The personal attacks on Ralph Wilson are ....

[kernowboy]

... pretty damn disgusting and infantile.

Somehow he has dementia, needs his dipers changing etc because he cannot now sign Cowher, Shanahan etc and because we have not enjoyed success in the last few years.

Lets remember a few things:

There would be no Buffalo Bills if it had not been for Ralph Wilson.

Whilst the likes of Polian, Butler and AJ Smith left under Ralph Wilson, he had the kudos to hire them in the first place, and there are always power struggles in any organisations. People make mistakes ... that doesn't make him senile, it makes him human. And lets not forget the salary gap mess that Tom Donahoe inherited was caused by Butler and Smith

We are a small market team and none of us really know the financial pressures the team face in keeping the Bills in Buffalo.

Whilst we have had some poor drafts in the last few years, the guys making some of those decisions are or have been respected throughout the league like Tom Donahoe, Tom Modrak etc. Wilson has made some errors trying to find the right formula but then most owners have. Ask Randy Lerner.

I think there are far worse organisations in the league that a prospective coach might join, and there are many reasons why a prospective head coach might not want to come to this organisation which the Bills cannot control.
But the personal attacks on Wilson have nothing to do with following football and are a discredit to Bills fans.

[Novacane]

Re: The personal attacks on Ralph Wilson are ....

He's a joke of an owner dude. He's always hired cheap when it comes to coachs and thats why we have gotten the losers we've had. If you want to say people should not be making jokes about dementia, needs his dipers etc that's fine. You should have just stopped there after your first line. The rest is BS. He's a meddling cheapskate and that's why this team has been a loser most of his life. He got lucky with 1 hire (Polian) and screwed that up by firing him.

[Historian]

Re: The personal attacks on Ralph Wilson are ....

Wilson has no business being in sports.

[Novacane]

Re: The personal attacks on Ralph Wilson are ....

, and there are many reasons why a prospective head coach might not want to come to this organisation which the Bills cannot control.

That is such bull crap. Please give us these "many" reasons. There is 1 I can think of and thats the weather which I really don't think is that big of an obstacle to overcome. The rest of the reasons a coach would not want to come are ALL within the Bills control. Wilsons past history is the reason we don't have Cowher yet and probably won't have him. IMO of course!

[T-Long]

Re: The personal attacks on Ralph Wilson are ....

It's because of Ralph Wilson that the Bills even have a damn team. He brought this franchise here and stayed here the past 50 years, and he gets no credit for that? So, he has a history of going cheap for coaches...boo hoo. He has brought in great talent as well with the hiring of Bill Polian and the team they put together. Ralph Wilson is a Hall of Famer and deserves respect from all of the fans that he brought this team to. Is he 91 and "off his rocker" a bit? Absolutely. But I hope I am alive when I am 91...and he is an NFL owner! If he doesn't want to sell the team he created, then that is his decision. There will be a day when the old man passes away and new ownership takes over, so for all you guys calling for his head to die, eventually you will get your wish. But take a step back and realize what this guy has done for you as a fan for the past 50 seasons.

[ddaryl]

Re: The personal attacks on Ralph Wilson are ....

You should have just stopped there after your first line. The rest is BS. He's a meddling cheapskate and that's why this team has been a loser most of his life. He got lucky with 1 hire (Polian) and screwed that up by firing him.

I wouldn't call him a cheapskate because he has spent big money more then once on players... I do agree that after the 1st line the original post is off the mark some. Ralph deserve much scorn for the mess the franchise is in...

But his choices in regards to coaches and GM's have been mostly miss throughout his entire ownership, and yes he has gone cheap there.. accept when he extended Jauron.. All of sudden he was handling over money

[Night Train]

Re: The personal attacks on Ralph Wilson are ....

He got lucky with 1 hire (Polian) and screwed that up by firing him.

He got it right with Dick Gallagher in the 1960's and Chuck Knox in the late 1970's, in addition to Polian.

Football actually existed before 1980, I'm serious.

Wilson never adjusted to the modern age and let his bean counters drive his decision making more than he should. He has never accepted the pay scale for quality front office people, which has never been more important in the Free Agency era with heavy roster turnover each season.

Pointing to the fact he gave certain players healthy raises means he fails to allocate his resources properly. You pay the office managers first to keep the company moving forward and create a psoitive identity.. not the help. The help is far easier to find if you are prudent in your selection process.

Wilson all too often refers to "luck" . You don't need luck if you stick to the proper chain of command and lay out a strict business plan.

Are the Steelers just "lucky" the last 40 years, since they hired Chuck Noll, drafted wisely and stuck to a winning plan through 2 generations ? Hardly..

They want the team to reflect an winning identity and be a solid part of their community by sticking to a solid business plan. The fans in turn, embrace them with complete confidence. The botton line ($$) takes care of itself.

Ralph has been far too concerned with the bottom line in an economically challenged area and chose to make quick grabs at $$. I believe he's been practicing this in earnest ever since Chuck Knox walked away some 27 years ago. Bill Polian was nothing more than a blind squirrel finding the acorn. Wilsons meddling and having his daughter driving Polian nuts in the draft room ruined a good thing... And the failing business plan was once again in full motion.

People bit the hook like hungry salmon when they signed Owens as stickly a marketing move to sell ticket$, when sales were sluggish. The front office still stunk and the roster was still below average.

Short term thinking equals short term success and long term failure.

[Novacane]

Re: The personal attacks on Ralph Wilson are ....

You must be OLD night train. J/K. I'm only 40. I don't remember the hires before 80. I do remember Chuck Knox. Point is still the same. Most all his hires have been bad and the last 10 years they have been disasters.

[Historian]

Re: The personal attacks on Ralph Wilson are ....

For those of you too young to remember, Wilson has threatened to move this team on several occasions...Seattle...Portland...hell, Buffalo was his second choice to begin with.

He's meddled when he should have stayed out, he's been hands off when he needed to get involved. He hires syncophats who tell him what he wants to hear, and wonders why his team is a perrennial loser.

He has undying fan, community, and business support, receives boatloads of taxpayer money, all while schools, hospitals and libraries are being closed in the area.

He's an absentee owner, and a leech, who would have never amounted to a hill of beans, had he not inherited everything he owns from Ralph Sr.

[Novacane]

Re: The personal attacks on Ralph Wilson are ....

Good point about Wilson and his stupid "luck" referances. Rooney must be the luckiest owner in FB. Every head coach he's ever hired has won a SB!

[Historian]

Re: The personal attacks on Ralph Wilson are ....

You must be OLD night train. J/K. I'm only 40. I don't remember the hires before 80. I do remember Chuck Knox. Point is still the same. Most all his hires have been bad and the last 10 years they have been disasters.

Sure, Knox was a good hire, but what did it take to get there?

1975: 8-6
1976: 2-12
1977: 3-11

And who was his first interview after the 1977 season?

Bill Walsh

And why did Knox bolt for Seattle?

Google: Tom Cousineau.

[X-Era]

Re: The personal attacks on Ralph Wilson are ....

... pretty damn disgusting and infantile.

Somehow he has dementia, needs his dipers changing etc because he cannot now sign Cowher, Shanahan etc and because we have not enjoyed success in the last few years.

Lets remember a few things:

There would be no Buffalo Bills if it had not been for Ralph Wilson.

Whilst the likes of Polian, Butler and AJ Smith left under Ralph Wilson, he had the kudos to hire them in the first place, and there are always power struggles in any organisations. People make mistakes ... that doesn't make him senile, it makes him human. And lets not forget the salary gap mess that Tom Donahoe inherited was caused by Butler and Smith

We are a small market team and none of us really know the financial pressures the team face in keeping the Bills in Buffalo.

Whilst we have had some poor drafts in the last few years, the guys making some of those decisions are or have been respected throughout the league like Tom Donahoe, Tom Modrak etc. Wilson has made some errors trying to find the right formula but then most owners have. Ask Randy Lerner.

I think there are far worse organisations in the league that a prospective coach might join, and there are many reasons why a prospective head coach might not want to come to this organisation which the Bills cannot control.
But the personal attacks on Wilson have nothing to do with following football and are a discredit to Bills fans.

I took a shot at him yesterday, it was just a quick joke, nothing more. It easy to do, its a message board.

I do think he is becoming a bit more senile and it seems to show when you see him speak. Hes 90 years old, that's to be expected. That's no reason to disrespect the man that brought football to Buffalo. Whether he deserves it or not, its still in poor taste.

You are 100% correct and I apologize.

[Jan Reimers]

Re: The personal attacks on Ralph Wilson are ....

The professional criticism of Ralph is well deserved.

The mean spirited personal attacks are not. He has done much for the community, charitable causes, etc.

[Typ0]

Re: The personal attacks on Ralph Wilson are ....

Wilson wants to die thinking he did a good deed to WNY so that's the spin you get on all the public relations. Don't believe it. Wilson has been nothing but a thorn in the side of WNY since he came here. What NT said above rings so true...times changed and RW didn't and he's been stabbing a knife into every WNYer since the 80s.

[Typ0]

Re: The personal attacks on Ralph Wilson are ....

But he never does, in fact he stands in the way of, what everyone really needs and wants.

The professional criticism of Ralph is well deserved.

The mean spirited personal attacks are not. He has done much for the community, charitable causes, etc.