Weave

I'm trying the Sabres.com feed but it's a blank screen for me at the moment. Hoping it just hasn't started yet. My usuals for hockey feeds haven't started yet.

I think if Eichel put up McDavid numbers there is no way he would have signed for less than McDavid dollars. His contract is not the result of any team first mindset. It’s the result of the numbers he put up.

Circling back around to this. My point was either not seen or ignored. I'll assume I didn't communicate it well enough. I'll try to expand without the aggressive tone. The religion comparison was a metaphor, and by definition not to be a literal comparison. I'm trying to get you to see that the folks that are uncomfortable with these ceremonies are uncomfortable because they don't see them as sincere. We see them as Wizard of Oz trickery. I don't think that these ceremonies are about honoring vets at all, except in the most superficial manner. It is a very well coordinated PR campaign, and nothing more IMO. The DOD has chosen to use these ceremonies, and use the vets as pawns, to distract the country from the waste of life and dollars that is occurring with our overseas military actions. Keep the people focused on the individuals returning and they are less likely to be outspoken of the continuing military action as whole. Your reaction here is exactly the reaction that these things are designed to inspire. Make it about the vets because noone will want to disrespect the vets. You guys were pawns when you served, and you are still being used as pawns today. Again, my opinion. It's been interesting to watch the whole thing play out over the last 18 years or so. What started out as a sincere, organic, public driven reaction to guys coming home from the first Gulf War, where the population as a whole wanted to make sure that returning vets weren't treated like they were after Vietnam, has turned into an orchestrated, government funded PR campaign designed to continue recruitment and keep the focus off the waste of lives and dollars. If anything, our discomfort is based on character. We think you (collective you, the honored vets) are being used in a game to deceive us all. And don't accept the deception.

With every post you make my point for me.

To my recollection it’s a pattern.

Try looking at it from another viewpoint. Noone is uncomfortable with a service man being honored. The discomfort is from the coerced patriotism. It's like a devout Christian being felt pressured to participate in a pagan ritual because someone is being honored. The discomfort isn't with the honor, it's with the effort of being a part of something you genuinely feel is fake. I find it mildly entertaining that everything you don't understand gets labeled as somehow less manly, whateverthehell that is.

I feel the same way about the folks that get ruffled up at the anthem protestors.

It's poor form to post those links on open forums. That is one of the ways they get found out and shut down. PM those if you want them to remain live.

Norman Lacombe

Insert Alan Iverson youtube clip here....

Brock Yates, writer for Car and Driver magazine. had his own, real life Cannonball run race that was the inspiration for the screenplay.

I'm with you. Hooper tops them. Cannonball Run gets a solid 2nd though. And bonus pts. for being written by a dude in Wyoming, NY.

Hating you.

I needed you as a professor in my engineering classes.

I feel dirty giving either a passing grade, but I went with D for both. We're over 7 yrs now as owner of the Sabres. That is the timeframe that sports dynasties rise and fall, and we're still in the conversation for lottery picks. Unacceptable IMO. At 4yrs with the Bills, we are expecting a backwards step from a playoff team. Again, not the right direction after 4 seasons.

Sent our 10 yr old chocolate lab into the vet last Friday to have a fatty tumor removed. Found out the old boy has cancer. Looks like it is on his liver, spleen, and has a cancerous tumor on one of the pads on his rear paw. He's home getting spoiled while we figure out when is the right time to put him down. He doesn't seem to be in any discomfort. But he's obviously not going to be with us much longer. He's been a fantastic companion. He's the best damned dog I've ever encountered. And is my wife's buddy. He's her support when I'm traveling for work. This is going to be hard.

On the other hand, if Sam is a key figure on a great Sabres team that makes our hearts flutter and our emotions run wild, I won't begrudge the team for offering him a contract at 28 that makes him overpaid at 35 to keep that run alive.

Legit questions on D. Legit questions in goal. Legit concerns re: coaching. No way I can predict what this team will do.

I suspect this is most likely accurate. Legit concern...... our last two coaches have complained about the team being unwilling to play the game as coached. Skinner could be more of that on this roster. I hope not. I'm willing to play wait and see.

If you look the list of oldest NHL players you'll find it dominated by guys who were way better skaters than their peers. The Andrechuck's and Claude Lemieux's are not in large numbers. And that list includes the dead puck, clutch and grab era. Again, I'm not referring to raw speed. Grtetzky was never among the league's fastest players, but his skating was sublime. He drifted off to above average as his career wound down. Longevity needs legs. Especially today. I'm just not sure that Sam has the kind of skating that carries him into his mid 30's.

IMO the guys that play well into their 30's are the exceptional skaters, not the very good ones. When they slow, they are still above average. Think Teppo, Patrick, Recchi, Chelios, Jagr, etc. Of course, those were also the very heady, intelligent players too, so maybe it requires both.....

I'm inclined to believe Rod the Bod over Steve Smith's, only because Smith has a vested interest in not publicly embarrassing the guy. We know Skinner has a rep as not a reliable guy in the defensive zone. But I can also see Rod using the trade to send a message when the trade wasn't really about any message. Posturing. We'll see soon enough.....

I think much closer to average than slow is right. He doesn't strike me as someone who can't keep up with plays. However, as the kids that are drafted and stay in the league are better and better skaters, he'll slide off average. I do think Sam's skating is going to mean he is one of those players whose performance drops like a rock at some point around 30. Hopefully he's capable of adapting his game when that happens.

Well, that's just it. Virtually every team makes those deals, because those deals will get made by some team, so if you want to retain your top players at some point you will be overpaying them. I can't wait for the day we are overpaying guys because we are going for it.

4 degrees of separation to any nickname.