John Clayton to Ralph: "Move on"

[Mr. Miyagi]

The disturbing part is not Wilson's intentions. All he's trying to do is preserve pro football in western New York. Wilson is Buffalo Bills football....

Wilson hasn't been shy in voicing his displeasure over the new CBA extension.
But his tack is disturbing and almost comes off as though he's waving the white flag of surrender, and that's not good. Wilson and Bengals owner Mike Brown were the only two owners who voted against the expensive, complicated but game-saving CBA. Sure, it gave players a bigger percentage of the revenues. Of course, the revenue-sharing plan wasn't perfect. This was a deal done at the last minute.

Since returning to Buffalo from the Dallas meeting, Wilson has come off like a Bills fan who hasn't gotten over the Norwood kick. Ralph, it's time to get over it and move on and work within the system, not against it.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=2403502

[Mitchy moo]

Owner misguided in his views of agreement

Some former Bills and some Bills fans never got over Scott Norwood's last-second missed field goal that cost Buffalo a victory against the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXV.
Losing is always tough, but sometimes it's even harder to accept when you're dealt a narrow defeat. Ask Mike Holmgren. The Seahawks coach still is trying to get over his team's Super Bowl XL loss to the Steelers in a game filled with close and controversial officiating calls. But listening to Bills owner Ralph Wilson's news conference Friday was a little disturbing.
Wilson is taking his complaints about the new collective bargaining extension to any New York state politicians who'll listen. He's soliciting their help in reshaping the agreement reached last month in Dallas that kept labor peace in the NFL through 2011.
The disturbing part is not Wilson's intentions. All he's trying to do is preserve pro football in western New York. Wilson is Buffalo Bills football. Someday, he probably will go into the Pro Football Hall of Fame for his contributions to the old AFL, the NFL and Bills fans. He is to Bills football what the Rooneys are to Steelers fans and Al Davis is to Raiders fans.

	Wilson hasn't been shy in voicing his displeasure over the new CBA extension.

But his tack is disturbing and almost comes off as though he's waving the white flag of surrender, and that's not good. Wilson and Bengals owner Mike Brown were the only two owners who voted against the expensive, complicated but game-saving CBA. Sure, it gave players a bigger percentage of the revenues. Of course, the revenue-sharing plan wasn't perfect. This was a deal done at the last minute.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/print?id=2403502&type=story

[Mr. Pink]

Re: Owner misguided in his views of agreement



already covered in another thread.

[Mr. Miyagi]

Re: John Clayton to Ralph: "Move on"

Merged.

[Mr. Pink]

Re: John Clayton to Ralph: "Move on"

heh....it was a good read. Even though most don't like John Clayton but he is mostly a knowledgable source on the NFL. You can't say he goes one way or the other in this article. It's written straight down the middle. I pretty much agree with the premise of the article. Thanks Miyagi for the find.

[LtBillsFan66]

Re: John Clayton to Ralph: "Move on"

Damn. Clayton ***** slapped the old man.

[Jan Reimers]

Re: John Clayton to Ralph: "Move on"

I think Ralph's going public with this, and getting Pataki and Schumer involved, is a great move. I think the Senator will put enough pressure on the league to get a decent revenue sharing plan for the small and medium market teams, which I believe is all Ralph really wants.

[Gunzlingr]

Re: John Clayton to Ralph: "Move on"

From what I have read from numerous sites (SI, Foxsports, etc) they say that Ralph is concerned with selling the team because a new owner won't get to be part of revenue sharing. This concerns me greatly, because if something happens and the Bills get a new owner who doesn't get to participate, bye bye Bills.

Everything I have read makes me think that Ralph is concerned that in the long run there will be no team in Buffalo because this agreement only covers the current owners.

my

[LtBillsFan66]

Re: John Clayton to Ralph: "Move on"

From what I have read from numerous sites (SI, Foxsports, etc) they say that Ralph is concerned with selling the team because a new owner won't get to be part of revenue sharing. This concerns me greatly, because if something happens and the Bills get a new owner who doesn't get to participate, bye bye Bills.

Everything I have read makes me think that Ralph is concerned that in the long run there will be no team in Buffalo because this agreement only covers the current owners.

my

He could say that in a sentence. Not a rambling diatribe.

[The_Philster]

Re: John Clayton to Ralph: "Move on"

I think Ralph's going public with this, and getting Pataki and Schumer involved, is a great move. I think the Senator will put enough pressure on the league to get a decent revenue sharing plan for the small and medium market teams, which I believe is all Ralph really wants.

ditto Clayton can go F himself. Ralph's only doing what he can to get the job done.

[ICE74129]

Re: John Clayton to Ralph: "Move on"

ditto Clayton can go F himself. Ralph's only doing what he can to get the job done.

No clayton shouldn't go F himelf. He told it how it is. Clayton is saying the same thing I did, HOW RW did it was pathetic at best. There is a right way and a wrong way and Ralph chose the latter of the two.

[The_Philster]

Re: John Clayton to Ralph: "Move on"

How Ralph did it was get the ball rolling and draw attention to the problem rather than let it get signed off on.

[Saratoga Slim]

Re: John Clayton to Ralph: "Move on"

No clayton shouldn't go F himelf. He told it how it is. Clayton is saying the same thing I did, HOW RW did it was pathetic at best. There is a right way and a wrong way and Ralph chose the latter of the two.

he did choose the wrong tone. could have said what he needed to say, and mobilized the political support he needed without sounding so whiny. That said, he's doing the right thing. by making noise now, before the revenue-sharing details are finalized, and there's some hope that Bills' will get a better shake.

[ICE74129]

Re: John Clayton to Ralph: "Move on"

How Ralph did it was get the ball rolling and draw attention to the problem rather than let it get signed off on.

Oh horse crap. Phil you and some of the others gotta quit drinking so much homer juice.

Ralph is WRONG about how he did it and WRONG on a few of his counts from Friday and JC flat out addressed them correctly.

I love this part...

"The NFL is set up for the little guys to be successful on the field and off. Look at the Green Bay Packers. They play in the smallest market in major pro sports. Yet, their front office is progressive enough to keep maximizing their revenues without bleeding their fans with high ticket costs. They keep remodeling the stadium, adding suites and finding new ways to create revenue. They put a food court atrium on one side of the stadium that fans enjoy year-round.
Thanks to their hard work, the Packers are among the higher-revenue teams, and they certainly can't be considered new guard."

So what does ralph have to say about that? THE smallest market in the NFL is one of its highest revenue teams!

Ralph wants to get more revenue? Start fielding a WINNER that people across the nation can start rooting for, buying jerseys, etc.

[ICE74129]

Re: John Clayton to Ralph: "Move on"

he did choose the wrong tone. could have said what he needed to say, and mobilized the political support he needed without sounding so whiny. That said, he's doing the right thing. by making noise now, before the revenue-sharing details are finalized, and there's some hope that Bills' will get a better shake.

He would have done the right thing by getting other owners on board first