That Aud Smell

I will sh1t in my hat if the Sabres' next Captain is someone other than Dahlin. I appreciate people posting that we can trust Lindy to sort this out. But there's been a lot of business/brand development invested in making Dahlin the Captain. I think that's going to matter. Is that a "will be" vote? A "should be" vote? Both?

thought you were gonna bring balance to sabrespace - not leave it in darkness

you're gonna make the man say it, aren't you? #thisisobnoxious

One of the league's best backups. I wish the Bills could have gotten him back. Dude's made $70MM+ in his career -- so a shade better than moderately successful, I think.

Is this true? Cripes. I have little (no) interest in re-opening the Meddling Thread. I'd just inferred that he'd taken steps back from directly managing all sports operations, but perhaps he views the Sabres as something he's still capable of dealing with more directly? But that theory dovetails with ... is it @LGR4GM's proposition? ... that Terry and KA are essentially one person. That Terry hired KA to spy on and report back regarding what was going wrong in the Sabres FO of days past, and that Terry thereafter installed KA -- who had no credentials whatsoever -- as a direct extension of himself as Sabres GM. Man. Just when I thought I could not feel any worse about the upcoming season. you fuggin muhfugger. that's funny.

His track record in hiring people is brutal. He did very well with McDermott, who, in turn, brought in Beane. But that's really about it. I'd love to see him clean house with the Sabres, but have no confidence that he'd hire someone capable of turning things around. Maybe he could retain that same consulting firm (or one like it) that initially recommended McDermott as the new HC -- only to have Terry bamboozled into hiring Rex -- and then came back and recommended McDermott again.

Hear, hear. I am in no way, shape, or form accepting of the team being a mess just because I should be happy that WNY still has a team. Eff that. I need to be prepared to shout something Sabres-related if I ever get within earshot of Terry. What would it be? Something short and capable of being clearly shouted. It might make for a decent OT thread topic. Jokes welcome, of course, but I'm legitimately interested in serious suggestions as well.

That's not at all what I'm saying. And you're plenty smart enough to know that.

I know firsthand how this region responds to a good NHL hockey team. My point is: If the building was substantially sold out for every game, and the Sabres were a perennial playoff team, the franchise would still be at significant risk of being relocated because there’s much more money to be made elsewhere.

Because the NHL covets that market and its money like a motherfu**er. They’ll probably end up putting a team back there. I did indeed ignore it. I wasn’t speaking to it. And I’m still not.

If Terry were to sell, a relocation would be a distinct possibility. That goes for both franchises. @PromoTheRobot is substantially correct to note how other cities/municipal areas -- ones that are much larger, much more monied -- are chomping at the bit to get in on more pro sports action. Lord, I love Buffalo. But Buffalo's position within these crony capitalist ecosystems is tenuous.

Allen has been cleared to practice. He looks to have avoided any serious injury to his left hand. Taron, otoh, is out for Thursday. Which effing blows. Cam Lewis filled in admirably against the Cardinals. And, if there's one thing McDermott excels at, it's getting his defensive backfield coached up and prepared. So, hopefully Josh can hang a 40-burger on the Dolphins and the D can do enough to help secure the W. One last thing in this regard: Is it me, or does Taylor Rapp lead the league in friendly-fire-inflicted injuries? Dude's a menace.

Seriously? I haven't heard this one before. I do recall the story about how Brandon coached Rex on the sorts of stuff to talk about with Terry in order to curry favour (I recall a bit about red wines, specifically (which, honestly, is the most basic b1tch billionaire sh1t ever)).

To be fair, there was a lot to unpack in the original post. It was helpful to break it down as you did.

Ah -- okay. Well, on this front, I can't and won't take issue with what you're saying. They're fun -- but those days are beat downs as well. And that's coming from someone who doesn't drink before or during the game. (Well, there is an obligatory good luck shot before we leave our parking area -- but it's not even a full shot and hardly counts.) I'm starting to look for someone to split my seasons, actually -- for this exact reason. You need some timeline/algorithm hygiene if you're getting recaps saying that the game was "underwhelming." That was one of the more fun games we've attended in the past 5 years. Fun Times Exhibit "A":

I’m of both minds with Josh’s Superman antics. We sit in the 300s right at that goal line — watching that play live was nearly transcendental — people all around me losing their minds, hands of their heads, mouths opened wide. Spectacular. Otoh, he’s *going* to get himself killed doing that. Hopefully his hand is okay. Being a STH, having been at that game, I can say: That game was an absolute blast and thrill ride. If you found it underwhelming and a drain of a day, I’ll submit that your experience was not a function of the game itself.

If only we could.

Agree. The current Sabres situation is a Rorschach test. I blink and rub my eyes, but I just see a roster being cost controlled (and being kept young) and a franchise that spends like a traditional poverty franchise. I know Friedman has crazy juice. But he’s got 32 teams to cover. It sounds to me like he and his league sources are talking out of their ***** regarding the Sabres.

And it wasn’t an extra pick. The Bills allowed KC to move up from 32 to 28 — and in exchange the Bills moved up from 4th to a 3rd and moved up within the 7th rd — in both cases, KC got lower picks in swaps.

Carter - the DL from Duke. Another try hard high character no splash play soldier in McDermott’s d-line rotation.

@Taro T: Is ur eye roll serious? The claimed need for a “trigger warning” for “s*lly” is one of my favorite pieces of lore here.

i don’t believe the ravens defender was flagged for PI on that end zone breakup. and agreed: worthy got bodied on that play.