BillsVet Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 (edited) From TMQ yesterday: "Next Week: Next week's TMQ will be nonencyclopedic -- on Sunday I will be attending the Jets-at-Bills game as guest of Buffalo owner Ralph Wilson. Should I raise with him the issue of O.J. Simpson's name on the stadium wall?" Perhaps Easterbrook could ask about Lou Saban or even Cookie Gilchrist instead. Or perhaps ask what his plans for the future are. What say you? Edited September 29, 2010 by BillsVet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billsfaninvgs Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 Ask him out right.. Do you care if the Bills eventually leave Buffalo? OR Do you care what happens to the Bills after you die? If he says yes then maybe there is some sort of plan in the works. If he says no, well then thats all folks..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SageAgainstTheMachine Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 Ask him out right.. Do you care if the Bills eventually leave Buffalo? OR Do you care what happens to the Bills after you die? If he says yes then maybe there is some sort of plan in the works. If he says no, well then thats all folks..... Ralph has reportedly turned down multiple offers to move the Bills during his tenure, why would he not care? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guffalo Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 Ralph has reportedly turned down multiple offers to move the Bills during his tenure, why would he not care? Just speculating, but if he were to move it to San Antonio or LA, the locals would crucify him for some of the cheap moves and intrusive machinations that go on at OBD. In Buffalo, he knows the population would never outright revolt if that garbage continued. He is still making money in a depressed economy in a taxpayer financed facility as long as he keeps them here. If he were to move the team to any other city, once the grace period wore off, the bargain priced football decisions (coaching hires to name one aspect) would be ridculed and it would be a national debate. Pulling that in Buffalo, he gets very little heat since we are a small market team and not newsworthy by the mainstream media. Just my two cents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K Gun Special Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 Just speculating, but if he were to move it to San Antonio or LA, the locals would crucify him for some of the cheap moves and intrusive machinations that go on at OBD. In Buffalo, he knows the population would never outright revolt if that garbage continued. He is still making money in a depressed economy in a taxpayer financed facility as long as he keeps them here. If he were to move the team to any other city, once the grace period wore off, the bargain priced football decisions (coaching hires to name one aspect) would be ridculed and it would be a national debate. Pulling that in Buffalo, he gets very little heat since we are a small market team and not newsworthy by the mainstream media. Just my two cents. I understand your point. But in theory he would be making more $$ in LA, hence more to pay out for stuff like that. Its a catch 22, ralph wont spend but neither will the fans, dont tell me most of you on the board would pay $40 more per ticket to get a top flight FO and coach..... bc you wont/cant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisyphean Bills Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 How about asking, "Why do you think it is that people around the NFL view your franchise as one that isn't committed to winning?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nodnarb Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 I'm glad to hear that Ralph knows who Easterbrook is. I think he's one of the best, if not the best, writer covering football. Hopefully he'll find a way to fill his still-growing ears with: * Bring back the damn red endzones. Their removal has marked the darkest period in Bills history since the early 80s. * Create new uniforms that don't look like clown suits. * Leave enough to your family to keep them and their next two generations bathing in Benjamins, BUT: leave a controlling stake to the city of Buffalo, under the management of a group of people you trust (which would likely include some key ex-Bills). Revenues could be funneled back into the franchise / modernization of the stadium and surrounds, and possibly one day help finance a new stadium. The hardworking fan base will feel enfranchised, involved. Ticket sales would never be a concern again. A bit like Green Bay's structure but not quite. Thus giving back to the city of Buffalo in perpetuity. That's how I'd want it to go down, and I'm not even from Buffalo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsVet Posted September 29, 2010 Author Share Posted September 29, 2010 I'm glad to hear that Ralph knows who Easterbrook is. I think he's one of the best, if not the best, writer covering football. Hopefully he'll find a way to fill his still-growing ears with: * Bring back the damn red endzones. Their removal has marked the darkest period in Bills history since the early 80s. * Create new uniforms that don't look like clown suits. * Leave enough to your family to keep them and their next two generations bathing in Benjamins, BUT: leave a controlling stake to the city of Buffalo, under the management of a group of people you trust (which would likely include some key ex-Bills). Revenues could be funneled back into the franchise / modernization of the stadium and surrounds, and possibly one day help finance a new stadium. The hardworking fan base will feel enfranchised, involved. Ticket sales would never be a concern again. A bit like Green Bay's structure but not quite. Thus giving back to the city of Buffalo in perpetuity. That's how I'd want it to go down, and I'm not even from Buffalo. The NFL, IIRC, does not allow public ownership of a franchise. GB is the first and last exception to that. I wouldn't waste his time with EZ colors or uniforms because that's left to people far beneath him. I'll be interested in reading GE's column next Tuesday, although I'm not sure if he'll be deferential to RW or draw some conclusions about the state of the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nodnarb Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 The NFL, IIRC, does not allow public ownership of a franchise. GB is the first and last exception to that. The NFL is evolving all the time. Because it has to. They are always trying new things, especially under this leadership. They have said they want to keep the team in Buffalo. It's inevitable that they will need to be creative. There are still net outflows of wealth. Population and business trends are not good. Hence the Toronto experiments. I wouldn't say never. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flopagamo Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 Easterbrook's email is TMQ_ESPN@yahoo.com. Let's supply him with a list of questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nodnarb Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 Easterbrook's email is TMQ_ESPN@yahoo.com. Let's supply him with a list of questions. I wouldn't inundate the guy with requests. I'm sure he already knows what he'd like to say. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punch Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 (edited) The NFL is evolving all the time. Because it has to. They are always trying new things, especially under this leadership. They have said they want to keep the team in Buffalo. It's inevitable that they will need to be creative. There are still net outflows of wealth. Population and business trends are not good. Hence the Toronto experiments. I wouldn't say never. Roger Goodell had stated as much on a trip to Western New York a year or two ago when asked directly if the league would consider allowing a team like the Bills to set up a public ownership structure akin to the one in Green Bay. It's no small thing that the NFL Commisioner responded so warmly to such an idea in a very public way. Edited September 29, 2010 by Punch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malazan Posted September 29, 2010 Share Posted September 29, 2010 The NFL is evolving all the time. Because it has to. They are always trying new things, especially under this leadership. They have said they want to keep the team in Buffalo. It's inevitable that they will need to be creative. There are still net outflows of wealth. Population and business trends are not good. Hence the Toronto experiments. I wouldn't say never. They did try it. They don't like it. It will never get approved by the owners. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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