Here's Wishing Ralph Long Life

[patmoran2006]

So Ralph C. Wilson Jr. isn’t selling the Buffalo Bills while he’s alive. He basically is saying he and the Buffalo Bills are married, until death do they part.

Here’s hoping it’s a much longer marriage.

If it wasn’t clear before, it should be obvious to everyone now that the team’s future here could be tied to the 88-yearold owner’s longevity.
Since he has no plans to give the Bills to a family member or sell part of the franchise to someone else, the Bills will, in effect, become a free agent, eligible to the highest bidder, when Wilson passes away.

Wilson turned a $25,000 investment into a $600 million commodity that will be very attractive to prospective buyers.

What is unnerving for Bills fans is there’s no guarantee the next owner will keep the team here. Some people in this town believe Wilson is being selfish. By not establishing a successor, critics say he is turning his back on a community that has devoted its time, money and emotional energy into the franchise for the past 47 years. MORE (http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/story/102752.html)

[Bill Brasky]

could we PLEASE stop looking like a bunch of bums begging for Golisano to come in and "save the day". christ. it'd downright pathetic at this point. what happens happens. stop ****ing worrying about it.

i've seen hundreds of posts on "what if somebody buys them and moves them" blah blah blah... not one post about "what if somebody buys them and keeps them here?". with all the pessimism around here, no wonder we're a laughing stock of a fan base at this point.

[BuffaloBillsStampede]

You can't deny how scary of a thought that is though

[patmoran2006]

1- Thread is not a posters opinion, rather a column by a guy who covers the Bills for a living for the Buffalo News.

2- He's realistic enough to fear what pretty much every Bills fan fears. The league and especially the big market owners dont care about the Bills- the team will be sold to the highest bidder and moving out of Buffalo is the more realistic possibility.

We all knew deep down sooner or later this would come up. Unfortunately, it looks like now is the time.

[Bill Brasky]

STFU. It doesn't scare me. If it did, I'd be pissing myself daily like the rest of you on this forum. Grow a set and enjoy what we have instead of worrying about something that might or might not happen.

[casdhf]

Thanks, but no thanks.

[TacklingDummy]

Why should Ralph sell the team before he is dead? Are any of you planning on selling your car's, house, etc... before you are dead? You could die tomorrow, better put that For Sale sign up.

It's his team, he can do what he wants with it. Im sure if any of us owned the Bills we wouldn't sell either.

And forget Golisano unless he can get them dirt cheap like he got the Sabres.

[TacklingDummy]

What is unnerving for Bills fans is there’s no guarantee the next owner will keep the team here. Some people in this town believe Wilson is being selfish. By not establishing a successor, critics say he is turning his back on a community that has devoted its time, money and emotional energy into the franchise for the past 47 years. MORE (http://www.buffalonews.com/sports/story/102752.html)

Did Ralph turn his back on the community back in the 80's when the Bills were only drawing only 20,000+ fans?

[patmoran2006]

Did Ralph turn his back on the community back in the 80's when the Bills were only drawing only 20,000+ fans?
why are you referring to me and asking me the question, when it was Allen Wilson who wrote the quote you used, not me?

[TacklingDummy]

Pat and Ice have something else in common, they both ***** and complain about Ralph alot.

[TacklingDummy]

why are you referring to me and asking me the question, when it was Allen Wilson who wrote the quote you used, not me?

Just because I quoted you doesn't mean I was asking you the question. It was just a comeback to Allen Wilson stupid comment.

[patmoran2006]

Why is it a stupid comment.

When your team goes 4-28 over two years as they did in 1984-85, he's lucky he even got 20,000+ fans to buy tickets for that disaster of a team.

[TacklingDummy]

Why is it a stupid comment.

When your team goes 4-28 over two years as they did in 1984-85, he's lucky he even got 20,000+ fans to buy tickets for that disaster of a team.


And with the support Bills fans gave the Bills they are lucky he didn't pack up and leave a long time ago.

[njsue]

Hope Ralph Wilson gets his induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame before he leaves us.

[Mitchy moo]

I hope he finds the fountain of youth.

[Wys Guy]

It's his team, he can do what he wants with it. Im sure if any of us owned the Bills we wouldn't sell either.

If I owned the team I'd sure care a damn site more than Wilson apparently does about doing something to put a product on the field that isn't an embarrassment to Buffalo and it's issue-laden sports history!

Wilson seems only concerned about whiling away his last days amidst declining mental faculties by having the Bills around as a comfort blanky.

I respect Wilson as a person, but let's be real, it hasn't really been a big deal to keep a team in Buffalo until recent history. His own team also hasn't done a damn thing outside of what it did under Polian's control.

Here's a real tough trivia type question, who's done more without the others:

Levy
Polian
Wilson

Hmmm, a real toughie. LOL

What I can't get past is why so many fans, particularly many here, are so satisfied with the garbage that we've gotten from Wilson. Yes, Wilson. It was Wilson that hired the wooden-headed, entirely predictably, Donadope who then turned around and made similar hires with people like Gilbride, Mularkey, Modrak, etc., all the reasons why we sucked and continue to suck.

Again, no disrespect to Wilson at all, truly, but the man doesn't even appear to be fully coherent any more while giving press conferences. He rambles on and on about nothing. To think that he's capable of making sound decisions in the modern era is ludicrous. He didn't make them in the "days of yore."

There's a lot of data in my latest piece for those with an attention span of longer than 15 seconds and 50 words. ;)

Wilson is entirely overrated as an owner just as Levy was as a coach. Now we have the tandem, at an averaged age of 85 running whatever's left of this franchise right into the ground before someone else buys it and runs off with it.

Gosh, how excited can I get.

[Wys Guy]

I hope he finds the fountain of youth.

I hope he finds some concern for the fans and begins looking for a buyer that may at least have an interest in keeping the team in Buffalo and someone that actually would like to see his own team be an incredibly competitive one and one that is willing to do what it takes to create one, namely hiring someone that knows what he's doing in managing it as a good start.

Alas, I think we both know that's not going to happen.

I know, I know, I'm a negative ninny for actually expecting a team that is led by competent management and good coaching and one that is actually capable of beating the better teams in the league. No need to drone on about that.

[TacklingDummy]

Again, no disrespect to Wilson at all, truly, but the man doesn't even appear to be fully coherent any more while giving press conferences. He rambles on and on about nothing.



pot.kettle.black.

[TacklingDummy]

Wilson is entirely overrated as an owner just as Levy was as a coach.

I agree Levy was overrated as coach.

Polian built a powerhouse. Any coach could have coached that team. Some might have even coached it to a Super Bowl victory.

[Wys Guy]

It certainly isn't difficult imaging that 20 other coaches easily could have led that collection of talent to the Super Bowl then losing in it usually in grand fashion. Hell, even many coordinators at the time could likely have done it.

Check out the stats in my latest article. It's utterly astonishing what the Bills have done, or not done perhaps stated better, outside of Polian's influence.

[Wys Guy]

pot.kettle.black.

Perspective.

If you're going to use Wilson's team as credibility, what's it leave you with?

;)

After all, he's the one that has given us one of the worst teams in the league now. No one else. He didn't have to hire Donadope. He did it for odd reasons, not sound ones. Donadope then predictably destroyed this team due to his ignorance and negligence.

Wilson then hired Levy, an 80-something GM with absolutely no experience and now having fully proven it. He's merely following in Donadope's footsteps. Sorry to have to report.

[Carlton Bailey]

Allen Wilson is such a Bills suckhound. Ralph Wilson's a clown who won't sell the team to Thomas Golisano because he doesn't want the latter further becoming a legend in Buffalo. The man is a miser.

(The sheep shall commence groaning.)

[Wys Guy]

(The sheep shall commence groaning.)

While continuing to be fleeced.

Honestly though, from experience, fans want to get fleeced. If the Buffalo News reported the truth, you'd have me. There's not an enormous market for it.

Most fans know the realities and just bow out and quit watching. In fact, a very good buddy of mine that grew up in W. Seneca just told me last week that he's not going to watch either the Bills or Sabres anymore until they make their respective championship games.

He's been a ST holder of both in the past although he hasn't been for a few seasons. He said he's not even going to go to a game of either until they prove that they're capable of winning in the playoffs to the extent that they don't get bullied.

I don't know much about the Sabres, but he said that the reason why they played so differently in the POs is b/c they don't have the physical hockey players to deal with the heightened checking and punishment in the POs. Again, can't speak to that, but it makes sense. I saw perhaps five Sabres games living in VA this season, but it didn't take a genius to see that they were the highest scoring team in the league during the regular season. Yet, in the playoffs they went flat. That explanation makes sense to me.

The Bills are losing interest. It's Wilson's fault, and it's not a good thing in terms of the future and leaving the team in Buffalo.

[patmoran2006]

As someone who watched every Sabres game, I think the biggest reason the Sabres tanked in the playoffs is because Lindy Ruff got a little too cute and played away from their strengths.

They were the highest scoring team in the season because that's the style of hockey they played. As the Islanders and Rangers tried to physically beat us up and slow the game down, for reasons unknown to me Ruff played along and "dummied down" to that style of play. The Sens had talent similar to us (though I still think we had more overall) and were physical. The Sabres for the most part stopped playing THEIR GAME.

I think Ruff is becoming the Marty-ball of the NHL.. Great regular season coach but not good enough to win it all (although he did get them to a Stanley Cup final and is consistently in conference finals).. What I mean by Marty-ball is his rep is to totally TIGHTEN up in the playoffs and the Sabres clearly did that this season.

AS for the Bills, for the moment IM going to disagree.. I expected a lot of fallout and backlash over losing key named-vets-- but much to my surprise ticket sales have been brisk at OBD.

But in typical Pat fashion, I'll be honest.. It's not going to last.... IF this team has another losing season (and I'll bet anything they do)-- and then come next winter a lot of fans finally start to grasp the ramifications of "cash to cap" next offseason (basically, you're wondering why the hell we have so much league recognized cap room) and some contract issues start to surface with guys like Losman, Evans, Peters and Schobel...

And combine that with the inevitability that Wilson will die and the team will go to the highest bidder- given economic reasons a strong possibility the Bills will move to a big market... and you have the makings for one hell of a backlash within the next 12 months.

[Bill Brasky]

Ralph Wilson's a clown who won't sell the team to Thomas Golisano because he doesn't want the latter further becoming a legend in Buffalo.
Why does every single person have such a ******* hard-on for Tom Golisano? He couldn't get enough votes to be elected to office, but now that he owns the Sabres he is jesus christ and should go and buy every downtrodden business in WNY. Simple minded, small-box thinking. "Wuuuuuhhhh, well he uh bought the Sabres so I guess he's the default to buy the Bills". Do you know how pathetic it makes us look that his name is mentioned every time the sale of the Bills comes up? It's like we're asking for a damn hand out from the guy.

On a side note, I am going to be selling my car soon. I hope Golisano comes and buys it.

[raphael120]

Well when you live in Buffalo, it's not like you have much to hope for when it comes to successful big business.

Can't blame Golisano for being a good owner. And voted to office to run politics and voted to a business owner are not the same things. He can run a hockey team, sure, but that's a centralized job.

[Bill Brasky]

Well when you live in Buffalo, it's not like you have much to hope for when it comes to successful big business.

not with an attitude like that... maybe if people stopped feeling sorry for themselves **** would get done.