Dan III Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 I think Ralph has pretty much lost it, but most of this really needs to be put in perspective. Ralph always wanted a consensus, partly because he didn't want an all-powerful GM as he was a meddler himself. Polian became a little too powerful and Ralph didn't like it (obviously a huge mistake). But Ralph loved Marv, Marv was there in the best years of the team's history, and Marv was a consensus builder. Ralph tried to keep that up a few years but then had huge problems with John Butler. After feeling his age, and really wanting that elusive championship, Ralph went against his own instincts and gave TD complete control of the team, even Ralph's own President title. It backfired badly, and Ralph really felt that situation was worse (it really wasn't, TD just made a bunch of enemies and an equal number of player mistakes). So the last few years since TD was jettisoned, Ralph has gone even more overboard to his old ways. I'm not saying it's right, in fact, I think it's dead wrong. But this all didnt come about overnight, or without history and reason. Ralph micro-managed Polian and Butler, but gave TD full control? No way. Rich, old leopards don't change their spots... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. Rich Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 Rich, old leopards don't change their spots... Okay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boatdrinks Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 [quote name='LancasterSteve' date='Dec 23 2008, 04:26 AM' post='126618 The last draft Bill Polian conducted here in Buffalo, Linda Bogdan tried to tell Polian in the war room who to draft. She made quite a seen from what was relayed to me. I worked for the Bills at the time and am still friends of many players from those years. Bill was and still is a pretty hardnosed guy; but sure knows his talent. He had Ms Bogdan removed from the Warg the classy guy he is and was never went public with any of this in any detail. Our drafts have gone downhill since as has this franchise This is OLD NEWS but it is true. I believe Larry Felser (former Buff news sports editor) said that the "C" word was used by Mr Polian. That got back to Ralph and his decision was made. He informed Polian he was out as GM and Bill convinced him to ler him stay as the 1992 season was almost underway. Ralph agreed, and promptly terminated Polian after SB XXVII. Dumbest move in franchise history, and one we are still paying for today. Bill screwed Ralph and the Bills in the end though. Free agency was set to begin before the 2003 season and one Will Wolford was in the final year of his contract. He wanted to stay in Buffalo, and Polian never returned ANY of his agents phone calls the entire 1992 season. We all know the rest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsWatch Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 This is OLD NEWS but it is true. I believe Larry Felser (former Buff news sports editor) said that the "C" word was used by Mr Polian. That got back to Ralph and his decision was made. He informed Polian he was out as GM and Bill convinced him to ler him stay as the 1992 season was almost underway. Ralph agreed, and promptly terminated Polian after SB XXVII. Dumbest move in franchise history, and one we are still paying for today. Bill screwed Ralph and the Bills in the end though. Free agency was set to begin before the 2003 season and one Will Wolford was in the final year of his contract. He wanted to stay in Buffalo, and Polian never returned ANY of his agents phone calls the entire 1992 season. We all know the rest. If I was the owner of a business and someone referred to my daughter in such derogatory terms he would have been canned. Business associates can be replaced but family not. Oh and I would have doen my best to find the best possible replacement to show the person up but that is a different issue. Mr. Polian also had interoffice personel issues in Carolina as well and it put him in the hot seat there. He is doing a good job in Indianapolis because the owner wisely knows how to manage use of him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevie Ray Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 He is doing a good job in Indianapolis because the owner wisely knows how to manage use of him. Oh, so in other words, the owner lets him do his job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan III Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 Okay. I knew I could count on you.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. Rich Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 I knew I could count on you.. Liar! That's something even my wife cannot claim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisyphean Bills Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 If I was the owner of a business and someone referred to my daughter in such derogatory terms he would have been canned. Business associates can be replaced but family not. Oh and I would have doen my best to find the best possible replacement to show the person up but that is a different issue. Mr. Polian also had interoffice personel issues in Carolina as well and it put him in the hot seat there. He is doing a good job in Indianapolis because the owner wisely knows how to manage use of him. So, you are saying you are not an owner of a business, correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R. Rich Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 So, you are saying you are not an owner of a business, correct? In a manner of speaking, he is (or was, @ least). He is (was?) a slum lord. Just kidding, but he does (did?) own rental property. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisyphean Bills Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 In a manner of speaking, he is (or was, @ least). He is (was?) a slum lord. Just kidding, but he does (did?) own rental property. No big deal. Seriously, just curious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rico Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 (snip) The last draft Bill Polian conducted here in Buffalo, Linda Bogdan tried to tell Polian in the war room who to draft. She made quite a seen from what was relayed to me. I worked for the Bills at the time and am still friends of many players from those years. Bill was and still is a pretty hardnosed guy; but sure knows his talent. He had Ms Bogdan removed from the War-room. She went crying to daddy (Wilson) and Ralph was pretyy close to firing Polian before the season even started. Well heads cooled off but Ralph Wilson still had a grudge against Bill Polian because he told daddy's girl to go to hell and stay out of his football operations. There were other things that occured over the coure of Bill's final season here. To be sure there was no love lost between these two. Some in the media had speculated that Bill knew his time was up in Buffalo. He never let that impression with me or many of the front office personell or the many players I had and still have as friends. Bill being the classy guy he is and was never went public with any of this in any detail. Our drafts have gone downhill since as has this franchise Great post, thanks for sharing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dante Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 If I was the owner of a business and someone referred to my daughter in such derogatory terms he would have been canned. Business associates can be replaced but family not. Oh and I would have doen my best to find the best possible replacement to show the person up but that is a different issue. Mr. Polian also had interoffice personel issues in Carolina as well and it put him in the hot seat there. He is doing a good job in Indianapolis because the owner wisely knows how to manage use of him. If I was the owner of a multi million dollar franchise, my daughter would never be in a position to, or be insolent, spoiled enough, to cause a scene with my GM. If she was having a little fit, then she deserved to be brought down. I'm guessing, for Polian to say something like that, this wasn't the first time they banged heads. If your going to be a gm you can't have little minions telling you what to do. Even if it is the bosses little girl. I would think Ralph would be a decent enough businessman to understand this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsVet Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 If I was the owner of a multi million dollar franchise, my daughter would never be in a position to, or be insolent, spoiled enough, to cause a scene with my GM. If she was having a little fit, then she deserved to be brought down. I'm guessing, for Polian to say something like that, this wasn't the first time they banged heads. If your going to be a gm you can't have little minions telling you what to do. Even if it is the bosses little girl. I would think Ralph would be a decent enough businessman to understand this. You just have to love Polian. He's got some attitude, and it takes guts to tell off the spoiled daughter of the owner. I was happy when he got a SB win with the Colts. Goodness knows he deserved to win at some point, and he built that team to win long term. Indy has had something like 7 straight seasons with 10 or more wins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chalkie Gerzowski Posted December 23, 2008 Share Posted December 23, 2008 No, Polian called that fat cow a tranny. What sort of tennis did "she" play? Maybe table tennis... pong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Turk Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 hey, I know exactly how Polian felt...I basically had the same thing happen to me at a job...I was forced to hire my bosses daughter for a job that she wasn't really qualified for(although she was a 9.5/10 on the hotness scale, and I wanted to bang the hell out of her), and then whenever she didn't get her way she went to her daddy complaining and I had to hear it. The final straw came when she created all this work for other people in the office to do, making us all stay late, while she just decided to go home 2 hours early. I left her a pretty brutal message on her cell phone and let her know in no uncertain terms that what she did was BS and that no one in the office appreciated it. Within 2 weeks I was terminated for "misconduct" by her dad even though we ran the best numbers in his area....In hindsight, maybe I should have kept my mouth shut, but I have never been one to mince words with people, and it ended up turning out for the best anyways. I feel bad that Polian got stuck in that position, and I cannot believe that this team employs a female scout. That is highly embarrassing, especially since she obviously doesn't know what the hell she is doing. She is probably the one who talked up Dwayne Wright to Ralph so he forced them to select him in the 4th round... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LancasterSteve Posted December 24, 2008 Author Share Posted December 24, 2008 Merry Christmas Steve! You gonna be at the game Sunday? Yep I'll be in my seat in the PM club. Doubt my better half will go though; how about your's? Merry Christmas to You and Ruth BTW hope she is feeling better ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Turk Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 If I was the owner of a business and someone referred to my daughter in such derogatory terms he would have been canned. Business associates can be replaced but family not. Oh and I would have doen my best to find the best possible replacement to show the person up but that is a different issue. Mr. Polian also had interoffice personel issues in Carolina as well and it put him in the hot seat there. He is doing a good job in Indianapolis because the owner wisely knows how to manage use of him. First of all, the bigger issue is why someone who is incompetent in their position is there in the first place. Obviously if she wasn't Ralph's daughter she would have a 0% chance of being in that position. Does being Ralph's daughter give her the ability to understand and judge what it takes to be a successful NFL player? Doubtful. If those are her only credentials, she shouldn't even be in that position to begin with. The only problem I see is that Ralph allowed an incompetent family member to get in the way of building a successful team, and in doing so made a horrendous business decision. The first rule of business is to never hire your family, because most people are unable to separate the two. Obviously this is the case with Wilson. I am pretty sure if Polian said the same thing about a female employee that wasn't Wilson's daughter, he wouldn't have reacted that way. So, in the final analysis, Polian may have been better off venting to someone else after she left, but Wilson is ultimately responsible for putting her in position to begin with, and putting Polian in that situation. Its a very bad business decision, regardless of however you want to look at it, and the whole business associates can be replaced but family can't argument is a bunch of BS. Family shouldn't be in business unless all other employees are reporting to them. Having a family member in a position where they need to report to someone outside the family is asking for problems. Wilson might have been upset at what happened, but he has noone to blame but himself...looking at the importance of the two in the grand scheme of things should have told Wilson you don't fire people who make you successful and take the side of someone who is a non-factor, regardless of WHO they are... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VJ91 Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 Linda Bogdan Vice President/AssistantDirector of College and Pro Scouting The last draft Bill Polian conducted here in Buffalo, Linda Bogdan tried to tell Polian in the war room who to draft. She made quite a seen from what was relayed to me. I worked for the Bills at the time and am still friends of many players from those years. Bill was and still is a pretty hardnosed guy; but sure knows his talent. He had Ms Bogdan removed from the War-room. She went crying to daddy (Wilson) and Ralph was pretyy close to firing Polian before the season even started. Here's the story I heard after Polian quit or got fired at the end of that season: Polian had a heated argument with Linda Bogdan which led to him either quitting or getting fired. So your scoop is not exactly earth shattering, but thanks for reminding me how stupid and petty the incident was that led to the Bills losing the best GM they ever had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JStranger76 Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 So why is Linda Bogdan still alive?!?!?! That's the real topic here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Jack Posted December 24, 2008 Share Posted December 24, 2008 Yep I'll be in my seat in the PM club. Doubt my better half will go though; how about your's? Merry Christmas to You and Ruth BTW hope she is feeling better ? She's fighting strep throat right now, so going is still up in the air. What time do you get there? We'll come over to your club before the game, do you still grab a table in the same area before? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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