Take a look at this email

[T-Long]

Well, a few days ago I wrote an email to bb.com writer Chris Brown. He kept posting stuff about two of the Bills were hunting together and all this other stuff not related to the GM search or OC search. He just wrote me back today. Here is what I wrote, then under it is his response:

From: Terrence Long [mailto:terrenceglong@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wed 1/9/2008 7:02 PM
To: AskChris
Subject: come on!

Give us some news we really care about like the GM search and OC search!!! We're dying out here!!!!! Come on!!! I'm sure you know SOMETHING!!!

Thanks and Go Bills!

Terry
San Jose, CA


Terrence,
I respect your need to know. Please understand I'm forced to operate under team guidelines, which prohibits me from providing certain information that I've gathered until it's "official." Believe me when I tell you it's as frustrating for me as it is for you. I want to get you everything I gather as fast as I get it. But the powers that be prevent me from doing that. Trust me when I tell you that I've explained time and again to those above me that fans want to get this info from us, but I have been unsuccessful in convincing them. Sit tight and I'll keep fighting the fight.

[YardRat]

He's a yes-man.

[hydro]

He's a yes-man.

And if he wasn't he wouldn't have a job and they would just bring in another one. Don't shoot the messenger.

[streetkings01]

He's a yes-man.And he's basically all we have when it comes to whats going on inside 1 Bills Drive!

[YardRat]

Was there a negative tone taken from my post? Just stating a fact, not being judgemental.

[Nighthawk]

His opinions are useless and you might as well be listening to Ralphy talk when he posts his crap.

[TigerJ]

I can appreciate Brown's position. He really does have access to far more information than a typical reporter might. The Bills grant him that access on the condition that he keeps it buttoned when they tell him to stay quiet. If he broke a story that the Bills wanted to keep quiet, I'm sure he'd be gone instantly.

[superbills]

His opinions are useless and you might as well be listening to Ralphy talk when he posts his crap.

Would you want his job?

[Nighthawk]

Would you want his job?

Nope...but it doesn't change the fact that his opinions are useless because of the restrictions put on him.

[superbills]

So ignore his opinions and focus on the facts. There are times that he gives us some insight on what's going on behind the scenes and information that we would have to wait for if it were coming from sources outside of the organization. It doesn't make him useless, just not as useful as we'd all like. Give the guy a break.

[LifetimeBillsFan]

I can appreciate Brown's position. He really does have access to far more information than a typical reporter might. The Bills grant him that access on the condition that he keeps it buttoned when they tell him to stay quiet. If he broke a story that the Bills wanted to keep quiet, I'm sure he'd be gone instantly.

Absolutely.

With anything that comes from an "inside" source like this, you have to read between the lines of what Chris Brown writes. He'll drop little tidbits of information here and there that are useful if you want to get an impression of what is going on inside OBD. But, his hands are tied a lot.

When it comes to some things, like the draft, I sometimes get the impression that he gets fed a lot of false information to obscure what the team is really planning to do. He did mention that the Bills had a good interview with Whitner at the Combine a couple of years ago and that Lynch was a possibility last year, but he also threw out a lot of information about other players and played up their interest in a couple of the players who were possible alternatives to the one that they ended up taking on both occasions.

[camelcowboy]

Was there a negative tone taken from my post? Just stating a fact, not being judgemental.here allow me to add the negative tone, he's a puppet.

[Michael82]

Well, a few days ago I wrote an email to bb.com writer Chris Brown. He kept posting stuff about two of the Bills were hunting together and all this other stuff not related to the GM search or OC search. He just wrote me back today. Here is what I wrote, then under it is his response:

From: Terrence Long [mailto:terrenceglong@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wed 1/9/2008 7:02 PM
To: AskChris
Subject: come on!

Give us some news we really care about like the GM search and OC search!!! We're dying out here!!!!! Come on!!! I'm sure you know SOMETHING!!!

Thanks and Go Bills!

Terry
San Jose, CA


Terrence,
I respect your need to know. Please understand I'm forced to operate under team guidelines, which prohibits me from providing certain information that I've gathered until it's "official." Believe me when I tell you it's as frustrating for me as it is for you. I want to get you everything I gather as fast as I get it. But the powers that be prevent me from doing that. Trust me when I tell you that I've explained time and again to those above me that fans want to get this info from us, but I have been unsuccessful in convincing them. Sit tight and I'll keep fighting the fight.
It's like I have always thought....Chris Brown is nothing but a puppet. He speaks when they tell him to and keeps his mouth shut other times. :ill:

[Jeff1220]

Brown does what he can within the confines of his position. He seems to try to offer insights as he sees it, he just isn't allowed to break certain stories until he gets the official go-ahead.

[Romes]

He is a yes-man but if he was not we would have even less information about the inner-workings of the Bills.

[mayotm]

As a few logical people have stated in this thread, Brown is simply doing his job. He is an employee of the Bills. He's not going to be critical or release information earlier than the organization wants him to. I really don't get why some have such a negative attitude about him. If you don't like his stuff, don't read it.

[Mahdi]

It's like I have always thought....Chris Brown is nothing but a puppet. He speaks when they tell him to and keeps his mouth shut other times. :ill:
Brown to me is a fan that is working on the inside and trying to filter as much info as possible to us while keeping his job at the same time. Brown and the Bills website IMO are the best in the league when it comes to informing their fans, providing tons of multimedia and a blog that gives us info most fans are not privy to.

[Wys Guy]

Well, a few days ago I wrote an email to bb.com writer Chris Brown. He kept posting stuff about two of the Bills were hunting together and all this other stuff not related to the GM search or OC search. He just wrote me back today. Here is what I wrote, then under it is his response:

From: Terrence Long [mailto:terrenceglong@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wed 1/9/2008 7:02 PM
To: AskChris
Subject: come on!

Give us some news we really care about like the GM search and OC search!!! We're dying out here!!!!! Come on!!! I'm sure you know SOMETHING!!!

Thanks and Go Bills!

Terry
San Jose, CA


Terrence,
I respect your need to know. Please understand I'm forced to operate under team guidelines, which prohibits me from providing certain information that I've gathered until it's "official." Believe me when I tell you it's as frustrating for me as it is for you. I want to get you everything I gather as fast as I get it. But the powers that be prevent me from doing that. Trust me when I tell you that I've explained time and again to those above me that fans want to get this info from us, but I have been unsuccessful in convincing them. Sit tight and I'll keep fighting the fight.

If Brown wants to "keep fighting the fight" then how about his starting to criticize what has fast become the league's laughing stock franchise and those that "make that happen."

[Jeff1220]

If Chris Berman went on ESPN and criticized them, what do you think they'd do?
If Tim Russert ripped NBC, what do you think they'd do?
I have seen articles where Brown speculates and gives hunches, but for him to criticize would be just plain stupid.

Of course, if we used logic like this, it would keep us from having yet another chance at ripping the franchise and one of its employees.

[jmb1099]

the fact brown responded and said he couldn't say anything indicates that something is developing or is at least in the works. give the guy some credit for at least that.

[Don't Panic]

Brown to me is a fan that is working on the inside and trying to filter as much info as possible to us while keeping his job at the same time. Brown and the Bills website IMO are the best in the league when it comes to informing their fans, providing tons of multimedia and a blog that gives us info most fans are not privy to.

Exactly... there has been a lot of knowledge passed first hand through him that we wouldn't have been privy to otherwise. He may be at the mercy of the team's demands, but he's also a lot closer to being behind the curtain, which can be pretty helpful to me sitting at my computer (at the mercy of the press).

[SpillerThrills]

If Brown wants to "keep fighting the fight" then how about his starting to criticize what has fast become the league's laughing stock franchise and those that "make that happen."



I think that Miami has that honor right now....

[mayotm]

If Brown wants to "keep fighting the fight" then how about his starting to criticize what has fast become the league's laughing stock franchise and those that "make that happen."Unlike you, Brown actaully gets paid to write. Why is it so hard to understand that Brown (an employee of the Bills) would lose his job if he criticized the Bills? Check the official home pages of all 32 teams. How many negative articles do you find on those sites? Anybody with a hint of intelligence understands that Brown is mostly writing fluff pieces. Take his information for what it's worth. If you don't enjoy his articles, don't read them. Just like many of us don't read your articles.

[kgun12]

I would like to hear more about the 2 players hunting!!! :;

[TigerJ]

If Brown wants to "keep fighting the fight" then how about his starting to criticize what has fast become the league's laughing stock franchise and those that "make that happen."The fight Brown is fighting has nothing to do with how the Bills front office manages the team. It think he understands that's not his business. He is a journalist caught in what is essentially a PR job. There are certainly perks to being where he is, but I think his journalist heart is sometimes in conflict with his PR job. By fighting the fight he's simply saying that he's trying to convince the front office that more transparency is a good thing.

I don't think he sees himself as an editorialist, fo whom it would be appropriate to speak his mind on the wisdom of the Bills' moves.

[Night Train]

Stoning is too good for him. :rolleyes: