Things to Hang Your Hate On

Let that hate flow through you.

The Barrister

Tuesday night, hopped up on a questionable cup of post-11 pm iced coffee, I put together a post about our Bills and Sabres in which I talked about the weirdness of the current state of things. Around 2 am, my laptop froze and I lost yet another post. It's altogether possible - nay, likely - that it was awful. Meh.

Well, after a long ass Wednesday, topped off with a CrapTastiCast that is equal parts drivel and dick jokes, as well as a Sabres game that wasn't that much different, I've struggled through my morning with not a little bit of rage and there are a few things I need to unleash here on the Deeg,

I just assume hit you all with some bullet points. Needless to say, while I'll do my best to be coherent, this may be all over the place.

• Ryan Miller, I hope you're in there somewhere, because that was a rough outing. To be frank, you reminded me of those afternoons when I'd play goalie and get absolutely lit up in hockey at Gloria J. Parks. I was awful, and so were you. Good news is that you can fix it. Get angry, imagine Bucky Gleason being eaten alive by flesh-eating ants, and find your form. We all like it more when you're great.
  
• Sabres fan base (myself and my Deeg compatriots included*), STFU about Miller needing to be benched long term and about that interview he gave last night. Take a moment and understand that Miller got embarrassed last night. He is a world-class goaltender, without dispute, and he's a player full of pride. He's also a player who is consistently disinterested with "saying the right things" in an interview when he's really stewing over a loss. That anger and firm desire to get better and do better is, as has been apparent from watching him for a half-dozen years, what motivates him. If you want to sit back and require him to apologize to fans in some moment of penitence, you are asking him to change one of the things that makes him great. We already have Jason Pominville for the perfect soundbite about "the fans deserve better, we can be better" fluff comments. That's why he's the goddamn captain. Seriously Sabre fans, if you love this team at all, stop being so fucking absurd.  (*neither me nor the rest of the league need to STFU. We're awesome.)
•  It's November 3rd, and the Sabres are 6-5. That is not good. But, with a team still settling into the season with a lot of new faces, there is no credible argument that this team is no good and is destined for failure yet again. I mention this only because there are plenty of Sabres fans and media personalities making this argument, or some absurd version of it, with a straight face and no hint of self-awareness. Not to mention the following facts: (a) The Sabres are in 8th place, with games in hand over many of the teams above them in the East, including two games in hand over the first place Penguins who are only 6 points ahead. (b) Through 11 games last year, the Sabres were 3-6-2. Yeah, I like this version of the team better, too.
• Despite much of my rage being aimed at a seemingly asinine fan base who can't fully utilize the blessings of rational thought, and despite the fact that - as I noted above - it's too fucking early, and the team is still pretty ok, for us all to sound off against the summer signings, this must be said: WHAT THE EFF ARE YOU DOING VILLE? Up against your old team, with a chance to show some fire on the ice and prove that you might just be worth the Scrooge McDuck piles of hydrofracking gold that Terry is dropping off to your home every couple weeks, and you are one of the most invisible guys on the ice. In case you haven't noticed, you have lucked out by being signed by one of the best franchises in the league with one of the best fan bases. You have before you a community of hockey fans who are itching to cheer their asses off for you, and all you need to do is just show us something. We don't even need gaudy numbers, we just need some fucking effort. I know you got used to the shit fanbase in Philly and their tendency towards verbal and physical violence when they don't see championships, but you're playing for a different kind of fan now.  We lived for years on a hard-working, Mike Peca-led team with no talent outside of the goaltended position. Try hard, Ville, and you'll be a god to us. SO FUCKING DO IT.
• Pat Kaleta may get suspended for head-butting / head-ramming some tool from the Flyers in the face. The video is here. Suspension or not, I'm pretty sure there should be exceptions written into the NHL Rulebook so that head shots could be excused when the vicitmized player has a midget fetish. Now, I'm not saying that Voracek likes little people. I'm just sayin'.
  

There, I feel better. To be honest, as angry and frustrated as I am about these, and other, things in Sabreland, there remains plenty to be cautiously happy about, and I hope this team puts a string of wins together so we can go back to talking about how great Vanek-Adam-Pominville are playing, and about how we love watching itty-bitty Nathan Gerbe prove night after night that he deserves to be in the league. With games coming up against the bottom-dwelling Flames and over-achieving Senators, your guess is as good as mine with respect to whether this Sabres team bounces back with a couple of games that help us to turn off our rage.


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