That Aud Smell

Interesting. I watched a lot of pro wrestling as a kid and enjoy listening to people (insiders) talk about the business of pro wrestling as an adult. I especially enjoy the vernacular that has grown up around pro wrestling. With that context and in light of the observation you've made above, I'm now getting to wonder: Was Beane cussing out the WGR guys a "work?"

lol - it is absolutely true. and i’m dead serious when i say that i don’t like whatever thought process, personality evolution, own fart sniffing that led to him coming in so hot with the *WGR* guys. (the ***** WGR guys, people.) and i don’t much like what it may portend. i hope he has someone he trusts who can say that sort of thing to him. he desperately wanted darnold. it was pegula who said allen’s our guy.

Beane’s tone and approach with WGR leaves me to infer that he most likely has a personalized “Big Baller Beane” gift somewhere among his office tchotchkes. Easy, boss. If Allen hadn’t defied the odds to become a future HOF’er, you’d have been out of a job years ago.

Who? Jeremy White? Joe DiBiase (sp?)? Reportedly not very good at all.

Not sure I follow you.

I wonder if the influence of the no holds barred vibe on podcasts — including the use of spicy language as the norm — played a role here.

Yeah. The fact that he unmasked in this way seems to suggest to me that he might be smelling his own farts (??), reading his own press clippings … or just generally taking undue pride in the team’s accomplishments under his tenure. Stay humble. Keep grinding. Growth mindset. And so on.

I haven’t listened yet, but the fact that Twitter is largely clowning on the WGR guys leads me to being more on the side of the WGR hosts.

it was a good save. but far from spectacular. cozens' having a below-average NHL wrist shot is one of the flaws in his game.

There's just nothing like it. I'm a big Bills fan. STH since 2020 (the Allen effect). But my fan experience with the playoffs is so different with the Bills than it is (or was) with the Sabres. With the Bills, home playoff games occur right in the teeth of winter. Prior to those playoff games, I've found myself a bit stadium weary from cold (or otherwise unpleasant) home games in November, December (and, honestly, the whole season (it takes energy to devote a day to a game)). Of course, once I'm in my seat for the playoff game, I'm amped up and ready to go. But I've had to give myself a few pep talks over the years in the days and hours leading up to those playoff games. There's part of me that just dreads slogging out to the stadium in January. With the Sabres (and the NHL), the vibe is so, so different. Winter's over. Warm, sunny days are vibe- and mood-boosters. Whether I'm at the arena, in the plaza, or at a bar with opened garage door windows and a crowd spilling out onto the street, the vibe leading up to and then surrounding a Sabres playoff game is just pure anxious joy. And if you're really lucky, you'll see Ken Hitchcock taking a walk around the Erie Basin Marina during your lunch break and you'll scream "EFF YOU, HITCH!" and get a friendly middle finger in return. I miss that stuff so much.

I give that mufugger so much credit for being such a principled dude -- and being loud about it too.

It’s good stuff. Subtle! I appreciate it.

Great clip. I still don't follow. Pete Guelli = Willi Cicci?

I thought there were several intriguing tidbits in Lance Lysowski's article - especially the item about how core young vets resented Adams' reliance on Benson as an 18 year-old NHL regular. That said, I struggled to get through the thing. The piece desperately needed a strong editor's hand.

what makes you say that?

Guelli did a long stint in the NBA with Charlotte.

Ha! It also seems possible that they didn't ask for permission from the Flyers (and, thinking on it some more, maybe they didn't need to ("fair use")?).

I don't keep up with C-suite titles. "Chief commercial officer" appears to be a new term for "chief business officer" or something like that. I presume that the new CCO will have all things business in their "portfolio."

the quality on that ad is delightfully bad.

I hovered my mouse (*ahem*) over that gif and saw its file name - outstanding.

At some point, I stopped counting the plays where he just did some small thing that showed good anticipation. He's gonna be one of those guys -- steady throughout the year and then coming through big in big moments. I just hope that happens with the Sabres. On the other hand, seeing Samuelsson play live? Woof. With him too, I stopped counting the forced, panicked dumb-dumb plays. (Same goes for Bryson, but, given his term and salary, that's not as big a problem.)

I think it was a roughly even split? It's hard to say, though, because the Sabres were shut out. It's the scoring of a goal that gives you a sense of who's there supporting one team or the other. Those in our group were laughing at ourselves, as we all agreed that we were engaged in a covert mission of international diplomacy -- smiling and being friendly with those who appeared to have crossed the border to see the Leafs play.

I went to the game last night. I thought the Sabres played reasonably well. I thought the Leafs goalie was just terrific - great positioning, totally in control. That said, I also thought it was a fairly friendly affair. A few hits, but, in general, not a lot of heaviness to the game. I guess that's to be expected -- the Sabres are out of it, the Leafs are probably tapering as they approach the playoffs. The thing I enjoyed most: Watching how smart Benson plays the game. That guy's hockey IQ is probably the highest on the team. That said, he's not a regular top-6 forward (at this point in his career) on a playoff hockey team.

Poverty franchise.