Steely Dan Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 This guy has kept the Bills in Buffalo since the team first started. The guy deserves respect. 'Nuff said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billsfreak Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 So they wait until they have two straight wins and he gets the nuts to go out on the field. Two wins doesn't change the terriBill job he is doing as an owner. My guess is there will still be a chorus of boos, especially if they are behind a few TDs at half time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdog1960 Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 This guy has kept the Bills in Buffalo since the team first started. The guy deserves respect. 'Nuff said. Oh, yeah. "thank you sir, may I have another?" 75000 Mr Burns masks from the simpsons would be appropriate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alow Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 All of you who want to boo Ralph...that's an indication as to why you'll never accomplish something worthy of a ceremony. As birdog said, Ralph has kept the team here. He deserves some recognition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdog1960 Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 All of you who want to boo Ralph...that's an indication as to why you'll never accomplish something worthy of a ceremony. As birdog said, Ralph has kept the team here. He deserves some recognition. I think you misunderstood me. and being supplicant is not a prerequisite for honor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDawkinstein Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 i didnt necessarily agree with booing him a couple weeks ago, but there are some good points made in here. frankly, this is probably the ONE and ONLY opportunity for fans to have a direct line to Ralph. You're not going to reach him by writing a letter, or placing a phone call. He has us over a barrel in regards to selling tickets so we cant voice our disapproval by not buying. This will probably be the only time all season, perhaps all year, perhaps ever, that fans will be able to tell Ralph exactly how they feel about the product he is selling them. Which at this point hasnt been anything more than a bill of sale. In the past decade my family has easily spent upwards of $30,000 on this team and he can't bother to sacrifice his own millions on a competitive team. RALPH is the one who is putting fans between a rock and a hard place. RALPH is the one who has setup this "damned if you do, damned if you dont" situation. I don't think that's very honorable. I'm over the "but he kept the team in Buffalo" argument. He already got his fair trade on that. He kept the team here, and he has made BILLIONS off of the people. idk, im torn as to what is right and what is wrong with regards to this ceremony... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. WEO Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 All of you who want to boo Ralph...that's an indication as to why you'll never accomplish something worthy of a ceremony. As birdog said, Ralph has kept the team here. He deserves some recognition. He's in the HOF, chief. Besides, do you want to cheer the fact that by never moving the team, he has amassed a fortune that still puts 20-30 million in his pocket per year, regardless of how bad the team is? He doesn't live in Buffalo, he doesn't mind that the team sucks. The best part is that he bailed out before the Cleveland game! He knew how that would go. He is totally shameless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
metzelaars_lives Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 Although I'm not as much of a fan of Mr. Wilson as I used to be, I wouldn't do anything that would make him less inclined to want to do what he can to keep the team in Buffalo. I think that he is an inefficient owner and quite frankly, I'm sick of feeling like a hostage and hope he dies sooner than later so we can just dicover our fate now instead of always worrying about it. That being said, I don't think booing could possibly accomplish anything at this point. If he got overwhelming boos he could just as easily say, "ya know what, screw these people, I don't care if the team stays here or not when I'm gone." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MURTR Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 Although I'm not as much of a fan of Mr. Wilson as I used to be, I wouldn't do anything that would make him less inclined to want to do what he can to keep the team in Buffalo. I think that he is an inefficient owner and quite frankly, I'm sick of feeling like a hostage and hope he dies sooner than later so we can just dicover our fate now instead of always worrying about it. That being said, I don't think booing could possibly accomplish anything at this point. If he got overwhelming boos he could just as easily say, "ya know what, screw these people, I don't care if the team stays here or not when I'm gone." Ummm, hate to break it to you but he ALREADY doesnt give a flying F$#K if the team stays. If he did, he would work out a deal to sell the team. The coward wont even talk about it publicly. If he is such a swell guy, and so loyal to us, why doesnt he at least man up and say "you know what, I would love to keep the team in Buffalo, but it just doesnt make financial sense for my family." I wouldnt even be the least bit upset b/c I know that at the end of the day, this is a business. But dont patronize the fans and front like you are still loyal to the city when you cant even be man enough to admit your selling to the highest bidder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MURTR Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 Oh, yeah. "thank you sir, my I have another?" 75000 Mr Burns masks from the simpsons would be appropriate. 75,000 Mr.Burns masks would be PERFECT. Someone needs to get WGR or that Billboard kid to sponsor this. Even more fitting b/c of Halloween. My guess would be that Ralph would catch wind of the plan and suddenly "not feel up to it" again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricojes Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 Im not Gonna cheer or Boo....Ill be in line waiting for a Beer I say we all follow you, let's all walk out of our seats. Let him give his speech to an empty stadium, that would say a lot more than booing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 Ummm, hate to break it to you but he ALREADY doesnt give a flying F$#K if the team stays. If he did, he would work out a deal to sell the team. The coward wont even talk about it publicly. If he is such a swell guy, and so loyal to us, why doesnt he at least man up and say "you know what, I would love to keep the team in Buffalo, but it just doesnt make financial sense for my family." I wouldnt even be the least bit upset b/c I know that at the end of the day, this is a business. But dont patronize the fans and front like you are still loyal to the city when you cant even be man enough to admit your selling to the highest bidder. What I just don't get is how does selling the team guarantee that the Bills stay in Buffalo? There's absolutely no guarantee whatsoever that a new owner will keep the team here. Regardless of what they say, they'll be buying something that leaves them 100's of millions of dollars in debt. They'll do whatever they can to make money. Ralph has owned the team since its inception and has said that as long as he's alive, the Bills will be in Buffalo. That is the only sure way to guarantee the team stay. Period. We have an owner that has promised to keep the team in Buffalo as long as he's alive. So, what do people want? They want him to die so some unkown person can buy the team and do with it as they wish. How does that make any sense? It doesn't. So, everyone's upset about the quality of product on the field. And rightfully so. But booing Ralph during a HOF ceremony does not send a message that you're unhappy about the Bills' play. It sends the message that you're unhappy about Ralph making the HOF. There's a time and place for everything. And a ceremony honoring a person's lifetime achievement is not the time nor the place to boo the present. It's a time to honor him for giving us a reason to cheer, and cry, for 50 years. There's plenty of oppurtunity to boo Ralph for the Bills' current state of affairs. Heck, there's a smart guy that's taking donations to put that message on billboards. There are plenty of other avenues to state your dislike of the current state of the franchise. It would be far more effective to pursue one of them. I've said it before, and I'll say it one last time, I read threads like this and it's like listening to some spoiled little brat kid pissing and moaning about their parents. How much they hate them. How unfair life is. Because they wanted a new Porsche for their birthday and all they got was Mustang. Whaaa... whaaaa Mommy and Daddy have so much money, they should give it all to me, me, me. Pathetic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macaroni Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 Besides, do you want to cheer the fact that by never moving the team, he has amassed a fortune that still puts 20-30 million in his pocket per year, regardless of how bad the team is? He doesn't live in Buffalo, he doesn't mind that the team sucks. That is an interesting point .... If you can take the emotion of being a long sufferering Bills fan out of the equation ... Exactly what is Ralph's responsibilities as an owner (remember I said owner NOT fan)? His responsibility is to provide a product, in a market, that sells (and puts money in his pocket by the way). I think we can all agree that he has done just that ... it may be an inferior product, I won't argue that, but it DOES sell. We fans want to win ... owners want to profit, that's just the way it is. We can blame him all we want for being a piss poor Bills fan but you gotta agree that he is a pretty darn good owner. BOO all you want don't make the fact that I think it is pretty classless stop you .... but I think a more fitting "demonstartion" would be if the fans drowned out his speach with the chant "WE WANT A WINNER" an even better demonstaration would be a dip in ticket sales to tell him an inferior product will NO LONGER SELL in Buffalo ... then again you have to worry if he can find another market willing to buy his inferior product. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdog1960 Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 What I just don't get is how does selling the team guarantee that the Bills stay in Buffalo? There's absolutely no guarantee whatsoever that a new owner will keep the team here. Regardless of what they say, they'll be buying something that leaves them 100's of millions of dollars in debt. They'll do whatever they can to make money. Ralph has owned the team since its inception and has said that as long as he's alive, the Bills will be in Buffalo. That is the only sure way to guarantee the team stay. Period. We have an owner that has promised to keep the team in Buffalo as long as he's alive. So, what do people want? They want him to die so some unkown person can buy the team and do with it as they wish. How does that make any sense? It doesn't. So, everyone's upset about the quality of product on the field. And rightfully so. But booing Ralph during a HOF ceremony does not send a message that you're unhappy about the Bills' play. It sends the message that you're unhappy about Ralph making the HOF. There's a time and place for everything. And a ceremony honoring a person's lifetime achievement is not the time nor the place to boo the present. It's a time to honor him for giving us a reason to cheer, and cry, for 50 years. There's plenty of oppurtunity to boo Ralph for the Bills' current state of affairs. Heck, there's a smart guy that's taking donations to put that message on billboards. There are plenty of other avenues to state your dislike of the current state of the franchise. It would be far more effective to pursue one of them. I've said it before, and I'll say it one last time, I read threads like this and it's like listening to some spoiled little brat kid pissing and moaning about their parents. How much they hate them. How unfair life is. Because they wanted a new Porsche for their birthday and all they got was Mustang. Whaaa... whaaaa Mommy and Daddy have so much money, they should give it all to me, me, me. Pathetic. nothing any of us can do , even collectively, will make a positive difference in his decision on the fate of the team. In the end, a symbolic act would only make disgruntled fans feel a little less powerless and I think that's a good thing. Expecting a porsche versus expecting a playoff game every 10 years or so is not equivalent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Typical TBD Guy Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 What I just don't get is how does selling the team guarantee that the Bills stay in Buffalo? You think someone like Golisano or a Kelly-backed ownership group would just pick up and leave after Ralph sells to them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 You think someone like Golisano or a Kelly-backed ownership group would just pick up and leave after Ralph sells to them? Firstly, I think that the financial burden of buying an NFL franchise brings can change the way an owner feels. Do you think any of the teams that have moved, moved because they didn't like the city they were in or because they wanted/needed to make more money? I don't think a Kelly-backed group would want to move the group. However, the financial reality may force his backers into a decision that Kelly has no choice but to accept. Bottom line, any new owner will have to make quite a bit more money than Ralph currently does due to their much larger debt. Secondly, do we have any solid evidence that someone like Golisano or a Kelly-backed ownership group has the money or interest to actually buy the team right now? Everyone keeps saying sell it to Kelly. Well, where's Kelly's money? Where's his backers? Where's anything more than Kelly dropping cryptic hints at oppurtune times? How are we to know that Ralph didn't sit down with Kelly and discussed it, only to realize that Kelly's group is woefully unprepared at the moment to buy the franchise? Bottom line, here, is that we have no idea who has legitimately approached Ralph to buy the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MURTR Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 What I just don't get is how does selling the team guarantee that the Bills stay in Buffalo? There's absolutely no guarantee whatsoever that a new owner will keep the team here. Regardless of what they say, they'll be buying something that leaves them 100's of millions of dollars in debt. They'll do whatever they can to make money. Ralph has owned the team since its inception and has said that as long as he's alive, the Bills will be in Buffalo. That is the only sure way to guarantee the team stay. Period. We have an owner that has promised to keep the team in Buffalo as long as he's alive. So, what do people want? They want him to die so some unkown person can buy the team and do with it as they wish. How does that make any sense? It doesn't. So, everyone's upset about the quality of product on the field. And rightfully so. But booing Ralph during a HOF ceremony does not send a message that you're unhappy about the Bills' play. It sends the message that you're unhappy about Ralph making the HOF. There's a time and place for everything. And a ceremony honoring a person's lifetime achievement is not the time nor the place to boo the present. It's a time to honor him for giving us a reason to cheer, and cry, for 50 years. There's plenty of oppurtunity to boo Ralph for the Bills' current state of affairs. Heck, there's a smart guy that's taking donations to put that message on billboards. There are plenty of other avenues to state your dislike of the current state of the franchise. It would be far more effective to pursue one of them. I've said it before, and I'll say it one last time, I read threads like this and it's like listening to some spoiled little brat kid pissing and moaning about their parents. How much they hate them. How unfair life is. Because they wanted a new Porsche for their birthday and all they got was Mustang. Whaaa... whaaaa Mommy and Daddy have so much money, they should give it all to me, me, me. Pathetic. ughhhhh, sorry, i guess I should have been a bit more clear with that. When i said sell the team, i meant to a local investor. My point was that if he really cared about keeping the team in buffalo, then he would do that. Does he owe it to us to sell it to a local investor? No. Like I said, he can do whatever he pleases, it is his team. All i was saying is I dont think it is right for people to say he is all about keeping the team here b/c he clearly isnt. I dunno, maybe I am being unrealistic, but if I was in his shoes, and I was supposedly loyal to this city, I dont think I would have a problem with selling the team at a slightly lower-than-market price to a local investor, and keeping a minority interest so I still was an owner of the team. In regards to the ceremony, I still think it is within peoples right to boo him. This isnt some private HOF ceremony at his house....it is at a freakin football stadium....i think just about anything goes at a football stadium other than cheering when someone gets hurt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrDawkinstein Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 the real question is: what are the chances he cancels it AGAIN if the team is losing at halftime? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benderbender Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 I hope he doesnt plan to hold the fans hostage like he did during his HoF speech. It was like a congressional filibuster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Posted October 29, 2009 Share Posted October 29, 2009 ughhhhh, sorry, i guess I should have been a bit more clear with that. When i said sell the team, i meant to a local investor. My point was that if he really cared about keeping the team in buffalo, then he would do that. Does he owe it to us to sell it to a local investor? No. Like I said, he can do whatever he pleases, it is his team. All i was saying is I dont think it is right for people to say he is all about keeping the team here b/c he clearly isnt. I dunno, maybe I am being unrealistic, but if I was in his shoes, and I was supposedly loyal to this city, I dont think I would have a problem with selling the team at a slightly lower-than-market price to a local investor, and keeping a minority interest so I still was an owner of the team. In regards to the ceremony, I still think it is within peoples right to boo him. This isnt some private HOF ceremony at his house....it is at a freakin football stadium....i think just about anything goes at a football stadium other than cheering when someone gets hurt. And, for the most part, I agree with you. However, as I alluded to just prior, how do we really know there's a local investor that's actually capable of buying the team. Ok, yes, Ralph can sell it at a discount. But, even 10%-15% off market value for the Bills is a hell of a price tag. Does someone really have that kind of money that has also approached Ralph and said here it, let me buy the team? Also, we have to consider the league. What's to say the league hasn't told Ralph he can't discount the price of the team more than a certain percentage. Let's not forget, the league has the final say in who buys the Bills. Maybe the only serious interest he's gotten has been a group from LA? And Ralph really is doing the right thing by not selling and giving a local investor ttime to get the funds. We really just don't know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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