Jerry Sullivan on our podcast: Anecdote about McDermott

[4merper4mer]

33 minutes ago, GunnerBill said:

 

Sullivan admits he didn't actually see it though and if you had listened Jerry says it did not happen at a press conference but at the open portion of practice. He does say he checked with others who were there and they confirmed. I didn't mean that phrase as casting any doubt that Jerry was reporting what he was told happened. But in my experience as, you know, an actual journalist, I tend to prefer first hand account before I say something definitely happened the way second hand account says it did. 

 

None of which is a defense of McDermott either. As I said in my original post in this topic - I have had that experience with a coach (one much more famous and more successful than Sean McDermott might I add) for reporting a story that was true but that he didn't want reporting and it was thoroughly unpleasant and completely lacking in any decency. 

 

A couple things:

 

1. Based on his post Nextmanup clearly saw it.

2. It is debatable whether Classy Freddie Blassy is more successful/famous than McDermott and also whether your report that Kamala wasn't actually found in the jungles of the Amazon was correct.

[Cripple Creek]

20 minutes ago, Billsatlastin2018 said:

Sullivan and to a slightly lesser extent- Schoop, have harped on one incessant theme about Bills’ fans.

 

That, because of the 5 Alarm Tire Fire at OBD & brutal on field play making, throughout the millennium, we the fans, have been conditioned to accept so little- as a positive. 
 

That is, just making the Playoffs, is considered a yuuuge goal.

The obvious converse are Patsies’ fans, whose goal EVERY year is to Win the SB.

 

Both Sullivan & Schoop, believe fans should demand more! I’m with them. Making the Playoffs THIS year is a reasonable goal.Getting to the AFC Championship, should be the 2020 one.

 

We have yet to see that chart tick up. 

You know lastin, can I call you lastin?  You know lastin, your post makes me believe that you do not enjoy Bills victories and you relish Bills defeats because they allow you to puff yourself up and pound your chest whilst wheezing "I told you so!"

 

Am I close?

 

[Doc]

If you're surprised by this, you'll be surprised to learn that most of the people you see on TV who you think are nice are some of the biggest #######s you'll ever meet. 

[Hapless Bills Fan]

32 minutes ago, Billsatlastin2018 said:

Sullivan and to a slightly lesser extent- Schoop, have harped on one incessant theme about Bills’ fans.

 

That, because of the 5 Alarm Tire Fire at OBD & brutal on field play making, throughout the millennium, we the fans, have been conditioned to accept so little- as a positive. 
 

That is, just making the Playoffs, is considered a yuuuge goal.

The obvious converse are Patsies’ fans, whose goal EVERY year is to Win the SB.

 

Both Sullivan & Schoop, believe fans should demand more! I’m with them. Making the Playoffs THIS year is a reasonable goal.Getting to the AFC Championship, should be the 2020 one.

 

We have yet to see that chart tick up. 

 

"We have yet to see the chart tick up" - Objectively, 7-3 is the best Bills record since 1999.  That should be objectively recognized as a "tick up" albeit clearly not an ultimate goal.

 

Which brings me to where I fundamentally disagree with your take on Sullivan and Schoop.  It's one thing to be balanced and objective and to engage in critique where justified.  It's another to have negativity engrained to such an extent that one fails to recognize improvement of any kind, and that's where I feel they are.

 

They want the fun of slamming the Bills freely and continuing to slam, which is their right under the 1st amendment, but they want to indulge this schtick whilst claiming credit for objectivity.  As Othar Tryggvassen, Gentleman Adventurer would say:  FOUL!

[Rochesterfan]

15 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I'll try.  Jerry doesn't attend Bills practices, but he tells an anecdote about Matt Fairburn covering a Bills practice and writing about practicing a fake punt and also about "bulletin board material" in the Bills locker room before the Giants game.

 

Apparently McD didn't like that and got all up in Fairburn's face, chest-to-chest in a physically intimidating way, screaming f-bombs and asking him "aren't you on the team?  shouldn't you be supporting us?"  A more balanced view is if you don't want reporters to report stuff, don't put it out there during press access.

 

Sullivan makes a point of how he never "attends those things" (the practices) but had someone who witnessed the event on his radio show recount it, and the OP says he/she independently verified that the event occurred.

 

Someone please correct if I've got it mixed.

 

Unaddressed is whether/how reporters credentialed to attend practice are asked verbally or in writing to not disclose certain things.  I do not trust Sullivan to have the objectivity to research that and bring it up if relevant.

 

The conclusion Jerry wishes to be made is that the Pegulas and McDermott have systematically tried to suppress negative coverage of the team.   Elsewhere he reiterates his conclusions around his departure from TBN that have been debunked elsewhere.

 

The conclusion I reach is that for all his even-keeled demeanor with the press and in public, McDermott actually has the highly competitive nature, detail-obsession, and yuuuge ego of a typical guy who becomes a head football coach in the NFL.

 

He also says some stuff about Heath Farwell, the Bills ST coach.  It is certainly valid to criticize the Bills ST performance this year as significant ST failures have accounted for the score differential in 2 close games and have cost us points in others - there is blame to go around in these cases, obviously.  I don't care for the manner in which Sullivan critiques him, but critique is warranted.

 

If the OP had posted something like this - even part of it to facilitate a discussion and then linked the Podcast and the time - then you have thread.  
 

Thank You for this.

[Scott7975]

18 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I'll try.  Jerry doesn't attend Bills practices, but he tells an anecdote about Matt Fairburn covering a Bills practice and writing about practicing a fake punt and also about "bulletin board material" in the Bills locker room before the Giants game.

 

Apparently McD didn't like that and got all up in Fairburn's face, chest-to-chest in a physically intimidating way, screaming f-bombs and asking him "aren't you on the team?  shouldn't you be supporting us?"  A more balanced view is if you don't want reporters to report stuff, don't put it out there during press access.

 

Sullivan makes a point of how he never "attends those things" (the practices) but had someone who witnessed the event on his radio show recount it, and the OP says he/she independently verified that the event occurred.

 

Someone please correct if I've got it mixed.

 

Unaddressed is whether/how reporters credentialed to attend practice are asked verbally or in writing to not disclose certain things.  I do not trust Sullivan to have the objectivity to research that and bring it up if relevant.

 

The conclusion Jerry wishes to be made is that the Pegulas and McDermott have systematically tried to suppress negative coverage of the team.   Elsewhere he reiterates his conclusions around his departure from TBN that have been debunked elsewhere.

 

The conclusion I reach is that for all his even-keeled demeanor with the press and in public, McDermott actually has the highly competitive nature, detail-obsession, and yuuuge ego of a typical guy who becomes a head football coach in the NFL.

 

He also says some stuff about Heath Farwell, the Bills ST coach.  It is certainly valid to criticize the Bills ST performance this year as significant ST failures have accounted for the score differential in 2 close games and have cost us points in others - there is blame to go around in these cases, obviously.  I don't care for the manner in which Sullivan critiques him, but critique is warranted.

 

Pretty much.  You just forgot to add the part about how Sully basically said McD went on a tangent that the reporter is messing with the lively hoods of him and his staff.  Then Sully was like "really you make millions of dollars and a journalist is messing with your lively hood"  or something like that.

Edited November 23, 2019 by Scott7975

[Hapless Bills Fan]

5 hours ago, GunnerBill said:

Having been on the receiving end of a coach who didn't like something that I had reported.... because it was true.... I have some sympathy for Fairbairn if this happened. 

 

Think the more interesting bit of what Jerry says is about the Special Teams coaching. For all that everyone hated Crossman I don't think it has been any better at all under the Carolina fella. 

 

No question that the Bills ST performance has been an issue this season and deserves more criticism/scrutiny than it seems to be getting.

[Scott7975]

7 minutes ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

No question that the Bills ST performance has been an issue this season and deserves more criticism/scrutiny than it seems to be getting.

 

Absolutely.  IMO it has at least cost us a game against the Pats.  Some people don't agree because "the offense sucks," but the blocked punt had a direct result on losing the game.  Our offense scored more points than their offense.

Edited November 23, 2019 by Scott7975

[Hapless Bills Fan]

1 hour ago, Nextmanup said:

Sure, McDermott recently acted like a giant douche bag to a youngish reporter, getting in his face in an attempt at physical intimidation, dropping F bombs like nuts on him, and asking him "Are you on the team or not?!" 

 

This was at a press conference.  Presumably because McDouche didn't like a question or two, and apparently actually thinks the media is supposed to bolster the team as though it is part of the Bills P/R department.

 

Not many people heard about this because Pegula controls the media in WNY now either directly or indirectly. 

 

Quite an interesting little story.

 

McDouche = psycho

 

That doesn't quite match the account in the podcast.  The physical intimidation/F-bombs yes, the "presumably because McDouche didn't like a question or two" part, No.  And the "at the press conference" part, not clear - it happened on Weds, but it wasn't clear exactly when or where or in front of how many people.

 

I tend to feel that the Pegulas control of the WNY media is not so complete that if it were in front of the entire press conference, it would not have come out.

[vincec]

23 minutes ago, BillsShredder83 said:

Perfect. Coach controlling the small details he sees relevant. Maybe we can crowd source Fairburn a box of tissues. McD did this so well that he stopped them from reporting it. Holy @#$! that's amazing!

Yeah sure. Completely justifiable way to respond to a story you don't like. "Controlling the small details" by f-bombing and physically intimidating someone trying to his job into doing what you want instead. ?

[JGMcD2]

I don’t know guys... I understand reporters are supposed to report but there are unwritten rules for how you’re supposed to handle things when interacting with players and in a locker room. 
 

I work in professional sports and spend a lot of time in the locker room. Reporters come in all the time... that’s ok. The good ones are pleasant and ask a lot of questions... and typically ask permission or for an ok to discuss certain topics. There is a veil over these areas for a reason... what goes on in there tends to be important. You have to build up respect and earn the trust of the staff and players. Just like anything in life... but we live in a  society today that doesn’t place value on those things. 
 

It seems to me Fairburn messed up twice. The bulletin board material should not have been discussed... I know journalists who come into the locker room and there are notices and information posted everywhere... THEY ASK before they say anything about it. Otherwise you’re going to get singled out real quick. I’ve seen players and staff change their mood very quickly when someone oversteps their boundaries. 
 

This is the Bills place of work... the media has the PRIVILEGE of being able to observe. You don’t see reporters walking around an office complex and sitting in on shareholders meetings reporting on a Fortune 500 companies upcoming plans, financials, hires/fires.    

Edited November 23, 2019 by JGMcD2

[Motorin']

The Buffalo media for the most part is bush league. Not a press conference has gone by in the last 20 years where some sad man hasn't acted out a lame attempt at psychoanalysis with question after about validation and the assumption of inferiority. 

 

The Patriots in particular mine the Buffalo media and have gotten countless Intel on team reads / calls ect. because the dumb ass reporters have demanded players and coaches "prove" their competency with specific examples of in play calls. 

 

I feel sorry for McDermott having to stand there day after day dealing with such idiocy. 

 

East Germany? McDermott is like the Stasi? Get out of here Sullivan. You are a sad sad man. 

Edited November 23, 2019 by Motorin'

[BillsShredder83]

1 minute ago, vincec said:

Yeah sure. Completely justifiable way to respond to a story you don't like. "Controlling the small details" by f-bombing and physically intimidating someone trying to his job into doing what you want instead. ?

I dont care how he does it. You think the Locker room wouldnt rally around that? 53 alphas ready to run through a wall for the guy. Mcd cant control s*** on the field, and players cant control things going on in the media. Mcd gets on someone from the media, the team runs through steel walls because they love and respect the guy. I wanna run through a wall reading it. GO BILLS

[CLTbills]

Ol' Uncle Jerry is really off his rocker. I'm not debating whether what he said is true or not. I wasn't there (and apparently, according to his own words, neither was he)... but the "East Germany" and "Stasi" comments are WAY out of line.

[vincec]

5 minutes ago, BillsShredder83 said:

I dont care how he does it. You think the Locker room wouldnt rally around that? 53 alphas ready to run through a wall for the guy. Mcd cant control s*** on the field, and players cant control things going on in the media. Mcd gets on someone from the media, the team runs through steel walls because they love and respect the guy. I wanna run through a wall reading it. GO BILLS

If he did it to you or your family, I'll bet you would care. The Bills winning doesn't justify treating people like sh*t. If it does for you then you need to seriously reexamine your morals.

 

Plus this is besides the actually point of the anecdote, which is that he portrays himself as a god fearing, family oriented, team building individual but then berates people like a school yard bully behind the scenes while the organization suppresses the reporting to protect his image. If this is all OK then why not report it on BB.com or OBD? Obviously it shows what a good leader he is.

Edited November 23, 2019 by vincec

[Capco]

In reference to the state of investigative journalism:  "One of the problems with having so much out there, so much Netflix, so many sports sites, is that something has to suffer.  And I think people are just ignoring the government and news around them."  

 

In reference to right-wing conspiracy theorists that are becoming more prevalent:  "People are getting their information from all these places and some of it is just sinister forces putting it out there... and they believe it!"

 

In reference to limitation to access of diverse opinion from journalists:  "McDermott got in his [Matt Fairburn's] face and said 'aren't you on the team?!'... He [McDermott] should know better than that, shouldn't he?"  

 

In reference to the above altercation:  "No one wants to make it about me [the reporter].  If you make it about the media, there's an element of people out there who are gonna jump all over you and go, 'you're the problem!'."

 

I stopped listening after that because I don't care for hockey.  

Edited November 23, 2019 by Capco

[Hapless Bills Fan]

15 minutes ago, CLTbills said:

Ol' Uncle Jerry is really off his rocker. I'm not debating whether what he said is true or not. I wasn't there (and apparently, according to his own words, neither was he)... but the "East Germany" and "Stasi" comments are WAY out of line.

 

I thought that too.  It took me back to Marv Levy's comments about his dislike for the "football is war" analogy, having served in WWII himself:  "This game isn't a must win.  WWII was a must-win.  This is a football game. "

 

People who actually lived in a totalitarian regime like East Germany or Romania or the Soviet Union would, I believe, find Sullivan and the Podcast presenter's remarks dismissive of the actual conditions they endured and uncalled for.

[Don Otreply]

47 minutes ago, vincec said:

The context was in the overall discussion of how the media has been pressured by the Pegulas to suppress any negative reporting on the team.

 

Fairburn first reported than McDermott was unhappy that word had leaked that the Bills posted quotes from Pat Shurmer about Josh Allen around the facility the week before they played the Giants, and then when reporting on an open practice, he noted that the team was practicing fake punts. This apparently pushed McDermott over the edge and he unleashed on the Fairburn like he stole something. He asked him if he was "on the team or not", as you mention above, while berating him.

 

Sullivan noted that the media is so cowed that after this happened, not only did they not call McDermott out or ask for an apology , they didn't even report it.

Good, sounds like Coach will not tolerate the press leaking his plans on any level, and for the team that is a very good thing.

 

Think about it, how the hell else is this organization in real life going to turn around the culture of losing to a culture of winning? The first thing you do is control the message 100%, then and only then can the narrative be changed, along with attitudes. When that is under control, you change out players, management, and coaches that won’t buy in.

 

Then the team rebuild can actually start to happen, then you maintain and iron grip on the narrative there after. SM is doing it right. Don’t care if coach jerks a knot in some sports reporters asz, so be it. I want the Bills organization to be a winner. Jmo. 

 

Go Bills!!!

[JGMcD2]

1 minute ago, vincec said:

If he did it to you or your family, I'll bet you would care. The Bills winning doesn't justify treating people like sh*t. If it does for you then you need to seriously reexamine your morals.

 

Plus this is besides the actually point of the anecdote, which is that he portrays himself as a god fearing, family oriented, team building individual but then berates people like a school yard bully behind the scenes while the organization suppresses the reporting to protect his image. If this is all OK then why not report it on BB.com or OBD? Obviously it shows what a good leader he is.

He did go off on him.... but this was not the first instance of Fairburn overstepping his boundaries. There are consequences for your actions. 

 

Folks in media are constantly worried about their next story, breaking news, etc. that they don’t really think of the bigger picture. Believe me. Tons of friends who work in the news, an ex-girlfriend, and people I’ve interacted with professionally. All they’re worried about is content and a deadline. They forget about what they wrote shortly after they publish it. 

[4merper4mer]

2 minutes ago, vincec said:

If he did it to you or your family, I'll bet you would care. The Bills winning doesn't justify treating people like sh*t. If it does for you then you need to seriously reexamine your morals.

 

Plus this is besides the actually point of the anecdote, which is that he portrays himself as a god fearing, family oriented, team building individual but then berates people like a school yard bully behind the scenes while the organization suppresses the reporting to protect his image. If this is all OK then why not report it on BB.com or OBD? Obviously it shows what a good leader he is.

All of this requires belief in what Jerry Sullivan was 100% accurate and not exaggerated in any way.

 

Shirley.