SectionC3

I’m hearing the same thing. I know that EC has been preparing for this day. I assume the state would have been doing the same thing. I just don’t trust that the stadium deal is done until it actually gets done. Logic tells me that it’s going to happen. But I’m guarded in my optimism, especially after what occurred with Amazon in NYC. Bottom line: hopefully Kathy makes this a top priority (in addition to the sea of other things she has to do) and gets this thing moving ASAP. Quite honesty, if I was her, I’d put Poloncarz in charge of the deal because he’s exceptionally competent, he knows the game, they know him, and he can get it done fast.

I’m still waiting on your selection of your second favorite terrorist. I’m not sure if you’re a Unabomber guy or a Shoe Bomber guy. Maybe you prefer Dylann Roof. I don’t know. Either way, we really need to drill down on this issue. Maybe you and Doc could even have a Terrorist Draft in which you select your favorite terrorists. I can see it now: “Chef Jim Crow is trading DoQ Eric Rudolph and a first-round selection in next year’s draft for the KKK and a seventh-round pick in 2023.” Great stuff!

Stick to the subject, Chef Jim Crow. You fellas seems to like terrorists a lot. I’m just curious which other terrorists you like. Is it the Unabomber? Maybe the Shoe Bomber guy? You guys might want to get baseball/terrorist cards made so you can trade them amongst each other. Like, you could trade a Unambomber rookie for a Babbitt. Might be cool. Give it a shot.

Any other terrorists you like? Maybe you’re an Eric Rudolph fan. Or perhaps you’re a Unambomber guy. Let us know.

If they were breaking into the Capitol and trying to overthrow the government (like your deceased pal Ashlii), then yes.

Hoax. Also, I’m alive. Unlike the domestic terrorist whom you insist upon venerating.

Correction. She WAS a terrorist. And now she’s dead.

It’s almost like Tim Graham read this before he wrote his recent article. Hamburg. She’s from the burg.

There but for the grace of . . . never mind. Agreed. It's one thing to go. It's another thing to stay, especially once Osama bin Laden was eliminated.

I’ll say it again. It’s not going downtown. It’s time to put that hope to rest. Say the state says that we’ll provide $600mil for a new stadium. The cost in OP probably comes in around $900mil, from what I’ve gathered. The Pegulas then cover $300mil for the stadium. Maybe some of that is NFL money, maybe some of it is a 1031 from the sale of the Sabres (I’m assuming that’s happening). Whatever. Either way, it’s a $300mil bite in OP. Downtown is different. There are land acquisition costs that they don’t have in OP. There are infrastructure issues (new entrances/exits on the 190; reconstruction of arterial roads, perhaps a new practice facility, etc.). There’s electric issues, sewer issues, parking issues . . . A whole raft of things that I wouldn’t normally think about. Now, say the infrastructure costs requires a $1.2b outlay for the project. All of a sudden (I’m sure everyone’s shedding crocodile tears for the rich folks now), the Pegulas need another $300m—for a total of $600m—to cover the costs of the stadium. What’s the likelihood they recover that $300m in a time sufficient to justify the cost of that capital? Post-pandemic, my guess is that it doesn’t happen. Hence the focus on Orchard Park.

No argument here. The dirty little secret is that the stadium is useful to drive payroll taxes and sales taxes. Other than that, the benefits are intrinsic or difficult to quantify (e.g., the “advertising” benefits of being an NFL city). It’s not a money-making deal for the state, no matter how anyone slices it. And this is coming from a guy who desperately wants the Bills to stay in OP forever.

I don’t see it that way. Nobody’s on their heels. My take is that the huge initial ask gives the state/county room to claim they got a great deal when it ends up paying for 65% of a $900m stadium.

This is to be expected. It’s a negotiation. The good news here is that everyone in the article — including the progressives — is open to the idea of using taxpayer funds to facilitate the construction of a stadium.

I’m just going to leave this here for thought: https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/31991886/arizona-cardinals-become-1st-nfl-team-announce-plans-retail-sportsbook-stadium

EDIT: Just did a little market research. We're DMA #52 in Buffalo. Obviously a small market. But add Rochester (roughly 90 minutes from the stadium on a slow day, and a completely reasonable "add" if we're going to consider, for example, how long it takes to get to Foxboro from parts of the Boston DMA and to Met Life from basically anywhere in the NYC DMA) and the "Hamilton/Niagara Falls" slice of Toronto and we're probably market #20. That is not too shabby. So, again, the trick is getting those luxury seats sold. And that's where we have to be able to tap Toronto, what's left in Rochester, whatever is in Albany, and even (really) New York City. Josh Allen is the "hook" for all of those things. It's a math problem. If the Pegulas weren't serious about wanting to stay in Buffalo, they wouldn't have hired the lobbyist with tons of Albany connections. So, basically, New York State has to make it better financially for them to build here than to pay to leave for Austin, etc., and to build there. It's that simple.

The hotel is the Marriott downtown. Development around the stadium is basically pointless. Look at what's there now. Prohibition is basically empty all of the time. O'Neill's appears to be an ECC South bar. Even the Big Tree is basically dead most of the time. The stadium is about building a place to attract high-end money on game day. Nothing more, nothing less. That's the market in which we live.

Agreed. The constant pissing between Trumpers and everyone else about whether “Antifa” is worse than Trumpers is a problem. Extremists on both ends are out to lunch, and it just so happens that the right wing ones invaded the Capitol and threatened democracy.

You forgot the tactical gear. And the point that, had the intent been merely to subvert and imperil law enforcement by preventing the use of the cuffs, they would have been hidden, not brandished, as this person illegally stormed and roamed the Capitol.

Depends on what makes your definition of a trade great. The Vikings probably don’t like that one very much. The Bills and Chiefs, though? Both sides won.

We might be a part of it. Who says no to Josh Allen and Tre White for Pat Mahomes? I realize that the 2017 trade didn’t directly result in Mahomes for Allen + White. But that’s the practical effect. And it has worked out wonderfully for both side. It’s a great day to be a Bills fan. And, for what it’s worth, I wouldn’t deal Allen for anyone, including Mahomes.

Hoax. What’s the explanation, again? The insurrectionists are into kink? Or were they looking for Antifa? Do tell.

Cool. Whitewash this just like your HCQ hoax. Those dudes with zip ties and the unruly mob were merely tourists, right?

Maybe you could lend him some of your stash. If you have any to spare.

Maybe Biden can choke down some HCQ to help with that mush brain thing.

I’m not arguing with you, just telling you what I hear. It’s not going downtown because it’s too expensive to build there. Get ready for open air on the ECC South lots. Probably saves tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars in land acquisition and infrastructure costs. The big tip to me was the change of position on the Skyway (which sort of feeds into your Ontario point). Those annoying birds started chirping a little later.