thebandit27

That's cute coming from the guy that says he wants Russ fired not for personnel moves, and then blasts the decision to sign Glenn Gronk because Russ made a phone call. Not to worry fridge, I've learned a lot from you...now I know that whenever I'm in a room, I'm responsible for what anyone does! Not personnel according to you

So again, he told his boss to hire the guy he already wanted to hire

So he's not making decisions, but he's "got influence"? Color me confused as to what you believe he's influencing. You've read th article about how Rec was hired; it's clear that the Pegulas wanted him, and Russ pushed them to make it happen. Is that influence? Telling your boss to hire the guy he wants to hire?

Simply put: if you think I'm a "super homer" then you either cannot read or simply choose not to; apologies if that seems mean. The point was simple: he's either in on personnel decisions or he isn't; the owners aren't going to run 2 teams that differently. So what this comes down to is what makes sense: 1) he's making both football and hockey personnel decisions 2) he's making one but not the other 3) he's making neither Only 1 and 3 make sense.

I didn't ignore anything. When you start attributing failed UDFA signings to the guy, it undermines the point. And yes, other organizations have team presidents that aren't personnel guys; they even (gasp) sit in on football discussions.

Wait, this is getting silly--what amazing UDFA did we miss out on because Russ made calls at Whaley's request? Look back at Coach Tuesday's post about why he doesn't like Russ--THAT is a salient argument

Question: If Russ has all of this influence, and the Pegulas run both the Bills and Sabres, does Russ get credit for things like drafting Jack Eichel, trading for Ryan O'Reilly, and signing Kyle Okposo? No reason to suspect they'd run two teams in such a dramatically different fashion, so I have to assume Russ has that much control over personnel with the Sabres too...he's got that team turned in the right direction!

It didn't. Russ wasn't put in charge of the hockey team until well after Murray was hired.

I don't think it's a cure-all; I do believe it's what they'd do next though Thank you for pointing to real, actual responsibilities for which one could blame Russ. This is a very reasonable post IMO, even if I disagree with parts of it

You think Russ is deciding which UDFAs to sign, as opposed to working the phones at Whaley's behest? Really?

I like Pat, but he's notoriously difficult to work with. Regardless, the point was that a "hockey guy" was brought in to put an organizational structure in place, which is what I believe would happen if Whaley were dismissed

Leroi is right sometimes and wrong others--it happens. He's wrong about that. Right from the horse's mouth: http://www.syracuse.com/buffalo-bills/index.ssf/2015/10/bills_sabres_president_russ_brandon_new_role_criticism_unbelievable_year.html

Doubt it. If Whaley goes, I suspect Russ and Terry will hire a football Czar to pick the new GM, much like Terry did with Lafontaine when he hired Murray.

Only if one desires to find a singular scapegoat for 16 years of futility. The problems are quite simple: they don't have a franchise QB or a coach that is capable of assembling a world-class D that can win in spite of a deficiency at QB. How that falls to Russ because "he's in the room" will always be a mystery to me. Seattle's team president and marketing manager Peter McLoughlin is always around the GM and coach (even in the draft room), but you never hear him get credit for their success.

Hochuli is consistently the worst official in the NFL. Most penalties called, fewest reversals, and just generally bad judgment. This is going to be a 4-hour game.

He was easily the best player on the field for this team. He was disruptive and consistent. The only negative was that he nearly picked up a 2nd PF penalty after a play, which would've been an ejection

Crud...I missed that too. My revised selection is James Lofton

Same as last year

That, the slow release, and the ability to see the whole field...through one game, it's not better

Many Canadiens will get arrested

Good points

Like what and for who?

Bruce Smith

Remember the game where he got 9 targets in 11 pass attempts? That went well

I'm not a doom and gloom guy...not having Sammy is an enormous blow. Have to wonder if he re-injured it or simply wasn't ready. This offense won't make it without him.