Lori Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 Did he really compare the October snowstorm to Katrina? Really? Holy !@#$. http://eyesonkatrina.blogspot.com/ http://donhammack.com/?p=269 The first link is to the Biloxi Sun-Herald's Katrina blog. The second is a looking-back post from a friend -- the guy who ran that blog, helping the S-H win a Pulitzer for Public Service even after he knew his own house was gone. Wonder how he'd feel about that comparison? No matter how valid some of his other points might be, as far as I'm concerned, Mr. Root has lost any shred of credibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. WEO Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 This guy is an idiot. First he paints Tom Benson like some kind of saint. Benson had the team set to leave N.O. for good. It was the NFL that stopped him, not some desire to do good. Second, everything Ralph says about the economy is true. No one would think of putting an NFL team in WNY. The Bills exist because of Ralph Wilson. True, Benson was going to leave, but you forget that the Superdome was wrecked and there was reasonable reason to believe that NO, devestated by the hurricane, would not recover to the point that a team would be viable economically. Compare that to Ralph who the same year as Katrina wiped out another owner's city, was moaning and groaning about how hard it was to field a team in poor old WNY---while he pocketed $31 million in profit. Was Benson the only owner in League history who would be forced to watch his investment get washed out because of a massive natural disaster? WTF? Maybe you should consider the possibility that the Bills exist because of the extremely loyal Bills fans. If you were honest with yourself, you would realize that it is unbelievably lucrative for Ralph to keep his business right where it is and that's why he has never moved it, nor would he. If Ralph owned the Jax jags, he would be out of there in a (precious) heartbeat. As for the Toronto "money grab" I see it as smart business, not greed. Give up 8 games and 1) add to your bottom line, and 2) lock up the Toronto market from any other NFL team moving in. Greed is a smart business move, often times---and it is a relative term, I guess. Don't kid yourself---NO team is moving to Toronto in the near or medium future. There is no stadium and very few Americans there. What asshats like Root completely ignore is that Wilson can sell and move the Bills any time he feels like it. The lease with Erie County is printed on tissue paper. There is absolutely nothing, other than the NFL itself, that would stop the Bills from leaving town. They are still here because of Ralph Wilson Jr. See above. Now is Ralph a meddling, bumbling owner? You bet. Have the Bills been badly run for most of it's 50 year history? No question. Have the Bills treated the fans badly? I don't think so. No one puts a gun to your head to buy tickets. I've been a season ticket holder since just after Donahoe and I think the Bills actually do a nice job of reaching out to me. The teams blow but that has nothing to do with how they treat me as a ticket buyer. Your last statement is the reason why Ralph is still clinging to the Bills money train until his last breath. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todd Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 You are comparing Ralph Wilson to a terrorist? Fantastic! Not sure what service in WWII has to do with being an NFL owner? Timothy McVie served in the Iraq War (believe he was pretty decorated too, Purple Heart?) before he bombed the Federal Building in Oklahoma City (O.K. maybe a little harsh comparison). Not slamming veterans (I did over 20 years in the Navy myself and still work for the Navy), but not finding the connection between running an NFL Team and serving in the military. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
todd Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 this, ralph publicly stated years ago that Buffalo will support a loser and he's played that angle to the max. Link? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
habes1280 Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 The article would have you believe that Benson is a good guy and Wilson is not. I have several friends who are rabid football fans from New Orleans, and as best as I can tell Benson has been getting exactly the same kind of crap Wilson does: the Saints will never be winners until Benson is gone, he meddles, he's a cheap bastard, and so on. The difference is that the Saints won this year. So every writer with an axe to grind suddenly starts pointing to Benson and saying "See? We need an owner like that!" Wilson may or may not be the obstacle people claim. Jumping on the great-owner-Benson bandwagon only raises into question whether the writer knows anything at all. Whatever his other claims may be, Root seriously misremembers Benson's relationship with the city of New Orleans after Katrina; while he came around in the end, it wasn't before refusing to play home games in Baton Rouge, a courtship with the mayor of San Antonio, the firing of his executive vice president in the wake of his public statements advocating the team's importance to the city, and an aggressive intervention from the NFL commissioner and an "owner's committee" designed to "advise" Benson on the future of the Saints. Benson's loyalty to the city was neither immediate nor absolute. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobillsinytown Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 http://www.lockportjournal.com/local/local..._041015510.html I may be against some of the things Ralph does but I do think he deserves more respect than he was shown in this article I worked in Lockport in the mid 1980's......my impression was of a bitter, sad community. This article reflects that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buftex Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 http://www.lockportjournal.com/local/local..._041015510.html I may be against some of the things Ralph does but I do think he deserves more respect than he was shown in this article The wording may be tough, but what he is saying is essentially true. How Ralph Wilson has morphed into some sort of folk hero to Bills fans, is beyond me... Root is a little off on the Saints/San Antonio thing though. Benson wanted to move the team, but the NFL would not allow it ("too soon" they said)... Benson was very bitter about it...now that they have won a Super Bowl, he will sing a different tune...but Benson has had one foot out of New Orleans for some time...the state of Louisianna has subsidized the Saints, to keep them there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanker Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 Remarkable. Root's passing out ass-hats and people are happily putting 'em on and securing the chin strap, saying, "How do I look in my new hat?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. WEO Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 Remarkable. Root's passing out ass-hats and people are happily putting 'em on and securing the chin strap, saying, "How do I look in my new hat?" Well, sure it looks funny when you try to put it over the hat Ralph's been having you wear the last 10 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanker Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 Well, sure it looks funny when you try to put it over the hat Ralph's been having you wear the last 10 years. Ralphie's not forcing ANYBODY to wear The Bills colors. NO-BOD-DEE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyT Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 Love the grey hair with the dyed goatee George Root. Very Ronnie The Limo Driver-esque. Click here for a larger image? No thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdog1960 Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 Link? SI vault January 20, 1969 page 5. Interesting SI article on Buffalo"s sports scene back then. "Buffalonians will support a loser as well as any city"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabe Northern Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 Funny thing is that if this guy never came out and called Ralph a blood-sucking SFB leach in that one sentence no one would have even noticed this article. It was basically conventional wisdom with an uncalled for personal attack grafted on top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lockport Bills Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 This guy makes Lockport look worse than it already is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 SI vault January 20, 1969 page 5. Interesting SI article on Buffalo"s sports scene back then. "Buffalonians will support a loser as well as any city"... 1969????? You sure know how to carry a grudge. PTR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wilson from Gamehendge Posted February 10, 2010 Share Posted February 10, 2010 http://www.lockportjournal.com/local/local..._041015510.html I may be against some of the things Ralph does but I do think he deserves more respect than he was shown in this article I think it is an AWESOME article! SPOT ON! Professional sports IS A BUSINESS...but it means more to the people in that community than most people realize. I believe Ralph owes us SOMETHING, but I think he has tried to put a plan in motion with this new regime, and we just have to TRY and trust Ralph with what he has been doing lately. If this regime fails, Ralph owes us at least a promise to put the team in the hands of somebody who will keep the Bills in WNY. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdog1960 Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 1969????? You sure know how to carry a grudge. PTR that makes it all the more salient. "Wilson's not dilattentish in sports. His afl team is a profitable enterprise and he means to keep it that way even if it means moving to the Yukon". Wilson was threatening the area with moving even then, after a 1-13 season, and holding the fans and the city hostage despite their filling the stadium for a miserable team. It illustrates that his mo has remained constant over 50 years and dispels much of the revisionist history spouted so often here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillnutinHouston Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 I think it is an AWESOME article! SPOT ON! Professional sports IS A BUSINESS...but it means more to the people in that community than most people realize. I believe Ralph owes us SOMETHING, but I think he has tried to put a plan in motion with this new regime, and we just have to TRY and trust Ralph with what he has been doing lately. If this regime fails, Ralph owes us at least a promise to put the team in the hands of somebody who will keep the Bills in WNY. Ralph owes us? Really? NEWS FLASH - the Bills franchise is a commodity that is PRIVATELY OWNED. Ralph owes us NOTHING. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
manateefan Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 The Ralph bashing is so silly. How much did Ralph get killed when he came out and said the CBA was terrible? Now, he looks like a prophet. There's a difference between wanting to win and knowing how to win. Ralph wants to win, he just doesn't know how. He's always spent on players and probably thought he had his Brees in Bledsoe. Unfortunately for us, it didn't work out that way. Buffalo would not have a team if not for Ralph Wilson in 1959. Does he always spend money wisely on players? No. Does he always hire the best management or coaches? No. Has he always stood up for small market teams? Yes. Has he kept the team in Buffalo even through the worst economic times Buffalo has experienced not just this current time? Yes. Yes, he has made a profit over the years from the fans filling the stadium and even for the deal to play a couple games in Toronto. He's a businessman. But he didn't slink out of town like Ersay, or move to from one city and then back like Davis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerstm Posted February 11, 2010 Share Posted February 11, 2010 Now that was well worth the read! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts