Chris Collinsworth Says Bills Did the Dumbest Thing in NFL History

[bbills17]

For those of you who didn't see this on Inside the NFL, Chris Collinsworth made the following statement:

 

CHRIS COLLINSWORTH: In the history of the National Football League there has never been anything dumber than the Buffalo Bills selling out their home game against the Miami Dolphins to go play in Toronto and take the cash. Season over. Thank you very much, Buffalo Bills, don't know what to say...

 

PHIL SIMMS: [interrupting] In history? In history!?

 

CHRIS COLLINSWORTH: In the history of the NFL!

 

WARREN SAPP: Tell us how you really feel!

 

CHRIS COLLINSWORTH: [undeterred] The dumbest thing that's ever happened.

 

PHIL SIMMS: You feel better?

 

CHRIS COLLINSWORTH: I hope they spend the money wisely and get a nice car. I don't know what they're going to do. It's stupid.

 

 

I really like Collinsworth, he makes fellow ex-player commentators like Emmitt Smith and Jaworski sound like complete morons and calls a much better game. How many times can you stand listening Jaworski tell us how much he hates running QBs, or his 'chalk'talk' breakdowns of the most simplistic plays that any idiot can figure out?

 

But, he doesn't look at the balance sheet or sign the checks in Buffalo. Everyone agrees they'd prefer all the games in Buffalo, but for the amount of money we got I'll take the game in Canada. If we even sign one extra FA or we get to keep the team in Buffalo it's worth it.

[BillsZubaz]

Solid logic ... except for the fact that the NFL, not the Bills, does the scheduling.

 

Didn't the Bills get to choose which game went to Toronto though?

[MaineMoxie]

The likely 2010 version doesn't look too bad: http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y146/jdesign/2010Taurus.jpg

 

That's assuming Ford still exists in 2010. Oh, wait, we're bailing them out. I almost forgot.

[profile]

Thanks for clarifying that Dean. Hey, you never know, it could happen, Roger Goodell is a local boy.

 

 

Holding your breath for extended periods of time causes a permanent condition called death. Short periods of time leads to brain damage.

 

My point is We're really hoping for a lot from politicians and league officials right now, and unless Ralph has a change of heart, and sells the team to a local group before he takes his dirt nap, this team is likely gone soon. It kills every positive-thinking fiber in my body to admit this.

[The Senator]

Holding your breath for extended periods of time causes a permanent condition called death. Short periods of time leads to brain damage.

 

My point is We're really hoping for a lot from politicians and league officials right now, and unless Ralph has a change of heart, and sells the team to a local group before he takes his dirt nap, this team is likely gone soon. It kills every positive-thinking fiber in my body to admit this.

Human saliva also causes death, but only when swallowed in very small amounts over an extended period of time.

[profile]

Human saliva also causes death, but only when swallowed in very small amounts over an extended period of time.

 

That's a good one

[The Dean]

I really like Collinsworth, he makes fellow ex-player commentators like Emmitt Smith and Jaworski sound like complete morons and calls a much better game. How many times can you stand listening Jaworski tell us how much he hates running QBs, or his 'chalk'talk' breakdowns of the most simplistic plays that any idiot can figure out?

 

But, he doesn't look at the balance sheet or sign the checks in Buffalo. Everyone agrees they'd prefer all the games in Buffalo, but for the amount of money we got I'll take the game in Canada. If we even sign one extra FA or we get to keep the team in Buffalo it's worth it.

 

 

I don't hate Collinsworth, and think he is usually pretty good. But, don't even thing of comparing him to Jaws. Jaworski is the class of the field.

[R. Rich]

I don't hate Collinsworth, and think he is usually pretty good. But, don't even thing of comparing him to Jaws. Jaworski is the class of the field.

 

 

Well.....the think is, Jaws is very good @ breaking down game film; the "class of the field", as you say. Aside from that, he's no better than any other talking head, which is why I don't tune into Monday Night Football very often. Just like w/ Solomon Weelcots, less is more.

[DazedandConfused]

Value doesn't matter squat. Not until you sell the team. The Bills are the equivalent of a house-poor family, a family which owns an expensive house, which then eats up all their income on mortgage payments, tax payments, etc., all on something which will not pay them a penny until they either sell or die. That's the Bills.

 

As I said, value doesn't mean squat. What is important is income, and ours is virtually the lowest in the league. Whether you like it or not, those are the facts. Ralph desperately needs income. One way to get it in most cities is to raise ticket prices. But in the Buffalo market, if you do that, you won't fill the stadium. The Bills have kept ticket prices insanely low for just that reason, and if you don't think that is a huge benefit for Bills fans, I don't know what to say to you. The games in Toronto are a reasonable way to deal with the situation.

 

If you don't like it, how about voting for politicians who will change the business climate in Buffalo by lowering our much higher than usual taxes, allowing businesses to come back to our city. Don't blame this on Ralph Wilson. Buffalo voters are complicit in the horrible economic climate in the area.

I think the mistake you make in your logic is that you seem to equate the Bills having a lower level of income with Ralph being desperate for income and chose to ignore the value of the team and more importantly Ralph's personal value.

 

Ralph may choose to be desperate for income (its his right as an American) because someone else makes more income from their NFL team. However, the absolute value of the Bills and actually the income that the CBA pretty much guarantees the Bills provides no reason for him to be desperate for income (unless he is losing so much money on his construction business and other holdings that he is personally desperate for the Bills to generate income.

 

The NFL set-up embodied in the CBA basically controls the major cost (player salaries) while also delivering a huge income stream (the major source if income are checks from the TV networks. If Ralph is desperate for more income it is his choice. it is not something inherent in the economic system which is the next best thing to a printing press in terms of generating cash.

 

In fact, the Bills have remained in Buffalo specifically because Ralph has not been so desperate for income that he has chosen to pull an Art Modell, Georgia Frontiere, or Al Davis and simply move the team to a higher bidder. Ralph is old enough and fortunately for the Bills his heirs have shown no interest in running this product to produce the highest income possible so he has not been so desperate for income as to move.

 

However, understanding this situation it becomes clear that Ralph deserves credit for what he deserves credit for (keeping the team here and being a sportsman rather than simply a businessman) but he also deserves blame for what he has done poorly (while he deserves credit for picking Polian, Marv, Butler and the football guys who built a winner, he simply has made bad choices from his handshake agreement with a player forced to retire, his mismanagement of the Butler situation, how he handled TD, Wade, MM, etc.

 

This has little to do with the stupid choices of WNY politicians and alot to do with a bunch of bad choices by Ralph which are simply the reality along with the good choices he made.

[Lori]

Didn't the Bills get to choose which game went to Toronto though?

No. At least, not if you believe Ralph Wilson. He was asked about it when the Wall of Fame committee met the day before the draft, and according to several people in the room at the time, Wilson was adamant that he had nothing to do with which games were moved north. Again, believe it or don't (and I'm not entirely sure I do).

 

Unfortunately, I lost our correspondence regarding this subject in a hard-drive crash, but here's what Chuck Pollock wrote for public consumption earlier that month:

The Bills’ administration maintains it had no input into which game was sent to Toronto, hard to believe as it might be.

 

But then it’s on the NFL, which clearly wasn’t concerned about sending a division game packing. Thus, Buffalo loses its competitive advantage - the weather factor and a theater-type Toronto audience rather than a rabid home crowd - in a critical AFC East matchup.

POLLOCK: Miami game to Toronto bad sign for Bills’ fans

[CFLstyle]

It was certainly stupid, but that doesn't mean it should be an excuse, and it's the last reason that our season is over.

 

If we can't beat the Dolphins on a neutral field then we're not a very good football team.

[Lori]

Be that as it may -- and I agree, it would have been hard to imagine the Bills winning that game wherever it was played -- it's also hard to argue with Sal Maiorana's take: "They sold their soul for $78 million."

[UB2SF]

Ah, the ol' Collinsowrth hyperbole is alive and well. For every astute thing he says (he's actually pretty sharp sometimes), there are 10 doozies like this to negate it.

 

Let's see, dumbest things in the history of the NFL:

- trading all your draft picks for one player (Ditka)

- throwing away your career and your standing as one of the most highly paid players in the sport... for dog-fighting! (Vick)

- failing to select Joe Montana or Jerry Rice in the draft (every team except SF)

- adorning the helmets of a new franchise with a flaming swashbuckler with a knife in his mouth (Bucs)

- forcing me to look at Janet Jackson's nipple

[BillsVet]

I think the mistake you make in your logic is that you seem to equate the Bills having a lower level of income with Ralph being desperate for income and chose to ignore the value of the team and more importantly Ralph's personal value.

 

Ralph may choose to be desperate for income (its his right as an American) because someone else makes more income from their NFL team. However, the absolute value of the Bills and actually the income that the CBA pretty much guarantees the Bills provides no reason for him to be desperate for income (unless he is losing so much money on his construction business and other holdings that he is personally desperate for the Bills to generate income.

 

The NFL set-up embodied in the CBA basically controls the major cost (player salaries) while also delivering a huge income stream (the major source if income are checks from the TV networks. If Ralph is desperate for more income it is his choice. it is not something inherent in the economic system which is the next best thing to a printing press in terms of generating cash.

 

In fact, the Bills have remained in Buffalo specifically because Ralph has not been so desperate for income that he has chosen to pull an Art Modell, Georgia Frontiere, or Al Davis and simply move the team to a higher bidder. Ralph is old enough and fortunately for the Bills his heirs have shown no interest in running this product to produce the highest income possible so he has not been so desperate for income as to move.

 

However, understanding this situation it becomes clear that Ralph deserves credit for what he deserves credit for (keeping the team here and being a sportsman rather than simply a businessman) but he also deserves blame for what he has done poorly (while he deserves credit for picking Polian, Marv, Butler and the football guys who built a winner, he simply has made bad choices from his handshake agreement with a player forced to retire, his mismanagement of the Butler situation, how he handled TD, Wade, MM, etc.

 

This has little to do with the stupid choices of WNY politicians and alot to do with a bunch of bad choices by Ralph which are simply the reality along with the good choices he made.

 

Fine post. Ralph decides how much money is enough, with input from CFO Jeff Littman. They've no doubt looked league wide and watched as the big markets made more. I'm sure they wanted more, and saw Toronto as an opportunity.

 

RW explicitly said the new revenue would not translate into more spent on players. Buffalo already is in the lower eighth of the league in money spent on players, so it would seem RW's padding his bottom line.

 

As the NFL becomes more corporate minded, it's the real fans who will suffer. Until something like perhaps a lockout occurs because the current CBA is terrible. At that point, the fans will go mad.

[The Dean]

Well.....the think is, Jaws is very good @ breaking down game film; the "class of the field", as you say. Aside from that, he's no better than any other talking head, which is why I don't tune into Monday Night Football very often. Just like w/ Solomon Weelcots, less is more.

 

 

When it comes to the analyst, what else, really, is important? They all talk too much. At least when Jaws has a take on the game, it is usually relevant and observant.

[The Dean]

Fine post. Ralph decides how much money is enough, with input from CFO Jeff Littman. They've no doubt looked league wide and watched as the big markets made more. I'm sure they wanted more, and saw Toronto as an opportunity.

 

RW explicitly said the new revenue would not translate into more spent on players. Buffalo already is in the lower eighth of the league in money spent on players, so it would seem RW's padding his bottom line.

 

As the NFL becomes more corporate minded, it's the real fans who will suffer. Until something like perhaps a lockout occurs because the current CBA is terrible. At that point, the fans will go mad.

 

 

Padding the bottom line not only makes Ralph richer, it also makes the team look better to prospective buyers. Padding the bottom line in this particular way, might make the team look more viable in Buffalo.

[WellDressed]

That's assuming Ford still exists in 2010. Oh, wait, we're bailing them out. I almost forgot.

 

I have always liked Collinsworth as a player and an analyst.

 

Don't forget, like I posted earlier, he said we got a new car as well ass the $$. Probably a new Taurus; that could have been the deal maker.

[WellDressed]

I have always liked Collinsworth as a player and an analyst.

 

Don't forget, like I posted earlier, he said we got a new car as well ass the $$. Probably a new Taurus; that could have been the deal maker.

 

 

I would pay a few dollars to photograph RW on a motorcycle, with him all lathered up in leather.

[Heitz]

Wouldn't picking Baltimore up in the middle of the night and moving them be a little dumber (and way more scumbaggy)? At least from the viewpoint of the fans?

 

Also, had the Bills not sh*t the bed after our sweet start and actually had something to play for, perhaps the atmosphere at the game would have been different. Plus the super-high ticket prices in the midst of the awful economy didn't help put the Bills faithful in the seats either.

 

That said it was depressing as hell watching that game - the amount of Fin fans, the lack of noise, the sterile atmosphere, the fact that it wasn't freaking cold and windy (though, I can only imagine how JP would have looked in actual *weather conditions*) and, oh yeah, the fact that we absolutely sucked made it a surreal experience.

 

But we're locked in for the next few years, so where do we go from here?

[BuffaloRebound]

Wouldn't picking Baltimore up in the middle of the night and moving them be a little dumber (and way more scumbaggy)? At least from the viewpoint of the fans?

 

Also, had the Bills not sh*t the bed after our sweet start and actually had something to play for, perhaps the atmosphere at the game would have been different. Plus the super-high ticket prices in the midst of the awful economy didn't help put the Bills faithful in the seats either.

 

That said it was depressing as hell watching that game - the amount of Fin fans, the lack of noise, the sterile atmosphere, the fact that it wasn't freaking cold and windy (though, I can only imagine how JP would have looked in actual *weather conditions*) and, oh yeah, the fact that we absolutely sucked made it a surreal experience.

 

But we're locked in for the next few years, so where do we go from here?

 

I bet Rogers shareholders would be pretty happy to tear up the rest of the deal. There was never anything in it for them. This is and will be a huge money pit to them. The only thing it did was grease the tracks for Ted Rogers to buy an NFL team and bring it to Toronto. Now he's gone and they're left paying $10m per game including pre-season games to Ralph to see a low budget version of an NFL team.