Ralph Wilson optimistic Toronto series will be renewed

[drhockey]

The Bills are a rowboat without oars and have been tasked with attacking a naval battleship.

 

Or, to look at it in another sense...

 

We've just been dropped off on the beaches of Normandy with no weapons and have been instructed to use nothing but harsh language for the invasion.

Edited December 22, 2011 by drhockey

[Best Player Available]

"Several more years to build a contender", Say what Ralph? Why? Yea why, is it taking 15 years to rebuild? Can't wait for his Fitz comments they should be epic. A dollar says he thinks Fitz is the man, but just needs a better supporting cast. Ralph it really getting old man. Pathetic.

 

I've been waiting for Ralph too speak on the latest collection of cast off, rejected turds called "your" Buffalo Bills.

This should be great theatre. However painful it's become to remain on board with this owner.

[Billy in 4C]

"We've got to get receivers. If he hasn't gotten anybody to throw to, he's not going to win many games," Wilson said. "We think he's a good quarterback, and we're going to stick with him and get him some better players, get him some runners, some tight ends that don't get injured and some wide receivers and we'll be OK."

 

Translation: Freddy AND Stevie are coming back, will end up taking Blackmon or Floyd in the first round.

 

Yep. That's what I assumed - stick with Fitz. Blackmon is a beast. Hopefully it is pairing him with Stevie and not replacing him.

 

What is disconcerting is that Ralph seems content with this team and is blaming it on injuries. Injuries are part of the problem, but IMO not the main reason they lost 7 straight.

[Lv-Bills]

First the kudos to John. John, you seem like the only local media guy that gets any kind of scoop at all from the Bills. And a lot of times it's from Wilson's mouth directly. Kudos John, you seem like the only connected Western New York media person around.

 

And for the rest. Aside from typical things that make all of us sick, like no word on a succession plan, blah blah blah.....we get John's article today.

 

Wilson makes me sick. Period. Just as I predicted, we are already getting the excuses for Russ Brandon's marketing plan next year. INJURIES. Right out of Ralph's mouth more or less. They will sell to us that the Bills were fine until injuries hit. It's a flat out joke. He's clueless. Or he's a genius, because he knows people will buy this crap......although, season tickets are dropping like flies, and will continue to do so next year as well.

 

Second, here comes the Toronto BS. We need Toronto to survive. Blah, blah, blah, blah blah. For christ's sakes Ralph, don't put a good product on the field and watch ticket sales skyrocket. Nooooo. Let's sell HOME GAMES to Toronto, lose that competitive advantage that makes winning even harder, and pocket the cash. YOU ARE A JOKE. Then, let's give them a game earlier in the year, even though from a pure football standpoint, and your current roster and Gailey's offense, it would make sense to play a late game (season wise) in a dome. Really, with Buffalo's spread, it would make more sense to play a game indoors late in the year to help Fitz's passing game. But no, when you don't care about winning, you move the game in the middle of the season to appease ticket sales, not win a game. Tickets in my section were going on Ticketexchange for $300 a piece for the Eagles game this year. If you put a winning product on the field, Buffalo's ticket base would explode. Period. No other NFL owner would willfully sell home games, except for maybe the Glazers for money. None. And people hate the Glazer's too.

 

And then we get the "patience" thing from Ralph today. Patience Ralph, really? In today's NFL, you can turn things around in a hurry. Patience? For what, so you can keep letting guys walk, creeate more holes and then try to re-fill them, while staying as far under the salary cap as possible?

 

You, RALPH WILSON, are a joke. I'm seriously sick of you. I'm your customer, and I'm sick and tired of your horseschitt. I really am. Your lucky I'm not one of the other 20,000 or so fans to dump their season tickets since the year of T.O. And I'm sick and tired of hearing about how cheap tickets are in Buffalo. THEY SHOULD BE CHEAP, because your product sucks ass.

 

SELL THE TEAM. Really Ralph. Sell it. I'm sick and tired of not knowing whether or not this team will be here or not. I'm sick and tired of an owner who's #1 priority is NOT winning. I'm sick and tired of Buffalo not being represented in a fast paced, younger man's business.

 

Yeah Ralph, thanks for keeping the team in Buffalo. Even though you should be thanking Buffalo for making your kingdom. For some reason, we have to thank you, according to others. You know what.....thanks, and don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out.

 

SELL THE FUGGIN TEAM. I'm ready to see what happens. You're a joke. Merry friggin Christmas Ralph, my check will be in the mail in a month or two again for nmext season, despite you being the slumlord of the NFL.

 

Signed,

 

Section 135, Row 17, seats 13 and 14

[clearwater cadet]

No one wants the Toronto series but no one wants to buy tickets in Orchard Park either. I say give Toronto every December game. Not like we want them.

 

PTR

 

I'm always shocked to see that PTR is the only one who gets it. I think by now, I've read at least 24,000 post against the Toronto series, those 24000 posters should all go out and by 1 ticket each and the game will sell out this weeked. Then we wouldn't need the Toronto series and I can stop reading all those blogs on profootball talk about how Buffalo can't sellout and the team should relocate. I had a pats fan ask me today if I saw how empty the RALPH was sunday, and why does Buffalo even have a team still. At is very simple, WITHOUT SOUTHERN ONT. AND TORONTO THERE IS NO MORE BUFFALO BILLS. Don't pray, beg God that Ralph renews the Toronto deal if you like the bills in Buffalo.

[The Big Cat]

Not that I think this is written in stone, but I would be very happy with that.

 

 

Yep. That's what I assumed - stick with Fitz. Blackmon is a beast. Hopefully it is pairing him with Stevie and not replacing him.

 

What is disconcerting is that Ralph seems content with this team and is blaming it on injuries. Injuries are part of the problem, but IMO not the main reason they lost 7 straight.

 

There's no singular reason. If there was, then that lone factor would have resulted in seven straight wins had it been reversed.

 

Losing Williams, Merriman AND Jackson, however, was definitely cause for AT LEAST two of those seven losses.

 

I have a feeling Fitz will lobby Johnson and the FO, and that they'll listen and Stevie will stay. Likewise, Fitz will lobby the FO on Jackson's behalf as well.

 

Fitz is their guy. Like it or not. He's Gailey's guy, he's Buddy's guy (HA!) and apparently he's Ralph's guy, too. When he speaks, the organization will listen.

 

In a million years, would you have expected Trent to stand up to the organization?

Edited December 22, 2011 by The Big Cat

[Cash]

"We've got to get receivers. If he hasn't gotten anybody to throw to, he's not going to win many games," Wilson said. "We think he's a good quarterback, and we're going to stick with him and get him some better players, get him some runners, some tight ends that don't get injured and some wide receivers and we'll be OK."

 

Translation: Freddy AND Stevie are coming back, will end up taking Blackmon or Floyd in the first round.

Freddy's under contract next year anyway. As for Stevie (or dealing with a possible Jackson holdout), "get him some better players" doesn't exactly translate to "keep the guys we have." I'm sure the Bills will attempt to bring Stevie back (after all, they were in negotiations for half the season, and only recently broke them off), but if it was a lock, he'd have already been signed to an extension. Instead, the negotiations got to a point where Stevie's camp announced that he'd be testing the free agent waters. Clearly there is a price point at which the Bills let Stevie walk. And if someone else meets that price point, I imagine Ralph or Nix or whoever would justify it by saying that Stevie drops too many passes and we need someone with better hands -- like Donald Jones! He's healthy now and ready to break out! Buy some season tickets already!

 

Okay, I'm exaggerating a bit there, but I've seen enough "let Stevie walk, he's not worth the money, he costs us games with his drops" posts on this board to know that the Bills would be able to spin letting Stevie walk about as well as they spun the Evans trade. Not everyone would be okay with it, but enough would that it wouldn't kill them at the box office.

 

I think keeping Stevie and paying Jackson, then adding a stud WR in the draft, is what the Bills SHOULD do, but I won't buy it until I see it. In recent history, when the Bills try to "get better players," that means letting their best player go, and bringing in a new "best player" to replace him.

 

I agree with your draft logic, though. Look for an offensive playmaker to "make Fitz's job easier." I know there's no proof that Ralph sometimes or always makes picks, but there's enough circumstantial evidence that I believe it. At the very least, I think he sometimes recommends guys that he likes, and his underlings choose to make their boss happy. I definitely think he had a major hand in the Spiller pick, and based on the quote in question, I think he'll have a major hand in this pick as well. Luckily for us, drafting a stud WR to help the offense is a good idea for football reasons, not just a stunt to sell tickets.

[LabattBlue]

If you believe that you FAIL to understand that that NFL is a business. The Toronto series offsets the revenue lost from lack of luxury boxes. Sure it sucks but it helps keep the Bills if Buffalo.

You make it sound as if the Bills didn't have the Toronto deal they would be losing money. If so, not true.

[karl malones other son]

i respect you venting.

[26CornerBlitz]

The Toronto series has been an EPIC FAIL. Why renew something that didn't work? They don't want us and we don't want them.

 

I'll bet anything that the NFL is encouraging the Bills to continue the Toronto series as a way of marketing the NFL in Canada.

[papazoid]

absolute best possible long term news.

 

with Toronto the bills are 4th largest market in NFL.

 

without toronto the bills will be the 2nd largest market in the NFL (in los angeles).

[Sisyphean Bills]

"We've got to get receivers. If he hasn't gotten anybody to throw to, he's not going to win many games," Wilson said. "We think he's a good quarterback, and we're going to stick with him and get him some better players, get him some runners, some tight ends that don't get injured and some wide receivers and we'll be OK."

 

Translation: Freddy AND Stevie are coming back, will end up taking Blackmon or Floyd in the first round.

So, you read Ralph throwing the skill position players under the bus and translate that to mean he's going to pay top money to bring back the same skills position players.

 

I don't know Kat, man.

[jahnyc]

I laughed when I read this article. Several more years to build? We need to have patience? Unbelievable.

 

On a more substantive note, I do think that RW's views about our wide receivers and tight ends must also be the views shared by Nix. We should expect a wide receiver to be drafted early. I thought that Chandler was playing okay, but the comment about tight-ends getting injured was kind of interesting.

 

I would not assume that Stevie will be back. They may think he is part of the problem and that they can upgrade. I hope this is not the case.

[Best Player Available]

His quotes are laughable.

 

What is he 94 years old?

 

The guys clueless. Why anyone takes into account anything he says is beyond me.

The Toronto comments are meaningless, They will do what they need to do for their bottom line. But since he is the owner and says the Quarterback is fine, well you got to take that into account.

I take it as forget a push to draft a quarterback in 2012. Wait yet another year, and watch Fitz play like a back up at best. Then ralph will say what? I would guess next year at this time we could expect to here. "The receivers are good. What we need is a Quarterback."

 

Kind of doubt he ran those comments past the marketing guys. Because with Fitz in as Quarterback in 2012, don't expect season ticket sales to rise.

[FistingBot]

I.... love... this post.

[PS 56]

The Toronto series puts an unfair burden on this team. It is like we have fewer home games.

[marauderswr80]

we would sell out games dead middle of a blizzard in january if the team was winning! Climate has zero issue with buying tickets....its due to a crappy product. If our team was a super bowl competitive team id drive the 3 hours in a snow storm to see them....but with the way they are playing...my fat butt is staying home!

 

It is a kick in the nuts though by wilson to his fans.....that's why I will never ever like the guy. I don't wish any ill will on the guy....but saying he's still gonna do this toronto BS is really ****ty for the guy to do...

 

And just an fyi....if you want better players open the check book and spend it "wisely"....key word...wisely!!!! Fitz having better WR's would be great...but having a QB who can hit wr's wide open 50 yards downfield would be great too....and a qb who don't throw into triple coverage...just sayin..

[Zulu Cthulhu]

I'm always shocked to see that PTR is the only one who gets it. I think by now, I've read at least 24,000 post against the Toronto series, those 24000 posters should all go out and by 1 ticket each and the game will sell out this weeked. Then we wouldn't need the Toronto series and I can stop reading all those blogs on profootball talk about how Buffalo can't sellout and the team should relocate. I had a pats fan ask me today if I saw how empty the RALPH was sunday, and why does Buffalo even have a team still. At is very simple, WITHOUT SOUTHERN ONT. AND TORONTO THERE IS NO MORE BUFFALO BILLS. Don't pray, beg God that Ralph renews the Toronto deal if you like the bills in Buffalo.

 

I agree with all this. I would only add that you can tell that Patriot fan to go pound sand, because they couldn't give away tickets to Foxborough before the Brady era began and they got their new stadium. Trust me, if NE was in the midst of a decade of suck, they wouldn't be selling out either.

[SageAgainstTheMachine]

I'm pretty neutral on the Toronto situation, but Ralph sure doesn't have a good sense of timing.

[DefenseWins]

The Toronto series has been an EPIC FAIL. Why renew something that didn't work? They don't want us and we don't want them.

 

 

78 Million is hardly a fail... Epic or otherwise