Marvin

And when you don't suck, it's even worse.

What blows my mind is that Krueger had incontrovertible evidence that the LOG line was his only reliable defencive line. What the hell was he thinking? It's like he was more driven by fantasy than the cartoon character Ralph Phillips.

Before I buy tickets, I need to see positive moves which I deem correct. If the coaching, line-up, and farm team look acceptable, I will get tickets and take my risks. I am still a fan, after all. You can question my character, intelligence, or whatever all you want. The stress relief of just being just another fan for 3 hours for 40+ times instead of an n-word, towel-headed terrorist, a deliberate spreader of the China virus, destroyer of America, or being deemed unamerican because it is only the country of my birth (depending on the year, context, and situation) is worth a couple grand to me. It beats the hell out of bursting into a rage or into tears because of all the discrimination, finger-pointing, angry looks, or flat out threats I deal with then I leave the house.

I have written and read better fan-fiction. Good amateurs could have written better stories.

How much does this create an imperative for a big name coach?

I trust virtually everyone here over Botterill every day of the week.

Are you saying that Wayne Simmonds and Vladimir Sobotka might have been inferior players to those who were getting less ice time? Heaven Forfend!

Honestly, all of it. According to the people I know, he likes to find "his people" -- ones he sees himself in, ones he can mould into his kind of executive. He was known for finding people that he liked and they skyrocketed up the East Resources corporate ladder -- not that it was very high either. Now, he seemed to have a knack for finding good ones. You can see all of this in the Sabres. All of his idiosyncrasies are on full display with the Sabres and the Bills. He got lucky with the Bills.

If I only have it on while doing something else, the casual fan has got to be long gone. You have an unwatchable team losing over and over and over again, chaotic management, players wanting out, etc. It is amazing this took so long.

Every now and then, Terry, Kim, and the kids will be up front handing out programs and such. They occasionally still wander the Arena to interact with fans. By this measure, they might be the best. When it comes to interference, they seem to be the high end. They are the perfect explanation of why you don't want passionate fans who think they know more than they actually do as owners. As with all owners, there are carry-overs from their businesses that affect the hockey operation. For instance, his predilection for newbies is a leftover from how he became a billionaire. Overall, if they could recognise their own limitations, they would be ideal owners.

I figured that's what we are doing. I don't question their love of the Sabres, but boy, oh boy, do I ever question their wisdom. The Pegulas show a lot of the flaws when fans get a hold of their all-time favourite franchises. For instance, the show-runners from Doctor Who now are the fans whom I used to compete with for getting our stories into the best fanzines back in the 1980's. I see a lot of Terry and Kim Pegula's flaws in the revival of Doctor Who. Moreover, the Pegulas' biases are reflected in their handling of the franchise is very reminiscent of the way Wesley Eugene Roddenberry's biases were catered to in Star Drek: The Next Regurgitation. And the Pegulas' purchase of the team has cause the same egomaniacal response that The Great Bird of the Galaxy got from Star Trek fandom from 1966-87. I can tell there is a decent amount of executive meddling because of how the rumours come out -- exactly like the information I would get from my contacts in the Doctor Who production office back in the day or what I got from the SD:TNR writers when they quit in season 1. You would see someone want to do something and then get undercut from above. John Nathan-Turner is going to retire for Gary Downie and is coerced into staying as producer. XGMJB undercuts XHCPH. Suddenly, ROR has to be traded by the bonus or he's off the table. The Federation is a socialist Utopia with everyone pulling in the same direction. As you might imagine, I can expound on this for days. I will refrain here.

And after watching these playoffs, I wonder if we wouldn't be better off with a LOT of turnover like this. It's DPE hockey out there.

IMHO, everyone is more effective shooting from their off-wing. The angle for a one-timer on a pass from the opposite side is just better.

PP goals are much rarer in the playoffs because the NHL has reverted back to the old ways of officiating the playoffs. On the other hand, I think that if VO has the right linemates, he can be effective on a 2/3 line. He and Skinner need to be on separate lines, though.

In fact, I think this talk is very relevant to anything related to the management of the Sabres. In particular, Doctor Who from 1980-9 comes complete with hyper-involved fans, executive meddling, management caught in the middle, and people involved in the product just doing the best thy can. It was so bad that they wrote a story to lampoon the situation they were in --- which was almost axed due to executive meddling and fans who were offended at being sent-up; it was saved by the management and the others directly involved in the product. That experience is also why I don't believe that the Pegulas are malicious in running the Sabres and don't meddle as much as some people say, but more than others. I know what they all look like and feel like when you are emotionally involved.

To some extent, everyone is throwing darts.

You don't necessarily want this As a fan Doctor Who, I can say that fans having too much input was one of the biggest problems with seasons 18-23. Once Ian Levine and Jeremy Bentham got upset about not getting their ideas into The Trial of a Time Lord, the series improved. As a fan of Star Trek, I got a letter from Wesley Eugene Roddenberry in 1984-5 which said that he was reviving Star Trek and would like my input into what to do to improve the series. So I realise that lots of what I hated about the series were, in a small part, my fault. (OK, I don't believe in Gene's "Federation and Utopia" model and his too-good-to-be-true characters. I also grossly under-estimated how anti-religion and how sex obsessed he was.)

For the record: Starting with The Great Expansion, scoring goes down about 20% per 60 minutes overall in the playoffs. Moreover, shots per 60 minutes go down about 10% and save percentages go up about 15%.

As a person who was told "EW" when I was given partners in square dancing during gym in school, I can confidently say this is immaterial if the person isn't interested.

You just know if they do this, then there will be a irrationally overwhelming majority of Buffalo-area sports talking heads who will scream, whine, and moan every day for hours on end spouting bilge that they aren't trying hard enough to tank properly.

Does a hockey stick and puck take the place of the Coca-Cola bottle? Anyone's name have a click in it like N!xao?

Do what you need to do. Good luck and best of health for you, your friends, and your family.

Nachos at the cinema? Why? I have to specify how to make them at Mighty Taco to lessen the fa(r)t content. I can't imagine being in a movie theater with people eating them.

Remember in 2007 when the Sabres had Connolly and Afinogenov both slated to be ready by round 1 and the league said if they did not play in the regular season, then they could not skate let alone practise with the team before the start of round 2?