Really, Who Is To Blame?

[H2o]

I have been a Bills fan for roughly 20-21 years. There have been good times and bad. There was the joy of watching the teams of the 90's, but also the heartbreak of SB losses and the "Music City Rip-Off". There was the time of Polian, the initial excitement of the Donahoe hire, and then the tragedy it has become over the last 5 years. There was the glory years of Kelly, the excitement of Flutie, the hope RJ would pan out, the thought that we had somehow finagled Bledsoe from the Pats*, the promising year of Losman, the 5-1 start of Edwards, and now the horror that is our QB situation. The OL has had some quality players at times, but it's been dismal since we traded Peters and dropped LW espacially in pass protection(say what you will). Our defense has been respectable at times, but nothing worth mentioning since we had Clements, Spikes, Fletcher, Williams, and Adams. We've suffered through multiple bad coaching staffs and there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel. Top quality FA's look us over, our waste of draft picks has been evident, and the quality players we have been able to aquire (draft or FA) seem to bolt after their initial contract.

 

The question I pose to you all is who actually is to blame? Wilson, Littman-Overdorf, Modrak, Guy, Coaches, GM's, players, or maybe even the fans? Do we support a team to line the pockets of a greedy old miser who could care less about the state of the franchise he owns as long as he stays "in the black"? Is our organization so totally infected from top to bottom that there can be no remedy? What is the truth in all of this? Someone please tell me. I feel like we are quickly becoming the Detroit Lions of the AFC, minus the drafting of 3 WR's in Round 1 and Matt Millen in the luxury suite. Seasons like this are hard on everyone who is truly a fan and there is nothing we can do about the end results on the field. I just hope that this once proud franchise can get back to the glory days again before the bright lights of LA or the Canadians' coin look more appealing to the NFL.

Edited October 4, 2010 by H2o

[Virgil]

I think if you really break it down, it's Ralph. All the guys who had a plan, he got rid of because they wouldn't conceid to his meddling. The guys who let him get in the way, can't succeed.

 

It's almost become painfully obvious to me now...

[billsfan714]

Well to some on this board Modrak is always blameless somehow for the most imcompetant drafting in the history of the league. I think NFL films will do a show about in the future,you know of the those so bad its funny things.

[mary owen]

Who's to blame? The fans.....maybe not a few years ago, but now, for sure it's the Fans. And I'm specifically pointing at the one's who shell out for season tix and merchandise year after miserable year. I don't spend a cent on this sh*tty team, and I haven't since late 90's. You wouldn't continue to buy Snicker bars if they started making them with real human or dog sh** would you??? So stop paying for crap. Want to make a statement to Ralf and the FO? Hit them where it counts....the pocket book.

 

I think the fans should start a strike next week. Just don't go to the game! How great a message would that be? Think about it....

Edited October 4, 2010 by Arrogant Bastard

[tbonehawaii]

I think if you really break it down, it's Ralph. All the guys who had a plan, he got rid of because they wouldn't conceid to his meddling. The guys who let him get in the way, can't succeed.

 

It's almost become painfully obvious to me now...

Ralph is the only thing that hasn't changed. His genius idea to fire Bill Polian. Look at Colts v Bills fortunes after that brilliant move.

[Another Point of View]

Who's to blame? The fans.....maybe not a few years ago, but now, for sure it's the Fans. And I'm specifically pointing at the one's who shell out for season tix and merchandise year after miserable year. I don't spend a cent on this sh*tty team, and I haven't since late 90's. You wouldn't continue to buy Snicker bars if they started making them with real human or dog sh** would you??? So stop paying for crap. Want to make a statement to Ralf and the FO? Hit them where it counts....the pocket book.

 

I think the fans should start a strike next week. Just don't go to the game! How great a message would that be? Think about it....

 

You sound just like the fans in Cleveland, "Lets Strike the games, 1 year later the Browns moved! Lucky for them they got the team back. The team is no better, they still suck and strike did nothing!

Edited October 4, 2010 by Another Point of View

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

You sound just like the fans in Cleveland, "Lets Strike the games, 1 year later the Browns moved! Lucky for them they got the team back. The team is no better, they still suck and strike did nothing!

 

 

Oh no. How horrible if this craptastic franchise moved. What a disaster. Oh the humanity!!

[Scraps]

1. Ralph - The only constant

2. Modrack - Horrible draft record

3. GMs - Letting talent walk

4. Coaches

5. Players

[papazoid]

ZERO players will make the ProBowl this year....that's a lack of talent.

 

i blame Marv Levy , Dick Jauron and Ralph in that order for our current condition.

 

as far as not supporting the team....there are only 32 NFL franchises....our team is at risk with ralph's age.....not supporting the team will push it over the edge.... i know it's painful, but don't give up.

 

 

ever hear: "Cutting off the nose to spite the face" ?

 

it's an expression used to describe a needlessly self-destructive over-reaction to a problem.

 

sellouts are the ONLY thing that will keep this team in buffalo. especially when this franchise has a new owner. if keeping our Bills isn't the single most important thing, then you are either not a fan or dumb.

 

now if your talking about buying tickets but NOT showing up?.....maybe, but most folks around here are not in a financial position to just throw money away (yea yea, i know, you already are)so that isn't going to work either.

 

figure out some other way to show your disatisfaction....start a petition, if your a season ticket holder send a letter, wear a brown paper bag labeled the "ILLS". but understand one thing.....the only excuse a new owner can use to justify moving this franchise is poor attendance.

[DarthICE]

You sound just like the fans in Cleveland, "Lets Strike the games, 1 year later the Browns moved! Lucky for them they got the team back. The team is no better, they still suck and strike did nothing!

 

 

Hey Chicken little the Bills aren't moving, now get a pair and boycott the games

[playman]

You sound just like the fans in Cleveland, "Lets Strike the games, 1 year later the Browns moved! Lucky for them they got the team back. The team is no better, they still suck and strike did nothing!

how about turning your back on them? literally.

 

go to the game, take your seat, and on kick-off stand up and TURN.

 

maybe that will have them thinking. otoh, they might as well wont give a ________.

 

at least, you might get lucky and have a good look at some nice backsides.

[zonabb]

In order, RW, RW and then RW.

 

The team has a franchise record of 354-397-8. They have played in 29 playoffs games, the vast majority coming in the early 90s under arguably one of the best GMs in league history who the owner dispatched. They haven't made the playoffs since 1999. They have 20 winning seasons that include a couple back to back 7-6 seasons in the AFL and a couple 9-7 season too. The legacy of this team under RW is one of a perennial loser with a losing records and 4 lost Super Bowls. The one constant in this team's franchise is the owner. Based on what we see as the product, what we hear after the things happen (such as Coy Wire's statement's last week about how first rate things are in ATL versus here), and the product on the field, one can only conclude that the owner is a cheap, meddling, power-hungry guy who thinks he knows everything, when the record says otherwise. I'd take a new owner many years ago, one that recognizes the significant asset an NFL franchise is and how to not make money by being thrifty, but by making money by investing in the product, from the front office and marketing to the coaches and players.

 

RW has always made money his top priority and the team second. He's taken his $28,000 investment and our ticket purchases and govt subsidies and turned it into an $800M chunk of equity. His current goal is to make as much profit as he can every year. I was told by someone (politician) who had lunch with RW and his staff a few years back that RW told them the team's profit is about $20M a year. And because the business model works and he's clearing that kind of profit, he's not really motivated to make changes is he?

 

Sadly, he fails to recognize the willingness of people to support the team and the amount of money he could make if the team was winning. I was in NE last week for the game, everyone wears Pats gear at the game. At Bills games, it's not nearly as evident. Why? Who wants to wear the dirty laundry of a loser. What player is worth investing in a jersey.

 

I will say that I have done a 180 on the new stadium idea. Before going to NE, I thought this team was fine with this stadium. But after visiting Gillette and that experience, this team is way behind. You get in the stadiumm no matter how long the lines are in 5 minutes, not 30. The concession stands move fast, the concourses are wide and I can buy a Sam Adams draft for 50 cents cheaper than a warm Blue in a can. They sell beer at the seats! The players are on the scoreboard rallying the fans. It's almost like the fans matter, what a concept.

 

Buffalo has a global icon here now, an NFL franchise. If this region is going to make a turn around in a global economy, this team has to stay because as much as we might not think so, it lends credibility to the region. It has stature. The NFL is a global business and we have an office here. Let's hope there is a way it remains here after this terrible owner gives it up.

[chris heff]

I posted this on a different thread, yesterday, but it works here.

 

I was at a Bills Dolphins game, when Mularkey was coach. The Bills had a good lead, but then did a number of stupid things, that led to a Dolphin win. I conluded then, that nothing will really improve until there is a change of ownwership. This is a bad organization and has been, other than the luck that put Bill Polian in the GM position and whoever or however that championship team, of the early AFL happened, this organization has been inept.

 

Want examples?

Who trades Daryle Lamonica for Tom Flores (bad shoulder) and Art Powell (old)?

Who hires a coach, John Roach, that wants to make first pick in the 1969 draft, OJ, into a wide out?

Who decides not to pay a coach, Chuck Knox, that built a winning program and brought respectability?

Who fired one the best GMs in football, Bill Polian, for arguing with his daughter?

 

I could go on, I respect Ralph Wilson for what he did for the AFL. I am glade that he kept the team in Buffalo, but it is not like we didn't give our support.

 

I ran into him about ten years ago. I liked him, his face lit up, talking about the Bills. I don't wish him any ill will. I just believe that nothing will chane until there is a change in ownership.

[Nuncha]

I think if you really break it down, it's Ralph. All the guys who had a plan, he got rid of because they wouldn't conceid to his meddling. The guys who let him get in the way, can't succeed.

 

It's almost become painfully obvious to me now...

 

 

RALPH WILSON - he is the only one to blame. He keeps hiring morons to run his organization. Look at the draft picks over the past decade...how many are still on the roster? The ones that are on the roster are nothing but busts (Mr. Maybin is a prime example)

 

He ran Bill Polian out of town - must be the WORST blunder he ever made. He even ran the last coach that got us to the playoffs out of town. This team will not improve until Ralph is out of the picture.

[billsfreak]

I have been a Bills fan for roughly 20-21 years. There have been good times and bad. There was the joy of watching the teams of the 90's, but also the heartbreak of SB losses and the "Music City Rip-Off". There was the time of Polian, the initial excitement of the Donahoe hire, and then the tragedy it has become over the last 5 years. There was the glory years of Kelly, the excitement of Flutie, the hope RJ would pan out, the thought that we had somehow finagled Bledsoe from the Pats*, the promising year of Losman, the 5-1 start of Edwards, and now the horror that is our QB situation. The OL has had some quality players at times, but it's been dismal since we traded Peters and dropped LW espacially in pass protection(say what you will). Our defense has been respectable at times, but nothing worth mentioning since we had Clements, Spikes, Fletcher, Williams, and Adams. We've suffered through multiple bad coaching staffs and there seems to be no light at the end of the tunnel. Top quality FA's look us over, our waste of draft picks has been evident, and the quality players we have been able to aquire (draft or FA) seem to bolt after their initial contract.

 

The question I pose to you all is who actually is to blame? Wilson, Littman-Overdorf, Modrak, Guy, Coaches, GM's, players, or maybe even the fans? Do we support a team to line the pockets of a greedy old miser who could care less about the state of the franchise he owns as long as he stays "in the black"? Is our organization so totally infected from top to bottom that there can be no remedy? What is the truth in all of this? Someone please tell me. I feel like we are quickly becoming the Detroit Lions of the AFC, minus the drafting of 3 WR's in Round 1 and Matt Millen in the luxury suite. Seasons like this are hard on everyone who is truly a fan and there is nothing we can do about the end results on the field. I just hope that this once proud franchise can get back to the glory days again before the bright lights of LA or the Canadians' coin look more appealing to the NFL.

Sure the Front Office sucks, the coaching staff sucks, the roster sucks, everything about this team sucks right now, but ultimately it all boils down to Ralph being to blame. He is the penny pincher who hires the cheapest Head Coach available, cheapest GM, etc. This franchise won't turn around until there is a new owner in place, that is painfully obvious.