PearlHowardman Posted November 14, 2009 Posted November 14, 2009 Jerry Sullivan has said many times that he can't read RW, and he speaks with him more than just about any member of the media. The team is so bad and mired in mediocrity that if they go the cheap route and replace very little, it exposes them for being unconcerned with winning and the season ticket base will wither away. And if they play up the angle that fans aren't supporting the team, well, so be it because that's a ridiculous assertion. I hope Vic is right, because anything less ain't cutting it. RW will bring in another T.O. or Drew Bledsoe during the off-season and fans will go crazy with (purchasing $) excitement. And another 7-9 season will be in the future.
SF Bills Fan Posted November 14, 2009 Posted November 14, 2009 Spend the big bucks and hire Cowher. If they do that, they could raise ticket prices to offset the cost of bringing him in. I would not mind paying extra money for that. Cowher could even take what we have in place and find ways to win.
reddogblitz Posted November 14, 2009 Posted November 14, 2009 All this talk about Ralph being too cheap is puzzling to me. I know Gregg and Mike and Dick. But things are different now. We haven't' made the playoffs for 10 years. Fan morale is about to fall off a cliff. If he doesn't do something brash in the off season many fans will bolt and stop buying tickets and TO jerseys and parking and beer and it will be harder to sell advertising all in the name of saving $3.000.000.00 he'd otherwise be paying to Dick. Makes no sense. In business school we learned that you gotta spend money to make money. My old sales manager used to say you can't save your way to prosperity. As a very successful business man I think Ralph knows this too. We'll see in the off season. Whatever money he has to pay a new coach he will easily make up in increased sales. We'll see.
benderbender Posted November 14, 2009 Posted November 14, 2009 I agree. Short of Trent's last concussion knocking something loose and we make the playoffs, regime change would be welcome
300yrds Posted November 14, 2009 Posted November 14, 2009 Vic Carucci is nothing but a bum. Its great that he is a hometown guy, but he seems to present himeself as knowing so much more than everybody else, but I find him to be wrong...ALOT. He is one of the most useless columnist or commentator on the Buffalo Bills today. Take what he says with a grain of salt (and cross your fingers)
seq004 Posted November 14, 2009 Posted November 14, 2009 I pray that he is right...... We all are praying he's right.
apuszczalowski Posted November 14, 2009 Posted November 14, 2009 FOR THE LAST TIME, BILL COWHER IS NOT COMING TO COACH IN BUFFALO It wont be because of money, or Ralph, or whatever. It will be because he has nothing left to prove in this league and never has to coach again. IF he decides to come out of retirement and coach somewhere, it will be because it fits his life outside football and himself the best. He doesn't need the money, he has a championship, and he will be a HOFer coach, he also has a real nice job that probably pays him what he made asa a coach and only involves a fraction of the work it does to coach
apuszczalowski Posted November 14, 2009 Posted November 14, 2009 All this talk about Ralph being too cheap is puzzling to me. I know Gregg and Mike and Dick. But things are different now. We haven't' made the playoffs for 10 years. Fan morale is about to fall off a cliff. If he doesn't do something brash in the off season many fans will bolt and stop buying tickets and TO jerseys and parking and beer and it will be harder to sell advertising all in the name of saving $3.000.000.00 he'd otherwise be paying to Dick. Makes no sense. In business school we learned that you gotta spend money to make money. My old sales manager used to say you can't save your way to prosperity. As a very successful business man I think Ralph knows this too. We'll see in the off season. Whatever money he has to pay a new coach he will easily make up in increased sales. We'll see. Ralph isn't stupid or senile either, he knows all this and spends money, but it just makes fans feel better to blame him cause he does spend like others
Maddog69 Posted November 14, 2009 Posted November 14, 2009 I could see the Bills following the plan like the Dolphins did with Parcells. Bring in Holmgren or someone like that to run the team and let them hire a puppet head coach.
BillsVet Posted November 14, 2009 Posted November 14, 2009 Ralph isn't stupid or senile either, he knows all this and spends money, but it just makes fans feel better to blame him cause he does spend like others Other than RW, who do you blame for this decade of incompetence? He may spend, but it's what this team is spending on that drives intelligent fans crazy. Millions on Derrick Dockery, Robert Royal, Langston Walker, Chris Kelsay, et al and we can't keep our decent players. This has happened because the decision makers are either non-football people like Littman and Brandon or ineffective personnel evaluators. So I blame RW for keeping or putting these people in charge.
apuszczalowski Posted November 14, 2009 Posted November 14, 2009 Other than RW, who do you blame for this decade of incompetence? He may spend, but it's what this team is spending on that drives intelligent fans crazy. Millions on Derrick Dockery, Robert Royal, Langston Walker, Chris Kelsay, et al and we can't keep our decent players. This has happened because the decision makers are either non-football people like Littman and Brandon or ineffective personnel evaluators. So I blame RW for keeping or putting these people in charge. Sorry, I forgot that teams never make signing mistakes
Dennis in NC Posted November 14, 2009 Posted November 14, 2009 Let us have our moment - small as it is. LOL. Darin, that is a scream.
Ed_Formerly_of_Roch Posted November 14, 2009 Posted November 14, 2009 Many teams make signing mistakes. But because Buffalo isn't willing to spend the extra bucks, they can't afford mistakes. It's kind of like the Twins in baseball. they don't spend much money, but they stay competitive every year. Some years will even win a series. Football with revenue sharing with a good to excellent front office, you can be cheap and win alot Sorry, I forgot that teams never make signing mistakes
Bill from NYC Posted November 14, 2009 Posted November 14, 2009 My guess (less informed than Carucci's guess but the important thing here is that what Carucci has is a guess many hope is true but in the end is just a more informed than the average fan GUESS) is that it all comes down to the curmudgeon that owns the Bills hitting it off and having a spark with another person. If this person is Shananhan, Cowher, or maybe Holmgren we have a shot at capturing lightening in a bottle. If that spark is with a fellow Golden Boy like Marv or with a flawed football guy like TD then its gonna be a difficult trip. In the big picture my guess is that among the key questions a candidate like Shananhan, Cowher or whomever would want answered is what Mr. Ralph has in mind for the future with the Bills once he leaves this life. If he says he is going to essentially let the team go to highest qualified bidder, i would not take the job without a significant financial golden parachute. The chances of Mr. Ralph dying sooner rather than later are too large to not make the future plan a big factor. Ultimately a lot comes down to whether Mr. Ralph decides to leave a will which makes it easier for the status quo of the Bills remaining here to prevail (for example if he decided to avoid taxes by leaving the team to not-for-profit based in WNY) or made it more uncertain for keeping the team here (for example leaving the fate of the team to an auction of the highest qualified bidder). We will see. Would you, or someone else perhaps please explain to me why Raplh never hired Marty Schottenheimer, an ex-Bill? I simply cannot understand this. He should hire him and let him do as he pleases. Yep, count me as one who believes that Marty in virtually any capacity would make the Bills a playoff team.
Lofton80 Posted November 14, 2009 Posted November 14, 2009 It's all about timing. If the boneheaded move to extend Jauron wasn't done, maybe RW hires him. Ralph's reputation for meddling is going to ward off most candidates. Marty would make Buffalo a better team immediately. He actually has one a game or two. Jauron is is the mix with Kotite for the worst ever. Would you, or someone else perhaps please explain to me why Raplh never hired Marty Schottenheimer, an ex-Bill? I simply cannot understand this. He should hire him and let him do as he pleases. Yep, count me as one who believes that Marty in virtually any capacity would make the Bills a playoff team.
BillsVet Posted November 14, 2009 Posted November 14, 2009 Sorry, I forgot that teams never make signing mistakes When's the last time the Pats, Colts, or Steelers signed a bad UFA or re-signed a bad player? Teams that make lots of mistakes like the Bills are stuck in neutral or rebuilding. It takes a lot of bad decisions to be out of the playoffs for a decade.
Bill from NYC Posted November 14, 2009 Posted November 14, 2009 When's the last time the Pats, Colts, or Steelers signed a bad UFA or re-signed a bad player? Teams that make lots of mistakes like the Bills are stuck in neutral or rebuilding. It takes a lot of bad decisions to be out of the playoffs for a decade. This post is correct on many levels BV. When the Bills brought Big Ted and Bryce, they were instantly a team with credibilty. That said, I will always believe that this particular team is bad due to the almost unimaginable idiocy of Levy and Jauron. Now we have another safety practicing at the LB spot, in Buffalo mind you, with winter rapidly approaching. The overall state of this weak little team cannot be justified even by the greatest of Levy apologists.
BillsVet Posted November 14, 2009 Posted November 14, 2009 It's all about timing. If the boneheaded move to extend Jauron wasn't done, maybe RW hires him. Ralph's reputation for meddling is going to ward off most candidates. Marty would make Buffalo a better team immediately. He actually has one a game or two. Jauron is is the mix with Kotite for the worst ever. I'll contend that that Wilson and Brandon don't have a lot of contacts throughout the NFL. And I think RW's background meddling and lack of trust in front office types will indeed ward off a lot of good GM and HC candidates. Those items combined will make it a tough search, because no one in their right mind with credibility and something to prove comes into this wasteland. That is, if they decide to replace the HC and find a real GM. Just replacing the HC won't be enough. They've got to find a GM that knows what he's doing or else the neverending story of this team stinking will go on.
RayFinkle Posted November 14, 2009 Posted November 14, 2009 FOR THE LAST TIME, BILL COWHER IS NOT COMING TO COACH IN BUFFALO It wont be because of money, or Ralph, or whatever. It will be because he has nothing left to prove in this league and never has to coach again. IF he decides to come out of retirement and coach somewhere, it will be because it fits his life outside football and himself the best. He doesn't need the money, he has a championship, and he will be a HOFer coach, he also has a real nice job that probably pays him what he made asa a coach and only involves a fraction of the work it does to coach I disagree. Cowher will likely end up in Carolina, but he has plenty left to prove. He has never run an organization on his own from top to bottom , which is the level of power he has earned. We'll see what happens...
JohnC Posted November 14, 2009 Posted November 14, 2009 Not happening. Ralph's always planned to have his estate sell the team because it's the best way to raise the cash for his daughters to pay the inheritance tax. Why would he -- or anyone in the NFL -- consider donating a nine-figure asset to a not-for-profit? And don't bring up the Packers. The franchise wasn't worth much in the 50's when it went semi-public. The former owner of the Redskins, Jack Kent Cooke, had it in his will that the team would be sold after his death and the proceeds would go to a non-profit. The money went to the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation that channeled funds for education. The owner's son, who expected to inherit the team, was left out in the cold. What followed afterwards were legal challenges from competing buyers. The end result was that Daniel Snyder who was originally a minority partner with Millstein (sic) ended up the majority buyer when the commissioner's office wouldn't approve of Millstein as a buyer. The reason why Millstein, a NY billionaire developer, was not considered fit was that whenver he had a dispute with anyone he would sue them into submission. The NFL owners' club didn't need that type of potential aggravation. There are a variety of ways to lesson the affect of the inheritance tax. You have to prepare to do it much prior to being deceased. The owner of the Bills never considered it because he never cared to. Ralph is Ralph.
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