This Team is Heading Nowhere Yet Again

[mjd1001]

17 hours ago, Porous Five Hole said:

 

I’m not asking for positivity and I’m not here to defend this team. I just want to watch them win and enjoy the ride with passionate Sabres fans.  But no one is happy here. And it isn’t our fault.  

I've gotten to the point of...if the team wins on a particular night I feel good. If they lose I 90% move on to other things and forget about the game.

Sometime if they are down by 2 goals or even one, I'll keep the small TV on in my office, walk out to the living room and watch a show with my wife. I'll 'take a peak' at the game and see if they made a comeback or not.  If they are down by 2 late, or 3 early, the TV goes off. If they tighten things back to 1 goal or take the lead, I'm back in.

I try to mostly be positive, because for me its not about winning the cup or even making the playoffs. I don't really 'invest' that way in the teams I like (at least not anymore).  Its more about entertainment night-to-night.

If they win and/or play exciting on a given night, I'm happy!  If they don't, oh well, maybe next time.  That is why I don't get all up in arms about who needs to be benched, who needs to be fired, who I want to call various negative names, etc.  Sure I have my "Cozens" moments where I have to vent about him and wonder why he is still getting ice time, but I think I'm getting better. 

Its just about as fun for me to look at a game, try to figure out what they did correctly, what they did wrong, find stats or video to support that, and discuss with others, RATIONALLY, what are possibilities to fix it. 

The name calling, the swearing, the demanding people get fired....I guess it works for some but it doesn't work for me as a fan anymore.  If the Powerplay is bad, I really am fatigued by the threads of "whoever is in charge of the powerplay needs to be fired".  For me I'd rather watch the PP, look at videos of it, look at what other teams are doing to score PP goals and discuss what the sabres should actually be doing to make it better. Some people want an outlet for their frustration.....but me, I like to hear other posters ideas of what can be different 'on the ice'. That just what I'm doing now.

The Caps made the playoffs last year with 40 wins. The Sabres had 39.  The difference for most? Obviously making the playoffs or not and that was huge. The difference for me? Nothing more than 1 extra win. I had one less win to enjoy over 6-7 months than if they made the playoffs like Washington did.

That doesn't mean I DON'T want them to make the playoffs, of course I do, but again, for me its entertainment for the night.  Maybe I have gotten that way BECAUSE that is the only way to enjoy the team without losing my mind.

OR---maybe its because that is how I enjoyed the games when i was a kid...and that was the time I had the MOST fun watching sports. There was very little 'stress' then, very little negativity. It was just fun to watch the game and cheer if they won, and if they lost, well on to the next thing.  I have gotten a bit more like that recently and I am not 'hating' the team as much, and am having more nights of just 'enjoying' the game.

I have fallen 'out of love' with the NFL recently, and I figured out why.  I LOVED the NFL when I watched the games on Sunday and that is it. The more exposure I got to it though, the more ESPN shows I watched where it was non-stop discussion of "who is the greatest ever" or "who needs to be fired" or just any over-analyzing by the talking heads...that takes away from the game for me.  When its about just watching a single game, I love the sport. When its overhyped, not really.  

This is longer than I thought, but the best way I can say it is...when you watch a movie or a show..and each show is just one small part of a long story...I don't like it as much. But when you find a movie that has an ending that doesn't just 'set up the next movie...or a show where each episode is pretty much independent of the previous episode and the next one, I like that better. I can ENJOY the show without having to worry about 'investing' in it much deeper.  That is where I have gotten with pro sports, with the Sabres, and overall I am happier for it.

 

Edited November 5 by mjd1001

[GoPuckYourself]

I'm so confused about this thread, the dude is cheerful about the Sabres and because some of you are bitter about them he should be too? If you don't like what he has to say just don't respond or ignore him. 

[SwampD]

7 minutes ago, GoPuckYourself said:

I'm so confused about this thread, the dude is cheerful about the Sabres and because some of you are bitter about them he should be too? If you don't like what he has to say just don't respond or ignore him. 

Wrong thread?

 

[GoPuckYourself]

2 minutes ago, SwampD said:

Wrong thread?

 

No it's this 1 I 've just been reading it.

[SwampD]

33 minutes ago, GoPuckYourself said:

No it's this 1 I 've just been reading it.

But he’s got his own thread for that.

😂

[PerreaultForever]

The Ottawa game gives me hope again. But can they bring this on a nightly basis???

[Ross Rhea]

Crazy that Reinhart, Eichel, Mittlestadt, Thompson are currently all in top 23 scoring in the league and were all on the same team here in Buffalo. What a shame at how bad the coaching has been that they couldn't be a good team with them together.

[mjd1001]

10 minutes ago, Ross Rhea said:

Crazy that Reinhart, Eichel, Mittlestadt, Thompson are currently all in top 23 scoring in the league and were all on the same team here in Buffalo. What a shame at how bad the coaching has been that they couldn't be a good team with them together.

I know its an older discussion, but a lot of Thompson's maturing as a scorer coincided with him moving to center and getting more ice time/opportunities.  Thompson seems to thrive when he isn't working on the boards, whether its where he takes shots from, or having both is left and right having free ice, that helps him a lot.

If Eichel was still here, would he have had an opportunity at Center? and would he have been giving the ice time/opportunity to take things over and have the offense run though him? Possibly, but I would guess no.