PASabreFan

And civil unrest. Didn't see that one coming, didja Bettsy? (said in the voice of Torts)

Apparently minor fire at the Erie Otters offices in Erie related to protesting there.

Since?

I think what I wrote was we can lose with Jack or lose without him. I'm just not married to any of these guys. I find it bizarre Taro would not be a Sabre fan any longer if Eichel and Dahlin ever leave. Sports is about constant change. Here's one: you give the new Seattle GM a choice, you can have the Sabres roster or build your team under the conditions that the Vegas franchise was seeded. What would he do?

The question is real (and it's spectacular). It's just another way to think about getting the franchise out of its rut, which I think is hauntingly similar to the rut it was in in the fall of 1991 (15 years since glory days, almost 10 years into a playoff drought, quaintly defined in the 80s and 90s as not winning a playoff series). Either way, what a seemingly hopeless situation: keeping Jack or trading Jack (they're keeping Jack), success depends on having good management and non-meddling ownership, which we don't have.

In case anyone's interested in what's actually going on with Covid-19 in the U.S., the CDC puts out weekly summary every Friday. The data continues to be generally good. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/covidview/index.html

I'm chuckling but not sure why.

I don't understand the jab. It's a real question.

And that ingredient was? Are we back to the pre-draft ranking of 2015? McDavid is the top player in the game and Eichel second? That's a bit much. Turgeon-LaFontaine was a good-old fashioned hockey trade of two players who wanted and needed to move on. The personality change for the Sabres did wonders for the fans and altered the course of the franchise. Pat did a lot to get the Sabres into a new arena and on the path to a near-Cup by decade's end, even though he was gone by then.

It's astounding to me that someone who bonded so instantly with the fan base would go on to have almost ZERO interactions with the fan base, especially given his dubious (in my opinion) but accepted claim of being a long-time fan. He simply doesn't talk to us. Unless through the rare post-firing/hiring presser. Social media gives him the perfect opportunity to communicate with his peeps. I know he has a flip phone, but he has kids who could hook him up like Biden (and Kim surely knows how to Zoom). The fact he doesn't talk to us is interesting. Is he so gaffe-prone he doesn't trust himself, or maybe Kim doesn't? Does he fear accidentally speaking the truth, like the time he called into WGR and bragged about how the summer of 2011 was something he wanted to do? Is he truly not a fan and afraid of being exposed? I'd like to get him in a dark alley and make him tell me how he really felt when the puck landed on Mario's stick very late in Game 6 and ended up behind Dom. Where's Perreault? Where's Pegula?

The following study from 2017 seems like it might be the one you're referencing. The study indicates that homemade and surgical masks significantly reduced the expelling of microoganisms, but surgical masks were three times better in that regard. "Better than no protection" is misleading because it gives the idea that cloth masks aren't doing much, when the study clearly showed otherwise. Anyway, I'm a little tired of debating whether cloth masks help during a pandemic of a respiratory disease. Next time you sneeze, pull up you shirt and sneeze into it. Did less material get expelled? I'm also weary of asinine conspiracy theories. In the end, I'm losing. No masking of workers at my Aldi now, no masking of postal clerk in my post office. I'll vote with my feet, and let the companies know I'm doing so. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24229526/ Abstract Objective: This study examined homemade masks as an alternative to commercial face masks. Methods: Several household materials were evaluated for the capacity to block bacterial and viral aerosols. Twenty-one healthy volunteers made their own face masks from cotton t-shirts; the masks were then tested for fit. The number of microorganisms isolated from coughs of healthy volunteers wearing their homemade mask, a surgical mask, or no mask was compared using several air-sampling techniques. Results: The median-fit factor of the homemade masks was one-half that of the surgical masks. Both masks significantly reduced the number of microorganisms expelled by volunteers, although the surgical mask was 3 times more effective in blocking transmission than the homemade mask. Conclusion: Our findings suggest that a homemade mask should only be considered as a last resort to prevent droplet transmission from infected individuals, but it would be better than no protection.

Show of hands. Who'd go back in time and kill baby Meehan to keep him from one day trading the treasure of our mid 80s tank, Pierre Turgeon? Anyone? Even though Pierre lit it up with the Isles and went on to have a very lengthy and very productive career, a decade after LaFontaine had to retire, ending up as one of the best players to not be in the Hall of Fame? Didn't think so. And why is that?

Lakes, young ladies, the land itself, not to mention hockey teams — natural treasures granted by the Almighty to Terry himself, part of his rightful dominion. What a tool.

I find it extremely hard. Ink, what a *****. Hoo boy b oner is filtered.

Ralph wouldn't take or even want Kim's job.

What does it say that the Sabres spent to the cap and Eichel had a career year and it wasn't even enough to finish 24th? That Botterill's a bum? It tells me that for whatever reason it's not going to be practically possible to add enough around Eichel to push them all over the finish line, defined in my mind as being a serious Cup contender. That's still the bare minimum of a goal, right? Trying to do it is fine by me. I like Jack. Developing another strategy is also OK. It's logical. But my dream isn't Eichel lifting a Cup, it's any Sabre doing so. Call me Spock. By the way imagine five years ago someone telling this board Eichel would be elite in Year 5 and the Sabres would "go for it" in terms of spending. No one would believe it wouldn't add up to at least a playoff berth.

That's OK. I'm not here to try and prove to other fans that I'm a brilliant hockey analyst or that I know more than whoever is the GM and could do his job better. I'm smarter than Terry and Kim, that's enough for me. What got me going was the pity party for Jack. It's not quite the right tone. By the way, you can relax. I don't actually have the power to trade Jack.

Say manipulation again, Frank. num num num num num num

The "last resort/better than nothing" wording, if I'm not mistaken, was CDC guidance very early on for healthcare workers who were being exposed to sick people with the virus — a large and long exposure. It dates back to late March or early April when PPE was in short supply, and the public was deliberately misinformed so there wasn't a run on masks. I've heard this latest narrative about societal manipulation. The fact no one can explain the purpose of the manipulation is pretty telling. As for the quote marks in the sign, auto mechanics aren't ironic people. Lots of people who didn't do so goodly in English class put quotes around words in order to emphasize them. "HUGE BOGO SALE TODAY!"

On to important things. Why was Jack audio only? If he was taking some stand to the effect that no one needs to see inside my home I think I'd back him.

This should make people feel good. Have any of your big picture predictions ever panned out? Exactly how many lifers should a perennial non playoff team have?

Assuming an Eichel trade will bring back trash isn't the right way to go about debating the proposition, nor are insults and self congratulation. You seem to be suggesting that Jack is so good it would be impossible to trade him and win the trade. You would have hated the idea of trading Pierre Turgeon. Trading Jack is a thought experiment. In mine the Sabres have a good GM and win the trade. Your experiment relies on that GM's ability to put the right pieces around a 10 million player to just get into the playoffs... because we just learned near-peak Eichel isn't enough. Sorry, I'm not married to the guy. Win the trade and he's another guy who gets booed in Buffalo. Lose it... we suck. We already suck. The Sabres are hydrochloroquine to me. I'll take my chances with a risky cure. What do we have to lose? That said he's not getting traded.

I didn't love the ROR trade nor did I hate it. The beat went on. Nor do I argue for trading Eichel. But it would be fine with me. Trade the whole team. What are we clinging to? The notion that The Plan is going to gloriously succeed one of these years? Trade the whole team and if we're in a playoff run in the spring of 2021 I can guarantee it's going to be, "Rasmi who?" It's the nature of fandom. I cheer for the crest on the front.

I was hoping for more than a fanboi response. It's good to consider all angles. Maybe Jack is such a massive Masshole he's intolerable to his teammates and there's a toxic atmosphere in the lockerroom. It's not just put your stick on the ice and be the team's best player and get absolved of all blame for one terrible year after another.

I clearly qualified my comment.