LTS

Any guy who thought bringing in Subban was a good idea... no.

I don't pay attention to what critics say. I do however pay attention to what people I know say on Facebook. It gives me insight into the kind of people they are. This person, up until that post, had been trending in the "No need to ever see/hear anything you have to say again category." That post sealed it. The point in this case however was not so much what that person's opinion was, but that timing in which that person decided to share it and when questioned about it decided to double and triple down in the comments (by the time I saw it).

Yeah, no way I felt compelled. First, music appreciation is in the ear of the beholder. I don't fault anyone for liking anything. If you like it, you like it. But you have to be a special kind of dick to get on Facebook and post what that person did. Everyone's entitled to their opinion, but there's no need to just throw that out there in the faces and hearts of those who really loved the guy and what he meant to Rush. This is the world we live in now. Sigh.

The only truth part is that they did it. Why, how, and everything else? Man, there's too many levels to try and figure it out. The Ukranian Airline simply asked why they didn't shut down the airspace if they were going to be launching missiles. That said, it was a surface to air missile that hit the plane (or so it was reported) so you don't use those to attack ground targets. I'm sure more will come out on this as the spinners get to work building the narrative. I mean, I have a wild imagination, so I could picture all kinds of things. ie. What if Iran's systems were hacked and the radar was tricked into thinking it was a military jet? I know one thing, I'm not getting on a Ukranian airliner anytime in the near future. I'm saying that with no ounce of snark intended.

Can't believe someone I know actually went on Facebook yesterday when the news was breaking and simply posted. "Rush - the most overrated band ever. They have maybe two songs and their overrated drummer wasn't even on one of them." You gotta be a special kind of person to post that. I would have never guessed that person would make that post. I won't see the future posts they make, and I'm okay with that. Saw Rush live once in the Aud. My ears bled for days. But Neil was a beast...

I'll catch a little before driving to Batavia for a varsity hockey game at 3pm. I love hockey, so I don't mind so much. But I mean, I'm not going out of my way to watch the Sabres at this point. They are what they are and with the injuries they are less than what they were. I hope they do well, as always, but it's their game is not compelling enough to make me change plans.

I think Weave clarifies below. But I have been thinking quite a bit of a better way to phrase this. So let's try this. You have 1 vote to give for a candidate. You can't split the vote. So by voting for someone who is/supports racism, you are giving your support to a person who engages in those activities and as such are supporting racism. This was the whole percentage discussion we had and speaks to the "lesser of two evils" discussion. If both are somewhat evil, then by voting for either of them you are (or anyone is) supporting the portion of that person that is evil. It's just how it goes. It does not mean that person engages in those actions, just that they are tacitly supporting the actions of another who engages or supports those actions. And yes.. this. Interesting. I mean, how do you accidentally shoot down an airliner? I didn't look at the timing, did it crash when they were firing missiles at Iraqi basis and accidentally hit the airliner? Right, we definitely don't know what the threat was. But if something was imminent, it seems to me that it would be all but planned and ready to go.

I think you R missing things.

I'm not going to pretend I understand your response. But I'll play along.. Yes, I wanted the refs to wing it. They were already winging it, so why not wing it some more?

Dan Snyder isn't the worst owner in sports? I didn't think it was close.

Off topic, but if you are going to talk about Canadian Juniors can you not abbreviate question by using Q? It took me a few minutes to figure out you were not talking about QMJHL, the Q. ?

I also appreciate the updates.. just wanted to say that. I don't have time to keep up with the Sabres much at this point, let alone the Amerks. I pretty much stop in here and read.

Why? You quoted the rulebook to refute. Clearly the rulebook was not the single defining factor in the decision making of the referees, at least not as it pertained to that officiating crew on that day, as such, it stands to reason that they were interpreting the rules. But that said, the rule itself for blindside blocks is broken all the time as players do come back up the field to block. I'm not about to go look for video, but I think that rule can be clarified to avoid what Ford did being a penalty, because it most assuredly, using common sense, should not be. It should not be illegal to block a guy who is looking at you. Either way, the complexion of the game changes. You can allow for either a TD or safety, but nowhere should the result have been a touchback. Two points and possession would have been beneficial as well. I won't say they would have won, that's impossible to know, but they would have had at a minimum 2 points extra on their side in the game.

BPA = Best Player Available But how do you quantify that? Best player at that specific moment? Best player for the team? Best player in 3-4 years? Best player in 3-4 years if I can control his development? Best player not in the CHL? I think it's easier to say, you don't pick a one position over another position just because you need that position. After that, it's a crap shoot.

If an attack was imminent, how much more planning was necessary? Not only that, but I would think targeting a military leader in such a way would have an impact on morale, but in the way that strengthens it, not weakens it. It all depends on how much they really liked the guy I suppose. With regards to being condescending, you acknowledged your action in your own post when you said, "Condescending because you act like I’m changing the subject" after calling another poster a name. By the guidelines for the forum, we're aiming to avoid that level of interaction. So I quoted you because you did it. In reality, your post, in which you called another poster a superhero only referenced a single person - You were not responding to multiple people and even if you were, you were only calling one of them a superhero. As far as your commentary on being an expert on what is condescending I'll give you a two part rebuttal. First, you acknowledge you were being condescending, so I don't have to be an expert. And the second part is that because of that and the fact that I am the one who gets to help keep the air clean in this group, I have the right to call it out. As far as your reference to what I said about Trump supporters. We have discussed it. It doesn't qualify as being condescending, not even a little bit. I don't have to know a person to know that if they support someone who is a racist, they support racism. Regardless, it's not pertinent to this specific conversation and it doesn't qualify by the definition of the word.

If we go around quoting the rule book as it pertains to this game then the Bills also have a touchdown to start the 2nd half.

This sucks. Of course this is what was going to happen. The concept that you slap a tariff on something and that manufacturing in the US suddenly takes off is ludicrous. Economics are complex beasts not resolved by tariffs and certainly not tariffs aimed at a country that is largely responsible for the manufacture of so many crucial components throughout the world. We're on a world stage now... we need to act like it. We're not the sole economic power or military power. We just happen to be the society that keeps buying more than it should, so for not, countries are happy to sell to us.

Frankly not a single Middle Eastern policy has worked out... ever. At best there are lulls in violence while a new regime (often strengthened by US intervention) comes to power and then becomes yet another despised despot in the region. You may not agree, but at least state why. Responses like this don't further the conversation or add value. Do you think a General was going to be the only reason an attack was carried out? If the guy was SuperMan I might accept that. If he planned an attack I am sure there are others who would carry it out and can still carry it out. It's like shooting the offensive coordinator after the play was called in to the QB. That said, you were not condescended against, so let's keep things in better standing. It's a touchy subject and we'll all get heated.

All of the debate aside... Should this officiating crew get another game in the playoffs? The blind side block was weak and probably not even a blind side block. Not calling the delay of game penalty is insane. The NFL should have a shot clock like the NBA. Let a loud buzzer go off and if the ball is still sitting on the ground, it's a penalty. If they get another game in the playoffs one has to question just how much scrutiny the NFL put on that crew for some seriously bad calls.

I think what was stated is that this has become the new normal with current US policies and procedures. It was not so much so in years past.

I understand, but I think your focus is on the coach and not the situation the coach goes to. Laviolette will get hired by a team in a better position to succeed than the Sabres are right now and they'll end up improving and it will appear as though he was worth it, but in reality, he was just another coach. Completely off the cuff? I could see him ending up in Minnesota or Columbus.

An interesting Opinion piece I came across today. https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2020-01-07/great-race-passing-trump Now, I don't find any huge surprises. Immigration policy has long favored European immigrants. That is, in fact, what our initial immigration policy was. But some of the references in there to Eugenics and the people who have served roles in that are pretty interesting. I have not done much reading into the articles linked. I started to read the article linked on Sanger regarding Planned Parenthood and the assertion that she started lobbying for birth control as a way to stem the "weeds of humanity" from procreating. That said, natural order states that those at the top of the food chain produce less off spring. I don't think that's much different with humans. Those in poor economic conditions tend to have more children. There's a point where you don't have enough resources so you end up having more children just to see how many can survive. It sounds twisted, but we're not that evolved as humans. Those who have many resources tend to cut back on their family size so as to preserve those resources. I do think some of the rebranding of the concepts that are mentioned in this article are driving what I referred to above. Stoking the fear of being replaced.

He took over as Flyers coach and barely had a better record than the coach he replaced. The coach they fired had a winning record at the time. The Predators? How much of that was coaching? Again, he's one of those guys who inherits good teams and then it seems like he's amazing because he wins. Peter Laviolette is not going to make the Sabres a better team. He can't make Girgensons score goals. He can't make Sheary bigger. You could hire him.. and then let's say Botterill adjusts the roster accordingly next season and they improve immensely. How much of that is coaching? How much credit do you give the current coach for the level of play Eichel has exhibited this year?

Peter Laviolette is that guy who everyone thinks is better than he really is. Do not want. He's never proven anything to me. His only Stanley Cup was the result of the Sabres losing 6 defensemen and then lucking into playing the haphazard Edmonton Oilers who somehow made it to the SCF. Newp.. newp newp.

In addition, those players drafted, who were flipped to another team in which a player came back to the Sabres and made it to the roster should also be counted. For example, if Nylander never pans out but Jokiharju does then the Nylander draft wasn't a bust per se. It resulted in an NHL player for the Sabres, just not the one they intended. If one were to narrowly focus on the success of the draft as those players who the Sabres picked who made it to the NHL, that wouldn't tell the whole story. You could also draft a player, flip them to another team who mismanages them and they never make it. We might not know if they would have made it to the NHL in the Sabres organization. It's tough to just look at those aspects, because ultimately it all goes to demonstrating their success at building a team. Which clearly has not been exceptional. But, it does play out the balance of building your team from the ground up as opposed to where Colorado is at the moment. Given how few players on their roster are their own draft picks.,