birdog1960

we allowed mutual funds and etf's and people successfully played silver with these in the game. i think we should keep it the same. i got in trouble for trading mutual funds mid day and we'll clear that up with a rule for trading mutual funds only at trading days end. i'll start a new thread to start Sept. 15 through march 15 with the same rules as this game. no prizes, just braggin rights to the winner.

since we're not playing for anything, i don't see why not. if peace objects, we can move it to a new thread or wait til next year (the official bills mantra)..

saw a documentary this weekend that gives some insight into southern culture. was called something like "hillbillies, the real story". probably not as appropriate to charlotte as rural virginia where i live but you're almost certain to encounter some "hillbillies" or "rednecks". this was the first time i've ever heard the origin for "redneck". it seems union coal miners who were fighting a war against union breaking "detectives" (thugs) hired by the coal companies, wore red bandanas around their neck. also some insight into religion, the birth of nascar and the ethnic makeup of the area. i think it was on the history channel - worth watching.

not looking to win a kindle, just for fun. selling 382 shares ANR at $34.58 cash =$13219.56

i agree they're not the reincarnation of patsy cline but i think they have beautiful voices and they're just getting started.

this will probably get abused for being too mainstream and obvious but i think adele 21 is the best new album i've heard this year. just being popular doesn't make it pop. also like the t bone burnett produced secret sisters album.

this doesn't make sense. the nfl as a whole, wants parity...close games and end of season drama. if anything, the league would benefit from our improving.

are there any personnel losses/misses/failures throughout the bills history that you find blame with wilson on? while some of us get accused of being too negative, your posts seem to reflect a glorius past and recent history in which bills brass have performed extremely well.

won't go across the middle? right chan, maybe not for you.

you make that sound like a bad thing. you get what you pay for (or at least, you rarely get more than you pay for).

thanks. this makes a lot of sense and is well presented.

an actuarial table will tell you wilson's long (and short) term survival odds aren't good. the rest of the theories seem far fetched to me.

in retrospect, how many rising young entrepreneurs would love to emulate wilson's good decision to bet on buffalo and the afl? if he didn't do it, would somebody else have? i don't know but many would wish that they had. he should be applauded for his business vision but for crying out loud, couldn't he have found, retained and empowered more capable football people over his tenure? the guy's on the last few laps of life. buffalo has enriched him beyond anyone's expectations. how bout just a little respect and gratitude for the fans? instead he conspicuously spits in their faces. i don't think anything else he's done mitigates that.

where has this candor from the press been? as others have mentioned, this s$#t is not new. is there something else bubbling under the surface that has prompted all this open wilson criticism by the press? at any rate, it's long overdue. it almost makes jerry sullivan look mainstream.

i think your analysis is myopic. per easterbrook's espn article, each team receives $125 mil in revenues yearly from tv contracts. this dwarfs stadium revenue - lets say 500000 seats at $60 =30 mil or roughly 1/4 of tv revenue. so tv networks and ultimately potential beer, soft drink, car and truck etc buyers produce most of the revenue. to the nfl, it would follow that a persons consumer demographics are of greater import than their ticket buying habits (especially if ticket sales decrease as it appears they will for this year). if you are in a group that buys lots of stuff, you have a voice. and if a team or teams are weakening the general appeal of the nfl to tv viewers, they are a liability.

i agree except overdorf (and gailey and nix) know that they're being used to defraud fans but remain. they share some responsibility.

i remember sports illustrated's article on buffalo sports in the early 70's. didn't exactly shine a glowing national light on wilson. i suspect after that the writers assumed everyone already knew. but then, the hof! guess not.

you left one big option out: how bout because he thought that it was the right thing to do. a few people are still motivated by this.

i know there are some lawyers on the board...how bout it? best alternative i can think of to tar and feathering and running wilson out on a rail. as greedy as he is, losing a lawsuit would hurt him more. 50 years of fan and community support and he allows it to end like this. yes, many of us have known this is business as usual at obd but the austerity hasn't been this bad in more than 20 years. wilson apparently has lost his last remaining shreds of pride and decency.

wow, never saw this before. but it's actually rauch's son retelling his dad's stories. too bad rauch never finished his book and even worse for him that he didn't sign with the steelers rather than the bills. his legacy might have been very different. with all the failed coaches the bills have produced i don't get why there aren't more published expose's.

agree 100%. i wonder how many other journalists were/are aware of similar circumstances, perhaps about other team owners that have never been disclosed. even the vick/goodell story wasn't the lead on many nfl sites. i'd wager there are more past similar stories about wilson that were never written

good on ya jw, great piece....but i'm thinking exclusives with wilson may be a thing of the past.

70,0000 seats X $10 X 7 games (they charge plenty for the toronto game) = $4.9 mil. not near enough to justify 20-30 mil under the cap. that's one of the points the article was making. it's more profitable to cut payroll than try to fill expensive seats with a good (expensive) product.

not if you accept the premise of this piece, which i do. making excuses for not winning is just a ruse for losing for profit. he's doing just fine and sticking to script.

the article holds no punches and articulates important points. winning needs to be incentivized monetarily as it's clearly not a priority for several owners. the salary floor isn't happening soon enough.