OldTimeAFLGuy Posted August 27, 2017 Posted August 27, 2017 Bad pre-season game and the Pegula bashers coming out I can understand. But Ralph Wilson bashing for stuff he did 15 years ago? Give me a break. ....take down the statue!.................
DC Tom Posted August 27, 2017 Posted August 27, 2017 I wish the past history of this team could be erased... At least some of it. Can we take down the statue of Wilson outside of the stadium and replace it with one of Robert E. Lee? Who's with me?
Jerry Jabber Posted August 27, 2017 Author Posted August 27, 2017 Bad pre-season game and the Pegula bashers coming out I can understand. But Ralph Wilson bashing for stuff he did 15 years ago? Give me a break. I first had this conversation over the summer with a friend of mine (before training camp started). While talking with another Bills fan last night at the Ravens stadium, I mentioned this to him and he agreed that Ralph set the Bills back by being an absentee owner.
May Day 10 Posted August 27, 2017 Posted August 27, 2017 Ralph's last stretch did set the team back. They essentially shielded the team from outside influence for a decade. The results speak. The drought is no fluke.
Jerry Jabber Posted August 27, 2017 Author Posted August 27, 2017 Ralph's last stretch did set the team back. They essentially shielded the team from outside influence for a decade. The results speak. The drought is no fluke. +1
Another Fan Posted August 27, 2017 Posted August 27, 2017 Was Levy the last coach during his tenure that hadn't really had some type of front office issues?
OldTimeAFLGuy Posted August 27, 2017 Posted August 27, 2017 (edited) ....Cliff Notes version......post Polian era from a FO & Administration perspective was a patchwork mess.....unqualified people put in positions solely based on trust after DonoHOLE violated the "Inner Circle of Trust"....football people well past their prime put in critical decision making positions that had no business doing so...again, based on trust....post Polian era was probably the most painful stretches for me in 55 years of following this gang......the Steelers come to mind as a model organization......6 Lombardis, 3 HC's in 48+ yrs and non-meddling ownership......today's model is the Pats.....5 Lombardis, 14 AFCE titles, etc....you know the rest.....BUT....Pegula has and is atoning for his mistakes.....his FO and Admin hirings says the checkbook is open...and it will take time.....think about the Pats era with Grogan or the Steelers post Bradshaw/Noll..... Edited August 27, 2017 by OldTimeAFLGuy
abc Posted August 27, 2017 Posted August 27, 2017 I first had this conversation over the summer with a friend of mine (before training camp started). While talking with another Bills fan last night at the Ravens stadium, I mentioned this to him and he agreed that Ralph set the Bills back by being an absentee owner. So Pegula is a meddling owner who won't hire a professional to run the team and Ralph was an absentee owner who sat back and let professionals run the team.
Jerry Jabber Posted August 27, 2017 Author Posted August 27, 2017 (edited) So Pegula is a meddling owner who won't hire a professional to run the team and Ralph was an absentee owner who sat back and let professionals run the team. Hahaha, Ralph hired professionals to run the team?! Thanks for the laugh! If you were brand new to an industry and just purchased a large company/organization, wouldn't it make sense to hire consultants that are experts in that industry to help guide you along so you make better, informed decisions? Something the Pegula's should have done instead of trusting Russ Brandon. Edited August 27, 2017 by Jerry Jabber
Gugny Posted August 27, 2017 Posted August 27, 2017 this. Pegula really is no different than an extremely dumb fan but with a couple billion dollars. I realize most won't get this analogy, but I lived it. This is a lot like when Sam Zell bought Tribune Company. It didn't take him long to destroy it. My only hope is that he takes some of that money and pays football/hockey people to do what they do best. The Pegulas' involvement in these teams should be limited to writing checks.
4merper4mer Posted August 27, 2017 Posted August 27, 2017 Sometimes I wonder if it's still karma for starting Rob over Doug. Ralph wanted a return on his investment, imo it really hasn't been the same since Doug sucked.
cba fan Posted August 27, 2017 Posted August 27, 2017 I first had this conversation over the summer with a friend of mine (before training camp started). While talking with another Bills fan last night at the Ravens stadium, I mentioned this to him and he agreed that Ralph set the Bills back by being an absentee owner. This is very debatable because Ralph completely f'd up this franchise during the years he was a complete clueless meddler owner.
JimKellyTryouts Posted August 27, 2017 Posted August 27, 2017 What an odd time for this thread. Agreed; I'm not sure why exactly we're going reviewing obvious blunders in hindsight for this team.
Spurna Posted August 27, 2017 Posted August 27, 2017 I must say the Bills/Sabres dumpsters gives off much more even heat with the new natural gas hookups. This dumpster fire is powered by fracking
Thurman#1 Posted August 27, 2017 Posted August 27, 2017 (edited) After John Butler and company left, and with Ralph getting up there in age (around 80) Ralph became more "hands off" and hired Tom Donahoe as the team's president (something that hasn't been done in team history at that point). After a disastrous 5-11 season and with the front office in turmoil, Ralph fired Donahoe and went to a trusted friend in Marv Levy to turn things around. While Marv was a great HC, he was a terrible GM. Marv hired a terrible choice in HC [Jauron], dismantled a great defense and made terrible FA moves and draft picks. Once Marv stepped down as GM, he was replaced by Russ Brandon who was even worse as a GM. While Brandon has been great on the business side of football, he's been absolutely horrible when it comes to the on-field product. As Ralph grew older, he conceded more power to Brandon and others and the end result showed up on the field. Basically, Ralph put this team on "Auto-Pilot" once he hired Donahoe and the team has been in a downward spiral ever since as he hired people to take care of the team for him as he was very hands off over those 15 years. Unfortunately, the effects of that are still lingering on as Russ Brandon still has a lot of authority and influence on the team. The latest was when Terry Pegula asked Brandon about hiring a new HC, Brandon said "you go into these searches with no preconceived notions and expectations, and when you have the right guy, you just know." That right there is absolutely pathetic! It doesn't matter what business you're in, you must have expectations and knowledge about the position(s) you are hiring for. This post isn't mean to bash the dead. Without Ralph Wilson, there would be no Buffalo Bills in the first place and the team wouldn't have stayed in Buffalo after his death. I do appreciate everything he's done for the city and for us fans. But, with him putting this team on "autopilot," it's had a tremendous impact on the franchise for over 17 years now. It's a huge hole to dig out of and who knows how long it will take to dig out from. First, there's no evidence Russ has any power in the football side. Going to meetings isn't power. And having your remarks printed isn't either and that's all we know ... that he went to meetings and had some reactions reported. Second, the quotation isn't bad at all. There's no particular reason to think that he meant that you have no expectations about the positions. He could easily have meant that you don't have any pre-suppositions about the candidates and you let what they say make your decisions about how good their interviews were. And I agree with the guy who said the timing of this post is strange. If Russ does have power on the football side I would totally agree that that would be awful, but I don't see any evidence. Edited August 27, 2017 by Thurman#1
Boatdrinks Posted August 27, 2017 Posted August 27, 2017 Can we take down the statue of Wilson outside of the stadium and replace it with one of Robert E. Lee? Who's with me? And perhaps a statue of Robert Lee. K Pegs could show what a diverse and inclusive organization the Bills are.
nucci Posted August 27, 2017 Posted August 27, 2017 this. Pegula really is no different than an extremely dumb fan but with a couple billion dollars. well said I realize most won't get this analogy, but I lived it. This is a lot like when Sam Zell bought Tribune Company. It didn't take him long to destroy it. My only hope is that he takes some of that money and pays football/hockey people to do what they do best. The Pegulas' involvement in these teams should be limited to writing checks. Yet they hired LaFontaine who hired Nolan...Hired Ryan and destroyed this team and fired numerous people already..not the stabilizing rich owner we've always wanted
abc Posted August 27, 2017 Posted August 27, 2017 First, there's no evidence Russ has any power in the football side. Going to meetings isn't power. And having your remarks printed isn't either and that's all we know ... that he went to meetings and had some reactions reported. Second, the quotation isn't bad at all. There's no particular reason to think that he meant that you have no expectations about the positions. He could easily have meant that you don't have any pre-suppositions about the candidates and you let what they say make your decisions about how good their interviews were. And I agree with the guy who said the timing of this post is strange. If Russ does have power on the football side I would totally agree that that would be awful, but I don't see any evidence. Agreed but you're assuming the OP is interested in evidence...or even logic. Neither of those appear to be involved in his/her arguments. Mainly positing opinions as facts and then quoting his/her Ravens fan buddy as an expert!
racecitybills Posted August 27, 2017 Posted August 27, 2017 Bad pre-season game and the Pegula bashers coming out I can understand. But Ralph Wilson bashing for stuff he did 15 years ago? Give me a break. Ditto to this. Ralph Wilson kept the NFL in Buffalo. He is deceased. Thank Him and move on
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