This just in: Daniel Briere's agent says things didn't go down the way Larry Quinn said they did. What happened? Who's telling the truth? Who's not?
Who cares? Do you hear me, Buffalo? WHOOOOOOOOOO CAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARES?! Those of us not directly involved in the negotiatons and talks are NEVER. GOING. TO KNOW. THE TRUTH especially since our local newspaper seems to be fine with reporting one side of the story without bothering to get even a "no comment" from the other side. No one wants to look like the bad guy, okay? Quinn and Regier have a team to run. Pat Brisson has clients to appease and, I'm sure, would like to get new clients in the future. Chris Drury and Daniel Briere want to protect their reputations. No one is going to stand up and say, "I am solely responsible for this screw up" which is fine because I doubt any one person is solely responsible so can we please stop trying to figure out who exactly is to blame? Are we going to rehash this over and over and over for the next 80 odd days until training camp starts? Because it's really starting to get on my nerves. Buffalo News make your point about management screwing up already and move on. Larry and Darcy, quit defending yourselves because clearly some of us love you and some of us hate you and nothing is going to change anyone's stance on that. Chris and Danny, I love you, I appreciate what you did while you were in Buffalo, go away and let us forget you for a while and please take your agents with you. Fans, deal with the fact that Chris and Danny are on other teams because NOTHING IS CHANGING THAT and see what you can do about enjoying the players who are still here. And please decide whether you're going to complain if management refuses to spend a lot of money on a player OR complain if management agrees to spend a lot of money on a player because you really can't do both. And Lindy, would it KILL you to sound a LITTLE excited about next year's team? Because it's not like you've been given crap all to work with. And Blogger, what the heck is your problem with titles lately?
Ryan, Adam, Soupy... Carry on. I'm fine with you and God bless you.
10 comments:
Heather I was SO UNIMPRESSED with Lindy's quote in the paper today. It's like, DUDE, we need you to be optimistic! Even Crunchy pulled it off. Stupid, Lindy.
Usually Lindy's blunt candor is something I appreciate but Lindy think of the kids! These poor kids are hearing from all sides that they're so bad the team is going to finish in the bottom of the AHL next season. A little hip, hip, hurrah never hurt anyone! Pull them around you in a bear hug and say, "Screw the world, kids! We're gonna show 'em!" I know he'll be fine but still... I couldn't help but read that and feel that Lindy has been sucked down the pessimism drain with the rest of the city.
I do feel better about Vanek now though because I heard that Darcy and Lindy have talked to him about the huge expectations he's put on himself and I know Lindy won't coddle him.
That said, chin up, Darcy! You could be coaching in Edmonton or Phoenix. You could be trying to get Jagr and Drury to co-exist. Things could be so much worse!
Gah. Obviously that last paragraph was directed at Lindy not Darcy.
Here's a question: if Lindy had been, hip, hip, hurrah would the News have quoted him? And I wonder what the exact questions he was answering were. Unlike many of the other News writers I do respect Vogl, but nevertheless, this article was in keeping with the viewpoint and agenda of the paper.
That said, I'm not sure if Lindy's capable of being a cheery cheerleader except perhaps in a game context. Not in interviews, at least.
Meg, I did immediately wonder if the "Hindsight is 20/20, no comment" quote was really about Lindy's contract or if it was in response to a question about the players' contracts/negotiations because it's just kind of hanging out there all by itself with no real context or elaboration.
And you're right, Lindy isn't really the cheerleader type and like I said, I do like his honesty. But I did expect something more in keeping with what we've heard from the other players. "It'll be tough but we'll do what we can to manage. We still have a lot of talent and some excited kids." Of course, going back to the Buffalo News, he might've said all of that and we're just not hearing it because it doesn't fit the "We're doomed" angle that the paper is clearly so enamored with.
I had wondered if Lindy's response was taken out of context, or possibly an answer to an entirely different question. One could only hope - oops, not the PC way per TBN.
You think this will only last until training camp begins? At the rate this is going I have visions of the whining continuing all year. We could finish with an outstanding record, only to read that it would've been better if only they hadn't screwed up and let Drury and Briere escape.
But I did expect something more in keeping with what we've heard from the other players. "It'll be tough but we'll do what we can to manage. We still have a lot of talent and some excited kids."
Yeah, I can't deny that I would have liked to hear that. Maybe we'll here something more like that during training camp.
Or who knows, even after the current prospect camp. I think they've got an intriguing mix of college kids and Europeans in among the CHL kids that generally attend training camp, so I've enjoyed hearing about that these past few days.
I cannot believe all the hooey the Buffalo News is hawking these days. Okay, so the Drury deal which may or may not have been done during the season was worthy of a head scratch or two, but this "they screwed things up with Danny too" angle? I couldn't care less. So maybe they called his agent, maybe they didn't. WHO CARES?
I'd like to pull some quotes though:
I’m not in the business of calling people liars.
Uh, Bucky, that's not what your business cards say.
But even if Regier did place the call and Brisson somehow missed it, the Sabres should have called again rather than assume Briere wasn’t interested.
Just like how Drury's agent should have called the Sabres instead of assuming they weren't interested in that contract agreement they came to, right? Oh wait, I forgot, negotiations are a one way street. Hence the term negotiate.
[Brisson]’s been around for 11 years and has a good reputation.
You know who else has been around for more than a decade and has a good reputation (outside of the Buffalo News' books)? Darcy Regier. Just sayin'.
As for that Lindy article, yeah I was hoping for him to be a little more enthusiastic about the team, but he's never really enthusiastic about much. And that "hindsight is 20/20" quote has to be out of context. Even if Lindy's not thrilled about both Chris and Danny leaving, I refuse to believe that he would even insinuate he would rather be somewhere else. True Sabre Lindy? Never.
And another quote for good measure:
Co-captains Chris Drury and Daniel Briere are gone. Questions remain as to what was done to keep them. The new face of the organization is someone Ruff had to bench in the playoffs.
Vanek had to be benched in '06, people! And he responded to it by scoring 43 goals and 80-something points the next season! I know it's a crap shoot with Vanek, but he performed ten times better in the playoffs this time around (still not his best but definitely better), so can we let the benching go already? Besides, the old faces of the franchise (Chris something and Danny something. Remember them?) were all about showing up in the post season, right? *eyeroll*
You missed the best quote:
"First, answer these questions: Who gains most by manipulating the truth? Who has the bigger agenda?"
Buck...Buck...Bucky! That's who. Oh, and TBN.
I agree -- go away for a while Drury, Brisson and Briere. Go buy an island or whatever millionaires do in their spare time.
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