Utah John Posted May 28, 2014 Posted May 28, 2014 Trump is a low-class spectacle but he's also a good businessman who hires good people to achieve success. Ralph Wilson in contrast was a gentleman who FIRED good people who crossed swords with his daughter, and who tolerated useless bean counters like Littman in key positions in his organization. Thanks Ralph, I hope you're enjoying heaven, now let's see someone who wants to win regardless of loyalty to family and friends.
bbb Posted May 29, 2014 Posted May 29, 2014 Nope. Not everybody around here, not even close. Believe me. Not everybody because nobody saw Murray coming, and, nobody saw Lafontaine leaving. In fact, many people around here were scared we wouldn't get a real GM, but rather, a Lafontaine yes-man. You might have been ready to burn down the First Niagara center, but, if you'd listened to anybody in any bar downtown, and you'd hear all sorts of "how do we know we don't get someone worse?". The knowledgeable people had real concerns about Lafontaine being a problem. Sure there were also the usual "fire everybody" people. There were "fire everybody" people in 2006. Hell I know a guy who is still pissed that Miller started over Biron. There were all sorts of scenarios, and arguments. It wasn't RJ/Flutie...but it was heading that way. Now? All gone. And, Pegula just keeps piling up the deliverables. Buying the Americans(50/50 he buys the Jackals(Elmira) next), the $40 mil on the locker room, doubling the size of the scouting department....the things he can do, he thinks through, then does, immediately. Didn't he buy the Jackals, or did they just get a farm/parent team agreement?
Hplarrm Posted May 29, 2014 Posted May 29, 2014 One thing which seems clear to me in all of this is that there is no potential owner/candidate who has no substantial negatives in terms of their prospects to become the next owner. Anyone who presents this as a no-brainer for one candidate or another is simply demonstrating they have no brain. Trump does bring some positives to the table, this true. The thing which seems silly to me is a claim that there are no pretty clear negatives also. Anyone who wants to make a compelling case for a Trump bid to succeed would need to acknowledge those negatives and then state credible reasons why these negatives can be overcome or ignored. I certainly have not seen this case effectively made yet. Among he questions which strike me as unanswered yet are: 1. In order for a bid to be judged acceptable 75% of the owners must agree. The claim that Ralph,s estate MUST sell to the highest bidder is simply wrong. Ralph agreed contractually to the 75% stipulation. Yes NFL team owners will almost certainly follow the money, but the mistake many seem to make is assuming the biggest money for an individual team owner comes from the Bills being sold to the highest bidder. No. The high bid brings the most money to Ralph's estate, but the NFL team owners get their biggest profit from the TV networks. If the high bid for the Bills comes from any party that messes up the TV networks ability to tell stories then that high bid gets rejected. The key question here is whether Trump would suck up to enough owners to get 75%. Trump has a clear history of doing his own thing as he judges without regard to what others think or do,(his litigious nature with his business partners as seen in his USFL days I have yet to seea compelling case made why he is worth the risk to be a partner. 2. There are 32 team owners who have to vote 75& to approve a partner. However. the jousting between the team owners and the NFLPA which has seen the team owners forced to give 60% of the gross receipts to the players is a tangible sign that not only are the players partners but majority partners in this deal. The players already have shown their power over who is judged to be a legit owner or not when they vetoed Rush Limbaugh as part of the Rams bid package. Since Trump has played the role of being a GOP mover and shaker and has done so with an embrace of whole I have seen no proof that Obama is an US citizen, my sense would any bid he makes could be easily opposed if it became serious. I do not think Trump's rep among many A-As ever recovered from Obama publicly mocking him while he was having bin Laden killed. Trump is a joke for many A-As and progressives and I would guess that is the case for many NFLPA members as well. 3. Gambling is a huge part of the NFL success story as evidenced by wide dissemination and near official adoption of the Vegas NFL betting line and the widespread interest in fantasy football! This being noted an intricate dance is part of the wallpaper of our lives. To keep the money flowing and the game honest there is a intricate wall of interaction between NFL and gambling. The NFL wants to be close (develop and deliver stats that support the betting and money exchange of fantasy leagues, promote individual players as that helps both the league and gambling) but not too close. The NFL clearly bars folks from both owning teams and profiting from gambling on them, but it also disciplines and also sanctions player for even hanging out with gamblers. Trump may have already sold (or lost his gambling holdings to bankruptcy because he was a bad businessman. However, even without current fiscal holdings, likely when push comes to decisions the taint of his former well known gambling connections would become a stench if there is even the implication that the efforts of a team owned by him might be open to any influence from Trumps past high roller associations. Even Belicheat might look honest in comparison. becoming a team owner is a longshot for anyone, and Trump clearly brings some extra bags to a bid. if even his boosters do not at least acknowledge these and other issues they are not credible with their guesses.
Buftex Posted May 29, 2014 Posted May 29, 2014 (edited) Hold on, where did I make a single claim FOR Trump? Go back, and re-read, there comprehension-san. ALL I've done, is either refute nonsense(Trump's father was a billionaire), or ask for how the hell they "know" something, or point out that character assassination is not "evidence of how Trump will act as Bills owner". I also pointed how silly not acknowledging "hires good executives" as the literal be all and end all for a CEO was. Speaking of CEO, IIRC, the last time Trump owned a football, team, he went out and made a big splash by signing #1 Draft pick and Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker away from the NFL. (Man, how football has changed..) That's a hell of a football move for anybody, but especially for a new league in its first year. I've yet to read a single poster here talk about Trump's USFL football moves. You know....the things we actually give a F about when it comes to an NFL owner? So, I did a little research... I believe you are factually wrong on all of this Trump as USFL owner. Trump was the original owner of the Generals, while the league was still being conceptualized, but backed out, and J Walter Duncan was the first owner of the team, when they actually started building the team. Trump, apparently, felt he had too many other financial responsibilities to deal with at the time, in dealing with the construction of Trump Towers. It was under Duncan that the Generals obtained Herschal Walker. Trump purchased the team from Duncan in 1984. So please, stop accusing people with opinions of making up facts, when you keep doing it yourself. In fact, if anything, your fabricated argument only re-enforces the notion that Trump would not be an ideal owner. He did make a ton of moves with the Generals upon arriving..fired everyone, singed Brian Sipe away from the Browns for, at the time, an absurd amount of money. Sipe took them from being a 6-12 team, to 14-4. But the next year, Trump/Generals drafted Flutie, and shipped Sipe off to the Jacksonville Showboats (or whatever the !@#$ they were called). Other USFL owners had grave concerns, because he blew the leagues salary structure, spending more on two players, than the other teams were spending on their entire rosters... he basically raised the bar so high, that the league couldn't succeed with its' original mission, to establish a spring/summer pro football league. It almost seems to me (WARNING: this is my intellectual interpretation OC, and not be stated as absolute fact), that Trump was either too impatient, or incapable of playing by the same rules as everyone else, and hijacked the USFL to use as a tool to fast-track himself into NFL ownership. If you ever see the ESPN USFL documentary, they go into this stuff a bit more in depth. From that, it was pretty clear that some of those USFL owners were no big fan of Donald Trump as a partner. To me, his short history in the USFL conjures up images of the worst of Dan Snyder or George Steinbrenner. Steinbrenner had his championship rings, but the NFL makes it much more difficult to purchase championships than MLB does. So, the tools that Trump used to flip the USFL Generals fortunes around in 1984, simply don't exist in the NFL in 2014. http://www.usfl.info/generals/ Edited May 29, 2014 by Buftex
Kemp Posted May 29, 2014 Posted May 29, 2014 The most overrated businessman of all time. Born into millions. Ran it all into bankruptcy and survived because of junk bonds and bailouts. Good self-promoter, though.
Rocky Landing Posted May 29, 2014 Posted May 29, 2014 Trumps public persona has been grist for media ridicule for over two decades now. He has long been a parody of himself. In my opinion, a Trump ownership would be a PR nightmare. The scant national attention our team does get will be overshadowed by whatever bloviating nonsense Trump feels should be focused on. In a Trump-owned team, the most important person, and the most visible person, will always be Trump. I see him as a magnet for parody, as well as an utterly divisive character. In his most recent bid for the republican presidential nomination, he showed himself to be both divisive, and a political weather vane. I absolutely don't trust him. And, I fear our team would become a laughing stock.
SRQ_BillsFan Posted May 29, 2014 Posted May 29, 2014 I think you either like him or you hate him. I agree all known candidates (used loosely) have warts. I'm waiting for the unknown. I do take Trump at his word in saying he would keep the team here, especially if he has his own $$$$ tied up in the stadium. For me it's 1a Keep the team here 1b Just win baby. .
YoloinOhio Posted May 29, 2014 Posted May 29, 2014 Mike Rodak @mikerodak 18m On ESPN, @AshleyFoxESPN writes that Donald Trump as the Bills' next owner would be a colossal disaster: http://es.pn/1mvFgJM
keepthefaith Posted May 29, 2014 Posted May 29, 2014 (edited) Mike Rodak @mikerodak 18m On ESPN, @AshleyFoxESPN writes that Donald Trump as the Bills' next owner would be a colossal disaster: http://es.pn/1mvFgJM Clearly written by a liberal who dislikes Trump. Frankly, Buffalo fans would benefit more from Trump being President than they would as him being the Bills Owner. Edited May 29, 2014 by keepthefaith
PromoTheRobot Posted May 29, 2014 Posted May 29, 2014 Mike Rodak @mikerodak 18m On ESPN, @AshleyFoxESPN writes that Donald Trump as the Bills' next owner would be a colossal disaster: http://es.pn/1mvFgJM Rodak says the Bills won't fetch more than $800M at auction. The Bills will break the $1B barrier easily.
FLFan Posted May 29, 2014 Posted May 29, 2014 Clearly written by a liberal who dislikes Trump. Frankly, Buffalo fans would benefit more from Trump being President than they would as him being the Bills Owner. You do not have to be a "liberal" to dislike Trump. There are many reasons to dislike him that pre-date him ever making a political utterance, and many since that have nothing do with his non-business opinions.
Rocky Landing Posted May 29, 2014 Posted May 29, 2014 Clearly written by a liberal who dislikes Trump. Frankly, Buffalo fans would benefit more from Trump being President than they would as him being the Bills Owner. This is exactly the kind of sentiment that illustrates how divisive the man is.
dwight in philly Posted May 29, 2014 Posted May 29, 2014 (edited) Clearly written by a liberal who dislikes Trump. Frankly, Buffalo fans would benefit more from Trump being President than they would as him being the Bills Owner. at this point,ANYBODY but the present occupier of the oval office would be better.. trump president, carl paladino sec of state, gene simmons buys the bills.. Edited May 29, 2014 by dwight in philly
BuffaninATL Posted May 29, 2014 Posted May 29, 2014 The most overrated businessman of all time. Born into millions. Ran it all into bankruptcy and survived because of junk bonds and bailouts. Good self-promoter, though. Wow - exaggerate much ? Rodak says the Bills won't fetch more than $800M at auction. The Bills will break the $1B barrier easily. the more I read Rodak's blogs, the less credence I see in them
RuntheDamnBall Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 Trumps public persona has been grist for media ridicule for over two decades now. He has long been a parody of himself. In my opinion, a Trump ownership would be a PR nightmare. The scant national attention our team does get will be overshadowed by whatever bloviating nonsense Trump feels should be focused on. In a Trump-owned team, the most important person, and the most visible person, will always be Trump. I see him as a magnet for parody, as well as an utterly divisive character. In his most recent bid for the republican presidential nomination, he showed himself to be both divisive, and a political weather vane. I absolutely don't trust him. And, I fear our team would become a laughing stock. Truth.
ricojes Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 I would be ok with the Trumpster. Does his hair get a position with the team? The dome on the new stadium could be modeled after Trumps dome...
FistingBot Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 The dome on the new stadium could be modeled after Trumps dome... The Combover Dome?
Deranged Rhino Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 Clearly written by a liberal who dislikes Trump. Frankly, Buffalo fans would benefit more from Trump being President than they would as him being the Bills Owner. You do not have to be a "liberal" to dislike Trump. There are many reasons to dislike him that pre-date him ever making a political utterance, and many since that have nothing do with his non-business opinions. What's hilarious is all the super right wingers on this board are bashing anyone who dislikes Trump by claiming it's only because of their liberal politics meanwhile the righties are the only ones talking about politics in this thread and it's their own politics that are driving their man-love of the Trumpster. Irony. It's wonderful.
Buftex Posted May 30, 2014 Posted May 30, 2014 What's hilarious is all the super right wingers on this board are bashing anyone who dislikes Trump by claiming it's only because of their liberal politics meanwhile the righties are the only ones talking about politics in this thread and it's their own politics that are driving their man-love of the Trumpster. Irony. It's wonderful. What I was trying to point out to OC, before I stepped in his troll trap!
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