Bucky Gleason Leaving TBN After Requesting a Buyout - Jerry Sullivan and Now Tim Graham Out

[Delete This Account]

10 minutes ago, Limeaid said:

 

Whatever, you fail to see impact they had on Bills and you want to defend your feel newspaper writers.

 

 

10 minutes ago, Limeaid said:

 

Whatever, you fail to see impact they had on Bills and you want to defend your feel newspaper writers.

 

 

No. They’re my friends, whom I look up to and respect.

They asked the sometimes necessary and difficult questions as opposed to some of the pom-pom wavers in the room.

It was Bucky who asked Whaley what he does exactly during to “not privy” news conference.

It was Jerry who led the questioning on the Peterman experiment.

Now there are fewer in the room to ask those questions and maintain a semblance of accountability.

Unless, of course, you prefer the root, root for the home team propaganda you get from Murph.

 

jw

[Kelly the Dog]

1 minute ago, john wawrow said:

 

 

No. They’re my friends, whom I look up to and respect.

They asked the sometimes necessary and difficult questions as opposed to some of the pom-pom wavers in the room.

It was Bucky who asked Whaley what he does exactly during to “not privy” news conference.

It was Jerry who led the questioning on the Peterman experiment.

Now there are fewer in the room to ask those questions and maintain a semblance of accountability.

Unless, of course, you prefer the root, root for the home team propaganda you get from Murph.

 

jw

I get your point and I do credit Sully for asking some tough questions at times. But it didn’t take him to question the Peterman fiasco. That’s not a tough one or stand. Everyone there should have asked that. 

[John from Riverside]

47 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

We've lost a few.    Lori was a huge loss due to knuckleheads.    But the better posters here are better than ever.

 

We've always had an issue with people who displaced their frustration with the team onto fellow fans and media.    

 

People like Promo who kept a sig line of the quote  "life is a comedy to those that think and a tragedy to those who feel"..........then proceeded to FEEL every perceived slight imaginable and complain loudly about things that had zero impact on the on-field product.

 

You can draw a direct line between most of those idiots and their dedicated hatred of Jerry Sullivan for having negative takes on bad sports teams.

I miss Lori on the boards and hate the way that went down..

[K-9]

12 minutes ago, JohnC said:

The Bills had two HCs in recent history preferring to take buyouts rather than continue on with their jobs. That certainly wasn't a testament to a well oiled organizational machine. 

If you’re referring to Marrone and Rex, the term “buyout” doesn’t apply.

[Keukasmallies]

Sully's columns were always interesting for me because I brought to them the knowledge that they were his opinions [a judgment, viewpoint, or statement that is not conclusive]. In much the same manner, the posts of both the "haters" and "lovers" of Sully here on TBD are merely their opinions.  I accept or disregard them just about as often as I did Sully's writings.  

[Scorp83]

On 5/25/2018 at 11:16 AM, wagon127 said:

I mean, WGR and TBN have been at war ever since the Sabres tank year. Yesterday, WGR singled out TBN for criticizing the Evander Kane trade. I wonder if this has anything to do with their desire to leave.

???? hmmmm

[Bill from NYC]

14 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

I'm willing to bet it's because for you and JohnC, Sullivan scratched that itch for you, letting the team that was making you angry have it. That was a large part of his appeal. It didn't make him a truth teller, though.

How much truth have you told over the years while praising every inept move by Bills management and blaming dedicated Bills Fans for the misfortune of the team?

 

I don't question the fact that you are a Bills fan. That said, I personally could not support a team if I held their fans in such utter disdain.

 

Who do you despise more, Bills Fans or any sportswriter who doesn't fawn all over every dumb move the Bills have made in the last 20 years?

[Lurker]

25 minutes ago, JohnC said:

The Bills had two HCs in recent history preferring to take buyouts rather than continue on with their jobs. That certainly wasn't a testament to a well oiled organizational machine. 

 

Frankly, what's that have to do with their ability to write interesting, informative and entertaining columns on a weekly basis?     

 

A talented writer doesn't need to have the 1949-64 Yankees or 1984-90 Edmonton Oilers as subject matter.     Felser wrote about the Bills during some god-awful years and never had contempt for his subject or readers like Sully.   Same with Jim Kelley during the Sabres early years.

 

What was different?    Talent was a biggie.   Consider Kelley's accomplishments vs. Jerry's:

 

Jim Kelley

Kelley was a three-time president of the Professional Hockey Writers Association. He also won the 1994–95 New York State Publisher's Award for Sports Writing Excellence, and was named one of the top five hockey writers in North America by ESPN. He was chosen as a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame Media Selection Committee, and a Staff Consultant to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. In 2004, Kelley earned one of hockey's highest honors, receiving the Elmer Ferguson Memorial Award, and induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame. One year later, he was inducted into the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame.He will also be inducted into the Buffalo Sabres Hall of Fame on January 1, 2011

Jerry Sullivan

 

 

[bbb]

5 hours ago, JohnC said:

in any large corporate setting with bosses and employees you are going to have conflicts and mistakes. It's not only the nature of the workplace but also life. Employees make judgments and sometimes make mistakes. Bosses review actions and make judgments with respect to the actions in question. If you are expecting a pristine workplace with everyone getting along and supporting one another then you are being unrealistic. 

 

Unions and management are often at odds. What's so surprising about that? Especially in a business with a tremendous amount of financial stress you are going to have this push/pull and sometimes very antagonistic relationships. You may be surprised with the fact that unions stick up on the side of their members and bosses act as agents for the company but I'm not. There is nothing abnormal about these conflicts where at times one side has the advantage and in other times the other side ends up  with the advantage. 

 

 

I'm not really arguing any of this.  I'm just saying that it's pretty hard for these guys to get fired.

 

5 hours ago, \GoBillsInDallas/ said:

http://stilltalkintv.com/2012/04/the-news-suspends-sports-reporter/

 

 

 

Great pull - my memory was spot on.  Pergament was great when he was writing this blog, holding the News accountable. 

[PromoTheRobot]

36 minutes ago, Bill from NYC said:

How much truth have you told over the years while praising every inept move by Bills management and blaming dedicated Bills Fans for the misfortune of the team?

 

I don't question the fact that you are a Bills fan. That said, I personally could not support a team if I held their fans in such utter disdain.

 

Who do you despise more, Bills Fans or any sportswriter who doesn't fawn all over every dumb move the Bills have made in the last 20 years?

 

It's funny how one thread years ago follows you around. 

 

Maybe I'm more powerful than I realize. Maybe the Buffalo News fired everyone because I told them to. Not because enough people said they didn't want to read Bucky & Sully. It's just me. All me.

Edited May 30, 2018 by PromoTheRobot

[GunnerBill]

1 hour ago, john wawrow said:

 

yes. it was entirely Jerry and Bucky’s fault the Bills hired Rex, brought back Marv, made Russ GM, drafted Maybin and EJ, lost to the Cowboys on Monday night, broke Losman’s leg, punted from the opponent’s 35, favored Bon Jovi, and, of course, locked Mike Williams in his dorm room during training camp.

 

I’m probably missing a dozen more things, but yes, they turned the Bills into a joke. Abso-posi-freakin-lootely 

 

jw

 

Did they favour Bon Jovi?

[formerlyofCtown]

2 hours ago, BringBackOrton said:

Just a heartfelt thanks for his work.  Right.

Just saying that his criticism motivated him.  Kinda like when my car got totaled I thanked em for the new truck.  But I could be wrong.

[TPS]

Here's a former B-News reporter's take on what's happening in general, but directly focused on Bucky, Sully, and Vogl.

http://www.dailypublic.com/articles/05302018/whats-happening-buffalo-news

 

[DrDawkinstein]

5 minutes ago, TPS said:

Here's a former B-News reporter's take on what's happening in general, but directly focused on Bucky, Sully, and Vogl.

http://www.dailypublic.com/articles/05302018/whats-happening-buffalo-news

 

 

Very interesting stuff! From the Trump Tariffs, to the printing business conspiracy.

[dave mcbride]

20 minutes ago, TPS said:

Here's a former B-News reporter's take on what's happening in general, but directly focused on Bucky, Sully, and Vogl.

http://www.dailypublic.com/articles/05302018/whats-happening-buffalo-news

 

Good stuff; thanks for posting. My big takeaway is that cutting  back on, well, everything won't make the paper better. Not surprisingly, it'll make it worse. 

 

I certainly do wonder about the Pegulas' role in all of this. Say what you will about Ralph, but he regularly granted interviews to Sullivan, who was clearly a thorn in the franchise's side. 

Edited May 30, 2018 by dave mcbride

[bills_fan]

2 hours ago, john wawrow said:

 

I think you’re spot on, Dave.

Analytics is the dull future.

Excuse me as I barf.

 

jw

 

 

JMHO, but I love reading deep dives inside the numbers and trying to figure out why things are happening.  This applies to all sports I religiously follow (football, baseball, hockey).  Lets take a deep dive into the numbers and then let the writer give me his/her opinion on it.  I may not ultimately agree with the writer, but I really respect that type of analysis.

[bbb]

1 minute ago, dave mcbride said:

Good stuff; thanks for posting. My big takeaway is that making a newspaper worse by cutting  back on, well, everything won't make the paper better. Not surprisingly, it'll make it worse. 

 

I certainly do wonder about the Pegulas' role in all of this. Say what you will about Ralph, but he regularly granted interviews to Sullivan, who was clearly a thorn in the franchise's side. 

 

Actully, even Ralph, stopped given access to Sullivan, after he crossed the line. 

[dave mcbride]

1 minute ago, bbb said:

 

Actully, even Ralph, stopped given access to Sullivan, after he crossed the line. 

Well, TP has given interviews to JW and TG. Unless I missed it, though, he hasn't given an interview in a while.  Kim P spoke with Vic C in that recent piece about the stadium issue a couple of weeks ago, though. 

[TPS]

2 minutes ago, dave mcbride said:

Good stuff; thanks for posting. My big takeaway is that cutting  back on, well, everything won't make the paper better. Not surprisingly, it'll make it worse. 

 

I certainly do wonder about the Pegulas' role in all of this. Say what you will about Ralph, but he regularly granted interviews to Sullivan, who was clearly a thorn in the franchise's side. 

I wonder if TBD had any influence, especially since the new sports editor seems to visit here often...?

My view was that sports departments work using the good cop-bad cop model: Bucky and Sully were of course the bad cops, and Skurski, Gaughan, and Carucci the good cops.

[Lurker]

8 minutes ago, TPS said:

Here's a former B-News reporter's take on what's happening in general, but directly focused on Bucky, Sully, and Vogl.

http://www.dailypublic.com/articles/05302018/whats-happening-buffalo-news

 

 

I know Elmer a bit and he's a great guy.  And while I agree with 90% of his thoughts on the Big Picture, I do differ on two things:

• "After a Bills game, in particular, the audience may not have agreed with them, but it wanted to know what they thought."
• "Negativity also happened to be honesty."

First, it appears a growing number of readers did NOT want to know what they thought, despite the heightened media presence on WGRZ and the BN video links.  Web clicks and other metrics were likely trending downward, hence the "bad for business" comment (despite the innuendo of the Pegula's involvement, which is a bit of tin foil haberdashery to me).

 

Second, honesty happens to be honesty, whether its positive or negative.    Too often, Sully and Buckster set up straw men to knock down, excluded other valid arguments or, worst of all, blew in the wind by not owning up to positions they advocated for previously when those same positions later did not pan out.   That's not honest, it's lazy and contemptuous of the readers who did remember the positions they took...