Matthew Fairburn Latest Article regarding Terry Pegula and Adams

[Pimlach]

1 minute ago, LGR4GM said:

The Bills are good because Josh Allen. 

Certainly he is the biggest factor that takes them from an average team to a SB contender.   

[Mango]

Not to rehash history on the Eichel thing. I always thought that the club didn't agree to the disc replacement because they just wanted Eichel out, wanted somebody else to assume the risk, and maximize trade value. 

So I just had a double cervical disc replacement like 7-8 weeks ago for myelopathy. I got opinions from 2 different top 10 spine surgery centers in the US. The guy who did the surgery is the co-chair of one of them. Both said, "easy peasy, double disc replacement". We briefly chatted about Eichel, nothing crazy, just that it wasn't some new aged surgery like the Sabres made it seem. Both had done single level disc replacements on pro athletes in contact sports with success. But even than still rolled up into what I though anyways...

Until....

Shortly after I had a friend go to UB Neuro for herniated discs in their neck and UB neuro told them that they don't do double cervical disc replacements because they aren't FDA approved. I had my 6 week follow up and asked my surgeon and he said that there are reasons to not to do a double disc replacement but FDA approval isn't one of them. 

It is crazy to me that UB Neuro could be so far behind on what was considered a super common surgery from both my neurosurgeons. I am so grateful I live an easy train ride into NYC. I am still pretty young and a double fusion would have severely limited my mobility for the rest of my life. 

[LGR4GM]

I'll always remember seeing the Reinhart trade and just thinking how stupid it was.

[Mango]

18 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Look his MBA isn't important. The fact Pegula decided to promote him with no support and Adams proceeded to build nothing for 5yrs is. It's just an easily avoidable self own because Terry thinks he's the smartest in the room and 14yrs of being wrong hasn't changed his mind. 

The MBA isn't important. But I think Fairburn does a phenomenal job of low key setting the stage throughout that Adams has both had Pegula's ear since the beginning and is woefully unqualified in every way. He let it hang at the end of the paragraph perfectly. 

At this point Adams is a meme, palm trees and University of Phoenix online. 

I don't know if his kids are in HS or not, but if they are it has got to be pretty rough for them at this point. 

[Flashsabre]

2 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

I'll always remember seeing the Reinhart trade and just thinking how stupid it was.

I remember thinking “what is the 3rd piece? Please be Lundell”

[LGR4GM]

Just now, Flashsabre said:

I remember thinking “what is the 3rd piece? Please be Lundell”

Adams panic sold. No concept of what Reinhart was worth.

[Mango]

Quick question, is Larry Playfair the one who is ultimately responsible for the misspelled jerseys? 

I would feel a little better if it was. These guys can barely get degrees from the University of Phoenix online after all. 

[Thorny]

24 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

I legit chortled when I read that.

[Prime Lindy voice]: THAT'S A JOKE.

I've pushed that trope quite a bit.

Where it founders: Pegula is not some noble king under a spell. And Jarmo isn't Gandalf - coming in to release Pegula from the hex.

Jury out on Jarmo 

[Thorny]

As an out of towner with no particular connection to the bills the confirmation that Terry neglects the sabres in favour of them sucks even more 

[Doohickie]

32 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

Where it founders: Pegula is not some noble king under a spell. And Jarmo isn't Gandalf - coming in to release Pegula from the hex.

Are you sure?

[jad1]

4 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

The Bills are good because Josh Allen. 

The Bills are good because Beane targeted Allen (who had MANY detractors) and made a series of deals to move up 14 spots to draft him.  He didn't need a tank to draft Allen, as the Bills ended their 17 year playoff drought the season before.

And Allen isn't the only good player Beane's drafted or acquired, and he is a key contributor to the excellent culture the team possesses.

In other words, the Bills are good because they have a good GM.

[Doohickie]

23 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

The Bills are good because Josh Allen. 

Josh Allen is a Bill because McBeane.

[Doohickie]

15 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

I'll always remember seeing the Reinhart trade and just thinking how stupid it was.

The Reino trade "happened" during Kevyn's first summer when he extended Reinhart one single year instead of locking him up long term.  That was the signal, even before the Eichel madness, that he was blowing it all up.

[Archie Lee]

22 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

The Bills are good because Josh Allen. 

My view is the Bills are bordering on great because of Josh Allen. Had they not found Allen, then Beane and McDermott would have prioritized bringing in a veteran QB  who would have helped them be a good, if not elite, team. Of course, Pegula might have fired them after a couple of 10-7 WC seasons, but I think the Bills have been in good hands with Beane and McDermott. 

[LGR4GM]

3 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Josh Allen is a Bill because McBeane.

Fine but that's the reason they are good. The Bills could have won a superbowl (13 seconds) if McBean had been smarter. 

I don't really care about what Pegula did with the Bills. It's 10000000000000% irrelevant to the Sabres. 

[Doohickie]

1 minute ago, LGR4GM said:

Fine but that's the reason they are good. The Bills could have won a superbowl (13 seconds) if McBean had been smarter. 

Don't put that on Beane though... that was 123% McDermott.

[Pimlach]

17 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Adams panic sold. No concept of what Reinhart was worth.

I suspect he thought he was getting the next Martin Broduer.    

[Pimlach]

20 minutes ago, Mango said:

Quick question, is Larry Playfair the one who is ultimately responsible for the misspelled jerseys? 

I would feel a little better if it was. These guys can barely get degrees from the University of Phoenix online after all. 

Why would you blame Larry Playfair for any of this?   He still lives in WNY, and he was President of the Sabre's Alumni Association up to about 2012.   

I saw him last summer at the Harbor Center watching a Jr. Sabres game, it appeared that a group of Alumni were celebrating his birthday too.  He took some time to talk about the "good old days" and he is a really good guy.   

 

[jad1]

24 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Fine but that's the reason they are good. The Bills could have won a superbowl (13 seconds) if McBean had been smarter. 

I don't really care about what Pegula did with the Bills. It's 10000000000000% irrelevant to the Sabres. 

It's relevant to the Sabres because it shows that a strong GM can thrive under Pegula. 

It means that if Pegula would pull his head out his ass and fire Adams and get lucky in hiring his replacement, the Sabres could be a successful franchise again.

[Crusader1969]

31 minutes ago, jad1 said:

The Bills are good because Beane targeted Allen (who had MANY detractors) and made a series of deals to move up 14 spots to draft him.  He didn't need a tank to draft Allen, as the Bills ended their 17 year playoff drought the season before.

And Allen isn't the only good player Beane's drafted or acquired, and he is a key contributor to the excellent culture the team possesses.

In other words, the Bills are good because they have a good GM.

Good but not great GM. 
yes, he drafted the "saviour" but there are a lot of other high draft picks that haven't worked out

Hasnt been able to make the trades / acquisitions that have gotten the Bills past the Chiefs. (Yet?)

 

[PASabreFan]

1 hour ago, Pimlach said:

True.   You would think a degreed engineer from Penn State, one that built a huge business, would know that coaching a few years of Olean Youth Hockey is really not knowing hockey.  

I've told the story about briefly working with a man who (said he) knew Terry well during his Olean days. "He's a nice guy, but he thinks he knows more than he does."

[That Aud Smell]

1 hour ago, Weave said:

Being a patsy might be more damaging than being under a spell.

to be clear: the grima wormtongue trope likens Adams to Grima. Grima is not under a spell. It is the noble king of Rohan (?) who is under the spell. And Grima is the on-site tool of an evil wizard who cast the spell. the spell leaves the king looking like this.

the analogy founders because it's not as though Pegula is some noble leader whose liberation from some soul/mind control spell is all we need.

adams is a grima corollary, for sure. but pegula is no theoden (sp?).

[JohnC]

1 hour ago, inkman said:

 

You can’t be shocked that the near Trillion dollar business (the NFL) is prioritized over the fledgling league that is the NHL.  

A business owner has to prioritize. Like most other business owners, he’s going to focus more on the one actually making money. 
 

The Sabres, at best, are a break even team.  The Bills are a multi-billion dollar money printing machine. 

You make an insightful observation about which franchise makes much more money. But the irony is that if the hockey franchise was more competently run and most likely be reflected in the play and competitiveness, the hockey franchise would be more profitable. More tickets would be sold, more concession $$ would be accrued, playoff $$$ would be added and with better management of player contracts there would be a smarter relationship between player costs and production. 

I agree with you that the NHL team revenue would not come close to NFL team revenue. But what is indisputable is because TP has run a third-rate operation, the revenue return is also third rate. I don't care what business you are in, leaving money on the table due to ineptness, is never a smart way to run any business. And when you are not serious about your particular business and are competing against owners who are serious about competing, you end up at the bottom of an empty barrel. A generation of stupidity does take a toll on the spread sheet. 

[PASabreFan]

I will probably break down and pony up for this article. Fairburn should be saluted and supported for being perhaps the only truth teller re: Sabres left. Of course the truth he reported on has been known since almost Day One, but those with a rich guy fetish denied it and made me the villain instead.

Correction. Day One. "I like hard-working, gritty players." Within weeks one of the Tweety Bird daughters let it slip her dad was impressed by Ehrhoff in the playoffs.

New, old news.

Edited Monday at 03:25 PM by PASabreFan

[That Aud Smell]

45 minutes ago, Thorny said:

Jury out on Jarmo 

41 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Are you sure?