terry pegula wasn't a land acquirer and got lucky off the fracking that ensued...he was one of the guys that developed fracking. he is a smart guy. its true that his ownership of sports teams have not been successful so far, but the sabres are on the right path. terry seems like an old school kind of business man. he gives people a shot to do it their way. the bills seem to be a huge mess and Brandon is largely the roadblock to any future success. the best thing for the bills is to have a tire fire season and get rex and russ out and let them build a team around people who care about winning.
swiper (06-25-2016)
Exactly. Everybody turned a blind eye to the possibility of this problem when he came in on his white horse and saved the franchise from the likes of Trump and Bon Jovi.
We're seeing the problem with the disparity between "Fracking smarts" and "sports ownership smarts" in spades now.
It's interesting to see people call a billionaire an idiot while they probably have to ask their boss if they want Friday off.
Mace (06-25-2016),Night Train (06-25-2016)
Joe Fo Sho (06-26-2016)
I can agree with this. I'm not happy about Brandon, but...
I'm not giving up on Pegula so quick though. In terms of business, lot of businessmen make a billion, lose 2 billion, end up overreaching like Rigas, hitting a stasis like Rich, never diversify much like Golisano, flail around like Trump.
Pegula jumped in to the Buffalo pool with enthusiasm, perhaps learned harshly with the Sabres, before finding a gem (imho) in Tim Murray as GM. Bylsma, I dunno, but he gets another year of my patience with a young roster. Pegula perhaps learned harshly again with Rex (I sure think he did), and maybe has learned to take Brandon with a grain of salt from it, no telling yet.
But like with anything, you can overreach with enthusiasm until it evens out with knowledge learned from painful experience. Kraft for example inherited Parcells. His first real coach choice was Carroll, team declined for 3 years before he hit on Belichick.
Pegula has not been complacent, Harbor Center is a dynamic type of progress, as was his deal with MSG network. His business interests are expanding and diversifying toward sports, and he's already said the family is in this for the long haul, even if he dies, then over to Kim who seems to take it seriously, They seem genuinely happy and content to be involved with Buffalo and Buffalo sports as an integral part of their future business direction.
Feelings don't mean crap, you can't qualify them, but I'll say that to me it feels like a slow, steady focused change in direction and perspective. Proof will of course be in the pudding, and I wish Brandon kept to his field, but I just can't write the Pegulas off this quick. Ownership learning curve.
It's easy to get impatient and annoyed because we've been waiting now for so damn long, but the clock on their potential only recently started ticking.
Night Train (06-25-2016)
I get your point in this case, but I have no problem whatever calling Trump an idiot. He's a rich idiot, but still an idiot. Some idiots have more money. some idiots run faster, some idiots drive better, some idiots know more about certain things, but they're still idiots in more things than they aren't. Best trait is knowing what you don't know, to keep from being an idiot.
Joe Fo Sho (06-26-2016)
I think he's an astute businessman, I really do. He has gotten a lot done downtown, after 40 years of politics and gridlock, so I don't think brains are the problem.
I think his problem is that he's a terrible communicator, meaning, he trips over words, sometimes stutters, and is basically a shy person.
I believe that's why he employs the opposite....people who can schmooze, (Kim) people who can sell, (Brandon) and people who can communicate/BS better. (Rex)
I think its that simple.
I just hope that someone, either he or Kim, at some point, take a hard look at the Administrative structure of the Bills, and realize that most of Ralph's 'yes-men' need to be shown the door.
Yeah, you can certainly call Trump an idiot when it comes to certain things, just like you can say that Pegula hasn't made the best football decisions during the year and a half he's owned the Bills. However, to say that Trump has neither book nor street smarts is just foolish.
Mace (06-26-2016)
It's amusing to me that some of you armchair psychos think you can judge Pegula's level of intelligence from here.
Can you judge his level of sanity, too? Maybe he's just completely insane. Did you ever think of that? LOL
Joe Fo Sho (06-27-2016),Mace (06-26-2016)
Well, someone with book smarts will know judges don't write bills, especially since his sister is one and he's running for president, and someone with street smarts has to be around people on the street beyond high society social circles. I've never seen evidence of either. I will say, he has salesman smarts and take advantage of weak minded-people smarts that combine with being born into the right family have allowed him to sustain himself with the momentum large amounts of money can sustain.
Not to make this about Trump though, I'll again say Pegula has demonstrated a significant intelligence in diversifying solidly into sports and sports related business. I absolutely don't think Pegula is an idiot but again, is learning as he goes, which makes it significant to his upside as an owner through the future.
Maybe he'll always be vulnerable to a high level gladhander like Brandon, but then again, maybe he won't as he gains knowledge and experience.
Joe Fo Sho (06-27-2016)