Ramius Posted January 12, 2007 Posted January 12, 2007 Funny how they dont mention how butler set this team back a ton by trashing (on purpose?) the 2000 draft.
dave mcbride Posted January 12, 2007 Author Posted January 12, 2007 First, you were the one that started out saying that Butler didn't deceive the Bills in any way whatsoever. I was responding to that, which was totally untrue. The answer to your question is to negotiate in good faith, behind closed doors, with Ralph. He is the boss. Even if it means a veiled threat of "Ralph, I am good at my job, you're paying me peanuts, other teams are willing to pay me threefold. I would love to stay and win here, it is my home and dream job, but you have to be fair to me, too, or I will have to look elsewhere. I don't think it benefits either of us to play this out in the press. I want to stay, and I want to be paid my value to the team, organization and community. I think we can come to a mutual understanding. If we can't agree, you need to look at other options and I must, too. It's really in your court." ??? I'm still not saying that he deceived the Bills. I'm saying that he decided that he didn't want to extend his tenure beyond 2000, yet was under contract for that year and therefore worked as best he could (leaving aside the issue of his actual work product that year). Because he didn't think he was going to get what he wanted, he decided not to negotiate and therefore deflected the issue. I mean, I simply don't get your point. Perhaps we have a categorical difference as to what deception actually means.
Kelly the Dog Posted January 12, 2007 Posted January 12, 2007 ??? I'm still not saying that he deceived the Bills. I'm saying that he decided that he didn't want to extend his tenure beyond 2000, yet was under contract for that year and therefore worked as best he could (leaving aside the issue of his actual work product that year). Because he didn't think he was going to get what he wanted, he decided not to negotiate and therefore deflected the issue. I mean, I simply don't get your point. Perhaps we have a categorical difference as to what deception actually means. Lying is deception. There is no way around it. He lied to Ralph, he lied to his team, he lied to the fans. If he thought he wasn't going to get what he wanted, and was going to leave, that is fine, and his prerogative. If that's the case, you don't say everything is fine and we will talk about this after the season knowing full well that nothing is fine and there isn't going to be talk after the season.
dave mcbride Posted January 13, 2007 Author Posted January 13, 2007 Lying is deception. There is no way around it. He lied to Ralph, he lied to his team, he lied to the fans. If he thought he wasn't going to get what he wanted, and was going to leave, that is fine, and his prerogative. If that's the case, you don't say everything is fine and we will talk about this after the season knowing full well that nothing is fine and there isn't going to be talk after the season. I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. From my perspective, not announcing "I'm probably on my way out of here after this year because I'm fairly certain that other owners will be willing to triple my salary" was the wise move. You may perceive that he lied to you, but I never felt he was lying to me. At the time, I understood quite well that a) his contract was up, b) he (and Smith, for that matter) wasn't getting along that well with Wilson, partly due to the Flutie situation, and c) he was considered a hot commodity by other teams and would be paid accordingly. Specifically, it was public knowledge that the Chargers wanted him during the season. He never said he was committed to staying with the Bills, by the way, unlike so many coaches these days who say they are and show up with another team one week later. You know, Ralph Wilson is a pretty decent owner all things considered, but there are a lot of people out there now who have said he's a very difficult person to work for, and he's something of loose cannon with a vindictive streak. I mean, he ran Polian out of town! And look at his constant sniping at Donohoe. While I consider Donohoe's tenure to be a failure, he did do some very good things. However, I've seen about ten instances this season where Wilson has publicly denigrated the guy after he slaved for the Bills for years, regularly putting in 80 hour work weeks. As for the last year or two of Butler's tenure, reports were that in 99-00 Wilson took the micromanaging to a new level. Sometimes, people decide that they've had enough. Moreover, I'm sure that Butler was hardly thrilled about Wilson constantly spouting off in public at the time about Butler's unwillingness to negotiate. And remember Wilson saying that beating the Chargers meant more to him than winning a Super Bowl? I know they patched things up at the end, which was a very good thing.
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