Welcome to Failapalooza 2013, your headliner, the Buffalo Sabres.

 

    

I had to actually hunt down my password just so I could post this...I never ever everrrrrrr expected to type one more single word on this blog...Crapsnacks was I ever wrong!  

I think Neil Degrasse Tyson can help me better to understand Theoretical Astrophysics more easily than any member of the Buffalo Sabres' Creative Services, Brand Strategy, and Executive departments at explaining how this jersey ever survived the full design process, was agonizingly teased via social media, and will mind-blowingly be offered for pre-order next month.

All involved should be whipped with a belt and grounded.  You have (once again) damaged the team's brand nationwide, took a blow torch to good will, and really let down a lot more fans than you can imagine.

The Associated Press Covers the Death of the Slug

Thanks to John Wawrow of the Associated Press for remembering me from the original Fix the Logo effort. Check out his article (with some quotes from me *wink*) at the link below!

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news;_ylt=Av0SrPtDthaR29LEMWEEBHl7vLYF?slug=ap-sabres-newapproach

Buffalo Sabres open the "Suggestion Box"

From the Suggestion Box page at the Sabres website:

With the Sabres returning to their original logo when can we expect to see all of the “Slug” logos removed from the arena?

That will happen. While it won’t be possible to remove each “slug” from the arena immediately, they will be phased out as quickly as possible. Like the red wall in the seating bowl, there are some features of the Arena, such as the scoreboard, that cannot be altered or removed until the off-season because of time and access constraints. However, we will revert to our traditional logo and be “slug free” prior to the start of next season.

Ted Black - President

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

There's some other great things to come from the suggestion box, such as the painting of the red wall on the 100 level. All in all, I'd say that Terry Pegula and Ted Black "get it" more than Golisano or Quinn ever did, and it's so refreshing to see owners that care. It genuinely feels like the start of a tremendous new era for the Buffalo Sabres and I couldn't be more thrilled. -Drew

Also, an update is forthcoming as Drew Celestino was interviewed by the Associated Press. We will post the article as soon as it is released.

Straight From The Pegula's Mouth - "It's Goin"

Perhaps you've heard of Jessie Pegula, middle daughter of one Terry Pegula. Perhaps you've seen her on Twitter interacting with a crap ton of Sabres fans. Perhaps you've read her blog (which I inspired her to set up after finding out she guest blogged on Hockeybuzz. JUST SAY NO TO HOCKEYBUZZ.)

Perhaps you've seen this video. Perhaps you haven't. Jump to 1:25. Mission accomplished.



UPDATE: It seems I've made a delightful mess of things. After spreading the news of what was contained within the video - quoting her dad as saying "I don't really like how people call it The Slug but it's goin" - it's been pulled from YouTube. The damage is done. It's out there. It's coming down.

UPDATE 2: The video is back online, albeit with a different title. The aforementioned content is still in place, though.

The Pegula Presser

You Sabres, Not Slugs! readers may not know this, but I've got my own Sabres blog (Black & Blue & Gold). I found out I'll be attending the Pegula presser as a member of the media and I've been kicking my mind's butt to come up with good questions to ask. One that will definitely be on the list for Terry Pegula is "Reportedly, as a fan of the original uniforms, will you be completing the team brand identity's transition from the 'Slug' to the modified vintage designs?" It can't hurt to ask if the jumbotron and Sabres Store Slugs will be removed.

The press conference starts at 11AM and will be streamed at SabresTV as well as on WGR550 on the radio and Ch. 4 on the television.

Buffalo Bills new uniform update.

The 'little birdies' are already creeping out and we already have some more details on the forthcoming Buffalo Bills uniform. One detail that is frustratingly disappointing is the mention of navy blue trim. I do not understand why they thought royal blue with navy trim would work when navy blue with royal trim didn't work in the last disaster. Someone from One Bills Drive please email me on that if you ever see this blog, I would like a dialog with you! Why not trim it in nickel or something and drop the navy blue all together!?!?

The update comes from www.uniwatchblog.com Paul Lukas who is the authority on this stuff and his source described the new uniforms.

"These new Bills uniforms are clearly modeled after the later Simpson-era design, including the white helmet, but they’ve been updated to include a tiny amount of navy blue trim.

In my opinion, the navy blue is probably not necessary, but the uniforms do look quite good, and any sort of socks are an upgrade in my book. I wish they would update that darn logo, though. I’ve always preferred the solid red standing buffalo to the blue leaping buffalo, but I don’t think the retro logo works seamlessly with this new set, either. It is what it is. An upgrade, for sure."

Well, It's Official

Well folks, it's official. The Quinn/Golisano era is over, and the Pegula era is forthcoming. From all accounts, it sounds like it's going to be a great new chapter in the history of the Sabres and I for one am really excited about it.

But with new owners can sometimes come new uniforms. And that's a prospect I dread. The Sabres have FINALLY gotten their uniforms and logo right for the first time since they changed to red and black back in 1996. The thought of yet another change is just unbearable. The logo and uniforms they currently wear are all the fans could ever ask for (and more!).

But... that's not to say we couldn't tweak a few things, right?

My main point of contention is the "sweat stain" gray patches in the underarms. They serve no purpose, and while harmless on the blue jerseys, look horrible on the whites, which are among the classiest in the league, by far. They do live up to their derogatory namesake. They look like dark pit stains. And that's just not cutting it. So, first tweak: lose the gray pit stains. Blue and white will suffice.

My second issue is the continued use of the old slug jersey number font on the helmets. Nit-picky, sure. But it's inconsistent with the jersey number style and only serves as a reminder to the slug era, which is best left forgotten.

Getting into more nit-picky territory are the silver stripes inside the gold stripes on the sleeves and waist of the jerseys. This is one modern update that I don't really mind, but if it went away I wouldn't complain either. They do break up the striping a bit, but I don't know that they're really necessary.

These issues aside, I have no complains and nothing but praise, to be honest.

So, let's hope Mr. Pegula is like-minded and leaves well enough alone. And boy let's hope he's not a fan of the slug...

Dear Mr. Pegula,

If you are in fact intent on purchasing our beloved Buffalo Sabres, all we fans ask is that you never, ever allow the slug to return, and that our logo remains unchanged from here on out. Thank you sir.

Slug is still around...for good or not?

This is absolutely ridiculous. Right now as I understand it and hearing some off the record stuff, the 40th jersey is just a one year deal and what I was hoping not to happen most likely will...the slug as a possible third jersey in 2011-2012.

What is even more ridiculous is the Sabres director of Public Relations referring to the logo by its most affectionate nickname. Smooth move...you should have made your intentions for the identity of this team very clear back in September.

“We never said the ‘slug’ was going to go away,” said Michael Gilbert, Sabres director of public relations. “It’s on the scoreboard and elsewhere in the arena.”

Why such a vague quote? Can't he elaborate further? Why WOULDN'T it eventually go away?

I can only hope the 'slug' is only still around while advertising deals already in place that may have included use of the slug logo eventually expire and then...finally that stupid ass logo will too FOR GOOD.

Please tell Frank Cravotta to start cobbling a new slug free scoreboard and locker room board!

The Slug is going to stick around?

It's the little things that matter ...

Trying to ignore the mess that happened in the new 40th jerseys tonight in Buffalo, I turned my attention to the Pirates. They've been de-slugged:

NY Times article...Quinn points at RBK...Reebok...Re-whatever for the Slug.

For me this kind of puts a bit of a final stroke on everything the last three years. At the moment, the new 40th Anniversary uniform is only going to be used this season (which could eventually change) but be sure and confident that the slug will never be used to represent the Buffalo Sabres again. From that, the fans, and maybe even the team who seemed glad the slug is gone, can move forward to bigger things.

Buffaslug Among Cartoonish Logos to Go Extinct

Wow

I don't know about you guys, but I've caught some Sabres pre-season games on TV and online, and all I can say is "WOW!" Those whites look amazing on the ice! I can't wait to see the throwbacks in action now!

But someone send Jonas Enroth the memo: get that slug off your mask.

Can't wait for the season to start! Let's go Buffalo!

Vanek is one of us

Question: You got new/old jerseys for this season. How do you like the return to the original logo?

Vanek: I think they are very cool and, honestly, I’m glad that the old logo has gone now. For me, our throwback jerseys are the best in the league. I loved the buffalo with the crossed sabres already as a kid. I also think that they made a great job with our new third jersey.

(From his personal webpage.)

Success Stories

Whether or not I was really the impetus for change, two of my recent attempts to eradicate the slug have been successful. The first was a request to WGR550's website manager to change out the slug on the puck for something more current. Here is the result:


The second was a request to Andrew at nhluniforms.com (great website, by the way) to at least change the "2008-" on the most recent slug set to "2008-10". Well, he did me one better:


Now, to see if we can get those slugs off of the Jumbotron ...

Updates: sabres.nhl.com now slugless except some ads, nhl.com now slugless, and Sabretooth now has a third jersey. We're making progress!

A little perspective on the slug's life.

In a discussion on SabreSpace, I started thinking about the timing of the events in the slugs life. We all know that Reebok played a big role in the design of the slug as part of their vision (which has never been fully embraced by the NHL) for re-branding the league. How much, we'll never know and it's not really an excuse; the Sabres could have and should have said no. However, here, I'm concerned with what happened after. Here's my guess at what happened:

- The Sabres decided that with the new jersey system, they would switch back to the blue and gold for the 2006-07 season, which most fans would agree was a good thing. (Note: that decision likely had to be made long before the 2005-06 playoffs, so it probably wasn't done to cash in on the team's popularity.)

- With "help" from Reebok, they designed and released the slug jerseys, which were met with immediate criticism. Also released, though in "surprisingly" delayed and limited quantities, was a throwback third. That jersey was very popular.

- (Speculation) After seeing the response to the three jerseys (not to mention being under fire after July 1, 2007), they probably realized that they needed to make a change. The league has minimum times for changes, so there would have been some time before the switch no matter what. They also knew that they had a 40th coming up in three seasons.

- Sometime during the 2007-08 season, they decided to release a throwback third in 2008-09 and began working on the design. These things aren't immediate in decision or design, so when you think about when it came out and how long the process takes, this decision was made shortly (one season) after the slug's release. This jersey would be worn for nearly half of the home games for the next two seasons.

- Two years later, the switch is completed with the release of the corresponding whites (and a non-slug third) as part of the 40th season celebration.

So, it seems reasonable that they realized their mistake very early on. They made the decision to start the process as early as the league allowed, but chose to delay completing the process a season (maybe two, depending on how quickly the league would have allowed for switching the second jersey) to correspond with an upcoming important and appropriate (since they are a return to the original logo) franchise event. If that really is the case, then despite the pain of watching the slug for a couple of seasons (nothing excuses its release in the first place), it's hard to criticize them for the time it took to switch.

Ding, dong, the Slug is dead ...

(Observation: brand labels on pants for all three uniforms. I believe that the previous third jerseys were all just Reebok shells over the top. Does mean that these are actually different pants or, at least, the normal shell is swapped for each rather than covered up by an outer shell? No navy blue pants poking out of the bottom on the third uniforms.)

T minus 6 hours and counting ...

The slug dies at 11:30 today.

A New Campaign

With the official passing of the slug at 11:30 this Saturday, SabresNotSlugs needs a new mission. I say that it should be stomping out the last remnants of the slug around internet and elsewhere. I have already emailed WGR's internet design person asking that she remove the slug in the puck, but we should all do likewise whenever we find one (no, I'm not talking about beating up fans wearing their slug jerseys or defacing anyone's property; this is purely a passive, non-violent campaign.)

Other known slugs: HSBC jumbotron (perhaps the most important one to change) and the wire frame on sabres.nhl.com.

Another sign ...

The prospect camp back in July featured, unfortunately, the slug. However, it appears that was simply because they got the leftovers. Looking a the rookies in training camp shows the practice jerseys are now slugless:




Video here:

Nice goal by Kassian on a great play by Ennis at 0:24. I wouldn't mind seeing more of that combo in the future.

One of the most memorable quotes from the Buffalo News in awhile...

9/9/2010 article



"The primary jersey and logo from the past four seasons -- derided as the "slug" and largely lambasted since its introduction in September 2006 -- has been phased out."