BillsLux Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 Reading the headlines about potential teams moving to LA, made me reflect on Ralph and the criticisms he's taken over the past few years. I find nothing more infuriating than hearing a scattering of boos when he's announced at a Bills game. Does anyone doubt that if it was all about the money, Ralph would have left a long time ago? Look at all the teams that have done it: Baltimore, Cleveland, LA, St Louis Cardinals. Everyone one of them more economically feasible than the city of Buffalo. I love hearing the blogs about Ralph's cheapness in regards to paying players and that he's not interested in winning. First of all he could of left for the money, and secondly, the guy is in his mid 90's. Do we really think he's making the calls. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swede316 Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 Do I think the Bills will move. NO! All that being said...Today I turned 42...My only wish...for 1 championship for Buffalo...Bills or Sabres...Well since I'm wishing..DYNASTY"S FOR BOTH!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanker Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 Nice first post. Welcome to The Board, er ah, well, uh... The Wall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mead107 Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 I like Ralph. Lots of thanks for him giving us the Buffalo Bills good, bad, or ugly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T master Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 Reading the headlines about potential teams moving to LA, made me reflect on Ralph and the criticisms he's taken over the past few years. I find nothing more infuriating than hearing a scattering of boos when he's announced at a Bills game. Does anyone doubt that if it was all about the money, Ralph would have left a long time ago? Look at all the teams that have done it: Baltimore, Cleveland, LA, St Louis Cardinals. Everyone one of them more economically feasible than the city of Buffalo. I love hearing the blogs about Ralph's cheapness in regards to paying players and that he's not interested in winning. First of all he could of left for the money, and secondly, the guy is in his mid 90's. Do we really think he's making the calls. Although this is your first post on this sight BRAVO !! It does me good to hear some one stick up for Ralph once in a while . If like you said it was Jerry or Kraft any other owner would have been long gone along with our beloved Bills . I just hope others would realize this point but in Bills nation you can never know what the fans might think & they aren't happy unless they are about something !! Go Bills !! Long Live Ralph !!!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBill Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 Great first post. Most are dug in hard on their positions relative to this issue. I do think Ralph has the right front office team in place. Props to him for keeping the Bills in Buffalo. As others have said he could have moved on long ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eball Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 I guess billsfreak hasn't logged on yet... (welcome to the Wall) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 Reading the headlines about potential teams moving to LA, made me reflect on Ralph and the criticisms he's taken over the past few years. I find nothing more infuriating than hearing a scattering of boos when he's announced at a Bills game. Does anyone doubt that if it was all about the money, Ralph would have left a long time ago? Look at all the teams that have done it: Baltimore, Cleveland, LA, St Louis Cardinals. Everyone one of them more economically feasible than the city of Buffalo. I love hearing the blogs about Ralph's cheapness in regards to paying players and that he's not interested in winning. First of all he could of left for the money, and secondly, the guy is in his mid 90's. Do we really think he's making the calls. He's never spent even close to the minimum on players' salaries during the salary cap era. And as for moving, he's never gone even close to as far as Bob Kraft did with his deal with Hartford, that he backed-out on at the 11th hour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hplarrm Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 Welcome to the Wall. I agree that Mr. Ralph does not deserve booing. He has been essential to there simply being NFL football in Buffalo. This being acknowledged, I hope that your correct disdain for the catcalls does not extend to failing to also acknowledge Mr. Ralph's imperfections as an owner. Though I would strongly disagree with anyone who tries to label him cheap, I also lay the lionshare of he Bills problems on stupid actions taken by the team owner and demonstrably by him alone creating many of the failures folks routinely complain about. For example, only he could make a handshake deal with Jimbo to reward him in his next FA contract which never occurred. It was this poor football judgment that Jimbo had something left which has triggered a decade+ long series of miscues as the Bills have made killer mistake after killer mistake in the fruitless and desperate search for the next Jimbo. Miscues such as the Billy Joe Hobert adventure, the stupid misallocation of QB funds to both RJ and DF, the stupid extension and then needed cut of Bledsoe are examples of problems which stem from the initial Mr. Ralph miscue or if it was not him he should have known about them. In addition, Mr. Ralph has to bear primary responsibility for the decisions to fire Polian, for the mismanaged relationship with Butler and the forced rush to hire TD which ultimately led to his firing. It simply strikes me as nonsensical that folks chose to blame either Jauron, Marv or whomever for our current failings when though they are certainly to blame for their 2, 4 or limited number of year bad decisions, they cannot be blamed for the full decade plus of playoffless failures. Only Mr. Ralph had his hands on the throttle for the whole period. Finally, while you are correct that all the glorious accomplishments of the Bills must be acknowledged as Mr. Ralph owned outcomes. Likewise he cannot escape accountability for making the decision to hire Marv, Jauron, TD or whomever one wants to blame. Mr. Ralph is a mixed bag anyway you cut it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transient Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 Welcome. I'm not a Ralph apologist, but I hate the conspiracy theories and the idea that he is too cheap to win. Fact is, it is a small market and he is NOT infinitely wealthy compared to some other owners. Had he thrown the money at the team that some want (probably people who think anyone with money should spend it their way) not only would he have run the team poorly from an organizational standpoint, it also would have been less financially viable, and therefore more likely to move. I don't begrudge Ralph his ownership, and I applaud his loyalty to the area, even if it meant banging the drum for assistance from the locals every now and again to keep the team there. Just my two cents. I think they're finally headed in the right direction... but I thought that at the beginning of the Donahoe era as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo_Stampede Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 (edited) Reading the headlines about potential teams moving to LA, made me reflect on Ralph and the criticisms he's taken over the past few years. I find nothing more infuriating than hearing a scattering of boos when he's announced at a Bills game. Does anyone doubt that if it was all about the money, Ralph would have left a long time ago? Look at all the teams that have done it: Baltimore, Cleveland, LA, St Louis Cardinals. Everyone one of them more economically feasible than the city of Buffalo. I love hearing the blogs about Ralph's cheapness in regards to paying players and that he's not interested in winning. First of all he could of left for the money, and secondly, the guy is in his mid 90's. Do we really think he's making the calls. Only 1 owner has voted no to every relocation, and that 1 owner is Ralph Wilson. We are not considered a "have not" because of Ralph Wilson. When Ralph put the team in Buffalo we were a top market and growing, you look today and we have pretty much fallen into irrelevancy as a city. I have said many times if Jerry Jones woke up tomorrow as the Bills owner he would sell the team. Edited June 11, 2011 by TheTruthHurts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KD in CA Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 He's never spent even close to the minimum on players' salaries during the salary cap era. And as for moving, he's never gone even close to as far as Bob Kraft did with his deal with Hartford, that he backed-out on at the 11th hour. In retrospect, Kraft was never coming to Hartford. There's no way he would have risked alienating the Boston and upper NE markets. He played a perfect poker game to get what he wanted from MA officials who didn't have the stomach to call his bluff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerball Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 In retrospect, Kraft was never coming to Hartford. There's no way he would have risked alienating the Boston and upper NE markets. He played a perfect poker game to get what he wanted from MA officials who didn't have the stomach to call his bluff. yup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bowery4 Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 Ralph has a flaw; loyalty, thank god and curses at the same time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
transient Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 Ralph has a flaw; loyalty, thank god and curses at the same time. And he's never been fully committed to bringing in someone to be THE caretaker for his organization so he could sit back and enjoy the results... and the first time he truly tried, the Donahoe disaster bit him in the ass. IMHO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 Ralph is who he is. Not the best owner but not the worst either. If he was as money grubbing as some here accuse him of bring the Bills would have left town ages ago PTR Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. WEO Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 In retrospect, Kraft was never coming to Hartford. There's no way he would have risked alienating the Boston and upper NE markets. He played a perfect poker game to get what he wanted from MA officials who didn't have the stomach to call his bluff. There are only a handfuof people who believe Kraft would have moved to Hartford. Anyway, Ralph was never going to move his team simply because it did not make financial sense to. He certainly would NOT have made more money by moving to Cleveland or Baltimore..or LA, obviously. It's a claim often made by guys here, but it makes no sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 In retrospect, Kraft was never coming to Hartford. There's no way he would have risked alienating the Boston and upper NE markets. He played a perfect poker game to get what he wanted from MA officials who didn't have the stomach to call his bluff. Whether Kraft would have moved to team to Hartford (had they had their **** together) is a matter of conjecture. The point was that Ralph never even so much as publicly dallied with another city, much less pulled-out of a deal with another city at the 11th hour. There are only a handfuof people who believe Kraft would have moved to Hartford. Anyway, Ralph was never going to move his team simply because it did not make financial sense to. He certainly would NOT have made more money by moving to Cleveland or Baltimore..or LA, obviously. It's a claim often made by guys here, but it makes no sense. How do you figure it did not make financial sense to move the team out of Buffalo? That makes absolutely no sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerball Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 Whether Kraft would have moved to team to Hartford (had they had their **** together) is a matter of conjecture. The point was that Ralph never even so much as publicly dallied with another city, much less pulled-out of a deal with another city at the 11th hour. How old are you Doc? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted June 11, 2011 Share Posted June 11, 2011 How old are you Doc? I was 1 at that time. But okay, 40 years ago Ralph talked openly about moving the team. I stand corrected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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