Shaw66 Posted May 2, 2017 Posted May 2, 2017 All you need to know is 46-66 as the Bills GM...........no one deserves a job with those stats.you quote one fact from the article and get it wrong. He was 30-34 as GM, which isn't all that bad.
Billznut Posted May 2, 2017 Posted May 2, 2017 Thanks. A must-read for all the many Russ Brandon fans in here. So much evidence yet so many here defend this !@#$tard. Amazing isnt it?
Malazan Posted May 2, 2017 Posted May 2, 2017 If McDermott ran our draft and has been having full say over the roster thus far, what difference does it make about Brandon? because he's the current target...if they got rid of him, the raving masses would invent a new narrative for a new target. What's I'm curious about is how Russ was secretly running things behind the scenes since the 90s if Jeffrey Littman was secretly running things?
dave mcbride Posted May 2, 2017 Posted May 2, 2017 (edited) Great piece! I found that article pedestrian and trite. 75% of this board could have written it. Whine about some innocuous thing and make sure to worship at the alter of Bellichick. How is that original or insightful in any way? Since none of us were at the league meetings, I'd say none of us could have written it. It's a great piece by a good sportswriter. It probably was a signal that he was on his way out. If true, then why is it a reason to be critical of the Bills or Whaley? He got some extra family time while presumably other members of the Bills staff from the McDermott tree were doing draft work. According to most, our draft went well. So how is this dysfunction. And how was Bellichick at the showcase days a sign of brilliance anyway? They had 4 picks and used none of them on anyone from down there. If that were the Bills, the trip would have been called a boondoggle. The bills are about the most dysfunctional organization i have ever rooted for, and it's not close. Edited May 2, 2017 by dave mcbride
Gugny Posted May 2, 2017 Posted May 2, 2017 That is a fantastic read. Kryk and Wawrow are the only two writers I take seriously. Whaley was railroaded by a "because I told you so," owner who doesn't know when to stop talking and keep the wallet open silently. Whaley was not perfect, but for Christ's sakes ... to go from Wilson to Pegula as owners and have a dick like Rex Ryan forced down his throat - while undoing all the great work Whaley did on the defensive side of the ball - ... hell, I give him credit for sticking it out! Let's just hope Pegula has learned from his first couple years as owner ... and the revolving door and ill-equipped decisions cease. Keep writing the checks, fossil fuel boy. Let the football people make the football decisions.
Billy Zabka Posted May 2, 2017 Author Posted May 2, 2017 (edited) you quote one fact from the article and get it wrong. He was 30-34 as GM, which isn't all that bad. When you trade up in drafts and spend the team into cap issues in a win now mentality and the best you can do is 30-34 with no playoff berths then it is not that good either. Edited May 2, 2017 by Billy Zabka
billsfan714 Posted May 2, 2017 Posted May 2, 2017 When you trade up in drafts and spend the team into cap issues in a win now mentality and the best you can do is 30-34 with no playoff births then it is not that good either. In fact it is quite bad, especially when you are picking in the top half of the draft.
LABILLBACKER Posted May 2, 2017 Posted May 2, 2017 Good read. The part about good ol' Rusty B. at the end really illustrates how bulletproof this guy is. I would've fired Russ Brandon 10 years ago. Brandon doesn't care if the Bills ever win as long as he can continue selling sexy marketing cons down the throats of Bills fans....
eball Posted May 2, 2017 Posted May 2, 2017 Thanks. A must-read for all the many Russ Brandon fans in here. It is a good read; we have to hope that the Pegulas have realized Brandon must be kept away from all player and front office personnel decisions.
3rdand12 Posted May 2, 2017 Posted May 2, 2017 Not too sure about that but I wont argue it too hard. The Pegulas are showing themselves to be the dreaded 'meddlesome owners' that many used to accuse RWilson of being. I just dont like the way they are handling the Bills. I would love to be proven wrong by seeing a winning team. I am not suggesting they have this thing figured out yet, Not by any means. Unraveling the plots and subplots of the decade makes my head spin. Just think they have to meddle to understand what exactly it is they want before they can step aside. They have found enough bits they do NOT like. The FO has "appeared" at odds with each other since Marrone came on. I understand their mantra and hope they can achieve that.
May Day 10 Posted May 2, 2017 Posted May 2, 2017 because he's the current target...if they got rid of him, the raving masses would invent a new narrative for a new target. What's I'm curious about is how Russ was secretly running things behind the scenes since the 90s if Jeffrey Littman was secretly running things? This is not fair. Brandon has been the focus of my distaste of this franchise for 10 years now. The bills have made no progress. As an executive of the team, we have seen nothing but a string of awful hires, dysfunction, losing, and embarassment. What do we have now? A team who cant decide if they are rebuilding or making a run to a possible wild card berth, with bad contracts and an in-place rookie coach looking for a gm. The pegulas need to wake up and find a president of football ops with experience and a clear vision to build a winning program from the top down. Unfortunately, the pegulas seem to have usurped brandon as the "guy who gets to play with the toys", so it will take pegula to completely wake up and realize he needs help and (non russ brandon) in order to see success on the field.
Thurman#1 Posted May 2, 2017 Posted May 2, 2017 It probably was a signal that he was on his way out. If true, then why is it a reason to be critical of the Bills or Whaley? He got some extra family time while presumably other members of the Bills staff from the McDermott tree were doing draft work. According to most, our draft went well. So how is this dysfunction. And how was Bellichick at the showcase days a sign of brilliance anyway? They had 4 picks and used none of them on anyone from down there. If that were the Bills, the trip would have been called a boondoggle. Maybe the reason they DIDN'T pick somebody from down there is something he learned that day. Not picking someone from there does NOT show the time was a waste. Sure, you can take a brief vignette and write a story around it. And in the process disregard any other relevant context to fit a predetermined story line. Who's to say Whaley didn't burn the midnight oil the night before so he could play for a few minutes with his daughter? We'll never know because either Kryk doesn't know or never bothered to find out. A casual passerby could see the same thing and jump to the same ill-informed conclusion. All these articles to me are like a Mexican restaurant menu - everything has the same ingredients, just arranged differently. The Whaley playtime thing is just a few more jalapenos thrown on top. Not a defender of Whaley's, just don't care for Kryk attaching some special meaning onto playing with his daughter. It wasn't so much playing with his daughter as it was still being in Arizona instead of on the road. And I agree with the others here saying that it seemed to me Kryk was implying Whaley was there because he knew the writing was on the wall and nothing was going to change that.
GG Posted May 2, 2017 Posted May 2, 2017 Great piece! Since none of us were at the league meetings, I'd say none of us could have written it. It's a great piece by a good sportswriter. The bills are about the most dysfunctional organization i have ever rooted for, and it's not close. And you would be wrong, because you also follow the Yankees. Pegula has nothing on George.
Thurman#1 Posted May 2, 2017 Posted May 2, 2017 That is a fantastic read. Kryk and Wawrow are the only two writers I take seriously. Whaley was railroaded by a "because I told you so," owner who doesn't know when to stop talking and keep the wallet open silently. Whaley was not perfect, but for Christ's sakes ... to go from Wilson to Pegula as owners and have a dick like Rex Ryan forced down his throat - while undoing all the great work Whaley did on the defensive side of the ball - ... hell, I give him credit for sticking it out! Let's just hope Pegula has learned from his first couple years as owner ... and the revolving door and ill-equipped decisions cease. Keep writing the checks, fossil fuel boy. Let the football people make the football decisions. Totally agree with your last sentence. But most of the great work on the defensive side of the ball putting together that Schwartz defense wasn't Whaley, it was Nix. Schwartz was here in 2014. Whaley was hired as GM AFTER the 2013 draft. I believe Corey, Graham, Preston Brown, and two-down guy Brandon Spikes (46.4% of defensive snaps) were the only starters on the defense that year who'd been brought in after Whaley was made GM, and yeah that includes Hughes who arrived while Nix was still in charge. And you would be wrong, because you also follow the Yankees. Pegula has nothing on George. None of his world championships, that's for sure.
PromoTheRobot Posted May 2, 2017 Posted May 2, 2017 (edited) you quote one fact from the article and get it wrong. He was 30-34 as GM, which isn't all that bad. It's stupid to even talk wins and losses when that GM didn't hire the coaches. Rex is a much bigger reason for our record than Whaley. Edited May 2, 2017 by PromoTheRobot
dave mcbride Posted May 2, 2017 Posted May 2, 2017 (edited) And you would be wrong, because you also follow the Yankees. Pegula has nothing on George. ? - Cashman has been gm for 20 years. Girardi is in his tenth season. George has been dead nearly a decade. They haven't had a losing season in over two decades. And i didn't root for the Yankees in their last dysfunctional period (late 80s-early 90s). Indeed, alongside the Patriots, the Steelers, and the Spurs, the Yankees have been among the most functional sports franchises since around 1995. Edited May 2, 2017 by dave mcbride
Best Player Available Posted May 2, 2017 Posted May 2, 2017 It's a shame that Overdorf didn't get the same parachute Litmann received when Ralph passed. Now all that would be left would be Brandon. Both need too go. I wish Monos though would have got a reprieve. But I'm sure all of the firings were approved by General McDermott.
eball Posted May 2, 2017 Posted May 2, 2017 The bills are about the most dysfunctional organization i have ever rooted for, and it's not close. Pegula made the mistake of waiting too long to clean house. He was led to believe (by Brandon and other lifers, probably) that the team was on the cusp, and didn't take a critical look at the organization until it was too late. It's clear McD opened his eyes. I truly hope the Whaley "dead man walking" period was the last episode in a dysfunctional tale and we"ll have an organization moving forward we can be proud of.
GG Posted May 2, 2017 Posted May 2, 2017 ? - Cashman has been gm for 20 years. Girardi is in his tenth season. George has been dead nearly a decade. They haven't had a losing season in over two decades. And i didn't root for the Yankees in their last dysfunctional period (late 80s-early 90s). Indeed, alongside the Patriots, the Steelers, and the Spurs, the Yankees have been among the most functional sports franchises since around 1995. So other than that, how was the play Mrs Lincoln? Of course the Yankees are a model franchise if you throw out the 15 years of George Steinbrenner's insane period. Cowboys are more dysfunctional. Raiders are. Browns are. The only reason that Bills & Sabres seem to be right now is that Pegulas are still washing away the stink of Wilson's tenure. Pegulas' biggest problem up to now is that they've he's been too trusting of people who have run their franchises, and I think they're belatedly finding it out now. It's not like they bought two well run franchises that were plug & play from day one.
jeffismagic Posted May 2, 2017 Posted May 2, 2017 So other than that, how was the play Mrs Lincoln? Of course the Yankees are a model franchise if you throw out the 15 years of George Steinbrenner's insane period. Cowboys are more dysfunctional. Raiders are. Browns are. The only reason that Bills & Sabres seem to be right now is that Pegulas are still washing away the stink of Wilson's tenure. Pegulas' biggest problem up to now is that they've he's been too trusting of people who have run their franchises, and I think they're belatedly finding it out now. It's not like they bought two well run franchises that were plug & play from day one. Yet that is exactly what is happening now.
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