Matthew Fairburn Latest Article regarding Terry Pegula and Adams

[That Aud Smell]

43 minutes ago, Doohickie said:

Josh Allen is a Bill because McBeane.

the lore is that Beane more wanted Darnold; that it was Pegula who caught a vibe off Allen; and that it was the owner's say-so that allowed the team to remain at 7 (?) and choose Allen.

i am now legitimately ... hopeful that Jarmo is a sort of Gandalf.

i also remain skeptical, since i don't think Terry can be reset to some noble leader state of mind.

[LGR4GM]

4 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

the lore is that Beane more wanted Darnold; that it was Pegula who caught a vibe off Allen; and that it was the owner's say-so that allowed the team to remain at 7 (?) and choose Allen.

i am now legitimately ... hopeful that Jarmo is a sort of Gandalf.

i also remain skeptical, since i don't think Terry can be reset to some noble leader state of mind.

Terry is Denethor

[LTS]

12 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

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."

In my experience this is a common trait among corporate leaders.  The difference is that also in my experience they also know to surround themselves with competent people who drive success.  This is clearly not something Pegula does.

I think the key takeaway is that it at least one reporter is putting into the public view. I can only hope that there's continued focus on these things. Naturally having never made the play-offs during his ownership speaks for itself, but the details add weight.

[jad1]

9 minutes ago, That Aud Smell said:

the lore is that Beane more wanted Darnold; that it was Pegula who caught a vibe off Allen; and that it was the owner's say-so that allowed the team to remain at 7 (?) and choose Allen.

i am now legitimately ... hopeful that Jarmo is a sort of Gandalf.

i also remain skeptical, since i don't think Terry can be reset to some noble leader state of mind.

Beane tried to move up to 5 and had a deal set with the Broncos before Elway backed out to draft Chubb. 

If Cleveland drafted Chubb instead of Ward, the Broncos would have made the deal and Beane would have taken Allen at 5.

So Terry did nothing to hold the Bills at 7.

 

[Pimlach]

5 minutes ago, jad1 said:

Beane tried to move up to 5 and had a deal set with the Broncos before Elway backed out to draft Chubb. 

If Cleveland drafted Chubb instead of Ward, the Broncos would have made the deal and Beane would have taken Allen at 5.

So Terry did nothing to hold the Bills at 7.

 

Beane was all in on Allen.  He said after the pick and upon hearing all the resistance (the wrong Josh stuff) - "this guy is Buffalo".  

Terry may have also been all in on it but Beane is the guy that that gets credit and blame for the drafting. 

[Sidc3000]

2 hours ago, LGR4GM said:

“Everything Bills was always more important than everything Sabres,” said one former Pegula employee who worked on the hockey side. “It’s just been helter-skelter for the Sabres ever since he bought the Bills.”

I’ve been saying that for a few years now but many would say nooooo hockey is Terrys first love. No, money is his first love and the Sabres is a money pit. Buying the Sabres was a stepping stone to buy the Bills. The extreme cost cutting with the Sabres was (along with dumping other business ventures) was to consolidate his finances to fund the Bills new stadium

Edited Monday at 04:01 PM by Sidc3000

[That Aud Smell]

27 minutes ago, LGR4GM said:

Terry is Denethor

[Pimlach]

36 minutes ago, PASabreFan said:

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.

When were you the villain?  Your interpretation on the subtleties of how the media covers this team is pretty good stuff.  

[K-9]

2 hours 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.  

And a non-skating coach to boot.

[That Aud Smell]

16 minutes ago, jad1 said:

Beane tried to move up to 5 and had a deal set with the Broncos before Elway backed out to draft Chubb. 

If Cleveland drafted Chubb instead of Ward, the Broncos would have made the deal and Beane would have taken Allen at 5.

So Terry did nothing to hold the Bills at 7.

 

4 minutes ago, Pimlach said:

Beane was all in on Allen.  He said after the pick and upon hearing all the resistance (the wrong Josh stuff) - "this guy is Buffalo".  

Terry may have also been all in on it but Beane is the guy that that gets credit and blame for the drafting. 

fair play, fair play. this version sounds more accurate than the one i'd adopted over time.

[Weave]

1 hour ago, That Aud Smell said:

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?).

Yeah, I got that, and was questioning if being under Adams spell is less damaging than simply being a patsy (and therefore prone to keep being put under a spell, I guess),

[dudacek]

2 hours ago, SwampD said:

So, basically everything the Sunshine and Kitten crew has been getting upset at negative posters about for saying, is actually true.

Jarmo truly feels like our only hope.

 

 

I'm guessing Promo is Sunshine, but I think Kittens is now posting over on Mammothspace

 

2 hours ago, Mango said:

God I hate Adams more than I did before.

Am I the only one that picked up on the vibe that Adams has been somebody whose been getting in the way of good hockey decisions because of Pegula's stupid flat management structure?

I feel like this is Scooby Doo, it's been Adams the whole time!

 

2 hours ago, That Aud Smell said:

Wait - what? Please to explain.

Adams is just a toady for the guy who's the actual problem.

Nah?

 

We have a GM whose goal is to lean in to the owner's whims and cater to his ego, rather than manage and steer it down the proper paths, as I perceive Beane has been doing, and I believe most GMs do. It's the most essential GM skill that no one ever talks much about and it's totally absent in the Sabres heirarchy.

 

2 hours ago, Thorny said:

I literally said “as suspected”. 

it doesn’t make it right - I’ve been saying it for a year: Terry is absentee. If the calculation that the bills are more important results in the sabres being neglected, which is the case, he shouldn’t be the owner of the Buffalo f*cking sabres 

 

I struggle to buy into "neglect" as the overriding issue due to one quote from a nameless former staffer in a lengthy article that paints a pretty clear picture of a GM that has attached himself to the owner like a barnacle and spends every day telling him what he wants to hear. Unless you're referring to neglect in the context of neglecting to formulate a clear-headed appraisal of the actual job Adams is doing? Then I can get on board. I don't see neglect in the more traditional sense of being absent, or uncaring due to giving all his attention to a favoured child.

 

1 hour ago, Mango said:

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. 
 

 

I thought it was handled very well in terms of simply allowing the facts to speak. In the modern media environment that's increasingly hard to find.

This piece was far more resonant (and depressing) to me than the calculated Jerry Sullivan-style rant some seem to favour.

Edited Monday at 04:27 PM by dudacek

[K-9]

1 hour ago, Mango said:

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. 

First of all, I wish you good luck in your continued recovery. 

Regarding the Sabres’ reluctance to approve of the ADR process for Eichel, it wasn’t that they thought it was some unproven, new age procedure in the least. It was that it had never been performed on an NHL player before. There simply wasn’t enough of a sample size across athletes in all contact sports to conclusively say it was medical best practice and Eichel was the first NHL player to have the surgery. As it is, there are now only three but the results are promising. And it’s worth noting that the leading proponent for not recommending the ADR for Eichel was none other than Dr. Andrew Cappuccino, a Sabres (and Bills) medical consultant, one of the first to perform ADR surgeries in the world and who teaches spinal surgery techniques to doctors around the globe. His opinion certainly carried a lot of weight at the time. Unfortunately, care givers don’t have the luxury of hindsight. 

Anyway, continued good luck in your recovery. 

[bob_sauve28]

1 hour ago, Pimlach said:

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.   

 

I’d be afraid the blame Mr Playfair for anything! 

[Mango]

Sitting with this today. Sort of hilarious timing from the Sabres org. Curious if Fairburn was sitting on this waiting for the hire. 

From a new cycle perspective the Sabres botched this. They announced their most exciting FO move in maybe a decade on a Friday without any great mouth pieces to give it much spin. 

...Which gave time for somebody to write/and or release an article detailing how your dumby GM, who is the most notorious failure currently employed by an NHL team, has been a sounding board for the dumbest NHL org since the day he bought the team. 

I am curious if this was always set for a 6/2 release and/or when it was written. Because if it wasn't they could have gotten a day or two of positive weekday press before this came out. And the next crazy (dumb) thing is that because Fairburn was sitting in KBC with employees, that somebody must have thought they all went well, like really well, otherwise you would think they would know an article about Adams qualifications as GM was coming. 

[Thorny]

7 minutes ago, dudacek said:

 

I'm guessing Promo is Sunshine, but I think Kittens is now posting over on Mammothspace

 

 

 

We have a GM whose goal is to lean in to the owner's whims and cater to his ego, rather than manage and steer it down the proper paths, as I perceive Beane has been doing, and I believe most GMs do. It's the most essential GM skill that no one ever talks much about and it's totally absent in the Sabres heirarchy.

 

 

I struggle to buy into "neglect" as the overriding issue due to one quote from a nameless former staffer in a lengthy article that paints a pretty clear picture of a GM that has attached himself to the owner like a barnacle and spends every day telling him what he wants to hear. Unless you're referring to neglect in the context of neglecting to formulate a clear-headed appraisal of the actual job Adams is doing? Then I can get on board. I don't see neglect in the more traditional sense of being absent, or uncaring due to giving all his attention to a favoured child.

 

 

I thought it was handled very well in terms of simply allowing the facts to speak. In the modern media environment that's increasingly hard to find.

This piece was far more resonant (and depressing) to me than the calculated Jerry Sullivan-style rant some seem to favour.

My reading is that the “every decision” thing is well overplayed, at least regarding how much of distinction that would represent relative to other teams. More damning to me is fact sabres are a distant second priority. That’s the lack of $, unqualified hires explained

Poking his head in on every or most transactions strikes me more so as someone who wants to tell himself he’s on top of it all with the least energy committed possible rather that someone truly interested in prioritizing success

If you don’t see neglect as the main issue with the documented lack of spending, we aren’t going to agree 

I feel like every few weeks you and me get back to this same spot, you keep getting back to disagreeing with everyone thst Terry doesn’t care and I cannot drive home enough that the lack of spending is a significant trump card beyond any other point you are alluding to 

If we aren’t spending to the cap, he doesn’t care enough. That’s it, that’s all 

[dudacek]

1 minute ago, Mango said:

Sitting with this today. Sort of hilarious timing from the Sabres org. Curious if Fairburn was sitting on this waiting for the hire. 

From a new cycle perspective the Sabres botched this. They announced their most exciting FO move in maybe a decade on a Friday without any great mouth pieces to give it much spin. 

...Which gave time for somebody to write/and or release an article detailing how your dumby GM, who is the most notorious failure currently employed by an NHL team, has been a sounding board for the dumbest NHL org since the day he bought the team. 

I am curious if this was always set for a 6/2 release and/or when it was written. Because if it wasn't they could have gotten a day or two of positive weekday press before this came out. And the next crazy (dumb) thing is that because Fairburn was sitting in KBC with employees, that somebody must have thought they all went well, like really well, otherwise you would think they would know an article about Adams qualifications as GM was coming. 

Any piece that involved 10 sources and an hour-long sit-down with Adams has been in the works for weeks and the Sabres were well-aware it was coming.

[Mango]

10 minutes ago, dudacek said:

 

We have a GM whose goal is to lean in to the owner's whims and cater to his ego, rather than manage and steer it down the proper paths, as I perceive Beane has been doing, and I believe most GMs do. It's the most essential GM skill that no one ever talks much about and it's totally absent in the Sabres heirarchy.

 

This implies that this is calculated by Adams. I know Adams is proud to call himself a friend of Phred the Phoenix (this is actually how they spell it), but I don't believe that is the case. I think Pegula and Adams are on the same exact page. Kevyn isn't a yes man, he is in agreement. I think that difference in ineptitude is worth noting. 

[Mango]

3 minutes ago, dudacek said:

Any piece that involved 10 sources and an hour-long sit-down with Adams has been in the works for weeks and the Sabres were well-aware it was coming.

For sure. Again, why launch the franchises biggest hire in a decade on a Friday? Especially when you know this piece is twisting in the wind. 

This is maybe the best article on the Sabres in recent memory. 

[Thorny]

2 minutes ago, Mango said:

This implies that this is calculated by Adams. I know Adams is proud to call himself a friend of Phred the Phoenix (this is actually how they spell it), but I don't believe that is the case. I think Pegula and Adams are on the same exact page. Kevyn isn't a yes man, he is in agreement. I think that difference in ineptitude is worth noting. 

I think he caters to the whims of Pegula because they are philosophically aligned, yes. It’s calculated in terms of job security which is Adams’ main goal and always has been but that’s sort of the point: Adams didn’t become Terry’s guy because he picked him, Terry picked him because he was his guy. They clearly agree about this stuff, they both don’t care about success in the now 

[Thorny]

Like @dudaceksays he doesn’t seem particularly interested in moving Pegula in a different direction: I don’t think that’s a flaw it’s a feature 

Finkle is Einhorn. Adams is Pegula

[JP51]

I think after reading this its shows that there is nothing different going on than we have been opining on for a long long time... Pegula meddles, doesnt really care, outside of needing his ego boosted by oking routine decisions.  Has Adams because Adams is just thankful to be here and allows Pegula to run the team... we are on a hamster wheel going round and round with no real change in sight...  and the overall ineptness of this structure is driving consequential talent away and preventing others from walking thru the gates of hades to commence their suffering...

Bottom line nothing changes until Pegula sells... or drastically changes his overall structure from Scouting right thru running the team...  effectively, this is like calling an exterminator to a home ridden with termites in hopes of remediating the problem... his advice is the only way to fix the problem is to burn the house to ground....  and that is where we sit... the only fix is to burn the front office structure to the ground and bring in people that are qualified professionals....  this I fear means TP has to sell... but who knows maybe he comes around to understand what we have all known for years and years and years...   

[Mango]

2 minutes ago, Thorny said:

I think he caters to the whims of Pegula because they are philosophically aligned, yes. It’s calculated in terms of job security which is Adams’ main goal and always has been but that’s sort of the point: Adams didn’t become Terry’s guy because he picked him, Terry picked him because he was his guy. They clearly agree about this stuff, they both don’t care about success in the now 

We are totally splitting hairs here, I get it. We are not far off. But again to the bolded I really don't think that is the case. I think Terry believes he is a good owner and Kevyn believes he is a good GM. His EOY pressers all started with "I need to be better" and ended with "I think we did enough" or "on paper I think I did a good job". 

These are guys living in the clouds. These guys are the dumbest clowns in the worst circus clowns in the worlds dumbest circus. If these two orchestrated anything successfully it would be the first time. 

[Thorny]

4 minutes ago, JP51 said:

I think after reading this its shows that there is nothing different going on than we have been opining on for a long long time... Pegula meddles, doesnt really care, outside of needing his ego boosted by oking routine decisions.  Has Adams because Adams is just thankful to be here and allows Pegula to run the team... we are on a hamster wheel going round and round with no real change in sight...  and the overall ineptness of this structure is driving consequential talent away and preventing others from walking thru the gates of hades to commence their suffering...

Bottom line nothing changes until Pegula sells... or drastically changes his overall structure from Scouting right thru running the team...  effectively, this is like calling an exterminator to a home ridden with termites in hopes of remediating the problem... his advice is the only way to fix the problem is to burn the house to ground....  and that is where we sit... the only fix is to burn the front office structure to the ground and bring in people that are qualified professionals....  this I fear means TP has to sell... but who knows maybe he comes around to understand what we have all known for years and years and years...   

that’s an underplayed point too. Everyone is praising the article but we’ve been fairly desensitized over time to how unusual it is for the fan’s pulse on the team on pretty much everything up to and including the behind the scenes to be so on point. Far better than Adams’ pulse on the roster entering into each season 

[Pimlach]

19 minutes ago, Mango said:

Sitting with this today. Sort of hilarious timing from the Sabres org. Curious if Fairburn was sitting on this waiting for the hire. 

From a new cycle perspective the Sabres botched this. They announced their most exciting FO move in maybe a decade on a Friday without any great mouth pieces to give it much spin. 

...Which gave time for somebody to write/and or release an article detailing how your dumby GM, who is the most notorious failure currently employed by an NHL team, has been a sounding board for the dumbest NHL org since the day he bought the team. 

I am curious if this was always set for a 6/2 release and/or when it was written. Because if it wasn't they could have gotten a day or two of positive weekday press before this came out. And the next crazy (dumb) thing is that because Fairburn was sitting in KBC with employees, that somebody must have thought they all went well, like really well, otherwise you would think they would know an article about Adams qualifications as GM was coming. 

They don't want the attention and no matter what moves they make all eyes turn to the historic drought and the owner.