Is losing part of Buffalo culture?

[Mattilaus]

I think it is more the shock that missing out on finishing 30th is a real possibility as opposed to being 7 points back just a couple games ago. The effect being that people see their chance at Eichel turning from 100% into essentially a shell game.

It's not that both will necessarily come to pass but more that the huge swing from almost certainty of 100% to reasonable possibility of 35% in the span of 2 games is a shock to the system.

 

[PunchImlach is Alive]

Christ. Get a grip.

 

[Taro Tsujimoto]

Losing? No. Pessimism? Yes.

 

[MayDay]

Losing? No. Pessimism? Yes.

The pessimism comes from all the losing.

 

[Sabresfansince1980]

Why bother with rooting for McEichel when either one would suffer a career ending injury in a Buffalo uniform on their first shift.

No, they'll fall down off the draft stage and tear up a knee.

 

[Jim Bob]

Losing? No. Pessimism? Yes.

The pessimism comes from all the losing.

It's always struck me that the fans view the Bills a lot more optimistically than they do the Sabres.

 

[Jim Bob]

No, they'll fall down off the draft stage and tear up a knee.

Nah, they'll pull a Hasek and force a trade elsewhere while also saying that they won't sign if the other team gives up too much to get them.

 

[radar493]

I go with the mentality of victims not a losing culture. As Buffalo sports fans we have been long suffering but until proven otherwise we also promote the idea there is some conspiracy against us which is hog wash but many seem to think it. Also agree that our franchises have not been the best run. I am willing to give TP and the financial resources he has time to see if that's changed. We seem to have largely put our futures in the hands of two draft choice? That is ridiculous to my thinking. I also grew up close to Boston and my brothers are still there and we waited long for our beloved Sox to come around. Guess what? They did in spite of the doom and gloom crowd.

 

[Sansbacon]

I think the better term is heartbreak, because really that's what it comes down to. Fans are afraid to get their hopes up under any scenario because they expect their teams to inevitably fall short.

Time and time and time again.

 

[cramdizzl]

More like a culture of coming up short.

 

[Correct]

I've left Buffalo several times and was in San Francisco the day the Giants won the World Series. I'm currently living in Florida. I'm also a big Syracuse basketball fan and that team is generally very successful.

The one thing that strikes me about Buffalo fans from frequenting message boards everyday is the pessimism and the EXPECTATION of failure, rather than the actual failure. No matter what happens, some fans just can't celebrate or relax. They have to find something to worry about.

In comparison, Syracuse fans (who are just a few hours away from Buffalo) EXPECT to beat most teams and spend most of their time complaining about the media not giving them respect or the 4-5 teams in the country that are better than them. Totally different vibe. Classic upper middle class behavior. They expect to win and do not worry about the types of things Buffalo fans do.

We haven't even lost out on McEichel yet, we're actually still in the lead with 5 games to go and a tough schedule coming up. So we're winning, but fans are already freaking out that we might lose. That's called not having faith, having fear and worry, and expecting failure. Classic traits of unsuccessful people. Optimism, confidence, expectation of success, and faith are the classic traits of successful people throughout history. There are 1000 different sides to every story, that's why Sullivan will find the cloud in every sunny day. Another person would find the light on the darkest day. Who's wrong? Who's "smarter" and "wiser"? Many Buffalo fans think the skeptic mindset is "wise", but I'd argue it's no better and definitely more painful and less enjoyable.

People will argue that our sports teams have made us this way, but I'd argue that we (and the media) have more of an effect on the teams than we think. Every heard of the Observer Effect?

The best thing we can do is just have faith everything will work out eventually. It has a funny way of working out when you least expect it. It's also a lot better on our psyche.

 

[TalkingProuder]

I've left Buffalo several times and was in San Francisco the day the Giants won the World Series. I'm currently living in Florida. I'm also a big Syracuse basketball fan and that team is generally very successful.

The one thing that strikes me about Buffalo fans from frequenting message boards everyday is the pessimism and the EXPECTATION of failure, rather than the actual failure. No matter what happens, some fans just can't celebrate or relax. They have to find something to worry about.

In comparison, Syracuse fans (who are just a few hours away from Buffalo) EXPECT to beat most teams and spend most of their time complaining about the media not giving them respect or the 4-5 teams in the country that are better than them. Totally different vibe. Classic upper middle class behavior. They expect to win and do not worry about the types of things Buffalo fans do.

We haven't even lost out on McEichel yet, we're actually still in the lead with 5 games to go and a tough schedule coming up. So we're winning, but fans are already freaking out that we might lose. That's called not having faith, having fear and worry, and expecting failure. Classic traits of unsuccessful people. Optimism, confidence, expectation of success, and faith are the classic traits of successful people throughout history. There are 1000 different sides to every story, that's why Sullivan will find the cloud in every sunny day. Another person would find the light on the darkest day. Who's wrong? Who's "smarter" and "wiser"? Many Buffalo fans think the skeptic mindset is "wise", but I'd argue it's no better and definitely more painful and less enjoyable.

People will argue that our sports teams have made us this way, but I'd argue that we (and the media) have more of an effect on the teams than we think. Every heard of the Observer Effect?

The best thing we can do is just have faith everything will work out eventually. It has a funny way of working out when you least expect it. It's also a lot better on our psyche.

This is great for things you can control. Be Optimistic, etc. But this has nothing to do with being a fan of this team. If you are optimistic as a Buffalo fan at this point you are either young and/or not as fanatical as the rest of us.

I run my own business and am very optimistic. Reason, I control my destiny. As fans, for better or worse, we are along for the ride.

 

[Bps21*]

Optimistic...pessimistic...

In the end they always have failed regardless of how you felt

 

[TalkingProuder]

Optimistic...pessimistic...

In the end they always have failed regardless of how you felt

Exactly. I was optimistic for Chan Gailey, JP Losman, Trent Edwards. Didn't get rewarded.

 

[cybresabre]

What if this whole Sabres vs. Tanking Fans thing has unlocked the magic key to Buffalo sports success? It could be the silver lining people are grasping for...

We can't lose when we boo our team and cheer the opposition! It'd be a real mind**** for any other team that comes to the arena. Hell, Toronto gets cheered in Buffalo and we always win. It'd be a tongue and cheek thing when we're good, but it could be our thing!

 

[Correct]

This is great for things you can control. Be Optimistic, etc. But this has nothing to do with being a fan of this team. If you are optimistic as a Buffalo fan at this point you are either young and/or not as fanatical as the rest of us.

I run my own business and am very optimistic. Reason, I control my destiny. As fans, for better or worse, we are along for the ride.

I run my own business too. Makes no difference.

What I'm saying is that there ARE things to be optimistic about. Very optimistic actually. I'm excited about Reinhart, Ristolainen, Zadorov, Grigorenko, Ennis, Girgensons, Larsson, our ridiculous pipeline, and fingers crossed McEichel. Our owner is a billionaire who will do anything to get us a winning team.

There are LOTS of things to be optimistic about. The point is that for the most part, we have no effect on what happens, so what's the point in being a grump? Find the things to enjoy and don't dwell on the bad staff. Does that make me young and/or fanatical?

Also, I'm a big believer in positive and negative energy. And all I see is our fanbase and media bringing negative energy to the players and coaches of both teams over the last few years. Yes, the teams themselves have underperformed to cause this, but the fan's lack of belief rubs off on the players eventually no matter how much they are paid or how much of a "professional" they are. They need support like anyone else.

Home field advantage exists even in the statistics. When fans expect failure, that lessens the homefield advantage in some way, does it not?

 

[TalkingProuder]

I run my own business too. Makes no difference.

What I'm saying is that there ARE things to be optimistic about. Very optimistic actually. I'm excited about Reinhart, Ristolainen, Zadorov, Grigorenko, Ennis, Girgensons, Larsson, our ridiculous pipeline, and fingers crossed McEichel. Our owner is a billionaire who will do anything to get us a winning team.

There are LOTS of things to be optimistic about. The point is that for the most part, we have no effect on what happens, so what's the point in being a grump? Find the things to enjoy and don't dwell on the bad staff. Does that make me young and/or fanatical?

Also, I'm a big believer in positive and negative energy. And all I see is our fanbase and media bringing negative energy to the players and coaches of both teams over the last few years. Yes, the teams themselves have underperformed to cause this, but the fan's lack of belief rubs off on the players eventually no matter how much they are paid or how much of a "professional" they are. They need support like anyone else.

Home field advantage exists even in the statistics. When fans expect failure, that lessens the homefield advantage in some way, does it not?

I'm more optimistic than most on Reinhart, Zadorov, and Larsson. Bout the same as most on Risto, Girgensons. Ennis is not a prospect but I do see better stats for him with a real center. Grigorenko has been incredibly disappointing in the NHL. He still has a chance to do something but no one here will shed a tear if he gets traded.

Our ridiculous pipeline is not so good outside the young players already here and Reinhart. McCabe is the next best prospect and he looks like he could be ok in 2 years. Fasching, Compher, Bailey are all nice but none look like elite prospects.

You have a right to feel however you want. I can tell you I am not going to be gung-ho about this team if we miss the top 2. We will have a road to contention but it will be brutal and tough. You say we have a billionaire owner. Great. What if he wants to flex his muscles again if we don't draft top 2? Remember the last time that happened? Regher and Leino. If we rush the rebuild this off-season by trying to add to one of the worst offensive teams of all time without McEichel I go from on the fence/mildly hopeful as I am now to outright critic of Murray and Pegula. And you can be sure I won't be alone.

You can disagree but don't be puzzled if some of us don't want to drink the koolaid just because.

 

[Correct]

I'm more optimistic than most on Reinhart, Zadorov, and Larsson. Bout the same as most on Risto, Girgensons. Ennis is not a prospect but I do see better stats for him with a real center. Grigorenko has been incredibly disappointing in the NHL. He still has a chance to do something but no one here will shed a tear if he gets traded.

Our ridiculous pipeline is not so good outside the young players already here and Reinhart. McCabe is the next best prospect and he looks like he could be ok in 2 years. Fasching, Compher, Bailey are all nice but none look like elite prospects.

You have a right to feel however you want. I can tell you I am not going to be gung-ho about this team if we miss the top 2. We will have a road to contention but it will be brutal and tough. You say we have a billionaire owner. Great. What if he wants to flex his muscles again if we don't draft top 2? Remember the last time that happened? Regher and Leino. If we rush the rebuild this off-season by trying to add to one of the worst offensive teams of all time without McEichel I go from on the fence/mildly hopeful as I am now to outright critic of Murray and Pegula. And you can be sure I won't be alone.

You can disagree but don't be puzzled if some of us don't want to drink the koolaid just because.

I mean you just proved my point. Everyone can have 1000 different perspectives on the same thing.

For example: "You say we have a billionaire owner. Great. What if he wants to flex his muscles again if we don't draft top 2? Remember the last time that happened?"
That's a pretty skeptical point of view.

Why not say "Great. If we don't get McEichel, Pegula can throw his money around and pick up some great free agents. He made plenty of mistakes when he first started but I'm sure he's much wiser now".

Are you wrong? Am I wrong? Are neither of us wrong. We just see two different sides of the same issue. I'm just saying my point of view has a lower chance of heart disease and ulcers, if you get at what I'm saying.

That goes for most of what you said. And trust me, I am not puzzled at all by people's opinions here. I used to be a much more negative guy myself, and still have a long way to go. It all makes sense to me, I'm just saying that a lot of this "wait and see" attitude is just as useless as a pollyanna attitude or a Jerry Sullivan attitude.

 

[EichHart]

Why is this even a question? Of course losing is part of Buffalos pro sports culture. Both franchises have 45+ years of not winning. Until one of the pro teams actually wins a championship we will always have a losing culture.

 

[michaelsaas]

I've left Buffalo several times and was in San Francisco the day the Giants won the World Series. I'm currently living in Florida. I'm also a big Syracuse basketball fan and that team is generally very successful.

The one thing that strikes me about Buffalo fans from frequenting message boards everyday is the pessimism and the EXPECTATION of failure, rather than the actual failure. No matter what happens, some fans just can't celebrate or relax. They have to find something to worry about.

In comparison, Syracuse fans (who are just a few hours away from Buffalo) EXPECT to beat most teams and spend most of their time complaining about the media not giving them respect or the 4-5 teams in the country that are better than them. Totally different vibe. Classic upper middle class behavior. They expect to win and do not worry about the types of things Buffalo fans do.

We haven't even lost out on McEichel yet, we're actually still in the lead with 5 games to go and a tough schedule coming up. So we're winning, but fans are already freaking out that we might lose. That's called not having faith, having fear and worry, and expecting failure. Classic traits of unsuccessful people. Optimism, confidence, expectation of success, and faith are the classic traits of successful people throughout history. There are 1000 different sides to every story, that's why Sullivan will find the cloud in every sunny day. Another person would find the light on the darkest day. Who's wrong? Who's "smarter" and "wiser"? Many Buffalo fans think the skeptic mindset is "wise", but I'd argue it's no better and definitely more painful and less enjoyable.

People will argue that our sports teams have made us this way, but I'd argue that we (and the media) have more of an effect on the teams than we think. Every heard of the Observer Effect?

The best thing we can do is just have faith everything will work out eventually. It has a funny way of working out when you least expect it. It's also a lot better on our psyche.

I signed in after a long absence to say I agree WHOLEHEARTEDLY with this post and your two subsequent posts. I would have said this myself but figured I be lambasted for new-wavey hippie-dippie crap (which I am not at all). I think this pessimism is (in general) a common mindset among Buffalonians. Having lived in several states since then it is not common everywhere and in my experience people with a consistently negative outlook on life tend to have bad things happen to them whereas consistently positive people tend to have better experiences. You can see more scientific discussion of this idea in the research of Michael Scheier and Charles Carver http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.optionToBuy&id=1986-19862-001

Obviously not everyone in Buffalo is like this and my perceptions are highly covered by personal experiences of who I was surrounded by and the time period I was there. Maybe 20 years ago people were like this but not anymore, or maybe I had the misfortune of always being around the only people in Buffalo who always expected the worst to happen and everyone else was quite optimistic.

As for me, I want what's best for the Sabres long term, but I can't bring myself to root against them so I have been taking advantage of the lack of interest in hockey in South East Texas this year by remaining largely ignorant of the team and plan on re-subcribing to gamecenter next season when the team takes their first steps towards becoming a hockey dynasty!

So you can flame away and I probably won't see this until draft day

Oh for the record: I love Buffalo, I think it is an awesome city, and would be thrilled if I get to live their again someday!

 

[wunderpanda]

No, perseverance is part of the Buffalo culture. This battered fan syndrome seems to be a recent phenomenon.