keepthefaith

No, you're right on target!

As long as you slump down in the seat, drive after dark and don't speed you're OK. I believe he was spotted at a Drive-thru window and was caught that way. Maybe he reached for his wallet and found something else?

So many people here are uninformed. What Ralph is fighting for is revenue parity or at least getting small market teams in the ballpark of big revenue teams. Redskins have over $300 million a year in revenue based on '05 numbers. The Bills revenue was reported at $176 million, 25th in the league. The salary cap is over $100 million, but we all know that payrolls due to signing bonuses are higher. Every new stadium that is built raises the salary cap as the higher stadium revenues are counted toward the salary cap. When New York and Dallas build a new stadium, the salary cap rises. And by the way, the owners have agreed to sharing a pool of revenue to lower revenue clubs and Ralph has cited their lack of attention to that. Now if Ralph didn't care about Buffalo, he wouldn't fight so hard. He or his estate could sell the team to a buyer in a larger market and potentially get greater value. Instead, he's fighting tooth and nail for a leveler playing field for Buffalo. He has never said that the team doesn't make a profit. Put yourself in his shoes, the league dictates what you can spend for players, your competition spends all of that and more with creative contract structures, and you have $100 miilion a year less to work with. On top of that, you express this to your peer owners at a time they are voting to raise players pay (new CBA) and they tell you not to worry we'll work something out. Then when the time comes to work something out, you get little or no response from them. Quite frankly, I'm shocked that more of the smaller markert teams aren't screaming. Maybe they are but not publically as Ralph is. All the while the Bills maintain lower ticket prices and don't ask the fans to foot all the bill. Ralph is acting in the best interests of the team and the local community. Get a clue and get on board.

Let's kill 2 birds with 1 stone. Solve the bitching about the blackout and solve the revenue shortfall. Block off 10K seats and increase ticket prices by at least 50%. This will boost ticket revenue by a significant amount. I'll gamble there are 60K die hards in Buffalo that will pay the higher prices without blinking and this will get the games on TV. Also, raise the price of parking. The least expensive stadium parking here in Chicago for a Bear's game is $40. $100 a game for premium parking. Really. Fans in Buffalo don't know how good they have it. Quitcherbitchin about the occasional blackout.

He's done a great job the second half of the season. If he stays healthy it looks like the Bills have their man. I don't think he can be comeback player of the year as he never did anything in the past seasons worth coming back to.

Yeah, who says this rivalry is dead? A win over the Dolphins always feels great. Happy Monday!

Get over it. I still can't believe all the complaining on this board about this rule. Ticket sales is the priority and it has to be that way. When was the last time you saw a good live local concert from your couch when it played at a public venue attended by people that bought tickets? Quitcherbitchin.

For every expert opinion there is an equal and opposite expert opinion.

When the Raiders games were blacked out they got the national feed there. What's the difference?

Gotta hand it to you......great thread! Funny stuff.

Only your second question was necessary.

I was skeptical at first but when I saw Bullough as coach you sold me.

This is just an ugly rant that doesn't even address the issues being discussed here. It particularly doesn't address the issues that Ralph has raised about the revenue imbalance in the new CBA. Real issues that could threaten the Bills staying in Buffalo particulary since an ownership change could occur soon. Really it sounds like you're just not happy with the team's performance over the past several years. The rest of the post is just crap.

Shoot the bird.

Yeah, Lindell is a must. Not easy to get top flight kickers.

The Forbes survey shows buffalo 25th in the league at $176 million in revenue and $31 million in profit. More encouraging numbers, but there still exists a huge disparity among the team revenues with many above $200 million and these numbers are from before the new CBA. http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/30/06nfl_...ns_Revenue.html

You can buy Spellman Jersey's in Chicago at a deep discount.

Come on now, Wade didn't have Rosoe Parrish.

I think Ralph in genuinely concerned about small market teams remaining profitable and competitive and the Bills staying in Buffalo beyond his life. An NFL franchise might be worth $600 million in a larger market, but if the team operates at $7 million profit per year in Buffalo, I doubt you'll find an investor that will spend $600 million to make a $7 million annual return. That's barely over 1%. Unless of course it is strictly for the "love of the game". In Buffalo, the franchise might be worth less than half of that. Maybe a lot less. In a larger market it's potentially worth a lot more. Yes, Ralph has a lot of equity in the team on paper. With the new agreement, he might be forced to spend some of that equity to hire top notch management and sign better free agents and draft choices. Doing that will again diminish the value of the team in Buffalo if it is cash flow negative. This is very complicated for Ralph right now. Without a level playing field revenue-wise and with the team likely nearing an ownership change, he or his estate may be forced to choose between doing what's best for Buffalo or what's best for him or his estate. Under the old bargaining agreement where players got a smaller piece of the revenue pie and some of the revenue (luxury suites, etc) was not paid to players, the Bills were in a better financial position. A better position in which to compete financially while playing in Buffalo. The new agreement has come at a very bad time for the Bills. This is one time when you wish he had a son or daughter that wanted to take over the reigns and maintain the team. I'm not familiar with estate laws so I don't know the impact his death would have on his estate. My guess is they would be forced to sell the team to pay taxes. Maybe however there is a way to set up the team in a trust and continue to have the trust own the team after his death with new management. Maybe there is a way to eliminate or delay the tax impact. I'm sure Ralph has explored all of the possible scenarios. Maybe the Bills in an ownership change could benefit from Packer-like ownership. Public or partial public ownership. Maybe as many as a million Bills Fans would be willing to buy a few shares of stock along with a new ownership group. That doesn't solve the revenue share problem, but it might help to raise a more competitive offer for the team. That and some support from the state could help bridge the gap. Personally I'd like to see Ralph sell the team soon while he can still pick the buyer, and maybe that was his plan. The new agreement threw a wrench into that as it weakens the value of the team in Buffalo and weakens the investment opportunity. For now, I'm glad to see that Ralph appears healthy.

It would be best for most Americans if Hillary and Bill disappeared from the political landscape. Al Gore should go with them.

If were only that easy.....

Legal I hope.

Now I'm really confused.

He's gotta be tough. How many people puke and can then eat a sandwich and resume something like a football game?

You're right. There is nothing worse than an extroverted societal conscious liberal. If he were a dog, he'd be a Dalmation. Lot's of energy, but not very smart. I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself.