Kirby Jackson

I hate certain fans more than teams. Obviously I hate EVERYTHING about New England. Because I live in New Orleans, Saints fans annoy me more than Dolphins fans (for example). I’m just surrounded by them. Additionally, we see a lot of different fan bases come through as a destination city. You learn stuff like 49ers fans are OBNOXIOUS. I’m so removed from them I’d never know that. A lot of it ends up your personal experience.

The Cowboys will offer a 1st and the Jets will accept (maybe a mid-round pick ends up there too).

You’re absolutely entitled to your opinion. We just disagree on the bolded. How much talk has Colin Kapernick’s protest generated? To say that it hasn’t been impactful just isn’t true.

That dude does a really, really nice job. A little unrelated but I think Josh is going to end up being really good. I may eat those words at some point but I don’t think so. He’s going to end up one of the tops QBs in the league.

So if they kneel for the anthem you’ll still watch them play football after correct?

Do you really think that NO Bills will kneel?!? I’ll save you the 3 months of anticipation. There will 100%, definitely, without question, be Bills players kneeling for the anthem.

I had no idea. I stand corrected

Fox News throwing around “star” pretty loosely huh?

This time they’re serious though

FWIW, Kim is DESPISED by the old-timers in and around the Sabres. At least that’s how I’ve heard it. It’s been that way since LaFontaine.

I’ve heard quite a bit of it from the inside. Long story short LaFontaine believed that everyone they had was incompetent (Ted Black & company). He wanted house cleaning and authority.

I picture this playing in the background as you typed that: Thoughts and prayers ??????!!

Maybe we are. We are in agreement that the cash flow is down across the board (except the Bills). I’m simply suggesting that the cash flow issues are being overstated. You aren’t seeing other organizations skinning it to the bone. I don’t believe that’s the reason for these decisions. If they are that lean they shouldn’t own the team. The reason that i brought the Bills into the equation is that their profits from the TV contract alone are more than enough to offset all other losses. They obviously don’t have to dump money into a losing entity. I’m simply saying that they could. That is pretty inept. Buying minor league franchises is a terrible investment. You just hand money away. The Sabres, in theory, should operate in the black. They aren’t going to be a huge revenue generator but it should be a positive. They need to get a president in there ASAP. Too bad RB was banging his employees. He’s absolutely capable of fixing this problem. There are tons of others as well. Kim Pegula isn’t one.

Maybe it’s more semantical? Obviously they aren’t generating the revenue that they needed to. They are in no way “forced” to make any cuts whatsoever. If they kicked in a fraction of a fraction of their own assets they could operate at the same level. They’d never notice the difference. This isn’t a small business situation. If the sandwich shop at the corner isn’t ringing $1000 a day they can’t afford to pay staff, bills, etc... If the Pegula’s and the Sabres miss 13 games, 6 of which are home, that lost revenue isn’t going to crush their business. It’s a PR spin used to get the public to empathize. It’s a BS excuse. We aren’t talking about multi-millionaires. We are talking about people that stroked a $1.4B check for the Bills (who buy the way are still spitting out cash). If my math is right the NFL teams last year each made $50m-$55m PROFIT from the TV deal alone. Profits dropping 92% is quite different than about 15% of your home games being cancelled. This holds especially true when the player salaries go away with the unplayed games. I’m fairly certain that is the model in the NHL as it is in other sports. So you lose the revenue associated with those games but also your largest expense associated with them. It’s not apples to apples.

Again, though we are talking about a fraction of a fraction of “liquidation.” Owners crying about “tightening the belt” is just bs. That’s my point. I don’t care what decision that they make but don’t use the loss of revenue as a crutch. Cutting $2M (or whatever) on staff and infrastructure has ZERO impact on the Pegula’s lifestyle and/or financial position. FWIW, I agree that Botterill should be fired. I don’t agree with gutting everything and hiding behind the revenue not coming in. Just say, “we’ve funded a staff and system that didn’t work. We are going to go in another direction because it was a waste of money.” Owners crying poor just isn’t going to fly with me in 2020. It’s just not a real thing but it is utilized to gain empathy from the public.

Do you believe the Pegula’s to be cash poor?!? I’m sure not buying that. To be clear, they are entitled to make whatever decisions they want. I’m just not standing for the myth that they are forced to financially. This is a decision that they WANT to make not that they HAVE make.

I’m not conflating franchise value with cash revenue. Just saying, the entire cost of the people that they just cut is MAYBE $2M or so. When your net worth $5.1B that’s peanuts. He made $2M yesterday (.03% of his net worth). https://www.forbes.com/profile/terrence-pegula/#13714b983cc7

I’m sorry but I’m having a hard time with the “financial woes” of the Sabres. They paid $189M for them less than a decade ago and would get $550M+ tomorrow. The franchise value went up $25M last year alone. This isn’t like other businesses. The rarity, exclusivity and demand for sports teams by billionaires make them different. They value of the business doesn’t go up and down like a restaurant based on sales. The operating income may fluctuate some but the largest expense, player salaries, is a percentage of overall revenue. It’s not like you need to maintain the same pay without the same income. I’m not, and WILL NEVER buy into sports owners crying poor. They’ve owned the team for 6 years, had 3 HCs, 2 GMs, multiple presidents. They lost their top leadership on the business side almost across the board in both franchises (Russ, Wheat, Sinclair, Popko, etc..). That sort of attrition doesn’t happen in top organizations. Now it looks like they got it right with McDermott and Beane. Even a broken clock is right twice a day. They should do everything in their power to extend them and stay out of their way.

Are they? Marrone, Russ, Whaley, REX AND ROB?!? They weren’t good. They got the right people there now. Add in their Sabres hires and fires and they’re batting average is extremely low. That’s my point. They need to get the right people and get the hell out of the way!!

Feels like only yesterday that I railed on the decision to have Kim Pegula as the President/CEO of PSE. At the time I claimed there were 100+ people in their organization more qualified. I’m just here to take a quick victory lap and accept any apologizes that people want to offer. All joking aside, this was the expected outcome. They are over their heads as owners. I believe firing Botterill was the right decision. I believe publicly supporting him and then firing him 2 months later is idiotic. The Sabres have lost credibility with hockey leaders, players and agents. That’s not a good franchise building strategy. The best owners in sports own the teams. They don’t operate them.

He doesn’t want to be here!! He didn’t even sign until yesterday!! The rest of the class was signed months ago. Cut your losses ASAP!!

I’m not so much missing it as just knowing that’s what’s coming. We are at a point that you’re on one side or the other. This entire country is divided and you sit on one side or the other. We all need to acquiesce to our audience to a certain level in the interest of self-preservation. That’s what Brees did, Dabo did, and now Gundy. It’s the same thing Trump always does (and has mastered/created). You make decisions based on what’s important to the people that put you in power. It’s going to take a lot to stop this snowball from going downhill.

He wore a shirt of a network that called BLM “a farce.” Unless you live under a rock the BLM movement is the single most important thing to black people in this country. If your livelihood depends on black people it’s probably a good idea to support what’s important to them. No one is denying that Gundy is free to believe what he wants. No one is stupid enough though to realize the potential repercussions on the recruiting trail. Ultimately, not supporting what your audience does is a great way to lose your job. It’s been happening in politics for decades. While he’s free to wear the shirt, recruits are free to go elsewhere. That gesture was career suicide.

It didn’t used to be this way, just saying...

You have to know your audience!! Lol, it’s not that complicated. It’s one of things that Trump has mastered. The reason that he’s anti-mask, law and order, open the country, etc... is because that what his audience wants. He plays to his base, his supporters and their beliefs. That’s a good business strategy for him. A college coach needs to care about systemic racism. They need to care about the challenges that black people face in this country. That’s their audience!!