Taro T

Why make the hypothetical something absurd? If the coach was Muslim and wanted the primarily MUSLIM team to face Mecca and pray to Allah to give them fortitude and the grace to win with sportsmanship and dignity, I would have no problem with it at all. If the coach is calling the other team infidels and asking Allah to smite them, shouldn't that be a hate crime? Oh, my bad, only white Christians can commit hate crimes. Your hypothetical has little or nothing to do with the present situation. The coach has said grace at the pregame meal and a pregame prayer for 23 years. Over 50 members of the team support him. (How many kids are on a highschool football team anyway?) There are a handful of parents/students that "feel uncomfortable". They get their way because the religion of Atheism is the only one acceptable to secularists. I don't know the prayers the coach was saying, but considering he's done it for nearly a quarter of a century with NO ONE complaining, I have to assume that they were probably rather nondenominational (this is New Jersey, not somewhere in the heart of the Bible belt). How do I know no one ever complained before? Because the pinheads on the school board didn't stop him in the past!

I came home from a meeting last night and the wife had the Flyers-Leafs game on. How cool is that? (Would have been the Sabres if they were playing.) I got her hooked on Sabres. She hasn't been able to get me hooked on college football (maybe if Buffalo had A college team).

What about playoff tickets? Or should that go without saying...

You run Willis on 1st 2 downs, behind Preston then behind Anderson. Try Kelly on keeper on 3rd, he only had to pick up about one foot. If somehow this hasn't worked, send Willis up the middle again on 4th.

I wasn't going to go there!

Yeah, but that's different. Bills and Sabres fans tend to have at least 1 screw missing.

Agreed. Although I think they just got caught up in Crosby fever like the rest of the NHL powers that be. "What, people might NOT want to pay premium prices to the Sabres play the team that was the worst in the NHL last time out, even on a Monday, during Bills season? You've got to be kidding me. Heck it's CROSBY, (Note: a guy who one week ago had as many career points in the NHL as I did). Of course they'll come." "Brilliant!"

Just get CI and start flipping back and forth between a Sabres game and a Rangers game. When she sees how the Rangers games have the same pace as the "old" NHL, she should be willing to see the light.

In the past, I would have agreed with you. I used to put the odds of keeping up the obstruction calls at below 5%. This year, I'd put it more like 55%. There are several major differences to the landscape this year than in years past. #1 - The anticipated increase in goal scoring associated with an obstruction crackdown won't result in a corresponding increase in payroll. There is a salary cap. If the 2nd tier of scorers were 30 goal scorers before and they were worth say $3MM/yr, having the entire lot of them go up to 40 goal scorers won't increase their value. Under the old arbitration system combined with no salary cap, cracking down on obstruction would have sent payrolls through the roof. #2 - Management and players are both on record as stating they want the crackdown. In the past, you'd have sporadic endorsement of it, but not nearly as much as you are seeing this year. The league actually made public a video showing what they are now going to call. If they go back to not calling these plays, they will look even more foolish than they have in years past. #3 - Although TV wanted higher scoring, they did not want longer games. Additional powerplays result in additional play stoppages and longer broadcasts. This year, although you still get the longer stoppages to get a guy to the box due to the penalty call and more of them because of the increased number of calls, you have fewer offsides stoppages due to the tag up offsides, and you have fewer icings as the linesmen now have discretion to wave off icing on plays they believe were passes. Additionally, the icee cannot change players, which reduces the length of time for icing delays. #4 - They just nuked the last season. They are looking for ways to get fans interested again. With all the other changes the league has implemented, they seem to have more of a "think outside the box" mentality. Increasing the speed of the game is one way to do this, and calling obstruction is the best way to increase the speed of the play.

I think you are absolutely right. Ever since I heard about HDTV being in development I've thought it was custom made for hockey. Now hopefully in a year or two I'll be able to afford an HDTV set.

I think that is a major part of it. I also think this is a byproduct of the last few years, where Sabres tickets in October have been a hard sell. In the past, the intensity has not been there on the ice in a lot of rinks in October and people don't want to waste their money on "meaningless" games that the players don't seem to be interested in either. I think the last part of the cause of the small crowd is that people haven't had a chance to see how much the game is improved now that obstruction type penalties are actually being called. Once people start watching the games I expect that the fever will come back. Let's face it. Pens-Buffalo in October of '03 would not have been nearly as fast paced nor as exciting.

Depends on whether the league keeps up calling the interferences. You hit a guy without the puck and you should be in the box for interference. You can hit the guy with the puck, but you can't hit what you can't catch. The Sabres have speed, even the D has speed. I hope they keep calling the games the way they have been because the game is really opened up and a lot more exciting. The Isles game was great fun to be at and the Pens game seemed to have a playoff feel to it (at least that's what I thought watching it on the tube). I can't remember the last time I saw a game in October that was really exciting.

He'd be one up on Zhitnik. He seems to prefer that REALLY big one above the boards. "What, I put puck in net, I dont get credit for goal for hitting that?"

The team right now has very good chemistry. Several players were quoted as being glad that Satan was gone. I don't think anyone on the team (possible exception being Drury) makes over $3MM. How would bringing a high priced guy in affect the team chemistry? I agree with Campy, set it up to be able to roll 4 lines and hope one of them can get the big goal you need.

I don't know if the Sabres get any public money, but I know whatever they get is a lot less than it would have been had Hamister gotten the team. When Golisano threw his hat into the ring for the team, he basically said he did it because he wanted to keep an asset in WNY and he felt the taxpayer shouldn't have to subsidize the bid to keep it in WNY. Hammister was going to have the City build a large parking garage for the team and a few other things he wanted. When Golisano's bid was chosen instead of his, he took his football (Arena league, that is) and left town.

He had issues w/ scoring at the beginning of the season last year for the Amerks, but by the time the season was over he had 42. Give him time, he'll find the net.

I wouldn't include JD Hill on the list. I also would bump Lofton off and move Rashad much lower because their best work came elsewhere. If they stay on the list, I don't know why Darryl Lamonica isn't on the list. I would add Biscuit and Talley.

Agreed. With the pace, it felt like a playoff game.

Huh???

Rick & Jim will be on 639 in WNY. CI 764 is probably the Ottawa feed (HNIC and all) so will probably be blacked out in WNY.

Berger got a slap on the wrists? I didn't think he even got that much. It isn't REALLY a problem ACCIDENTALLY putting classified information in your socks, is it? Clearly he would NEVER think of doing anything unseemly to those document.

The EVEN better news is that they got a guy with NHL experience should one of the 2 winners of the goalie sweepstakes gets hurt. The Amerks would have been ok with Pelletier and Stirling. This trade keeps the SABRES from crashing if the injury bug strikes.

Yeah, preferrably Crosby or LeClair!!!

Don't you mean Princess Died (past tense)?

Sorry, I thought it was that dark maroon. But yeah, because of the black in their logo they can go with it.