K-9

Not enough if you ask me. The minimum should have been the rest of the season with no definitive date of reinstatement next season. GO SABRES!!!

I really hope Foligno can add something to that line. But I refuse to have my hopes dashed yet again by expecting ANY consistency out of him. GO SABRES!!!

You really are quite smitten with yourself, aren't you? GO SABRES!!!

The answer is, "neither", then. Just so long as you weren't being a dick. GO SABRES!!!

Two things strike me on that goal: Sweet! And the Columbus D really sucks. GO SABRES!!!

Marketing to Leafs fans as Leafs fans would be a waste of ad dollars. I think they know that. Saying all fans are welcome to experience a new Buffalo renaissance experience while attending a game for a travel article in an out of town paper circulated in a region they have aggressively marketed to since their inception (with great results, btw), is not only not a waste of ad dollars, it is an advertisement with NO ad dollars needed. Smart. GO SABRES!!! Great stuff, here! GO SABRES!!! Are you enjoying my joke or just being a dick? Not always apparent which way you lean. GO SABRES!!!

Relax. There are no "facts" to parse here and I am not speculating or theorizing about anything. It just struck me as funny because PA's original OP was really hung up on the aspect of Gilbert's welcoming statement to Leafs fans. GO SABRES!!!

So, opposing fans in attendance is OK but it's not OK for the Sabres front office to say it's OK. OK. GO SABRES!!!

It isn't? That is not the take-away I got from your OP. Indeed, it was ALL about what Gilbert said and the disloyalty that comment suggested in the minds of the myopic. GO SABRES!!!

Get over yourself, my post applies to everyone. I enjoy much of what you offer here, but your crusades are just as tiresome as others. I don't automatically assume, when I click on one of your threads, that it is gonna be another one. Sometimes you have to sift through the muck to get to the gems. GO SABRES!!!

Why is it when the site administrator or one of the mods disagrees with a post in very certain terms, it's looked upon as a censorship move or strong armed tactic? Can't they get just as fed up and frustrated with crusades like the rest of us? GO SABRES!!!

Key word: "skills" GO SABRES!!!

Great. More fluff pieces for an owner more committed to his bottom line than trying to build a winner. GO SABRES!!!

I see we are still under the disbelief that the travel piece was all about the Sabres and Southern Ontario/Leaf fans when it touched upon the new attractions and amenities available to visitors. If those suffering from their myopia could suspend their cynicism they might see it was a nice piece about Buffalo that touts how it's a good place to spend some time and money. I'll take a visionary organization looking to boost the region and it's businesses every day of the week. GO SABRES!!!

Fans of ANY stripe have ALWAYS had an open invitation. People are acting as if this is something new for crissakes. GO SABRES!!!

Of course I cheer louder for the Sabres. Does that mean I have to hate the guy sitting next to me because he wears another team's colors? Am I a turncoat for buying the guy beer, too? Just because I can't summon the same amount of vitriol for opposing fans as others doesn't mean I am any less passionate about the Sabres. You make a false equivalency here. GO SABRES!!!

Absurd means more than just irrational so I don't want to get bogged down in an argument over semantics. Let's just say I find it silly to invest so much emotional energy into outcomes we have absolutely no control over in the first place. Letting it be a reason to hate people who cheer for other teams is phucked up entirely. You can call that passion, I call it crossing the line. GO SABRES!!!

This my reasoning for labeling it absurd. But in terms of your initial question at to the "why" and my answer of "the psychology", we have close the loop. GO SABRES!!!

Putting aside what kind of pitiful commentary on sports fans that is, nothing about that news article even remotely equates to advertising in an opposing fan base's newspaper. GO SABRES!!!

Give some thought as to where to draw the line, that is what you're really asking. The purpose of sports doesn't have to be clearly delineated and defined in order for the tenets of hospitality and good sportsmanship to apply universally. If "We love Leafs fans" is disloyal, then "We hate Leafs fans" is loyal, right? The idea that there is a segment of the fan base that would actually prefer the Sabres to take that stance is absurd. On every level. And no, sports and being a fan of a team, is not that important in the grand scheme. I'd ask you to give that some thought if I didn't already think you have. GO SABRES!!!

It's about the "outrage" over the term "We love Leafs fans", attributed to Gilbert in the article and how it would have been preferable for those "outraged" fans for him to use the term, "We hate Leafs fans" as a way for the Sabres to show their "loyalty" to this long suffering fan base. The Sabres have always marketed to Southern Ontario and have always embraced that fan base, regardless of their fan allegiance to the teams they support. It's the right thing to do on EVERY level. Outrage over that is a childish response in my book. I can't fathom how a reasonable adult can hold that position. GO SABRES!!!

I have to justify why hatred for fans of opposing teams that play a phucking GAME is childish? Really? Consider the "passion" you use to justify it summarily dismissed. I'm out. GO SABRES!!!

What term would you prefer? Would naive be better? Sorry, but the idea of hating opposing fans is childish. GO SABRES!!!

How dare that Russ Brandon be good at his job in sports marketing. Still not seeing how Gilbert's response to an out of town reporter's questions for a travel piece is "courting" or that Brandon had anything to do with it. Just glad the tinfoil is till in the drawer. Imagine if it wasn't! GO SABRES!!!

Please don't get carried away here. In the context of this thread and the question posed, the idea of not being welcoming to opposing fans is a childish response. If you choose to make that mean more than I really intend, feel free. But it is not an insult on my behalf. GO SABRES!!! LOL! I DEMAND THAT THE SABRES FRONT OFFICE HATE LEAFS FANS AS MUCH AS I DO!!!