I'm surprised at the lack of talk of the goings on of last Friday. I came home from work, flipped on Empire to see if Jim Brinson got any more hairplugs for Christmas, and saw the Union / Hammister press conference. Then Josh Mora, he of the new glasses, told us about Hammister's meeting with the county legislators that went incredibly well. I had been reading the Buffalo News on line to try to keep up with what was going on. and read about all the legislators grousing about the deal, so it was surprising to see them on Empire all crowing about how good the Hammister deal is. If Hammister can get the county and the unions on his side in this short of time, he can pull this whole thing together.

Hammister knows the arena lease and finances better than ANYONE, including anyone in government and probably even the previous ownership. I'm convinced that he's going to make it happen, at least in the short term. The 2004 players contract will decide if the Sabres (along with as many as 8 other teams) can make a go of in in the long haul.