BuffaloRush

LOL this week I’ve been accused of being Dunkirk Don and Jerry Sullivan. I can assure you I’m neither. I don’t talk down to anyone that doesn’t share my opinion, though yes, I do disagree. If you haven’t noticed the majority of the threads do the same thing here. Your aversion toward Jerry Sullivan just seems somewhat over-the-top and very personal. I don’t get it. But yes he does say exactly that about the survey. Something tells me you will be hearing that audio later

I think you would really like John Murphy and. Chris Brown Congrats! I’m sure the $2.99 from you and a few others did wonders to offset the millions lost this past quarter. Thank you man....My thoughts are exactly the same. Sully was negative because there really wasn’t a lot to be positive about during the Drought. Like you said the decisions made by this organization were embarrassing. Sully was blunt in calling Ralph and several others out. I also give him credit for speaking his mind in this interview.

Yes his point on the Pegulas is that the BN is right across the street from the arena and in close proximity to other PSE properties. PSE has put millions downtown and has rejuvenated it to an extent. They hold a lot of power naturally. You gotta listen to the podcast because he tells a story where PSE was using BN for printing for their companies. Sully claims they had a $250K contract. Because of something he wrote, Sully claims PSE pulled the deal. So it was a joke among executives that Sully cost them $250K. Crazy story - but not out of the realm of possibilities. Definitely would be disappointing to have them control the local narrative

Gotcha - If you listen to the interview above, I can guarantee you will like it

I would say more like a "know it all" but yes you could say that. However there are many columnist and media personalities that do the same thing

Your opinion is fair - he could have taken the high-road like many would. However I respect him for being real and sharing his true feelings on the situation. But again, I can tell you didn't listen to the interview. His issue is with the current management which he feels wronged him. It's not being ungrateful - it's saying "I don't like how I was treated at the end and here's why." He deserves credit for speaking up Lie detector test going off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOL well I thought working for Buffalo Maven was more desperate "lack of quality takes" is completely arbitrary. Just because you didn't like his opinion does not mean he had an misinformed opinion. I'd argue the opposite

Again, you need to listen to the interview because there's an aspect of truth to what you said. He admitted to taking extreme views in his column, while he didn't fabricate his thoughts he did amplify his view. I don't know about you - but it seems like there were many pissed off Bills fans during the Drought years. It used to infuriate me to listen to reporters loft softball questions to Bills players and coaches after a frustrating loss. Jerry and Bucky never did that. They always asked the tough questions and shared their honest thoughts, even if it meant some of your would troll them on Twitter in retaliation. That I appreciated.

To me, it sounds like you are salty toward Jerry because he has been critical of the Bills. As I said before, it seems like many Bills fans are very sensitive to any criticism. I believe it had to do with the embarrassing Drought. It's not just Jerry, any media personality that is critical of the team gets trashed here.

Again, I would encourage you actually listen to this interview. Sully address many of the comments left here in the thread. Fair enough man

Your comment is exactly what I was saying. You misunderstand the job of the columnist. It is to share his opinion and analysis of what happened. A reporter shares facts and "what the story is." Bills fans have become so sensitive to criticism over the years. It's beyond baffling

Exactly, that's why a fan-site like the BN Blitz is a terrible idea - at least according to Jerry. From his opinion, you have writers that are writing safe, sanitized material for fan-approval.

LOL well you need to listen to the interview. He does talk how media outlets are demising the role of a columnist. Instead of having personalities, sports writers are bland. Keep in mind, locally there really wasn't anywhere to go. There's 1 newspaper in town. The Athletic doesn't want columnists and neither do many other outlets. At his age, I can understand not wanting to relocate or a take a job where a lot of travel was involved. He is going to get his own morning show at 1270 AM. So that is something locally. In the interview he talks up the Buffalo Maven. I am a Jerry fan, but it sounded kind of like a bootleg operation Listen to the interview and you'll see. He is passionate about the Bills and journalism. He wants to hold teams accountable and demands better

Ralph Wilson....so many people want to forget the terrible decisions he made which crippled this franchise. JP was one of them

Since when did Bills fans get so sensitive to criticism? It boggles my mind. I think must be Stockholm syndrome associated with 17 years of epic failure. If someone criticizes the team, they are an idiot.

How much joy was there really during the drought? The Bills losing was tiring. IMO they deserved a lot of bad criticism. How much praise did the Bills really deserve? I guess calling out the Bills for the clown show they ran before McDermott came here = "pissing in cherrios" Talk about sensitive

Obviously you didn't hear the interview. Jerry is passionate about being a writer and his dream job was being a columnist. He did it well for almost 3 decades and sold a lot of newspapers. It's understandable how getting this taken away from him was upsetting I'm sure the news was very happy to get your $2.99 a month

Seems like somewhat of an immature response and this is why I feel Sully is misunderstood. To me it's like your saying "he wrote something negative about my favorite team so I don't want to read his work" No relative but I am a fan and I am going to write a longer column for a new Bills blog about Sully. I will post it here too. Bills fans owe Sully and apology

I think Sully gets a bad rap from Bills fans. I think some fans fail to understand the job a columnist. Also, IMO he was right to criticize the Bills during the drought years. The moves that Ralph Wilson made running the team were embarrassing.

There are a lot of Bills fans in Rochester. Call me crazy, but I'd rather watch the game at home with on my TV than in bar. It's a much better experience IMO

Folks, the first part of this podcast is probably the most compelling interview I've heard for quite a while. It's from Pat Moran's Moranalytics podcasts and his guest is former Buffalo News columnist Jerry Sullivan. Say what you will about Sully, but he doesn't crawl up in a ball and pretend to be Mr. Nice Guy. He also doesn't fabricate a fake phony picture of why he left either or share disingenuous positive words for the BN, Instead he gives his honest take about a number of subject - in particular his falling out with the Buffalo News. I'll share some highlights but trust me, this is a surprisingly unfiltered interview from one of the most outspoken members of the Buffalo media. IMO he comes off a passionate writer who loves sports and feels that fans deserve unbiased, honest sports coverage, even if it means reading views that they might not personally share. Of course, this is just Sully's opinion I am sure there are two sides to this story. I would be interested to hear from @JoshBarnett as Jerry mentions him by name a few times. I can paraphrase what he said. It's from my memory earlier today so you will want to listen for yourself. On being "negative" He said he has a reputation for being negative but reminded listeners the the covered the longest drought in sports history. The Bills put consistently put out an inferior product and he was holding them accountable for the fans. He also said the role of a columnist, is to sometimes be an extremist in their views and amplify their thoughts to to generate conversation. He'd later go on to saying that Jeremy White and Mike Schopp do this brilliant on radio. While he says he always held the Bills accountable, there were many very positive articles during the 90's Super Bowl run. Why Jerry left the Buffalo News: Jerry says he accepted a buyout from the BN. He was not fired and he did not retire. He then shares exactly what happened, from his perspective anyway. He said that he was told by management that they were taking away his column and to be a feature writer. He said years ago the ideal job for any writer was a columnist position. He held this job for years at the BN and taking it was an insult. The same happened to Bucky Gleason who was asked to cover the Sabres beat. Jerry considered staying, but once Bucky decided to leave he knew he had to leave to. He felt too disrespected to work for a company that did that to him. To him, taking away his column was essentially a giant slap in the face. The downfall of the BN and The Buffalo Blitz Basically he says the BN has gone downhill fast and its disappointing. They now feature front page articles from journalists right out of college, as opposed to featuring exceptional and experienced writers. He also says that the role of a "columnist" is diminished in the modern print landscape. - He claims that editor Mike Connolly hired Josh Barnett to be the Executive Sports Editor over former Sports Editor Keith McShea who Sully feels was the better choice. According to Sully, people were not on board with the Barnett hire and the Sports room became a less than desirable place. He said that many people in sports were unhappy for a variety of reasons. - Rather than trying to promote hard-hitting, in-depth, analysis of the Bills and Sabres, he feels that management wanted a watered-down, safe, sanitized product which he feels insults the intelligence sports fans. - He cites The Buffalo Blitz - which he refers to as a "fan site, "as one of the biggest flops that crippled the sports department and the paper. Sully claims that Connolly promised advertisers that it would reach 100,000 readers. The actual number was closer to around 3,000. Sully believes that management did not want him or Bucky writing columns that were critical or controversial. He claimed that they sent out a survey to a fans asking why didn't subscribe. A small number said they didn't subscribe because of Sully and Bucky, so now they had the data to support their personal beliefs and essentially he was a scapegoat. Sully feels that these moves cater to the "lowest common denominator of fans." He also talks about: - The influence of The Pegulas may have made on his column getting taken away - Tim Graham vs. Mike Harrington - The Athletic vs. Buffalo News - His new site Football Maven - Buffalo news vs. WGR - Why he has low expectations for the Bills Listen and let me hear your thoughts!

No McDermott technically is. Whether right or wrong, he inhierted the drought as did The Pegulas. The good part about that is that he can say he ended the Drought

This reminds me of the time I ranked GM’s using my patented formula based on draft hits and misses. It was eye opening. This info graphic basically tells us what we all know - Wade had the best record. Kind of useless info IMO

Yes! Even Steven is much more fitting than Steady Eddie. I’ve actually heard of Even Steven!

I swear if Beane uses “Steady Eddie” again, I am going to make an audio montage. It seems like he can’t do an interview without using that...it’s the wrong word to use BTW Or throw footballs in the hospitality tent