Buffalo News: Buffalo's now a hockey town

[BLeonard]

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/columns/bucky-gleason/article533186.ece



Pegula has shown a greater commitment to winning before his first full season with the Sabres than Wilson has in 51 seasons owning the Bills, plain and simple. Pegula brings faith and a sense of relief while Wilson brings, well, what has he contributed in recent years exactly other than headaches?

Hold your emails. People act as if criticizing Wilson equates to sacrilege, like he's somehow immune because he brought the Bills to Buffalo. It doesn't make him a good owner. Any notion that he performed some selfless community service goes out the window when adding up the money he pocketed while giving little back in return.


Thoughts?

-Bill

[THATHURMANATOR]

What is the difference? I have and always have loved both teams.

[OpIv37]

This article is going to take a lot of **** because people on this board generally don't like Gleason, but I think he's right.

Hockey is very popular in WNY and the only reason the Sabres are #2 is because of the Bills extreme popularity, not because of any lack of popularity on their own.

The fans are finally on to Ralph, and right at the same time, Pegula takes over the Sabres and immediately sends them in the exact opposite direction of the Bills. The timing is right and it isn't going to take much for the Sabres to take over.

[better days]

http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/columns/bucky-gleason/article533186.ece



Thoughts?

-Bill

Bucky Gleason, wow I expected this to be another Jerry Sullivan article. Looks like the media are as fed up as the fan base.

[PromoTheRobot]

Buffalo is a hockey town now...until the Bills string a few wins together. The Bills will always be king until they move. That's just a fact. It's like the Pats in Boston. They can win a Super Bowl every other year and the Sox still own the city.

PTR

[Historian]

The only thing Buffalo fans demand from their teams is an honest effort.

This line sums it up very succinctly for me.

I don't think it's ridiculous to believe that we should hove some semblence of a winning chance on Sundays...especially at 70 bucks a ticket.

[OpIv37]

Buffalo is a hockey town now...until the Bills string a few wins together. The Bills will always be king until they move. That's just a fact. It's like the Pats in Boston. They can win a Super Bowl every other year and the Sox still own the city.

PTR

Translation: the Patriots are just an excuse so Sox fans don't have to sober up in September.

[OpIv37]

This line sums it up very succinctly for me.

I don't think it's ridiculous to believe that we should hove some semblence of a winning chance on Sundays...especially at 70 bucks a ticket.

That's what it comes down to.

No sane hockey fan is going to pick the Sabres to win the Cup before the season starts, but we know that we at least have an outside chance at it.

With the Bills, well, technically we have a chance because technically, every team has a chance, but any sane football fan realizes that, realistically, we have no chance to win the SB, and our chances of a winning season aren't much better.

It's so much easier to be excited about the Sabres right now than the Bills.

[trapezeus]

the sabres have created an opportunity with their signings. That defense alone could sustain last year's offense. At least through the first round.

and this offense should be hungrier and just lighter in general without special neids and grier (though i loved grier in his prime). and there is some depth in kassian, adam, and foligno. It's hard to blame the FO if they don't do well. it'll be due to injuries and players sucking.

On the bills, you could point to anything and be right. "front office sucks" "ralph sucks" "the LB corp sucks" "the OL sucks" "the QB sucks" "the WR suck" "the secondary sucks" "gailey sucks". And really, where would you be wrong? Just too many broken pieces and zero answers. With the exception of signing ruvell of course.

[Johnny Bugmenot]

Buffalo is a hockey town now...until the Bills string a few wins together.
And when, pray tell is that going to happen? In ten years-- maybe?

[Philagape]

Fans should wear Sabres jerseys to Bills games

[k-oneputt]

If the Bills somehow went 4-0 to start the season that fifth game at home against Philly would be all Buffalo is talking about.
The Bills have stunk for so long it's been taking a toll but when they start winning again there is no comparison.
There has never been anything like the late 80's to mid 90's in Buffalo for sports.

[ddaryl]

Definitely looking forward to Hockey season... HOWEVER hockey season is just too long, and they play too many games for me to get very interested early on... I usually don't start really following Hockey until the New year and the All-star break.. From there hockey becomes interesting enough to pay more attention to.

SO from Now till January I follow hockey stats read an occasional article, but I'm still mostly football until then

[Night Train]

The bars here are packed on hockey night, especially after Pegula took over.

Not so much on Sundays, unless they have the ticket and show other games for gamblers and fantasy players.

[BertSquirtgum]

the bills suck. when does sabres hockey start?

[Historian]

There has never been anything like the late 80's to mid 90's in Buffalo for sports.

A wonderful time for Bills fans to be sure, but the period between 1970 and 1985 was a great time to be a hockey fan as well.

The Knoxes were in it to win it...and gave us some of the most thrilling sports memories in the history of the city.

[Ingtar33]

A wonderful time for Bills fans to be sure, but the period between 1970 and 1985 was a great time to be a hockey fan as well.

The Knoxes were in it to win it...and gave us some of the most thrilling sports memories in the history of the city.

the Knoxes were great guys.

[Night Train]

A wonderful time for Bills fans to be sure, but the period between 1970 and 1985 was a great time to be a hockey fan as well.

The Knoxes were in it to win it...and gave us some of the most thrilling sports memories in the history of the city.

1st row of Blues, right on one of the blue lines from 1978-83. The best.

[Bmax]

Gleason article was a great example of Journalistic garbage... not the subject matter just some of the lines in the article ...very poor taste...(ie sexual diease reference)

He should know better...I say this again Buffalo is a football town.. .. We must remember that there a lot fans here who love football and not the Bills...

Most WNY ers love the Sabres, but i would say about over 30 percent or more of sports fans here don't care for what happens when the sabres are out of the playoffs. In football that is not true now or even when the Bills were just going to the playoffs and not superbowls...No matter what the sport fan here is with the NFL untill the end..

Just can't say that about Hockey.. That's why Buffalo will alwys be a hockey town even if the Bills leave.

Bmax

[better days]

1st row of Blues, right on one of the blue lines from 1978-83. The best.

The Sabres used to sell tickets to any game before the season started, I don't know if they still do, but it was sweet. I bought the teams I wanted to see, or the nights I wanted to go, I went to a lot of games.

Sometimes Center ice in the gold or red, sometimes blues in the corner. This was at the old Aud. I enjoyed the different seats more than if I were in the same seat all the time. We always ran into friends & different friends, not the same ones all the time by moving around.

[SabreEleven]

the bills suck. when does sabres hockey start?

You hate the Sabres...what the **** are you talking about? You came into the Sabres Zone talking **** at the end of last season you, hypocritical *****.

[SabreEleven]

did you notice i haven't once posted in here except for the past three days? i dislike hockey, it's so ****ing boring. i just wanted to come in here and rile all of the clowns up....oh yeah, it looks like i was pretty accurate with the prediction tonight the sabres blow. i haven't wasted my time watching them since the year they lost to carolina and didn't resign briere and drury. **** you darcy.


nah, i love the bills more than i love my family. i would never give up on them.



whah whah whah, my team lost. cry me a river baby hughey.

edit: i actually stated i came in here 3 days before the series.


the sabres will lose tonight. mark it down.

edit: if anyone actually lost sleep over this team then that's pathetic.

[Blogabills]

The fact of the matter is, as 29 year resident of this place, this town is a bit of a bandwagon town in that it'll be a Bills or Sabres town depending on who is winning more.

Bills in the '90s? no contest, even with Mogilny and LaFontaine.

Sabres now with an owner who says all the right things and is throwing money around like Dan Snyder? And a team that actually makes the playoffs? Now it's a Sabres town.

[CoolBreeze]

Sabres are taking the cup this year. I said it, they will hold it over their collective heads bringing a championship to Buffalo. I really hope so.

[DrGraves]

My entire childhood this has never been a close race but its finally come to the point where the organization has pissed on its loyal fans for too long.

1. sabres
2. bills

[BertSquirtgum]

You hate the Sabres...what the **** are you talking about? You came into the Sabres Zone talking **** at the end of last season you, hypocritical *****.

get the sand out of your mangina. all of you sabres fanatics were clamoring about a stanley cup and i decided to come in the sabres zone to bring a dose of reality. the sabres were no where near good enough to get past the first round, let alone win the stanley cup.

edit: while i know that the bills suck it doesn't make me a blind homer like you guys were acting last spring.

[SabreEleven]

get the sand out of your mangina. all of you sabres fanatics were clamoring about a stanley cup and i decided to come in the sabres zone to bring a dose of reality. the sabres were no where near good enough to get past the first round, let alone win the stanley cup.

edit: while i know that the bills suck it doesn't make me a blind homer like you guys were acting last spring.

Who was clamoring about a Stanley Cup? Now you are just making up **** like normal especially since I caught you in your own lies.

[BertSquirtgum]

exactly what did I lie about? i said, the bills suck. when does sabres hockey start? you need to get laid.

[SabreEleven]

<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=3 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD style="BORDER-BOTTOM: 1px inset; BORDER-LEFT: 1px inset; BORDER-TOP: 1px inset; BORDER-RIGHT: 1px inset" class=alt2>Originally Posted by HurkeyNuts
did you notice i haven't once posted in here except for the past three days? i dislike hockey, it's so ****ing boring. i just wanted to come in here and rile all of the clowns up....oh yeah, it looks like i was pretty accurate with the prediction tonight the sabres blow. i haven't wasted my time watching them since the year they lost to carolina and didn't resign briere and drury. **** you darcy.


</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

You hate hockey but you can't wait for it to start? Which is it.

[BertSquirtgum]

when did i say i can't wait for it to start? i just asked when it did start.

[Jan Reimers]

The fact of the matter is, as 29 year resident of this place, this town is a bit of a bandwagon town in that it'll be a Bills or Sabres town depending on who is winning more.
I think Buffalo is less of bandwagon town than almost any other place I can think of.

Fans here have loyally supported both teams through many, many years of bad ownership and less-than-stellar play.

It's not at all surprising that the pendulum should swing a little toward the Sabres,' given Pegula's unbridled enthusiasm for winning, contrasted with Ralph's total lack of caring toward the fans.

If Bills' fans were thrown even a few crumbs by ownership, they would be right back in the swing of things, and there would once more be plenty of love to go around for both teams.