Singin' the Boos

So Brian Campbell is no longer a Buffalo Sabre?

At least the organization tried to do something this time instead of letting him skate away during the offseason.

You couldn't blame the Sabres for taking their chances in keeping Chris Drury and Daniel Briere last season when they were the favorites (imagine that) of many to win the Stanley Cup. That's like faulting the 2000 Seattle Mariners for not trading Alex Rodriguez, or the Oakland A's for holding onto Jason Giambi, Miguel Tejada, or Barry Zito in the middle of pennant races.

Small market economics are just as much a problem in sports as steroids and rap sheets. But the Sabres aren't exactly the Kansas City Royals, either.

Last season, the Sabres knew Chris Drury and Daniel Briere might leave Buffalo for bigger money elsewhere, but took their chances. This year, they've sold on Brian Campbell, while trying to sell the public the idea they're not selling short 2008.

Unlike last season, this year's Sabres are fighting for a playoff spot late in the season. There are no guarantees they'll get there with or without Brian Campbell, so Larry Quinn has finally decided to take Billy Beane's Moneyball approach and get something of value--both present and future--for a guy who broke-off contract negotiations and would probably find a better offer elsewhere come June.

Yes, you can complain all you want on how Larry Quinn botched re-signing Drury and Briere, but if you do, you forfeited your right to boo them when they returned to town. But you did anyway because its something angry, sour and typical Buffalo sports fans do.

In 2006, Tom Golisano got the credit for the Sabres Renaissance thanks to the pair, after several years with no hockey. In all honesty, there was no hockey in Buffalo since Dominik Hasek left and Michael Peca decided to take his Tops Bonus Card to Europe. Fans wanted both Drury and Briere back, but were told they'd be lucky if they got one. They got neither.

And its not like the pair of former Buffalo heroes--relative unknowns who gave the area real hope unlike names such as Bledsoe, Donahoe, Fletcher, Spikes, Mike Williams, McGahee and Losman--left with spite. Neither held press conferences in New York or Philadelphia saying "it's not about the money." Nor did they bash the area like Willis McGahee, or pull a Hasek saying they'd don their new uniform "fo-eeh-vah."

They did what was right for them. The Sabres had their chances to lock them up after the 2006 season, but for whatever reasons chose to wait until free agency. They lost. Meanwhile, fans want someone to blame, and since they can't attend press conferences or find Quinn in a press box, they choose to voice their anger at the players themselves. That's hypocritical.

If you've ever bought a lottery ticket, you can't boo Chris Drury or Daniel Briere.

If you've ever gone to a casino hoping to win, you can't boo Chris Drury or Daniel Briere.

If you've ever left a job for better job, you can't boo Chris Drury or Daniel Briere.

If you've ever accepted a promotion, you can't boo Chris Drury or Daniel Briere.

If you've ever been told by a boss you're not worth what you're asking for, you can't boo Chris Drury or Daniel Briere. Hold up your ticket stubs from the Rangers or Flyers games because you know who you are. Now ask yourself if you'd be sitting there in the first place had the Sabres not given anyone a reason to believe each of the last two seasons.

If a player bashes Buffalo like Willis McGahee, boo him. If the player had fathered nine illegitimate children like Travis Henry, go ahead. If the quarterback left Buffalo bashing the franchise, or their current QB that's fine. There are many legitimate reasons to boo a former player besides paying the swollen ticket price.

But in the case of Chris Drury and Daniel Briere, sorry. You're wrong. You'd have no hockey without those two. You'd have nothing more than a bunch of pretty blue uniforms skating around the ice to a half-empty arena. And if you think the Sabres' bulging bandwagon had nothing to do with their 2006 playoff push after an Enron-ian sieze, a bankruptcy, a league takeover, a lockout, a free agent class of unknowns and a slow start by a roster loaded with former Rochester Americans nobody knew about (except for Ryan Miller, of course), than there's no hope for you. Talk among yourselves while the rest of the sports world moves on without you.

Let's take this one step further: are you going to boo Brian Campbell next season when he comes back to Buffalo wearing a different uniform?

"Well, you see, he was traded."

Yes, that's true. And...?

"Well he didn't exactly leave the Sabres, the Sabres left him."

But if he weren't traded by the Sabres, but then left Buffalo to sign with another team, that would make him a "traitor"? Hmm. Now we're getting somewhere.

If Campbell signs with another team in the offseason not named the Sabres, it shows he had no intentions of coming back, as emotional as he may have been when he packed his bags for San Jose. For once, Larry Quinn didn't screw something up over at One HSBC Plaza. He got what he could for Campbell and spared Sabres fans all the worry on Locker Clean-Out Day on whether or not Campbell would be back.

Had Drury or Briere been traded last year, they'd be coming back to Buffalo (in different garb) to cheers, almost as victims and the blame would fall squarely on Larry Quinn for trading away their best players in a Cup chase.

Instead, Quinn didn't offer the Sabres' Most Valuable Pair extensions before the 2006-07 season. After their quick start, he was forced to hold his cards until the end of the season. Unfortunately, there was no bluffing by #23 or #48. Now everybody hates them. All of them.

You want to blame Quinn, that's fine. But you wouldn't have a reason to boo Drury or Briere if they didn't give you a reason to love them so much in the first place.

Hence, you don't have a reason to boo them now.