Eleven

You have no idea how long I can take in the bathroom if I need to sit down to do my business. I want a view of the game. I want to feel like I'm above the ice. Pooping on the Flyers. Also, a newspaper and cigars. I am, but in some of these cities, they are making money off of it. I was at Navy-ND last year in Baltimore, and wow, those premium areas (I charmed my way in; my ticket was a nosebleed) were full, were nice, and people were spending money.

That indeed is a feature of newer and recently-remodeled stadiums and arenas, but there's no reason that the Arena can't pull it off. M&T Stadium in Baltimore, for example, is only two years younger than the Arena, and handled a similar remodel well. (See my post upthread also; they intend to have more "milling around" areas.)

Yes, but my Hasek and Max will beat you. I mean it. Without passing, Gretzky is neutered by Hasek. Afinogenov, on the other hand, will beat the paddle of ETHRON all day long.

In other news, @PASabreFan has lost it. He has lost it. He's down four-nothing and he's blown his cool...he's flipped his lid!

Here is the full announcement: https://www.nhl.com/sabres/news/terry-pegula-sabres-president-organizational-restructure/c-345685802 There's not much to it. It's pretty impossible to tell why they're doing it. Could be a million reasons. Did the music end of the business ever get off the ground? We know the food didn't do well, and the fashion experiments were, umm...bad. They sold off the Beauts and I don't know how well the hotel and training departments do, either. Then there's Kim's health to consider, too. We can speculate all month long if we want to but I don't think we're going to know anything until the next shoe drops, if even then.

I've stood outside of it, and walked around it, many times. Did you read my edit about 5 posts above? Half of my family lives outside of Chicago. I'm pretty familiar.

I'm not going to ask for a source because I don't really care, but you're going to somehow fit one into the other? (Not to mention that you've only got two dimensions going there.) They aren't significantly different in size; they just are not. The difference is negligible. And one is in the fifth largest city in NA and the other is in Buffalo.

I edited and no way.

OK let's not get crazy here. No. You could not. It has 700 more seats than the arena for hockey, and it's not as large in circumference (from my experience walking around it and not from any scientific study or anything).

I'm sure people did.

It wasn't in the article, as I recall, but this was: They may do away with some seating to allow for more fluid viewing options like in some newer arenas/stadiums/etc., where people can mingle and still watch the game. Think of Heron's Landing at Pilot Field or the clubs at whatever the Bills stadium is called now. The arena has one such area on the 200 level as it is, but it is very small and very restricted--maybe a dozen people. Meanwhile, as early as 1998, stadiums like Fedex Field had cigar bars where one could stand, sit, wander at one's leisure, still with a great view of the game. The ballpark in Pittsburgh has an area like this, too. It's pretty cool. As for it not being a priority, I remember that being in the article and I'm irritated about it. The seating is the worst part of the arena, followed closely by the sound and the food. The video screen really isn't a priority at all.

The more I think about it, the more I think the on-rink projector debuted with the current scoreboard in 2007. They definitely used it to show highlights as part of the pre-game presentation. It wasn't just lasers in face-off circles; it was a rink-sized video screen, and it was awesome. Maybe it broke or something?

I haven't seen it recently--I think I haven't seen it in ten years. And I've been a STH within the last ten years.

Yep. I don't think the Sabres would have tape of Rick's first TV broadcast. I just would bet against it.

No, the current arena definitely had an on-ice projection system at some point in the 2000s.

They used to have one. They may even have been the first to have one.

You're in radio, aren't you? And you know how radio stations keep archives or don't?

I'm aware. And yet the Bills still don't have a #2 on the roster. Perhaps he will emerge as other teams squeeze out other players. (Yes, it was deliberate. That one, too.)

Kyle Allen is a nightmare. I don't know what the Bills bid on Trey Lance (it didn't work), but they need a backup on the team like right now.

I could very well be wrong here, but unless it was a momentous game, like a 10-1 beating of the Bruins or a playoff game or something, I'd bet not. It's just not what we used to do. Even now, the Internet Archive strains to recover "old" software from the 1990s. EDIT: You know you really could help with this question is @PromoTheRobot so I am summoning.

Don't count on it. It's only very recently that we as a culture have started to save everything.

He looks like Peter Venkman.

Yep. Of course, I had much better eyesight then...maybe I wouldn't like it so much now.

Good. It's large enough as it is. And it's the least of the problems. It was pretty awesome when the scoreboards were in the corners and you could see clear across the arena.

I've described my experience having drinks with Rick Martin before. Apparently I'm the only person he wasn't nice to! Maybe I look like a jerk or maybe I was one (but that's not normally my thing) or maybe he just wanted a quiet few to himself. Gil, I never had drinks with. My only experiences with him are at the nave of the church, when I was a child, as above or elsewhere. Again, kind head-par and shush. The interactions as adults have been far more revealing. Chris Simon, for example, was a complete jerk. Don Luce, the opposite. It just depends on the person.