JohnC

When Tom Golisano took over as an owner an examined the books he found it to be in a chaotic state of affairs where the hockey finances were intermingled with the personal finances. He in short order put the organization on a budget and straightened out the finances. To Golisano's credit he could have used the franchise's bankruptcy to not pay off some contractors. He didn't do that. He made a point to pay the vendors, even those he was not legally obligated to pay. He acted honorably.

Augie, I agree with you that the circulation of money is essential in boosting a morbid economy. But what I find stunning is that there are economic reports that show that 40% of the people live paycheck to paycheck to the point that a miniscule unexpected bill can derail a family's budget. As you seem to indicate the little money that the government is sending to people needs to be spent in order to rev up the economy. But another lesson that needs to be learned after this cataclysmic health event is that people need to save more in order to deal with an unexpected financial setback. Don't misunderstand what I am saying here. Many people are doing their best to just hang on and pay their bills. But there also needs to be more awareness to save for an unexpected expenditure in order to avoid a financial collapse at the family level.

This is a short article by WGR's Joe Debiase regarding one of the proposals for a playoff format if the season can't be restarted. He cites Greg Wyshyski as the source of this report. In it the Sabres qualify for the playoffs while a team such as the Rangers that has earned a higher percentage of points will be left out. There is no perfectly fair way to come up with a playoff format. In addition, games would be played in one city in front of an empty arena. I am an ardent Sabre fan. However, based on their performance this year I don't believe that they deserve to be in the playoffs unless the system includes all teams. What is driving this determination to either resume the season or at least have some form of the playoffs is that the league doesn't have insurance for revenue lost to a shut down. https://wgr550.radio.com/articles/news/sabres-a-playoff-team-in-new-nhl-playoff-proposal

Gotham Bill, If you are looking to invest in real estate in NC, SC or Fla or near the east coast the one issue that you have to be aware of the issue of flooding and the eroding coast line. You need to do your research on that issue or you can end with a water damaged property or property that you can't sell. Due to climate change and environmental risk the cost of rising insurance should be a consideration.

Trust your attorney son-in-law's knowledge on where a lot of Russian money went in NYC. A lot of that same sourced money went into Florida, California (LA and San Fran) etc, England/ London and other locations. This information isn't much of a secret. It is well known by a lot of people. When the English government was considering stopping dirty Russian money investment in England (mostly London real estate) after a number of Russian sponsored murders there the real estate industry revolted against their government so the Russian money continued to flow in. I'm sure that your son-in-law is knowledgeable about the Deutsche Bank being the intermediary of cleaning dirty Russian money and directing it to real estate investments around the world. Or another way of saying it is that it was the vehicle to launder money. https://www.cnbc.com/2019/04/18/deutsche-bank-shares-slip-amid-20-billion-russian-money-laundering-allegations.html

Chad Leistikow who covered Iowa football was on WGR talking about Epenesa. This is a 12 minute segment that gives you an insight on Epenesa as a player and person. Chad felt that the player's combine time hurt his draft ranking. And because of the virus situation he was not able to improve his time at a practice setting. What is apparent is that Epenesa is a McDermott type of guy. https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/04-29-chad-leistikow-from-the-des-moines-register-on-aj-epenesa

The best way for a novice (or any market investor) to get involved in the market is to take a long term view. The best approach is to monthly invest a set amount so when the market price is up you get so many shares and when it is down you get even more shares for the dollar. What I did is that I invested in an index fund (a conservative approach) and stayed consistent with it for years. The advantage of an index fund is that you are diversified which gives you more cushion if a sector or particular stock takes an unexpected fall. This conservative and unglamorous approach has worked out well for me. There are people who try to time the market. It doesn't always work because there are so many unpredictable factors. If you are a consistent investor and stick with it for the long haul it should work out.

The attached link is a 14 min WGR Instigator segment with Will Borgen. There isn't anything new revealed in this interview other than it is reinforced that he is a defensive defenseman. It is very likely that he would be moved up to the NHL if a defenseman such as Risto was traded for a forward. https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/04-28-sabres-defenseman-will-borgen

I agree in general with your comments but disagree with your take on Fromm when comparing him to Hurts. With respect to Fromm I, like you, consider his selection in the fifth round a good selection. I don't believe that he is better than Hurts because the former Bama and OK qb has so much more upside rising to the level of a starter. However, he would not have been a wise selection for us in this draft whereas the Fromm selection does if one believes his role as a backup, which I do. As you noted Fromm is a smart qb who has a keen grasp of the mental side of the game. On the other hand he lacks the arm talent to maximize his impressive intellectual grasp of the game. He reminds me a lot of Barkley who is also a smart qb but also has some arm limitations. With a player such as Fromm he is the type of player who can end up with a long and lucrative career as a backup just like players such as Chase Daniels, Casey Keenum and Nick Foles. For the role that I see Fromm filling this was a good pick.

I live in the MD/DC area. The primary underlying reason for the holdout was that he and his agent thought he could force the team to give him a new more enriched contract instead of play under the contract that he was currently playing under. When he signed the deal it was one of the highest salaries for a tackle. Or anthother way of saying it was that it was at market rate for a player of his status. In addition, there were medical issues associated with the staff and how the organization handled his health problem. When the organization said that they were willing to allow an outside medical review of the matter he declined the offer. Williams sat out the year with the intention of forcing the organization to move him so that he could rework his deal with another team that was amenable to giving him a new contract. Washington held firm. So he ended up losing a year's salary. The Redskins have made a lot of organizational mistakes under their former GM, Allen. In this case the departed GM was right on this issue.

Your evaluation is similar to the evaluation that Greg Cosell gave to WGR after the pick. This is a 4 min segment from the WGR John Murphy Show. Cosell pointed out that he felt that in pass rushing situations that Espenesa could also do it from the tackle position. https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/4-24-greg-cosell-on-aj-epenesa

The issue with signing Clowney is what does he want on a longer term deal? In hindsight, wouldn't it have been better to pay Mack what his top market value was at the time and then build from there? If you have an anchor player in hand why not just keep him and then build from there? From a player standpoint the pay system is stacked against a premier player if the timing isn't right for the player when his contract comes up.

The social distancing protocols and protections are the standard approach to fighting these contagious viruses not only in America but in the world. And what we do know is that this approach works. (As you noted.) What's scary is that the level of ignorance in basic science is so pervasive. How do you fight a frightening scourge when you have to waste so much time and effort dealing with misguided people who are contributing to the spreading of this plague? When the person at the podium makes no sense and sends confusing messages then the resistance to common sense shouldn't be surprising.

I hope that in the presentation on the penalty kill the Buffalo staff listened closely and took notes. Even with some talent gaps a little better goal tending and penalty kill could have added maybe 8 points to the count.

Dobbin or any of the other three or four top tier backs would be very appealing if available when our first pick comes up. But I don't see it happening because of the other position priorities, mostly on the defensive side of the ball (DE and DBs). However, I have been touting BC's AJ Dillon in the third if available. I think he would be a good complement to Singletary.

On more than a few occasions I have heard draft analysts compare Baun to Teddy Bruschi. He's the embodiment of the notion that performance trumps measurables. He's a Bellichick type of guy. Smart and productive.

In today's sports section of the Washington Post it listed KJ Hill as a player that the Redskins would be interested in. The Skins best receiver last year was McClaren, a third round pick. Not only was he their best receiver but also was one of the leaders on the team. Their qb, Haskins, is also an Ohio State product. So this franchise is well aware of the talent on that particular campus.

Who is saying otherwise?

I don't understand your point. Who said he was unique among NHL team owners? The point that I was stressing in prior posts is that the businesses he is involved beyond his hockey associated business such as energy and the hospitality business have cratered with no quick fix on the horizon.

I stand corrected that the Pegulas lease the arena. That still doesn't alter the fact that they lose revenue when the facility is not holding events. That's the point. I was making the point that the financial analysis in the previous years doesn't alter the fact that the Pegula business in this coronavirus cataclysm has dramatically declined possibly teetering on insolvency on the hockey side of the business.

I believe that he will be available in the third round when we pick. On the other hand I don't think he will be available after the third round. It is likely that the top tier rated backs (four or so backs) will be taken in the second round with maybe one taken in the first round. This is my conjecture (guess).

It is very difficult to precisely unravel the actual financial situation when the multi-businesses are intertwined. Pegula owns the arena which is not hosting events. And he owns the Rochester Amerks and their facility which is dormant. The restaurant 716 is closed and the hotel which is associated with the activities associated with hockey and the secondary rinks are not in use. This season the organization is paying its players for games that will not be played. I believe (not totally sure) that the Sabres are paying its players up to the end of April. My point is whatever the estimate being made by outside entities for the financial status of the organization is very crude and off the mark. Whatever credible date that existed for the 2018-2019 season is not very applicable to the current situation. You don't have to be a financial wizard to recognize that the financial situation for the Pegula hockey operation is very dire as it is for most businesses.

My uneducated guess is that the Bills will go with the highest rated CB or Safety on their board.

If you say Dillon on the third round I will jump on your horse.

Go back an reread my posts. To conclude that I said what you think I said is perplexing. I agree. That's the reason that he is a billionaire.