Thank you, Sabres fans

One of the many, overplayed exercises on Twitter is us laughing at and ridiculing our own fan base. Just spin the wheel of humorous occurrences and let's see where we land:

1) #Billsmafia (At times).

2) Sabres Facebook.

3) Buffalo Wins Facebook.

4) Blow jobs for Kiko jerseys

5) Falling off the upper deck.

6) Letting Leaf fans invade the F'N Center.

7) Voting for Kiko on election day.

8) The Whiner Line.

9) Tim Graham's sanctimonious crusades.

I could go on and on and on and on and on. If you didn't read some of this on Deadspin, you'd think what I just listed were probably all jokes. Sadly, they are not. These things happened. Hell, they have all happened within the last 2-3 weeks.

Normally, I take most of these juvenile acts with a grain of salt as I think this is the norm for any bloodthirsty fan base having a few knuckleheads in the group.

Some tend to use the crazies as a way to push a straw man argument because some whiner line fool called in to say "Thad Lewis should start and we should trade EJ for Andre Johnson." Others can venture into the Sabres Facebook page, which is hilariously bad in a "You can't take your eyes off a car crash" kind of way. Some will say our hockey IQ isn't up to standards based on that vortex of madness. Some will point to the Sabres FB page as a reason for why hockey players hate Buffalo because our fan base there treats them like shit.

Yes, at times I think our fan base can get a little demented. That narrative has been echoed at times by both bloggers and mainstream media. Ask Heather B. what she thinks about Bucky Gleason writing over and over that, in his day, Sabres fans wouldn't dare support the product if it sucked because their collars were bluer or some silly-ass analogy.

Sporting events are completely different than they were in the '70s or '80s. They have blown up in popularity and for a lot of people, attending them is like going to movies or out to dinner. It is just a bi-monthly thing that you do, even if the team sucks. It is somewhere to go with friends, family, a girlfriend, and/or a mistress. It is like that in a lot of cold weather cities where outdoor activities tend to go south for the winter.

While some fans may lack decorum, they still have a voice. We all do. We have freedom of speech and please allow me to use that constitutional right right now to thank Sabres fans from all walks of life because I think the powers that be finally heard all of us. I want to thank the trolls, smart asses, apologists, pessimists, crusaders, season ticket holders, Whiner Line callers, prospect lovers, message board crazies, and anyone who lives in the (716) who watches hockey.

Terry Pegula didn't fire Darcy, you did. Your wallets, Facebook messages, and voices were finally enough to get Terry to pull the trigger on major changes at the top of the organization.

As an expat, my influence is kind of remote with the Sabres. I'm not watching their games locally, I have not invested a ton of money into tickets. That's where it really starts as far as supporting the team. NHL owners count on making money at the gate and the number of season ticket holders has been touted by the Sabres for what feels like forever.

Well, in that case, what happens when fans get an audible "Fire Darcy" chant going at games? How about when the number of empty seats increase? Tickets at center ice on Stub Hub for 20 bucks? Booing being the norm instead of cheering? How about Facebook and the Whiner Line being at an apex in venom? The answer to those questions, for once, didn't lead to a punch line. Instead, it led to change.

The fans fucken spoke.

I don't care what Ted Black says, if the fans had continued to mostly quietly support a crappy product, the Sabres may have stuck with Darcy and Rolston forever. You have to think they were concerned about their season ticket base and the fact that they are BEGGING people to buy individual tickets. It isn't about the cash for Pegula. We all know he doesn't have to drill another oil well.

I think he cares about the Sabres and understands how much they mean to the fans. He may come across as kind of slow/aloof because it took him forever to realize how much we couldn't stand Darcy, but he finally learned the lesson. 

Darcy Regier was the center of the discord and blame for the Sabres shortcomings and firing him was what every single kind of fan in the region wanted. So let's put away the narrative about how our collars aren't blue anymore or that we should be embarrassed to have season tickets.

It was a complete team effort to get Darcy fired and we succeed. Let this be another example of how sports can bring ALL of us together.