My email to Clinton and others

[socalfan]

My Name
My Address
My Phone Number
My Email Address

April 7, 2005




Dear Senator Clinton:

Today, in a press conference, the owner of the Buffalo Bills, Ralph Wilson, expressed his concern for the long range viability of the Bills in western NY. His message is the reason for my writing to you.

The Bills are an integral part of western NY. They generate about 33 million dollars in revenue for local businesses each year. When Mr. Wilson says that this revenue is in jeopardy because of unfair conditions in sharing revenues between teams in the NFL, I believe him.

ESPN news gave an example of the types of conditions that Mr. Wilson feels are detrimental to the future of the Bills. The one I found most compelling in its attack on western NY is the one concerning the sale of a team; the new owners will not be eligible for revenue sharing. This condition alone is sufficient for the next owner of the Bills to move the franchise out of western NY. The loss of the 33 million in local revenues would be catastrophic to the economic well being of the area.

As my congressperson, you have promised to represent the interests of western NY. I believe you should involve yourself with this issue. I request that you contact Paul Tagliabue, Commissioner of the NFL and urge him to involve all parties in the NFL with constructing and designing the conditions for revenue sharing. I also urge you to hold him accountable for the fairness of the conditions.

Commissioner Tagliabue has announced his desire to resign the post. I urge you to suggest the appropriate replacement is Roger Goodell, a member of the NFL and a western New Yorker who understands the needs and conditions of the small market teams in the NFL.

Thank you for your efforts in this matter.

Good luck to you in the next election.

Respectfully,

MY NAME

[patmoran2006]

Here's what IM not getting.

If the next owner isnt eligible for revenue sharing.. why would ANYONE buy a NFL team? Whether it was the Buffalo Bills or the expansion LA Lamers?

Makes NO sense to me..

[socalfan]

Here's what IM not getting.

If the next owner isnt eligible for revenue sharing.. why would ANYONE buy a NFL team? Whether it was the Buffalo Bills or the expansion LA Lamers?

Makes NO sense to me..

Revenue sharing is not something the higher revenue teams want. This qualifier or condition is set so that the next owner of this franchise moves it to a larger market, generates more revenues, and becomes less of a problem for the NFL.

Who would want to buy it? Anyone that would like to open the LA market again.

[acehole]

PS whats it like being a commy box muncher?


My Name
My Address
My Phone Number
My Email Address

April 7, 2005




Dear Senator Clinton:

Today, in a press conference, the owner of the Buffalo Bills, Ralph Wilson, expressed his concern for the long range viability of the Bills in western NY. His message is the reason for my writing to you.

The Bills are an integral part of western NY. They generate about 33 million dollars in revenue for local businesses each year. When Mr. Wilson says that this revenue is in jeopardy because of unfair conditions in sharing revenues between teams in the NFL, I believe him.

ESPN news gave an example of the types of conditions that Mr. Wilson feels are a detrimental to the future of the Bills. The one I found most compelling in its attack on western NY is the one concerning the sale of a team; the new owners will not be eligible for revenue sharing. This condition alone is sufficient for the next owner of the Bills to move the franchise out of western NY. The loss of the 33 million in local revenues would be catastrophic to the economic well being of the area.

As my congressperson, you have promised to represent the interests of western NY. I believe you should involve yourself with this issue. I request that you contact Paul Tagliabue, Commissioner of the NFL and urge him to involve all parties in the NFL with constructing and designing the conditions for revenue sharing. I also urge you to hold him accountable for the fairness of the conditions.

Commissioner Tagliabue has announced his desire to resign the post. I urge you to suggest the appropriate replacement is Roger Goodell, a member of the NFL and a western New Yorker who understands the needs and conditions of the small market teams in the NFL.

Thank you for your efforts in this matter.

Good luck to you in the next election.

Respectfully,

MY NAME

[DraftBoy]

Lets leave the political ideologies out of this, or I will be forced to ban you from the thread...Good idea Socal but why just to Senator Clinton should there be a letter to the mayor and city council of Buffalo? The Governors office, both senators, and the local reps from WNY? Im not criticizing bc this is a great idea just letting the guys know that there are lots of letters to write to lots of people.

[THE END OF ALL DAYS]

We need to get Schumer into the loop as well. He may not rep western NY but he is still a NY senator

[socalfan]

Lets leave the political ideologies out of this, or I will be forced to ban you from the thread...Good idea Socal but why just to Senator Clinton should there be a letter to the mayor and city council of Buffalo? The Governors office, both senators, and the local reps from WNY? Im not criticizing bc this is a great idea just letting the guys know that there are lots of letters to write to lots of people.

I emailed the Clinton letter to all of those people....I just changed the addressee. It takes about 5 minutes to do. Getting the reps email addresses was the hardest, you have to go to their websites to send a message. But Thurm has a thread here with a lot of that information in it already.

[shelby]

Great letter socal!
May we plagarize?
:D

[acehole]

Lets leave the political ideologies out of this, or I will be forced to ban you from the thread...Good idea Socal but why just to Senator Clinton should there be a letter to the mayor and city council of Buffalo? The Governors office, both senators, and the local reps from WNY? Im not criticizing bc this is a great idea just letting the guys know that there are lots of letters to write to lots of people.

Wasnt ideology but satire. But hey you da mod..there will be no disent.

[socalfan]

Great letter socal!
May we plagarize?
:D

Of course you can. I placed it here to make it easier for everyone to paste it into an email and send it off to whoever you want. But feel free to change it to better reflect your concerns.

[shelby]

Thanks:up:

[acehole]

Lets leave the political ideologies out of this, or I will be forced to ban you from the thread...Good idea Socal but why just to Senator Clinton should there be a letter to the mayor and city council of Buffalo? The Governors office, both senators, and the local reps from WNY? Im not criticizing bc this is a great idea just letting the guys know that there are lots of letters to write to lots of people.

OK man....your show I dont want a beef with a mod...but You are writing to a senator whose party taxed all the employers out of NY...that help cause Buffalo to be in the shape is in. I will say no more.

[Drive 4 Five]

Lets leave the political ideologies out of this, or I will be forced to ban you from the thread...Good idea Socal but why just to Senator Clinton should there be a letter to the mayor and city council of Buffalo? The Governors office, both senators, and the local reps from WNY? Im not criticizing bc this is a great idea just letting the guys know that there are lots of letters to write to lots of people.

CC: PAUL TAGLIABUE

[Drive 4 Five]

Excellent letter socal. Excellent. Might you site sources for your information such as where you came up with the figure that the Buffalo Bills franchise generates 33 million for the economy?

[socalfan]

Excellent letter socal. Excellent. Might you site sources for your information such as where you came up with the figure that the Buffalo Bills franchise generates 33 million for the economy?

If I were writing to a newspaper I might cite sources....but these are people who represent the area...they should know this information cold.

If you copy and paste...here are the email addresses for the senators and below are the websites for the governor and representatives...these folks want you to message them on their site...you can copy and paste the letter into their message box. The idea of CCing Tag was a great one. If I can find it, I will post it.

Senator Charles Schumer
E-mail: senator@schumer.senate.gov

Senator Hillary Clinton
E-mail:senator@clinton.senate.gov

Gov. Pataki
Website:http://161.11.3.75/govemail

Thomas Reynolds (26th District)
Website:www.house.gov/reynolds

Brian Higgins (27th District)
Website:www.house.gov/higgins

Louise Slaughter (28th District)
Website:www.slaughter.house.gov

[Drive 4 Five]

If I were writing to a newspaper I might cite sources....but these are people who represent the area...they should know this information cold.

If you copy and paste...here are the email addresses for the senators and below are the websites for the governor and representatives...these folks want you to message them on their site...you can copy and paste the letter into their message box. The idea of CCing Tag was a great one. If I can find it, I will post it.

Senator Charles Schumer
E-mail: senator@schumer.senate.gov

Senator Hillary Clinton
E-mail:senator@clinton.senate.gov

Gov. Pataki
Website:http://161.11.3.75/govemail

Thomas Reynolds (26th District)
Website:www.house.gov/reynolds

Brian Higgins (27th District)
Website:www.house.gov/higgins

Louise Slaughter (28th District)
Website:www.slaughter.house.gov

:up:

[DraftBoy]

If I were writing to a newspaper I might cite sources....but these are people who represent the area...they should know this information cold.

If you copy and paste...here are the email addresses for the senators and below are the websites for the governor and representatives...these folks want you to message them on their site...you can copy and paste the letter into their message box. The idea of CCing Tag was a great one. If I can find it, I will post it.

Senator Charles Schumer
E-mail: senator@schumer.senate.gov

Senator Hillary Clinton
E-mail:senator@clinton.senate.gov

Gov. Pataki
Website:http://161.11.3.75/govemail

Thomas Reynolds (26th District)
Website:www.house.gov/reynolds

Brian Higgins (27th District)
Website:www.house.gov/higgins

Louise Slaughter (28th District)
Website:www.slaughter.house.gov


Ill be sending out my letters tommorow! Good job!

[LifetimeBillsFan]

Sen. Schumer is a very important member of the Senate Banking committee, which has a great deal of influence over the nation's financial affairs, so please make sure to write to him.

Also, if it might be a good idea to send copies to the Commerce Secretary and members of the House and Senate committees that oversee commerce and trade. Some congressmen/women and senators only accept emails from their own constituents, but many do allow emails from outside of the districts/states that they represent if the subject has to do with a committee that they sit on.

If you can't CC: Tagliabue on each, you might consider sending him an email that might begin as follows:

Dear Commissioner Tagliabue,

I am writing to inform you that I have sent the email (copied below) expressing my concerns about the impact of the NFL's new CBA and rules regarding revenue sharing and the sale of franchises to new ownership on the league's smaller market teams to the following: [ list all of the government leaders to whom you have sent your email ]

Sincerely,
Your Name
Your Address
Your City
Your Email Address

[ copy of the email that you sent to those recipients ]
--------------------------------------------

IMHO it is important to make sure that the league knows that this is not simply a local issue, but that those who are writing are attempting to make it a much larger issue by involving politicians on the national level from outside of the WNY area and NY State. Nothing concerns the NFL, MLB and other sports leagues more than the thought that the national government might begin to take a serious look at the way they do business.

[Michael82]

Excellent job, socal! I'll be sending in my letters today. :up:

[socalfan]

Thanks Mikey...it takes 5 minutes to copy and paste and send the emails.

[YardRat]

Commissioner Tagliabue has announced his desire to resign the post. I urge you to suggest the appropriate replacement is Roger Goodell, a member of the NFL and a western New Yorker who understands the needs and conditions of the small market teams in the NFL.


Nice post, socal, and I'm not trying to piss in anybody's Wheaties here, but...

Wasn't Goodell heavily involved in the CBA process that just concluded? What makes you so sure his elevation to commissioner would be an advantage?

[socalfan]

Nice post, socal, and I'm not trying to piss in anybody's Wheaties here, but...

Wasn't Goodell heavily involved in the CBA process that just concluded? What makes you so sure his elevation to commissioner would be an advantage?

Yes he was and that is why he would be a good choice, he has the history of the workings between the players and owners. Having someone from the outside, would take a big lead time to get them up to speed.

In another thread here, call CBA by Phil. I explain what is unsatisfactory. It isn't the CBA, although Ralph doesn't like the 59.5% sharing number. What is at issue is the revenue sharing agreement and the qualifiers which are still being decided upon. My complaint is that one of the qualifiers being proposed will cost western NY the Bills. Ralph will some day no longer own the Bills, the new owners of the Bills will NOT be able to qualifiy for revenue sharing no matter what.

Someone like Goodell will understand that these types of qualifiers don't protect the money of the higher revenue teams, it causes small market failures. And I think he would be better able to formulate the qualifiers to protect revenue from higher revenue teams as well as not destroy small market teams.

[Ickybaluky]

What is at issue is the revenue sharing agreement and the qualifiers which are still being decided upon. My complaint is that one of the qualifiers being proposed will cost western NY the Bills. Ralph will some day no longer own the Bills, the new owners of the Bills will NOT be able to qualifiy for revenue sharing no matter what.

I'm not sure where you get that information. I have not seen that reported anywhere.

The qualifiers for the Supplemental Revenue Sharing plan have not even been decided upon.

[socalfan]

I'm not sure where you get that information. I have not seen that reported anywhere.

The qualifiers for the Supplemental Revenue Sharing plan have not even been decided upon.

Giambra, who is the county administrator that Ralph spoke to yesterday, brought it up at a televised press conference. I presume he got it from Ralph Wilson, who is probably receiving this type of information from the NFL offices.

[Michael82]

I got it!

Ralph is trying to get the fans and politicians on his side while the NFL big rich guys try to sneak the revenue sharing plan by without the public knowing. By him leaking the info out before it is agreed upon, it will force the other owners, especially the small market ones to think before they sign their name to the new revenue sharing plan.

[socalfan]

I got it!

Ralph is trying to get the fans and politicians on his side while the NFL big rich guys try to sneak the revenue sharing plan by without the public knowing. But him leaking the info out before it is agreed upon, it will force the other owners, especially the small market ones to think before they sign their name to the new revenue sharing plan.


Well Ralph certainly has opened up the debate and forced people including owners to think about what they are doing!

[camelcowboy]

I have sent mine :up:

[RedEyE]

I sent mine out as well, even though I don't reside in the state of NY. I certainly hope that doesn't matter.

[socalfan]

I sent mine out as well, even though I don't reside in the state of NY. I certainly hope that doesn't matter.


Yeah, I don't live there either. But if you do nothing then you know how that will turn out already.

[Bill Brasky]

Send hard copies guys, these douches never respond or react to emails. They go in the delete box.

[socalfan]

Send hard copies guys, these douches never respond or react to emails. They go in the delete box.


That's a good point. Probably having Tagliabue receive one.....maybe even 2000 ....would make his day on Monday morning. Could you imagine the postman pulling up in a truck and delivering 20-30 bags of letters....

That would be a wake up call.

Here is Tag's address

Paul Tagliabue
Commissioner
National Football League
280 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10017


I copied my email and also sent it along with this letter to him.

Dear Mr. Tagliabue:

I am writing to you and my congressional representitives concerning Ralph Wilson's press conference of April 7, 2006. I am concerned for the teams in small markets and their long term viability. I believe that the CBA, revenue sharing plan and qualifiers work against the economic health and competitiveness of these teams.

Furthermore, I am concerned with the structure of the search group you have assembled to find your replacement. I believe the group needs to include representatives from the small market teams.

Mr. Tagliabue, I believe that the labor and revenue sharing agreements that you helped broker will forever be associated with your name and time in office. If these deals prove to be unfair and cause inequality in competitiveness between the teams, or movement of teams out of their current markets, your tenure in office will be viewed as a failure. You have the opportunity at this last stage to insure that this does not happen. I hope you do whatever you can to address these issues.

Thank you,

[Michael82]

That's a good point. Probably having Tagliabue receive one.....maybe even 2000 ....would make his day on Monday morning. Could you imagine the postman pulling up in a truck and delivering 20-30 bags of letters....

That would be a wake up call.

Here is Tag's address

Paul Tagliabue
Commissioner
National Football League
280 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10017


I copied my email and also sent it along with this letter to him.

Dear Mr. Tagliabue:

I am writing to you and my congressional representitives concerning Ralph Wilson's press conference of April 7, 2006. I am concerned for the teams in small markets and their long term viability. I believe that the CBA, revenue sharing plan and qualifiers work against the economic health and competitiveness of these teams.

Furthermore, I am concerned with the structure of the search group you have assembled to find your replacement. I believe the group needs to include representatives from the small market teams.

Mr. Tagliabue, I believe that the labor and revenue sharing agreements that you helped broker will forever be associated with your name and time in office. If these deals prove to be unfair and cause inequality in competitiveness between the teams, or movement of teams out of their current markets, your tenure in office will be viewed as a failure. You have the opportunity at this last stage to insure that this does not happen. I hope you do whatever you can to address these issues.

Thank you,
Great idea! I'm sure the post office would love that. :snicker:

[Michael82]

Better yet, why not load up Jerry Jones and Dan Synder's mailbox too? :snicker:

[shelby]

Great job socal, thank you!

[socalfan]

Thanks Mike and Shelby!