ICanSleepWhenI'mDead

Well, people in WNY watch the Bills. It's my understanding that "TV ratings" are usually defined (roughly) as the PERCENTAGE of televisions in a given area (be it national or local) that are tuned to a particular program. The link you posted listed the Bills' 2013 TV rating as being over 30. I'm pretty sure that 30% of the TVs in the USA were not tuned in to Bills games last year. Point being, that a 30 rating in WNY probably involves less eyeballs than a 15 rating in a broadcast TV market that has more than twice the population. The TV revenue stream received by the NFL is roughly based on the advertising revenues that the TV broadcasters expect to receive. Do you think advertisers pay for air time based on (1) the total number of eyeballs that will see their ads, or (2) the percentage of local eyeballs that will see their ads, even if the total number of people living in a broadcast area is relatively small?

Let's assume that you're right about the #1 concern being a kink in the money hose. Which is a bigger threat to the 31 other owners - - (1) an antitrust suit by a team owner who wanted to relocate but was blocked from doing so by a vote of the other owners, or (2) future legislative action by a divided, do-nothing Congress that is not likely to have both the Senate and the House controlled by the Democrats (because the politicians you credit with super-powers happen to be Democrats) in the foreseeable future? Read the entire 1995 article at this link for some historical context before you answer (re former NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue's testimony to Congress on antitrust issues in 1995): http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1995-11-30/news/1995334142_1_antitrust-laws-antitrust-case-tagliabue I haven't tried to research whether Congress eventually passed any changes in the antitrust laws to address Tagliabue's concerns, but I am not currently aware of any such legislative changes. Willing to be educated on the topic, though.

Surprised nobody at least mentioned "Contact." I liked Blade Runner a lot, but hey, the actor in my avatar was in it.

I wonder why being a fan of a football team that hasn't made the playoffs in over a decade makes so many of us love The Shawshank Redemption? Do we identify with the injustice of being falsely imprisoned, and appreciate the way patience in using the rock hammer for many years was eventually rewarded?

Hplarrm vs. capitalism

From an interview Ralph gave in 2005: http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2005/05/20050516/Other-News/In-Profile-Bills-Owner-Ralph-Wilson.aspx 1. Article doesn't say why his lawyer thought it would be illegal, so it's hard to evaluate whether Ralph ever got a different legal opinion later. 2. Ralph gave a lot of money to charity during his lifetime. It's reasonable to assume that he may have made some charities beneficiaries of the trust. If he did that, and IF he gave them a percentage of the estate's value rather than a specific dollar amount, then assuming the reports that Mary Wilson and Mary Owens are two of the four trustees are true, the Marys have a fiduciary responsibility to maximize the value of the estate for ALL beneficiaries. 3. Hypothetically, let's say Ralph's trust says that 5% of his estate should be paid out to some research hospital to search for better cancer treatments. The Marys would then have a legal obligation to take the highest bid that other NFL owners would approve. And if the reports that the other 2 trustees are lawyers are true, those other two trustees will understand that in this hypothetical scenario, they would have a legal obligation to veto any sale that failed to maximize what the trust received from selling the team. 4. I have no idea what Ralph's trust actually says. But given his history of charitable contributions during his lifetime, I would not be surprised to learn that it directs some funds to worthwhile causes. Just my 2 lira - - could be wrong.

Yesterday's USA Today article says Scott Congel is a "former principal" of the Pyramid Group, so the Pyramid Group's statement today leaves open the possibility that Scott Congel is working on a plan for a stadium in West Seneca that involves S & R Group but not the Pyramid Group (even though the WGR Poloncarz interview indicates that Scott Congel did not speak to Poloncarz about any such plan). Poloncarz did say that Scott Congel owns a different parcel in the same area - - but did not specify exactly where. http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2014/05/28/ap-sources-golisano-expresses-plans-to-buy-bills/9678877/

Poloncarz says during the interview that he's writing a book about the negotiations that led up to the most recent stadium lease extension.

The 3 am aspect seems a little over the top, but there's nothing in the article about the kid being unable to complete the tasks he was given, so possible criminal action seems likewise excessive.

Teens in general are probably more self-conscious than most people posting here. I don't think it's crazy for a teenage girl to feel humiliated if she is one of just a few girls who got singled out because her appearance somehow didn't "measure up," even if the measuring standard was irrational.

Sometimes when people do business together they form a new business entity and name it with some sort of combination of their names. Just a guess, but the "S" could be Scott Congel, and the "R" could be his father Robert Congel. You can't always rely on that as to who currently owns the entity, though, because sometimes the business entity keeps its original name even if the people involved in the business change (for any number of reasons). Edit: It also occurs to me that if Scott Congel branched off from his father's mall development company to start his own, maybe his first properties were in the Syracuse and Rochester areas.

The Buffalo News article said the West Seneca site is owned by S & R Group - - here's what an ownership search of Erie County property records shows for West Seneca: http://www2.erie.gov/ecrpts/index.php?q=real-property-parcel-search Haven't tried to figure out if S & R Company owns any land adjacent to the "Shops" site, or the total acreage it owns, or if all of the above parcels are contiguous. The general area: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.8317451,-78.7847569,1246m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

Not sure why my search of Erie County property records (results posted above) for ownership by Congel or Pyramid didn't find the "Shops at West Seneca," but according to AP, Pyramid does own it: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nfl/2014/05/28/ap-sources-golisano-expresses-plans-to-buy-bills/9678877/ Here's some info on the West Seneca site: http://www.deadmalls.com/malls/seneca_mall.html

OK, this is pure speculation, and it differs from what AP's "source" reported as to stadium location south of Buffalo, but how about . . . . 1. A stadium in Irondequoit to replace a vacant mall owned by Scott Congel? Don't know how big the parcel is. Irondequoit is within 75 miles of the Buffalo city limits, so it's within the Bills' existing territory in the NFL By-laws. It would be central to the Buffalo/Rochester/Syracuse corridor. If the NFL wants to eventually grant Toronto its own franchise, this would allow the Bills to rely more on the Rochester and Syracuse markets and less on the Toronto/Southern Ontario population that might be cannibalized if Toronto gets its own team. http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/2014/03/14/scott-congel-medley-centre-irondequoit/6431965/ http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/yp/2014/01/12/irondequoit-macys/4441997/ http://blogs.reuters.com/david-cay-johnston/2012/06/01/how-corporate-socialism-destroys/ http://www.distance-cities.com/distance-buffalo-ny-to-irondequoit-ny Again, the above is pure speculation, but it might make business sense if the NFL wants to eventually put a team in Toronto. NFL could also require the new Bills owner to give up claims to the Toronto market as a condition to being approved to buy the Bills. Edit: If you scroll down to Appendix 10 in the link below, you will see an aerial photo of the now vacant mall site. In the upper left corner of the aerial photo, it looks like there is a football field and baseball field on nearby property, which gives a sense of scale when trying to figure out whether a stadium could be built on the site: http://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/83324/medleyfeisvolumeiii.pdf This link contains a different aerial photo, and says Scott R. Congel bought the entire property in 2007: http://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/money/business/2014/01/08/medley-centre-timeline/4381747/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pyramid_Companies http://www2.erie.gov/ecrpts/index.php?q=real-property-parcel-search

MLSE has agreed to start some renovations to BMO Field, but further modifications to allow the Argos to play there are on hold pending receipt of funding from the provincial and federal governments: https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/mlse-boss-leiweke-said-organization-not-closing-door-230647375--sow.html There has been speculation that the NFL might require that the Argos' CFL future be secured before Toronto can get any NFL franchise.

Sometimes I need to sleep despite my screen name - - I'm not cybernetic.

http://rt.com/usa/161248-bionic-particles-terminator-michigan/

Looks like Parveen's father won't be allowed to buy the Clippers any time soon.

Hard to pick just one, but I'd probably go with Saving Private Ryan or The Usual Suspects. Some other candidates I did not see mentioned above: The Deer Hunter American Graffiti Chariots of Fire Network Unforgiven Risky Business - - just 'cause sometimes in life ya gotta say WTF Body Heat

If the Republicans retake the Senate this fall, Schumer won't be holding any hearings about anything for a while. From the US Senate's own website: https://www.senate.gov/general/common/generic/about_committees.htm Opinions vary on how likely it is that the Senate will change hands this fall.

Insane Clown Posse would be apt - - they wouldn't need to clean house after buying the team. Or as I posted in another thread, how about The Offspring - - they could play all 11 of Travis Henry's kids on special teams in a few years.

I think The Offspring should buy the team and field all 11 of Travis Henry's kids on special teams.

Great thread title

Praseodymium, Iodine, Nitrogen, Carbon, Iodine, Phosphorous, Aluminum Sulfur, Uranium, Carbon, Potassium, Sulfur Molybdenum, Oxygen, Selenium Carbon, Oxygen, Carbon, Potassium