Sound_n_Fury

Ralph always respects his players, even when they have a losing record. The comment about "the material we have" is very interesting, however...

You don't even have to feel lucky. It works from the search button too!

You're not serious, are you? Every off-season he's done something to create a buzz to drive season ticket sales. Trading for Bledsoe, landing TKO, signing Milloy on opening week, trading PP for a #1, drafting Willis, drafting JP, hiring MM, ditching DB and going with Losman...the list goes on. The vast majority of tickets are sold before Game 1 and TD knows how to sell "hope" to get those $$$.

Touche. But I'm sure RW wasn't happy with Polian for a number of reasons and thought Butler could do just as well and be less of a PITA. Ralph's pretty murcurial when he's pissed and tends to be quite as well. The next 5 games will be really interesting....

Lots of fun names in this piece! And here's another gem! (sorry, the link's not available anymore) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- WILSON GETS RIGHT MAN FOR THE JOB by JERRY SULLIVAN January 11, 2001 Ralph Wilson wasn't kidding when he said he wanted to relinquish most of his customary NFL duties and spend the rest of his career kicking back in the owner's box. All you need to do is examine the title he bestowed on his new hire, Tom Donahoe: president and general manager. For the first 40 years of the Bills' existence, Wilson was the only president. None of the general managers who ran his football operation over the years had the dual title of team president. Not Bill Polian. Not Pat McGroder or John Butler. Wilson is conceding that he lacks the energy to remain as involved in the NFL as he used to be. You can't blame the man. He's 82 years old, and it was time for him to loosen his control of the team and to give an unprecedented level of power to a football man he could trust. He could not have found a better available man than Donahoe, who is respected throughout the NFL and was widely perceived as the best personnel man on the NFL market when Wilson abruptly fired Butler three weeks ago. Wilson took his time doing it. He left Donahoe hanging for more than a week while deciding what to do with Wade Phillips. As recently as Tuesday, Donahoe talked with new Lions President Matt Millen about hooking on with Detroit's staff. It looked as if the best man might slip away from Buffalo. But Wilson got him in the end, and for that he should be commended. You might call it luck, but he has a way of digging up quality GMs. He hired and fired two of the best in Polian and Butler, and he was fortunate that a man of Donahoe's reputation was available when he went looking again. Donahoe is universally admired around the league as a football man. Like Polian and Butler, he is a scout at heart, most comfortable walking the sidelines at some college all-star game, looking for some overlooked prospect. He has never worked anywhere other than Pittsburgh, his hometown. He probably would have remained with the Steelers for life if it weren't for the power struggle with head coach Bill Cowher that led to Donahoe's departure last January. Donahoe has always insisted that money wasn't an important consideration for him. People who know him say it's genuine. He could have gone to Seattle for big money after the Steelers reached the Super Bowl, but he turned it down. He had numerous feelers (New Orleans, Miami and New England) shortly after leaving the Steelers. Detroit and the Jets were interested before Wilson signed him. The expansion Houston franchise talked with him. But he held out for the right job. Donahoe is said to be a devoted family man, and Buffalo was reasonably close to Pittsburgh. It's a Rust Belt city with a blue-collar ethos and abiding affection for its football team. Donahoe was once described as having a great reverence for the Pittsburgh community. People close to him have told him Buffalo would be a perfect fit. "You can't go wrong with the guy," said one league source. One thing Donahoe will recognize is a big salary cap problem. The Bills are an estimated $ 10 million over the projected cap for next season. They have two big-ticket free agents in Eric Moulds and Marcellus Wiley. They have two $ 5 million quarterbacks in Doug Flutie and Rob Johnson. Donahoe is no fool. Regardless of geography, he wouldn't be coming here if he thought the situation was hopeless. He has a massive job in front of him, but he's dealt with this kind of mess before and emerged with a competitive team, a playoff team. With shrewd drafting and wise free-agent moves, he can do it here. He'll have to make some hard decisions. Some highly paid veterans, like Ted Washington and Sam Rogers, will probably have to be let go. He'll have to restructure other contracts to create additional room under the cap -assuming Wilson gives him the money to do it. His most important task will be to bring the coaching up to an acceptable level. It remains to be seen whether Donahoe will clean house. The NFL is filled with his former coaching associates and it wouldn't be surprising if he brought in an entirely new staff. That would be regrettable, because there are some capable coaches on the old staff, mainly on the defensive side. Ted Cottrell deserves to be a head coach in the league. Donahoe isn't likely to accommodate him. But for continuity's sake, he could make Cottrell assistant head coach/defensive coordinator and show the defensive players their accomplishments counted for something. Donahoe has the power now, however. If he chooses to sweep out all the coaches, it's his prerogative. After his bitter fight with Cowher, you can understand if he wants to hire every one of his coaches and be intimately familiar with them all. Whatever the case, the Bills are in for a major face-lift. Donahoe has his work cut out for him, but at least he's the best man for the job. Bills fans should look at it this way: You lost Butler, but you got a comparable GM in Donahoe. Phillips is gone and his replacement is bound to be an improvement. The same goes for a lot of his coaches. So Wilson's luck just might hold. Maybe he stumbled into it, but you could argue that he's better off than he was one month ago where his coaches and GM are concerned. Now if he'll keep his promise and stay out of the way, maybe there's hope for his team after all.

Ralph simmered over Bill's "arrogance" throughout the entire 1992 season before pulling the trigger on him. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HE WON SOME BATTLES, BUT POLIAN LOST THE WAR BY: Larry Felser, Sports Editor What did in Bill Polian is the same thing that did in George Bush: He was a success at foreign affairs but a failure on the domestic front. A few days before Super Bowl XXVII, Marv Levy went out of his way to tell an audience of national media that Polian "was the architect of the Buffalo Bills' three Super Bowl teams." No argument there. Polian is a first-rate football man. Once he stepped away from football, however, Polian could escalate a medium-sized difference of opinion into the Normandy invasion, and frequently did. Time after time he met the enemy, and it was him. The safest thing would have been to lock him in a film room and have him deal only with football, allowing him only minimal contact with the public. Instead there were continual blowups with fans and the media. The last was as recent as Sunday night, outside the Bills' "win or lose" party at their Los Angeles hotel when he attacked WGRZ-TV's Ed Kilgore over a mere misunderstanding. Polian could have gone on abusing the fans and media indefinitely, but he made the mistake of going beyond them. "Polian didn't discriminate between press, fans and owners," says an NFL associate of the former Bills' general manager. "Ralph Wilson is at a point in his life where he doesn't want to put up with being screamed at by an employee of his." This was not a recent complaint of Wilson's. At least four years ago he was telling his close friends that he was upset at the manner in which Polian treated him and his daughters, two of whom work on the Bills' staff. Polian also went to war, once physically, with Wilson's money man in Detroit, Jeff Littmann. But all NFL teams have a Littmann sort, difficult moneymen, in their organizations. It is part of the GM's job to co-exist with them, even when they make wrong-headed decisions as Littmann did in the case of releasing injured fullback Jamie Mueller. In Polian's case, it wasn't co-existence, it was hand-to-hand combat. It recalled a comment from the late Dan Reeves, owner of the Los Angeles Rams, when he employed George Allen as his coach in the '60s: "I've never won so much, nor enjoyed it so little." All owners love to win, but they want it to be a joyous experience, too. Obviously, Polian knew what was coming. There have been stories going around the NFL for months that he was looking for a soft spot to land, that he was one step ahead of the posse. In fact there have been Polian rumors cropping up for years: That he was a candidate for the Jets' general manager's job before Dick Steinberg was hired; that he was going to go to Washington when Bobby Beathard quit as GM of the Redskins. The most persistent involved a phantom job in the NFL office. Some of those stories were plants, but when Polian was appointed to the prestigious NFL Competition Committee it seemed that his marketability was sure to soar. "His marketability went down after he got on the competition committee," says a powerful NFL coach. "He blew his stack so many times that he ended up with a reputation as an off-the-wall guy." As for any job in the NFL office, he was supposed to be close to Commissioner Paul Tagliabue, but listen to a comment from an NFL official just before the Super Bowl. "I want to pull for Buffalo to win this game," he said, "but Polian makes it really hard for me to do it." With Polian gone, the major question is what happens now? Will the Bills, as the doomsayers predict, plummet to the depths of 2-14 where they dwelt before Polian was handed the GM's job? It is not an idle worry. The organization traveled that route three times before. Much depends upon the moves Wilson has made to fill the vacancy caused by Polian's firing. Friday afternoon, he promoted John Butler, the popular director of college scouting, into Polian's position. But Polian's press release concerning his departure mentioned Wilson's year-long desire to restructure the front office. Promoted along with Butler was Jerry Foran, the director of marketing and sales for whom Wilson has high regard, has been promoted to handle non-football operations. Regardless of the changes, the temperature of the organization is going to be lowered by Polian's departure, which is a good thing. The tension and paranoia around One Bills Drive was getting unbearable. With Polian, it was a cult of personality. No other NFL general manager has his own television and radio shows. No other GM had such high visibility. The main man in the Bills immediate future now, is going to be Marv Levy. Obviously Levy is going to miss Polian, who was his protege. Bob Sprenger, an NCAA official who worked as the Kansas City Chiefs' public relations director during Levy's tenure there, tells a story about the time he ran into Polian a few years ago while Marv was in Hawaii, coaching the AFC in the Pro Bowl. "Polian was chuckling," says Sprenger. "He said he just got his third phone call of the day from Marv. I asked Bill why he was calling so often. Polian said "It's the parties. They want Marv to go to the social events and all he wants to do is the coaching. He's very upset." Now Marv is in the most powerful situation of his career. After having taken the Bills to three consecutive Super Bowls, Levy has a deep pool of good will built up with the owner. Wilson likes him a great deal, anyway. They speak the same language. Levy is in a position to direct the Bills on the proper course despite the departure of his old sidekick. Butler and Foran are old associates of his from their USFL Chicago Blitz days. They have great respect for him and likely would take his direction. Presumably, the same would be expected of any outsiders Wilson might hire. Levy might have to make some concessions to Wilson, but this is the time to spend some of that good will he built up. Meanwhile, Polian passes from the Buffalo sports scene. He must find it ironic. He got the job unexpectedly when another Bills' GM, Terry Bledsoe, was axed out of the blue. At the 1985 press conference signaling the promotion of the obscure pro scout, Polian introduced himself by announcing "Hi! I'm Bill Who." By the time Polian left, everyone knew who he was.

I'm not talking about those kind of quotes, where RW's referring to a specific game. I'm talking about his "quiet before the storm" approach to front office personnel when he begins to lose confidence in the GMs ability to field a competitive team. Saw it with Polian, and somewhat with Butler.

Nah, I disagree. There are plenty of TSW regulars who eloquently lay out their arguments for why the Bills are underachieving, yet do so without going "nah, nah, da nah nah....the Bills suck!" which is generally how Sully writes. We slag Jerry due to his lack of talent/insight/value, not 'cause he's the messenger.

Sully's a columnist, not a beat reporter. He'll tell you that every chance he gets, like it elevates him to demigod status. I guess it does actually--he don't have to be factual or even right most of the time...just stir the pot to collect all those quarters for Warren Buffet.

So which is it: Does Sully blow whichever way the wind does? Or just blow? (Glad we need the media to validate our opinions, BTW...)

Bupkis. Ralph's being quite because that's his modus operandi when he's pissed. Personally, I hope he stays quiet and lets the pressure build on TD.

If the Bills hierarchy is like most organizations, top execs like TD depend on the assessment and recommendations of the managers in the chain of command. In the case of the D-line, that would be Krumrie and Gray. Obviously, both thought the young guys were capable of filling the hole left by PW's departure. And perhaps more importantly, indicating that SA still had something left in his tank. Contrary to what many posters believe, TD doesn’t make personnel decisions in a vacuum. If Tom’s performance in addressing the D-line has been mediocre, part of the blame has to fall on Krumrie, who’s something of a sacred cow around TSW because of his appealing personality/history as a player (Gray already gets his share of blame here, so I won‘t repeat that effort now). If I remember correctly, Tim Anderson was drafted because Krumrie liked him a lot (e.g., he wrestled TK better than any other prospect during his OSU workout). I’m not mentioning this to slag Krumrie specifically--the same thing applies to Mouse McNally on the OL--just to point out that TD does not make decisions unilaterally. In the scouting area, this also applies to Tom Modrak and his team. TD is the ultimate buck stop, but the collective underperformance by management/coaching/scouting has been the biggest disappointment for me this season.

He looked a lot more comfortable when he had time...I'd like to see them go to more 3-step dink-n-dunk passes like Carolina, Tampa and the other teams that have run up the time of possession on the Bills recently. JP throws a nice quick slant.

Nah...he's an undersized OLB with absolutely no DB instincts. That's not his problem, it's the coaches that put him in position to fail and the hubris of TD who thought he could play SS.

I hope they're good linemen...the track record hasn't shown they know how to evaluate them that well.

Yawn....

And the list grows longer...

If that's true, why does Ralph attend every game, show up all the time at training camp and visit the locker room after almost every game, win or lose? Believe me, it would be easier to stay in Detroit (or somewhere warmer) and rake in the dough without ever giving a fig about the huddled masses. Ralph cares...he's an old school owner who'd rather win a game that get his picture taken cavorting on the sideline or at league meetings a'la some of the new wave owners like Snyder and Benson. Ralph was curiously silent last week....and the less he talks, the thinner I think the ice becomes for TD. Remember, RW's marketing motto is "winning puts fannys in the seats." It'll be interesting to see if he stays quiet over the next few weeks.

I guess Friday won't be so black after all. Turkey day's.....mm, mm, good!

LOL, that's better than the real thing! It's too bad we can't laugh more and b!tch less around here anymore...

Same reasoning the Germans used when they bombed Pearl Harbor. There are no guarantees in life...luck happens (good and bad). Modrak was considered one of the top personnel guys in the NFL up to now. I guess he's "all hat, no cattle" too, huh?

Yep, it does. Here's what other "experts" had to say about MW and the 2002 draft at the time: Mel Kiper 1st Round Commentary Buchsbaum - PFW Pro Football Weekly PFW Round 1 Recap PFW Round 2 Recap College Football News Draft Recap Great Blue North 2002 Draft Grade Gil Brant

This post should be pinned....

Buddy Nix is having a better year(s) than Tom Modrak...

And the list grows longer....