Eleven

That's exactly why it should be given less weight, frankly. Other than Mel Kiper (who gets a LOT wrong), draft pundits (who also get a LOT wrong) panned it. Beane got very, very lucky there. And I'm glad he did. But let's also not forget that Mahomes was right there for the Bills the year before (I do not think Beane had been hired yet, though), and while the Bills got an excellent CB out of that, it's not really the same as a QB with two Super Bowl rings. (I believe the other returns from the trade--Edmunds and then some complicated thing with the Rams that I can't quite trace--are gone.) So great. Beane drafted Allen. He hasn't done very well since, regardless of what some inscrutable chart says.

In 2006 you could have said the same about Sabres fans in Carolina.

Because it is pathetic. It was pathetic when Carolina started it and it is pathetic now.

The person II don't remember who it was) who referred to the "powerful owner" was referring to Jacobs, not Pegula.

40-45 points.

There's this special place on the Genesee River just for him. It's called "Rochester." Unless he can learn to cook a decent steak, in which case Russell's or Chop House are good options.

What does it even mean? That some guy thought that the Bills did the 6th best job with their first round picks in those years, the 28th best job with the second round pick, etc.? If that's what it is, well, first, it's subjective, second, it doesn't fully cover the relevant time period, and third, it's skewed (for first round) because of Allen. If it's something else, please tell me.

The drafting is outrageously horrible. Fire every scout and start over, or fire Beane and start over.

You are mistaking wealth for power. I don't think Rocky Wirtz has a whole lot of power right now, just for example...

necessary

Not the issue. There are ways for journalists, or even sportswriters, to cover those who are ill, in a sensitive and gentle manner. Graham didn't. Whether he was accurate or truthful wasn't the point. We already think he was accurate and truthful.

I don't subscribe, so all I saw was the quote. Maybe, in context, it is a gentler expression.

There's no shame in shooting for the stars and hitting the moon.

1. Yeah, that wasn't his passion, it was hers, and sadly, she's not able to carry it out right now. So it's time to put it on the shelf. 2. If they had put Healthy Scratch within walking distance of businesses other than HarborCenter and one law firm, it may have succeeded. Sue's Juicery Elmwood does (did? my experience was pre-COVID) an amazing business even though it's behind a federal security gate, because there are enough businesses within walking distance. But trying to get hockey dads to eat their sprouts and drink kale smoothies at the rink on the weekend is doomed to fail.

You're right. There were many more gentle options.

But you don't have to. You choose to. Unless and until one of the teams is in danger of moving--and I don't see that here--you really don't have to worry about anything.

Yeah, it's really been forever since a third-stringer led a team to a conference championship game. Like MONTHS, even.

1. It will be 6B by the time the new stadium opens. maybe more. 2. Don't know what you're doing here, I didn't say anything about anyone moving. As above...

No? Especially this: "For this suggestion to make sense he would need greater than 100% return on his investment." He already has greater than 100% ROI on each team. A nicer "home" for each team would increase that ROI, I'd think.

I don't even want to see me do it. That's the engineering trick for the redesigns, though.

The other posters are right. Bills fans don't care about the Sabres as much as you might think. This thread is going to be a *****-show until preseason.

You spend 1 billion if you're gonna make 6 (or even 4) with a new stadium, though. The total investment--Bills cost 1.2B (that was the purchase price), stadium costs, let's even make it big, 1.5. That's 2.7. Now. he "can sell the Bills tomorrow for 4 billion"? Get it? That's 1.3 in profit. BILLION. Again, not attacking you, just playing devil's advocate. I don't think that he will sell the Sabres. I don't think that this move is about that. But I also have NOTHING to go on, and none of us do.

You've been drinking PA's kool-aid in the first para. In the second, do you think Jessie Pegula is going to take time off from pursuing Grand Slams to run football, hockey, and lacrosse teams? Laura might be involved, but what makes you think she is more able than Terry or Kim? Again, I see the kool-aid here. In the third, really? Where was any *credible* speculation that the Pegulas were trying to sell either team before her illness? That's just plain BS. I don't like people sowing nonsense. I don't think it's nice.

Just playing devil's advocate here to show how much we DON'T know: 1. A new renovation of the arena helps the sale price. (So does a new stadium in OP for the Bills.) 2. Profit and appreciation are not the same thing. Few sports teams are profitable. The appreciation is what makes money. 3. This one is just speculation--and not idle or mean or anything like that--but just speculation. None of us really know, yeah?

The facts you articulated are beyond question. Very succinctly and correctly stated. The opinion, well, we won't know at least for a while, if we ever do. But great post.