That Aud Smell

Take it easy with the body-shaming humour, Pops. Very out of step with current mores. There's the latest shift in what's being criticized as being a "small" group of Sabre (hockey) fans. The extent to which Sabre (hockey) fans consult a resource like Cap Friendly exists on a continuum. Lots of people access the site. I'm an older Gen Xer, and I would consult it occasionally. I encourage you to take an L here.

This one too from Arthur: “But the NHL still sees this very basic stuff the way a mythical dragon views his trove of gold: jealously, selfishly, stupidly.”

Great read. This especially: “What won’t be a question is that the NHL won’t like [published salary data] because the NHL is a small town disguised as a $6.5-billion (U.S.) sports league. The league considers its salaries to be proprietary information, and more or less thinks fans should just watch the hockey, eh? Which is about as reductive a view of a sports league as you can imagine. You! Watch game! Buy tickets, hats, jerseys! No think! Be fan!”

@LGR4GM getting after it with a Nerd Content Dump.

It's more the vibe, not the actual people pictured? Still not sure I see it. A funny photo, though, for sure.

Gah! I knew there was some aversion that he got dragged for.

To review: Forton was an assistant or associate coach at Niagara University for 12 years. Then he was an assistant at UMass Lowell for 2 years and an assistant Harvard for 2 years. Then he had a cup of coffee as a Sabres assistant in 2013-2014. From there, he began his time as a Sabres scout. On further reflection, the guy was well qualified to serve as an NHL scout with a focus on NCAA prospects (which is what he did initially for the team). It also occurs to me: Wasn't Botterill reportedly averse to drafting or signing NCAA players? That might explain why Forton so strongly prefers working for Adams, who himself was an NCAA player-prospect at one time. /Stick tap/

yeah - i was joking above. i actually appreciate the effort. i was surprised to see how much jerry forton sabres content there is. shows to go, i guess, that, even for a fairly serious fan of the team (me), there's gobs of content out there that can go unnoticed, unconsumed. a corollary to this: i subscribe to nearly 20 substacks of writers whose work i have enjoyed. i almost never read any of what they publish. there's just so much stuff out there.

That is actually pretty interesting. I have serious doubts over whether Adams is fit to serve as an NHL GM. OTOH, if I'm to credit Jerry Forton (and, sure, why not - he seems a decent fellow), Adams does create a very good working environment throughout the organ-eye-zation.

Cripes - stop spamming the thread with every YouTube video the guy's ever appeared in. For that matter, why do people care about who's in the Sabres FO? Fans should just stick to what's happening on the ice with the rostered players. Curiosity about and inquiry into things other than on-ice performance is weird.

I don’t. It’s why I asked who he is.

Maybe I need to re-read the whole thread. Can someone tl;dr it and explain why this ostensible promotion is bad? Edit: I went back and read the thread. This feels fairly “meh” to me. There’s the nepotism. There’s also a decent track record with identifying talent.

Jeepers. This guy's almost as lightly credentialed as his boss, Kevyn Adams. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Who is Jerry Forton and is he somehow related to the Jacobs family?

By way of context:

What a small and weird subset of people we have on this message board.

Tom Higgins? He dead. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/buffalonews/name/thomas-higgins-obituary?id=33349213&__cf_chl_tk=0Fi2PndrNYl6quy7QwPUKB56IeDYP9.24rMxYaYjnM0-1718128435-0.0.1.1-8830

Lol. Not Bettman. I mean that guy who caused all that controversy (because he was apparently a huge a**hole to staff and volunteers), divided the board, and even prompted M&T to withdraw its support of the theater (because the board chair (John Dandes) chose to keep the president in place after an internal investigation was completed). It's ironic that I recall all these circumstances, but don't have the foggiest idea what the guy's name is.

Do not thusly and so blithely dismiss The Lore.

There's doubling down. There's tripling down. And then there's lining up to stand shoulder to shoulder with Gary Bettman. Several hundred thousand - possibly a million? - fans of a somewhat niche sport. But okay. ftfy. Because he works for a public trust. Duh. A recent president of Shea's - the one before Brian Higgins - earned total annual comp of $375K, btw.

I should also make clear: I've never had anything more than an occasional passing interest in the NHL capology stuff.

As per usual, we'd all be better off if we were governed by Gary Bettman's view of this matter.

I’m definitely of a “Pops” age. 🤝 Although I don’t yell at clouds (or purport to tell people how to enjoy sports) quite as often as some. Stop yucking people’s yum … Pops.