May Day 10

common denominator. and is the "marketing" side of things really that stellar? The in game "production" is 3rd world compared to other NFL teams. The material played on the Jumbotron is awful and amateurish. People died at a game last season (and you can partially blame the new stadium lot rules for them). The Toronto thing was/is a disaster as far as marketing and spreading the brand. Commercials, shows, general coverage is not very good. In Philadelphia, they would have promos in the newspaper multiple times a week. Player posters, cheerleader posters, etc... very well produced network TV shows at times people watch TV, commercials that get your heart racing, etc. Here its like a wasteland. You can give him credit for training camp in Rochester, but that was bound to happen with any up and coming kid who gets brought on in sports marketing. The rationalization, I would argue, would have happened naturally anyways. Canucks love to come here, shop, and party.

Here is the draft room. Brandon was trying to figure out how many pom poms to get for the opener.

Yeah, wasnt he travelling around, meeting with Shanahan and whatnot? Its obvious that Brandon has been the functioning arm of this team for a long period of time.

Brandon's ascent through the ranks is correlated with the franchise becoming more and more irrelevant. The same people give him "credit" for selling a lot of tickets as poop on the fans for "only" "legitimately" selling out "2" games this season. If I won Mega Millions 3-5 times, and bought the team, you bet Brandon would be out on his ass. I would also be willing to wager he wouldn't sniff anything close to his current position. His tenure here is a joke. This franchise is a joke. If you think he is sitting on the sidelines when it comes to football decisions, you are kidding yourself. Listen to him speak on interviews. He fields questions on personnel without deferring anything to Whaley. Put yourself in his position? Wouldnt you want to work on that side of it? Is this team really marketed well? I have lived in other markets and the Bills' "marketing" is a joke. Unless you count his weekly radio spots where he constantly kicks sand in the faces of the fans in order to justify his Toronto debacle as marketing... Under Brandon, the team fails. Continues to fail, and will fail next year and the year after that.

I have detached from the team, as of about 3 years ago. Now, I can miss games and not care. They lose and I laugh more than get upset about it. They win (in games that matter) I still get pretty happy, but the highs arent as high, because I know it wont amount to anything. Not going to the Dolphins game. I made a pledge 3 years ago as well, that I am dont going to meaningless games.

I dont think Russ Brandon lasts this long (not even considering the yearly promotions) with any other owner in the league, while the team remains in the ditch.

I did like how he paid tribute to the 2 "victims" and painted a real picture of their last hours (as opposed to the typical stories that say they were stopping at the game in between saving kittens from a burning tree and volunteering at the hospital). Laying out what really happened and that these people were no angels (just like us) made it hit home.

I dont think that Ron Burgandy character is funny at all, and neither is most of Will Ferrell's material.

Mike Williams and McKinney were neck and neck. People were split, experts and fans alike. The thing with McKinney was his attitude appeared to stink. The Bills chose poorly

Also John Guy was a stiff. Donahoe failed, to a point, but they were more relevant during his tenure than now, and I would take my chances with him, if I knew that his successors would be Levy(Brandon), Brandon, Nix (Brandon), and Whaley (Brandon).

Heck, If I were under the age of 20 I would consider those the golden years of the franchise

Agreed on NCAA. Ill watch that for 15 hours sometimes if Hawaii is home. NFL I can barely stomach outside the Bills.

who has been hiring all these people who commit blunder after blunder? It has now been 14 years with no playoffs, and no playoff wins in 17 years. The Constants are the most powerful people: Wilson, Brandon, Littman, and Overdorf. I also don't believe for 1 second that Brandon ever fully relinquished the GM role. Without Jim Kelly, this franchise has won one playoff game post merger. This is a loser franchise that has no hope until there is a different owner. Unfortunately, that might bring a relocation.

Same old crap. Worse yet, legions of fans buy in to the excuses every year and repeat them like catch phrases. Meanwhile, 32 other teams are able to hit bottom and turn it around very quickly and effectively. Here, it is always a rolling 3 year process.

Brandon's ascent through his current position is directly correlated to the team drifting further and further into irrelevance. Its amazing, really. All because he "figured out" that holding training camp at his alma mater in Rochester instead of Dunkirk/Fredonia would be a good idea.

I do think the bubble will burst on the NFL a bit as they continue to forget their fans. The amount of commercials and officials' reviews are completely out of control. The "product" itself is fairly vanilla. Players are too gifted, big, athletic, and technical. It all becomes somewhat of a wash on the field. Take away big hitting and there really isn't all that much left. I much prefer the NCAA game as some "weaker" players lend to much more variability and excitement. The fan atmosphere also destroys the NFL. this is a very good point. Big plays arent as exciting anymore. You used to wait to see a flag on TV, then the graphic. If none were seen you could get go nuts and get excited. Now excitement is tempered that much more until the next play goes off.

Great post. Agree 1000% Would suggest a few breaks in the paragraph though so more are inclined to read it.

really rooting for d00k and Michigan State. Perhaps we will see an Auburn vs Alabama rematch, which is the best match-up IMO. Florida State vs Auburn doesnt sound horrible either.

Been a great couple of weeks. Puts the NFL product to shame IMO. Great game here. The way Auburn moved the ball in the 1st half on a few of those drives was amazing. Some costly mistakes have kept Missouri right there within a point Missouri looks pretty good as well. I am surprised they are even having the season they are. I figured they would be nothing but SEC fodder for an indefinite period of years

It is tough. Its like 3 different teams. You have the "class" of the AFL in the last years before the merger, and you have the Jim Kelly/Polian years Other than that, this Franchise has won 1 playoff game in its history. so Thigpen getting hit in head is my choice

I dont think that a random person is going to buy the team, then look at data to consider whether or not to keep them in WNY Its going to be simple: A bidder(s) who will keep the team local vs bidder(s) determined to move them to Toronto. My money is a bidder to Toronto. More $, more potential corporate dollars, and I feel the NFL is itching to get up there and make Buffalo a memory. Us selling out games at this point isnt even a factor besides providing the NFL with a green light to paint us a "non-deserving" to the rest of the NFL fans (and apparently a few of our own). back to the topic, I do feel like they have regionalized pretty well. There is room for improvement, but it is like scraping an empty barrel without the wins. Success will bring in fans from all over.

anyone know of any other good record joints in the Buffalo area besides Record Theatres?

do you think it may have anything to do with there will be graduating seniors this year who have never witnessed a Bills playoff win (and probably dont remember a playoff game)? not many fan bases in all North American sports can withstand that sort of "neglect".

really? http://www.denverpos...-just-also-rans looks like many teams struggling at the gate http://espn.go.com/n.../_/sort/homePct I can go on ticketmaster right now and buy tickets for Sundays games in Cincinnati and New England and by my count it is "legitimate" sellouts: NE, CAR, and BALT. I cant believe our "marketing genious" GM is making us defend ourselves the league's marketing arm successfully portrays a false image of 100% sellouts which is not the case and # of games is insignificant. The Sabres normally sell out 41, or as close as possible without a great product... only because they have been relevant in the past decade Attendance dropping and shows plainly that winning teams sell out, and teams that stink dont http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nfl-attendance-numbers-dropping-football-losing-popularity-fans-025400400--nfl.html

I cant argue too much against it... but there are also Detroitses Clevelandses and New Orleanses out there. I think in the NFL there is enough for everyone including Buffalo. At some point the bubble will pop and they will need the heritage and the fans. I think it was a mistake to allow the Jets to hit CNY before Buffalo and unopposed.