Larry Quinn

[topshelfcookies]

I know that Larry Quinn takes a lot of heat from various members of the Sabres fan base, though I'm not sure why exactly this is. I understand that some fans either hold grudges or simply don't like people for their personal reasons...there will always be fans that are unhappy and calling for the heads of either Darcy or Lindy, just as there are people that will think JP Losman blows, simply because they're to ignorant to realize he's had 11 NFL starts (sorry, I'm getting off topic).

 

After reading the Buffalo News article regarding the Sabres continued support of SABAH found here I can't help but think that Larry Quinn is doing a pretty decent job. The last couple days, I've gone back and listened to interviews/press conferences that Quinn has given in the last few months and he seems to be, at the very least, genuine.

 

I'm not going to blame the choice of the new logo squarely on his shoulders, something as major as a logo change is not something that can get pushed through by just 1 man. Anyone who says that the choice was soley his, I believe is being ignorant. I wasn't in Buffalo at all this summer (I work at a camp in Maine each summer) and (thankfully) missed out on all the fury over the release of the new logo, but having seen it on the new jerseys, I have no problem admitting that I think that the overall look is excellent, even if the logo, when it's by itself does nothing for me. Logo talk aside, it was Quinn's deciscion to keep the Ruff and Regier show around (which paid dividends last season) and also was a force behind moving to the variable pricing schedule (which I think is genius).

 

I truly hope this post sparks some conversation about Quinn...mainly because I'd just like to get a feel for what opinions are about him. Having joined this board last January, I've come to appreciate many of the members here and will readily acknowledge that there are some very knowledgable opinions here.

 

 

What do people think of Quinn?

[Stoner]

I think Larry's personality and issues surrounding his first tenure with the team definitely poison any analysis of his record the second time around, which has been very good. The logo fiasco, however, is squarely on his shoulders. Then again, if it fills the team's coffers and makes the franchise even more viable, a lot of us are just going to look like curmudgeons who resist change and have no taste in logos. Larry will look like a genius.

 

P.S. Can't JP blow AND be inexperienced? Remember Chuck Dickerson's saying -- if they don't bite as puppies, they won't bite as dogs.

[shrader]

I think Larry's personality and issues surrounding his first tenure with the team definitely poison any analysis of his record the second time around, which has been very good. The logo fiasco, however, is squarely on his shoulders. Then again, if it fills the team's coffers and makes the franchise even more viable, a lot of us are just going to look like curmudgeons who resist change and have no taste in logos. Larry will look like a genius.

 

I don't see how the logo thing falls directly on him. Regardless of who made the choice, he's the public figurehead of the organization, so he has to support the move. Is he supposed to crap all over the design, risking his job and possible fines from the league if this indeed was a reebok driven change? Once that logo leaked out, it was a lose-lose situation for him. Knowing that they were stuck with this change, I'd love to hear suggestions for how Quinn should have handled this.

[Done]

He's a politician, but the jock-sniffer in him keeps him from being a total slimeball. I really think he wants to leave his mark and get the credit in the long term, so in order to get the credit, it has to be good. In that regard he has the team's best interests in mind. If he was all slimeball politician, he wouldn't take this jersey fiasco to heart...he really wouldn't care at all.

[Bmwolf21]

I don't see how the logo thing falls directly on him. Regardless of who made the choice, he's the public figurehead of the organization, so he has to support the move. Is he supposed to crap all over the design, risking his job and possible fines from the league if this indeed was a reebok driven change? Once that logo leaked out, it was a lose-lose situation for him. Knowing that they were stuck with this change, I'd love to hear suggestions for how Quinn should have handled this.

I think that's a pretty big "if" right there, but it is a definite possibility, one that I think makes more and more sense. I think that given the backlash against the logo when it was leaked, if it were the Sabres' decision alone to roll out this monstrosity of a logo, I truly believe we would have heard something from Golisano about the fans' passion and suppoort for the team, and how they are going to keep the jersey designs but re-do the logo. As a successful businessman, I can't imagine Tommy would sit back and let the team continue to suffer potshot after potshot, unless this was a Rbk- and NHL-driven design, so he is probably biting his tongue (and hopefully waiting for the OK from the NHL to at least tweak the logo.) Maybe that's all my dream, but I cannot imagine that as the owner, he wants to sit there and piss off his customers.

 

I think LQ has (probably somewhat unfairly) taken the brunt of the logo heat (we should be just as pissed at Rbk for aiding & abetting this crap redesign, and at the NHL for failing to protect the traditions of one of its clubs and the league), but that comes with the territory of being president of any company. Looking back at his statements following the impromptu press conference, LQ said just about all the right things, but I think people are still turned off by a perceived smug, smarter-than-you attitude which seems to shine through every time he talks to the media. (The constant ball-washing by the shills at WGR doesn't help, either.)

 

And as the first poster mentioned, I think there are a lot of WNY'ers who are either actively holding a grudge against LQ or waiting for him to slip up, due to any numbers of reasons, including his first go-round with the club, the Ted Nolan, John Muckler & Dominik Hasek debacle, his involvement with the slow-moving harbor/waterfront development project, his politican roots (we all love politicians in WNY, don't we.) He has been involved in a lot of good things for the team, but it usually takes just one bad decision to erase a ton of good work and goodwill from the community.

 

BTW, here is a pretty good read on LQ from Business First, although it is a couple years old.

[Barnabov]

That was an outstanding article bmwolf21! Thank you for your linking it. Not being from Buffalo but rather 2 1/2 hours east, it was hard to understand the history surrounding him & animosity on the board from his first go-around (which the article doesn't duck but does a good job of laying out).

 

Except for Logo-gate, I'd say Quinn has carried himself well on this 2nd stint & if he has to screw something up, I'd prefer it be a cosmetic issue like the logo and not a personnel or worse issue which would affect team peformance.

 

Besides, I think as dave_B has pointed out several times, if people "vote with their wallets", the logo matter will sort itself out. So - buy the original 3rd jersey and hopefully in a few years, Quinn et al will realize that the Slug is not selling merchandise & redesign it.

[Taro T]

I was critical of Quinn during his 1st go around for several items beyond what was written in the article BM quoted. I was not happy when I found out he would be, not just part of Golisano's team, but leading it.

 

I also stated that since I, obviously, had no say in the matter, that he should be given a clean slate and I would give him the benefit of the doubt as to whether he had learned from his mistakes.

 

So far, he has done a much better job than he did the last time. He seems, for the most part, to concern himself with business matters - which he seems to know a fair deal about, and trust the hockey people to make hockey decisions - which I suspect he knows much less about.

 

He's been willing to try innovative things, which with a small market is a good thing. We have seen that he will run with those ideas that work, e.g. variable pricing by game; we have yet to see how he responds to innovations that aren't as successful. If he has grown as a person and a manager since his 1st presidency, I think he can be very successful. Depending upon how well the new logo sells, we may get our 1st chance to see how he deals with those less successful innovations in ~1 year's time. (Here's hoping.)

 

He definitely is a bright guy and a politician. In his current position that should be a good thing, especially if he manages to get a lead role (or more accurately, an influential role) within the NHL ownership heirarchy.

 

He has to be careful with what he presents to the fans. (Many still seem to see him as smug or arrogant; those are not character traits that are looked at fondly in Buffalo and often are not forgiven.) For the most part, he has stayed out of the limelight this time around, which is most likely a good thing. When he has been in the limelight, he has been able to make whatever the issue that brought him to the forefront was remain the issue; whereas in the past, IMHO he made most appearances about himself rather than the issue at hand. I think he handled the recent press conferences and radio interviews about as well as he could have, given the circumstances.

 

Being on the outside looking in, I have no idea where he, and the Sabres for that matter, fit into the logo incident. If it has been driven by Reebok &/or the league, I think he's handled it very well. If the Sabres were the driving force behind the final version of the final product, then I am not as impressed. For now I am giving him the benefit of the doubt on that one.

 

Overall, I have been happy with the organization under Golisano's and his leadership. There are issues that still raise caution flags, but there are also some things that have been tried that may yet turn into home runs. Even with the logo flap, I give him strong passing grades.

[nfreeman]

Friends, respectfully, I don't like the logo much either (but I think the overall look of the jerseys is pretty nice), but at the end of the day it is only skin deep. I'm much more focused on the bodies wearing the jerseys.

 

On this count I think we should all be pretty pleased with LQ. We don't know how much credit he should get (ie as compared with TG and DR) for increasing the payroll by 30% and locking up the core of this team to long-term deals, but I'm guessing he was instrumental in the decision-making process. He still faces the challenges of working out deals with Briere and Drury and healing Timmy's noggin. If these things happen we should give him pretty high marks.

[elcrusho]

He looked lost yesteryday when I saw him...

[LabattBlue]

Larry Quinn's good deeds...Helps out SABAH & kids football organization. Great, but what does this have to do with him being an adequate managing partner of the Sabres?

 

 

Larry Quinn's bad ideas...blue ice, hulking goalposts, slug logo & wanting to skate with the Sabres in alumni games. God only knows what else is going on behind closed doors. I wonder whose idea it was to scout by videotape instead of traveling? <_<

 

 

Go back to being a construction manager!!

[shrader]

Larry Quinn's good deeds...Help's out SABAH & kid's football organization. Great, but what does this have to do with him being an adequate managing partner of the Sabres?

 

Positive press is always a good thing.

 

Larry Quinn's bad ideas...blue ice, hulking goalposts, slug logo & wanting to skate with the Sabres in alumni games. God only knows what else is going on behind closed doors. I wonder whose idea it was to scout by videotape instead of traveling? <_<

Go back to being a construction manager!!

 

I doubt that these were actually his ideas. Someone on the hockey side of the organization probably came up with this stuff. Anyway, I don't see this as a bad thing at all. The league was hurting badly, in the middle of the lock out. By constantly offering these new ideas, the team kept it's name in the news. Even if it was only 12 people, hockey talk was good for the team.

[LabattBlue]

Positive press is always a good thing.

I doubt that these were actually his ideas. Someone on the hockey side of the organization probably came up with this stuff. Anyway, I don't see this as a bad thing at all. The league was hurting badly, in the middle of the lock out. By constantly offering these new ideas, the team kept it's name in the news. Even if it was only 12 people, hockey talk was good for the team.

Whether they were initially his ideas or not(he was the person announcing them), he's the man at the top and therefore I assume that all decisions are run by him and approved by him.

[shrader]

Whether they were initially his ideas or not(he was the person announcing them), he's the man at the top and therefore I assume that all decisions are run by him and approved by him.

 

I still see no problem with it. At least people were putting in some thought on how to improve the game. Maybe they weren't the best of ideas, but sometimes a bad idea can lead to a good one.

[SabresForCup]

I think Larry has done a good job.

[Bmwolf21]

I think Larry has done a good job.

Why? I'm not trying to be a smartass, just wondering why you feel he has done a good job.