Thorny

The Sabres are the fans. That’s what I always say. We are the sabres. And WE have shrunk to a smaller entity than I’ve ever seen, under Pegula, and it shrinks by the year How could it not be the lowest point if the fanbase has been eaten away at, literally? Looking at it from only one’s personal perspective and mood is myopic. The base is at its weakest right now - not sure that’s arguable: regardless of what any one person tells themselves. That’s why it’s the lowest point: because most people will tell you that I’m not prophesying impending doom. I’m just listing to the chorus

The Sabres certainly haven’t advanced beyond his shadow while he’s been here so until I see otherwise I can’t agree

Not necessarily, the way you explained it just didn’t make very much sense to me. What you feared needed not be the case and it only was because of the people in charge - and they are still here, 5 years later, while not having deviated from their modus operandi Others have explained their stance in a way that makes sense to me even if I don’t share the opinion - I didn’t understand yours it’s not a matter of right and wrong - it’s a matter of me being legitimately confused and asking if you could explain it in a way that illuminated my thinking - - - I do think that, for me, your layout above is fairly close. As mentioned, for me, the lowest point is most akin to being the furthest from your last drink in the desert. That’s when your body and mind feel it the most, and it’s when the solution (a drink of water, finally) becomes ever more likely to be “too little too late” for a barren corpse we aren’t “closer to the finish line” cause as mentioned: it’s only, ever been a year away, for a decade. A year away with competence. It’s the continued lack of competence that’s troubling *the hurdle has never been high.*. The particular struggle with the sabres drought has ALWAYS been our inability to clear a *low* hurdle. We’ve never needed a 5 year plan. No team does.

Maybe a better thread would honestly be whether this is closer to the bottom 10 moments, or the top 10 moments. There does seem to be a lot of active and manual polarization.

I lie to myself all the time it’s specifically human not saying you are but it’s certainly not a wild hypothetical. In the absence of a stance that seems inherently logical I’m going to question it. 💁🏻‍♂️ I think that’s fair, in an open forum where I’m also questioning the salience of my own position - - - It’s also the only relevant thread in a month I’m not afraid to step on a few toes in the name of a more lively discussion

Seems to come down a lot to how it’s being defined. “What was the point at which you felt they were least likely to succeed in the coming season?” seems to be an interpretation of choice That’s the high minded, desirable approach I think…it’s aspirational. “Past is the past”. It’s rather salient - - - I wish I came down there. To me, it’s not about the likelihood of success in the immediate season, now, straight up - it’s about the fact I’m truly scared im not going to care about it when it does happen That’s why it’s the low point: the fear of the apathy they have and may have caused. I expect losing. I fear winning

You didn’t ask me, but I can think of 2 comments on this: So in general your outlook on the team has improved since Adams instituted his rebuild plan - you feel better after 5 FURTHER years of unequivocal failure - somehow the same ownership that’s still in place now seems *more* likely to succeed after stacking 5 years of failure on top of 9 - these 5 years have allowed them to gain ground for you. As for the latter, to each their own but finding out my team could be bad once definitely didn’t feel bad as actually being bad for 2 decades as I said, to each their own - - - Bear with me here but I honestly struggle to classify this as intellectual honesty. 5 years ago you feared the Pegula Sabres would be hard pressed to make the playoffs, and now after that being proven true, and no end to the regime in sight, no indication they’ve changed their modus operandi that got them to your “lowest point”, now 5 years on you feel better about it? They’ve only doubled down on every mistake since and continue to do so… no team ever actually is or needs to be “5 years away” from the playoffs - the only reason that ever is the case is because of poor aptitude and choices - the fact we are suffering from both has only been proven *demonstrably more true* over the course of the last 5 years. We were one year away in 2021. We chose to be more than that, and those who made the choice are still here

How is that an X. A random regular season hockey game won by a fraud unit wasn’t the closest to a championship we got i guess the argument is it “felt” like it? I get that but to me it felt like what it was, a fraud core getting themselves up for an “event” game cause they couldn’t find a way to care as much when it wasn’t. It was nice for RJ but in his heart of hearts I bet you he said “where the hell was this the other nights” Would never feel like the real thing to me because the night was only significant for one team. I don’t think our opponent put as much stock in the RJ bowl Fair enough

Oodles of moments in the 2006 run were better and closer.

I hear winnipeg is nice in December..

Patience, people 2028 closer than u think

It’s the latter

This. The looming “Adams’ plan was right all along!!” posts, should we eventually make it after years of failure under his watch, are an inevitable and necessary evil

Those are supporters - - - In seriousness your are mistaken in the sense that people do exactly that stuff in other fandoms, be it movies, books, tv, etc where you touch on something salient is that it’s unusual for folks to do it so consistently for such a terrible product over such a long course of time Taylor swift’s fans obsessively write out her set lists because they actually think her music is good - crazy concept Harry Potter has a ton of fan fiction because people like how the stories developed, not because people think they can do it better Game of Thrones was huge and once the last season torpedoed discussion for it fell off the face of the earth - because the product was bad we are the folks re-editing the Hobbit trilogy into one movie - if the hobbit was actually statistically the worst movie trilogy ever and it never stopped - - - your contention is really, imo, with how this behaviour is possible when the product is so bad. Maybe that’s exactly what you are saying. Imo it’s jealousy that stems from seeing that still somehow possible in others. I’m guessing that because that’s how I feel, anyways, jealous of the fact it could all be totally lost for me by means of a demonstrably terrible product for too long. The team needs this board more than the board needs the team - the board and the fans are the best part of the team BY far. I hate when I get jealous of the fans because as much as I can’t agree with the continued optimism in spite of all the contrary evidence it’s not deserved, I’d rather I did - I honestly rather i did

^ But where there’s no will there’s no way

But it’s not honestly not something that I need to belabour - like I said I’ve never seen a fan I’d call more passionate/have more of an undying and unwavering loyalty than those still posting here in the midst of this drought and I’m pretty sure these people refer to themselves as fans. As long as these people call themselves “Sabres fans” I’m comfortable saying the term “fan” can be just as indicative of whatever other standing being claimed “supporter” has. Being upset at results doesn’t indicate a lack of unwavering support both are equally illogical imo cause following one professional team you aren’t really a part of always is imo. The conflict of interest with ownership management and players is often striking never mind the poor odds of success in general

The cowboys thing is just about how they have stereotypically passionate fans - but none as far as I’m aware call themselves “supporters” - because that’s a European thing primarily. I don’t agree with the definitions being thrown around about one of “fan” or “supporter” necessarily indicating a different type of fan or one more logical or one more passionate.

But not for the reasons either of you are laying out the Dallas cowboys don’t have “supporters”. It’s cultural, not a commentary on severity This discussion involves telling people the correct way to follow a team and applying definitions to it. was joking at first now I’ll just double down: nadir

Fan or supporter? Tomato or tomato? We’ve found the nadir

Each and every fine person posting here should be awarded a medal for all time fan support Not kidding love / hate: two sides of the same coin the fear is neglect. That’s the true darkness

I can’t believe you dignified that with a repsonse, tbh. It’s willfully obtuse. Obviously anyone can understand it’s the low point because each year we miss is further removed from success, longer in the desert. Further disenfranchisement. Less belief you’ll actually care if they ever do win Defies logic to ask “why is it the lowest”? As if arguing you had one glass of water this week in the desert is better than last week when you had zero Exceptionally candid. Good post

That’s the rub Regardless of some of the potently passive aggressive, “I hear ya, but as a better fan nothing they can possibly do will ever taint my excitement!” responses you got

You were right about Jack, and you were brilliant in your hyping of the season - it gets me excited every year even though I have no hope 😂 It’s not your fault the GM doesn’t hold up his end of the bargain