boater Posted February 27, 2019 Posted February 27, 2019 These firings have zero, zip, nada to do with what is on the field, or on the ice. There is nothing here of concern to the sports fan. Convince me otherwise.
Kirby Jackson Posted February 27, 2019 Posted February 27, 2019 3 minutes ago, boater said: These firings have zero, zip, nada to do with what is on the field, or on the ice. There is nothing here of concern to the sports fan. Convince me otherwise. No one is arguing that they do. That isn’t the conversation taking place. The conversation is, “why is PSE cycling through senior level executives at a way higher rate than other pro sports organizations?” 1
BillsPride12 Posted February 27, 2019 Posted February 27, 2019 5 hours ago, 4_kidd_4 said: Idk, but the sandwich I had at 716 last night might have been the worst food I’ve ever eaten at a restaurant. The food at that place absolutely sucks but that's what you would expect from a place like that...it's a fun place to grab some beers and watch a Sabres game once in awhile but if you are going out for a meal that place would be at the very bottom of my list of what Buffalo has to offer.
Gugny Posted February 27, 2019 Posted February 27, 2019 7 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said: I know that I’ll take heat for this but I don’t believe that the Pegula’s know what they are doing on that end. I don’t know the people that were fired (but know a little about Popko). The Pegula’s can’t continously turn over their senior level executives!! That’s crazy. There are A LOT of pro franchises that have had their senior leadership in place for 10 to 15 or even 20 years. This one guy didn’t make it a month!! What ends up happening is you spend all of your time trying to get someone up to speed to fill a role that is above their current pay grade. Think about out how many senior level executives have been let go by the Pegula’s since they started with the Sabres? Black, Brandon, Darcy, Ruff, Bylsma, Popko, Rex, Whaley, Rossi, Muhleman, those 2 guys last month, the guy at Harbor Center and so on... I hope that this is a part of a bigger issue. If these people are tied to a problem it at least makes sense. If this is just turnover for turnover’s sake it is a problem. You're not gonna take any heat. A fracker and a waitress decided to buy a couple professional sports teams. Why would anyone expect them to know their asses from their elbows with regard to running said teams? 3 1 2
4_kidd_4 Posted February 27, 2019 Posted February 27, 2019 22 minutes ago, BillsPride12 said: The food at that place absolutely sucks but that's what you would expect from a place like that...it's a fun place to grab some beers and watch a Sabres game once in awhile but if you are going out for a meal that place would be at the very bottom of my list of what Buffalo has to offer. Yeah wasn’t my choice, but hey we tried it and I most likely won’t be back. Live and learn. 1
nucci Posted February 27, 2019 Posted February 27, 2019 10 hours ago, vorpma said: What planet have you been living on - a decent football team? More like a perennial almost .500 team forever that never demonstrated the ability to make a serious playoff run; terrible scouting, drafting, coaching, and FO management from 2001 until 2017! 2014 Bills were 9-7 with 4th rated defense in the league. That is decent....I didn't say great or SuperBowl team
ThurmasThoman Posted February 27, 2019 Posted February 27, 2019 7 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said: No one is arguing that they do. That isn’t the conversation taking place. The conversation is, “why is PSE cycling through senior level executives at a way higher rate than other pro sports organizations?” Because they're new owners and want to put people that they are philosophically inline with in positions of power to make consistent decisions at all levels of their multi-billion dollar organization that they took over a handful of years ago? You say that Russ was good, and he was--at the job he did for Ralph. But that was for a miserly owner that lived out of town and went from wanting to micromanage everything to investing all his power in Russ. Russ was the defacto, well, everything for the Buffalo Bills. He would represent them at owners meetings. He had the biggest dick at OBD, so anyone he hired or promoted to be close to him was going to be extremely loyal to him. The Pegulas not only had to restructure, they fired Russ. I would venture a guess that his lieutenants were still loyal to him and not fully on board with many of the Pegulas decisions, or were actively undermining them in certain situations where everyone needed to be on the same reply. Honestly, if you said something like this: "I know a lot of the people that Russ had in charge and they were talented. He was talented. The Bills obviously has no choice but to fire RB but it wasn’t wise to clear out veteran sports business people like Popko. Those people know WAY more about the business than Terry & Kim Pegula. You should be embracing people like that to learn from, not firing them." at a meeting, or too the wrong person, you would have a target on your back too. It's "toxic" (I hate that word, because it's used too much in business now, but it applies here.) The Pegulas need people loyal to them, not Russ. And unlike many, many people here, I think Russ did a fantastic job with the Bills, and if it wasn't for him, we honestly might not have this board and the Bon Jovi owned Los Angeles Bills could be the hot name in the NFL. 1
OldTimeAFLGuy Posted February 27, 2019 Posted February 27, 2019 15 hours ago, YoloinOhio said: Wawrow’s story on it ...residual Brandon housecleaning fallout?...
Ridgewaycynic2013 Posted February 27, 2019 Posted February 27, 2019 8 hours ago, Helpmenow said: Russ Brandon hired them at his new company. Does this ‘new company’ know he works there? The hat place didn’t. ?
vorpma Posted February 27, 2019 Posted February 27, 2019 1 hour ago, nucci said: 2014 Bills were 9-7 with 4th rated defense in the league. That is decent....I didn't say great or SuperBowl team You got me there, we were on the verge of greatness! Well, maybe not!
nucci Posted February 27, 2019 Posted February 27, 2019 45 minutes ago, vorpma said: You got me there, we were on the verge of greatness! Well, maybe not! Not what I said
BarleyNY Posted February 27, 2019 Posted February 27, 2019 Home attendance averages, Sabres: 16-17: 18,141 17-18: 18,563 18-19: 17,888 That seems like a big dip in attendance for a team that just improved its record substantially. The reasoning could be nothing more than this. 1
nucci Posted February 27, 2019 Posted February 27, 2019 7 minutes ago, BarleyNY said: Home attendance averages, Sabres: 16-17: 18,141 17-18: 18,563 18-19: 17,888 That seems like a big dip in attendance for a team that just improved its record substantially. The reasoning could be nothing more than this. I think the increase in ticket prices, excluding this season, for a team that hasn't made the playoffs in many years is part of the reason 2
ProcessTruster Posted February 27, 2019 Posted February 27, 2019 16 hours ago, nucci said: The Sabres have been a mess since they took over....same with Bills though there is a glimmer of hope this offseason....I don't think they know how to run things They're just some people that just happened to own a pile of land with Natural Gas in it just when NG became a big thing. They fell into a pile of $$$ but really never have run anything. Just be thankful they have showered their good $$ luck on WNY and let it go at that. Without them, both teams would probably be gone. 2
stuvian Posted February 27, 2019 Posted February 27, 2019 Mr and Mrs pegs are cracking down on unwanted canoodling. Man, Sexual harrassment is the great career destroyer.
PromoTheRobot Posted February 27, 2019 Posted February 27, 2019 10 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said: No one is arguing that they do. That isn’t the conversation taking place. The conversation is, “why is PSE cycling through senior level executives at a way higher rate than other pro sports organizations?” That's my take as well. @JohnnyGold made a reference to Russ Brandon's lingering presence. That may well be but the rate at which they are turning people over is alarming. Aren't they in the middle of two huge arena/stadium projects? Weren't some of these people hired recently to oversee those projects because of their level of expertise? I can't see how you get good people to work for you when you go through senior people this abruptly. 1
MrEpsYtown Posted February 27, 2019 Posted February 27, 2019 Eh, more high level executives should get fired these days. Companies have no problem firing a custodian if he isn't doing a good job, COOs and such should be no different.
Ridgewaycynic2013 Posted February 27, 2019 Posted February 27, 2019 Maybe the Pegulas have been watching reruns of ‘The Apprentice’? ?
BillyWhiteShows Posted February 27, 2019 Posted February 27, 2019 17 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said: I know that I’ll take heat for this but I don’t believe that the Pegula’s know what they are doing on that end. I don’t know the people that were fired (but know a little about Popko). The Pegula’s can’t continously turn over their senior level executives!! That’s crazy. There are A LOT of pro franchises that have had their senior leadership in place for 10 to 15 or even 20 years. This one guy didn’t make it a month!! What ends up happening is you spend all of your time trying to get someone up to speed to fill a role that is above their current pay grade. Think about out how many senior level executives have been let go by the Pegula’s since they started with the Sabres? Black, Brandon, Darcy, Ruff, Bylsma, Popko, Rex, Whaley, Rossi, Muhleman, those 2 guys last month, the guy at Harbor Center and so on... I hope that this is a part of a bigger issue. If these people are tied to a problem it at least makes sense. If this is just turnover for turnover’s sake it is a problem. I think you are being a little unfair when speaking about senior executives, at least on the Bills behalf. It clearly is not “turnover for turnovers sake” like you have opined. The firing of the Bills executives were moves that needed to be made, and very few in the NFL disagreed. Did you honestly expect the Pegulas to keep Russ Brandon employed in 2019, given the nature of some of the allegations which came out? Also this is without any damming information in Brandon which was apparently unearthed during their investigation. I am sure they wanted to keep Brandon from a business standpoint, he was good at his job, but this was a move that needed to be made. Doug Whaley - I didn’t feel that Whaley was a very good GM. His record and the salary cap speaks for itself. Yes there were factors blah blah blah.... but do you really see this as an egregious firing? It’s telling how no NFL team touched Whaley in the 2 years since he left Buffalo and he was exiled to ventures outside of the league. Rex Ryan - Do you really fault PSE for firing Rex Ryan? By all accounts he was a failure and embarrassed the organization. We’ve seen owners keep bad coaches under the false premise of “continuity.” It wasn’t working with Rex and I give the Pegulas credit for starting over. The Sabres and PSE stuff, I’m not as well-versed I’m so I won’t comment with very much insight. Maybe you’re right there. I won’t fault the Pegula’s the same way you have, and I feel you are being unfair and grasping for straws by lumping in the Bills firings. Where I do agree with you, is that Terry and Kim have made some mistakes as owners. They hung on to Lindy Ruff for too long, should have fired Doug Whaley and brought in a GM in January of 2017, and were easily swindled (along with Russ and Whaley) by Rex Ryan. But again, to their credit, when they recognized that they made a mistake, they ate the money, took the lumps, and started over. 1 hour ago, BarleyNY said: Home attendance averages, Sabres: 16-17: 18,141 17-18: 18,563 18-19: 17,888 That seems like a big dip in attendance for a team that just improved its record substantially. The reasoning could be nothing more than this. The team was also horrible in 17-18. I am sure that fans didn’t have a ton on interest in renewing season tickets 1
Never NEVER Give-up Posted February 27, 2019 Posted February 27, 2019 To speculate on the termination of the 3 recent departures is wrong and unfair to the 3 individuals who need to now go out and try and make a living. When most of us lose a job, it happens in relative anonymity. These folks - not so much. Any hint of scandal or constant rumor-mongering and it could permanently damage their reputation and make it next to impossible to make a living in their chosen field. Who knows why these 3 are gone. It could be the tried & true "We're going in a different direction." Or perhaps there was cause. Reporters who dig into this may let us all know sooner or later. What we do know is that Kim is trying to establish a code of conduct at PSE. Brandon violated it and was gone. The 2 Xmas party-ers also violated it. These 3, who knows? PSE could do them a favor with an over-the-top explanation to erase any gossip about impropriety - but they won't issue that if there were any. Maybe that's whay we haven't heard more thus far . . . . More to come, I'm sure. . . . . 1
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