Griswold Posted April 12, 2006 Posted April 12, 2006 Ralph is going against a very powerful force in the owners of big NFL teams. They are some smart, vicious players with endless re$ources to protect their image and push they're own twisted agendas. Ralph (the Browns, Bidwell and others) are bucking against the tide and are about to be squished. Look at the full court PA press by loser-boy Clayton, deadskins writers, and others we haven't even seen yet. I give Ralph creativity and gumption points for his trip to Albany... but he needs more. He needs more behind the scenes action, he needs to apply more pressure in different ways, he needs to mobilize the small market masses. He needs more pols. One of the best ways he could do this is to hire a PA firm for this project only. New York, LA and the beltway are full of firms that specialize in this type of PR. He needs one now... the money spend will yield a huge return on investment (language Ralph understands This is no knock on the Bill's PA department. They are one of the leagues best. But they are ill suited to press this cause. When you have cancer, you don't go to the family Doc, you go to the Oncologist. Ralph needs one of the firms that can go toe to toe with the big owners, the Snyder/Jones snakes and the sycophanitc media lackeys who lick their boots. Ralph could be successful when pointed in the right direction and with some spin control. He can be successful 'cause his cause is righteous. He's got to succeed now. It's not just a matter of the Bills. It's that this latest CBA and revenue sharing is just one step in the direction... a direction toward MLB, where a few teams like the Yankees dominate due to $, and the rest just poke along presenting their fans mediocre entertainment. Possibly losing the Bills is one depressing prospect, but maybe even losing my favorite major league sport all together makes it even more depressing. Now I wish I knew the names of some of these PA or lobbying firms...
Pyrite Gal Posted April 12, 2006 Posted April 12, 2006 From what I have seen in terms of positive comments from Tagliabue and less than negative comments from folks like the NFLPA (who Ralpg gas attacked with his tirades against the CBA) and also the few owners of bigger revenue market (who Ralph attacked both with his anti-CBA comments and also by saying their is a battle between small and bigger revenue teams) I think it looks like that they and Ralph may well have talked and the true target for the Bills to extort money from is NYS. It takes at least two parties to fight and perhaps the NFLPA and the bigger revenue owners are simply holding their fire because like you I think they can easily swat aside Ralph if the choose. In addition, perhaps they judge Ralph to be a senile old man and thus would hate to beat him up or when they do they do not want their fingerprints on this kill. However, I think that these two partners in the NFL actually recognize that the real target to get cash is NYS (probably in the form of state government being able to borrow the money to fund a stadium far more cheaply than a private business). Thus they are happy to ignore Ralph's attacks. It would be a pretty ornate strategy if this is what he is doing and by claiming he is not after making more money (a pretty sure sign that someone is after making a profit when they claim publicly they are not interested in making a profit) and by claiming he has no interest in a new stadium he insulates himself and the Bills pretty well from claims its all about the Benjamins on his part. I for one would love to see Ralph grudgingly accept having NYS set up a WNY stadium authority to issue tax free muni bonds to fund a stadium and to see them revitalize downown and/or the waterfront and get some temporaru hifh-paying construction jobs in Buffalo by using the bonds and the taxes on the entire state to pay the interest on this funding. I would not worry about Ralph if I were you. i think he and the NFL (and their partners in the NFLPA) are all running a game to get some corporate welfare out of NYS (a game which Eliot Spitzer or a GOP opponent would happily play in exchange for WNY votes) which if that is what they are doing would likely benefit me as a Bills fan and as a WNYer.
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