Dr. Who

Well, I don't know them personally. Nice or not, TP is the worst hockey owner in the history of the NHL. Adams has not grown into the position. The whole thing is a fiasco. It makes one recognize the good fortune to have landed McDermott and Beane. (Allen, of course, is the most significant driver of success, but he doesn't do it alone.) Folks can complain about the playoff failures -- I do, but the Bills are a well-run organization.

Part of the problem is that any vet with a NMC is going to block a trade to the Sabres. I think Pegula's reputation is currently so poor, he'd have to open his wallet and hire a really respected NHL fella and publicly make it clear he's handing the decision making to an established professional. Otherwise, what you're likely going to get is fringe vets that aren't good enough or to fill the role that is needed. And Pegula does not want to spend on the Sabres, which sets up an endless cycle of frustration and disappointment. Even with the untenable position they've placed themselves, I'm sure there are trades to be made. Adams is in a pickle, because other teams know the desperate plight of the continuing malaise. He'll have to overpay, and gamble with some of his precious futures. Folks looked at the roster before the season started and nearly everyone could see they needed at least one add to the top 6 and a top 4D. Get Power a stay-at-home solid D and it would make a world of difference. Bottom line, we are led by dummies. Nice guys, but not bright, and rather arrogant. How many times do they have to fail before they question the wisdom of their plans?

The roster construction is flawed, and the GM and owner are clueless. The Sabres don't have enough good veterans. There is talent, but a lot of it needs time, and it needs competent veteran leadership to properly develop. As it is, they are trapped in a cycle where the talent is degraded by structural flaws. Players get dejected, want out, and go on to win Cups elsewhere (ROR, Eichel, Reinhart). To make it all worse, though NHL officiating is so bad it maybe makes the NFL look alright, the Sabres routinely get really bad calls, or don't get the calls, however you want to look at it. The zebras have an irrational contempt for Benson, for example. Life's too short to court misery. Pegula needs to hire solid NHL people and get out of the way, but he's too stubborn and foolish. I don't see it happening. The team is the laughingstock of the league, building on historical levels of ineptitude, and TP flies over to Montreal to give the fellas a vote of confidence and to make clear no trades are coming. You're looking at yet another rebuild. LOL dim.

They won't, unless the zebras allow your grossly incompetent offensive line to hold like drunken sailors at a slow dance. (They probably will, and then it will still be a close thing.) You're a nervy child of illegitimate parentage to show up on another team's board to consistently chastise your hosts.

Lucky he's not a racehorse.

I'm not sure, but I think there is precedent to prevent this. All you have to do is make a large bet on the Rams, but don't tell your spouse.

I think it will be SMU for this reason, and it should be.

My real interests are philosophy, theology, and literature. Edmund Husserl, who is the father of modern phenomenology, proposed a method whereby one "bracketed" factual reality, and imagined possible variations. Hence, one might be looking at a house with cedar siding painted green. Now imagine it is painted white instead. Now imagine it is much larger or smaller, brick or stucco instead of wood, etc. Ultimately, one aimed at the most comprehensive range in which a concept for "house" might be valid. The counter-factual can be illuminating, but it can only suggest. Fiction is a way of probing not only the possible ranges, but also investigating aspects of the factual that do not easily reduce to the quantifiable. Regardless, it can be useful, though naturally all it can do is suggest. I do think health of the D was obviously the issue last year. I also think if you give Chris Jones to the Bills, we have at least one Super Bowl ring.

I don't think the NHL wants to lose Buffalo; one of the few cities in North America that thinks hockey is a major sport. But yes, it potentially could be problem. Historically, there's never been an owner as inept as Terry Pegula. If he had the capacity for introspection, he'd step back and hire real pros to make personnel decisions. It would also help if he wasn't running the team on an internal cap, which he almost certainly is, regardless of what Kevyn Adams says.

Unfortunately, you can't fire the owner. TP is clueless, but thinks he knows hockey. No competent GM wants to work for him.

The main criticism of the Bills' receiving room prior to the acquisition of Cooper was that there was a lack of outside WR speed paired with the kind of reliable skill set that is normally equated with a WR1. I don't think there is any question that the current talent in the Bills' WR room is ascending at the right time, but part of that is each player fits into their proper place. You're not asking a WR2 to be a WR1. In short, context matters. We now have a superior o-line, a genuine running game with multiple backs that contribute, including Cook who is arguably elite, a tough TE that can catch and block in Knox, a flex TE that can stretch the field in Kincaid, an outside receiver the opponent's defense has to respect in Cooper, an emerging solid WR2 in Coleman, a YAC monster in Shakir, maybe a gadget guy in Samuel if he can really get healthy; not to mention a really solid blocker and clutch redzone fella in Hollins. That is an excellent array of weapons for Josh Allen, who is the best player in football, and a dual threat himself. But don't kid yourself. The addition of Cooper was an essential ingredient, and not just a throw-in.

Let's hope that carries over into the post-season. If it does, good things . . .

I mean, it's always late afternoon somewhere.

Gotta be tough to do that all by yourself. How's it going?

As emperors go, he's pretty average in mendacity and corruption. He's not Caligula, but that home game in London last year was pretty evil.