Buffalo Sabres 2013/14 Season Preview

by Steve

Other than the workers at Pearl St and a few creepy losers obsessed with the Buffalo Sabres, I have some news for you, the Sabres season starts tonight.  The only difference between last year's awful team with a shitty GM, coach, no real captain, no centers and no chance is that they have a big young defenseman that isn't yet a bust and a new division.

Eight teams in the division and sixteen teams in the conference where only eight make it from the "East" vs a Western Conference with fourteen teams and eight also make the playoffs?  Who set this dumb shit up Darcy Regier? WTF?  Befuddling...

So yes, Ryan Miller is still on the team, so is Thomas Vanek and someone named Ron Rolston is still the head coach.  What is the absolute ceiling for this squad, 11th place in the conference?  Didn't Terrance Pegula say he wanted to win a Cup in three years?  Four years in and it seems like they'll miss the playoffs for the third straight time.  What constitutes progress down at One Seymore Knox plaza, finishing out of the bottom ten?

I haven't had less interest in a Sabres season since 2003.  Then again, they did release another third jersey covertly on someone named Steve Ott's twitter page (oh yeah he is also a pending free agent).  The real shame in all of this is that it isn't even fun or unique to kill this franchise any more.  All three Buffalo News writers picked this pathetic franchise to finish 24th or worse this season.  And it isn't just the local idiots that are hating, TSN has the Sabres ranked 29th and six of the seven Yahoo! Sports guys picked the Sabres to finish seventh or worse in the division.

Honestly, yes I hate Regier, I never believed in Pegula and I know nothing about Rolston because he seems like a drone, but there is no reason to think this team can't compete for a final playoff spot.  The difference between 7th and 9th place two seasons ago was three points and last season the difference between 6th and 9th was five points.  So realistically, if three or four games go their way and they play average much of the season they have a chance.

Then again, this franchise wasn't set up (allegedly) just to have a chance at stealing the final playoff spot.  Pegula promised Stanley CUPS plural.  Why didn't Vanek and Miller get moved last season?  There is no way the Sabres should give Miller five more years or Vanek a Kessel esque (8 years $64 mil) contract. Dumb ass Regier should have moved them when they had their most value.

I like some of the young talent they are amassing (sort of by default [albeit Grigorenko is a bust]) but this team needs new leadership and a different direction.  As long as Darcy Regier is running this squad they will never by pass the Penguins, Bruins or (gulp) Red Wings of the conference.  FML.

My prediction is the Sabres look decent at the beginning of the season, lose more than they win and finish 12th in the conference.  Basically, the only thing to look forward to this season is the trade deadline and see how much Darc extracts in return for Vanek and Millsie (oh and we get the Olympics).

Reviewing my 2013 MLB Predictions

by Steve

As you all remember I picked the total number of wins over or under based on the line from Vegas.  Since the season is over and the one game wild card playoff format is dumb as fuck lets see how I did in my predictions.

NL East
Ouch, 1-4 with only the Mets as my win in this division and only that was by half a point.

NL Central
Bounce back! Went 3-2 and was let down big time by the Brewers.

NL West
Went 3-2 but exactly picked the record of the Diamondbacks at 81-81, amazing!  Also I won some of these by half a win, shit Vegas is smart.


AL East
3-2 yet again and didn't have enough faith in Joe Maddon, damn.

AL Central
Wow, 1-4, and Gardenhire got an extension?

AL West
2-3 because I didn't think it was possible for Houston to lose 111 games.


Total record 13-17
Damn, not to mention my "lock" the Twins, weren't even close.
At least I had the gumption to post this, right?

Week 5 Bills Power Ranking Compilation

What follows is a list of the power rankings for the Buffalo Bills by six major websites and their comments after week 4 of the NFL:

Walterfootball 23 :
The Bills move up three spots with a backhanded compliment sorta..

"The Bills have two fluky home wins, but they're two victories nonetheless. I can't make fun of them this week"


ESPN 23:
The Bills move up one spot (albeit they are still behind the Panthers) but a salient point is actually made.

"The Bills are averaging 152 rushing yards per game so far, second-most in the league, but have twice as many fumbles as anyone else (six). Cleveland is next on Thursday."


FoxSports 20:
The Bills move up one spot and a throwback running back gets a little dap.

"The Bills had 55 rushing attempts in an upset win over the Ravens on Sunday. That's their most rushing attempts since Darick Holmes and Thurman Thomas split 56 carries in 1996."


PFT 18:
The Bills make a huge move up the power rankings (seven spots) with a nice crack back of Stevie Johnson.

"After that win over the Ravens, Stevie Johnson said Ed Reed wasn’t able to cover him."


CBS Sports 24:
Petey Prisco still hating but moved the Bills up a whopping two spots.

"They are doing enough on offense to win some games. The defense came up huge against the Ravens."


Yahoo! Sports 22:
A one point jump followed by generic statement.

"Good for them to get five interceptions against Baltimore. Not so impressive to be holding on for dear life at home at the end despite getting five interceptions."



The Bills average spot for the week was 21.6 (22?) with the highest being 18 by PFT and the lowest being 24 by CBS.

Bills 23 Ravens 20

By Steve

Someone save this moment in time for Coast, not only was I way off about this game but Coast actually predicted the score exactly. The Bills are now surprisingly 2-2 with a night game with the Browns in three days.

The Bills didn't look great (except for in the run defense) but eeked out a victory against a very respectable Baltimore team with rings on their fingers.

First the good, EJ had some good throws, a terrible fumble errr two, but made enough plays to win. He still has a ton of question marks surrounding him but looks like an NFL quarterback.

Aaron Williams either transformed into a real NFL player on Sunday or Steph Gilmore stole his jersey and played. Two picks, a game saving tackle and some clutch pass break ups, the guy was a stud. And that was playing corner when a year ago at the same position he looked destined for the CFL. Stunning.

Kristian Alonso is a force. Two more interceptions one as great and clutch as it gets and just running around like a mad man. It is as if he'll get a pick every week (he's tied for first in the league with 4 and one in three straight). He has stud written all over him.

Now the bad, Marrone went into shut down mode at halfn seemingly unwilling to try and win the game instead of just holding on. Usually this gets you beat but some how yesterday ot didn't.  This team left a ton of points out there and should have beat Baltimore by more.

Did Nate Hackett ever see a chance to run the ball he didn't like? The offense was as predictable as ever. They did rack up a lot of yards on the ground and did win but they could have done more.

The refs were awful. Three plays were reversed on review? As Wreck kept yelling during the game, the refs wanted the Ravens to stay in the game. Questionable calls all over the place, when the Ravens needed  it, or the Bills were ready to put it away you could count on a flag.

After the first stop towards the end of the game I was relatively confident Buffalo would win. The Bills made more plays, out ran an allegedly good running team and deserved to win. Now they have to beat Cleveland and we have a season. Just fix the fuckin bathrooms from pouring sewage on my feet as I piss Russ.

Week 4 NFL Picks

Steve 6-8-1 Best Bet 1-2

Falcons -2.5 v Patriots
Steelers -3 v Vikings
Ravens -3 @ Bills
Colts @ Jaguars under 42.5
Titans -3.5 v Jets


Wreck 6-9 Best Bet 2-1

Bills +3 v Ravens
Titans -3.5 v Jets
Patriots +2.5 @ Falcons
Eagles +11 @ Broncos
Cowboys -2 @ Chargers


Coast 8-6-1 Best Bet 1-2

Saints -6.5 v Dolphins
Falcons -2.5 v Patriots
Lions -3 v Bears
Chargers +2 v Cowboys
Broncos -11 v Eagles

Ravens at Bills Podcast preview

Steve and Coast breakdown the Buffalo Bills miserable lose to the Jets and look ahead to the Ravens and look at baseball

   




right click save as to download

Buffalo Bills Week 4 Power Rankings Compilation

Here is a compilation of the Bills power rankings on the major sites after three games:

ESPN 24:
Despite an embarrassing performance against a bad Jets team these geniuses have the Bills moving up two spots..
"The league's fastest offense isn't in Philadelphia. The Bills are averaging 21.4 seconds per play, six seconds faster than the league average."


Walterfootball 26:
The Bills move down three spots, but did they quote Coast?
"I must have received a dozen e-mails/texts/Facebook messages this weekend all asking why C.J. Spiller sucks so much. I didn't get to answer them all, but the appropriate response should be: "He's a Buffalo Bill."

Oh, and I unearthed another old GameCenter quote:

Remach baby it's paid back time Bills 24 Jets 10

I'll be sure to follow this wise man's gambling advice the next time Buffalo and New York square off.  "


Fox Sports 21:
The Bills lose ugly on the road and Billick doesn't see any problem with that keeping them at the same spot.
"The Bills were just 4-of-18 on third downs and failed to score a touchdown on three trips in the red zone. They have to be more efficient."


Yahoo! Sports 23:
Not a big fall only one spot.
"There are some interesting pieces here. Middle linebacker Kiko Alonso looks like he was a great pick. There's a lot to like in this draft class. That's how you build a winner."


CBS Sports 24:
Ol' Petey also moves the Bills up after an ugly road loss.
"When you start a rookie passer, you will have games like they had against the Jets. This is a year about growing."


PFT 25:
A hilarious pun from Florio as he moves the Bills down a measly spot.
"Forgot about circling the wagons. After Sunday, the Bills need to circle the gurneys."


Average spot 23.8 with the highest spot being 21 by Fox and 26 being the lowest by Walterfootball.  Inexplicably the Bills moved up in two different polls.


Now a look at the latest Sports Betting Odds for the upcoming Baltimore Ravens at Buffalo Bills match up.  The line opened at Ravens -3.5 with the over under at 44.  The line hasn't moved since Monday other than the o/u fluctuating down a half point.  The Bills are 2-1 against the spread and have yet to be favored in a game in 2013.  There's always Cleveland and Jacksonville?  Ouch.