stuckincincy Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Ralph Wilson: Born in 1918! That’s the end of World War I. How long would like to live? You could die at, say, 50 and avoid a lot... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DarthICE Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 Ralph Wilson: Born in 1918! That’s the end of World War I. How many successful businesses are owned and run by a 90+ year old? Answer: None. Here are some of the older owners in this league and what they’ve done to make their teams successful… William Clay Ford (81) of the Detroit Lions, has given decision making privelages to his son William, and has a young football guy in Martin Mayhew running the show. Martin was able to trade Roy Williams for a ton of high draft picks, and hire a good young coach in Jim Schwartz. They’ve got a solid young QB in place and appear to be headed in the right direction. Dan Rooney (77) of the Steelers, has given the majority of football decisions to his son Art II. As well as a young football guy in Kevin Colbert as GM. Bill Bidwill (78) of the Cardinals has given decision making power to his sons Michael Bidwell, President and Bill Bidwell Jr., VP. And on top of that, have a good GM in place in Rod Graves. In contrast, the Raiders seem to be stuck in the same situation as the Bills... Al Davis (80) of the Raiders, is too old to run things on his own. And he’s 10 years younger than Ralph! The most powerful executive on staff is Amy Trask (Chief Executive) and she started with the team as an intern. It’s safe to say that she has no former NFL experience. John Herrera, Senior Executive, started with the Raiders as a ball boy, and joined the team officially in 1978 in PR. Their pro personnel guy was most recently a tight ends coach for the Falcons. The only reason he was hired to the personnel department is because he formerly coached the Raiders o-line in the late 90’s. Davis is just as clueless as Ralph at this point in his life. And their image and performance on the field reflect their poor management. Bottom line… The stadium lease ends in 2012. Los Angeles wants a team there at the same time, ironically. Unless Ralph sells this team now, this team is as good as gone. He doesn’t know many people in the league any more, he probably doesn’t even own a cell phone or know what the internet is at this point. Seriously. You MUST evolve as a business. And you have to know when to let go and pass your power on to someone capable and motivated to make your business successful. Unfortunately, Ralph doesn’t have a son to hand down decision making power to. But, his time is up. His legacy will remain extremely positive if he sells the team now. Bottom line he should have sold years ago. His EGO is what keeps him hanging on and it !@#$s bills fans Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Got_Wood Posted January 11, 2010 Author Share Posted January 11, 2010 Ralph Wilson doesn't have a Son does he? His daughter died last year. In all of the cases where the torch was passed there was a son to take it. Ralph doesn't have the luxury. He could pass the torch to Russ Brandon or someone else but people would B word. The last option is to sell the team to a uncertain future in Buffalo. I don't think anyone here would be happy with that. Like I said, the Pittsburgh scenario looks like the best option for this team. If Jim Kelly is serious about haveing a partial ownership group together, now is the time to make it happen. See this article: http://www.steelers.com/article/110915/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdelma Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 RW you create this fing mess, no wonder DJ accepted the head coaching position here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uforesircher Posted January 11, 2010 Share Posted January 11, 2010 His legacy will remain extremely positive if he sells the team now or at a later date. The time-frame of him selling the team has no bearing on his legacy - period! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Got_Wood Posted January 12, 2010 Author Share Posted January 12, 2010 His legacy will remain extremely positive if he sells the team now or at a later date. The time-frame of him selling the team has no bearing on his legacy - period! Maybe he's trying to be the only owner in Bills history. That will come true if he doesn't at least sell a portion of the team before he passes away. But you're right, his legacy will be positive regardless. I just hope he makes it even better by setting up this team for success IN BUFFALO for the foreseeable future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BB-Gun Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Bottom line he should have sold years ago. His EGO is what keeps him hanging on and it !@#$s bills fans Yea. He should have sold it a long time ago, and then the new owners move the team to LA. They would have no allegiance to western NY, and no long history like Wilson. That would have been so great if he sold the team while he was in his 70's, and the Kelly era could have happened in another city. The sooner the team leaves his possession, the sooner the team will leave Buffalo. The new owners aren't going to be happy with the small marketing money to be made here. There are over 70 cities that are larger than Buffalo, and could garner them more money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsWatch Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Don't confuse him with facts! found one http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/food...williams05.html Answer: None. Just because YOU do not know any does not mean there are not any; maybe you take too much levitra and are suffering from side effects? I know a 94 year old business man still running a multiple million dollar real estate company with almost 100 employees. Maybe you are saying NFL which is an extremely limited set of people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsWatch Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Anyone who would make such a ridiculous statement is the one who is clearly mentally incompetent. Maybe Mr Wonderful is Al Davis's shrink on the side. Did you consider that? That would prove he is just professionally incompetent but qualified to make a poor judgment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Miyagi-Do Karate Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Anyone who would make such a ridiculous statement is the one who is clearly mentally incompetent. Agreed. For a 91 year old, RW is very sharp. It's remarkable that he's still running the team and as involved as he's been. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobillsinytown Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 Excellent post. The only thing I will add is that: 1. This is entertainment. If you don't like the entertainment, find something else to entertain you. 2. You don't know what you got until it's gone. Ralph selling the team will only increase the team's problems, not solve them. This team has virtaually no debt. If Ralph were to sell the team now, or when the team is sold in the future after he dies, debt will become the giant elephant in the room for the fans, the team, and the city. If the team leaves Bufffalo after he dies, it will be because of the debt that any new owner will incur to buy the team. Once again, I see that there is a small but vocal minority of users on this board who just don't get it. If these idiots really think that a new owner is going to magically make the Bills winners again, they're in for a rude awakening in the form of huge ticket price increases, PSL's and other fees. Or more likely, no team at all. Not to be one to jump on old people....success of one person's enterprising efforts should not be determined by some one unassociated with the enterprise. In our case, we are merely fans. We have no financial stake in the BILLS. Oh sure, we buy tickets, and DIRECTV, and Bills gear etc, that is financial support, but our livelihood is not predicated on the success of the Bills franchise. From where we sit... RW is a loser. Owning the club for so long, trading away good players, not drafting one player over the other, not hiring this coach over that coach...etc. The bottom line is THE BOTTOM LINE.. RW is a business man first, a football fan second. How many businessmen do we know at ANY age that gives a crap about the individual customer? NONE...if they tell you otherwise, they are lying...they only care about the BOTTOM LINE. If that means sucking up to you, or pretending to care about what you think, or kicking his mother under the school bus to make a dollar, he will do it. Like it or not, RW has been VERY successful owning the Buffalo Bills. He bought a team for 25K, that is now worth close too, if not over 1 billion dollars. He gets to keep truck loads of money, the county owns and pays for the maintenance of the stadium... I mean this guy is sitting on easy street ---financially---- If legacy means anything to him, which at this point, I am beginning to think it does, RW will bust his butt to get a SB win before he meets the "worm monsters." (make that MUNCHERS) Meanwhile, we who sit on the mighty throne of justice, can only pray that WE can make an investment such as what RW made, and live to be 91 years old and a cotton picken Billionaire. Me? I'll be happy just to see my 91st birthday...THAT IS SUCCESS in my book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tortured Soul Posted January 12, 2010 Share Posted January 12, 2010 You know, there's a 92-year-old in the US Senate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Got_Wood Posted January 12, 2010 Author Share Posted January 12, 2010 Don't confuse him with facts! Just because YOU do not know any does not mean there are not any; maybe you take too much levitra and are suffering from side effects? I know a 94 year old business man still running a multiple million dollar real estate company with almost 100 employees. Maybe you are saying NFL which is an extremely limited set of people. I finally got around to reading this. I'm not saying it's impossible, because there are some examples of it out there. I mean, look at Warren Buffett. The guy is a machine. But he also has many trusted advisers and managers doing the legwork for him. Ralph hasn't shown that he can put together the organizational pieces that make a team/business successful. He's still got a group of good old boys that he trusts in extremely important positions. When you state publicly, "Russ [brandon] and I scanned a list of possible candidates. We didn't know them. I didn't know them. I don't think Russ did. We narrowed it down to two candidates for the job of general manager of football, two in-house candidates." It shows that Ralph is a little out of touch with the NFL, current coaches, and current front office executives. And he has no long term strategy for this team, because there is no long term for him. I respect Ralph Wilson, and all that he has done in his career. I would just like him to respectfully sell at least part of the team to a group that can make the Bills successful again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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