sullim4

Chris Brown is OBD's public mouthpiece, and has been for years. He says exactly what he's told to say, and does exactly what he's told to do. He does not deviate from the script. He is the perfect company man. Now, that is not to say that he never says anything interesting. When coaches want to send a message to a player, or there is something the organization wants publicly known but they can't have McBeane go right out and say it, Brown will be the vehicle to deliver the news. All of that said, that makes him the perfect host of this show. One Bills Live is basically the team's 3 hour propaganda extravaganza.

That's exactly my point. Stuff like that always happens, and when it does, the client has little or no choice but to pay. Some less-than-ethical contractors will pitch a lower price, even though they are aware of existing conditions on the site. They then "discover" them and jack the price up. Clients can't bid out this work because the contractor is already part way through the job. This is a very common way that contractors bilk their clients for money and why so many people question the ethics of the industry.

This may not sit well with some on here... but contractors aren't exactly known for their ethics and wonderful customer service. This is particularly true in massive projects like a stadium - you likely have layers of subcontractors in there that all want to fatten their profit margin and so everybody gets their take. Flaws get exposed in designs, additional mitigation becomes required to get final approval on permits, etc. All that costs money and contractors can take advantage of the fact that you really have no choice but to pay them more. It's so hard to find good, ethical contractors. You have to find people that enjoy what they do and make profits because of the quality of their people and their work -- in today's times this is increasingly difficult to find.

That Raiders game is in the 4:25 CBS national window... so it's probably going to get broad exposure. Edit: Nope. It's going against KC/NE.

I am no fan of Tim Graham, but reading this is confirming some of the things I have suspected. Terry and Kim are good people that have no idea how to run an entertainment business. Terry made some smart decisions to invest in natural gas and it was sort of a foolproof situation that led to him getting really wealthy. I am happy for both of them and glad they kept the Bills and Sabres in Buffalo. I like both of them, but neither seem to have strong leadership or management skills. Their reaction to poor talent and hires at the top -- to bring in family under the guise of people they "trust" is cringe-worthy. I can't think of many instances where failing businesses were brought back to life by hiring family members. To be frank, I don't understand why they got into so many different businesses - restaurants, sports team ownership, marketing, etc. Hell, they own the Marriott Harborcenter, right? I don't generally think of oil and gas tycoons excelling at the hospitality business, but what do I know? I don't like Russ Brandon, he's a weasel, but that guy knew how to run a business. They need someone like that, but less weasel-y, operating the business. Terry and Kim need to get back to being the investors rather than the front-seat drivers. They should sell/cut loose the fringe businesses like the restaurants and hotel, and instead focus on the Sabres and Bills. More importantly, they need to get a President/COO in there that can cut the fat and focus the operation back on the teams.

ESPN is all about personalities rather than raw talent. They have no interest in hiring a "nobody" like Kevin Harlan or Spero Dedes that does a good job of play-by-play. Instead they want a personality that draws controversy and/or can fill programming hours outside of the actual football game. This is exactly why they hired Dennis Miller, Jason Witten, Booger McFarland, and the like. CBS, on the other hand, sees raw talent in Romo and picks him up right after retirement. Sean McManus actually cares about the quality of his broadcast so he sets him up to succeed - having him learn from and practice with Nantz before the season so that he doesn't look like a fool on opening weekend. A few years later, ESPN is so desperate to land Romo that they throw buckets of money at him, but Romo is smarter than that and stays at a network where he can call the Super Bowl, AFC championship game, and high-profile golf tournaments. This is a sign of desperation by ESPN. They already have these guys under contract and with the COVID outbreak, they cannot afford to hire a high-priced "personality" that can fill this role. The longer this goes on, the more people are learning that they can live without ESPN and that standalone streaming services are the way of the future. ESPN stands to lose $8 per person that cancels cable... that is a ton of money, even for Disney. I know people like to B word and moan about us getting the CBS D/E/F teams but I will take any of those combinations over what ESPN will likely offer. ESPN could learn a thing or two from CBS.

Growing up as a kid in the early 90s... there is nothing more I would like than to see a throwback combination like this:

From an HR perspective, it's all likely legal, but it's not how good employers deal with temporary layoffs like this. Withholding PTO is really bad (and illegal in some states) - this is usually counted as a liability on the balance sheet which now magically has disappeared, meaning the Pegulas essentially got a refund on that expense. They should just say, we're going to hire as many of our staff back at original pay as we can once this blows over, but we don't yet know how many people that will be. That clearly states their intention without telling them to to re-apply and re-interview for their positions.

The television networks are going to push to make this an event. They've lost all live sports for the foreseeable future - the draft is the only thing that could in theory be done in a smaller space with a bunch of webcams into team war rooms.