Bills Front Office w/ panties in a knot

[ChevyVanMiller]

Seems as if the PR department has nothing better to do than worry about the color of TD's hair. Very funny stuff.

 

http://www.niagarafallsreporter.com/billstuff20043.html

 

IRATE READER OF THE WEEK: A day after last week's BillStuff hit the Internet, Niagara Falls Reporter Editor in Chief Mike Hudson received a call from One Bills Drive. Seems the reference to Bills president and general manager Tom Donahoe as "Ol' Whitey" didn't sit well with some at team headquarters.

 

Now, on the off chance you've never seen him, Mr. Donahoe's hair is white. Remarkably white, in fact. There's a rich sporting tradition of athletes, coaches and front-office types bearing nicknames based on their hair color: Whitey Herzog, Red Grange, Whitey Ford and Red Auerbach, to name four.

 

Somehow, including his boss in this pantheon irritated Bills Vice President of Communications Scott "Li'l Red" Berchtold, who phoned Hudson to voice his displeasure, saying there was no reason to get "personal."

 

Mike offered to let Berchtold submit a letter to the editor in which he could call me whatever names he wanted, but he declined. Clearly misunderstanding the corporate culture here at the Reporter, he insisted that Mike should "talk to" me.

 

Which he did, spending most of the conversation laughing about someone with such a lofty title taking the time to pick up the phone over such a petty matter.

 

Berchtold could have contacted me directly, since my e-mail address can be found at the end of each BS column. While that would have still been fairly thin-skinned, it wouldn't have been conduct nearly as weaselly as the Bills' Media Relations Handbook prescribes.

 

Though he failed at one of his primary objectives -- getting the people he's supposed to help cover the team in "trouble" at their jobs -- Li'l Red did accomplish a few things with his phone call:

 

He guaranteed that his boss will be referred to as Ol' Whitey in every BillStuff column until either or both are no longer employed by the team.

He got his own name in print for something other than issuing a "no comment" from the organization.

On the exceedingly slim chance that No. 2 ever happens again, he got himself a nickname. And one far more jovial -- and printable -- than the ones given him by the members of the media forced to deal with his nonsense on a regular basis.

[Hollywood Donahoe]

[nick in* england]

That's hilarious. Us corporate comms types to get our knickers in a bunch often about the most stupid things....

[LabattBlue]

So from now on when someone types "TD" or "Donahoe" in a post it will get translated to "Ol' Whitey"???

[ChevyVanMiller]

So from now on when someone types "TD" or "Donahoe" in a post it will get translated to "Ol' Whitey"??? 

21645[/snapback]

 

 

That's a great idea. How about it moderators?

[Lori]

Poor Scott. Remember (early 90s) when he used to help out with Jim Kelly's show on 97 Rock, and his nickname was "Burnt Toast"?

[Guest Guest]

how about whitey d

[Dan Gross]

Everybody seems to think that Donahoe was upset over the "Whitey" part....maybe he just didn't want to be called "old."

[Alaska Darin]

Everybody seems to think that Donahoe was upset over the "Whitey" part....maybe he just didn't want to be called "old."

22836[/snapback]

And media people wonder why he talks down to them.

[San-O]

"Ol' Whitey" sure seems thin skinned. Remember when he scolded the fans

for getting GW run out of town?

[Alaska Darin]

"Ol' Whitey" sure seems thin skinned.  Remember when he scolded the fans

for getting GW run out of town?

22845[/snapback]

It's called professionalism.