thenorthremembers Posted April 15, 2020 Posted April 15, 2020 2 hours ago, jrober38 said: The Pegulas have run the Sabres into the ground. The franchise is completely irrelevant outside of WNY. Similar to the league the team plays in.
Bleeding Bills Blue Posted April 15, 2020 Posted April 15, 2020 1 hour ago, Doc said: I meant "run into the ground" as in the team continuing with the drought. I guess "keep it on the ground" would have been more appropriate. As for the Sabres, Golisano spent little on the team and they made the playoffs regularly. I don't understand what's going on there considering the money Terry has spent on the team and with the success of the Bills. The GM has not panned out. But if they fire another GM... I just don't know who to hire. If most of the murray picks are bad, you're left with a barren pipeline. Murray also traded a lot of the prospects who should be depth on this roster - in short sighted moves to try and rush the rebuild. People wanted JB to try and make some crazy move to salvage this season and TBH I'm glad he didn't. Stop loading this team with terrible contracts, you need players to contribute on entry-level deals or it wont matter. And can they get a friggin goalie? Why are we so worried about every other aspect of this team but stopping the puck. A better player than hutton and they're probably sitting at 78-80 points and a little run away from sneaking into the playoffs. Also - Ullmark aint it. Keep looking.
uticaclub Posted April 15, 2020 Posted April 15, 2020 2 hours ago, BuffaloRebound said: Bad look. A billionaire can’t keep 25 employees on the books for 6 months until things settle down? Have you been paying attention to the news? Like at all? Far Left, Far Right and everyone in between is reporting massive layoffs and firings in every single industry. 1
Doc Posted April 15, 2020 Posted April 15, 2020 1 minute ago, Mr. WEO said: They would cut the Sabres. Since they can't tolerate losing pennies (as billionaires), they aren't going to watch millions burn, doc. They hired them (see my post above). Actually they hired McD--he told them to get his buddy Beane. So they did. Was the "Toronto Group" the same as "The Kelly Group"? So many groups! If the Sabres lost millions one season, the Pegulas would make cuts to save millions. Or not. They make enough money off the Bills to more than off-set the money lost on the Sabres. They wouldn't immediately put the team up for sale. This is obvious. They hired both Beane and McD. McD probably had some input as to whether he could work with him but it was the Pegulas who hired both. The Kelly group didn't have the money. Neither did Trump. It was between the Pegulas and Rogers/JBJ.
SDS Posted April 15, 2020 Posted April 15, 2020 Also, unless we have vision into their severance packages, if any, we really don’t know if they did the right thing by the person or not. 2
jrober38 Posted April 15, 2020 Posted April 15, 2020 1 hour ago, MJS said: Yeah, it was really booming before they came in... The Sabres were very entertaining and relevant throughout the late 90s and 2000s. The last 9 years in comparison have been terrible. 3
Mr. WEO Posted April 15, 2020 Posted April 15, 2020 11 minutes ago, Doc said: If the Sabres lost millions one season, the Pegulas would make cuts to save millions. Or not. They make enough money off the Bills to more than off-set the money lost on the Sabres. They wouldn't immediately put the team up for sale. This is obvious. They hired both Beane and McD. McD probably had some input as to whether he could work with him but it was the Pegulas who hired both. The Kelly group didn't have the money. Neither did Trump. It was between the Pegulas and Rogers/JBJ. Yet they are laying off wage earners. How much is that saving them? Not "millions". McD told them who Beane was, and to hire him. Then they (as only owners can) hired him. 1
BuffaloRebound Posted April 15, 2020 Posted April 15, 2020 7 minutes ago, uticaclub said: Have you been paying attention to the news? Like at all? Far Left, Far Right and everyone in between is reporting massive layoffs and firings in every single industry. I know what’s going on. We’re all going through it. There’s also a lot of business owners with far less means than a billionaire doing everything possible to take care of their employees. Maybe those 25 people got a huge severance package. I don’t know. What I do know is that it’s not a good look for a billionaire to lay off 25 people right now. Even if you gave them a huge severance package, it’s headline news and bad press for the Pegulas.
PromoTheRobot Posted April 15, 2020 Posted April 15, 2020 34 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said: He has spent about 10% of the time around there that he used to. That’s where this is coming from. Because he was being labeled a "meddling owner." You can't win. Just now, BuffaloRebound said: I know what’s going on. We’re all going through it. There’s also a lot of business owners with far less means than a billionaire doing everything possible to take care of their employees. Maybe those 25 people got a huge severance package. I don’t know. What I do know is that it’s not a good look for a billionaire to lay off 25 people right now. Even if you gave them a huge severance package, it’s headline news and bad press for the Pegulas. From one reporter in particular. 1
Lurker Posted April 15, 2020 Posted April 15, 2020 1 hour ago, yungmack said: He makes his money in energy/fracking. Hasn't been a good year for that biz. He sold most of those holdings for $4.7 billion a long time ago: https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/11314071/buffalo-bills-bidder-terry-pegula-closes-175-billion-drilling-deal He may dabble in some minor energy investments these days, but that's more of a hobby than anything meaningful.
Kirby Jackson Posted April 15, 2020 Posted April 15, 2020 28 minutes ago, SDS said: Some of this does not jive. The bills turned around when Russ Brandon stopped calling the shots and was eventually removed. Then he came in towards the end of his tenure with the Sabres but they were already in a bad situation and he did not help. He appear to make a bad organization move to just below 500 and nothing more and sell tickets. Talking strictly business operations. This has nothing to do with team performance (although it does make one’s job easier). Basically sponsorships, branding, tickets, community relations, government relations, customer service, and stadium/arena operations would fall under that umbrella. Team performance often masks the deficiencies or successes on the business side. For years the best run NBA teams on the business side were the Suns, Twolves and Lebronless Cavs. The weakest were probably the Lakers and Bulls. They just didn’t have the challenges that others did and never had to evolve. When things are going well, as they are with the Bills, everything looks fine on the outside. When things go poorly, like with the Sabres, these issues are highlighted. Admittedly, a lot of my perception is from anecdotal stories from people within PSE. These people though, in many cases, have been with other organizations. You see the differences between good and bad. The Bills were a well-oiled machine in this department for years despite the mess in the other half of the building. Now the roles are reversed. 3
Doc Posted April 15, 2020 Posted April 15, 2020 4 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said: Yet they are laying off wage earners. How much is that saving them? Not "millions". McD told them who Beane was, and to hire him. Then they (as only owners can) hired him. So your evidence that they'd sell after just one season losing money is because they're laying off workers who probably make more on unemployment? OK. And McD told them about Beane? LOL! Who told them about McD? Beane?
PromoTheRobot Posted April 15, 2020 Posted April 15, 2020 44 minutes ago, Doc said: Why? Saving the Bills from Bon Jon Bovi and the Toronto group should have given them a much much longer honeymoon period. People have short memories. I buy Kirby's take. The Pegulas are likely not the sharpest sports executives but I think they are committed to the city and making these teams winners. They whiffed with the Bills before striking on McBeane. I'm hoping they will get the Sabres right eventually. 1
Lurker Posted April 15, 2020 Posted April 15, 2020 2 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said: McD told them who Beane was, and to hire him. And as I recall, the league pointed him in the direction of McD after the Sexy Rexy fiasco. About the only thing Pegs knows how to do is drill holes in the ground. He's the Chauncey Gardiner of pro sports ownership. “I like to watch,” indeed...
Mr. WEO Posted April 15, 2020 Posted April 15, 2020 Just now, Doc said: So your evidence that they'd sell after just one season losing money is because they're laying off workers who probably make more on unemployment? OK. And McD told them about Beane? LOL! Who told them about McD? Beane? They are billionaires who could easily afford to pay these people indefinitely. Billionaires don't like losing money--even a tiny amount--anymore than you do. Kudos for getting McD. But there's no chance they were already also considering Carolina's "assistant General Manager" for GM on their own. It's obvious that McD wanted him and got him. 1
SDS Posted April 15, 2020 Posted April 15, 2020 7 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said: Talking strictly business operations. This has nothing to do with team performance (although it does make one’s job easier). Basically sponsorships, branding, tickets, community relations, government relations, customer service, and stadium/arena operations would fall under that umbrella. Team performance often masks the deficiencies or successes on the business side. For years the best run NBA teams on the business side were the Suns, Twolves and Lebronless Cavs. The weakest were probably the Lakers and Bulls. They just didn’t have the challenges that others did and never had to evolve. When things are going well, as they are with the Bills, everything looks fine on the outside. When things go poorly, like with the Sabres, these issues are highlighted. Admittedly, a lot of my perception is from anecdotal stories from people within PSE. These people though, in many cases, have been with other organizations. You see the differences between good and bad. The Bills were a well-oiled machine in this department for years despite the mess in the other half of the building. Now the roles are reversed. He gets credit for marketing. The problem is once he got his nose under the performance side of the tent, it did not stop until McDermitt was hired. And then Brandon was gone. His name could be under the Peter principle entry in Wikipedia.
Don Otreply Posted April 15, 2020 Posted April 15, 2020 1 hour ago, MJS said: Yeah, it was really booming before they came in... Jrober38 only posts regularly if he can get a running start on a topic that allows for a lot of complaining, it’s his thing evidently. Go Bills!!! Stay healthy Bills Nation!
C.Biscuit97 Posted April 15, 2020 Posted April 15, 2020 3 hours ago, Call_Of_Ktulu said: Key Bank has been dead for at least 3 years now with exception to the hot starts. They have to be losing money like crazy with the Sabers. Hockey Teams don’t really make a lot of money. If I remember correctly, I think the Sabres lost money last year. The Bills, despite one of the lowest valued teams in the nfl, are carrying the Sabres. But TP loves hockey so they are his passion project. But he doesn’t have the Sabres to make money. 13 minutes ago, Mr. WEO said: They are billionaires who could easily afford to pay these people indefinitely. Billionaires don't like losing money--even a tiny amount--anymore than you do. Kudos for getting McD. But there's no chance they were already also considering Carolina's "assistant General Manager" for GM on their own. It's obvious that McD wanted him and got him. Yup. McDermott is Beane’s boss.
Mr. WEO Posted April 15, 2020 Posted April 15, 2020 1 minute ago, C.Biscuit97 said: Hockey Teams don’t really make a lot of money. If I remember correctly, I think the Sabres lost money last year. The Bills, despite one of the lowest valued teams in the nfl, are carrying the Sabres. But TP loves hockey so they are his passion project. But he doesn’t have the Sabres to make money. Yup. McDermott is Beane’s boss. Say what?
Doc Posted April 15, 2020 Posted April 15, 2020 2 minutes ago, PromoTheRobot said: People have short memories. I buy Kirby's take. The Pegulas are likely not the sharpest sports executives but I think they are committed to the city and making these teams winners. They whiffed with the Bills before striking on McBeane. I'm hoping they will get the Sabres right eventually. No owner/ship group if perfect. Coaches get hired and fired within a few years all the time. I remember everyone wanting Mike Babcock to be the Sabres' HC and despite taking over a supremely talented roster, he's now out of a job. The important thing is realizing your mistake and fixing it quickly and eventually getting the right person. And I'm not sure what it will take to get the Sabres back to the playoffs. They spend the money needed. 2 minutes ago, Lurker said: And as I recall, the league pointed him in the direction of McD after the Sexy Rexy fiasco. About the only thing Pegs knows how to do is drill holes in the ground. He's the Chauncey Gardiner of pro sports ownership. “I like to watch,” indeed... Who did? 1 minute ago, Mr. WEO said: They are billionaires who could easily afford to pay these people indefinitely. Billionaires don't like losing money--even a tiny amount--anymore than you do. Kudos for getting McD. But there's no chance they were already also considering Carolina's "assistant General Manager" for GM on their own. It's obvious that McD wanted him and got him. No reason to pay them if they're getting paid more for not working. And if you want to believe they'd sell the Sabres after just 1 money-losing season, hey, you're entitled to your opinion. But they've obviously shown a huge commitment to WNY because of their ties there and I doubt even the most anti-Pegula person would agree with you. Why would there be "no chance" on their own? They were both in Carolina. If they were looking at one they'd also have learned about Beane.
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