Hey, Pegs.

[casdhf]

Thank you.

After browsing through Chargers and Raiders message boards, I am genuinely thankful that I have no fears about the team leaving. So while I piss and moan about the playoff drought and the idiots hired, I will always be thankful that the team is right where it belongs. Go Bills!

[Gilly]

Second that. With no doubt.

[justasportsfan]

Word. For all of Russ' faults, he deserves props for the bills staying.

[Novacane]

I'm glad he kept the Bills here. That doesn't give him an exemption from deserved criticism.

[feldspar]

Be prepared to be *****ed-slapped by the faction that criticizes the "just be happy we have a team" crowd...as though we SHOULDN'T be happen we have a team, or it's somehow any fan's fault why the team loses...

[casdhf]

Be prepared to be *****ed-slapped by the faction that criticizes the "just be happy we have a team" crowd...as though we SHOULDN'T be happen we have a team, or it's somehow any fan's fault why the team loses...

**** them. I'm happy and critical. You can be both.

[OpIv37]

Be prepared to be *****ed-slapped by the faction that criticizes the "just be happy we have a team" crowd...as though we SHOULDN'T be happen we have a team, or it's somehow any fan's fault why the team loses...
It's not that you shouldn't be happy that you have a team. It's that we need to stop praising ownership for simply having a team and only praise them when they actually accomplish anything.

Ralph Wilson did one great thing : he brought Buffalo a team. But the team sucked for the overwhelming majority of his ownership. Yet, people lauded him because he didn't move the team. He did one good thing then got 50 years of accolades for simply not undoing the one good thing he did.

Looks like we are already starting down the same road with Pegula.

Is it the fans' fault that the team loses? Of course not. But when fans are content to simply have a team, it is the fans' fault that ownership has no motivation or incentive to do what it takes to win.

[SpikedLemonade]

You can still drink in a parking lot if there is no football game that follows.

[Mace]

You can still drink in a parking lot if there is no football game that follows.

If you ever see a guy drinking and cooking a hot dog in an empty parking lot, go over and say hello to Spiked.

[Thurmal]

I honest-to-God thought that team would be in Toronto. I still believe that Goodell and the NFL brass did everything in their power to make that possible, and Pegula stepped up and shut them down. I will always be grateful for his effort to keep the team in BFLO.

[SpikedLemonade]

If you ever see a guy drinking and cooking a hot dog in an empty parking lot, go over and say hello to Spiked.

Thank you for the introduction but your slavish mentality has you confused because I am a gourmet chef and NEVER cook hot dogs.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHQf38ydJRE

[Mace]

Thank you for the introduction but your slavish mentality has you confused because I am a gourmet chef and NEVER cook hot dogs.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHQf38ydJRE

I find it awful hard to believe you can avoid wieners and buns no matter how you dress them up and call them something else, burger queen.

[Night Train]

Nice job with the Chargers, Spanos/Goodell. I love LA. What a mistake.

[feldspar]

It's not that you shouldn't be happy that you have a team. It's that we need to stop praising ownership for simply having a team and only praise them when they actually accomplish anything.

Ralph Wilson did one great thing : he brought Buffalo a team. But the team sucked for the overwhelming majority of his ownership. Yet, people lauded him because he didn't move the team. He did one good thing then got 50 years of accolades for simply not undoing the one good thing he did.

Looks like we are already starting down the same road with Pegula.

Is it the fans' fault that the team loses? Of course not. But when fans are content to simply have a team, it is the fans' fault that ownership has no motivation or incentive to do what it takes to win.

Just like I said...not surprised this came from you, really...all due respect.

I'm sure you can differentiate between Pegula and Ralph though, right? Jaded as you are even? Ralph is dead.

And even you must realize that no fan is ever glad to pay to see a bad movie? There is no high ground in this discussion because we are all in exactly the same boat. Understand THAT do ya? Sometimes I wonder about you, Opie.

Dress warm.

When do you embark?

[swiper]

I can't wait to hear these teams start to complain about LA as the teams in the past did.

[OpIv37]

Just like I said...not surprised this came from you, really...all due respect.

I'm sure you can differentiate between Pegula and Ralph though, right? Jaded as you are even? Ralph is dead.

And even you must realize that no fan is ever glad to pay to see a bad movie? There is no high ground in this discussion because we are all in exactly the same boat. Understand THAT do ya? Sometimes I wonder about you, Opie.

Dress warm.

When do you embark?

This isn't about whether Ralph and Pegula are different though. It's about fans giving ownership a pass simply because they don't move the team.

We leave at the end of Feb.

[Mace]

This isn't about whether Ralph and Pegula are different though. It's about fans giving ownership a pass simply because they don't move the team.

We leave at the end of Feb.

There can be some nuance though. I love the Pegula's for investing in Buffalo and stabilizing ownerships. I criticize them for what I perceive as ownership fumbles.

I'd rather have a bad team to criticize, than no team.So I can say thanks to the Pegulas, then call them goofballs. At least they're our goofballs.

[Strongman]

A fan who is content that his team doesn't pack up and leave town has the same mindset as the parents who are thrilled their kid got a participation trophy in a sport.

[casdhf]

I can guarantee you're wrong. This is a game that doesn't matter. I can be happy that they're here and lose while you stock shelves at k-mart

[Bill Cody]

A fan who is content that his team doesn't pack up and leave town has the same mindset as the parents who are thrilled their kid got a participation trophy in a sport.

wow so harsh and so dumb

It's pretty hard for your team to one day win a championship if it's no longer your team. You can be happy your team is here without not caring about results, 2 different things.

And not every kid is a gifted athlete. I've got 2, one is, one isn't. Happy to see them both running around on fields and I'm not worrying about trophy's. If you were a parent you'd understand that.

[The last buffalo fan]

You are late as usual, September.

[OpIv37]

There can be some nuance though. I love the Pegula's for investing in Buffalo and stabilizing ownerships. I criticize them for what I perceive as ownership fumbles.

I'd rather have a bad team to criticize, than no team.So I can say thanks to the Pegulas, then call them goofballs. At least they're our goofballs.

You know, toward the end of Ralph's tenure, my thought process degenerated to this: No sports team wins every year, but it's a quid pro quo. All the losing becomes worth it for the excitement and celebration over the few times in your life that your team actually does win. But what happens when the quid pro quo ceases to exist? What happens when ownership is either so incompetent or has its priorities so out of line that there is basically ZERO chance of ever winning?

The sample size is too small with the Pegulas to go to that point yet. But they insist on ownership interference and they have this incessant loyalty to Brandon to the point where they gave him responsibilities with the Sabres too. The early results aren't promising

[OpIv37]

There can be some nuance though. I love the Pegula's for investing in Buffalo and stabilizing ownerships. I criticize them for what I perceive as ownership fumbles.

I'd rather have a bad team to criticize, than no team.So I can say thanks to the Pegulas, then call them goofballs. At least they're our goofballs.

I used to have that mentality, but what happens when the bad team has no prospect of getting better? Being a fan of a sports team is sort of an unspoken quid pro quo- fans support the team during the bad years because it becomes that much more enjoyable when we do eventually win. But what happens when winning gets taken off the table?

I had reached that point under Ralph. It's extremely difficult to win in the NFL, and with "cash to cap" and his reluctance to spend on coaching, the Bills were working under additional constraints that most teams didn't have. On top of that, they had an incompetent FO that completely screwed up in the few instances where Ralph did let them spend. I had resigned myself to the fact that the team would never win. The only thing that kept me interested was that, with Ralph's advanced age, I knew the team wouldn't be his much longer. When the new owners took over, either they'd move the team and most of us would be done with them, or we'd have better management and the possibility of winning would be back on the table.

Unfortunately, so far Pegs hasn't been any better than Ralph. The sample size is too small to conclude that we can't win under him, and he did change his tune with the way the Sabres operate, but then he kept Brandon with the Bills AND gave him duties with the Sabres as well. He's not afraid to spends, so those constraints are gone, but right now, he has a completely dysfunctional organization. When he took over the Sabres, he got enamored with shiny new toys and set the team back 3-4 years, and it looks like he did the same to the Bills. The team will only win if he learns from his mistakes, and so far he has only shown a limited ability to do that.