Training camp starts in two weeks for the Buffalo Sabres, but restricted free agent Drew Stafford is still without a contract.

Two weeks from today, the Buffalo Sabres will be in their second day of training camp. In a rare quirk of scheduling, they will begin camp before the Bills have even played their first regular-season game.

So the best time of year in Buffalo sports is nearly upon us, stretching from late summer through the endless winter on into spring. For better or worse, this is when fans feel most alive, when both of our major pro teams are back at work, on the winding, elusive trail of a title.

It’s hard to feel optimistic about either. Yes, season ticket sales are booming. But it seems the more people click through the turnstiles, the greater the dysfunction in the two organizations becomes. Might there be a connection?

The best thing you can say about the Sabres is they’re closer to the playoffs than the Bills. That’s modest praise. But that’s the new standard, simply making the playoffs. Fans gobble up tickets, grateful to have two pro teams and hopeful that the Sabres or Bills might be among the 28 teams that qualify for the NHL and NFL playoffs.

At least the Bills went out and signed Terrell Owens, diverting attention from the team’s staggering finish and the continued employment of Dick Jauron, a career mediocrity, as head coach.

What have the Sabres done since missing the playoffs for a second straight year? They brought in Steve Montador and Mike Grier in an inexpensive reply to critics who said they lacked the toughness and will to compete for a Stanley Cup.

Darcy Regier and Larry Quinn conceded that their team needed more “compete,” without identifying the offending players or moving anyone of consequence off the roster. Max Afinogenov is gone, but it will be essentially the same soft cast of characters that shows up in camp Sept. 12.

Regier has all the excuses. They’re up against their salary ceiling. Free agents were pricy and unattractive. It’s hard to find trading partners in this economic climate. Lately, Darcy sounds more like an accountant than a GM, content to educate us on the nuances of NHL finance.

But in the end, your actions, or lack of them, speak loudly. The Sabres believe in their players. They are building from within, with young guys — and let’s never forget how young they are.

Lindy Ruff, sounding like a company man, said he likes his team. Why this cry for a shake- up? They were young last year, remember, a team in transition. They finished strong, beating a bunch of teams with nothing to play for. If Ryan Miller hadn’t been hurt, they might have finished seventh!

They like their guys, and they have a lot of them. It’s odd, how a team that misses the playoffs two years in a row can have a glut of players. How does a team of underachievers become too deep all of a sudden? Maybe because they want it both ways.

Smart GMs know you can’t rebuild and contend at the same time. The Sabres middled it, making a weak playoff run with an inferior team. They kept fading veterans like Afinogenov, Jochen Hecht and Henrik Tallinder, rather than move them while they had value.

Quinn dismissed the last two years as a mulligan, one of the most outrageous comments uttered in this town since Wade Phillips’ departure. So they’re going to try it over, again, and maybe this time they’ll get it right.

Sooner or later, the kids will blossom and the Sabres will make another run at the Cup. Apparently, they have some growing up to do. Last week, in a Sporting News interview, Miller said the Sabres had to “grow and mature in certain aspects” last season. He said they had to “address a few issues over the course of the offseason.”

It sounds as if some of the younger Sabres were told to start taking their profession more seriously. The Sabres have paid a lot of money on promise in recent years. Derek Roy, Tim Connolly, Jason Pominville and Thomas Vanek have all gotten huge contracts. What have they won?

Then there’s Drew Stafford, who remains unsigned as a restricted free agent. Stafford, 23, scored 20 goals last season. He’s big (6-foot-2, 202 pounds), skilled and plays with an edge. He is a big part of the team’s future. But two weeks before camp, he’s still looking for a contract.

Maybe Stafford’s agent is shooting for the moon, knowing the Sabres need to sign someone of consequence. But if they believe in Stafford, why play hardball? If their plan is to develop stars from within, they should sign Stafford and show the fans how much they believe in him.

Of course, you have to wonder if Stafford is truly worth the money. There is no lack of pro athletes in this town, on both the Sabres and Bills, who are being paid like stars but fall short of the designation.

That’s the quandary for Buffalo fans. It’s admirable to support teams that keep letting you down. But there’s a price. If you continue to accept mediocrity, it will be rewarded.