Maybe I've been waiting my entire life to work Indie rock legends Fugazi into something I could post on the WGR website. Or maybe I listened their album 13 Songs while running around Delaware Park this morning trying to think of something worth posting at all. Maybe this will prove worthy. Maybe it won't. I guess we'll just have to see. In the meantime, here's a link to a fan made video for the song Waiting Room by Fugazi.
So, you know, I've at least delivered you that, if nothing else here works for you.
Patience. We know we should have it. We want to exhibit it. It's a positive trait, one that we work to teach our children. I don't know about you, but when I feel myself getting impatient I feel as though I'm letting myself down. In all seriousness, when I'm in a meaningless yet somewhat frustrating situation, slow line at the grocery, traffic jam, my Fugazi YouTube clip link won't copy, I try to remember to smile and be patient. It is after all, no big deal. So yes, I actually try to practice at being patient.
How exactly am I supposed to apply that to our beloved yet endlessly frustrating sports teams? Should the Sabres finish out of a playoff spot again this season it will mean they've missed the post season 4 out of the last 6 years and 7 of 11. That is not good in a league where more than half the teams qualify for the playoffs.
That track record is the source of great fan frustration at this point. Darcy Regier has been at the helm for all of it. Terry Pegula is the owner that we were waiting our entire sporting lives for, right? He has owned the team for little more than 2 years. Should we be more patient with him while he's being patient with Regier? My answer to that is no, but recognize, it's still only been 2 years.
The Bills of course have been trying our patience even more. 13 seasons without the playoffs. I wrote in this space last week about the rebuilding job that the Bills are facing. What maybe I didn't make clear is that I'm fine with that. The Bills have made dramatic changes to their chain of command. Ralph Wilson stepped aside. I believe Buddy Nix will soon turn over the role of GM to Doug Whaley. They have a new coach and will have a new quarterback. As a sports fan I recognize and respect that it will take time for all of that to take hold and bear fruit.
Something else about patience I've been thinking about as it pertains to sports. My oldest son is 11 and watches games with me and loves the Sabres. He wants them to do well and roots for them just like I did when I was his age. What I don't ever see in him is the disappointment I remember experiencing as a kid. I'm reasonably confident that he's not hiding it from me. I think the game ends, they lose, and he shrugs his shoulders and goes to bed. This makes me wonder, why was I so wound up about my teams when I was 10? Did I learn that from my dad? Is it because I didn't have an X Box or an iPod? I don't know the answer. Maybe he's just 11 and hasn't been at it long enough. But like I said, I was a basket case when I was a kid.
Maybe that's why at age 47 I need to practice patience when someone brings 15 items to the 10 or less lane at the supermarket.
Another thing that can work on you while you're trying to be patient is the peer pressure of the fan base. Being patient can end with you being accused of being a sucker. Of not being demanding or discerning enough to deserve anything better than a consistently mediocre product. So it's easier to join in because who wants to be a sucker, right?
I am a patient boy, I wait I wait I wait I wait....
the reason your son does not seem disappointed when the Sabres or Bills lose is because that is all he knows. he probably can't remember watching a good Buffalo team play.
03/21/2013 12:27PM
Nice
Pretty much sums it up for a Buffalo fan
03/21/2013 12:46PM
BOY
YOU REALLY ARE AN IDIOT SUCKA!!! YOUR DRINKING IS KILLING ME!!!
03/21/2013 1:00PM
Waiting for the next Sabres loss
Since Mister Softee is starting tonight vs the Leafs, I won't have to wait long. Just throw away another two points while the hot goaltender sits on the bench. Rolston is a joke!!! I just sold my two tickets to Leafs followers knowing Softee was starting over Enroth. No loss on my part. I said I had it with Miller, and I meant it.
03/21/2013 1:12PM
Jesus....
Bulldog is a moron....Fugazi would be ashamed at the association...
03/21/2013 1:15PM
Who Cares
Really, who cares about the mindless thoughts that run through the Bulldog's oversized melon? If you have something of interest to report, report it. Otherwise go back to drooling into the microphone four hours a day and leave it at that. "HOLY CR*P!!!"
03/21/2013 1:27PM
Heres the thing
For our Buffalo teams to succeed we need to look at talent in thier late 20s to early 30s becuase thats around the time players want to start families and thats one thing Buffalo is positive for. These young guys will never be attracted to this area nor want to stay becuase there is no glamour/nothing to do here, plus the politics and taxes don't help things either. Our teams need to change thier focus and get more mature players that think about thier families sake if any interest will be had here.
03/21/2013 1:46PM
I always....
get in the "about" 15 items or less line with more than 15 items. And i'll continue to do it forever and I sleep just fine thank you. Kids are different today than they were 30 yrs ago...you should know that.
03/21/2013 2:58PM
Love Fugazi
I don't want to "Bad Mouth" the sabres, but I am all out of "Suggestions". We have heard all of the "Promises", but I just want them to "Give me the Cure"!Things need to change, or an "Epic Problem" will follow.
03/21/2013 3:11PM
Fugazi
nice reference Bulldog! I read the first line and all I could hear is that lyric in my head!
03/21/2013 3:16PM
waiting
waiting for a miracle for the Sabre that is what they need
you now
03/21/2013 3:48PM
Bulldog! Running out of Time!
I am 65 and a loyal fan for more than 40 years! I Would love to see a Championship team in buffalo before I check out!!!
03/21/2013 4:11PM
Fugazi!!!
Bulldog listens to Fugazi! Nice!
03/21/2013 4:28PM
What's the Deal?
all your articles and no way to comment? I just want to comment on the Sabres new coach's decision to play Millsy- Rolston is too conservative to coach in the NHL - any other coach with a backbone and a brain would keep riding the hot goalie- Thereis talk of a Miller trade? well why not find out now if Enroth can play up to NHL standards? and as for playing some of the Amerks? their trade value might rise with all the time on the ice
03/21/2013 5:02PM
Traffic
Try practicing patience after growing up in Buffalo and moving to DC and then talk about patience in traffic.
03/21/2013 5:32PM
Your son...
...doesn't show disappointment because, given the Sabres era he has grown up in, he likely has very low expectations.
When you and I were 11 the Sabres were coming off an appearance in the Stanley Cup finals and were good, or at least competitive,for years and years.
03/21/2013 6:58PM
Waiting
Maybe it is because for the majority of your son's young life, he has been subjected to horrible, losing teams? You can't get excited for something you don't know about.
03/21/2013 7:27PM
I cannot believe
That Bulldog runs anywhere.
03/21/2013 11:20PM
Thanks for the Rant...
Seriously, what is the point of this rant? I think it means we should accept the losing tradition of our local sports teams and simply not flip out about it. I agree it isn't worth the exaggerated overreactions of many fans, but I still hate to see the teams I've sworn my loyalty to look horrible out there on Sundays or every other day on the ice.
03/21/2013 11:49PM
I wait for...
Steve Ott to be captain of this rudderless ship.
03/22/2013 9:56AM
can't be patient with Pegula anymore
Pegula said they would "kill themselves trying to win a Stanley Cup". Don't see any evidence of that at all. Problem is Darcy Regier won't "kill himself" trying to win a Stanley Cup. Never has, never will because he simply does not know how. No one can be patient anymore because there is 42 years of hockey in Buffalo with no championships. I'll get back on board and start being patient again when Pegula fires Regier. Until that happens I'm in the camp that says they have not won the Stanley Cup yet and it doesn't look like they ever will. You can't look at it any other way and be objective.
03/22/2013 12:19PM
boring
i stopped halfway in.
a writer you are not sir.
03/22/2013 12:27PM
Waiting, Waiting, and Waiting......STILL WAITING
Where are the blogs or is Paul Hamilton running this ship today and no comments???
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