Ghost of Dwight Drane

I will only believe it is the real Ted Black when he follows Barbara Streisand and Liza Minelli................ Some people decide to jump off the Cliff when all the other person is offering to do is reach out a hand. That's a shame......

I thought you would have tipped them off on how to use Twitter? That's ok. I have a few things up my sleeve I've been saving. It's obvious this franchise is in Hell's hold. If I get banned over the next few days disclosing information....I will contact the posters I trust through other means to announce an exciting new venture.........

Nice try Theodore.......Kane and Read? Within a few hours? Well, at least we know the minions read this board. Barndoor Closed/ Horse Out This could be fun........... SHALL WE PLAY A GAME.....PROFESSOR BLACK? 1) Chess 2) Bubble Hockey 3) GLOBAL THERMONUCLEAR WAR

OK...with all the Vinny talk, and given today's dismal performance, here is the backstory behind my prediction the Sabres were going after LaCavalier and Bobby Ryan. A few weeks before the deadline, Ted Black was on GR. He was being cute about having to deal with the fans questions. One of the guys said, "I should give out a Twitter address for you"......which instead of leaving it alone, Black goes, "Hey, I'm bigtime....Wawrow follows me." So.....I go right to Wawrow's twitter and look at who he follows......sure enough, a few down was an obvious match. After clicking on the profile, it's pretty obvious who it is given the pics that aren't public. So.....I look at who he is following.......Buffalo Sabres...Amerks team site.....Sabres players and prospects.....hockey writers.....Buffalo links.....Pittsburgh friends.....kid's school.....yadda yadda....... But something stood out, like in the old Sesame Street skit, "Two of these things are not like the others........" He's following Vinny LaCavalier and Bobby Ryan. Now I can see following old Penguins, or funny guys like Bissionette......but why these 2 guys? Hmmmmnnnnnnn.......? Sure enough, in the following weeks, the talking points come from Darcy. "We need more impact players". Ted Black chimes in later, "A major trade is like a big real estate transaction.....you can be working on it for months before it closes." Give or take...... I shut up about this at the time because I wanted to give a little respect and let them work on some deals. But the pure arrogance coming out of this group drives me nuts. Terry doesn't have a computer....maybe Ted shouldn't either. And I even tried warning him about it with no response. So here....judge for yourself.... https://twitter.com/TheodoreNBlack Considering there is no interaction with anyone....not really a problem. He can sign up again under "Schecky Winklebean" and nobody would know. He was the one on GR who chirped like a canary, so.....I just removed myself from my negativity bubble for a few minutes and did some due diligence.

Maybe that's the point. :) I think if Foligno relaxes and plays like his personality...like he did his first 15 games or so.....he has potential. And I like Hodgson. But much like a nice toy train.....you can have all the pretty milk barrel cars....and lumber cars....and gadgets.....but you need a few steam engines to make the whole thing go. We ain't had no engines!

Personality wise.......Stafford is talented, and he was a 20 goal scorer on average his first 5 years. He just brings no "swing" or "oomph". He's just there. In fact....he is actually goofy and will play around a bit. Hodgson.....just a quiet kid. I can't ever see a C on him. Weber......that's the type of guy I'm talking about who is a man's leader.

So what have you seen from Hodgson that makes you feel he is any sort of true leader? I have never once said he is a bad player. All I have said is that on a dysfunctional team that has lacked grit from anyone capable of scoring even 15 goals for the better part of the decade......you gave away a big shot at something needed for a personality the team was already littered with.

He comes across as the quiet type, and his play on the ice never goes out of character. You can lead by your play and preparation, but as far as character and charging the team ahead, he seems like so many other sabres we have seen the past few years. That was my main protest to moving kassian for him. Sure, you could use a center, and he is talented, but on a team totally void of jam and guys who will do the things that need to be done....Kassian has far more potential. He could be a better Ott in 5 years. Hodgson reminds me more of a Stafford.

I would have liked to see this team with Doan in here. Ott is the perfect underboss......you still need that guy that commands respect, but from a hegemonic place. Regehr was a great consigliere. I think a guy like Doan was the critical mass needed to turn the culture around. You look at why that '06 team had the best shot.......they had the perfect structure. Drury was the boss. Briere was the underboss and would say and do some of the nasty things that needed to be done while keeping Drury clean. Grier was the consigliere.....and you had capos in guys like Dumont and McKee. Then all the soldiers fell in line and worked their butts off. Now....you really don't have that calm and collected boss type. Ott is great, but it would be much better to have that Iginla or Doan around. The stucture is like a family in disarray. When you talk about chemistry on a hockey team and what wins in the playoffs.....seriously, this is the model. Right now you have an underboss in Ott and a Capo in Weber and maybe Ehrhoff. Vanek is acting Consigliere and a lukewarm one in that. Look back at the good teams in history and you can usually identify this structure. It may not be what teams are thinking, but to me it is very applicable.

YES!!!!!

You know how you get a net loss? By having your crappy GM hand out $30 million in upfront money to 3 players who came up with the same amount of goals as Jakob Silfverberg at $900K

Haha! Even the NY Post and Brooks is calling Pegula a slimeball now.... http://m.nypost.com/p/sports/more_sports/charging_up_90kb3Zz6jCBwBONMfCQuFI

Maybe they wanted to hire him, but it turned into an Abbott and Costello routine. Ted: "Any chance you want to make a change at GM Terry?" TP: "Nill"

:)

Don't worry.....Cliff's just running around the elementary schools of Buffalo......no need to answer any questions..... I'm glad I went to UB. I avoid 645 numbers on the caller ID as it is.......I can't imagine what I would do if my best friend was in control of the finances of a charity used to launder children to the founder and the whole sports program knew about it. I certainly wouldn't be donating 5% of my net worth to keep it all going....... Oh great.....now 3 of us will be MIA........

Congrats to ChileanSeaBass........he hung on to win it with 17 correct. There was one entry with 16 and a fair amount with 13-15....... There were 5 or 6 events that finished within a few ticks.....and Tyler Ennis almost got that fighting major the other day, but overall the board crushed it.

They must not give 2 crapolas about Nassib, because if that was my guy and i was Marrone, I'd be jumping on the table in the 4th. Maybe they like Jones or Wilson and can trade up at the end of the 4th or wait on him in the 5th. I liked this pick of Williams a lot. It's the first pick I'm not lukewarm about at best. There were a lot of decent safeties, and this guy doesn't have tons of upside from what I see, but he is a gamer. He is pretty quick and fluid in his movement, but has no burst. A little undersized, but I think he makes the team for sure and could spot start in a year or 2. The WR from Texas was another baffler. TJ Graham had the worst pass-catching drill at the combine last year...and this kid had it this year. He walked down the line and still managed to miss half the balls, and he was so worried about running fast, he misjudged his longballs by like 5 yards......it's a crazy pick. Woods from USC is ok. He is sort of a B at everything. Ok build, ok smoothness, hands.....but he has something off in his stride. They said he had ankle issues....and I hope the hitch is a result of that, not the cause of it. He almost runs like a short track speedskater pushes. Lots of wasted energy and injury potential. He was productive though. I'm thinking Russell Copeland here........ I have no idea about Kiko.....no wonder he is a stonecold drunk....the guy looks like a felon to begin with, and his parents name him Kiko. He looks undersized to me. Add in the issues and it looks like a big reach considering who else was on the board.

Please consider this my application as sketch artist..... PA and Bio, I will give you a free print of this of you would like.......

What are they thinking? Pegula should send you guys a fruit basket or something........All the hubub about needing to make the league happy with ticket prices.....but that doesn't stop them from giving you a rebate in the form of a nice gift. The Bills would give great gifts when I had club seats. God Bless.......

http://www2.erie.gov/health/index.php?q=node/92 Fun FSU story.......a friend of mine was an FSU grad and friends with a certain NFL player who is now retired. He relayed a story to me of how he took part in certain acts of passion with this player's girlfriend who later became his wife. It was quite detailed and quite funny. A few years later after learning this story and just throwing it in the back of my mental files, this player who was in a key position, came to Buffalo late in the season to play the Bills in a game where Buffalo was very much alive for the playoffs. I called my friend from the tailgate to inform him I was going to get the attention of this player in warmups and let him know just what had happened between his wife and friend. Knowing what devious thoughts I am capable of, and of my passionate fandom....he really thought I was going to go through with it. Sadly, I showed some morals....and the Bills lost. I think Wolfie went to FSU? Maybe he has some good stories about the ladies there....... And I'm sure your girl is fine. She cooked you sauce, right? As long as it wasn't Puttanesca.........

We're going to need top notch journalists and media getting the story out to the public with an unbiased viewpoint and no conflict of interest.....just like we see so often. I nominate Chz, Promo, and IKnowPhysics......

I'm worried about you PA......last guy from the state who wanted to bring up some charges ended up MIA and his hard drive at the bottom of the river.

I'm indifferent. The guy is big and smart. He seems to throw flatfooted many times and from what I was told, either goes to his first look, maybe second, then bolts. The Bills at least pick up another 2nd, and got the 1st guy off the board. Either set the market, or clean up the value scraps. This really is a weak draft.....guys that look like they could be nice players but a 2nd or 3rd, are going in the first this year. Reid the safety, Long and Pugh go bang in a row. I look at all those guys and say...yeah, they will probably be ok. And LGR.....you need to tell us ahead of time that the girl is from FSU before you start asking dating advice. No need to pull a hamstring on the run when you can walk into the endzone......

I'm only doing what I do with the horses.....it's 90% the same process and physical attributes. I didn't know the names of most of the guys I liked and had never seen them play. At an auction, there may be 300 horses that have never run a race in their life....they work out in front of you, you disect the video, then you make a short list and go to the barns and visit them. There you can see up close what their personality and intelligence (edit, haha!) is like....and can scope out any medical issues. That's the only thing I can't do from here with the draft prospects...if they have an issue, hard to know. I guess you can say Pedigree plays a role here too. What school the guy is from....USC QB's usually blow......Texas can't get you a star....etc. It's easy when it's fun! Here is my post from last year. I am very happy with how it turned out. Kendricks started for the Eagles from week 1 and had 70 tackles, Osemele started at tackle and guard for the Ravens, Hayward started for GB and had 6 INTs...all those guys went in the 2nd, then Givens lasted til the 4th but had 42 rec for 698yds, Allen went in the 3rd and had 40 catches for 500yds.....oh, and Dennard got arrested! http://forums.sabrespace.com/topic/20028-the-buffalo-bills-2011/page__st__1880?do=findComment&comment=389901 I liked last year MUCH more than this year. Guys being projected in the 1st and 2nd look like 4th to 7th rounders to me. The top of the draft is eh......l Glenn started to get beat a lot outside by the end of the year. I wasn't thrilled with the pick last year, but on the field he was decent. If you want your best 5 on the field though, at this point it might make sense. I don't know what the Bills are thinking though.

Let's just cut to the chase and start a Sabrespace commune..... We have cooks, brewers, doctors, mechanics, broads........why not? It is tough out there. Hang tight......