Whaley formally announced

[THE END OF ALL DAYS]

No surprise but the bills make an official announcement.
Now it's his baby, no old farts to blame from here on out.

[MidnightVoice]

My phone told me this but I was asleep at my desk. Not sure it was worth waking up for

[trapezeus]

ok, let's see how this pitt guy performs though i think we largely know. it would be impossible for him to sit silently on the sideline as other made the decisions.

i suspect the last 3 years are also his baby. let the averageness continue!

[Meathead]

Now it's his baby, no old farts to blame from here on out.

finally something we can criticize black folks for

[swiper]

finally something we can criticize black folks for

You mean besides being black, don't you. You can admit it.

[WagonCircler]

i suspect the last 3 years are also his baby. let the averageness continue!

^^ This. ^^

[Don't Panic]

...and the Whaley Era begins with a resounding wave of support from the fan base.

[better days]

A couple interesting points from the press conference.........

Brandon said "stakeholders in the Bills".......................was he implying that some others besides Ralph ALREADY have a stake in the Bills? That would make a lot of sense in regards to what happens to the team after Ralph dies.

Whaley said the team would operate as it did when Nix was GM, with it being a team effort as far as the draft goes.

[trapezeus]

stakeholders implies anyone who has stakes with the bills. just like share holders and stakeholders are different in business. a customer can be a stake holder. in this case, a fan can be a stakeholder.

they have their plan and will stick to it when ralph goes. i wouldn't be surprised if russ pulls a darcy and somehow convinces the new management that he should stay and we are forced to deal with him for another 10 years.

[better days]

stakeholders implies anyone who has stakes with the bills. just like share holders and stakeholders are different in business. a customer can be a stake holder. in this case, a fan can be a stakeholder.

they have their plan and will stick to it when ralph goes. i wouldn't be surprised if russ pulls a darcy and somehow convinces the new management that he should stay and we are forced to deal with him for another 10 years.

Well, except Russ said fans & stakeholders. It would not surprise me if Russ and Kelly along with others already have a stake in the Bills. Maybe Thurm as well.

[SpikedLemonade]

Well, except Russ said fans & stakeholders. It would not surprise me if Russ and Kelly along with others already have a stake in the Bills. Maybe Thurm as well.

The NFL would not allow that.

[better days]

The NFL would not allow that.

What the hell are you talking about? Teams can have MANY minority owners as the Fins do. Jimmy Buffett, Gloria Estefan & many others have a stake in the Fins.

[SpikedLemonade]

What the hell are you talking about? Teams can have MANY minority owners as the Fins do. Jimmy Buffett, Gloria Estefan & many others have a stake in the Fins.

Must be approved by the NFL owners and it hasn't been in this case.

Can't become a NFL owner in secret.

[BertSquirtgum]

ok, let's see how this pitt guy performs though i think we largely know. it would be impossible for him to sit silently on the sideline as other made the decisions.

i suspect the last 3 years are also his baby. let the averageness continue!

I suspect you're wrong.

[Meathead]

You mean besides being black, don't you. You can admit it.

that must be it

[BertSquirtgum]

So if I don't like white people that makes me a racist?

[psubills62]

Definitely wouldn't say the last three years were Whaley's baby. JMO, but the drafting this year was distinctly different from the last 3 years.

[gebobs]

16456

Favorite book. The Bible? Really? Taking cues from Dumbya. Not good. At least Bush was caught in an interview and couldn't think of anything else. This guy had all day to think and that's what he comes up with? *snore*

Favorite app. Bills Mobile? Well there's something unexpected. Not.

Favorite holiday. His birthday...

Jesus haploid christ...Getting to Know Doug Whaley...wishing you could have those 5 minutes back.

[THE END OF ALL DAYS]

Why is liking the Bible a bad thing? It's the book I read more than any other book. Why do you antiChristian people always say that people who read the Bible are stupid? Would you say he's awesome if he read trashy dime store romance novels?
i have no respect for you.

[X-Era]

Watching that presser was painful. The guy needs serious help on his speaking skills. However, The truth is that his ability to speak publicly really doesn't matter that much though.

The presser left me with the impression that he's a push-over. He's the anti-Donahoe which is interesting since they both came from Pittsburgh. He seems to be a yes man who may struggle to lead the team in a direction based on his vision. I can see him going with consensus over making a strong move based on his personnel convictions. Is that a bad thing? Probably not. But it is very different from many GM's. I hope that he has the backbone to push on Russ and Overdorf when he feels the team needs to spend serious coin on a player. It's not clear whether Russ and/or Overdorf are against moves like that. But, it's logical to think they would be stubborn to do so.

Byrd will be the first tell tale sign on how Whaley will lead. If he can sign him to a reasonable contract it would be a good statement of his capability as a GM. But, I also realize that it may not be as straight forward as that since Byrd may have demands that the team simply should not meet. If Byrd leaves, we probably won't know the truth on what the Bills offered and what Byrd wanted until after Byrd is gone. So i'll reserve judgement until then.

But, Whaley should be continuing to add a piece a two from free agency as Nix had previously mentioned. I want that to happen still. I'm thinking of a move like Barnett. If he does nothing I'll be disappointed in his abilities. There's no way you can look at this roster and feel were a strong contender for championships at this point.

If I went by what I saw for the PC I am really unimpressed. But I'm hopeful that he is very good at doing his job behind the scenes. That's my hope.

[DraftBoy]

Why is liking the Bible a bad thing? It's the book I read more than any other book. Why do you antiChristian people always say that people who read the Bible are stupid? Would you say he's awesome if he read trashy dime store romance novels?
i have no respect for you.

Let's leave the religion debate to the other forum, plenty of that going on.

[DraftBoy]

I like his pedigree, I like the moves we've made since he's been here, and I like this draft class (including UDFA) the most of any of them and it appears per reports that was all him.

I don't care about his speaking skills or how public he is. He could of walked out to his presser flipped everybody the bird and walked off and as long as he makes good moves that work I don't care. This is about winning championships not cutting good sound bytes.

[Novacane]

Let's leave the religion debate to the other forum, plenty of that going on.


Tell that to gebobs. He brought it up. His biggest ***** about Whaley that his favorite book is the bible. Lame

[THE END OF ALL DAYS]

Tell that to gebobs. He brought it up. His biggest ***** about Whaley that his favorite book is the bible. Lame
Thank you! Draftboy take it up with gebob and quote him not Me when you say that.

[DraftBoy]

Thank you! Draftboy take it up with gebob and quote him not Me when you say that.

I quoted the last post in the exchange. Why don't we just act like grown ups and talk about Whaley instead?

- - - Updated - - -


Tell that to gebobs. He brought it up. His biggest ***** about Whaley that his favorite book is the bible. Lame

Who cares? Why can't we just talk about Whaley and ignore everything else?

[trapezeus]

i supect the review that he is a pushover is accurate. russ would never allow a strong "why are you in the room, you are a baseball guy and a football failure" GM come in. and until that happens, we got mediocrity at best and a lack of a football team at worst.

i really think it's wishful thinking to think he's been part of the team for the last 3 years and has very little impact. these teams thus far have largely been signed off by whaley.

[Jan Reimers]

I like the fact that we have so many fresh, new faces coming on board. Whaley immediately brought in two new talent evaluators in Manos and Fisher, to go with new Head Coach Marrone and 19 new assistants. We also have a bunch of FAs, UDFAs, try-out signees and draft picks on the roster.

We appear at least to be TRYING OUR BEST to build a winner, which we didn't seem to be doing over the past decade or so.

[Joe Fo Sho]

Favorite book. The Bible? Really? Taking cues from Dumbya. Not good. At least Bush was caught in an interview and couldn't think of anything else. This guy had all day to think and that's what he comes up with? *snore*

Favorite app. Bills Mobile? Well there's something unexpected. Not.

Favorite holiday. His birthday...

Jesus haploid christ...Getting to Know Doug Whaley...wishing you could have those 5 minutes back.

Seems weird that a guy who loves the bible so much also enjoys sending e-mails filled with porn.

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/steelers/blogger-says-steelers-zierlein-inadvertently-forwarded-porn-to-nfl-officials-486160/

[ghz in pittsburgh]

i supect the review that he is a pushover is accurate. russ would never allow a strong "why are you in the room, you are a baseball guy and a football failure" GM come in. and until that happens, we got mediocrity at best and a lack of a football team at worst.

i really think it's wishful thinking to think he's been part of the team for the last 3 years and has very little impact. these teams thus far have largely been signed off by whaley.

Not necessarily. Kevin Colbert sounded just like a pushover, and for intention and purpose, acted like one since he came here after Donahoe. Yet he is very successful, perfect compliment to Cowher and now Tomlin.

You need a strong figurehead at a leadership position, good or bad.

Dallas has Jerry Jones. He got right with Jimmy Johnson, but the two figurehead cannot co-exist very long, as usually the case.

NE has Bellichick; other people complement him.

Steelers had Cowher and now Tonlin. The Rooney family is a great owner. They stay at background let the people they hire do the work - they always know who is the right figurehead (Cowher vs Donahoe is a good example. Both get a chance to be a main figurehead and Donahoe proved to be no match).

Ralph has been that guy for the Bills in years. With another guy of same personality came along, like Polian, you know it's matter of time before one is gone. The past few years, due to his age, he's moving to the background and Russ pops up. I actually have the feeling Russ himself is a pushover. But that does not matter as lon as he know who to hire. Marrone to be looks like he can be that figurehead, he just does not have any success at NFL to back his deamnds up. Whaley, by personality, is doomed to be a complement guy.

[better days]

Seems weird that a guy who loves the bible so much also enjoys sending e-mails filled with porn.

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/steelers/blogger-says-steelers-zierlein-inadvertently-forwarded-porn-to-nfl-officials-486160/

Well, the Bible is full of harlots & Whaley is not a priest or minister.

[ghz in pittsburgh]

Seems weird that a guy who loves the bible so much also enjoys sending e-mails filled with porn.

http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/sports/steelers/blogger-says-steelers-zierlein-inadvertently-forwarded-porn-to-nfl-officials-486160/

A single guy traveling a lot ... Actually Whaley has a bit of name here liking thiat kind of stuff/circuit. Haven't heard a thing since he joined Buffalo though. Of course now, he portraits the Buffalo Bills image.

[Joe Fo Sho]

Well, the Bible is full of harlots & Whaley is not a priest or minister.

I wonder if he's into magic, too.

[blackonyx89]

16456

Favorite book. The Bible? Really? Taking cues from Dumbya. Not good. At least Bush was caught in an interview and couldn't think of anything else. This guy had all day to think and that's what he comes up with? *snore*

Favorite app. Bills Mobile? Well there's something unexpected. Not.

Favorite holiday. His birthday...

Jesus haploid christ...Getting to Know Doug Whaley...wishing you could have those 5 minutes back.


That's Doug personal religious belief and he's not forcing it on you. There are some people who don't believe in God get so offended if a person believes in God and go after them and they haven't done or said anything to that individual. All I can say that it's on you and that's your issue. When it's all said and done, Doug's job is to help Doug and Russ put together a great team that will be competitive again and make it to the playoffs and not preach to you. That's what Bills fans all over this region wants regardless of what Doug believes. Just sayin', :D:

[Joe Fo Sho]

A single guy traveling a lot ... Actually Whaley has a bit of name here liking thiat kind of stuff/circuit. Haven't heard a thing since he joined Buffalo though. Of course now, he portraits the Buffalo Bills image.

Right, I have no problem with the email thing...at all.

[Joe Fo Sho]

That's Doug personal religious belief and he's not forcing it on you. There are some people who don't believe in God get so offended if a person believes in God and go after them and they haven't done or said anything to that individual. All I can say that it's on you and that's your issue. When it's all said and done, Doug's job is to help Doug and Russ put together a great team that will be competitive again and make it to the playoffs and not preach to you. That's what Bills fans all over this region wants regardless of what Doug believes. Just sayin', :D:

I've never seen a bunch of people take more offense to little comments than religious folks.

[trapezeus]

it's fine to like the bible as a book, though its poorly written. it's just obscene that in this day and age people can be so anti-learning because of "God" and be expected to be on the same footing as people who know the bible is a bunch of stories by a bunch of people a long time ago to try and keep others in line.

would i rather have a GM who doesn't take time to "pray" and uses that time to do more work? Absolutely.

[gebobs]

Why is liking the Bible a bad thing?
I knew that would piss some folks off. I didn't mean it to troll or anything. I was joking around. I was half expecting someone else to complain how he loves the Bills Mibile app.

But the point of it and all the responses was that they were all so so so trite and contrived.


i have no respect for you.
Never asked for it. But thanks for letting me know.

[cookie G]

it's fine to like the bible as a book, though its poorly written. it's just obscene that in this day and age people can be so anti-learning because of "God" and be expected to be on the same footing as people who know the bible is a bunch of stories by a bunch of people a long time ago to try and keep others in line.

would i rather have a GM who doesn't take time to "pray" and uses that time to do more work? Absolutely.

It did provide the greatest pregame speech/prayer ever.

<iframe width="640" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/3gKbrj2nZis?feature=player_detailpage" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

After Gene Hackman gets mushy with his, "I love you guys" words..

After the kids go through winning the game for:

a) all the little schools;
b) the coach;
c) Dennis Hopper

Preacher-dad looks dead panned and just says:

"And David took a stone from his bag and slung it, striking the Philistine on the head. And he fell to the ground".

Perfect context, perfect words. Nothing else needed to be said.

[better days]

Well, I heard Steve Tasker talk about the hire of Whaley & comparing it to when he first joined the Bills. It got me thinking back to that time. I was living in Sarasota Fla, Sports bars were just starting up with HUGE dishes on their roofs. It would take up to a half hour to find the game & get it tuned in.

I was starting to hang out at the Cabana Bar on US 41 in Sarasota with a bunch of other Bills fans. It was like a big family & as the Bills improved so did the number of Bills fans in that bar. By the time the Bills made the playoffs for the first time in forever, the Cabana was a fullblown Bills bar with a HUGE Bills helmet hanging out front. Bills fans were coming from as far away as Bradenton & even Tampa.

Those were GREAT TIMES, I hope this is like a revival of that for us oldtimers but even more for you young guys.

[Meathead]

it's just obscene that in this day and age people can be so anti-learning because of "God" and be expected to be on the same footing as people who know the bible is a bunch of stories by a bunch of people a long time ago to try and keep others in line.

sounds to me like you really dont know whats actually in the bible

some of it is worthless stories, sure, just look at leviticus. but much of it is also outstanding lessons to live by

was phil jackson 'anti-learning' when he won eleven nba titles? was tony dungy or marty schottenheimer forcing their views on their teams when they won superbowls?

i would concur theres a lot of religious psychosis, including many low-thinking christians, muslims, jews, sikhs, hindus, jains, bahais, wiccans, rastafarian, and yes even buddhists. but to act like that is the only possible outcome is, well i dont want to insult anybody but thats just unadulterated ignorance

any of these traditions can be used properly to achieve a phil jackson-eque focus and steadiness that can be an enormous competitive advantage

idk which way whaley really goes on this, but im going to assume having enough interest in porn to forward it to coworkers makes it unlikely hes a bible thumper. he certainly appears on the surface to have the kind of serenity you usually see in advanced spiritual practicioners so until its shown otherwise i prefer to focus on that possibility

[Novacane]

Watching that presser was painful. The guy needs serious help on his speaking skills. However, The truth is that his ability to speak publicly really doesn't matter that much though.

The presser left me with the impression that he's a push-over. He's the anti-Donahoe which is interesting since they both came from Pittsburgh. He seems to be a yes man who may struggle to lead the team in a direction based on his vision. I can see him going with consensus over making a strong move based on his personnel convictions. Is that a bad thing? Probably not. But it is very different from many GM's. I hope that he has the backbone to push on Russ and Overdorf when he feels the team needs to spend serious coin on a player. It's not clear whether Russ and/or Overdorf are against moves like that. But, it's logical to think they would be stubborn to do so.

Byrd will be the first tell tale sign on how Whaley will lead. If he can sign him to a reasonable contract it would be a good statement of his capability as a GM. But, I also realize that it may not be as straight forward as that since Byrd may have demands that the team simply should not meet. If Byrd leaves, we probably won't know the truth on what the Bills offered and what Byrd wanted until after Byrd is gone. So i'll reserve judgement until then.

But, Whaley should be continuing to add a piece a two from free agency as Nix had previously mentioned. I want that to happen still. I'm thinking of a move like Barnett. If he does nothing I'll be disappointed in his abilities. There's no way you can look at this roster and feel were a strong contender for championships at this point.

If I went by what I saw for the PC I am really unimpressed. But I'm hopeful that he is very good at doing his job behind the scenes. That's my hope.



Just watched the presser. What was wrong with his speaking skills? Seemed fine to me. Also didn't get the feeling he's a yes man