Ralph is a Genius

[Jan Reimers]

In the last week or two, Ralph has:

(1) Grabbed the attention of the general public, and Bills' fans specifically, in regard to the CBA and revenue sharing. He has fans talking about how best to support the team and keep them in Buffalo.

(2) Enlisted the help of Erie County Executive Giambra directly and Buffalo Mayor Brown indirectly, which should mean a few more goodies for the Bills from local government - even though Ralph brilliantly refrained from asking for additional taxpayer assistance.

(3) Gotten U.S. Representative Higgins and Governor Pataki to write letters to Tagliabue on behalf of the Bills and other small market teams; and Senator Schumer to talk with Tags and arrange a meeting to discuss the Bills and small market team interests. Tim Russert has also promised to help.

(4) Elicited interest in buying the team, and keeping it in Buffalo, from Tom Golisano - the most capable man for the job in Western New York.

I think Ralph's campaign will go a long way toward a fairer revenue sharing agreement for all small and medium market teams, as well as keeping the Bills in Buffalo for the long term.

[ICE74129]

Re: Ralph is a Genius

And what will happen? Nothing. I don't see any other owners esp Jax, cinci and Cleveland stepping up and doing the same.

[BigZ]

Re: Ralph is a Genius

In the last week or two, Ralph has:

(1) Grabbed the attention of the general public, and Bills' fans specifically, in regard to the CBA and revenue sharing. He has fans talking about how best to support the team and keep them in Buffalo.

(2) Enlisted the help of Erie County Executive Giambra directly and Buffalo Mayor Brown indirectly, which should mean a few more goodies for the Bills from local government - even though Ralph brilliantly refrained from asking for additional taxpayer assistance.

(3) Gotten U.S. Representative Higgins and Governor Pataki to write letters to Tagliabue on behalf of the Bills and other small market teams; and Senator Schumer to talk with Tags and arrange a meeting to discuss the Bills and small market team interests. Tim Russert has also promised to help.

(4) Elicited interest in buying the team, and keeping it in Buffalo, from Tom Golisano - the most capable man for the job in Western New York.

I think Ralph's campaign will go a long way toward a fairer revenue sharing agreement for all small and medium market teams, as well as keeping the Bills in Buffalo for the long term.

I agree with you Jan. I do wish some of the others (Green Bay, Jax, Cinci, St. Louis, etc.) would have supported him but there's definitely more attention now.

[Saratoga Slim]

Re: Ralph is a Genius

And what will happen? Nothing. I don't see any other owners esp Jax, cinci and Cleveland stepping up and doing the same.

Which is exactly why Ralph chose the right strategy.

I don't understand why anyone around here could have a problem with Ralph enlisting our elected politicians to aid in the fight to get the bills a better deal from the NFL. Seriously! Please explain to me how this is a bad thing.

Embarrassing? Maybe during Ralph's press conferences. But everybody will quickly forget about that if it means we end up with a few extra million to put towards signing bonuses.

Ralph's choices were to sit on his hands like the other small market owners and hope that they get a good deal during the process of finalizing the CBA and revenue sharing, or go on the offensive and use all available means to at least try and carve out the best deal the Bills can get. He chose the latter.

How the hell is that the wrong move?

[ICE74129]

Re: Ralph is a Genius

Which is exactly why Ralph chose the right strategy.

I don't understand why anyone around here could have a problem with Ralph enlisting our elected politicians to aid in the fight to get the bills a better deal from the NFL. Seriously! Please explain to me how this is a bad thing.

Embarrassing? Maybe during Ralph's press conferences. But everybody will quickly forget about that if it means we end up with a few extra million to put towards signing bonuses.

Ralph's choices were to sit on his hands like the other small market owners and hope that they get a good deal during the process of finalizing the CBA and revenue sharing, or go on the offensive and use all available means to at least try and carve out the best deal the Bills can get. He chose the latter.

How the hell is that the wrong move?

He comes off as a whiny ***** and is further pissing off the NFL. What he should have done was get with other owners first then as a group do it. If they said FU then Ralph is on his own and I would be somewhat ok with his PC

[Saratoga Slim]

Re: Ralph is a Genius

He comes off as a whiny ***** and is further pissing off the NFL. What he should have done was get with other owners first then as a group do it. If they said FU then Ralph is on his own and I would be somewhat ok with his PC

I agree that it would've been nice to see Ralph arm in arm with the other small market owners, marching on NFL headquarters.

But who says he didn't try to put together a little coalition before going it on his own? I would be very surprised if Ralph did not get on the phone with Cincy, GB and Jax at the outset, before launching his own crusade. kind of hard to believe that he didnt do that

[Saratoga Slim]

Re: Ralph is a Genius

if Ralph gets a positive result out of all this, I hope he translates it into a quick sale to a local guy (Golisano) or consortium (Golisano and friends) dedicated to keeping the franchise local. I think the team does need some new energy and new ideas on how to maximize local income (which doesn't necessarily mean large ticket increases).

[ICE74129]

Re: Ralph is a Genius

I agree that it would've been nice to see Ralph arm in arm with the other small market owners, marching on NFL headquarters.

But who says he didn't try to put together a little coalition before going it on his own? I would be very surprised if Ralph did not get on the phone with Cincy, GB and Jax at the outset, before launching his own crusade. kind of hard to believe that he didnt do that

The problem is the weakest team is one of the biggest money makers...Green Bay. They are dead last as for as small market teams go, but make a ton of money.

[Jan Reimers]

Re: Ralph is a Genius

if Ralph gets a positive result out of all this, I hope he translates it into a quick sale to a local guy (Golisano) or consortium (Golisano and friends) dedicated to keeping the franchise local. I think the team does need some new energy and new ideas on how to maximize local income (which doesn't necessarily mean large ticket increases).

I agree, and I think Ralph WILL get positive results - a fan base more mobilized to support the team; some further concessions from the county/city; and a fairer revenue sharing plan from the league. The NFL - even greedy bastards like Jones and Snyder - will not ignore Schumer, whose committee has anti-trust authority.

I think this will pave the way for the sale of the team to Golisano, but I'm afraid that won't happen until Ralph dies.

[Saratoga Slim]

Re: Ralph is a Genius

The problem is the weakest team is one of the biggest money makers...Green Bay. They are dead last as for as small market teams go, but make a ton of money.

right...which goes back to my last post. Let Ralph pressure the NFL into giving us the best deal we can get, can't hurt, right? Then sell the team to a local guy or group with the energy to make money the GB way: by brand-building and making the most out of the market available. Notice that GB doesnt have to sell naming rights, there are undeniably other ways to make more money.

[Michael82]

Re: Ralph is a Genius

In the last week or two, Ralph has:

(1) Grabbed the attention of the general public, and Bills' fans specifically, in regard to the CBA and revenue sharing. He has fans talking about how best to support the team and keep them in Buffalo.

(2) Enlisted the help of Erie County Executive Giambra directly and Buffalo Mayor Brown indirectly, which should mean a few more goodies for the Bills from local government - even though Ralph brilliantly refrained from asking for additional taxpayer assistance.

(3) Gotten U.S. Representative Higgins and Governor Pataki to write letters to Tagliabue on behalf of the Bills and other small market teams; and Senator Schumer to talk with Tags and arrange a meeting to discuss the Bills and small market team interests. Tim Russert has also promised to help.

(4) Elicited interest in buying the team, and keeping it in Buffalo, from Tom Golisano - the most capable man for the job in Western New York.

I think Ralph's campaign will go a long way toward a fairer revenue sharing agreement for all small and medium market teams, as well as keeping the Bills in Buffalo for the long term.

I totally agree. Good post!

[Michael82]

Re: Ralph is a Genius

He comes off as a whiny ***** and is further pissing off the NFL. What he should have done was get with other owners first then as a group do it. If they said FU then Ralph is on his own and I would be somewhat ok with his PC

How do you know what he tried to do or didn't do? He might have tried to keep this quiet originally and then realized he was getting nowhere so he brought it out in the open. now the ****ing greedy bastards can't slide a pathetic, revenue sharing deal through like they have been trying to.

[Michael82]

Re: Ralph is a Genius

I agree that it would've been nice to see Ralph arm in arm with the other small market owners, marching on NFL headquarters.

But who says he didn't try to put together a little coalition before going it on his own? I would be very surprised if Ralph did not get on the phone with Cincy, GB and Jax at the outset, before launching his own crusade. kind of hard to believe that he didnt do that

EXACTLY!

[McBFLO]

Re: Ralph is a Genius

right...which goes back to my last post. Let Ralph pressure the NFL into giving us the best deal we can get, can't hurt, right? Then sell the team to a local guy or group with the energy to make money the GB way: by brand-building and making the most out of the market available. Notice that GB doesnt have to sell naming rights, there are undeniably other ways to make more money.

There are too. I read this morning, I think on ESPN or something, that Lambeau Field has a food court open year round. That's a good idea. Instead of 4 months out of the year, make it open year round. There aren;t many events that take place at RWS. If they could do something like the food court as well as bring more events there over the warm/nice weather months, that'd bring in a lot of money.

[Billzz]

Re: Ralph is a Genius

He comes off as a whiny ***** and is further pissing off the NFL. What he should have done was get with other owners first then as a group do it. If they said FU then Ralph is on his own and I would be somewhat ok with his PC

The only "whiny *****" as you put it, I see is you to be quite honest. Nobody knows what impact this will have on the bills or other NFL teams for the future. For all you know he could be making a huge impact for years to come. I atleast give the man prompts for seeing a flaw in the system and going out and being heard on all levels.

This isn't so much about david vs. goliath but more about all teams under the NFL being on a level playing field regardless of the revenue they have. Under the current CBA it isn't, period. Say what you want Ice but this may be something like when they combined the AFL which Ralph was a part of and helped the NFL grow and become what it is today. Atleast I hope so, not sure what I would do without the bills to root for.