One Thing Clearly demonstrated by the Nix hire

[GrudginglyPessimistic]

is how bad the Buffalo media is in terms of having a read on this team.

 

As far as I know there was limited or no word from the Buffalo (or NFL led by ESPN and Mort) to even hint that the Bills were closing in on making a GM decision, or that Buddy Nix was even a candidate for that job

 

I for one would have expected actual reporters and journalists covering the Bills to:

 

1. Be able to provide some sense of whether the Bills were looking GM or HC first. The media only seemed to have gotten as far as being able to quote Bills higher ups that they planned to hire a real GM but local media like the Sullys, Kilgores, and whatever mouthpiece is the beat reporter at WGR these days really gave no sense of the timing of this move.

 

2. Talk about Buddy Nix as an option at some point. As it was the Bills annoucement of a 2:30 press conference seemed to strike the local media which was still in Christmas slumber by surprise and word did not leak out about Nix being he man until late yesterday morning.

 

3. At least some blow by blow accounting that a decision of some sort was iminent and a list of potential individuals be shared or theorized about. This was a pretty complete swing and a miss by the entire media as best I can tell.

 

Perhaps someone can share with me the link to some Graham column where he laid out real reporting about the progress of the Bills on decision making and even better reported specifically that the Bills were gonna go GM first and were doing interviews which led Mr. Ralph to claim it came down to two internal candidates.

 

However, because I think the local media swung and missed yesterdays's new news was truly new.

 

Reporting on the Bills is pretty bad as best as I can tell.

[Rico]

Say Nix was a very fast decision & they announced it on New Years Eve because they are ready to announce Cowher as HC next week after the season is over & they wanted the GM move out of the way...

 

then you have to give Coach Sal credit for breaking the Cowher story.

[SDS]

So, if I discover the cure for cancer in my basement and I don't say a word to anyone - is it the media's fault for not knowing the cure was imminent?

[Quester74]

So, if I discover the cure for cancer in my basement and I don't say a word to anyone - is it the media's fault for not knowing the cure was imminent?

 

I'm curious.. How many local media outlets/personalities do have lurky around your basement on a daily basis?

[SDS]

I'm curious.. How many local media outlets/personalities do have lurky around your basement on a daily basis?

 

If they aren't on the conference call or in Russ Brandon's office - what does it matter?

[DarthICE]

Say Nix was a very fast decision & they announced it on New Years Eve because they are ready to announce Cowher as HC next week after the season is over & they wanted the GM move out of the way...

 

then you have to give Coach Sal credit for breaking the Cowher story.

 

Humm why didn't coach sal know about Nix?

[Rico]

Humm why didn't coach sal know about Nix?

Maybe because his source on Cowher comes from outside the Bills organization.

[apuszczalowski]

So, if I discover the cure for cancer in my basement and I don't say a word to anyone - is it the media's fault for not knowing the cure was imminent?

But the media and the public doesn't care about you creating a cure for cancer, we are talking about NFL Football here!

 

Remember, we live in a society that let a long running war get pushed to the middle/end of a newscast so they could lead off the show with coverage of the ongoing "death of a pedophile Michael Jackson"

[GrudginglyPessimistic]

So, if I discover the cure for cancer in my basement and I don't say a word to anyone - is it the media's fault for not knowing the cure was imminent?

As someone pointed out above it does depend upon the number of media guys lurking around your basement (which I am sure is an interesting place) but the question speaks more to the fact that:

 

1. A significant amount of media guys earn their nickels from supposedly lurking around the Bills with a paid mission to ferret out interesting news nuggets for a public which plays in sites like TSW, buys the Buffalo Snooze, listens to radio outlets like WGR, and either buys these media outlets or at least furnishes their eyeballs so these media outlets can make nickels selling ads.

 

I do not know about coverage of your basement but all these outlets seem to have swung and missed regarding the marginal item of our Bills hiring a GM

 

2. There is actually way too much focus on simplistic fake races whether one outlet released the news 4 miliseconds quicker than the other news outlets. However, we fans are dependent upon the more informed and theoretically more knowledgable experts to have some notion about what to expect in terms of general format and timing of Bills decision making.

 

It certainly appears to me that the media and experts were pretty clueless about both the big picture and the details of this situation.

 

3. This media el foldo is particularly odd in that the basement at OBD is to some extent pretty opaque as there is really one ulimate decision-maker Mr. Ralph and he has had destructive relationships with pretty much every alternative info source such as the fired Polian, the walked away Butler, the fired TD, Wade, etc and he has shown a penchant for hiring fellow Golden Boys like Marv and potentially now Nix. I mean the modern NFL team is designed to give info to the public. The media has the place set for them and they were totally unable to squeeze out the barest hint of additional info.

 

One would think that good reporters would either suck up to the decision-maker, OR finding out he was unsuckable to they would develop other back channels for substantive info, OR at least spend some shoe leather and find out earlier than the official announcement that the press room is reserved for 2:30 or some other insider info.

 

The Nix hiring and the lack of any described forknowledge or hint expressed by the media covering the Bills is simply a colossal miss as far as this fan can tell.

[Tasmo]

Say Nix was a very fast decision & they announced it on New Years Eve because they are ready to announce Cowher as HC next week after the season is over & they wanted the GM move out of the way...

 

then you have to give Coach Sal credit for breaking the Cowher story.

 

 

Yeah baby! That's the ticket. Why not look for a grand slam. Screw the whimpy wumpy stuff. Just swing for the parking lot!

[spartacus]

As someone pointed out above it does depend upon the number of media guys lurking around your basement (which I am sure is an interesting place) but the question speaks more to the fact that:

 

1. A significant amount of media guys earn their nickels from supposedly lurking around the Bills with a paid mission to ferret out interesting news nuggets for a public which plays in sites like TSW, buys the Buffalo Snooze, listens to radio outlets like WGR, and either buys these media outlets or at least furnishes their eyeballs so these media outlets can make nickels selling ads.

 

I do not know about coverage of your basement but all these outlets seem to have swung and missed regarding the marginal item of our Bills hiring a GM

 

2. There is actually way too much focus on simplistic fake races whether one outlet released the news 4 miliseconds quicker than the other news outlets. However, we fans are dependent upon the more informed and theoretically more knowledgable experts to have some notion about what to expect in terms of general format and timing of Bills decision making.

 

It certainly appears to me that the media and experts were pretty clueless about both the big picture and the details of this situation.

 

3. This media el foldo is particularly odd in that the basement at OBD is to some extent pretty opaque as there is really one ulimate decision-maker Mr. Ralph and he has had destructive relationships with pretty much every alternative info source such as the fired Polian, the walked away Butler, the fired TD, Wade, etc and he has shown a penchant for hiring fellow Golden Boys like Marv and potentially now Nix. I mean the modern NFL team is designed to give info to the public. The media has the place set for them and they were totally unable to squeeze out the barest hint of additional info.

 

One would think that good reporters would either suck up to the decision-maker, OR finding out he was unsuckable to they would develop other back channels for substantive info, OR at least spend some shoe leather and find out earlier than the official announcement that the press room is reserved for 2:30 or some other insider info.

 

The Nix hiring and the lack of any described forknowledge or hint expressed by the media covering the Bills is simply a colossal miss as far as this fan can tell.

 

you must be new here.

 

posts like this will really bother the media members that post here

 

in their defense, the Bills organization goes out of their way to alienate the locals and shut them out of all information, choosing instead to release stories to the national outlets. The paranoia runs deep. Not sure why they hate the locals, but some background here would be helpful.

[Rubes]

you must be new here.

 

Don't worry, he's not.

[MRM33064]

you must be new here.

 

posts like this will really bother the media members that post here

 

in their defense, the Bills organization goes out of their way to alienate the locals and shut them out of all information, choosing instead to release stories to the national outlets. The paranoia runs deep. Not sure why they hate the locals, but some background here would be helpful.

 

The general sentiment seems correct; that is, I don't think the team coverage is particularly insightful.

 

On the other hand, the Bills aren't exactly the kind of organization where major decisions are made after careful deliberation and management consensus. It's not as though big decisions (like the timing of firing an OC, or the timing of the firing of a HC ... etc.) are being strategically thought through by a group of guys whose ears a beat writer might be able to bend now and then.

 

To put it differently, how does a reporter get a scoop on what ultimately amounts to the changing whims of an unpredictable, quirky 90-year old man? I'll bet Russ can't even be exactly sure of what Uncle Ralph might decide next week, let alone expecting the media to have a heads-up on what's going down.

 

I don't know - I'd like better information, but I can understand how it's not the easiest to get.

[PromoTheRobot]

The general sentiment seems correct; that is, I don't think the team coverage is particularly insightful.

 

On the other hand, the Bills aren't exactly the kind of organization where major decisions are made after careful deliberation and management consensus. It's not as though big decisions (like the timing of firing an OC, or the timing of the firing of a HC ... etc.) are being strategically thought through by a group of guys whose ears a beat writer might be able to bend now and then.

 

To put it differently, how does a reporter get a scoop on what ultimately amounts to the changing whims of an unpredictable, quirky 90-year old man? I'll bet Russ can't even be exactly sure of what Uncle Ralph might decide next week, let alone expecting the media to have a heads-up on what's going down.

 

I don't know - I'd like better information, but I can understand how it's not the easiest to get.

You are on to something. Brandon's most important job now is insulating Ralph from the rest of the operation. Ralph Wilson is the X-factor. We will find out if Ralph's promise to change how things are done at One Bills Drive includes keeping his input to himself.

 

PTR

[spartacus]

You are on to something. Brandon's most important job now is insulating Ralph from the rest of the operation. Ralph Wilson is the X-factor. We will find out if Ralph's promise to change how things are done at One Bills Drive includes keeping his input to himself.

 

PTR

 

A clear indication of such change would have involved at least looking outside the organization to "revamp" the front office.

 

Ralph's comments at the press conf also indicate business as usual from Ralph's perspective.

[PromoTheRobot]

A clear indication of such change would have involved at least looking outside the organization to "revamp" the front office.

 

Ralph's comments at the press conf also indicate business as usual from Ralph's perspective.

That is not true. The reason they went inside is because they needed to have a GM in place ASAP. Think about it. If the Bills went outside they'd have to wait until each candidate's team was done for the season. Once they had a GM then they'd have to look for a coach. You are talking mid-January at best. February at worst. In the meantime all the teams looking for coaches are ahead of the Bills. The Bills are the only NFL team with GM and HC openings.

 

If the plan was to go after Cowher they had to have a GM in place. By doing it now they beat Carolina and Tampa in negotiation. They basically have this weekend to make a case to Cowher. They are the only team talking to Cowher right now because Cowher won't negotiate with a team with a HC on staff.

 

Everyone has to get over the fact that Nix was an internal hire. He's a great hire. He just happens to have joined the Bills a year ago. He's not part of the Jauron/Levy cabal. Even if the Bills went outside you'd be hard pressed to find a GM candidate with his draft resume. So why waste valuable time when you have a solid candidate in house?

 

I remember past HC searches. Everyone here would cry the Bills were taking too long. I remember waiting for Weis and Crennell while other teams were signing candidates. Now the Bills are the early bird and people still piss and moan. It's ponderous.

 

PTR

[billnutinphoenix]

is how bad the Buffalo media is in terms of having a read on this team.

 

As far as I know there was limited or no word from the Buffalo (or NFL led by ESPN and Mort) to even hint that the Bills were closing in on making a GM decision, or that Buddy Nix was even a candidate for that job

 

I for one would have expected actual reporters and journalists covering the Bills to:

 

1. Be able to provide some sense of whether the Bills were looking GM or HC first. The media only seemed to have gotten as far as being able to quote Bills higher ups that they planned to hire a real GM but local media like the Sullys, Kilgores, and whatever mouthpiece is the beat reporter at WGR these days really gave no sense of the timing of this move.

 

2. Talk about Buddy Nix as an option at some point. As it was the Bills annoucement of a 2:30 press conference seemed to strike the local media which was still in Christmas slumber by surprise and word did not leak out about Nix being he man until late yesterday morning.

 

3. At least some blow by blow accounting that a decision of some sort was iminent and a list of potential individuals be shared or theorized about. This was a pretty complete swing and a miss by the entire media as best I can tell.

 

Perhaps someone can share with me the link to some Graham column where he laid out real reporting about the progress of the Bills on decision making and even better reported specifically that the Bills were gonna go GM first and were doing interviews which led Mr. Ralph to claim it came down to two internal candidates.

 

However, because I think the local media swung and missed yesterdays's new news was truly new.

 

Reporting on the Bills is pretty bad as best as I can tell.

 

PTR - we don't always agree on game days but you are dead on about the reporting of the Bills being awful...

[PromoTheRobot]

PTR - we don't always agree on game days but you are dead on about the reporting of the Bills being awful...

You mean Grudge, don't you?

 

PTR

[SDS]

As someone pointed out above it does depend upon the number of media guys lurking around your basement (which I am sure is an interesting place) but the question speaks more to the fact that:

 

Ok, put 100 guys around my basement. Kidnap my wife. Kill my dog. Whatever. The point is if the people with the information don't talk there is nothing to report. There is no one to track at the airport. No one to track in the parking lot. No itineraries to scrutinize.

 

4 men. All within the organization. They can meet whenever they want without raising an eyebrow. If those 4 men don't say anything to anyone - WTF is there to report?

 

I think the criticism in this instance is absurd. You have no evidence that the reporters had any access to any information that would suggest this news was forthcoming.

[spartacus]

That is not true. The reason they went inside is because they needed to have a GM in place ASAP. Think about it. If the Bills went outside they'd have to wait until each candidate's team was done for the season. Once they had a GM then they'd have to look for a coach. You are talking mid-January at best. February at worst. In the meantime all the teams looking for coaches are ahead of the Bills. The Bills are the only NFL team with GM and HC openings.

 

If the plan was to go after Cowher they had to have a GM in place. By doing it now they beat Carolina and Tampa in negotiation. They basically have this weekend to make a case to Cowher. They are the only team talking to Cowher right now because Cowher won't negotiate with a team with a HC on staff.

 

Everyone has to get over the fact that Nix was an internal hire. He's a great hire. He just happens to have joined the Bills a year ago. He's not part of the Jauron/Levy cabal. Even if the Bills went outside you'd be hard pressed to find a GM candidate with his draft resume. So why waste valuable time when you have a solid candidate in house?

 

I remember past HC searches. Everyone here would cry the Bills were taking too long. I remember waiting for Weis and Crennell while other teams were signing candidates. Now the Bills are the early bird and people still piss and moan. It's ponderous.

 

PTR

 

so if the GM was so important,

1. why did they wait so long to hire Buddy as the inside guy?

 

2. If Buddy was the guy, why has he been kept out of the coach search?

 

3. if Cowher is the guy, what is the problem with announcing the Nix /Cowher package at the same time- why the big need to announce the GM now?

 

More likely the Nix hire as GM means Cowher will NOT be the coach as he wants to bring his own people, probably Kevin Colbert from Pittsburgh and he has enough juice to make that happen.

 

 

4. if the story is as you state, why didn't Ralph read the memo