Something to consider about Ralph and the Bills

[PromoTheRobot]

We all know that much of the Bills failure as a franchise over the past 50+ years can be tied directly to Ralph Wilson. He's no Terry Pegula. There have been decades of bad memories, but also a few magical moments. Either way, the reason we are all here at TBD is because of Ralph Wilson. If it weren't for him Buffalo would have never been part of the NFL. I think I have proof of that.

 

All you young whippersnappers may not know that there was another Buffalo Bills pro football team before Mr. Wilson's Bills. From 1946 to 1949 there was the All America Football Conference or "AAFC". It was an 8-team league that rivaled the 10-team NFL. The Buffalo franchise started as the Bisons but later became the Buffalo Bills.

 

While the AAFC folded in 1949 it was strong enough that 3 teams were merged into the NFL: The Cleveland Browns, The San Francisco 49ers, and the Baltimore Colts. The Colts were added despite Buffalo being a better supported franchise:

 

There was some controversy over Buffalo's exclusion from the enlarged NFL. Buffalo had experienced more success on the field and at the gate than Baltimore, and the original three-team plan would have left the league with 13 teams, not only a prime number, but also one considered to be bad luck. The move had left Buffalo as the only AAFC market without an NFL team post-merger, and one that had outdrawn the NFL average in fan attendance. With that in mind, Buffalo fans produced more than 15,000 season ticket pledges, raised $175,000 in a stock offering,[1] and filed a separate application to join. When the vote to admit Buffalo was held on January 20, 1950, a majority of league owners were willing to accept Buffalo; however, George Halas, who had a longstanding animosity toward Buffalo's previous NFL franchise, and Dan Reeves blocked the Bills' entry into the league. League rules required a unanimous vote, but the vote, which included the other AAFC teams that were already admitted, was only 9-4 in favor.[2] League commissioner Bert Bell had already put out a schedule based on the 13 teams, and Reeves cited as his excuse for voting against admission was simply that "it was silly to vote in a new city without first having a good idea where my teams would be playing and when."

 

In 1949 Buffalo had almost 600,000 people, it was a Top-15 metropolitan area, and it was at the peak of its post-WWII prosperity. If a league would ever want a team in Buffalo it would have been in the late 40's. And yet, the NFL shunned us.

 

Buffalo, as a city, has long had a poor reputation. It was considered an unsophisticated town with lousy weather. And the NFL was not the only pro sports league to spurn us. Major League baseball had Buffalo penciled in for its 1969 expansion but Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley pushed that team to Montreal. Even the NHL shunned Buffalo in its 1966 expansion. (Though, oddly, the NBA gave us the Braves in the 1970's, a time when the city's decline was well under way.)

 

So you can see the NFL was never going to invite Buffalo into their club. The only way it happened is as a package deal merger with the AFL that our own Ralph Wilson negotiated.

 

So my question to you is it better to love the Bills with all it's warts than to never had the Bills at all?

 

PTR

Edited August 25, 2011 by PromoTheRobot

[Coach Tuesday]

So my question to you is it better to love the Bills with all it's warts than to never had the Bills at all?

 

PTR

 

Yeah, it's a binary choice, right PTR. We have to take them for what they are and not demand changes, because hey, we're just lowly Buffalonians, we're lucky that Emperor Ralph put us on the map and threw us a few crumbs over the years.

[KD in CA]

If they had never existed at all, I might have rooted for a decent franchise.

 

Then again, I might have rooted for the Jets!

[PromoTheRobot]

Yeah, it's a binary choice, right PTR. We have to take them for what they are and not demand changes, because hey, we're just lowly Buffalonians, we're lucky that Emperor Ralph put us on the map and threw us a few crumbs over the years.

A response I expected from some.

 

PTR

Edited August 25, 2011 by PromoTheRobot

[NaPolian8693]

Ralph tried to put the franchise in Miami but they wouldn't take him, Buffalo was a back up plan.

 

Also, regardless of any of this, it's not like Ralph put the team here because he has some sort of personal affection for people in WNY, and likes humans born in this area more than in others. It was just a business decision, as was the decision to keep the team here all these years - and one that has made him rich beyond almost anyone's wildest dreams.

Edited August 25, 2011 by NaPolian8693

[PromoTheRobot]

Ralph tried to put the franchise in Miami but they wouldn't take him, Buffalo was a back up plan.

 

Also, regardless of any of this, it's not like Ralph put the team here because he has some sort of personal affection for people in WNY, and likes humans born in this area more than in others. It was just a business decision, as was the decision to keep the team here all these years - and one that has made him rich beyond almost anyone's wildest dreams.

I never said Ralph was Mother Theresa. I'm asking would you rather have the Bills as they are or no NFL team in Buffalo ever? Don't read schitt into this.

 

PTR

[birdog1960]

We all know that much of the Bills failure as a franchise over the past 50+ years can be tied directly to Ralph Wilson. He's no Terry Pegula. There have been decades of bad memories, but also a few magical moments. Either way, the reason we are all here at TBD is because of Ralph Wilson. If it weren't for him Buffalo would have never been part of the NFL. I think I have proof of that.

 

All you young whippersnappers may not know that there was another Buffalo Bills pro football team before Mr. Wilson's Bills. From 1946 to 1949 there was the All America Football Conference or "AAFC". It was an 8-team league that rivaled the 10-team NFL. The Buffalo franchise started as the Bisons but later became the Buffalo Bills.

 

While the AAFC folded in 1949 it was strong enough that 3 teams were merged into the NFL: The Cleveland Browns, The San Francisco 49ers, and the Baltimore Colts. The Colts were added despite Buffalo being a better supported franchise:

 

 

 

In 1949 Buffalo had almost 600,000 people, it was a Top-15 metropolitan area, and it was at the peak of its post-WWII prosperity. If a league would ever want a team in Buffalo it would have been in the late 40's. And yet, the NFL shunned us.

 

Buffalo, as a city, has long had a poor reputation. It was considered an unsophisticated town with lousy weather. And the NFL was not the only pro sports league to spurn us. Major League baseball had Buffalo penciled in for its 1969 expansion but Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley pushed that team to Montreal. Even the NHL shunned Buffalo in its 1966 expansion. (Though, oddly, the NBA gave us the Braves in the 1970's, a time when the city's decline was well under way.)

 

So you can see the NFL was never going to invite Buffalo into their club. The only way it happened is as a package deal merger with the AFL that our own Ralph Wilson negotiated.

 

So my question to you is it better to love the Bills with all it's warts than to never had the Bills at all?

 

PTR

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.

[Quinn Early's Ghost]

 

So my question to you is it better to love the Bills with all it's warts than to never had the Bills at all?

 

PTR

 

I mean, based on Buffalo's economic condition right now, we're fairly spoiled with an NFL team. There are other US cities that could probably financially support an NFL team better than us. Fans become so wrapped up in their teams that they forget this is a business, a multi-billion dollar one at that. And for a city that has a 9%+ unemployment rate, shouting about not signing an OL/TE to a multi-million, multi-year deal, doesn't make sense. Take what you can get, while you can get it, because no one is dumping money into this team anymore, it's just not happening. A Terry Pegula isn't stepping up to buy the Bills and Jim Kelly doesn't have a cache of rich friends waiting in the wings to scoop up the Bills. Face some reality, we can barely get a Peace Bridge rebuilt, they're not going to approve a new stadium. The writing is on the wall, whether is next year, five years or ten years away...it's going to happen. They're going to leave...and that sucks horribly.

[Coach Tuesday]

A response I expected from some.

 

PTR

 

I'm pretty sure you have Stockholm Syndrome.

[Erik Flowers]

I'm pretty sure you have Stockholm Syndrome.

very well done.

[PromoTheRobot]

I'm pretty sure you have Stockholm Syndrome.

All right. You win....

 

Ralph Wilson is the spawn of the devil and if it weren't for him, Terry Pegula would own the Bills and we'd have won 10 Super Bowls by now.

 

Better?

 

PTR

[Green Lightning]

Anyone for Tennyson?

 

 

I hold it true, whate'er befall;

I feel it, when I sorrow most;

Tis better to have and NFL team and suck;

Then it is to never have had an NFL team at all.

[FLFan]

I never said Ralph was Mother Theresa. I'm asking would you rather have the Bills as they are or no NFL team in Buffalo ever? Don't read schitt into this.

 

PTR

It is a question we will be forced to answer soon enough. I suspect that if the team does in fact get moved after RW dies, a more than good possibility, you would be hard pressed to find too many fans who would say"oh well, they sucked anyway". I am not ashamed to admit I am much happier to have had Bills football as part off my life for the last 50 years than not to have had that opportunity; warts, disappointments, infuriating moments and all.

[NaPolian8693]

I never said Ralph was Mother Theresa. I'm asking would you rather have the Bills as they are or no NFL team in Buffalo ever? Don't read schitt into this.

 

PTR

 

I would say that I would prefer to have a bad team in my area as opposed to no team at all.

 

I've been to tons of games over the years, and the NFL gameday experience is great. It is a super popular sport after all. If there were no team in Buffalo I'd have probably only been to a small handful of games.

 

I would rather take a vacation to some cool, exotic location, and receive terrible treatment and services from the hotel staff than just not go on the vacation at all - but that doesn't mean that I should just accept a crappy product because I'd prefer it to nothing at all. I understand you are not directly saying otherwise, I'm just saying anyways.

[billsfreak]

I would say that I would prefer to have a bad team in my area as opposed to no team at all.

 

I've been to tons of games over the years, and the NFL gameday experience is great. It is a super popular sport after all. If there were no team in Buffalo I'd have probably only been to a small handful of games.

 

I would rather take a vacation to some cool, exotic location, and receive terrible treatment and services from the hotel staff than just not go on the vacation at all - but that doesn't mean that I should just accept a crappy product because I'd prefer it to nothing at all. I understand you are not directly saying otherwise, I'm just saying anyways.

I can only speak for myself, but just about all teams have bad periods and good periods, it is a cycle that almost all major sports teams go through. I guess what bothers me the most is the lack of effort by this organization to win. Even the best owners in sports, their teams win championships, but they also have periods where they are way down. We just can't seem to get out of the bottom of the barrel with the way this franchise is run.

[PromoTheRobot]

I would say that I would prefer to have a bad team in my area as opposed to no team at all.

 

I've been to tons of games over the years, and the NFL gameday experience is great. It is a super popular sport after all. If there were no team in Buffalo I'd have probably only been to a small handful of games.

 

I would rather take a vacation to some cool, exotic location, and receive terrible treatment and services from the hotel staff than just not go on the vacation at all - but that doesn't mean that I should just accept a crappy product because I'd prefer it to nothing at all. I understand you are not directly saying otherwise, I'm just saying anyways.

Thank you for your answer. I'm not saying eat the crap RW is serving, just whether you'd rather have the team or not?

 

PTR

[Kelly the Dog]

I love the Bills, and have all my life. I love Ralph Wilson for keeping the team here when he could have made more money elsewhere pretty much any time he wanted to, despite what people may say. And I fully blame Ralph Wilson's often narrow minded, erratic, irrational, compulsive, ill-informed and ill-fated decisions for making the team the second worse run franchise in the league over the last 50 years.

 

I love the guy for a couple major decisions and I blame him for a thousand poor ones.

[KD in CA]

Ralph Wilson is the spawn of the devil

 

 

Well, yeah. After all he is rich so he must have gotten that way off the backs of the 'workers'. And now he's harming the economy by 'hording' his wealth.

[NaPolian8693]

I love the Bills, and have all my life. I love Ralph Wilson for keeping the team here when he could have made more money elsewhere pretty much any time he wanted to, despite what people may say. And I fully blame Ralph Wilson's often narrow minded, erratic, irrational, compulsive, ill-informed and ill-fated decisions for making the team the second worse run franchise in the league over the last 50 years.

 

I love the guy for a couple major decisions and I blame him for a thousand poor ones.

 

People like to say this, but it's just not true.

 

He couldn't care less about the region. His heirs don't want the team, and he won't put any succession plan in place, but instead just prefers to let the team sell to the highest bidder after his death.

 

Why? Because he's a businessman, in his motive is to make money. If he could have easily made a lot more money by moving the team, he would have done so in a heartbeat.

 

You think he just actively chose to throw away millions and millions of dollars in order to keep a team in some random geographic region that he has no particular ties to? How does that make any sense? He didn't even want to put the team here in the first place.

Edited August 25, 2011 by NaPolian8693

[PromoTheRobot]

Well, yeah. After all he is rich so he must have gotten that way off the backs of the 'workers'. And now he's harming the economy by 'hording' his wealth.

It's "hoarding", by the way. And where did this come from?

 

PTR