That Aud Smell

Gotta get over the DeLuca hump. And honestly, it will be a tremendous improvement if this team finishes around 90 points. Bottom line seems to be that they need more good NHL players in order to be in the top third tier of NHL clubs. It does confound me: Why are the Bills turned around more quickly than the Sabres?

Eichel is absolutely blazing hot right now. "In the zone," as someone pointed out we used to say before analytics put a stank on the idea. So, this may not be the best time to choose between the two players. OR ... it's the perfect time. EI-CHEL! EI-CHEL! EI-CHEL!

Man - great post. I want to honk this especially. It really does seem to make a difference. Of course, the team must first be good enough to win its fair share of games before chemistry can help give an edge. And this team is good enough to be that sort of team. That's not my point. I too was a poster who regularly expressed concern with McDermott's approach and grounding principles (mostly the faith-based theme that Pegula laid down at the presser). I had no issue with the wrestling - that was mostly someone else here (@jeffismagic maybe? (sorry if not)). There were specific examples that I cited in detailing my concern - that book McDermott recommended to Beane (some lightweight Christian self-help claptrap (that's strictly MY take, btw)). I had (and have) a personal aversion to what appears to be McDermott's outlook on the universe. And when the team struggled, I was willing to pin some or much of the struggles on the fact that the HC had an outlook that I deemed ... not well-considered. I posited that faith-based approaches tend to exclude rigorously intellectual reviews of facts and theories (as contrasted with, say, the Machiavellian Belichick). But my views on this have evolved, incrementally. At some point in time, I came to realize that a person like me - (overly) intellectual, highly (hyper?) analytical, closer to being effete than tough - is not the sort of person you find on an NFL roster, at least in any appreciable numbers. And I began to sense that McDermott's "shtick" might work quite well in leading an NFL team. And then the team started to put together better performances with limited talent and significant holes on the roster. So I'm over that aspect of my concerns with McDermott and Beane. There are other concerns, of course. But I'm satisfied that they're smart enough to get the job done (not that they will/must get it done - but they may!), and I'm satisfied that they know how to lead grown-ass men (and can do so quite capably, thanks). My point was only that @Hank had posted that his principal joy from this season was not the team's record or playoff prospects, but rather was seeing less and less of the McBeane takes with which he disagreed at the outset. Maybe that was just hyperbole, but it struck me as a super online thing to say.

This is one of the more Online Things I've read in a minute or two. My joy as a fan lies not so much in the team's success, but in feeling confirmed that I had a better take than others.

And I missed this riposte. Seems a bit overdone, to me. In a vacuum, I'm with you, Blue, on preferring the way the Chiefs are built to the way the Bills are built. My point was: This ain't no vacuum. This ain't no disco.

Intellectually, this is a fair take. Emotionally and given its timing, it's a bizarre take. I stayed up til after 1:00 drinking some of my best Irish whiskey, refreshing Twitter every few minutes, and debating whether to drive out to Prior Aviation. My advice: Just drink it in, man. Also: After the goalie academy bit, Tre White cemented his status in my top-10 (5?) all-time favourite pro sport athletes playing in Buffalo.

Tierney FTW. (He’s a homer?)

Hmmm.

^ Bills Dad is so great.

If the power play becomes merely average, I like his chances.

D'oh!! I saw that the score was moving to 5-2 with that EN goal, and inferred that the announcer was saying a 3-goal lead was ... a 3-point lead.

<bump>

Fun! Also: "3 point game"?!

DeLuca .500 is a game within reach. Get there. Stay there.

help a brother out: which of the 7 D was playing the wing? I was Christmas concerting, but the report I got was that he wasn't very noticeable. Which is different than tentative. IMO, I'd rather see 15 nice quiet games from him than see his swagger return. I think that's how he needs to build his game.

Agreed. Fights at Sabre games are, in my experience, very unusual. And, on the contrary, *not* witnessing or being affected by a fight (or, more likely, fights) at a Bills game is equally unusual.

I'd missed that. If intentional, then well-turned. I'm not so sure, though.

Let's effing go, Buffalo.

As a young kid, I think I went to just a few Sabres games - like, maybe 3. Hockey tickets just didn't make it into a tight budget. A friend's mom worked for Cablevision early on, and we did get to sit in the suite for an Oilers game in or around '83 or '84. I don't ever recall being happier as a kid.** Once high school hit and I got toward my college years, there were more games. I can't say I have any really clear memory of any of those. My clearest memories of the old place are from Stallions games. A crew of us from the neighbourhood would take public transportation down to the Aud (the 8?), get tickets for the oranges (or maybe we had them in hand from our soccer clubs), and then move down to the reds. We usually had candy we'd bought at a Wilson Farms. The greatest achievement of those days was when my older brother managed to land a Lemon Head *squarely* in the middle of one of the red re-start (faceoff) dots in front of Jim May. ** In trying to reconstruct which game I attended, I looked back at the Sabres/Oilers historical record. It was interesting and comforting to see how, as predictable as the path of migratory birds, the Sabres and Oilers would reliably play a game in Buffalo at some time in March.

Program ink?! That’s a new one on me. Interesting. Cigarettes were also a factor. As was the oil used to make the popcorn. The major driver was hot dogs, I think. Boiled meat!

The smell, naturally. Same. I was bussing and bar backing at the Aud Club in those days. We'd haul cases of beer up to the suites and pick up the empty cases. Then we'd sit and catch our breath sitting on the empty cases before humping back downstairs. My buddy and I saw the event right before our eyes. Terrifying, even when seen from that distance. There was some unanticipated mopping up to do in the Aud Club that evening, as there were fans who left the game after the incident and came to the Aud Club to gather themselves (at least two of whom were in my section, and were overcome and became sick). It is aces.

Man, hell naw. You ask anyone who knows a thing or two about that MMA sh1t -- wrestlers are nasty mofos to tangle with. I liked it.

Fair deuce. The story that's since emerged makes it sound pretty shady. I did enjoy the take of contrarian media types who theorized that this was concocted by Belichick to motivate his team ("us against the world!"). I think that this is overblown. I mean, I hate that team -- and that dynamic duo -- as much as I can. But they are the best of all time. I like it! I also enjoyed how HEATED he got when ... the Ravens? ... had too many players in the huddle but were allowed to avoid the penalty by calling a timeout (something that is not supposed to happen).

Who’s with Steve Belichick there? Not the shadowy Ernie Adams...?