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00:00So, Bulldog had his week off. I took my week off last week. Sort of par for the course in
00:07the summer. There might be more of that in August, but I think of it as there's a break, not
00:15a bad thing, mostly good, it's just different, in this job from the end of the Sabre season to the
00:21beginning of training camp for the Bills.
00:24Which, I mean, for the last, most of the last 15 years has been long. It's been like almost three
00:31months, two and a half months, where we, I mean, it gets easier every year, but, you know, you sometimes
00:39feel like you're straining to come up with conversations that people are sort of like into.
00:45Like, a lot of, I think, sports fans still listen casually. Our numbers reflect that, but are not necessarily driving
00:55around thinking about, you know, what the Bills should do at outside linebacker. That kind of thing.
01:00So, it gives us, as I see it, again, just speaking for myself, the freedom, if you will, to freelance,
01:08to bring up lots of different things.
01:11But, I was thinking how this year has been different, significantly different in that way. Like, it's almost here.
01:20I tell people, when it gets to be, like, the middle of August, especially when my kids were younger, and
01:25maybe my friend's kids were younger, and they'd be like, oh, can you believe summer is almost over?
01:30I'm like, it's not over, though. It's still three weeks before school starts. It's still more than that before actually
01:36summer ends, literally.
01:37So, don't rush it. We get to August, and I think we're all pretty exhausted from the heat and from,
01:45you know, if you're a mom or a dad driving your kids everywhere to tournaments and whatever.
01:53And so, August comes around, and that slows down. I'm like, oh, can't believe it's already over. It's not.
01:59And so, it's not over today, either. But this year, for us, for me, has been really fun, given that
02:08the Sabres took us to the middle of May.
02:12And then you have the World Cup. And now we're into the end of the World Cup and the Open
02:18Championship. I mean, that's there every year.
02:20And before another week or so goes by, then it'll be training camp. Like, it's been kind of packed with
02:27stuff.
02:27I mean, we're not in here mostly breaking down World Cup games, but it's there. Like, when the Olympics are
02:34on, when? Two years ago?
02:37The Summer Olympics, I mean, when they were in Paris two years ago? You had that, and that's all kinds
02:42of fun content, too.
02:43So, this summer has kind of flown, as I see it, you know, how it feels to me being in
02:48here.
02:49And I would say, too, now, here comes always the same preface with me. I'm gullible, but I think, in
02:59terms of the Sabres, Connor Hellebook is still, like, a very realistic possibility.
03:04Even though, normally, when you get to, what is today? The 17th. The 17th of July, if not the 7th
03:12of July, is already kind of the point where the action has pretty much settled.
03:18And your team is your team. But, I mean, we've got our morning guys looking up Winnipeg Jets social media
03:26posts, and Jeremy tweeted how, this was a couple days ago,
03:32how the Jets' opening night announcement tweet didn't have Hellebook in either of the two pictures.
03:41And Sneaky Joe was on that yesterday and went back in their feed and looked up the last time he
03:47was in one of their pictures, which was on his birthday in May.
03:51Their season was over by then, for what it's worth. But it has felt to me, and I don't want
03:57to go long on Hellebook, but I just want to say here on a Friday,
04:02that I think the chances that he's traded are still pretty good. And I think if he is traded, the
04:09Sabres sound like, you know, they might be the team.
04:12They're certainly, I think, one of the teams who would be in play for him.
04:18The thing about that, though, is, like, okay, you're negotiating with Winnipeg. You're Jarmulkekeleinen, and you're interested in Hellebook at
04:27your price,
04:29and you're kind of, you're trying to wait them out. You think the Jets have shown and maybe even said
04:36to you that they want to trade this player,
04:39they're ready to do it. It's been pretty public. I was saying around the time of the draft that I
04:45thought it was relevant,
04:47I thought it was interesting that a lot of the NHL insiders were talking and tweeting about Hellebook all the
04:52time,
04:53which for me was because there was pressure, maybe not pressure, that the Jets wanted action,
05:01and that's one way you might think you can get it, is to just keep putting his name online,
05:07keep putting it out there, that, you know, you're open to moving him.
05:13So, with that, and just sort of how Hellebook has talked and how it's all been reported,
05:19it has seemed to me consistently for, I mean, at least a month, however long, since we started talking about
05:26this,
05:27that Winnipeg would want to make a trade.
05:32But, here are the Sabres and maybe other teams too.
05:35This is just kind of, I want to say an educated guess, but I don't know from the inside what's
05:41happening.
05:41I know Chad D. Domenicis has said that he thinks the chances are really low for the Sabres on Hellebook,
05:47so maybe it isn't worth spending too much time on, but I still think that the Jets want to do
05:54this.
05:55And I don't know if the fact that he's not in a picture on their Twitter is anything.
06:00But I can imagine, I'd actually like to know more about that world.
06:04Because it's not the general manager who's tweeting on behalf of the team, of course.
06:12But I think there probably are times when management weighs in or steps in on what the team's social media
06:21team is doing.
06:24And I could see it that the Jets organization, the GM, the owner, whoever,
06:31whoever in power would tell social media people, like, let's leave him out.
06:39Which would be a really interesting existence if you were one of those people.
06:44I mean, it's not a super high-ranking position, I would think, in most sports organizations.
06:49But maybe there are times when you are, like, one of the first people to find out stuff, which would
06:54be pretty good.
06:55Of course, you best not repeat it.
06:58So I don't know, maybe it means something that he's not in those pictures, maybe it doesn't.
07:02I kind of think if it were I in charge of that stuff, if I had any sort of talent
07:07in graphic design
07:08and had any sort of aptitude there, I was in charge of putting the tweet out with the home opener
07:15and, you know, let's go, October, whatever, be there.
07:19He would be in the picture every year, necessarily.
07:22Like, he's my biggest star.
07:24And they didn't do that.
07:25So anyway, long way of saying, I still think Winnipeg probably wants to make that trade.
07:31And here are the Sabres waiting them out now as we get to July 17th.
07:35And their training camp is, what, two months away.
07:41I think the Sabres, this is a really, I hope I'm right.
07:44Not even that it necessarily ends in a trade.
07:47But I hope I'm right in thinking that the Jets want to move the player and the Sabres would like
07:55to trade for him.
07:56But they both want to do it on their own terms.
07:59They don't have a deal yet.
08:02And if I am, which is that the Sabres want Hellebuck, I mean, it's not something you can just do
08:08casually.
08:09This is not just sort of a, this is not even Patrick Kane as an idea.
08:14Like, okay, we'll take Patrick Kane.
08:16Or maybe even somebody less than Patrick Kane.
08:18Like, just sort of, I mean, no signing is made on a whim.
08:22But, obviously, there's a scale.
08:25And some are more foundational than others.
08:30And this would be a foundational pivot, change, move by the Sabres if they were to do it.
08:36And I just think, as it might seem, as it does to me, generally, advantageous.
08:44That they're sort of the side with leverage.
08:47If Winnipeg wants to move its superstar player, then they probably feel like they have to do it.
08:53And we were there with Hasik.
08:55We were there with Eichel, where the Sabres felt like, you know, ultimately, that was the choice they needed to
09:02make.
09:02As painful as it would be to their fans and to their team.
09:07But they both, in both cases, did they do that.
09:10And you can sort of see that coming.
09:12With Eichel, with Hasik in both cases.
09:14Hasik is 25 years ago now.
09:16But in both cases, it was, you could see the train coming down the tracks.
09:20Like, eventually, this guy's not playing for them anymore.
09:22This is going to happen.
09:24And so, I mean, that could be the Red Wings with Larkin.
09:28There are lots of times when players ask for trades and it doesn't happen.
09:33So, it doesn't always have to end in defeat, if you will.
09:38But, you know, here are the Jets.
09:40He's not on the Twitter page or whatever.
09:44Opening night graphics.
09:45Any of it.
09:46It just feels, it continues to feel to me like they would want to do it.
09:50And now you have the Sabres on the other side.
09:52And maybe other teams kind of trying to wait them out.
09:57I haven't even said it yet.
09:58I'm talking and talking.
10:00But that's actually what I should be doing.
10:01Because, you know, Bulldog is not here.
10:03And this is the time of the show where I kind of talk alone for 22 minutes.
10:08The Sabres can't really wait forever on this, though, right?
10:12Is there a point at which, and it might be September, maybe.
10:18When would the time be?
10:20I mean, you haven't played games yet when you get to September.
10:24So there's nothing about that that's, like, September 1st, say.
10:29There's nothing about that that would necessarily make it too late.
10:33And maybe the Sabres themselves, if all of this is right, that they're hoping to get a deal done for
10:39this player, have a date in mind.
10:42But, you know, but what?
10:45Like, I think you want to get these things done as early as possible.
10:50And so there might be kind of a tug of war where the Sabres don't want to give up what
10:55they're being asked for because they also have, they know they have time to sort of try to wait it
11:01out.
11:01But I think for them, at least in terms of the marketing side, which if I'm going to use the
11:08Winnipeg Jets Twitter, then I can try to apply that to the Sabres, too, whether that's social media or the
11:16fans or anything.
11:17Even if it might be the roster, like if the Sabres were to swing a trade for him today, maybe
11:25that frees them up in some way or, I mean, it wouldn't free them up financially, opens them up to
11:33some other free agent idea or trade idea that just makes them that much more interesting as a destination for
11:43some other player.
11:44Again, most of that dust has already settled.
11:48I mean, we're well past the draft and most of free agency.
11:51So I don't know how much in terms of roster management there is to do if you were to make
11:59that trade.
12:00But, you know, just speaking for myself, wouldn't that move, no matter almost what it costs the Sabres, wouldn't that
12:09move be worth tons in the fan base?
12:12Tickets, money, tickets, jerseys?
12:15I mean, if they traded for him today, they would have racks of his jerseys available when?
12:22I mean, I don't know.
12:23It's summer.
12:24Maybe they're not used to any sort of activity downtown in the store or anything like in the summer.
12:29But suddenly they trade for a superstar goalie.
12:33It's a great name and number and jersey, too.
12:37Like, that's aesthetically for me that it really works.
12:40If they were to do that, they could get just the additional time before the season selling it.
12:49And now they can't.
12:50I mean, again, it's all based on the premise that they would want to do this.
12:54But I have always long thought that they do and that this player probably will be traded.
13:00I think I heard that Elliott Friedman even today reiterated that while things are quiet on Hellebuck, that he still
13:08thinks there will be a trade.
13:09I hope I have that right.
13:10I'll correct that if I don't.
13:12So, you can't, well, you can wait, you can wait as long as you want, I guess, until you get
13:19to a point where it's just over and he's traded somewhere else.
13:22So that's the end of that.
13:23But I would think that they would want the most they can get on and, well, off the ice, really,
13:29mostly, in the offseason with him on the roster just for, you know, financial benefits.
13:38Well, maybe it will happen.
13:40Maybe it'll happen today.
13:40I don't know.
13:41I mean, I'm not hearing anything specific about that.
13:44But I'm kind of working, you know, to the original point or two that I made, like how the summer
13:51has been kind of busy in here for content with the Sabres playoff run and other things that have happened.
13:58This rumor is part of that.
14:02And you could choose to not care about it or not believe in it at all, think the Sabres wouldn't
14:08trade for the player, and then, you know, we just move on to something else.
14:11But I'm still buying that they want to.
14:15Sam Panajotovic today, Mike Dempsey out of Jacksonville.
14:19We've talked to Mike many times about fantasy football and the Jaguars, his team of his specialty, are one of
14:28the more interesting fantasy teams this year, if not just teams, because you've got a lot of questions.
14:35You've got, with Etienne moving on, what their running back breakdown looks like.
14:40Will Travis Hunter play offense at all?
14:44Is Brian Thomas actually good?
14:46Great rookie season, big step back, maybe injured.
14:49What's he worth?
14:51Jacoby Myers there.
14:52They have a running back, I think out of Syracuse, LaQuint Allen, who could be relevant as like a depth
14:59pick in fantasy.
15:00Maybe he means something, like a pass catcher.
15:02They drafted two tight ends, so Jacksonville has a lot of stuff to talk through, and we'll do that and
15:09just general fantasy stuff with Mike today.
15:11As we get closer, when you get close to training camp, you get close to fantasy drafts too.
15:17And Brian Koziol at 5.30, talking about the Open Championship.
15:21I didn't watch very much of it today, a lot of it yesterday.
15:26I don't think my pick 10 picks look very good, but I watched Scheffler some today, and I just, I
15:34don't think I've seen him make a putt in three years.
15:36Every hole seems to be the same in every tournament, every major.
15:40I'm not watching every tournament, but in the majors, when it matters to me financially whether he wins, good or
15:46bad.
15:47It's just every tournament, if I didn't pick him, I think I'm afraid of him.
15:52I know he's the number one player.
15:53I think I'm afraid of him, and he's always nine feet for birdie and misses, and it's a relief.
15:58And now this week I've got him, and it's just so frustrating.
16:04Imagine being him, but yeah, like we'll talk to Brian about him and how things stand as already we come
16:11near to the end of round two.
16:14Yesterday, so it's five hours ahead, makes that like 20 after eight in England.
16:20Yesterday I heard they played until 9.55.
16:24So coverage goes off here in like 10 minutes, but they'll be, maybe not the leaders, but they'll be playing
16:30there for at least another hour.
16:33Some bills this week, talking to a couple of great guests, Ryan Paganetti on Wednesday, Rich Rebar yesterday, Sal three
16:40times.
16:41Just getting into different pieces of their roster and their offense and their tendencies.
16:47I know Sal caught one from Ryan today online about how when Dalton Kincaid was the only tight end on
16:57the field for a play or for the season,
17:00when he was the only tight end on the field last year for the Bills, the Bills passed almost 80
17:05% of the time.
17:07So not surprisingly, right, that's intuitive.
17:10Big tell that when Kincaid is on the field and Knox isn't, that the Bills are throwing the ball, at
17:16least most of the time.
17:17I wonder what the running plays were.
17:19Were they draws?
17:20Were they just like sneaks or something?
17:24Or were they just legitimate?
17:25Were they garbage time?
17:26I wonder how those 20% break down because we all know what Kincaid is to them.
17:32And maybe this year, like when Sal tweeted about it, Ryan Paganetti responded to him like something to watch.
17:38Because teams are loathe to be obvious like that.
17:42A couple of calls this week just about Joe Brady and feelings about the season.
17:48And most of it, frankly, sounds pretty negative.
17:53A caller maybe yesterday referred to them in a way to the Sabres of the last 15 years.
18:00Like it's just all hope that it's not real.
18:03And I don't know.
18:05I mean, I think the Bills deserve a little bit more credit than that.
18:08But one thing I'm thinking about is just sort of how to sum up how it sounds to me like
18:16the fans feel about this season.
18:19And I think wary is a good word for it.
18:22I think fans are unsure about what Brady is going to mean.
18:28And I think that that probably, and this is something I want to get into here in the next few
18:32weeks,
18:33I think that probably includes some fans that were ready for McDermott to go.
18:39But then you promote from within, and does that really feel like the kind of change you were hoping for
18:46from them?
18:47So I think, I mean, maybe the number one thing, probably, at least if you have tickets,
18:53the number one thing on your mind is the new building and just how exciting and different
18:59and what that'll be like to go across the street this year for the first time and set foot in
19:05there
19:05and, you know, watch that Thursday night home opener in week two against Detroit.
19:10I think it'll just feel surreal.
19:12You'll look around and it'll look different.
19:15The people will be the same.
19:16The bills will look the same.
19:18But just where am I?
19:20I feel like that will be something in the air that night.
19:24And maybe for a year and maybe for longer, just for how long the bills have been at the old
19:29place.
19:30I mean, 50 plus years.
19:32But I think in terms of the team, in this area, the fan base, I think there's a little bit
19:38of uneasiness about it
19:40because, really, you have change in the coaching staff and you don't really have, I don't know what it would
19:47be,
19:48but you don't really have big roster movement that would calm you down.
19:56Again, I don't know what that would be.
19:58DJ Moore is a pretty big move.
20:00Bradley Chubb is a pretty big name.
20:03But, you know, a lot of the stalwarts, especially on defense, that you've been able to count on if they
20:10were healthy,
20:11you know, Matt Milano, you've been able to know what you've had in a lot of these players.
20:16And a lot of them are gone now.
20:17It's been a real couple of years of transition for them.
20:21So, I think there is some anxiety in the fan base about them.
20:27But you probably, like I think I would have told the guy yesterday, you probably can relax a little bit.
20:32I mean, in terms of the betting odds, which are not people who are rooting for them and painting their
20:37faces
20:38and singing the shout song, they're still right up there.
20:41So, whatever you think about it, you've got to give that some respect, I think.
20:46We'll talk some NFL with Sammy P, awards, odds, and different things.
20:52Offensive Player of the Year is a fun one for him, and we've talked about that for a couple years.
20:57MVP always, Coach of the Year always, some of that.
21:00We'll do some baseball with Sam, too.
21:02His White Sox are in Toronto.
21:05This weekend, they're still only about even money to be in the playoffs,
21:09even though they're in first place and the American League has a lot of teams with losing records.
21:13So, we'll get his analysis of that.
21:15As I said, Mike Dempsey and Brian Kozio today as well.
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