JohnC

I'm not sure if someone posted the play. If not, here it is. http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-cant-miss-plays/0ap3000001040138/Can-t-Miss-Play-Former-rugby-star-Christian-Wade-ignites-for-65-yard-TD-run

It's blocked on 212-1 in Maryland. In Maryland 212 is carrying the Giants and the Jets.

I wasn't able to bring up the BN article. From what I heard about him he is constantly looking at different training methods. Just watching him play it is apparent that he is a relentless effort player you don't have worry about. Even when he is subjected to periods of scoring lulls the effort is still there. You can't play at his pace without being in superb condition.

If you listened to the interview and disagreed with his views that's fine. It's understandable that someone doesn't have the time to listen to an extended interview. If that is the case then why bother to comment?

The attached link is a 45 minute interview with Jason Botterill on WGR's Instigator show. He went through the roster and talked about how he goes about not just adding talent but assembling a roster and team. My takeaway from this interview is that Botts is a smart guy and has a vision on how to build a team and organization. He was reasonably candid in a public setting talking about players and where they are and what he expects from them. There were a couple of nuggets that I got out of this interview. One is that I get the sense that Risto will be on this roster. The second is that he is counting on Mitts to take a leap forward and center a line with better wingers. This interview is worth listening to in this barren period of the hockey scene. https://wgr550.radio.com/media/audio-channel/08-07-sabres-general-manager-jason-botterill-instigators

Your post is a ridiculous graceless and mean-spirited post. He is out socializing and having a good time. Is that a crime? What do you want him to do? Go to the old folks home and tell stories about the good old days while rocking in a chair? I'm sure I will come off as being judgmental but you should think more before posting something so silly, mean and shameful.

Astro, What are you going to say about Murph if he comes into camp next year and he surprises you by being svelte? Thank you for giving us a first look at this team. Your efforts and congeniality are much appreciated. ?

It's not surprising that a public figure's persona doesn't always reflect the reality of who that person is. Bill Cosby was an iconic figure who represented a reassuring paternal figure. In private he was a monster who drugged and raped women at a frightening level. With respect to Serena being likable or not doesn't mean that the cause she is promoting is wrong. The issue is the issue. Your wife is a successful banker in a profession dominated by men. I'm sure that she will tell you that the salary scale in her challenging profession isn't always fairly applied between men and women. It's indisputable that the pay gap is closing between men and women but that gap is getting closer not because women were passive about the issue but because they fought for equity on that issue. A very long time ago I was in the vicinity of Barbara Streisand and a situation she was in. OMG! Compared to her Serena is a lovable charmer.

I respectfully disagree that a condition for women to garner more money is to play five set instead of three set matches. The issue of increasing pay outs on the women side has little to do with the number of sets they play as it does with the income their side of the business generates. The three set matches are a good fit for women matches. Players such as Billy Jean King, Martina, Evert, Steffi Graf, Monica Seles and Serena received proportionally less than they should have relative to the income they generated. Historically, Wimbledon significantly under compensated the women side of their tournament even when there was more public interest in their matches compared to the men's side. Serena is a current advocate but she is simply a recent extension of her predecessors fighting to get more money. The only reason why the women now get more is because they fought for it.

You can see the pride radiating from mom and dad.

Compared to where we could have been with a competent HC. If a McDermott caliber coach would have been in place at that time this franchise would be in a more advanced situation. Much of what McDermott has done is undo what the former brash coach did. The mouthy coach took a good defense and then hindered it by forcing players to play his system which was not the most suitable for the players he had to work with. Dumb is dumb. Wasting seasons to again start over represents a "stupid and wasteful interlude". You might think it was a productive period but I certainly don't. Why do you think he was fired so early in his contract? It certainly wasn't because he represented excellence.

I'm not sure this NHL.com link will come through. If it does it is a six minute segment that gives a less than optimistic assessment of the team. The general thesis by both Dan Rosen and Mike Johnson is that there are so many unanswered issues. They both are not too keen on our goaltending situation. https://www.nhl.com/

Reed worked in a situation that was a disaster. Do you think that was going to burnish his resume after his novice stint under Rex? No one is assuming that a HOF player is going to be a good coach. On the other hand you can't assume that he couldn't be a good coach because of his HOF career. He went into a bad situation when he was trying to enter the coaching ranks starting at the bottom. Working as an underling for Rex didn't help him in the field, it hurt him. You made the point that the former player was "crapping" on Rex. Far from it. He was telling the obvious truth as you point out that everyone already knew about.

Why do you say that Reed didn't have an aptitude to coach? What do you base that opinion on? There is nothing unusual about players who have played for a long time and exhibited an intellect for the game to get hired as assistants. He was a HOF player on a historically good defensive team. Your diminishing of his history in the game makes little sense. He wanted to break into the coaching ranks. He was hired for an entry level position by a coach that he had a long relationship with as a player. What's unusual about that? You describe him as crapping on Rex a few years later. That is utter nonsense because he accurately, like so many others have also done, described what was going on in the Clown show when Rex was the ringmaster. What Reed stated was not a startling revelation.It was well known by everyone in the business and many outside the business that Rex at that stage of his career was hideously incompetent.

I don't care whether he won this game or not. He being on our sidelines exhibiting his cartoonish histrionics is a tribute to the historic ineptitude of this organization. Fortunately, the mistake was rectified by his firing and the hiring of a competitive replacement. Make no mistake about it the Rex hiring was a devastating blow to this battered franchise. It made the road to respectability a longer road to ride on toward being competitive. Even in the best organizations not all hires work out. That's part of the business. However, the Rex second-rated vaudeville act was a long running act that was on full display before he was hired by the owner. His hiring made no bloody sense.

If you like to throw the dice I suspect you might be financially challenged.

Paul Hamilton has repeatedly stated that Botts is usually steadfast in not buying out players. I wouldn't be surprised if Botts sent Sobotka down to Rochester in hopes that he leaves the continent. I wouldn't be surprised if the Rochester route was used to help give some cap relief. I see some trades materializing soon that will help a little with the cap. Some players may be dealt for some low round picks. Next year, there should be a lot more financial flexibility because a number of players are on the last year of their contracts. I believe that Scandella and Bogo are in that category.

He may be an insufferable diva but that doesn't make him a whack job. I wouldn't want him on my team but without a doubt he is one of the best receivers, if not the best receiver, in the game.

Absolutely! If it is going to dramatically upgrade your contract and make you one of the highest paid receivers in the league why not? If acting like a jerk puts you in a position to be greatly enriched then that isn't an act of craziness, it is a strategic way of behaving. Don't knock it. It worked for him.

The agent was working on his behalf; and the player was acting on his own behalf. The player was following his own script for his own benefit. It worked out marvelously for him. That's not an example of being crazy.

He was smart enough to work himself into a big contract while already being contractually obligated. He may be a diva but he out maneuvered the system and beat the system. Forcing his team to move on from him and putting himself in a position to get an extraordinary contract from his new team is not a demonstration of going off the deep end. A better description is: Crazy like a fox.

The real issue isn't why Rex was fired but why was he hired? When you hire a buffoon who exhibited the same undisciplined and chaotic traits he had in his last job from which he was fired why should anyone be surprised what the outcome was going to be. The owner thought he could instantly establish some attention for his irrelevant and invisible franchise. He got it. He got the attention he was seeking for his franchise but for the wrong reasons. This was not only a bad hire by the owner but it was a peculiar and weird hiring. Thankfully, the owner learned from his stupendous mistake. In the end, the clown coach outhustled the billionaire who had to pay off the three remaining years in his lucrative contract. Maybe Rex isn't as dumb as he appears to be? A what if question: Where would this team be from a competitive standpoint if the Pegula/s hired McDermott or someone as capable when he first bought the team. This franchise was set back with the Rex hire and the next coach took extra time trying to clean out the mess. When you go backwards you then have to go farther to move forward. The Rex era was such a stupid and wasteful interlude.

I got the same response as you did that I have to wait until Sept 2 to request the $60 a month credit. On the other hand I was able to get a $20 a month additional credit. As like you I will be calling in early Sept.

You have aptly described Zay Jones in noting that non of his traits are special but rather fall in the solid to good categories. That's okay. If he becomes a productive #3 receiver for us I won't be complaining. In my opinion we don't have a #1 caliber receiver on the roster. But not having that caliber of receiver doesn't mean that you can't have a good receiving unit composed of multiple two and three caliber receivers. With the additions of Brown and Beasley and more consistent play from Zay our unit looks solid with the expectation that the qb will continue forward on an upward trajectory.

I, like you, don't believe that he will be awarded the $4.397 M that he is asking for. But if he is considered a second-pairing caliber defenseman he will be awarded more than what the Sabres are offering him, maybe $2.5 plus. For the sake of argument if the Sabres do deal Risto for a second-line forward then McCabe's value certainly would be more than the Sabre's offer. This is just my guess but I wouldn't be surprised if the Sabres dealt Risto or even McCabe and additional players to get back one bona fide second line player. It's funny how our cap situation has gone from being wide open to being tight in short order. I'm anxiously waiting for some deals.