So, the Sabres now have an owner with deep pockets and a interest in winning. This is a good start, and let’s hope it translates into an improving product. I mean winning does sell a lot of replica jerseys.
Being a lifelong fan, coming so close in 2006 was great and the implosion of recent years is frustrating and it became obvious that the team was an investment. I’m very grateful for Tom Golisano for rescuing the team.
The well-documented fiascos of the contracts that should have been signed from Dumont, Briere, Drury, et. al and the ones that shouldn’t Vanek, Connolly and most recently Regier try the customer base’s patience and intelligence.
Ultimately, it is a business to be sure and you hope the new regime restores the class that came back with this year’s jerseys. It is upsetting to hear complaints from people like Rene Robert, and even more upsetting still that he has a point.
Hopefully, when the dust settles, Mr. Pegula has a team president to run the operation and a hockey guy to be g.m. both of whom have the mandate to create the best product possible.
Winning cures a lot and sells a lot of merchandise. As a long suffering Sabres fan, I’m eternally grateful to Larry Quinn for going out and finding Tom Golisano and saving the franchise. That was a remarkable thing. But the shortsightness in the long documented contract botchings of Chris Drury, J.P. Dumont, Daniel Briere among others is still baffling to me. Perhaps you do have to draw a line in the sand in terms of salaries and whatnot, but I think the eventual Cup win that team would have had would have sold enough merchandise to make up the differences. Remember all the many trips we all took to Trench printing outlets during the Bills Super Bowl years? I wonder what Terry Pegula’s first actions will be for a team that has been more consistently interesting off the ice than odd, hopefully before more of Ryan Miller’s prime goes completely to waste. It wasn’t so long ago that the Arena was a tough building to come into and play, like a mystique was in the making.
Cleaning out what fell into my mental pockets during the week that was:
Went over to the first night of the Italian Festival to see a few folks manning booth and cheer on a friend in a contest. Snacked my way back to my car and the folks at LaNova accomplished the impossible: My pizza slice seemingly got hotter as I had it. I mean I know it was warm out, but this was a culinary treat worthy of Mythbusters. It was great as Lanova never disappoints, but I think I could have used a defibulator by the time I finished.
Larry Quinn is worried Bass Pro might get offended and leave us. In testifying to the Common Council, Quinn told press that the city is too negative. Not me, I’m not at all negative. I think Bass Pro is great, Bass Pro is swell, but Bass Pro will not be the silver bullet that city leaders are always so prone to looking for. I think we are bending over backwards for a chain that understandably wants some guarantees, but the price tag seems bloody enormous for something that I don’t believe will redefine Buffalo. Canalside is a great project, and with all the improving numbers of city dwellers, I can’t help but wonder if we might not been better off pursuing an Ikea and polishing their behind to a fine sheen. If anything, the people who have a legitimate claim to be offended might be the folks at Dicks and Gander Mountain.
Larry’s boss, Tom Golisano, has spent alright with the Sabres in my mind, just spent it on a few of the wrong guys. The NHL didn’t seem to retain much from the lockout. I’m reading about Soku Koivu getting a 47 million dollar contract. Given he has some miles on him, you got to wonder what some of the GMs are thinking. It’s a business alright, and a poorly run one once again.
Yeah, it’s hot, but at least we ain’t shoveling. Although on behalf of my employer, I would like to put in a request for a few weeks of typical Buffalo summer weather, 78-80, low humidity, that could cure many ills.
So, BP finally got the lid closed for the moment. Setting aside the inevitable blown seal jokes, this is a long overdue first step. The Gulf has been feeling fate’s wrath for too long and before BP signs off with the Libyans, the Capones, whoever, here’s hoping serious work gets done to clean up and repair the damage.
One thing occured to me in the hullabaloo in Lebron James‘ flipping of the fiscal bird to the good folks in Cleveland. If the Clippers were still here as the Buffalo Braves, none of us could afford to go.
Mike's Pub 