That Aud Smell

Who is Jerry Forton and is he somehow related to the Jacobs family?

By way of context:

What a small and weird subset of people we have on this message board.

Tom Higgins? He dead. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/buffalonews/name/thomas-higgins-obituary?id=33349213&__cf_chl_tk=0Fi2PndrNYl6quy7QwPUKB56IeDYP9.24rMxYaYjnM0-1718128435-0.0.1.1-8830

Lol. Not Bettman. I mean that guy who caused all that controversy (because he was apparently a huge a**hole to staff and volunteers), divided the board, and even prompted M&T to withdraw its support of the theater (because the board chair (John Dandes) chose to keep the president in place after an internal investigation was completed). It's ironic that I recall all these circumstances, but don't have the foggiest idea what the guy's name is.

Do not thusly and so blithely dismiss The Lore.

There's doubling down. There's tripling down. And then there's lining up to stand shoulder to shoulder with Gary Bettman. Several hundred thousand - possibly a million? - fans of a somewhat niche sport. But okay. ftfy. Because he works for a public trust. Duh. A recent president of Shea's - the one before Brian Higgins - earned total annual comp of $375K, btw.

I should also make clear: I've never had anything more than an occasional passing interest in the NHL capology stuff.

As per usual, we'd all be better off if we were governed by Gary Bettman's view of this matter.

I’m definitely of a “Pops” age. 🤝 Although I don’t yell at clouds (or purport to tell people how to enjoy sports) quite as often as some. Stop yucking people’s yum … Pops.

The ol’ momentum killing power play. Five-minute edition!

Good to see a roaring return of prescriptive PAngloss. Unblock him @LGR4GM!

Move those goalposts, Pops!! I don’t think the culturals inspire quite the same kind of inside baseball activities that you see in pro sports. That said, rest assured that Tony and Linda (Shea’s sth’s since 1992) write lengthy emails to Shea’s president about restoration projects, shows that get booked (and not booked), the choice of junior development officers, and such. And then they kibitz about those same things at the Friday fish fry with Ed and Rene.

Chips are a product, not a sort of quasi public trust. You taught me that distinction.

Jeeeebus, is this ever true. There are two prime examples of this: (1) Commentators awkwardly drop in some angle/theory that doesn't fit with the flow of the game. (2) Commentators awkwardly rush to introduce some angle/theory that hadn't been fitting the flow of the game but perhaps very suddenly is fitting that flow given a momentum shift or a huge play. The commentators wear headsets. I infer that they have varying levels of chatter in their ears as they're calling the game -- from producers, spotters (football), statisticians, etc. This of course depends on the size of the production crew -- which, not for nothing, is negligible when it comes to ESPN+ -- that's a 3-person crew on site and the lone producer is in Bristol, CT! Anyhoo. The producers are the ones pushing the narratives.

It's almost as though there is a multiplicity of ways in which people consume, enjoy, and follow sports.

They're selling stories (narratives!) as much as (more than?) they're selling the on-ice activity. We see this marketing philosophy writ large for things like the Super Bowl -- with hours of pre-game coverage and dozens of stories. Not just sports. Sports entertainment. I've said it here a dozen times, so I apologize for repeating myself: Vince McMahon (gross as he is) understood this better and far earlier than any pro sports league commissioner.

That said, "widespread praise" is a weird conclusion to draw. And the one area where he must improve is calling goals. We cannot have a 50-word narrative start when the puck crosses the goal line that ends with words like "... and Tage Thompson has put the Sabres in the lead, 1-0!"

Dan's a solid pro and a good guy. That's fine for me, for now anyway. As others have noted upthread and elsewhere: I just want the team to be good.

Eh. I love chicken wings. I love my wife. I hate Tom Brady. I hate when children suffer.

Two men who have never been in my kitchen, Cliffy?

Lol - bro, what.

Old school Chef’s commercial!!