Ghost of Dwight Drane

I think you don't know a lot about Wilson. He is in the hall of fame because he took a risk on a league that went in direct competition to the status quo to build a better product. He floated money to teams to keep the league going. Not doing what it takes to win? He was one of the best tennis players out ther into his 60's and 70's. He owned a horse farm where he turned down $10 million for one of his babies that never even hit the track, but he so badly wanted a champion that he sunk additional 10's of millions into his operation. This was 30 years ago when a player in the NFL hadn't even sniffed $10 million, yet he turned it down for a horse. Wilson made a mistake by trusting Tom Donahoe, and it hurt him. At his advanced age, he soured on the big business aspect of the whole operation and felt burned. Marv Levy transitioned him back to trusting again, and even though he has been getting ready to pass the torch when he is gone, all the ducks are in a row now and he knows this is his last chance at having a champion in this sport. He has good, old fashioned men in charge now who are passionate and he can relate to. They in turn have built a team in their mold. Now is the time. It may not get them the Lombardi Trophy, but Ralph is going to go out being proud of what he has accomplished. These signings aren't set in stone yet, but contrary to what some believe, I am not negative for the sake of being negative about the Sabres and everything else in life. Sometimes you just have to know what drives people and what the realistic results are to expect. I will never always be right, and neither will Buddy Nix or anyone else for that matter. But when you thrive off of honesty, passion, and decisiveness, and have an understanding of all the aspects involved......you tend to gain the respect of those with similar traits. I feel that is why you see the Bills taking shape in the fashion they have the past few years, and why the Sabres are who they are the past decade. At least Mr. Pegula has a good heart. He will catch on to it someday.

I don't want to count chickens yet, but I assumed it would be easier to throw the cash at Jackson and get a 2nd tier DE. Williams/Meacham would be a flipflop and probably one for the better. Ralph gets a bad rap. He is as competitive and as much of a sportsman as anyone. He is also a businessman. He is realistic....when things are in a spiral, he pulls back and wants to steady the ship before progressing. When he thinks he has a shot, he goes after it. The franchise is finally stable enough and talented enough from top to bottom to take a shot. I feel that I understand people very well, and have a good radar. Everything I have seen from Nix, Gailey, and the players on the field had left me very bullish. There is a synergy that builds from honesty, hard work, and passion. When you have it, you know how to find it in others. God forbid you can actually identify talent as well. That is what Nix and Gailey bring here and it leaves them in a position of trusting their guys. They are almost the polar opposite of the Sabres brass. Yep. They know they need a field stretcher at the least. Jones is a great kid, but he just doesn't grab balls

"I saw a little bit of fatigue there and I don’t even know if his fatigue is on the physical side for sure, I think there’s some mental fatigue he’s gone through with the emotions of being traded and the circumstances around it so I told him don’t get frustrated.." - Lindy Ruff

When she's 140 lbs, and there's another woman who is 5'8" 125, and a C-cup standing next to her who tells you flat out, "take me to the back and bang my brains out"......I tend to gravitate to the more obvious choice. That's all it is. Comparing 2 good things. One at this point is obviously better to me. That's all it is. A very ADHD fanbase. Look, you have a vote of 30-28 that changes to 29-35 right after the game. Forget about a 3 year body of work and looking at the progressions.....what have you done for me in the last 15 minutes? I laughed at the irony in the gameday thread. I was lucky enough to be in a Bills suite one game with a bunch of family and friends, and to some of the more casual fans I spouted off how bad Robert Royal was and how he always chokes. About 5 plays later he catches a 40yard, one handed pass....and a TD later on.

If they can land Williams.....then I am fine with just filling a speed #2 role. They have 5 obvious needs.......Speed receiver, starting tackle, DE with passrushing skill, OLB who could start in a pinch, #3ish corner. I have expected all along that those will be filled in FA and in the draft. Jackson has the skill set. How he is used is not under my control.

No..not you....but some good posters you would think could handle an open discussion. I don't get it. It's not a real scenario. I don't care who they bring in at this point.....the contamination has breached. I look at it as, if you can start a franchise with one or the other. Karlsson has already showed me he is special. Myers has hints he could be.

Roby would never say he'd take Karlsson over Myers. You just have to listen to him talk though. Roby got the shivers watching him play even last year. I remember because I enjoyed watching him as well. It's to the point this year where he is in such control out there....it's obvious. Yeah....I think Myers can be 85% of Pronger. I also think Kassian can be 85% of Bendan Shannahan. I've been told he sucks, and it looks like someone, somewhere has said Myers sucks.......yet I do not see it in this thread.....but I sure see a lot of condescending, sarcastic posts hinting that someone thinks he sucks. Not only that....someone changed their vote. Karlsson had 30-28 before the game last night. I want to buy that person a Happy Meal.

You find my John Hancock! (sure, go ahead and make the obligatory small pp joke)

If I didn't have a warning level for a similar comment, I'd be in. But I'm a good boy now

Psssst.......hey kid.........com'ere...... Remember when that Sczchzchzhura guy played the night before in Albany setting up the game winner, then drove to Buffalo overnight only to score 2 points, then set up the game winning OT goal 2 games later, never having a practice with the team or Ruff? Yeaaaaaaaah.........I thought you did. You know where to find me.......

You are talking out your behind on this one. Vincent Jackson has some of the smoothest motion and control of his body and hands that I have ever seen. I was begging for the Bills to draft him. Under the offense in Buffalo, Jackson could be much more of an Andre Reed type of player who will thrive off of skinny posts and RAC. That is the way the offense is built, and if you put Johnson, Freddie, V.Jackson, Nelson and Spiller on the field at the same time......Fitz is smart enough that this would automatically shoot up to a top 5-12 offense. You would have 2 of those guys in single coverage against a linebacker or safety and the secondary has to respect speed. The underneath would open up and running lanes after the catch become wider. You play off....now you have 2 RB that can hurt you and a brand new Tackle at #10 beefing up an already adequate and smart line. I can't say for sure they can sign him, it's up to Jackson. Maybe just the fact that you have the impression he is only a fly runner is a selling point the Bills will use. He is the perfect fit for this team right now and the synergy it will create for the entire offense is worth every penny.

That's where I buy into the age thing and defensemen. Sekera has become much more consistant this year in his own end. At the same time he has abandoned the offensive rushes at will, which I am sure is part of the system this year. I don't understand the snark in the gameday thread about Myers "sucking". Nobody has said that. He is going to be a good to very good defenseman for a very long time. I just think the assumption that he is close to being a sure thing of greatness is not a healthy outlook. This thread was started not to bash Myers, it's just that Karlsson is a special player already. Ask Robitaille who he'd rather have. If he doesn't have to "think" about being physical and it starts to come natural, I will be more excited about his overall prospects. He is a smart kid and wants to learn. You can just tell by the penalties he's taken compared to the clean hits he's laid out this year that he still is thinking, "I need to be more physical." A guy like McNabb just does it. He can grow into a poor man's Pronger. If he ends up 85% of Pronger he will be just fine. That is what I am expecting at this point.

I believe it was, "If you want Getzlf...it starts with Tyler Myers." This is when they were in freefall and needed to do something. Everyone was off the market with the coach swap. They are 19-9-4 since Jan 1st.

Nobody is going to say he is bad. I would have agreed that he had "sky's the limit" potential his rookie year.....maybe a 70% chance of being a true franchise defenseman. Now after 3 full years....I'd say you are down in the 20-25% range. I was shocked how good he was early on because when you deviate so much in physical stature...he didn't look like a guy who would be so smooth. He still seems like he has a hitch to me now that he didn't back then. I just don't get that "fuzzy" feeling, and he isn't enough of a physical presence to get me there either. A top 3 defenseman for a decade to come....sure. Karlsson? Fuzzy feeling. Everyone has good points....lots of chicken and the egg theories. I only posted the D-men from his draft class because i was interested myself. I've seen a lot of Karlsson and DelZotto and love those guys. The western guys...don't see enough to really know. I just think the "untouchable" label on Myers at this point is not a smart move. That "potential" has value, but I am sure around the league that value has dried up a bit.

Just don't eat turkey all week. I had a smoked turkey i worked on and by day 5 I started with a gout attack. Never knew turkey could trigger it. Beer doesn't help the cause....but you try eating healthy and get the turf toe. Never got the gout eating ribeyes.

I understand....which is why I said he is a combo of Svoboda with the puck movement, Spacek with the shot and solid space eating, and Hajt. The stats are only relevant, because if you look...Hajt had his best offensive output his first 3 years. For everyone to just assume Myers is going to keep projecting out these big offensive numbers is folly. To me, he looked a lot more smooth his rookie year than he does right now. People get stuck in "Darcy-Mode", where they go.."Oh...this guy did X at 22...so at 25 he will be at 2x.....and at 28 he will be 2x+10." That's not how it works and that has been the biggest problem with the team spending money poorly. Look at Stafford......he has been pretty much flatline in production minus his little outburst last year. His numbers look the same over 6 years. Vanek....he will end up with close to 20 more goals in his first 3 years as a 21-23 year old than he will in his last 3 as a 25-28 year old. Roy....in 3 years as a 22-24 year old he has only 3 less goals than in 4 years as a 25-28 year old. Pominville.....best output at 24-25....and has been pretty much flat in goals since Gaustad......his best year was at 25 and has been flat or down since. Before anyone gets all "Ooo...ooooo....Teacher!...Teacher!....but they got to play with Drury and Briere early on!!!".........Go take a look at all their career stats.....most of them had their best output once those guys left, and then as a "progressing core", flatlined the rest of their collective careers. These are the 5 captains of your team this year and guys Darcy was in love with. They all peaked in their early 20's stat wise for the most part....and as we can now safely say...never really progressed leadership wise either. Those 5 managed to collect $25 million this year however. You can ask yourself if that is a common theme around the league, or if it is a Buffalo thing. If it is a Buffalo thing, is it just the players themselves? The surrounding players? Lindy? The team obviously felt good enough about their "potential growth" to give them all huge contracts between the ages of 23-26. What did it get them? You can say that "defensemen take longer to learn the game"...and hold on to hope with that cliche.......but the formula in Buffalo seems set. Let's look at the progress of the 1st round defensemen from the same draft as Myers...... Player..........................'09.............'10............'11 Myers........................48pts............37............20 Karlsson..Ott..............26................45............69 DelZotto..NYR...........37................11............35 Pietrangelo..STL........2.................43............43 Doughty....LA............59................40.............28 Bogosian...WIN..........23...............17............22 Schenn.....TOR..........17................22...........19 Carlson...WAS...........6................37.............30 Other than Doughty, Myers is the only one with obvious offensive regression. Has Myers gotten better at positioning and defense? For sure. But then look at the other names here......Bogosian, Doughty, Schenn, DelZotto.......all those guys play much more physical than Myers and their hit totals over time are 1.5x to 2.5x that of Myers. They are all solid in their own end and 3 of the 4 make you keep your head up at all times. DelZotto and Pietrangelo are very sound defensively and key parts to their team's success. Karlsson is just such a gifted offensive player.....and his defense is not a liability, that he is the one getting compared to Myers in the original question. Right now he is a Norris candidate and a franchise builder. But of everyone else here......how can people keep trumpeting that Myers is a perennial Norris candidate for the entire league when he may not even be top 3 in his own draft class right now??? The guy has skill, no doubt. The guy has reach, no doubt. But of just the 8 listed here....there are multiple with more offense, half that are more physical and even maybe nasty, multiple who play more sound defense in key spots on very good teams, and only 1, Doughty, besides Myers who has regressed in my opinion.

In his first 3 years, he averaged 5 goals and 23 assists. At the same age as Myers...Svoboda averaged 7 goals and 25 assists. Myers is looking at averaging 10 goals and 28 assists. In Myers, I see a situational rushing, using his size to his advantage in angles defenseman. I don't see even a semi-constant will to use his body. I don't see a smooth skater on transition....but a skater who can make up ground quickly. I see a sometimes clumsy recovery. In Karlsson, I see a Paul Coffey meets Nick Lidstrom. I hardly notice Myers anymore now that the novelty wore off. I'm just being honest. Hey....Hajt and Svoboda were nice, #2/#3 defensemen. Not a bad thing to have around. Well.....maybe at $38.5 million....but..AHHHH...why not?

No...you've got it. When Kevin Devine was interviewed walking off the stage of the draft, the first thing he said was Tyler Myers is not the same physical mold of Chara or Pronger. It used to be on the Sabres website, I posted it here before when people were talking all big about him. He is a giraffe, not a silverback gorilla. A 6'8" guy without the punishing frame or punishing mindset is going to have limits. You have to start looking at him as a classical offensive, defenseman. The comparison to Zhitnik is ok, but even he was built stronger than Myers. I used Svboda and Hajt because of their lanky stature and skill sets. I just think back to the Anaheim talk and Myers for Getzlaff. For all the chitty-chitty bang-bang talk about how hard it is to find a #1 center.....ooff....may have missed big time on that chance.

That's some good stuff right there.....so is the fishing story. If I wasn't a puss who got seasick, I'd go deep sea fishing a lot more than I have.

Something struck me the other night against Boston. Whenever Chara had the puck, I knew it and feared it. Yet, I didn't even notice when Myers was on the ice. It is pretty hard for a guy approaching 7" to blend in, but he does. I don't understand the constant drumbeat that Myers is going to "progress". When they drafted him, Devine himself said he isn't built like Chara and will not be the same player. He has 200 NHL games logged over 3 years and has yet to show a willingness to use his body in a physical type of game, yet I was told by the same organisation and some of the same fans that after 20 games, a younger Kassian was a "concept" and a failure and didn't have it in him to play a tough role...yet he has been in 3x as many fights as Myers in 10% as many games....and Myers fought for the first time 2 weeks ago. I don't see him riding guys into the boards, and he rushes the puck less than he did as a rookie, and seems to be sloppier and turn the puck over more when he does rush it. Is it the system? Confidence? Or was he like so many other Sabres under this structure that looked precocious and were expected to develop leadership and mental toughness....and either flat out stalled or regressed? I was excited watching him his rookie year. He is not a Pronger or a Chara however and never will be. His game right now reminds me more of an above average, skilled european defenseman who happens to have more reach, and thus better defensive potential if he continues to learn positioning. Think of a hybrid of Jaro Spacek and Petr Svboda with a touch of Bill Hajt built in. He should be good, but I think the sky is the limit talk needs to be toned down a bit because he has really made zero advancement on his overall game in 3 years. I still expect progress, and maybe an all-star game or two in the future, but Karlsson is a special cat. Myers is a nice player with a special skill set who has the potential to be really good. There is a difference.

Yeah, it pretty much sold out right off the bat. There were a sprinkling of seats available in the ripoff sections like the back of the floor, or the side where it cost 2x the next section over. They played over 2 hours and mainly their old songs. I used some of the new stuff for beer/pee breaks. DLR isn't 25 anymore, but he still holds together the essence. He would take some stuff easy or riff off of the melody for breathing points or not to kill himself, but he knows when he has to kick it. He's really funny and a nutball, but you can tell he just basks in the crowd. I'm pretty picky when it comes to music, and was happy by far. I'll check on line to see if I can find some of the stuff you saw. Eddie too.....he's always been amazing, but reflexes shouldn't be that good at that age after all he's done. His son is improving as well. I remember when he first started playing with them and I was hesitant to ever think of going to see them, but his vocals were solid enough. I was 8 when they were in their prime, but even then loved their music. I had to go out of obligation, but I would go 100/100 again. Kool&the Gang was a neat opener too. Probably only 40% saw it though.

Van Halen.....I can't believe there wasn't more chatter here about them coming. I was shocked how amazing they were. I'm not a big fan of going to rock/pop concerts because the studio usually cleans things up for the majority....but considering these guys are 25 years out of their prime....just shocked. Eddie's kid was very good on bass and covered the vocals pretty solid as well. I would have paid the money just to see Eddie play Eruption. Had to be 6-8 minutes and hit every style you could ask for. They had a 2 hour set and DLR was as charming as ever. He picks his spots now for screams and falsettos, but in tune the whole way. You get the feeling they are actually having fun up there and not mailing it in like the Springstiens and Bon Jovis. Cross it off the bucket list.......

Van Halen

How much?

It's crazy. Saw robins a week ago....a couple orioles the other day....green shoots out of the garden...and the house is warmer with the heat off and doors open. Awesome!