nfreeman
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Posts posted by nfreeman
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“True Detective” — latest season, which just concluded — pretty solid — I’ll give it a B.
”Mr. And Mrs. Smith” — surprisingly good for an Amazon show — B-plus.
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This is the kind of embarrassment that TP hates and that has led to him firing GMs in the past.
It also flies in the face of KA's oft-stated theme of re-establishing the bond between the team and the community.
I don't think this gets KA fired but there had better not be many more of these black eyes.
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37 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:
Still wish the title could be tweaked to something like Harrington thinks if DG is back it's likely he'll have new staff.
It was not meant to be reporting that DG will return.
While I agree that Harrington wasn't reporting that DG will return (which is why the thread title says "indicates" and not "says" or "reports"), I don't think the bolded is the correct interpretation either.
Harrington responded "Very high" to this question: "What are the chances that meatball cleans house and brings in a news coaching team to assist him at seasons end?"
He didn't say: "If DG is retained, he will probably bring in new assistants."
And the question he was asked wasn't: "What are the chances that if DG is retained as coach, he cleans house and brings in a new staff?"
I think that if Harrington didn't think DG would be back, he would've said more than "very high" in response to the question he was asked.
Do you not think that Harrington thinks DG will be back?
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Good luck @Marvin. I hope you avoid the grim reaper. If not, I'm sure it won't be pleasant, but I will say that I know a number of very smart, very successful people who have been laid off. Sometimes it's unavoidable, but it usually works out for the best. Either way it sounds like you have very marketable skills.
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14 hours ago, Thorny said:
Besides being intentionally hyperbolic, so as to really give this franchise a challenge in trying to live up to it, im not really saying they won’t/aren’t spending. My point was that the performance of their cap setup on paper is more important than its performance on the ice. It doesn’t need to be cheap, it just needs to look like value. That’s a big difference. It’s also how KA makes trades
I merely present the real-time reaction to those deals as evidence. The reaction to those big contracts, in large majority, wasn’t about the contracts being expensive, and that the players had a lot to live up to. Nope. They were praised for their value. They were heralded upon signing.
More important to whom? Maybe to Sabrespace, but I highly doubt it matters to KA or TP. That would be ridiculous and just another type of cheapskatedness, not to mention stupid -- "yes, we're spending a ton of money, but we look like we've made a bunch of really savvy deals, so it doesn't matter that the zillions of dollars we're spending aren't producing wins."
No one writing the checks would think like that.
Wanna call them incompetent? It's sure hard to argue at this point. But if you want to call them cheap or obsessed with getting a good deal at the expense of having a good team -- I can't agree.
YMMV, of course.
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I do not believe that being economic and efficient is a priority for TP or KA. I think that was the case during the uncertainties of the Covid era, but it is no longer the case. I think the buildout of the front office and the fat contracts given to multiple young players indicate that the franchise is ready and willing to spend.
While I will not be a-tall surprised if DG is retained, I think that decision will not be based on cheapskatedness. It will be based on (i) TP's desire not to look like a clown organization that keeps firing people and (ii) KA's belief in DG.
Still a crappy outcome though.
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51 minutes ago, Pimlach said:
It’s on DG for sure, but it’s also on the players.
They have a leadership void on the team, they are friends and a “good group” but no one to effectively lead the team all call out the bad play. Could be that their players are still too young? Kyle tries, but he is not doing it enough. Z is a quiet guy.
next captain:Tuch is a good guy, but a person close to the team told me right away, his first year here, he is not a captain type.
Dahlin is harder on himself than anyone else.
Cozens maybe down the road, if they don’t ruin him.
As for DG, the team reflects his personality to some extent. Teams tend to do that.
Bottom line is the best captains have to be both pricks and mentors to everyone equally. That takes carrying a status that comes with experience and performance and being fearless. Most younger players can’t pull it off.
I totally agree, and this is a roster construction flaw that KA is accountable for.
Still, I don't think DG is the right guy.
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1 hour ago, mjd1001 said:
My reasoning? And I may be wrong but here goes.... The team was much better last year with the same head coach... What's different? Assistant coaches.
They are getting better goaltending if every nothing else would have been the same, they'd be a much better team. What's the difference? Production from the first line and cousins. All of them have had more injuries this year than last year. The power play, to me that is coaching but that's more the assistant coaches than the head coach who runs that.
Sure, it's a lot to go on, but I think DG as head coach but with a different assistant coaches and a healthier roster means this is a much better team.
Much of this is reasonable, but I can't get past, or forgive, the countless number of games this season in which they just came out in a coma. Over and freaking over they were not mentally ready to play at the opening puck drop. To me that's on DG. But I appreciate your response and that YMMV.
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4 hours ago, Weave said:
I am OK with this on one condition, KAs and DGs career depend on it working out.
If it fails, bloodbath in the front office.
I am not OK with it.
I will say though that KA choosing to keep DG on after a season like this, if that's how it plays out, should be treated by TP in the same way as KA choosing to hire a new coach -- and as you say, they both need to be fired if it doesn't work.
3 hours ago, mjd1001 said:I'm good with this.
Really?
Please explain. Not being argumentative -- I would just like to hear your reasoning. To me they are crying out for a new coach.
3 hours ago, Pimlach said:Mike Weber and Mike Peca leave for NHL asst coaching jobs on other teams and no one blinks.
They stick with DG’s and his crew. The team falters and now the report is they scapegoat the assistant coaches and not the coach or GM.
If this is true then Pegula/Adams are even worse than I thought.
It's an interesting question as to whether better assistants would've made a difference this season.
I think a team's attitude and mentality usually reflects that of the head coach.
3 hours ago, Porous Five Hole said:Mike Harrington does not have team sources. He is making an educated guess.
I agree -- but it's a bummer that this is our last, best hope.
And I don't think we can be confident that this outcome isn't at least 50% likely.
43 minutes ago, Brawndo said:As mentioned above, Harrington doesn’t exactly have sources in the Sabres Front Office, compared to Lance Lysowski.
He is working off the assumption that Pegula doesn’t want to pay Granato 3.8 million over two seasons not to coach.
I still believe that Matt Ellis and Mike Bales survive any assist coach purgeHas Lysowski issued a prediction on DG?
In any case I would be shocked if eating DG's salary affected this decision.
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Gee, I wonder how this is going to work out?
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5 hours ago, thewookie1 said:
Probably a bit of both. Let’s say 3 or 4 teams call on Mitts with moderately good offers. Adams then decides to see if he can find something more appealing. By Seeing if a team offered a RHD who’d be a legit Top 4 and could complete a pair stylistically with Dahlin or Power.
He’d rather keep him in my opinion but there are greater needs and Mitts agent may want far more than we deem fit for him.
1 hour ago, Taro T said:If Adams trades Mittelstadt for ANYTHING OTHER THAN a true #1 goalie (ain't happening; Adams believes in UPL & Levi down the road, so truly doubt he's looking to come up w/ a package for a true #1), a top 4 D that isn't out of place on the top pairing, or as part of a package for either a true top 6 C that won't be out of place as a 1C or a true top 6 C that gets Selke consideration then he is 100% full of excrement when he talks about how he's building this team.
He has to walk the talk. And trading Mittelstadt for anything less than that would simply be moving legitimacy for this team out even further than next season.
It's not impossible, but it's fairly unlikely that a hockey trade like that is made in a deadline move. No playoff team is going to part with a legit top-4 defenseman or top-2 center as they get ready for the stretch run. So that leaves the lesser teams, like the Sabres, who are in roster construction mode. Sometimes those teams make big moves at the deadline but more often it's during the summer.
Overall I'd rather keep Mitts and see how he and the rest of the team do under a real NHL coach next season. Again though it depends on the return.
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Let's not kid ourselves here. Mitts has progressed from potential washout to reasonably good player, but he's not a guy a team can't live without. (And that was the rare and difficult Sabrespace triple negative -- hello @PASabreFan.)
As always, it depends on the return.
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5 hours ago, MISabresFan said:
Get Younger and cheaper. Try to move the large contracts (if you can) and renegotiate the others - no other options. This happens when you go "all in to win it," and it doesn't work.
I wonder what the market is for Josh Allen? How many picks is he worth?
What?
Are you seriously suggesting trading JA?
If so -- this might be the dumbest post in the history of this board.
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FFS. Just do it already. They're well into the death spiral.
KA should be the interim coach until the end of the season -- if nothing else, it's punishment for delivering this atrocious season to the fans -- and then hire a real NHL coach this summer.
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Cook's drop was bad, and I think his 3rd drop of an easy TD this season, but in the KC game the Bills scored a TD 2 plays later -- so there was no damage.
Even so, the Bills' screaming need is for more downfield receiving weapons.
Diggs' drop was the real killer. He might be my favorite guy on the team, and it's likely he was hurt in the last 6 weeks or so of the season, but his production fell off a cliff in that period. Most importantly, the team leaders who are getting paid huge salaries -- like Diggs -- need to make those plays.
That game came down to 2 or 3 plays that KC made and the Bills didn't make. MVS caught the long bomb for KC, while Diggs dropped his, and JA missed Shakir in the end zone with 2 minutes left. If even one of those plays had gone the other way, the Bills might've won, and if 2 of them had gone the other way, they probably would've won.
Such is life.
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Bottom line IMHO is that the Bills scored 7 pts in the 2nd half and lost by 3, that to beat KC tonight given the state of the Bills’ D it was necessary to score in the 30s, as is usually the case vs KC, and that Mahomes was better than JA when it really mattered.
Losing 3 playoff games to the Chiefs in the Allen-Mahomes era is a huge debt that probably won’t ever be repaid in full.
I still respect and admire this team though.
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Yet another freaking nailbiter. Still, the D has stepped up and gotten the ball back twice in the 4th quarter. Time for JA to seize the moment.
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Holy mackerel this is a huge game. I wish I felt more confident. I think it's gonna be a nail-biter.
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Holy mackerel there is a potentially historic Bills game on Sunday. This is like Kelly vs Marino or Kelly vs Elway in their absolute primes, except the Bills have an overdue bill to pay. And maybe the most famous person in the world is probably going to attend.
The Bills will need to play better than they played today to beat KC.
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I read today that Miami has won one playoff game since Marino retired in 1999.
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Unfortunately, I'm pretty close with the Sabres to the point that I got to with the Bills about 2/3 of the way through their streak of suckitude -- I'm only casually interested and don't make a point of watching the games, although I might flip it on if I'm home and not doing anything and they aren't getting smoked again. I'd expect that I'll be much more invested if and when they become a real team again, but not until the results are there. I certainly don't give a crap about who they draft or which B-level free agent or trade they make next summer. Hiring a real coach would probably get my attention.
As for other NHL games, I'm less interested there too. At this point I'll turn on a game if I'm hanging out with my son, who's more of an NHL fan than I am, but not otherwise. I prefer the NBA, and most of the time when I want to check out a random game, there is a good NBA game on.
Great job, KA!
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4 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:
If you have the stomach for it, you will probably be able to get tickets selling at a loss a couple hours before game time. #BillsMafia has a very good brand and national reputation. The reality is a bit more nuanced. There's no 10-year waiting list to get season tickets in Buffalo like there is in Pittsburgh. And the demand for wildcard round playoff games in Buffalo is pretty weak.
I'll be mildly concerned if they hire Vrabel. He's a very good head coach. His teams are always prepared and play hard. I would not expect him to take New England back to its previous era of dominance (perhaps not unless another generational QB is drafted), but, even so, having him in the division would not be good news for the Bills.
I think a dome probably would've been the right call for the new stadium, and definitely would've helped demand for December and January games.
Agree on Vrabel. The Pats are probably going to hire him, and are probably going to be good if they do.
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2 hours ago, That Aud Smell said:
Haha - quite so.
In fairness, those conditions aren't good for anyone. But the home team should have at least some tolerance built up in their bones.
Also, as for that piece, I will confess: I like McDaniel. I've taken in a lot of Dolphins content on the tikky tokky. He's a nerd, a weirdo, and a goofball. But, from what I can tell, what you see is what you get. I also admire his story of recovery from alcoholism.
Me too. He has a certain confidence that I think gives his team a swagger. He's turned the Dolphins into a legit team after years in the desert, and he turned Tua into a major star. I like him as a rival to McD and as part of the Bills-Miami rivalry.
OTOH, he was close to despondent in his post-game interview last night, which isn't good for Miami's morale going to KC.
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Harrington tweet indicates DG will be back next year with a new assistant staff
in The Aud Club
Posted
So the Athletic’s group of hockey writers now predicts DG to be the next coach fired.