LTS

Remember when everyone wanted a la carte television? Well, they have it now. Somewhat. In my never ending Complaint Thursday saga against the NYS Department of Labor I have learned that if you re-dial the Fraud hotline repeatedly between the hours of 9am and 12pm you will eventually break into their hold queue and get to talk to someone. What I have also learned is that despite what the process and unemployment office says, those people are only a call center and are only able to complete an online form that I had already completed. Despite all my requests and pleas the lady on the other end of the line told me that basically I have to just sit and wait and hope and that despite what everything else says, they can't do anything. At least I had the pleasure of her being one of the rudest, least caring, and condescending people I've ever spoken with. I'm sure it's a tough job, but I wasn't being an ass to her even. So after 30+ hours of repeatedly trying to get someone from the fraud department I learned that there's no one there. It's a call center to do what I had already done. So yes.. I will wait the 2 weeks minimum they told me I need to wait and then I will be contacting any and all governmental representatives to see if they can assist. Meanwhile, I'm not getting the supplemental unemployment from my company... thankfully I had been planning the past few years for this inevitability. Anyone who thinks that more government doing more things for the citizens of this country is a good thing, please keep reading why I am steadfastly against it. ARGH.

I'll see very little of this before I need to go skate myself tonight. I'm assuming I will at least tune in for a bit. Who knows... At this point in time the Sabres are not a priority for me, although in my current situation, by 7:30pm at night there's not much else to do.

Nice. Thanks!

So, here's my recommendation. If you are able to login now, make sure the email address listed under your account is accurate and you can access it. If you cannot access that email, change your email address to a new address. Re-activate your account. Open a different browser and choose sign-in, then forgot password. This will email you a link to change your password. Change your password and save it. That should assist you. Why a different browser? Because if you sign out with the one browser that automatically logs you in then you are truly hosed. Choosing a reset password email will not change your password until you actually do it. At which point you'll know your new password.

Why would you throw a player in the press box for saying it? He's not saying he thought it was going to be an easy game. That's the point I was trying to make. Cozens said it, but it doesn't mean he believed it. He could be making a generalization for the media to reinforce the point he might have made in the locker room. It should trigger the media to ask that of all the players, see what their responses are. Bottom line.. we don't know. That's fair, but it was what people were commenting on and even poorly written, the conditional maybe makes it a hypothetical and not a fact. You'll hear quotes like his on Stanley Cup winning teams from time to time as well. The problem is most assuredly that this team isn't even close to being that caliber. Yes.. as evidenced by you watching the video (which I appreciate) and clarifying. They tend to struggle against any team that plays a heavy game, lesser or not. I am aligned with the overall mentality. I want to see the leaders of this team dominate the game, constantly. I think Thompson is doing what he's supposed to do. Cozens seems to be finding his way. Samuelsson is clearly not and regardless of point totals Tuch tends to disappear when it matters. I'm all for bringing in someone with a pedigree of accountability to drive this team.

The only thing I want to say in defense of this is that Cozens does not de facto say that they thought it would be easy. He is hypothesizing that it might have been that there was a mentality with some that it was going to be easy. It's not entirely fair to claim that he said "it was going to be easy" when he did preface the statement with the conditional maybe. The effort was unacceptable, he's right about that.

*****. You mean we drafted the wrong brother... again?

Appreciate the information, absolutely horrible news. It's the sad inevitability of aging when you hear about someone passing and your age is close to theirs. You have to reflect on your own mortality. I hope they are celebrating his life. We'll miss his contributions here to be certain.

Shooting the puck over the glass happened all the time. It was laughable. It's good that there is a penalty for it, intentional or not. I think it was around 2019-2020 that the coach's challenge rule was changed. Originally you could only challenge if you had a timeout and if you lost the challenge you lost the timeout. If I recall there was a reluctance to challenge calls because they coach wanted to retain the timeout. Of course public can see the reviews and it was a bad look if the the calls should have been reviewed but weren't. So they adjusted it to allow the coach to have unlimited reviews but get a penalty if it was a failed challenge. I don't have a problem with the system, but I think it should only apply to offsides. A review to determine high-stick, glove, or goaltender interference on a goal should be part of the "good goal confirmation" that happens on each goal. Coach's should not have to challenge those plays.

The problem with the triple E strategy is that it's really only a double E strategy.. Unless effective was not meant to reflect the success of the team.

I don't know if it's micro analyzing, where is the line between analyzing and micro-analyzing? I'm not sure. I think it's fair to look at this game and say they got a win, but Calgary's adjustments were something the Sabres did not overcome. Those adjustments to the forecheck mirror what others teams have done to the Sabres and have resulted in Sabres losses. I think it's fair to call that out, much like the Sabres did to the Rangers attempting to mirror what Washington had done to them. If they don't figure out how to get out of a hard 2 man forecheck they will be in trouble when teams can execute it well. If I am not mistaken one of those Gilbert penalties was Lafferty. The officials earlier in the game weren't sure who on Calgary committed a penalty and had to get the right guy in the box. They were really bad in the game overall.

Well this was a fun read. The Flames started out with a passive forecheck and the Sabres took advantage of it. Calgary upped the forecheck and did what other teams have done to them this season the game changed, dramatically. The Sabres are still not good at breaking out of their zone when facing a high pressure forecheck. They need to fix this. I'm glad they got the early goals because it was what they had to cling to for the rest of the game. Against a higher power team I think they lose this game, but Calgary isn't a fast paced, light it up, team. They managed a win and that's good, but they need to not play another game like this one. I also liked the talk about perfectionism. The Sabres can be happy they won this game, but no way in hell should they be satisfied with how they played. Any analytical mind would look at the game and see where improvement can be made. Players continually evaluate their game and try to improve, this is perfectionism. It's okay to accept the outcome while not being satisfied with the execution. Perfect is difficult to achieve, even for a single game, but it does not mean it's not the objective.

To the bolded.. we are aligned. As to where we are as country, I am aligned with your thinking. I cannot control the country but I am tasked with attempting to keep this place civil and so I am attempting to do so. We'll put it to bed. But if you believe I am not being fair to both sides I do expect to be called out for it and I will listen.

Hey.. it's the new trend.. https://www.buffalorumblings.com/2024/11/3/24287050/buffalo-bills-qb-josh-allen-sets-new-franchise-record-for-second-most-passing-tds I suppose it's technically correct... but a real stretch.

It's always fun to read a GDT after a game like that. No skipping through... every post is worth reading and the joy from the posters is a helluva lift. Lots of great stuff in that game but they do have work to do to shore it up. I think they got away with some stuff against the Rangers that they won't always get away with. The Rangers ended up backing off the forecheck a bit too much and the Sabres have had trouble with teams that can seal off their long breakout passes. Still, seeing players do the little things in other areas is a huge positive. Zucker is the emotional force on this team and Benny is... well he is who we thought he was. ZFG.. the kid knows how to use his size to his advantage. He's absolutely relentless. There's only one thing left

I can only speculate but I perhaps retaining Jokiharju was hedging his bet and creating competition? it can all be his inability to be decisive as well. I don't know. I don't think the Byram trade was a great one. Perhaps he thought Quinn was going to replace Mitts' impact on the lineup, but he's been terribly incorrect about that.

If this is in reference to my comments, let me know. But I'll say this. I don't have a side. I have problems with Republicans and Democrats and I most assuredly do not like Donald Trump regardless of what party he wants to be part of. But as far as what I was referencing, it would not matter who was posting, there's no need to call out smashing car windows or any other destructive action against those who demonstrate their support for a candidate.

This is just painful to read and I feel for anyone spending their money with MSG.. or Gotham.. or whatever. It's like a MasterClass is how to NOT develop a mobile customer facing application.

The NYS Department of Labor can eat a bag of ______. I had a fraud incident during COVID (someone tried to claim unemployment using my SSN). So, I can log into the NYS DOL site. I have verified my identity. But the PIN is wrong, and when I try to reset my PIN it wants my mother's maiden name which is also incorrect (apparently, the name they have on file is NOT the right answer). So, I try to call. Each call is 1 minute and 20 seconds of prompts and answers before the line tells you that they are busy and it hangs up on you. So, after redialing and going through that process 30 times I finally get in a queue to wait another 20 minutes to talk to someone. That person informs me that the fraud flag is still on my account and I need to get it cleared. But they can't help. That's the fraud department, so they give me the number and transfer me. I get a voice message saying everyone's busy and it hangs up on me. Good news, I can open an incident online for fraud, although it's not fraud now. So I do... 3 days later no answer. I've been calling the fraud people but while it's only waiting online for 45 seconds per call while I listen to the message repear, it still ends up hanging up. The real kicker? The fraud department only is open 9am-12pm Monday - Friday. Say WHAT? So, I still can't submit an unemployment claim, which I have to do so my supplemental unemployment benefits are paid out by the severance package. The Dept. of Labor has call queues, just not big enough to handle all the calls coming in. They COULD invest in a callback queue system which basically operates like the old "take a number and we'll call you" of the DMV or the deli counter at the supermarket. But they don't do that. Instead they just have people redialing their numbers, wasting hours and hours of their time, building up an insane amount of frustration. I can only imagine just how much irritation has built up for some people when they finally get to speak to someone. I bet it makes the job of the people who answer the phones that much harder having to listen to extremely angry people. In any event... I guess I will spend another 3 hours tomorrow redialing the same number and listening to the same message, over, and over, and over, and over... Fun.

Care to elaborate on what you are referring to so there's no need to guess?

I think that's exactly why Byram was acquired. It was just the wrong time and way to do it.

I disagree with this. Do you think that Jokiharju and Samuelsson are playing to the best of their abilities right now? If so, then I suppose you could be correct. Although I suppose that would only apply to Samuelsson since Jokiharju is on a one year prove-it contract. Even so, I don't think this is their level of play and Ruff called them out on it. Having Bryson and Gilbert there to specifically challenge those two players is actually something the Sabres have not had in the past. That needs to be put in the W column for Adams. If the benching results in elevated play across all the players then it's doing what's needed. We don't know yet if it will. As much as I don't think Adams has done what it takes I'm not going to just look to condemn him for everything unless its warranted.

People like to advertise how they feel. They should be allowed to do so without violent retaliation from others. Sadly respect for others, especially those with differing opinions, seems to be lacking in our society today. So much so that people are willing to resort to violence in response. Imagine getting beaten up for merely wearing an opponent's jersey to a game. And yet it happens...

While I am sure there's some tongue in cheek aspect to this comment let's just take it for face value. Smashing a window has no statute of limitations until after you do it. In the interests of not fanning highly volatile flames, let's refrain from discussing criminal behavior or violence of any kind in here, even partially or wholly in jest.

Well that was nice. Sitting outside with a drink in hand, by a fire, watching on TV was even better. That said.. Dunleavy calling UPL "Ullmark" was killing me. So.. they played a good game. All I can say for the next game is: