That Aud Smell

Duly noted. With all the water under the bridge, my working sense is that Terry is actively involved with Bills' personnel, but generally defers to his experts, and is more lightly involved with the Sabres' personnel and more fully entrusts such matters to GM TM and co. Because foobaw and the Bills were always his true object of affection anyway. (H/t PA.)

What's the point of that Anderson Cooper video? Christ. Eff that elitist prick. Those giggles might have foretold today's political climate. Oh, and solid work, d4rk, dissing the humorless maniacally focused of a captain we had who, absent an AHL D corps, would've delivered us a Cup. Also, I don't buy for a minute that ROR's leadership hackles are up. More and more, his wee Timmy Ho's fender bender seems more reflective of his locker room character than many of our previously imagined fantasies that he was the future Captain.

Hmmmm.

I wasn't, and am not, trying to equate this Reinhart benching with disciplining your kids. Not at all. They're not comparable, imo. What I was observing was how pervasive it seems among certain populations (age groups) to evade taking full, unequivocal responsibility for an error. "Yeah, I screwed up, but -- dumb rule, bad application."

Not if I have anything to say about it. Honest to God. I'd bet dollars to donuts that, if asked, my kids would all say that taking responsibility and expressing sincere remorse for errors and omissions is "job one," and that it's unacceptable to undermine that process by folding in a bunch of self-serving crap. SAM REINHART MAY NOT BE FINE.

Well, that gets to the heart of the matter, I suppose. What's more important? Respecting the chain of command and your role as the proverbial good soldier, or giving sway and ventilation to your own personal feelings of having been treated unfairly? Sam may not like or much respect the holder of the "office" of head coach (if you'll allow it), but damn it if he isn't bound to respect the position when addressing this sort of thing. Fwiw, my own teenage kids pull this same sort of crap. They accept responsibility and apologize ... but, not really. Not really. Drives me around a bend.

I'm definitely of a mind that a better, more modern-minded coach could be getting more out of this roster. That said, Reinhart doing anything but saying that he'd violated a team rule and paid a significant price, that he regrets what happened and the fact that he couldn't be there to play with his teammates, and that he's now moving on, are all, taken together, not a great look for #23. One of my fave follows on Twitter, Dave Davis, said the same, and I agree. Maybe it's a generational difference. Anyway - I don't much care for how he responded. Didn't the BN substitute "exrement" for "sh1t"? That was amusing.

Eleven posted somewhere here that it's been reported as fact that Pegula is (directly? heavily?) involved with personnel decisions for the Bills, and somewhat so involved for the Sabres. There was no link, though. He recalled Tweets. My working sense, fwiw, is that, yes - Pegula involves himself in a substantial way when it comes to who's being selected, signed, etc., especially insofar as the Bills are concerned.

Um. Yeah. (I too funking lerved Neo's most recent yarn -- such a worthy subject too.)

To be clear(er): I never really thought that there was something there insofar as PSU goes -- at least, not beyond a desire to whitewash unpleasant (but otherwise non-incriminating) aspects of your past associations. But it's evident that the Pegulas have done that with several areas of their lives -- not just with the PSU connections.

I'm going this Sunday. I'll report.

^ Well, then. I'm not sure what to say. The promotional schedules for pro sports franchises are planned and put together during the offseason. If you Google promotional schedule NHL hockey, you will be linked to a series of press releases (many of which look quite similar to one another) that are hosted on nhl.com from a variety of franchises. Whether your franchise is a contender or rebuilding basement dweller, you should be making these plans to thank and appreciate your fans. Or nah? In point of fact, the argument can (and should) be made that, if you have devoted fans and your team stinks (and has stunk for 6 seasons), then you have even MORE reason to schedule giveaways, promotions, thank-you nights, and the like.

/Sarcasm? I can't quite tell.

And from the Wild (after a rather full slate of season long giveaways):: Fan Celebration Night #1 - Scratch-and-win card presented by FOX Sports North Hockey BinGoal presented by Innovative Office Solutions Fan Celebration Night #2 - Wild team poster presented by FOX Sports North Jerseys Off Our Backs Hockey BinGoal presented by Innovative Office Solutions +++ Every team I've randomly searched for has a giveaway/promotion schedule associated with each season, and some sort of fan appreciation game or week toward the end of the season. One thing I don't find - not saying it's not there - is a promotional schedule for the Sabres. Here's the Wild's promo schedule - just by way of example: https://www.nhl.com/wild/fans/promotional-schedule

+++ Question: Do the Sabres do ~15 themed nights, regular giveaways?

From the Ducks: The Ducks will host 15 giveaway and promotional nights during the 2016-17 season at Honda Center. Ticketed fans to the Oct. 28 game versus Columbus, Nov. 29 game versus Montréal and Jan. 19 game versus Colorado will each receive a bobblehead as part of a four-series collection. This is the first all-arena bobblehead giveaway in several years for the Ducks, who will be featuring the bobbleheads of Ryan Getzlaf on Oct. 28, John Gibson on Nov. 29 and Ryan Kesler on Jan. 19. The Ducks will pay tribute to the 2007 Stanley Cup-winning team with a 10-year anniversary celebration at the Mar. 12 game versus the Washington Capitals. The final piece of the limited-edition four-piece bobblehead collection will be available for purchase in the Anaheim Ducks Team Store Powered by Reebok starting that evening. This night will feature players from the 2007 team as well as some additional surprises to help honor the run to the franchise’s first-ever Stanley Cup championship. The giveaway and promotional schedule will also feature some of last year’s fan favorites, including Ugly Sweater Night (Dec. 9), S.C.O.R.E. Night (Jan. 15), Angels Night (Feb.17) and Social Media Night presented by YP (Mar. 22) along with paying tribute to our armed forces on Military Appreciation Night presented by Pacific Premier Bank (Nov. 6). The Ducks will show their support for their numerous charitable partners across Orange County, including hosting CHOC Night on Mar. 5 to support Children’s Hospital of Orange County and OC Animal Care Night on Mar. 26 to help support the Orange County animal shelter. The team will paint it lavender on Oct. 26 to help in the fight against cancer on the team’s annual Hockey Fights Cancer Night which raises awareness for the league wide initiative. The promotional schedule will conclude with Fan Appreciation Night on Apr. 4 and will continue a Ducks tradition of inviting a group of fans for the “Jersey off Their Backs” presentation at the end of the game. In addition, fans will be eligible to win a variety of additional prizes throughout the evening and one lucky fan will win a Honda vehicle.

And the Devils' program seems similar to what the Sabres are doing: The Devils and Halmar will give away a custom Devils Jeep during the April 6 game. Fans can enter to win by visiting NewJerseyDevils.com/HalmarWheels or by using #HalmarWheels @NJDevils on social media through March 31. The contest’s three finalists will be announced at the April 4 game. At the end of the final game on April 8, a select number of Devils Members in attendance will be chosen to receive a jersey from one of the players on the team. The winners will meet the players on the ic,e where they will receive the signed sweater. The first 9,000 fans in attendance at the regular season finale on April 8 will receive a mini-hockey stick (the Devils again partnered with Prudential on that) Devils Fan Fest, featuring beverages for purchase, prizes and giveaways, street hockey, face painting and a DJ, will precede the game with doors to Championship Plaza opening at 3:00 p.m. Quite right. Just some info.

Here's what the Caps are up to: You can enter to win a variety of prizes through the #CapsFanWeek contest. From Monday, March 20 through Friday, March 24, names will drawn every hour on the hour and posted to the website by 4 p.m. each day. Prizes include exclusive Capitals experiences, tickets to see some of today's hottest artists as they come through Washington, D.C., team autographed items, and more! All entries must be received by 8 a.m. to be eligible for that day's drawings. One entry per email address. The primary account holder information for all Season Ticket Members are automatically registered!

From Vogl's piece in 2016: The Pittsburgh Penguins, who recorded their 400th straight sellout in January, have given out Marc-Andre Fleury bobbleheads, Phil Kessel mini sticks, Sidney Crosby air fresheners, magnets, calendars, tumblers, selfie sticks, two winter hats, sock penguins, workout bands, luggage tags and T-shirts this season.

Anybody think 23 is late to a meeting if the team were in the thick of a playoff race? That seems a bit extreme.

Good takes, all. Another shout-out for Chris (Bulldog) Parker here. I've crossed paths with him several times IRL and interact with him occasionally on social media. Chris is good people. And he's bright. He has a good memory, and a good perspective on being a sports fan, and is by default a kind person (which, I think, helps mitigate Schopp's barely concealed contempt for some callers). He also loves Buffalo sports about as much as he loves music (listening and playing) -- and that is saying something. I think I know how he can sound on the radio. But the takes about him being dumb or uninteresting or annoying are, to me, off base. That's not an easy gig, btw -- being a sports talker/hot take haver. Anyhoo -- Bulldog is one of my very favourites on the local sports media scene.

I have no issue whatsoever with there being a consequence for the violation of a team rule. Especially so if the players are clear on notice of what will happen if certain rules are violated (i.e., the punishment they're likely to face). Otherwise, why have the rules? "Accountability" is a term that gets thrown around to so little effect with sports teams (I actually grow quite weary of it). But, if you're going to have accountability, then Reinhart needed to receive a consequence for what happened. JFC - I feel like I'm talking about parenting here. Anyway: Like, actual benchings for an entire game? This is the only problem I have. I don't ever recall this happening in the past -- punishing a player by having him dress but not play. Maybe, as you say, Reinhart asked to be on the bench with the guys. I have no real worries about Reinhart as a young pro. SAM REINHART WILL BE FINE.

Get you some, PA. The franchise can and should do better. The fervour of Buffalo Sabre fans is, I think, somewhat taken for granted.

He was positively Messi like against Honduras.

This one: You may be having a display issue? Can you not see Derp McDerp in the rusty vest? Hey - at least they stood up. All others pictured did not, as best I can tell.