Sully tells it like it is.

[Adam]

Here's the article link again...

 

http://www.buffalonews.com/opinion/columns...ory/811049.html

 

 

Only one mention of Owens...

 

"It's too bad a current Bill (Trent Edwards, perhaps, or T.O.) didn't have the nerve to stand up to Jauron and say, "Coach, show a little confidence in us."

 

 

Given that, I can't make heads or tails of your reply. The article was about Dick Jauron, not Terrell Owens.

The decision showed no confidence in the defense, did it........Go back to the WGR 55 show you were listening to.....

[1billsfan]

The decision showed no confidence in the defense, did it........Go back to the WGR 55 show you were listening to.....

 

 

Sorry but I've never listened to WGR, I live in New Jersey pally...

 

 

A place were they "wacked" a guy who had a winning season, and in three years accumulated more winning seasons than Jauron has had in eight...

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football...ch_one_day.html

 

 

Sorry, but this is it...I can't continue this conversation because it's like trying to convince someone that 2+2 doesn't equal 5.

[jo39416]

Jauron is now likely 2-25 against winning teams, he is a loser.

 

But he is their king. So we have that.

[GrudginglyOptimistic]

Sorry but I've never listened to WGR, I live in New Jersey pally...

 

 

A place were they "wacked" a guy who had a winning season, and in three years accumulated more winning seasons than Jauron has had in eight...

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football...ch_one_day.html

 

 

Sorry, but this is it...I can't continue this conversation because it's like trying to convince someone that 2+2 doesn't equal 5.

Perhaps a way to transfer this conversation off of the sideshow of Jauron (or the off-off sideshow of Sully) or the off-off-off reductionist issue of what he said in what specific column and the fact it does not represent his entire public and vocal output on this subject is to find a point of common agreement.

 

I am quite comfortable with simply relegating Jauron (and his reign of error) to a sideshow because I think all would agree that the REALLY BIG issue for the Bills is the ) for a decade record of playoff appearances.

 

Like it or not Jauron only gets credit for a third of this problem.

 

Certainly saying goodbye to Jauron is gonna be a part of our getting better, but this has to either be merely the first (or second step contractually as Ralph has demonstrated he makes it a priority not to pay HCs for watching their kids' high school football games as he did with Wade when he canned him and would not do with MM until he agreed to not make Mr. Ralph pay for forcing him out).

 

Jauron is a symptom but we have a decade plus of evidence that Mr. Ralph is the cause of our mediocrity and failure.

 

Yes, Jauron deserves censure and job action (if Mr. Ralph would agree to it and he has shown little evidence in the past he will send DJ packing with multiple years of Mr. Ralph payments owed to him due to the extension Mr. Ralph gave him), but it takes a pretty effective set of blinders for anyone to feel that firing DJ and then seeing Mr. Ralph make the same mistakes he has made in the past decade with his hiring and managing MM, GW, Wade, TD, Butler and likely Brandon and Marv is gonna happen again with some fantasy DJ replacement.

 

Calling for DJ's ouster is easy but seemingly entirely inefficient and unlikely to produce a better team without talking about or even hinting at whats next in terms of hiring a new HC.

 

In fact. calling for DJs ouster seems to be the equivalent of urinating up a rope in that Mr. Ralph just extended him last year for what is likely at least a couple of more years and it seems pretty impossible given Mr. Ralph's past actions that he is gonna pay DJ for two or three years of working outside the NFL.

 

Its tough for a Bills fan as like or not no one on this planet is gonna fire the owner.

 

My guess for what is actually possible is:

 

1. Mr. Ralph seems to want to be able to dally and dicker with his toy the Bills from the press box on gameday, but is happy to turn over running the team and building partnerships that earn him nickels from St. Johns Fisher, Wegmans, and negotiating individual contracts with players to someone else. That was TD as a start who did a very good job moving the Bills into the 20th century with management and direction of off-field partnerships for training camp, game and season ticket sales, media networks, etc.

 

However, on the football side of the game TD was motivated by the demons of wanting to avoid an HC he hired running him out of town like Cowher did so he hire great Administrative Asst GW with his contacts and lists and he spent his time coming up with an on field product not ready for prime time.

 

Mr. Ralph need a GM who can run the business (he has one in Brandon) and who can negotiate specific contracts well (he seems to have this also in Brandon), but who also has a vision of building a winning football enterprise AND the ability to get his minions to believe in that vision OR if not then the intelligence to hire an HC to inspire the team and Buffalo base and make intelligent gameday choices.

 

Brandon has shown no ability at the last point and Marv in hiring Jauron has found a great guy but one who neither inspires the masses (aka customers) nor makes pristine game day decisions.

 

Ejecting Jauron without putting in place a GM who has shown capabilities beyond the good things Brandon does (keep the off-field business partnerships humming and negotiate the individual parts of contracts) to also inspire the team and the masses or hire an HC who can do this) is one of the primary demonstration of wearing blinders going among Bills fans,

 

We need to demand of Mr. Ralph that he hire a GM with a strong vision capable of leading this team to the playoffs and beyond.

 

2. The GM needs to then hire an HC to deploy this vision.

 

This I think is a huge sticking point as Ralph has shown no desire to pay a salary to an HC he has let go. He lost the appeal (as everyone with half a brain said he would) to try to squirm out of the year he paid Wade and he somehow pressured or bribed his way out of having to pay MM for the multiple years left on his deal).

 

As Mr. Ralph publicly announced and seemingly agreed to extend DJ last year, my guess is he has at least another 2 if not 3 seasons which Mr. Ralph is gonna pay him for one way or the other.

 

The good news is that DJ seems like a nice enough guy that if we got in a GM with a real vision for building a team he MIGHT be able to deal with the constraints of a Mr. Ralph who has shown no willingness to pay an HC to not work for him to do the on-field work for that GM.

 

I am not sure who that GM is but I do know for sure that no one who has called for DJs ouster has sketched out a plan that is gonna satisfy Mr. Ralphs desire not to pay someone who is not coaching for him.

[Sisyphean Bills]

Summary: Ralph Wilson is 91 years old, owns and is President of the team, and at this point in his life is not willing (or perhaps capable) of putting in the energy and money it takes to build a championship caliber franchise. He's surrounded himself with mostly non-football people that he feels he can trust, which counts more than results. Therefore, we the fans can continue to expect mediocrity at best.

 

Perhaps a way to transfer this conversation off of the sideshow of Jauron (or the off-off sideshow of Sully) or the off-off-off reductionist issue of what he said in what specific column and the fact it does not represent his entire public and vocal output on this subject is to find a point of common agreement.

 

I am quite comfortable with simply relegating Jauron (and his reign of error) to a sideshow because I think all would agree that the REALLY BIG issue for the Bills is the ) for a decade record of playoff appearances.

 

Like it or not Jauron only gets credit for a third of this problem.

 

Certainly saying goodbye to Jauron is gonna be a part of our getting better, but this has to either be merely the first (or second step contractually as Ralph has demonstrated he makes it a priority not to pay HCs for watching their kids' high school football games as he did with Wade when he canned him and would not do with MM until he agreed to not make Mr. Ralph pay for forcing him out).

 

Jauron is a symptom but we have a decade plus of evidence that Mr. Ralph is the cause of our mediocrity and failure.

 

Yes, Jauron deserves censure and job action (if Mr. Ralph would agree to it and he has shown little evidence in the past he will send DJ packing with multiple years of Mr. Ralph payments owed to him due to the extension Mr. Ralph gave him), but it takes a pretty effective set of blinders for anyone to feel that firing DJ and then seeing Mr. Ralph make the same mistakes he has made in the past decade with his hiring and managing MM, GW, Wade, TD, Butler and likely Brandon and Marv is gonna happen again with some fantasy DJ replacement.

 

Calling for DJ's ouster is easy but seemingly entirely inefficient and unlikely to produce a better team without talking about or even hinting at whats next in terms of hiring a new HC.

 

In fact. calling for DJs ouster seems to be the equivalent of urinating up a rope in that Mr. Ralph just extended him last year for what is likely at least a couple of more years and it seems pretty impossible given Mr. Ralph's past actions that he is gonna pay DJ for two or three years of working outside the NFL.

 

Its tough for a Bills fan as like or not no one on this planet is gonna fire the owner.

 

My guess for what is actually possible is:

 

1. Mr. Ralph seems to want to be able to dally and dicker with his toy the Bills from the press box on gameday, but is happy to turn over running the team and building partnerships that earn him nickels from St. Johns Fisher, Wegmans, and negotiating individual contracts with players to someone else. That was TD as a start who did a very good job moving the Bills into the 20th century with management and direction of off-field partnerships for training camp, game and season ticket sales, media networks, etc.

 

However, on the football side of the game TD was motivated by the demons of wanting to avoid an HC he hired running him out of town like Cowher did so he hire great Administrative Asst GW with his contacts and lists and he spent his time coming up with an on field product not ready for prime time.

 

Mr. Ralph need a GM who can run the business (he has one in Brandon) and who can negotiate specific contracts well (he seems to have this also in Brandon), but who also has a vision of building a winning football enterprise AND the ability to get his minions to believe in that vision OR if not then the intelligence to hire an HC to inspire the team and Buffalo base and make intelligent gameday choices.

 

Brandon has shown no ability at the last point and Marv in hiring Jauron has found a great guy but one who neither inspires the masses (aka customers) nor makes pristine game day decisions.

 

Ejecting Jauron without putting in place a GM who has shown capabilities beyond the good things Brandon does (keep the off-field business partnerships humming and negotiate the individual parts of contracts) to also inspire the team and the masses or hire an HC who can do this) is one of the primary demonstration of wearing blinders going among Bills fans,

 

We need to demand of Mr. Ralph that he hire a GM with a strong vision capable of leading this team to the playoffs and beyond.

 

2. The GM needs to then hire an HC to deploy this vision.

 

This I think is a huge sticking point as Ralph has shown no desire to pay a salary to an HC he has let go. He lost the appeal (as everyone with half a brain said he would) to try to squirm out of the year he paid Wade and he somehow pressured or bribed his way out of having to pay MM for the multiple years left on his deal).

 

As Mr. Ralph publicly announced and seemingly agreed to extend DJ last year, my guess is he has at least another 2 if not 3 seasons which Mr. Ralph is gonna pay him for one way or the other.

 

The good news is that DJ seems like a nice enough guy that if we got in a GM with a real vision for building a team he MIGHT be able to deal with the constraints of a Mr. Ralph who has shown no willingness to pay an HC to not work for him to do the on-field work for that GM.

 

I am not sure who that GM is but I do know for sure that no one who has called for DJs ouster has sketched out a plan that is gonna satisfy Mr. Ralphs desire not to pay someone who is not coaching for him.

[Adam]

Sorry but I've never listened to WGR, I live in New Jersey pally...

 

 

A place were they "wacked" a guy who had a winning season, and in three years accumulated more winning seasons than Jauron has had in eight...

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football...ch_one_day.html

 

 

Sorry, but this is it...I can't continue this conversation because it's like trying to convince someone that 2+2 doesn't equal 5.

By the way- I thought I made my opinion clear on Jauron with my Buck Showalter comment.........I do think the fans heap on him excessively and I think the punt was the correct call.

[GrudginglyOptimistic]

Summary: Ralph Wilson is 91 years old, owns and is President of the team, and at this point in his life is not willing (or perhaps capable) of putting in the energy and money it takes to build a championship caliber franchise. He's surrounded himself with mostly non-football people that he feels he can trust, which counts more than results. Therefore, we the fans can continue to expect mediocrity at best.

I am reluctant to admit this is true as one of the likely outcomes for a fan who thinks this is true is actually pretty gruesome to contemplate being in that frame of mind.

[Buftex]

Yes. Felser did it. That's how he became the AFC editor at the Sporting News for a time in the late 70s/early 80s. Picking up the phone and establishing some contacts elsewhere isn't a big business expense, by the way. There are lots of other examples of columnists in mid-tier cities (KC, Minneapolis, etc) that have done this. Re the NY Times, I actually wouldn't expect it -- as good as that paper is overall, it's sports section is legendarily bad (I should know -- it arrives on my doorstep every morning).

 

 

Larry Felser is/was okay, but he wasn't a great columnist either. It seems the passing of time has made people forget that Felser was as negative as they come...I am told he was a much better football writer in the days of the AFL... I loathed him growing up with his columns in the 70's and early 80's. He was every bit as wishy-washy and reactive as you are suggesting Sullivan is. Felser might have had more credibility in his day (for lack of another word) than Sullivan, but the coverage of sports is much different now than it was in his heyday.

[GrudginglyOptimistic]

Larry Felser is/was okay, but he wasn't a great columnist either. It seems the passing of time has made people forget that Felser was as negative as they come...I am told he was a much better football writer in the days of the AFL... I loathed him growing up with his columns in the 70's and early 80's. He was every bit as wishy-washy and reactive as you are suggesting Sullivan is. Felser might have had more credibility in his day (for lack of another word) than Sullivan, but the coverage of sports is much different now than it was in his heyday.

IMHO, the problem is now that folks almost all seem to measure excellence by how big of a splash you can make and how big of a contract you can get by getting attention so you can get a big job on ESPN (or one of its pint sized regional equivalents or internet based blather vehicles.

 

The premium is on being loud and insulting and trying to get noticed.

 

Back in the day, generally the way to get excellent was to be judged good at your craft.

 

Being at the same newspaper/magazine for years and learning your craft was a legitimate way to get excellent.

 

In today's world the average worker may hold 6 or 7 jobs significant in a lifetime and if someone stays with one organization for ten years it seems a rarity.

 

Whose to say which is better overall as im the modern world there are more opportunities and travel between towns to resettle are much more available to the individual today.

 

However, one thing we have lost is knowledgable sportswriters.

[seneca st grad to cali]

Sully is anti Buffalo and I am writing this from CA when I have 9 am comm class! Speaking of class sully and mark have none, u live in Buffalo and work at the Buffalo news Support the fact that a young team held the NFL Super Star if you watch NFL network team to a one point victory on opening day at there house. Blew up the Tampa Bay yucks!!!!!!! Trent delivered the ball where it should be!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lee and TO dropped a TD each in that game!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And was the first team in 22 %%#$#^%$^% games to hold Bressie under 200 yards. The defense quit when the Coach did, sully if you wanna throw someone under the bus start with Juaron himself!!!! He was a poor hire to begin with, I count this as the 6th conceded defeat by tricy dick in his tenure. The same guy that has enough confidence in his punter to pass and not his qb !!!!!!!!!! By god we coulda used the beast in that situation and DJ has no excuse in that situation!!!!!! The point is this DJ is the reason for our competing teams to lose he is and will always be a 7-9 coach!@%^^$#$#%#%&$# DJ next!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[iinii]

Sully has a big time vendetta for TO, as do many others, big deal. I really don't care about TO's press conferences, but I am concerned with 0 catches! As well as him and LE being targeted so little. Who gives a rats a$$ if he plays nice with the media...

I agree, if i had just lost a game like that I would be way less than cordial about it. I am a competive person probably like T.O. is and losing doesn't sit well with me either. So if you jam a microphone in my face or force me to do a press conference like that I would respond in much the same way. I have felt all along T.O. is so caught in the middle he can't say what is on his mind. If he does everyone will jump on the Owens is a cancer bandwagon, what he wants to say is probably true, and if he doesn't, well you see what that gets him.

[Sisyphean Bills]

I am reluctant to admit this is true as one of the likely outcomes for a fan who thinks this is true is actually pretty gruesome to contemplate being in that frame of mind.

Was this translated from Chinese or something?

 

Look, there is always hope. We can hope, just like Ralph has said publicly he hopes, that something extraordinary happens, another small market guru falls out of the sky like Bill Polian once did, and the Bills suddenly become a contending team again. Nothing wrong with that. But, I'm not going to confuse hope with expectations, get all frustrated that my hope is misplaced on those that have proven inept repeatedly, and go around "kicking the dog" in the local media and having "domestic situations" with fellow Bills fans.

[Big Hurt]

Sullivan = POS

 

If you read the mindless drivel of the sniveling punk Jerry Sullivan, he's been predicting a T.O meltdown since the signing. Now that we're 3 games in and he hasn't gotten the predicted meltdown, he's looking petty and small, so he first tries using his column to criticize T.O. for not speaking his mind. That didn't draw the desired response from T.O. either, so now Sullivan's just blatantly begging for a T.O. outburst - even openly baiting him in post-game interviews - which will no doubt result in the inevitable "See - I told you so!" column from the whiney, sniveling, know-nothing punk Sullivan.

 

Doe's Sullivan have a vendetta for T.O.? Probably not any more than he did for Losman. Sullivan just has little else to write about, since he know so little about football to begin with, so he latches onto what he thinks will be a story, and writes the most cynical and negative columns his small mind will allow. Then, when the proverbial 'blind squirrel finds an acorn', he thumps his chest and screams, "Told ya!"

 

Sullivan.

 

 

I don't think TO has to talk to anyone if he doesn't want to. When TO was signed with the Bills, the Buffalo local media thought they hit a jackport. They thought writing about TO will get them the national attention they wanted. Instead, TO gave them nothing to write about. So you saw the list of questions that TO was asked. They were trying to make TO say something negative about his team, teammates, and coaches so that they can rip him apart. But TO did not fall for that. I can understand the media's frustration.

Same goes for Rodney Harrison. He wants a piece of TO too. What he wants to do is to oick a fight with TO so people pay attention to him. Otherwise, he is not insightful, uninteresting ex-dirty player that should never make it on TV. As a fan of the Bills, I don't mind if TO doesn't talk to the media. I just want him to help the Bills win. Nothing else matter to me. Sully is a nobody in the national level. He is trying to further his career. I don't blame him for what he does. But I won't get on his side because I know he is more interested in his career even if it means his action will hurt the Bills.