Mae Culpa to Ralph Wilson

[EricStratton]

Re: Mae Culpa to Ralph Wilson

It's the truth. He gave us YEARS of **** football but many of you won't stop kissing his ass just because we have a team (and one that's frustrated us a lot more than it's made us happy).

If you live in the area or are a Bills fan outside of the area like the two of us Op would you rather have a team to be passionate about and frustrated with or would you rather be a city hoping to get a team or wondering where the team you loved growing up went to.

I'd rather have a team that drives me crazy vs not having a team at all.

[ParanoidAndroid]

Re: Mae Culpa to Ralph Wilson

He was one of a small group of people who made the NFL what it is today. He absolutely deserves to be in the HOF. And yes, all the original owners deserve to be in (as long as their noses remained clean).

[Albany,n.y.]

Re: Mae Culpa to Ralph Wilson

Lots of people give a lot of money to charity. That doesn't make them worthy of the NFL HOF.

If nothing else, his saving the AFL did. Without Ralph loaning the Raiders $, they would have folded & created a domino effect that may have taken out the whole AFL. It was at a time where the NFL wouldn't have absorbed any of the AFL teams, the Bills included. The NFL would be a very different league if the AFL had folded, and there would be no Bills at all.

[elroy16]

Re: Mae Culpa to Ralph Wilson

Any negative talk about Ralph is unjust and uninformed.


Is it possible for some of you to to imagine for just a second that Ralph had more of a plan or forward thinking than you do?


They created a lease that was very tough and expensive to get out of. He helped put together a trust that would not sell the team to a group that would move the team. You think maybe, just for a second, he knew of some of this billionaires and possibly even talked to them about what would happen after he died?


You don't run a successful business for 54 for years without long term plans and goals. One of Ralph's goals was to keep the Bills in Buffalo. He wasn't just going to let them go to the highest bidder and let them move away without doing something about it. Ralph knew what he was doing.




Ralph absolutely deserves his HOF status.

[justasportsfan]

Re: Mae Culpa to Ralph Wilson

So there was a plan after all . OP was wrong

[WagonCircler]

Re: Mae Culpa to Ralph Wilson

Where are all the Zone legal experts that were so sure that the Bills were obligated to ignore the intentions of bidders regarding relocation? Cough cough...coastal...Felch....Spiked.....

I wasn't a big fan of Ralph as an operator, but the truth is obvious. This was the plan all along.

[OpIv37]

Re: Mae Culpa to Ralph Wilson

If you live in the area or are a Bills fan outside of the area like the two of us Op would you rather have a team to be passionate about and frustrated with or would you rather be a city hoping to get a team or wondering where the team you loved growing up went to.

I'd rather have a team that drives me crazy vs not having a team at all.

Sometimes I wonder. Suffering through bad times is part of being a sports can and it's what makes the good times more enjoyable. But what happens when there are no more good times?

That's what happened under Ralph. I left WNY in 2001, still wearing my Bills gear with pride and talking **** with other fans. We sucked those years , but it was supposed to be a short lived rebuilding cycle. 13 years later, the only time I've gotten to gloat was the victory in the Sean Taylor game and the one win over the Pats. And I was in Redskins territory most of that time- they're not exactly juggernauts. I still wear my Bills gear, but the reaction I get is more like pity than anything else.

If Ralph was still the owner, I have no reason to believe that trend wouldn't continue.

[YardRat]

Re: Mae Culpa to Ralph Wilson

Ralph deserves to be in the HOF as much as any owner for the simple fact that his influence, both early and even in later years, affects the entire league.

As far as just specifically Buffalo, he brought the team here, he did win championships here (pretty quickly), he kept the team here, and assured the team would stay here beyond his life span. Ralph never again will have the opportunity to be a part of a championship, but he assured WNY and Bills fans anywhere that the possibility still exists for us.

Welcome to the 'big picture' point of view...if you haven't caught up by now you might as well give up because you never will.

[imbondz]

Re: Mae Culpa to Ralph Wilson

He gave us a team. It was the one great thing he did. Allowing us to keep the team is simply not undoing the one great thing he did.

In the meantime, he gave us 54 years of football that was generally awful. We are arguably the worst team in the league over the last 14 years.

If he deserves in, then every original owner of every team deserves in.

lol.

[bleve]

Re: Mae Culpa to Ralph Wilson

I'm as critical of Ralph as anyone, this franchise for the most part has been abysmal. I don't think it was out of greed, or cheapness. I just think he was incompetent in running a winning NFL franchise. But it was his, and he could do as he pleased, and the results were not flattering.

However, it has become clear that he loved this city, and wanted his beloved team to continue to thrive in Buffalo. And for that he should get some respect.




...and it's Mea

[Meathead]

Re: Mae Culpa to Ralph Wilson

who is Mae Culpa? and does she realize her name resembles a legal term?

[OpIv37]

Re: Mae Culpa to Ralph Wilson

Any negative talk about Ralph is unjust and uninformed.


Is it possible for some of you to to imagine for just a second that Ralph had more of a plan or forward thinking than you do?


They created a lease that was very tough and expensive to get out of. He helped put together a trust that would not sell the team to a group that would move the team. You think maybe, just for a second, he knew of some of this billionaires and possibly even talked to them about what would happen after he died?


You don't run a successful business for 54 for years without long term plans and goals. One of Ralph's goals was to keep the Bills in Buffalo. He wasn't just going to let them go to the highest bidder and let them move away without doing something about it. Ralph knew what he was doing.




Ralph absolutely deserves his HOF status.

Define "successful."

He got rich off of us fans and gave us **** on the football field in return.

In terms of making money, he was a success. In terms of winning football games, he was a failure.

[Historian]

Re: Mae Culpa to Ralph Wilson

I think the reason that this is a sub-.500 team for it's history, is because Ralph was just like us: He was a fan of the game.

Some times...often times...fans make snap judgements and incorrect decisions in the heat of the moment.

I'm sure if he had it to do over again, Harvey Johnson would not have ever been promoted, or Polian let go, but you learn from your mistakes.

Ralph once told me that he wanted to build a "generational thing" here in Buffalo, much like the NFL had in places like Baltimore, Chicago, and Cleveland.

I believe he succeeded in doing that.

He didn't just build a team, or a league, he built a hub for a community to rally around.

Do I care if the Bills finish 1-15 this year?

A little, but the W-L column is secondary to me. I'm going to RWS to celebrate what makes this area great: friends, family and community. (food, lol)

And I will renew next year for the same reason.

So thanks Ralph, not just for the team, but for everything that said team has brought into my life, because I'm passing it all on to MY son.

[TacklingDummy]

Re: Mae Culpa to Ralph Wilson

Just look at how many good QBs this franchise has had during its history and that's your answer for the sub .500 record.

[swiper]

Re: Mae Culpa to Ralph Wilson

who is Mae Culpa? and does she realize her name resembles a legal term?

Sounds like Mulva or Dolores to me.