WIDE LEFT Posted June 24, 2018 Posted June 24, 2018 Jerry Sullivan was shown the door and in typical fashion he portrayed his departure as being motivated by his “independence” as a critic of the Bills. We expect a columnist to be critical, nobody ever had a problem with that. But Sullivan’s entire claim to fame, in his mind, was that he was an independent critic and not a fan. But he took that to a level wherein he was critical of everything, without any balance. So he was equally as critical of the Bills during their Super Bowl years as well the drought years. The Pegulas were “over their heads” as owners, as if every new owner comes into the league with experience & expertise. Virtually every new owner is owning a franchise for the first time. And they took over the franchise from an owner who, despite is 50+ years of experience, ran the franchise into the ground. He also had a heads I win, tails you lose mentality. When Dareus had his troubles early in his career, Sullivan wanted the Bills to cut him. After Dareus had his big pro bowl year, Sullivan completely flipped to Dareus side. When Dareus had his most recent problems/issues, Sullivan wrote “see I told you so, should have cut him like I said” Heads he is right, tails he is right But none of the above was Sullivan’s biggest weakness. The biggest problem with Sullivan was that in all his years there, he never developed any sources of information, either inside the Bills organization or within the NFL, to provide insight or analysis based on experience, film study etc etc. So all you ever got from him was just the opinion of a guy who never played or coached the game, who never watched game film and who never developed a source or asset who had the experience/expertise to provide insight. Sullivan’s opinions were no more valid than any fan sitting on a bar stool watching the game on TV. And that was obvious from his columns. Tyler Dunne was with the News for one year, and consistently produced columns that were based on his interactions with NFL insiders or those with experience & expertise in evaluating the game. It was no wonder that Dunne was hired away after one year here, while Sullivan took the easy path of voicing uninformed opinions mixed in with potshots at everybody. And felt that was good enough, because after all, he was “no fan”. Criticism is fine and welcome; but readers/subscribers are entitled to informed opinions, or at least occasional insight from sources well placed, well versed or experienced with game of professional football. Sullivan could not be bothered to provide any of that. Good riddance 10 6
vorpma Posted June 24, 2018 Posted June 24, 2018 Never had a problem with Sullivan, just a sportswriter, if I don't like what he is writing I don't read. Much of his criticism of the Bills warranted, at times misplaced and maybe over hyped, but that's what the media gets paid for. Much of what gets posted on this board is no worse or no better, just opinions and everybody has one. 2
WIDE LEFT Posted June 24, 2018 Author Posted June 24, 2018 My point exactly - no worse or better than opinions voiced here. Except from a professional/paid sportswriter/columnist, you should expect more than what’s posted on Two Bills Dr 1
billsredneck1 Posted June 24, 2018 Posted June 24, 2018 (edited) i'm not a subscriber to bn ( from rochester) but none of them ever really bothered me (listening to them on wgr), whether i agreed with them or not. i absorb anything bills and quite frankly a lot of posts on this site are much more irritating. heck, chris brown used to get under my skin with his russ and doug comapny line bootlicking, but now i love listening to him. sometimes it's hard for me to tell the difference between him and tasker on the radio. one bills live is my favorite 3 hrs. of the weekday......so it really irks me when the instigators take over the day. sorry, but i hate hockey........ or have less than zero interest in it. Edited June 24, 2018 by billsredneck1 1
vorpma Posted June 24, 2018 Posted June 24, 2018 48 minutes ago, WIDE LEFT said: My point exactly - no worse or better than opinions voiced here. Except from a professional/paid sportswriter/columnist, you should expect more than what’s posted on Two Bills Dr It's a market economy, if you get read you stay on, if you don't you move on, I guess I have more important things to occupy my time. On the other hand, I did find it highly entertaining to watch the emotion on this board regarding some of his articles, that will get missed! 1
Ridgewaycynic2013 Posted June 24, 2018 Posted June 24, 2018 (edited) Well, now Sullivan can blog about his quest to break 100 for 18. Having not read him for years online or in print, has he ever succeeded? A helpful hint for him is to have someone slow down the arms on the windmill hole. Edited June 24, 2018 by Ridgewaycynic2013 1
vorpma Posted June 24, 2018 Posted June 24, 2018 30 minutes ago, Ridgewaycynic2013 said: Well, now Sullivan can blog about his quest to break 100 for 18. Having not read him for years online or in print, has he ever succeeded? A helpful hint for him is to have someone slow down the arms on the windmill hole. Not a clue, but like stated, it is entertaining - I rest my case!
LeGOATski Posted June 24, 2018 Posted June 24, 2018 Yeah. He sucked. That Buffalo Rumblings article was amusing.
Peter Posted June 24, 2018 Posted June 24, 2018 (edited) In my opinion, Sully could have written what he wrote without ever leaving the basement of his house. He seemed to write different versions of the same article/column over and over again. The cranky old man act telling the kids to get off his lawn became stale a long time ago. One of the more interesting parts of the story is that TBN offered both Sully and Bucky the opportunity to stay at the paper. The catch: they would actually have to do some work. Instead of continuing to be paid for periodically writing their tired columns over and over again (or those that many here could write), they reportedly would actually have to transition to sports reporters. After having the run of the sports department for so many years, Sully and Bucky chose not to stay at TBN in those roles. Edited June 24, 2018 by Peter
Boca BIlls Posted June 24, 2018 Posted June 24, 2018 Ok... didnt know basement writers made people so angry. 1
US Egg Posted June 24, 2018 Posted June 24, 2018 1 hour ago, LeGOATski said: That Buffalo Rumblings article was amusing. Sure was. With their trashing of the BN, it showed how Sullivan, Gleason and Graham will always consider themselves the smartest people in the room.
Buffalo716 Posted June 24, 2018 Posted June 24, 2018 Jerry is a columnist . His column was based on his opinions... he wasn’t the Xs and Os guy and he never claimed to be He was a hot take columnist who was supposed to stir the pot I won’t miss him but I wish him well 1
Shaw66 Posted June 24, 2018 Posted June 24, 2018 4 hours ago, WIDE LEFT said: Jerry Sullivan was shown the door and in typical fashion he portrayed his departure as being motivated by his “independence” as a critic of the Bills. We expect a columnist to be critical, nobody ever had a problem with that. But Sullivan’s entire claim to fame, in his mind, was that he was an independent critic and not a fan. But he took that to a level wherein he was critical of everything, without any balance. So he was equally as critical of the Bills during their Super Bowl years as well the drought years. The Pegulas were “over their heads” as owners, as if every new owner comes into the league with experience & expertise. Virtually every new owner is owning a franchise for the first time. And they took over the franchise from an owner who, despite is 50+ years of experience, ran the franchise into the ground. He also had a heads I win, tails you lose mentality. When Dareus had his troubles early in his career, Sullivan wanted the Bills to cut him. After Dareus had his big pro bowl year, Sullivan completely flipped to Dareus side. When Dareus had his most recent problems/issues, Sullivan wrote “see I told you so, should have cut him like I said” Heads he is right, tails he is right But none of the above was Sullivan’s biggest weakness. The biggest problem with Sullivan was that in all his years there, he never developed any sources of information, either inside the Bills organization or within the NFL, to provide insight or analysis based on experience, film study etc etc. So all you ever got from him was just the opinion of a guy who never played or coached the game, who never watched game film and who never developed a source or asset who had the experience/expertise to provide insight. Sullivan’s opinions were no more valid than any fan sitting on a bar stool watching the game on TV. And that was obvious from his columns. Tyler Dunne was with the News for one year, and consistently produced columns that were based on his interactions with NFL insiders or those with experience & expertise in evaluating the game. It was no wonder that Dunne was hired away after one year here, while Sullivan took the easy path of voicing uninformed opinions mixed in with potshots at everybody. And felt that was good enough, because after all, he was “no fan”. Criticism is fine and welcome; but readers/subscribers are entitled to informed opinions, or at least occasional insight from sources well placed, well versed or experienced with game of professional football. Sullivan could not be bothered to provide any of that. Good riddance This is well put. What bothers me most about Sully is his sense of entitlement. He thinks he's entitled to write whatever he wants and someone will publish it. I write whatever I want. But I know that the moderators here can delete it in a heartbeat. I can live with that reality. Sully apparently never understood it. 1
Bockeye Posted June 24, 2018 Posted June 24, 2018 5 hours ago, WIDE LEFT said: Jerry Sullivan was shown the door and in typical fashion he portrayed his departure as being motivated by his “independence” as a critic of the Bills. We expect a columnist to be critical, nobody ever had a problem with that. But Sullivan’s entire claim to fame, in his mind, was that he was an independent critic and not a fan. But he took that to a level wherein he was critical of everything, without any balance. So he was equally as critical of the Bills during their Super Bowl years as well the drought years. The Pegulas were “over their heads” as owners, as if every new owner comes into the league with experience & expertise. Virtually every new owner is owning a franchise for the first time. And they took over the franchise from an owner who, despite is 50+ years of experience, ran the franchise into the ground. He also had a heads I win, tails you lose mentality. When Dareus had his troubles early in his career, Sullivan wanted the Bills to cut him. After Dareus had his big pro bowl year, Sullivan completely flipped to Dareus side. When Dareus had his most recent problems/issues, Sullivan wrote “see I told you so, should have cut him like I said” Heads he is right, tails he is right But none of the above was Sullivan’s biggest weakness. The biggest problem with Sullivan was that in all his years there, he never developed any sources of information, either inside the Bills organization or within the NFL, to provide insight or analysis based on experience, film study etc etc. So all you ever got from him was just the opinion of a guy who never played or coached the game, who never watched game film and who never developed a source or asset who had the experience/expertise to provide insight. Sullivan’s opinions were no more valid than any fan sitting on a bar stool watching the game on TV. And that was obvious from his columns. Tyler Dunne was with the News for one year, and consistently produced columns that were based on his interactions with NFL insiders or those with experience & expertise in evaluating the game. It was no wonder that Dunne was hired away after one year here, while Sullivan took the easy path of voicing uninformed opinions mixed in with potshots at everybody. And felt that was good enough, because after all, he was “no fan”. Criticism is fine and welcome; but readers/subscribers are entitled to informed opinions, or at least occasional insight from sources well placed, well versed or experienced with game of professional football. Sullivan could not be bothered to provide any of that. Good riddance Great post. I’d add that neither Jerry nor Bucky were news reporters. Once you add your opinion, you become a columnist. At that point, it’s entertainment for people. If people don’t like you or your opinion, they stop reading. If enough people dislike you, you’re out of a job. Same thing happens with $hitty actors, $hitty plays, and it’s why CNN and Fox have become so polarizing. Jerry and Gleason didn’t have enough sense to realize that most folks in Buffalo didn’t like to continually read their bashing of the teams we love. They stopped reading them and they are out of jobs (this combined with the BN tank of course).
vorpma Posted June 24, 2018 Posted June 24, 2018 35 minutes ago, Bad Things said: The greatest post ever on TBD! I love it! 1 1
BADOLBILZ Posted June 24, 2018 Posted June 24, 2018 Sully was pushed out because the Bills and Sabres organizations have been so utterly irrelevant and been doing SO MANY THINGS WRONG for so long while tarnishing their once middling brands that the market for a critical voice to sweat the details of winning totally dried up. While the small base of hardcore fans seem to get hyped by the twentieth-century-Chicago-Cubs-esque "Jesus told Da' Bills not to do nuthin till' he gets back" identity with futility..........the average fan is like "mmmkay I got other things to do but call me when they do something". Hopefully they will start doing something. And if and when they actually get competitive again a new voice will emerge to sweat the details.
US Egg Posted June 24, 2018 Posted June 24, 2018 Wonder if Rex Carr even hangs out with "Sully" anymore. I think Rex always bought the drinks. 1
SDS Posted June 24, 2018 Posted June 24, 2018 6 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said: Sully was pushed out because the Bills and Sabres organizations have been so utterly irrelevant and been doing SO MANY THINGS WRONG for so long while tarnishing their once middling brands that the market for a critical voice to sweat the details of winning totally dried up. While the small base of hardcore fans seem to get hyped by the twentieth-century-Chicago-Cubs-esque "Jesus told Da' Bills not to do nuthin till' he gets back" identity with futility..........the average fan is like "mmmkay I got other things to do but call me when they do something". Hopefully they will start doing something. And if and when they actually get competitive again a new voice will emerge to sweat the details. I think people are ok with that. Jerry’s voice was never revered by the fan base. There’s nothing wrong with freshening the scene.
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