m only kind of kidding here. That’s an opportunity for them when they have their most eyes without having any impact on the actual game. I suppose the 2 minute warning of the 1st half could work? You could do it similar to the 7th inning stretch. It’s a moment that pauses the game to bring eyes on it. Just thinking out loud here...

I lost my mom to brain cancer in 2015. I understand. I appreciate them raising awareness. I’ve never experienced racism but I appreciate them bringing awareness to that as well. These men have a voice and a platform. Our country/world has major problems. If we bury our head in the sand or avoid the issues we don’t do anything to move forward. I also don’t understand how someone else’s views on the world can hinder your game-watching experience? Someone explain that to me please. I just don’t get it. Whether I agree with someone or not it doesn’t influence my experience as a fan in any way. When it’s 3rd and 6 I’m not thinking about a guy’s tweet from 4 days earlier. Explain how it’s different. You said earlier that you wanted them to play and not bring their beliefs into it. I’d like to think that the same amount of people support cancer as racism, zero. When is it okay for someone to speak up? When you’re comfortable with their message? It’s an honest question. What is “divisive” about protesting racism? Who is it that is supporting a different part of that message?

So to be clear taking a stand on cancer = good, taking a stand on racism = bad? So you really don’t want them to just play? You want them to stand up to causes that you support. Got it

LeBron James grew up with a 16 year-old single mother with drug problems and an ex-con father. He moved something like 30 times before going to live with a family at age 9 to have a better chance at making it. If you don’t believe LeBron James has seen and lived the worst of it I don’t know what to tell you.

Oh, I didn’t know. ??‍♂️ Do you guys get pissed off when the NFL players wear pink to fight cancer? I mean, they should just shut and play right?

You might be interested in the work of Laura Ingraham. I think you’ll find yourself nodding along to her musings. If you’re looking for someone to help you silence the voices of an oppressed population she’s the one for you!!

...which is the whole “systemic” part of the conversation. That’s, in a lot of ways, what this entire conversation is about.

Thoughts and prayers ????

So in other words, “shut up and dribble”

The Bills alone make PSE (maybe not their other holdings) plenty profitable. If you lay people off to afford a couple of extra tanks on the yacht it will offend some. If you’re trying to keep the lights on people will be less offended. If The Athletic falls into the former, shame on them. If they fall into the latter I’m more willing to accept it. PSE falls into the former.

I mean there are a lot of goat emojis flying around twitter at the moment lol. The guy is teflon. I’ve made my opinion on Brees pretty clear on here. I think that his actions are self-serving and he’s fake. With that being said, I’m surprised that he went at Trump. I’m sure that he weighed the pros and cons but it was surprising to me nonetheless. We will see how this all plays out I guess...

FWIW, Drew is back to being an icon in New Orleans.

Ha ha it’s amazing that he came in as the biggest villain in the Soviet Union. He left with them chanting his name. Just saying...