chris heff

There was nowhere to hide from the cold in that place.

Nothing to do with the topic, but I saw where you live. I have a grand niece and nephew who both went to York University.

My brother played there, he was St. Joe’s QB in early 1960s. I think they played Canisius.

Went to a lot of games there, my father had seasons tickets. I can’t remember who they played, but one game I went to with my father was pretty funny. Parking was pretty much nonexistent, my father gave two kids $5 to park in their driveway, except it turned out to not be their driveway. The real homeowner had been at church. She was not happy, my father did a lot of apologizing. A twelve year old me found it hysterical.

Kind of said he liked Cousins.

Diggs is going to love Buffalo and Buffalo is going to love him. God I hope there’s a season. Offense will be fun, defense will be great, Brady is gone. Nope not going to be a season. We are Bills fans we all know this is too good to be true. Such a Billsy thing to have happen, we’re f**ked.

I like most of my cousins.

From your keyboard to God’s ear.

Ralph was not a good franchise owner, but without Ralph Wilson the AFL would have gone out of business. Not only did he invest in the Bills, but he bailed out both the Oakland Raiders and The New York Titans. Had he not done that in all likelihood the league would have collapsed. Which means no merger and no Buffalo Bills. If that perspective is “drinking the Ralph Koolaid”, then keep it coming and don’t break the rhythm.

Finally we agree on something Ralph wasn’t a good owner, but he was a good businessman, and a nice man. I met him once in a hotel lobby. I told him I was a Bills fan and that someone in my family has had season tickets since 1960. He talked to me for about fifteen minutes. He loved the Bills and he loved the fans. I’m not sure drought was darkest time, maybe. Losing to Miami for a decade was pretty bag. I was at a game at the Rockpile when Ed Rutkowski played QB, that late sixties team was epically bad.

This should go well.

You and Phil keep looking at this from a fans perspective. What did fans do after Polian was fired? We kept filling the stadium, watching games on TV and buying jerseys. From a business stand point Ralph lost nothing by defending his daughter and firing Polian. Ralph still built a business he started for $25k to $1.4 b.

Yeah Phil you’re right looking at it as a fan. Polian got fired from two other jobs and went on to TV. Ralph lived into his nineties, did something he loved and built for a lifetime. Ralph died and his family sold a franchise that Ralph bought for $25k for $1.4b. The Wilson foundation then used part of that money to enhance both Buffalo and Detroit. If that isn’t enough for you than as a fan maybe you can appreciate that Ralph made moving the Bills very difficult for new ownership. How’d that turn out for fans.

So essentially what your saying is Polian quit. There was no way Ralph wasn’t going to defend his daughter, if Polian assumed he was so important that his boss would tolerate his transgression then he was an idiot. Polian didn’t take his money and buy a franchise in a start up league, Ralph did. Polian didn’t save the league by lending money to other franchises Ralph did. Ralph may not have been a good owner, but he was the owner.

I’d argue that making business decisions based on how the fans feel is a fool’s errand. Every topic on this site is proof.

No I don’t have to be prepared for that. It was my money, I took the risk I signed the paychecks. That risk that we took, the fact that we provided 125 people with jobs, whether it is me or a family member that deserves respect whether an idiot or not. Ralph’s situation was the same, Polian wasn’t entitled to that position what he did was arrogant and stupid.

When Polian called Ralph’s daughter a name he was left with no choice, the same as I was left with no choice when that chef called my wife a name. Ralph’s mistake was what he did next, one he committed often, he hired someone that he was comfortable with. In the example of my restaurant I hired new chef who turned out to be better. If nepotism were eliminated from family owned business a whole lot more people would be unemployed. The irony is that Polian took exception to the nepotism and then years later hired his son.

Phil, in the same post you are arguing both sides. You say Ralph should have ignored what I recall was a vile insult hurled at his daughter and then you chastise Royal for name calling.

I’ve built a couple of significantly different businesses. One of them was a restaurant, a high end restaurant in NYC. I had a very good chef that I had gone to a lot of trouble to recruit. One day he decided to call my wife a f-ING B word. He was fired and out the door before he could finish the sentence. A difference of opinion you can work out, but once there was name calling it was over.

Correct me if I’m wrong (like I needed to write that), but didn’t Polian get into a beef with Ralph’s daughter, which I think included some name calling. That will get yo fired every time. Butler, who for some reason is fondly remembered, put the Bills in cap hell. He did the opposite of what the Patriots have done for twenty years, kept and overpaid players past their prime.

I see that you’re relatively new here. So I will attempt to explain how things work. The deeper we get into a thread the further off the rails we get. Picture us if you will as a big family, a big dysfunctional family. This is like a family get together, the longer it goes the more contentious it gets. It doesn’t mean we don’t love each other, it’s just that some off us are smarter than others, some of us are right others are just wrong. I hope that helps.

None of the people being pointed at are the reason for the drought. With all deference to the man, the fault lies with Ralph Wilson. He and he alone is responsible for the parade of incompetence at One Bills Drive.

Yes, according to Fairburn.

And he’s still a jerk. Article in the Athletic by Matthew Fairburn. Takes no responsibility, blames anyone and everything. “You know what’s funny?” Williams said. “When I was in Buffalo, I knew something was wrong when they drafted Jonathan Williams. I knew something was up. Y’all had alternative plans. Y’all bring Reggie Bush to camp and allowed him to practice? Reggie Bush went negative rushing yards for the season. And y’all release me? Doug Whaley can eat a dick. Doug Whaley can die in a hole and drink bleach. I’m dead serious. The reason I didn’t play in the XFL is because Doug Whaley’s name was on it. I’m dead serious.”

I don’t understand why no love for “AC” Al Cowlings. He was the fifth overall pick and the only reason was because OJ wanted his buddy in Buffalo. This might be the worst reason to draft someone in the history of the NFL.