grammer_police Posted January 31, 2009 Posted January 31, 2009 He sounded like a 90 year old man who was not really "with it". I found it ironic when he joked that the team had not been very successful since Bruce left, because it seems that the reason we havent been very succesful is because we have a 90 year old man who is not really "with it" running the team.
Dan Posted January 31, 2009 Posted January 31, 2009 He sounded like a 90 year old man who was not really "with it". I found it ironic when he joked that the team had not been very successful since Bruce left, because it seems that the reason we havent been very succesful is because we have a 90 year old man who is not really "with it" running the team. He's' a 90 year old man that just realized the culmination of his life is enshrinement for all time into the HOF. He looked shocked, in awe, and amazed to me. Cut him some slack. I find it most telling that the majority of his comments were about other players and the City of Buffalo. Not himself. The man is all class and I'm proud he's the owner of the team I live and die for.
The_Real Posted January 31, 2009 Posted January 31, 2009 I give him alot of trouble alot of times but he's really worthy of this honor. Congratulations to he and Bruuuuuuuuuce!
Corp000085 Posted January 31, 2009 Posted January 31, 2009 But he is 90. With all due respect to your opinion, it stinks! Ralph is the man, and this is the ultimate show of respect for his contributions to the game. On a day when Bruce Smith finally credited someone else for his success and showed genuine humility, a man with a bigger impact on the history of the game than Bruce could ever dream of was inducted. Congrats Ralph, congrats Bruce, and congrats to everyone else inducted. The game's biggest honor fell upon two of our guys today. But nothing. We all owe it to them to show up in Canton in August!
The_Philster Posted January 31, 2009 Posted January 31, 2009 On a day when Bruce Smith finally credited someone else for his success and showed genuine humility, if that doesn't speak volumes, nothing does
Corp000085 Posted January 31, 2009 Posted January 31, 2009 if that doesn't speak volumes, nothing does Not to get totally off the original topic, but Bruce Smith totally redeemed himself in those 2 minutes of talking from the heart. Not once did he mention himself. Hell, he barely mentioned the Buffalo Bills. For him to credit his father for everything in his life, that speaks volumes about the real Bruce Smith. Hopefully he'll do more of the same for his enshrinement speech.
KnightRider Posted January 31, 2009 Posted January 31, 2009 Not to get totally off the original topic, but Bruce Smith totally redeemed himself in those 2 minutes of talking from the heart. Not once did he mention himself. Hell, he barely mentioned the Buffalo Bills. For him to credit his father for everything in his life, that speaks volumes about the real Bruce Smith. Hopefully he'll do more of the same for his enshrinement speech. Perhaps Bruce finally grew up. It does take longer for some people.
VJ91 Posted January 31, 2009 Posted January 31, 2009 He sounded like a 90 year old man who was not really "with it". I found it ironic when he joked that the team had not been very successful since Bruce left, because it seems that the reason we havent been very succesful is because we have a 90 year old man who is not really "with it" running the team. Please let me know how with it you are when you reach 90. Ralph sounded old, but the man gave lucid, well thought-out answers and was very impressive. Unfortunately, through no fault of his age or mental capacities, which it is obvious he still retains all of his mental capacities, Ralph does indeed run his football team, and he has never been good at that job. This is his day to celebrate all the reasons the voters elected him into the Hall of Fame. Good for Ralph, great for our fair city, and congratulations to him and the Wilson family - there will again be a huge and loud Buffalo crowd in Canton this August for Ralph and Bruce! BUT.....you bring up a very valid point in that his Bills have not been good at all, since he fired John Butler, and brought in Tom Donahoe. And then worse then that, after he fired Donahoe, and reinstated himself as team President. Looking back at the history of the winning teams Ralph has presided over, each team had one common thread, a talented and strong willed coach / and or / GM worked for Wilson those winning years. Go all the way back to Lou Saban...twice. Then Chuck Knox. And then the un-equaled Bill Polian, who brought in Butler and Levy....and A.J. Smith and those great scouts. Donahoe was given even more power then Polian, and Ralph had no reason to think, given Donahoe's reputation at the time, he was making a mistake. The guy crapped out. Oh well, it was time for Wilson to bring in another good man to turn the team around once again......and he decided not to even try! I don't know why. Maybe at his age, he was tired of always fighting with the good strong willed guys who although won on the field, gave Ralph and his ego more problems then they were worth at the end of the day. Ralph is still a very smart man. He knows why the team is not winning. His team always lost when he didn't have qualified football people running the football operations, and this era is no different from those. It is just our luck, that now Ralph seems content to try and get it done with this "inner-circle" of jerks, instead of once again reaching out for good qualified football men to bring greatness back to the Buffalo Bills. I was encouraged to see Buddy Nix come back into the scouting department. Maybe with the added pressure, DJ will stop whining about how hard it is to win in the NFL, and get some passion about just plain winning. Who knows? But I will be happy to see Ralph Wilson go into the Hall of Fame, regardless. Very good, very bad or perpetually 7-9-0, he has kept the Buffalo Bills in Buffalo for going on 50 consecutive years and counting!!
The_Philster Posted February 1, 2009 Posted February 1, 2009 BUT.....you bring up a very valid point in that his Bills have not been good at all, since he fired John Butler, and brought in Tom Donahoe. And then worse then that, after he fired Donahoe, and reinstated himself as team President. Regarding Butler, we were gonna be bad whether we kept him or not...at least for a time...consider how he kept overpaying for mediocre talent and mangling the salary cap. Regardless, he was gone whether Ralph fired him or not...a few weeks after he was fired his contract was up...a contract he refused to work with Ralph on extending...Butler's wife wanted out of Buffalo. Some will say that Ralph low-balled him on his first contract offer but you usually do that in contract negotiations anyway. Besides, Butler didn't do as much as the GM as many GMs around the league were doing...he was mainly running the scouting department and paid little attention to how much he was paying players. As far as worse since Donahoe was fired? wanna pass that crack pipe? We may not be much better than we were under Donahoe, but I can't see us as being worse by any means
Cash Posted February 1, 2009 Posted February 1, 2009 Regarding Butler, we were gonna be bad whether we kept him or not...at least for a time...consider how he kept overpaying for mediocre talent and mangling the salary cap. Regardless, he was gone whether Ralph fired him or not...a few weeks after he was fired his contract was up...a contract he refused to work with Ralph on extending...Butler's wife wanted out of Buffalo. Some will say that Ralph low-balled him on his first contract offer but you usually do that in contract negotiations anyway. Besides, Butler didn't do as much as the GM as many GMs around the league were doing...he was mainly running the scouting department and paid little attention to how much he was paying players.As far as worse since Donahoe was fired? wanna pass that crack pipe? We may not be much better than we were under Donahoe, but I can't see us as being worse by any means Hey The Philster, nice to see you're still in full effect. Remember you from way back in the alt.sport.football.pro.buffalo-bills days. Good Times. In any case, the story I heard (and believe) is that Butler decided to leave with a year left on his contract, but played out the string rather than resign. He was (allegedly) sick of Ralph constantly looking over his shoulder, and wanted to run the show in a more unfettered fashion. I definitely agree that he overpaid his players. The only defense was that we had winning teams, and he mortgaged the future to keep them together. The Sam Rogers and Jerry Ostroski contracts were akin to the Chris Kelsay re-signing. (On the other hand, the Ted Washington and Bryce Paup signings were delectable.)
don_of_manhattan Posted February 1, 2009 Posted February 1, 2009 He's' a 90 year old man that just realized the culmination of his life is enshrinement for all time into the HOF. He looked shocked, in awe, and amazed to me. Cut him some slack. I find it most telling that the majority of his comments were about other players and the City of Buffalo. Not himself. The man is all class and I'm proud he's the owner of the team I live and die for. Amen to that! BTW, that 90 year-old man still has his team in Buffalo and he doesn't have to!
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