All In

[ssmorol]

As I read all of the love for Pegula today the new hope, I got this feeling in my gut. I can’t quite put my finger on it. It is almost like déjà vu. You see this situation is eerily similar to one I experienced as a Syracuse football fan.

 

It is almost comparing apples to Oranges, but I believe it has some relevance here. The late 80’s and early 90’s were the hey-day for SU football. We were relevant on a national. We were turning out NFL stars like Marvin Harrison, Donovan McNabb, Dwight Freeney. Then it slowly fell apart. The Carrier Dome lost its appeal, less money was being spent on upgrading the facilities. Very similar to Golisano’s approach at not putting back into the program what he was getting. As a result, everyone wanted Coach Pasqualoni fired. Much like Darcy is blamed a lot in Sabres circles. Right around the time when calls for Pasqualoni’s head were greatest, in came a new athletic director, Daryl Gross. First thing he does is fire Pasqualoni. Just what the fans wanted. It was great! So much hope for Syracuse! He also made sweeping changes to improve the facilities, improved the look and fan experience in the dome. Fans were turning out in droves the next season to see what new coach Greg Robinson could do. Well, Syracuse went 1-10 that year, the worst in school history. Robinson followed up by 4-8, 2-10, and 3-9. The absolute worst stretch in Syracuse football. They became a laughing stock across the country. See Gross did wonderful things at Syracuse and practically every other sport was thriving. But, he made the one mistake, and it was the quickest decision that he made. It set the program back.

So fast forward to today. When I heard that Pegula was going to keep Darcy, I was a little shocked. But inside very pleased. I hoped he wouldn’t over react and jeopardize the ultimate goal of the Stanley Cup. I think quick sweeping changes at this point could be detrimental to the team. And I think I am OK if they don’t make any huge moves at the deadline. While change is needed, I think they need to be the right changes. I have faith in the new ownership and management that the right choices will be made, and as Sabres fans, if you weren’t all ready, it is time to go all in!

 

And I am absolutely in the minority here, for selfish reasons, I hope Timmy stays on the Sabres. So if they do win the Cup, he would bring it back to Syracuse with him! But if not, I guess I would probably drive to Buffalo for the parade anyways!

[bills_fan_in_raleigh]

Well any good manager and thats what Pegs sounds like he is will come in an evaluate before making changes. He is bringing in folks with hockey backgrounds and will look at developing the total package on and off ice. Lets just see if the fans can be patient enough. Right now I just want darcy to do something!!