Implications of the Tallinder signing...

[shrader]

This is not true. TG said all along that he knew he was going to lose money at first and in fact it's been disclosed that he lost about $10 million over the 1st couple of years. Now, certainly no one here has audited that claim, and it could be BS. However, I'm not aware of any evidence to support the statement that TG has been trying to break even from day 1.

 

He said he wanted to turn the team into a self-sustaining organization. Obviously he's going to lose money at first, but long term he would stay out of the red.

[jad1]

Well, you're disturbed, so I guess I'm guilty as charged.

 

But I will not plead guilty to being a lesser fan because I haven't attended any games lately. There are plenty of ways to support a franchise. Despite the money-centric society we live in, not everything in the world can be quantified in dollars and cents.

 

Really? :lol: So how DO you support the team? By posting over and over that the owner is a cheapskate who's only goal is to sell the team?

 

Speaking of fantasies, I'm surprised to hear that you advocate spending to the cap.

 

You should be surprised, because I've never stated that. Far be it from you, though, to put words in other people's mouths. ;)

 

We already know this is a hockey crazy area WHEN THE TEAM IS WINNING, and that should pump a lot more revenue into the Sabres bank account.

 

I know you wrote this in resposne to hopeless, and risk taking your comment out of context, but this claim brings up a question in light of your statement about supporting the Sabres in other ways.

 

How do you quantify this claim, that Buffalo is a hockey crazy area "WHEN THE TEAM IS WINNING?" By attendance right? How do you know that the area isn't just supporting the team "in other ways" when the team isn't winning, and is therefore, still "hockey crazy?"

[Stoner]

jad... Sorry, I misread your comment about being in favor of signing Briere to a fictional $18 million contract if they could still fit the rest of the team "under the cap." I somehow thought that meant spending up to the cap. My bad.

 

One of the ways I and hundreds of others support the team from remote locations is by helping to build online fan communities like this. Whether it's SDS, who is ponying up the dough, Corp and others, who are ponying up their time to work as moderators, or the person who posts once a month, we are all doing the Sabres a great service by making it possible for many fans to stay in touch with their hometown team. That was awfully tough before the advent of the Internet and message boards like this. And guess what? Those fans, myself included, do spend money. You know what the webmasters get for this great service that means serious dollars for the team? Nary an acknowledgment from the team. No support whatsoever that I am aware of, but SDS can correct me if I'm wrong. In fact, ask PTS, who started the first major fan site back in the late 90s, what he got after he started posting Jeanneret highlights -- nice letter from the legal department. But I digress... There are lots of ways to be a good fan, and it doesn't always boil down to dollars. Someone living a stone's throw from the arena might never attend a game but be a bigger fan than the season ticket holder in an expensive club suite.

 

Re: "hockey crazy" when the team is winning. Hockey craziness can be quantified in many ways. Not just attendance went up last season. Merchandise sales did. TV and radio ratings went up, especially in the playoffs. Heck, the number of posts on this board went through the roof. If you don't think this is a fairweather hockey town, you're not paying attention.

[jad1]

jad... Sorry, I misread your comment about being in favor of signing Briere to a fictional $18 million contract if they could still fit the rest of the team "under the cap." I somehow thought that meant spending up to the cap. My bad.

 

One of the ways I and hundreds of others support the team from remote locations is by helping to build online fan communities like this. Whether it's SDS, who is ponying up the dough, Corp and others, who are ponying up their time to work as moderators, or the person who posts once a month, we are all doing the Sabres a great service by making it possible for many fans to stay in touch with their hometown team. That was awfully tough before the advent of the Internet and message boards like this. And guess what? Those fans, myself included, do spend money. You know what the webmasters get for this great service that means serious dollars for the team? Nary an acknowledgment from the team. No support whatsoever that I am aware of, but SDS can correct me if I'm wrong. In fact, ask PTS, who started the first major fan site back in the late 90s, what he got after he started posting Jeanneret highlights -- nice letter from the legal department. But I digress... There are lots of ways to be a good fan, and it doesn't always boil down to dollars. Someone living a stone's throw from the arena might never attend a game but be a bigger fan than the season ticket holder in an expensive club suite.

 

Re: "hockey crazy" when the team is winning. Hockey craziness can be quantified in many ways. Not just attendance went up last season. Merchandise sales did. TV and radio ratings went up, especially in the playoffs. Heck, the number of posts on this board went through the roof. If you don't think this is a fairweather hockey town, you're not paying attention.

 

While I appreciate this website, and enjoy posting on the board, I try not to fool myself into believing that this is a two way street. The Sabres really don't get much from this board, and if you believe that they'd rather you post a message here than buy a ticket, you're badly mistaken.

 

The Sabres are a business, and the support that they care about is financial, and not much else. After all, how do the Sabres benefit when you claim on this board Golisano wants to sell the team? How do they benefit when we tell everyone to boycott the merchandise with the new logo? How do they benefit when we turn on a player because he had a bad game?

 

The Sabres have their own media outlets lined up that they would prefer we frequent. It's a great credit to SDS and the crew of moderators that we choose to post here instead. Hell, we have a thread bashing Schopp and the Bulldog because we think that they're touting the company line over the logo redesign. Think the Sabres appreciate that?

 

No doubt that the Sabres want a buzz created in the area, but if that buzz doesn't translate into ticket-sales, it doesn't do them much good.

 

It just seems hypocritical to me that you claim that Sabres fans who don't attend games, like you don't, are fair-weathered while you're true-blue.

 

 

 

I

[Stoner]

While I appreciate this website, and enjoy posting on the board, I try not to fool myself into believing that this is a two way street. The Sabres really don't get much from this board, and if you believe that they'd rather you post a message here than buy a ticket, you're badly mistaken.

 

I don't believe that the Sabres would rather see me post a message than buy a ticket, and didn't imply it, and if that's what you're hinting, well, that's a heckuva strawman right there. The point was, and it obviously went over your head, that there are many ways to support a team, and one significant way these days is to help create an online community for fans, something that the team apparently cannot do itself. And I have been helping to do that since 1998 or so. And the fact that there are online presences for fans helps the Sabres maintain its fan base.