That Aud Smell

Ah, gotcha. I can try to harvest the Tweets. They wound up in my TL (even though, like Friedman did recently, I unfollowed Harrington long ago) because other people I follow were eye-rolling at him. Nothing here, I suppose. I just meant that, globally, if you're a white guy hanging with another white guy -- and let's add "straight" to that description to further expand it -- you might never have reason to know that your buddy is racist, sexist, and/or a homophobe. You just might never know that.

Huh? Which? Hmm. I'm still not sure I follow. I guess I'm not saying that you can't or shouldn't form opinions, make inferences -- hell, pass judgments -- on people's values, morals, etc. based on your interactions with them. Of course, we all do that. I was just saying that those judgments should not preclude or obstruct you from allowing for the possibility that a person you think you know might also do or say some pretty heinous stuff -- stuff that seems inconsistent with what you know about them. The white dude paradigm was just being offered by me because it's Friedman and Harrington. I am pretty sure that they're both white. (I only qualify that because I am allowing for the possibility that Friedman is Jewish.**) So, Friedman says, or implies, "Gee. Mike's always been a solid guy to me. I know he can come off as brusque or short. But I've never seen him do something, or heard him say something, that made me think 'damn, that guy's a sexist.' And I wouldn't be friendly with someone I thought was sexist. So I'm pretty sure he's not sexist." It's just sorta myopic on Friedman's part. Harrington triggered the he-man woman hater's club of the Twitterverse (and those who oppose such thoughts) with some Tweets that hinted at "hey, get a load of the girl who's gonna be president of the sports teams." That sorta stuff, standing alone, should be enough to prompt Friedman to think, "man -- that's not the Harrington I know, or thought I knew -- maybe he's kinda backward that way." But he didn't. At least not yet. Although he DID un-follow him. Which is maybe the final word on the matter. ** I'm not trying to stir the pot, I swear. Just trying to recognize that people who are Jewish have their own unique issues to deal with in terms of animus based on race, religion, ethnicity, etc.

Well turned. Hmm. Can you elaborate? (No snark intended.) Yeah - he booted that grounder. Hard.

It seemed to. I re-read what you posted, and still think that it does.

Or, as white dudes, we should not rule out a fellow white dude's ability to hold repugnant values just because he's generally pretty cool with other white dudes. To wit: My brother-in-law.

And a deficit of the same is what appears to be holding back Risto.

There are rails here, and the track being laid charts a path of progress. The work is uneven and imperfect, but worthwhile. Those who refuse to get on board get left behind -- standing in a field, yelling at clouds. Asinine. As for this, I submit that it comes of being a careful student of human behaviour (with all of the attendant foibles) and having an imagination.

I didn't find his follow-up problematic (the "rush rush rush" take), but I agree with this assessment of the initial quote (with all the "like's" (a sure tell that he was struggling a bit)) -- and I agree especially with this. This advances nothing.

^ Good stuff. I get the sense that he and Eichel are/were about even as prospects go (with an edge to Dahlin, I think), but it probably seems that close because Eichel plays the pivot. I'm frickin' pumped.

Upthread, I'd speculated that Bucky's sexist take down of Kim Pegula from 2014 had been scrubbed by TBN. Maybe they were making way for something even more transparently sexist: SAY WHAT YOU WILL about Russ Brandon, but at least he paid his dues and didn't shortcut his way to the top of the mountain by sleeping with an unremarkable oilman. Never change, Bucky. But do, please, GTFO.

My rejoinder was confined to PA defending Bucky's (indisputably) sexist statements re Kim Pegula by alluding to the talk of "yeah, well, Kim did things like pick out colours and fabrics when they spruced up the arena, so, y'know. Fair's fair." To the larger point: Friedman is quoted above criticizing how the Pegulas have proceeded thus far, and hoping for better. I think that's totally fair. Here and elsewhere, though, I find the talk of so, what's her job gonna be anyway?! to be underpinned, perhaps unwittingly, by biases for which I do not care. I could be off-base on that in some instances, but I know those biases are in play for many.

A generational prospect, you mope.

Last thing for a bit. It was really something to me when my youngest daughter wandered through the kitchen and said, in a sort of statement/question way: "Wait. So Mrs. Pegula is in charge of the Bills and Sabres now?" I answered that she was taking over as president, yes, and that presumably she and her husband would continue to work together. "But ... she's, like, the presidents of both teams?" "Yes." "And presidents are, like, in charge, right?" "Yes." [pause] [child starts to walk away] [at threshold of doorway, quietly] "That is so cool." Yeah. I don't see that.

I think that's fair. I also think, maybe, that the rush-rush-rush was more Terry-driven, and that Kim may be more inclined to do things deliberately. Just a hunch. As do I. And I don't have illusions about her being some paragon of whatever. I've made clear that I think her creative instincts are ... largely uninspiring. But if she can hire and then enable competent hockey people to do their thing, she'll have done 85% of the job, at least.

Lol, the defence of Harrington. Friedman said he’s known Mike a long time, doesn’t think he’s sexist, wouldn’t be friendly with him if he thought he was. Swing and a miss, Elliotte (sp?).

Good point on Barrasso. Call it 2 HOFers and 1 borderline HOFer. From a team-building standpoint, the failure on his part to get a franchise centreman may be telling. That era is still confusing to me, though. I have many fond memories of it.

Isn't there a parade in the thistle patch you could go rain on instead?

I'll leave this here, too.

What horsesh1t this is. Neither you nor I have any earthly idea of how thin the edge of the razor is (and how brutally sharp it is) that women must stand upon (with grace! with poise! with resolve! but not too much! hey - resting b1tch face! Black Widow!) in order to make it, be respected in a wide variety of businesses and industries. Honestly. And speaking again of Bucky, know what I find interesting? Some of his worst content regarding Kim appears to have been taken down from TBN servers. I can't find it anywhere. It was published in September 2014. I remember the key words he used: She's a controlling personality. Some Sabres brass had become wary of her. She's not as sweet as she seems. I can't find that article on any TBN platform. It pops up being quoted on a few blogs after a Google search, with hyperlinks that yield error messages. I reckon it's been scrubbed from TBN archives, in recognition of how shameful it was to have published it. I'm not here to lionize my former secret girlfriend Kim Pegula. But I cannot abide the sexist, borderline misogynistic manner in which she's being questioned and criticized by some.

I think you're rooting around for a truffle that isn't there. I checked the website again: Owner and President. She's the president of the team. I think if you own and are the president of a hockey team, then, um -- yeah. Your job has something to do with hockey. You own and preside over a club that plays hockey. Hockey hockey hockey. Whether she's president or not, I think Terry and Kim would not be shy about talking to JBOT about major performance issues with the club and what might be done to resolve them.

Epic.

Not for nothing: Scotty drafted two HOFers in that era. But, yes, those teams just under-achieved for some reason.

Kind of you to say. In my defence, I was day drinking in Arizona when I posted that.

That was a function and product of Brandon’s personality/persona, not the position he held. She’s the president of the franchise. That’s plenty powerful, nah? I did post screenshots showing that she was organizationally above the 2 GMs, yes. That doesn’t mean her job descriptions have a blessed thing to do with hockey or football matters.

Dude. There has been NO implication that she’s to be a president like Lafontaine was. That position evaporated when he was fired. She’s replacing a president whose job description was all business. Seriously.