SDS

I don't think that's true. They seemed shoulder to shoulder to me but the defender was on the wrong side. OTOH, The call in overtime was complete horseshit.

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I agree with this one...

haha. Now I get it. :thumbsup:

Well, the last sentence describes a semi-annual event over the course of 14 years. What are you saying?

The inference was for the layer beyond that. That because of that short sentence (with no context) that somehow meant there was a larger force at action. Sometimes a travel article is really just a travel article and sometimes a few politically correct words about a group of people are just some politically correct words... What didn't happen was in the video. Picture the scene with Gilbert as the NASA director and calling all hands on deck into the Sabres War Room... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhoXFVQsIxw Where the dialog would be how the organization was going to handle Lorne's inquiries on hotel sheet thread counts, farm to table supply chains and what level of reception opposing fans would receive. The President did not call down to check on the Lorne travel article situation. There was no after action debriefing. As an aside, I'm not sure how many people have actually been interviewed for a written article. I happen to have been quite a few times (no big deal, just saying I have). I once talked with Judy Battista from NYT/NFL.com for well over an hour. The article she wrote gave me two sentences. Although I was never misrepresented by her, you never know what response from what question is going to make it.

Looking at some numbers today and I realize I need to really address it better than I have. Both TBD and SS get 38% of their traffic from mobile and about 12% tablet (although this is less of a concern). I know the mobile view of the forum is pretty spartan. This also dovetails in that this version of the software is EOL in 14 months. My choices are probably to upgrade IPB to 4.0 series or move to Xenforo. IPB has treaded water for years and while not a dying platform it isn't growing either. Xenforo is growing by leaps and bounds taking share away from IPB and vBulletin. Does anyone visit another forum that has really a good mobile experience? Here are the two mobile skins (if you are reading this on mobile - else it is just their default desktop skin)) for IPB and Xenforo: IPB: https://community.invisionpower.com/ Xenforo: https://xenforo.com/community/ Would be interested in your thoughts.

It is hard to understand how badly this is being misinterpreted. The Sabres were definitely doing the touting. The difference is that a third party was pulling the information from them - they were not pushing it. The path of least resistance between the author and payday was how quickly he could repackage the information he asked for and was subsequently given. To channel my inner GDD... If a dog does his business in a park, some people witness this and think the dog just pooped. Another group who witnessed the same event decided to speculate that ISIS could have infected the dog with a fatal virus and the dog has been sent to distribute the deadly virus among the population via the drinking wells. When the owner, a Jewish lady in her mid-50's, is confronted with questions regarding the defecation, the owner is concerned that everyone is on drugs and is frightened that seemingly reasonable people have in-depth questions about a lawn turd. Truly frightened. After reporting this back to the masses that the dog was just indeed taking a poop, the ISIS speculators retort that of course the owner was going to deny the distribution of a deadly virus by their biological warfare delivery vehicle, duh! and continue to chortle about the lack of evidence disproving their perfectly reasonable theory.

No. The take was that he was able to field a competitive team on a shoestring budget.

We may have had one but it wasn't used. If it was I would still use it. Live game chats are usually fairly useless because they are immediate reactions with no context. Although not so much an issue now, 100 people reloading a thread over and over used to strain the server. A message board just isn't the right tool for that, but people are creatures of habit.

Open season in games 81 and 82? :)

10 years down the road and I would contend there is some selection bias here. Those of us who remain have been willing to tolerate that hyperbole, ignore the calls to fire the national anthem anthem singer, ignore the complaints of what row Terry Pegula sat in when he watched his first game. Although I should not be counted in that because over the years I have disappeared for long stretches. Why? Because like many before me who logged off and never came back I could not stand to read another day of team storm cloud. However, I keep coming back because I actually pay the bills. I have been doing this for 18 years and I have met hundreds of members. Granted, most of those have been on the Bills side. I will tell you that the number one reason people tell me why they stop visiting a message board is that they can no longer stand the negativity. Anecdotal? Yes. But it completely jives with my own personal experience.

I was ready to just call it a day regarding this situation, but I would like to riff off this if I may... When I first read the original post, I was fairly disgusted at the sight of yet another smear campaign being launched by the OP. Despite the wailings of the uninformed, I did what I do 99.9% of time - I ignored it. I did not intervene, comment, warn nor perform any action. I then checked back and saw LGR4GM's post. My level of disgust grew because he was baited into that reply. Again, I chose to ignore the thread because after years of this, after you tolerate it for so long, your instinct is just to tolerate more. I did not intervene, comment, warn nor perform any action. In fact, no moderator stepped in. Heavy-handed indeed! :rolleyes: (I later learned that LGR4GM decided to step away from the board. I'm sensing a theme here...) Later that evening, a member sent in an official complaint. That's normally when we step in - when someone asks us to (oh, the oppression...). While it was clear LGR4GM's comments were not worded according to community standards, it was also clear that the original post was meant to inflame. Stanley cup being flushed down the toilet? Games to be played in Hamilton? Gratuitous pot shots at the "fanatic superfan" owner? All over a single sentence? NONE of that verbiage was necessary to strike up a conversation about opposing teams fans in the building. NONE. Whatever legitimate discussion point the OP was attempting to make was drowned out in inflammatory rhetoric. So, a warning was issued to both parties... and I'll stand behind that 100%. And no, I don't care to hear anyone's rebuttal regarding this. Not your circus. No one was banned, no posts removed (LGR4GM deleted his own post). Just a simple request to stop being an asshat. My word, not chz's. Instead of the OP discussing this in private (or give enough time to discuss it in private... you know, like a responsible person confused by the situation would do), it was decided that his PRIVATE warning should IMMEDIATELY be the start of a PUBLIC spectacle. You know, the kind of spectacle we all enjoyed last December when he took it upon himself to announce GDD's departure. And that was my match meet gasoline moment. This is where the OP continually raises his middle finger to me and the other volunteers. It was a bush league, divisive, dick move that accomplished nothing constructive. He posted that to create chaos and chaos is what we all got. That's the moment when I decided speak up. That's a deliberate disruption of the community. Moderators should have the ability to contact people in private and work out issues without the Mean Girls' drama. We are not the enemy and we will not be treated as such. And there is your timeline for anyone still harboring the notion that opinion is being stifled and moderation is heavy-handed or wondering why this thread became a lightning rod. Easily 98% of all members that have came through the doors of TBD or SS have never had a post deleted or have been warned by a moderator. Participating conflict free in my communities comes with a giant red EASY button. How hard can it possibly be? The amount of work you need to do to overcome my desire to avoid conflict is immense. I would say 2% of the members command 98% of our attention. Well over 5 million posts have passed through our communities. Just a little perspective...

So basically you have decided to double down on ignorance? They did not "offer" a premeditated quote. There wasn't a staff meeting on how to answer the travel blog writer. Mike answered a simple innocuous question. I later spoke to the author on the phone and your interpretation is wrong. He is a Sabres fan. He was there. He knows exactly the context of everything that was said. Although I'm not going to make public what he really said, to paraphrase using my own words, every single thing you said about the situation is garbage. Utter garbage. Your insistence in using any words from that article against the Buffalo Sabres is your insistence to lie about the organization. And this is the garbage that I'm tired of having on Sabrespace.

Is it interesting? Have you ever been critical of Sabres management? Have you ever been warned? I wonder what percentage of posters here have been critical - even highly critical of the Sabres management in the last 10 years...? If you told me it was close to 100% I would believe it. How many people do you think were warned for doing so? If you told me 2 - I would believe that too. 100,000's posts and I bet that number comes in at 2-3. So, if you find that interesting, well you're an odd duck. What smacks of money making? Do you mean like Pegulaville?

Revisiting the original post...

I just exchanged emails with Lorne Opler. I asked him specifically about the question/context around Mike's Stanley Cup dream killing words... The poor guy is rightfully confused as hell as to why anyone would require clarification on that article... Apparently Lorne didn't find Mike's comments "indefensible"...

Or death by a million bitter posts tearing down a team you claim to love, but despise at every turn, regardless if they actually did anything despiteful in the first place. You admittedly knew this would be a "hot topic" because you enjoy being a troll. "Hot topics" don't originate from puff pieces in the travel section of local newspapers, unless someone is willing to bend and twist the situation to illicit that hot reaction you know all so well. That's the definition of a troll - a person who writes inflammatory posts to create a negative reaction. It is what you do. Some tolerate it. Some find it tiresome and get chased away. If you can't stand the site then find something else that you do enjoy. It's not unprecedented. This is supposed to be a place of enjoyment and despite the constant animosity you show us - we do try to make this a place where everyone can enjoy themselves. How many people do you think have silently left because they no longer enjoyed the daily drumbeat of two guys endlessly ruining thread after thread bashing the front office? Although the phrasing of LGR4GM's outburst was inappropriate and was rightfully warned about it, I hope everyone stops for a second to think about WHY he reacted like that. It wasn't random. He doesn't have Turrets. There are two sides to every story. He happened to have reached the end of his tolerance for those juicy "hot topics" like scores of others before him. Most others just log-off and leave... many for good. Just give that a thought. Not everyone has the ability to dismiss this junk every day, forever. I spoke to Mike Gilbert tonight. You know - to actually get some facts instead of building a daily straw man to knockdown and piss the word "Pegulaville" over it. (Everyone knows the original poster certainly meant "Pegulaville" as a term of endearment, not derision - right? Because what type of person would deride the attempted rebirth of a region that is going on in Buffalo? Something to ponder.) Anyways... The author, Lorne, is from Buffalo, who lives in Toronto. As a freelance writer, he probably gets about $100 an article. He got an idea for easy money writing a puff piece for the travel section of the online paper for Hamilton and gave Mike a call 2 months ago asking if he could come in and get some information about the Harborcenter. Mike said: - Lorne contacted him two months ago and requested information regarding a local destination travel piece he was writing (He was probably home for Thanksgiving as he is from Buffalo but lives in Toronto) - The Sabres did NOT initiate contact with Lorne. - Mike sent him to a lower level employee who provided the details Lorne requested for his article. (If people are unfamiliar with the style of destination travel pieces - try reading some. It's formula. It sounded like a press release because that's the nature of the genre. The Sabres provided the information as requested, but Lorne was responsible for the final copy. If you don't like the fact that it sounded like a press release then blame him.). - Lorne asked Mike a few questions because he wanted another voice for the article. - The article does not say what question elicited Mike's response, nor did I ask Mike. (Probably an important fact before one criticizes the response. Not hard to imagine Mr. Travel writer guy asking a question specifically about Leaf fans that required him to directly answer about Leaf fans. A shocking assertion.). - Mike the VP of Public and Community Relations chose/choses to welcome all hockey fans to enjoy a game at Harborcenter. (It is what they do in community relations - welcome the community.) - 18% of all sales come from SO/Hamilton. Most are Sabres fans (he presumes), but there are Montreal/Toronto fans too. Fans of the game are welcome. Period. (as if there is any other acceptable answer here from the Community Relations guy) - Notes that atmosphere at the arena much more lively when the Leafs play and it makes for a better experience for everyone in attendance. (Kudos to those who mentioned this) - He wishes all games could have a similar atmosphere, but recognizes that they don't. - Says the Sabres lose money. - Marketing department had nothing to do with that article. Strictly a Community Relations response to an information inquiry from a Toronto-based travel writer wanting to highlight the Harborcenter. So, that's the big bad boogieman for you. Those incompetent front office buffoons... Two guys do their job in the least noteworthy way possible, one quotes the other (and edits to the greatest appeal of his target audience while not providing any context) and some see that as another opening to create a "hot topic" to cast another round of aspersions on the franchise. Because, you know, everyone goes waaaaaay out of their way to constantly crap on something they "love" - right? My only question is what could possibly be next? The national anthem singer has already been outed as a problem. Hard-hitting travel writers have exposed the wretched underbelly of the beast. I'm guessing someone will notice Terry's farts smell like Philly cheesesteaks and not Frank's hot sauce. Selling out to the Broad Street Bullies? Who could possibly doubt it...

There are also 60 NHL goalies taking the place of 60 borderline skaters. However, a proper team needs to have all skill sets covered. I might. Not in the least bit because it is my 1st name. :)

We loved it. The issue some people have is that the original story arc was not meant to last more than 2 (possibly 3) seasons. However, it was so successful, they needed to draw out the story. Most episodes were great, but the occasional fillers can be easily spotted. The value of the series though was really in the after episode discussion as the series is filled with symbolism and objects in search of explanation. Binge watching it alone (without friends and the internet talking about it) loses that aspect. You could read for hours and hours on end about all the theories and symbolism in the episodes. So, I thought it was great, but we watched it in real time. You will lose something if you don't look for discussions as you watch...

I guess he isn't scoring there either...

Imagine his reaction to Terry, upon buying the team, if he said in the news conference, "I loved the Sabres back in the 70's... The French Connection, or whatever they were called, were my heroes..."?

:rolleyes: The only thing embarassing is your insistence on being Mr. Contrary to everything. You do such an awesome job or word-parsing/smithing every word from the front office, why don't you take a whack at that one? As the kids say... gg

Like Eichel's 1st goal yesterday?

Ted probably doesn't know that dump and chase is a system of play. He also probably doesn't know what systems of play are.