A bit dramatic?

Of course. But if I'm going to address the biggest news in Buffalo sports in the last several years (Sorry Bills only fans), then I'm going all jazz hands on ya and pulling out aaaaaaaall of the emotions. Some of my points/shitty metaphors/hot cakes are similar to the Yachtsman's from early Thursday morning, but I can't sit silent. I need to weigh in. Your loss.

Lindy Ruff has been fired after 16 years as the head coach of our "beloved" Buffalo Sabres. Am I happy? Abso-fuckin-lutely! Does this mean I hate the guy? Not in the slightest. In fact, I don't even dislike the guy. I still sort of love him in that used-to-be-cool-friend-from-high-school sort of way. You know, the guy who stuck around home too long after graduation and still wants to catch up when you stop through. You can only recall the same memories so many times before you realize your buddy has three kids, lives in a trailer, and has a wardrobe that only consists of camo and NASCAR t-shirts (Daytona 500 preview coming this Sunday morning!) Eventually you need to cut ties with the guy altogether.

Lindy was one hell of a coach and nobody can deny that. He lead the Sabres to the Stanley Cup Finals, two separate Eastern Conferences Finals, and a President's Cup. He worked his players hard, didn't take shit from the media, and overall was a coach to be proud of in our blue collar city. I really, really liked the guy. But things change. It is - scratch that - has been his time to go for awhile now. There is only one thing I want more than winning a Stanley Cup with Lindy Ruff, and that is winning a Stanley Cup. Period. It wasn't going to happen with Lindy, folks. This doesn't mean he is washed up as a coach by any means. Many talented coaches and players have worn out there welcome in the cities that made them famous and then went on to greater stardom. In fact, go ahead and expect it from Ruff #becauseitsbuffalo. I will say confidently that he was not going to win a cup in Buffalo. That window has closed and it is time for this franchise to move on in a new direction. Is the new path of the Buffalo Sabres going to end up in a lighting fast winning streak into the playoffs under interim coach Ron Rolston? Maybe. The tag "interim" is there for a reason.  But right now it doesn't matter to me. The Buffalo Sabres needed to change things up....and quickly.

I'm engaged to get married on June 1st. When the Sabres last won a playoff series, I was only dating my soon-to-be-wife. (I bring that up for another reason, but I'll get back to that in a moment) That was almost six years ago. I'm sorry but that's a long time for me. I refuse to accept mediocrity and sneaking into the playoffs as a 7 or 8 seed. As fans, we deserve more. We deserve 2006 again, but this time only better.  I'm over the "small battles." Maybe it's because I live in New York City now and am surrounded by fans who demand only the top levels of success from their team, but that's what I want. I know I'm being selfish, but fuck it, that's where I'm at. I feel the same about the Bills.

I also bring up marriage because in a weird way (ok, SUPER weird way) this whole thing reminds me of the path I have taken. I'm willing to bet I'm not alone in saying that I have once been a relationship that went on past its prime. It's a scary situation to be in. You spend years with somebody and get comfortable with them. You know their friends, their family, every detail about each other, and for a little while, it works. You're happy. The world only seems like it can get better. But eventually it doesn't. Things stay the same, or even get worse. You aren't necessarily unhappy, but something is wrong. Somewhere, somehow everything stopped working the way it was supposed to, yet there you are, still in the same relationship, afraid to leave. Why? It could be a lot of reasons. You're used to it and you're comfortable, so why screw it up when you can always just keep trying to improve things.  Maybe you're scared to walk away because of the fear of the unknown. What if I don't find anybody else and end up alone? What if the other person goes out and finds somebody right away and makes me look stupid? Maybe you just don't know how they hell to even begin to start over.

Finally, though, you have to take a chance. You have to get out of the dead-end and move on to a new path. It doesn't mean the past was all bad and terrible, in fact there were many good times, but in the end, you know this isn't where you're supposed to be. You know that you can either stay in what has become a bland relationship, or take a chance and see what else is out there.

This is how I have viewed Lindy Ruff and the Buffalo Sabres for the past few years. Sure I love Lindy and would love to win a cup with him, but things haven't looked all that great recently, and maybe it's time to take a leap and see what else is out there. Sure, there are going to be growing pains, regrets, and pure unadulterated ragestorms, but wading in the medicority of what this franchise has become is no longer an option. I refuse to accept it and I don't think you should either. Lindy Ruff and the Sabres have grown stale and now we get to see how the franchise reacts to new relationships. I'd rather take a chance and fail miserbale then watch the same half-assed work ethic from players that I truly feel have a ton of talent.

Like Sam Cooke once sang:

It's been too hard living but I'm afraid to die
'Cause I don't know what's up there beyond the sky
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will

Change is scary because of the uncertainty, but change is necessary in life to survive, just as it is in the sports world we hold so dear. It's been a long time coming, but change has to come....and it finally did. Now let's hope that this leap of faith is as successful as the one I took with the Scizzette almost six years ago.

After all, she is the one that lets me get drunk with all these meatheads, record it, and then post it to the internet. I hit the jackpot and here's praying the Sabres do the same with a coach in the very near future.

The Scizz (& friends!)

I'm about to flip the switch on y'all this week. No Super Troopers. Its too happy.

After last week's embarrassing loss to the Rams, and another failure of a Buffalo Bills season almost in the books, I took to Twitter to see how my fellow Bills fans were reacting. There was heartbreak, confusion, indifference, acceptance, and everyone's favorite, pure unadulterated rage. If you're like me, you probably have experienced all of these emotions at least once throughout this dismal season This week I endured a new one....exhaustion. The Bills have exhausted me. They have left me tired and bewildered, and these "scars" keep getting worse season after season. By 5pm on Sunday I knew that there was no way in Hell I could write my normal Bills preview for the upcoming week, so I decided to reach out to some twitter friends and readers to help me voice some opinions on this franchise that we are supposed to love with all of our heart. 

First up, @Bleez17 from twitter, who actually inspired me to make this a community project, and provided the amazing quote from Dark Knight that lends itself to this post. I can not take credit for that brilliance.

The Scizz

The CrapTastiCast has another home to record from! With Megsie gallivanting around Berlin at the moment, the Deeg needed to record another podcast, and the shitty sound quality from my computer on ep. 19 is no longer a legit option, so the Scizzette came to the rescue! From her office, BEAST editorial in Union Square, we drank mucho cervezas, used hand held mics, and talked out of our collectives asses about things we know little to nothing about.

Topics covered include Marshawn Lynch's driving ability and love for guns and drugs, Naaman Roosevet's rap group, the Sabres losing at home AGAIN, the Apologist's likeness to a Newsie's extra, NHL realignment, the return of the NBA, Shanahan's suckitude, tradable players, and more 80's television references! We also take comments from twitter for the first time, and surprise, we fuck it up badly.

I'd also like to apologize for the Chris Paul trade talk, since we acted as if the trade had already gone through. This was before that asshole David Stern blocked a legit trade that every team was happy with. Idiot. Songs from the podcast come from the repertoires of Mos Def, The Black Keys, and....Christian Bale?

Download the cast through Libsyn, or from iTunes below. As always, if neither of those work for you, streaming option is also included.