oldmanfan
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Posts posted by oldmanfan
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Why?
Because it fit your agenda on how to be a fan?
Maybe you could explain how having other players or teams on your avatar fits with being a Bill's supporter.
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Sad news. Prayers for the little guy and his family.
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Brandon is the most over rated marketing person in human history. This is his strategy for filling sits in Buffalo,
Lowest ticket prices in the league
Move 1/8 of the inventory to Toronto ( where he 100% completely failed)
Threaten fans with moving the team if they don't buy tickets
NFL blackout rules keeping the games off of tv on frequent basis.
Literally any person who has ever sold a bag of popcorn could achieve the same level of "success" using that strategy.
Operations off the field, stadiums conditions etc. have been a disaster since he has been at the helm, and the on field results couldn't be worse.
Not sure what people think has done that is so impressive.
It starts with one reason to be angry
If you look at the Buffalo Bills website it will tell you what the job titles are of the executives. Brent Rossi is the Executive VP for Marketing for the Buffalo Bills.
If you don't even understand what Russ Brandon's actual job is, it 's a bit absurd to be critical of the job he does.
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Not sure how much action took place in the last minute, but the craziest game I was ever at...
Bills vs. Raiders MNF 1974 Opener. Several 4th quarter lead changes, and the game ended with George Blanda missing a long FG attempt.
[edited]Game detail I just found...
Friday, September 20, 2002
Sept. 16, 1974 -- Oakland at Buffalo
ABC Sports Online
Ahmad Rashad's second touchdown in the final two minutes lifted the Bills past John Madden's Raiders. Rashad's first score came with 1:56 to go. Buffalo seemed to have the game clinched, but Jim Braxton fumbled the ball and Art Thoms ran in for a touchdown to give Oakland a 20-14 lead with 1:15 to go. Rashad then took a Joe Ferguson pass 33 yards to give the Bills the lead. Oakland had one final chance to win it, but George Blanda missed a 50-yard field goal on the final play.
Absolutely was sitting in the corner of the end zone where Rashad made the catch
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Except Rex Ryan was hired after the Pegulas took over and "changed" his job. And they've already said that he'll be part of the next GM search that is currently happening now. This article titled "Russ Brandon Still Looms over Bills Football operations" was published in 2017.
I believe he does still have a say in football operations, in large part because that is what is being reported, and that is what has been said by Terry Pegula himself as recently as last week. (And again to be clear, i'm not saying he has final say over anything. Or that job "title" isn't strictly related to the business side of things. I just think it's hard to fully separate the two especially with the lack of experienced people at OBD. Of course they are going to lean on Brandon's opinion. Who else are they going to ask?)
If I believed he no longer had a say on football decisions then I'd agree with the rest of what you said. But no one is going to be able to convince me that's the case because that statement runs counter to everything that's been reported for the last several years.
And Tim Graham put up an article that says Brandon is not involved. But believe what you want. Brandon will be head of PSE until and unless the Pegulas see a negative impact in their business.
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And yet..in the Pegula's first major "football side" personnel decision...there he was...sitting in on interviews and locking the doors to OBD to keep Rex in.
Again, as I recall Rex made a positive impression on Terry, and when Terry thought he was his guy Russ told if so to not let him leave.
Terry recognized his mistake and from all things I've seen he had nothing to do with the McDermott decision.
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I understand what his official job title is. But look around OBD right now.... Brandon has more experience as a GM than anyone else in the building right now. I don't think it's realistic to think he won't have any say in football decisions going forward. Here's a portion from an article written by John Kryk just last week:
Whaleys worst personnel decision, by far, came during his first draft as GM in 2014.
With the enthusiastic backing, if not the forceful urging, of recently appointed team president Brandon -- only one month after the death of founding Bills owner Ralph Wilson -- Whaley traded away Buffalos first- and fourth-round 2015 draft picks, merely to move up from No. 9 overall to No. 4.
This, to select a player Whaley and his scouts believed to be a rare NFL talent: wide receiver Sammy Watkins. This, even though for months every draftnik and his brother had been touting the 2014 wide-receiver class as the deepest and perhaps most talented yet.
We thought it was a calculated risk, and a risk we were willing to take, Whaley said of the Watkins trade-up at the time. The high cost of not making the playoffs is something we weighed in, and we thought this guy was going to get us to the playoffs.
It wasnt Whaleys unwise gamble alone. In his defence, it must be pointed out that Brandon -- in his second year as final decision-maker on all matters involving the Bills franchise -- had been hard-selling a new club mindset that the Bills, under his vision and leadership, had to become a forward-thinking, progressive and attacking organization.
Said an ecstatic Brandon moments after the Watkins trade-up: We went into this draft saying we were going to be bold, and we made a bold move.
Yet however much Brandon might have urged that trade-up -- and print and video reports from that day clearly suggest he was deeply involved -- its Whaleys now to wear.
I understand the decision was ultimately Whaley's and not Brandon's. But if Brandon had no part in the decision making process AT ALL can you really say there's no chance we wouldn't have wound up with OBJ (or any of the other very talented players still on the board at #9) and an extra 1st instead of a WR we spent 2 1sts and a 4th on that may not even be a Bill this time next year? Can you say for sure without Brandon's advice that Rex Ryan would have still been our head coach the last two years? And more importantly who over at OBD now has enough knowledge/experience that they won't need to lean on Brandon's opinion going forward? The rookie head coach? The new owner? Their senior capologist? It only makes sense they'll lean on Brandon's experience the next time a big decision needs to be made. I realize NONE of this is fair to Brandon who I'm sure is a really nice guy and is very talented at the job he's actually being paid to do. But I would feel better about the Bills' chances going forward if he were no longer a part of the organization. I don't believe it's possible to keep Brandon at OBD and keep him fully separated from all football decisions. They've been saying for years now he has no say in football operations anymore when he clearly does and likely will going forward. Not having the final say is different than not having any say at all.
You are talking pre-Pegula history. You need to accept that they changed his job.
Brandon is the company president, so he oversees all of the business side, including tickets/marketing. The Exec VP of Marketing reports to him. But there's more to running a business than marketing, even without the football side of things.
Correct. His job is much more than people make it out to be.
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People also are fond of saying Brandon's job is only selling tickets/marketing. Well, it's pretty easy to find out that Brent Rossi is Exec VP for Marketing for the Bills and Sabres.
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But supposedly he was kicked upstairs years ago. Even after he was no longer supposed to have anything to do with football operations he still had one of the loudest voices in hiring Rex & trading up so much for Watkins. Even if the final decision is now someone else's, I don't want the person making the decision to be influenced in any way by someone who has so consistently gotten it wrong... I realize this is unfair to Brandon since his job for most of his time here has been to make money, not to build a winning team. But whether it's the Maybin pick, the Toronto series (giving up a home game & competitive advantage every year), Rex Ryan, Sammy Watkins, etc his fingerprints are all over many of the biggest setbacks this organization has had in recent years.
I think history has shown at this point that regardless of his job title, he will still continue to have some say in football decisions. (Even if it's just giving his opinion to the people who's job it is to make the final call) If I believed that he could keep his current job without having ANY say over football decisions I'd be the first to say he should have a life-time contract, because as marketer he's a genius. But that's what we were already told was happening and we have since found out on multiple occasions that's not how things are actually working. I'm not saying by any means that all the blame for the last 17 belongs to Brandon. But he owns enough of it that I would prefer to see him gone from OBD. I don't follow hockey so let him stay in charge of the Sabres.
People need to actually know what the man's job is. My understanding is he is President of PSE and Managing Partner for the four teams they run. He is not in charge of the Sabres per se. His job is to run the business enterprise. When you see things like the Frozen Four coming to Buffalo, that has a lot to do with him doing his job.
Everyone here agrees he should not be making decisions on actual football or hockey things. Those should be solely within the purview of each team's GM/HC, and from everything being said now and recently that is what happens. Much is made of him being asked for advice or how he said not to let Rex leave and he shouldn't be in the draft room and so on. Well, being asked for advice does not equate to decision making, with Rex my understanding was Terry decided he was the guy and Russ then told him that if that's the case to not let him leave, and if you watch any draft war room the President if the organization is there.
Saying he should now be let go when his job responsibilities are not what people conjure up is simply a way for people to blow off steam because of the frustration with each team's performance. Russ should never have had actual GM or football operations duties, he did it because Ralph asked him, and the Pegulas corrected that and put him in a job where he more appropriately can use his talents. And if he does not perform there, then the Pegulas should move him out.
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I voted to fire him. For two reasons, reason #1 Brandon is reaching 50 an age where most executives peak. surely there is someone younger whose been taking notes that has better ideas or a fresh set of eyes that can be promoted from within. Reason #2, fair or not Brandon is one of the last strings associated with the playoff drought. Ultimately Brandon should be judged on W's not $'s, and I'd say Brandon has done a horrible job of bringing in W's.
When he had football operations duties I would have agreed. His expertise is in business though and that's where he is now.
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Go !@#$ yourself.
As I suspected. You have nothing.
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He is more responsible for the drought than anyone else and you are going are going to insult people for wanting him gone. You are a !@#$ing tool.
How so? Drop the fake cursing and tell us, with actual fact and not assumptions/innuendo, how this is true.
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With every new season comes new opportunity. As always I will be interested to see how some of the younger players develop. I will obviously be interested in seeing how our new HC operates during games and how our offense operates under the new OC- especially to see them use Sammy more often assuming he's healthy. See a new approach to the D.
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This is well written and I agree with every word of it.
I think you have to look at how the team is constructed. Offensively, this is the best this set of Bills are going to be, if not past their primes a tad. Incognito is in his mid-30's, Glenn is 27, McCoy will turn 29 this summer, Watkins is in the last year of his contract, Wood is in his 30's, Clay is 28. We lost Woods and Gilislee (both squarely in their prime).
Defensively, for me it's a depth study. No emerging DTs behind Dareus and Williams (34 now), thin at DE with just Hughes (29 years), a couple of linebackers, unproven at corner and no depth at Safety. IMO the defensive scheme changes, and lack of investment in DE/DT and LB have caught up to the Bills. There aren't many up and coming young players on this side of the ball.
So you put it together and I don't see where the Bills have gotten any better in terms of talent. I guess we are hoping Tyrod gets better, Sammy stays healthy and Bills target him, and McDermott gets the Bills back to a better defensive scheme. With the schedule, it feels like a 6 win team.
How you can say they have no one behind William/Dareus and Hughes while ignoring the fact that they just drafted Lawson and Washington last year is where I would suggest you're being negative just to be negative.
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Do you mean like people that spew negativity about other posters who allegedly spew negativity?
How can people make negative posts about other fans, let alone start entire threads slamming them, and then claim to not be negative?
It's very strange.
You are confusing negativity with others vs. negativity towards the team. I do not understand how some like to come on and post how bad a new HC will be when he hasn't even had the chance to coach a game, or how they know the team will have a terrible record when we don't even know what the roster is yet. Or how they are going to quit watching the team or give up their tickets as if that is somehow supposed to convince others to do the same.
So am I negative about the team? Not right now; I'm in a wait and see mode. Am I negative about the kind of incessant doom and gloom posters? Yes, because it serves my purpose.
It serves NO purpose
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I have never understood the need for some persons to come on a message board and spew negativity. Especially when they pretend their negativity is factual.
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.I'm surprised no team wanted to take a chance on him as bad as some of the QBs are in this league. Sure he is a stop gap but he can win some games.
He can lose more and whether he wants to admit it or not he's too much of a pain to coaches.
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I think so too, but considering what he will be asking for it wouldn't shock me if McEgo said see ya Sammy.
McEgo? A guy comes in with a plan and he gets this kind of crap.
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And when he decides to pout on air and not talk to his colleagues?
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First, I didn't say he was de facto elite; I said that when he's on the field he performs at an elite clip on a per-target basis.
I've said repeatedly that the largest impediment to his success on the field is lack of targets, followed pretty closely by availability issues.
As to the 70% number, well, it's higher than the percent of games played by Julio Jones and Antonio Brown through their first 3 seasons, so perhaps we can hold off on that talk for a second.
I would hope Dennison structures his passing offense around Sammy. If Sammy is healthy then, he will have a great year, he'll love that he's the guy in the offense, we give him a big deal, he signs it, and move on from there.
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It is quite possible that Bridgewater will not ever play again. His performance will almost certainly be affected.
The Vikings did not pick up the option because of long term injury concerns. Kind of similar to our decision with Sammy, although Sammy's injury is not as serious.
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I like the direction McDermott is taking the team but if elite CB play is not crucial for his scheme and this was a deep DB draft, why not take a QB at 1 and a DB at 2? There's nothing a great CB can do for us that approaches what a great QB can do for us. Our defense is talented and simply needed better coaching than the Ryans provided. If any of this year's QB crop comes in and lights us up they'd better hand out motion sickness bags at the Ralph. This year is already starting to feel like a tank.
Would you and others like this just stop with the tanking stuff. I wish the mods would ban that word.
The reason they did not take a "great" QB in the draft is they did not think any of the ones drafted early were "great". I can just as easily say that if none of these QBs pan out (which is more common than having them become "great") and White turns into an All Pro teams like KC will kick themselves for giving up so much instead of identifying a good CB.
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The kid had no serious character concerns.......we should have picked him at 27 cleaned his shoulder up and have a beast at linebacker for the next 4 years . I rather have him then pick a DB in a DB rich draft. This is when you need a GM who can look at long term as oppose to a first year coach trying to get team ready this year......good thing I gave up my club seats Sec 231 row1 seats 5-10. I can watch this tire fire free on TV. My 12K can go towards something else
First, what this shows is that NFL front offices have a lot more information on players than we do. Second, I'd like someone to explain to me why some feel the compulsion to announce they are not going to renew, or they say they are done with the team, etc, etc. Do what you want, no reason to announce it to the world.
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It will prove that this was a GIGANTIC failure of a move. In a draft where CB was one of the deepest positions, the Bills had a chance to land the BEST of the bunch. Then, at 27, the Bills also decided that picking the 6th or 7th best CB was better than fixing the right side of the line for good.
The Bills organization has failed to make the right decisions for so long that it is tough to put any faith that they will turn that extra first rounder into the franchise QB that has been lacking for so many years. If they pull it off next year, this will be the best move ever. Until that actually happens and they get their guy, I have a hard time believing that this trade down will pay off.
What I don't understand is that by making that move last night, it clearly states that this is a rebuilding year (as if we didn't already know that). If that truly is the case, why the hell is Kyle Williams (and to a lesser extent Shady) still here. Why not make THIS year the one where they go all in to fix the problem? As it stands right now, Browns Jets and and Bills will all be looking to get their guy in 2018. If the Bills miss out by overachieving to that 7-9 record again, they will most assuredly look like they messed up yet another draft in a long line of them.
And when the supposed great QBs in the 2018 draft turn out to be not so good, what then?
If Bills Don't Get A Franchise QB In 2018
in The Stadium Wall Archives
Posted
The title of this thread is inaccurate. Drafting a QB in 2018 has nothing to do with getting a franchise QB, as the failures of many first round QBs throughout history will attest.