Beerball Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 The one plausible explanation is what someone else brought up in another thread (wish I could remember who because I liked the theory) which paraphrased Ralph as thinking, "I'd spend the money if I trusted you guys to spend my money." I do think that's the reason. Ralph had so many swings/misses with front office hires that he probably wanted to gain confidence prior to really opening the wallet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cub Reporter Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 Embrace and enjoy RW's "one more go at it" - the man no doubt realizes he's not just on the "back nine of life", but walking toward the club house. Whatever Ralph's reasoning or current mind-set, we should all be grateful that his latest spending spree has not merely transformed the Bills into contenders once again, but created an NFL dynasty that will dominate the league for years to come... GO BILLSSS!!!! "I expect to be undefeated...I expect to win every game." - Chan Gailey 19 and 0 baby!!!!! I think Ralph is in the club house doorway, waiting for the little breeze to nudge him in. But, I agree I think Ralph has tried to build a team that won't just be good for one or two more years, I think he has legit tried to build a dynasty that will span longer than Ralph will ever be able to witness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rdand12 Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 I hope we give him what he has wished for and deserved after all these years. Go Bills! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WotAGuy Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 (edited) To a large extent, I think Ralph has been his own worst enemy, and I think it has less to do with finances as it does his ability to get along with highly motivated, succcessful and aggressive football people. Looking back at the Bills' history, Ralph has had problems with Lou Saban (twice), Chuck Knox, Bill Polian, John Butler....most of the people that have been successful for the Bills have left over disputes with Ralph (or so it seems from my recollection of the events leading to their dismissal or quitting). Ralph has made some horrible decisions (appointing Harvey Johnson interim coach TWICE, hiring Brandon to be GM, Stew Barber to be GM, etc). Ralph also has had some bad luck in hiring guys that on paper looked to be pretty smart hires (John Rauch, Donohoe, even Gregg Williams). Whether he is too meddlesome, or reluctant to hand over authority to the professionals he hired, Ralph seems to have caused more problems via his management style than via his wallet. That being said, he HAS kept the team here for 50 years and he HAS hit the jackpot with hires that others ridiculed - Levy, Nix, Chan (ok, maybe its too early to say he hit the jackpot on the latter two!). I'm just glad all of my professional decisions and financial actions aren't out there for everyone to see and criticize Whether Ralph has a succession plan in place or not will have little to no bearing on my enjoyment of this coming season. I am glad he felt compelled to spend a bunch of money on solid acquisitions that should really help this team succeed this year. Edited August 5, 2012 by WotAGuy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3rdand12 Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 any one who lives this long should go out with a smile. for all his potential faults he has been a very decent man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hondo in seattle Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 I think Ralph knows more about football than we give him credit for. He did spend money but the people he hired proved to be the wrong choices for whatever reason. I think he clamped down the purse strings when he knew the money would be wasted. Finally Ralph hit a winning combo with Nix and Gailey and, voila, the money flows. PTR PTR... I like Ralph but not so sure he 'knows more about football then we give him credit for.' I don't remember the exact stat, but the Bills have an all time losing record. We've only won about 47% of our games since Ralph formed the team. That's not a good track record. That's not even an average track record. I agree with you that he's made some poor decisions regarding whom he trusts to run the organization. Exactly that shows a deficit in his football acumen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 To a large extent, I think Ralph has been his own worst enemy, and I think it has less to do with finances as it does his ability to get along with highly motivated, succcessful and aggressive football people. Looking back at the Bills' history, Ralph has had problems with Lou Saban (twice), Chuck Knox, Bill Polian, John Butler....most of the people that have been successful for the Bills have left over disputes with Ralph (or so it seems from my recollection of the events leading to their dismissal or quitting). Ralph has made some horrible decisions (appointing Harvey Johnson interim coach TWICE, hiring Brandon to be GM, Stew Barber to be GM, etc). Ralph also has had some bad luck in hiring guys that on paper looked to be pretty smart hires (John Rauch, Donohoe, even Gregg Williams). Whether he is too meddlesome, or reluctant to hand over authority to the professionals he hired, Ralph seems to have caused more problems via his management style than via his wallet. That being said, he HAS kept the team here for 50 years and he HAS hit the jackpot with hires that others ridiculed - Levy, Nix, Chan (ok, maybe its too early to say he hit the jackpot on the latter two!). I'm just glad all of my professional decisions and financial actions aren't out there for everyone to see and criticize Whether Ralph has a succession plan in place or not will have little to no bearing on my enjoyment of this coming season. I am glad he felt compelled to spend a bunch of money on solid acquisitions that should really help this team succeed this year. QFT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo Barbarian Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 He is certain that ralph has a plan to keep the bills in buffalo and what was good news but also sad to hear, was that Ralph paid for Mario, Anderson, SJ, Freddy, and Fitz, (along with a technology center?) because, as he told thurman, "he wants one more go at it". Now we all know if the Bills make a run it would probably be the last chance for Wilson to see his bills make it to the dance. It was just sad to hear this thought coming from wilson, even though its quite obvious. I thought after all these years of us calling him cheap, he really did spend alot of money, and on all the right people. I also thought, why should he have spent money earlier when it wouldnt even have mattered? He probably saw nothing positive in Greggo's or Donahue's or especially Skeletor's tenure here. With all the bad drafts and bad QB'ing, what good would it have done to buy an expensive ffree agent back then? Maybe now he senses we are on the verge of gretness again. I hope. Maybe if he had spent during those regimes would have won and if didn't think they were worth it he should have hired some who was, either way more should have been done during that time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Best Player Available Posted August 5, 2012 Share Posted August 5, 2012 (edited) But this time it was accompanied by a dramatic, possibly unprecedented (for him) spending spree… so there's that. Keeping your comment in context, there is also Unprecedented REVENUE for the team and Ralph. The revenues coming in today dwarf his last good teams of the early 90's. Also, beware of Litman and bean counters needing to maybe prod Ralph to spend in order to secure the 200 million in taxpayer funding for the stadium. It all goes hand in hand. The NFL first is a big corporate business, no one will complain about the money spent this past offseason and the expected results this season. But in the end I don't believe Ralph Wilson woke up one morning and said I want to drop a 100 mil+ this year because Buddy Nix is here. Edited August 5, 2012 by Best Player Available Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WotAGuy Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 Keeping your comment in context, there is also Unprecedented REVENUE for the team and Ralph. The revenues coming in today dwarf his last good teams of the early 90's. Also, beware of Litman and bean counters needing to maybe prod Ralph to spend in order to secure the 200 million in taxpayer funding for the stadium. It all goes hand in hand. The NFL first is a big corporate business, no one will complain about the money spent this past offseason and the expected results this season. But in the end I don't believe Ralph Wilson woke up one morning and said I want to drop a 100 mil+ this year because Buddy Nix is here. That might be a cynical look at things, but it also makes some sense! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBob Posted August 6, 2012 Share Posted August 6, 2012 I'm holding out for the classic Cinderella/Fairytale story that the Bills somehow manage to stay really healthy for the first time in about 10 years, and they find some way to go all the way for Ralph before he passes. It would be a fitting ending to Ralph's life, and might even make up for losing four straight all those years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 (edited) I'm holding out for the classic Cinderella/Fairytale story that the Bills somehow manage to stay really healthy for the first time in about 10 years, and they find some way to go all the way for Ralph before he passes. It would be a fitting ending to Ralph's life, and might even make up for losing four straight all those years ago. And to add my possibly overly pragmatic view, I would wish that Mr. Wilson stays alive long enough for the new lease agreement to be reached. I can just imagine how muddled the negotiations would become if the worst were to happen. Edited August 7, 2012 by San Jose Bills Fan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbb Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 Isn't the bigger news here about the succession plan? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Hansen Forever Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 I think Ralph knows more about football than we give him credit for. He did spend money but the people he hired proved to be the wrong choices for whatever reason. I think he clamped down the purse strings when he knew the money would be wasted. Finally Ralph hit a winning combo with Nix and Gailey and, voila, the money flows. PTR My thought is why did he bring his daughter into the management position, unless he planned on giving the team to her after his passing. She is now well versed in the executive decision making and appears to be doing a rather fine job. I can't imagine Ralph giving the job away to his daughter just because. He is shrewd and he has alway said the team will be kept in the family. My money is on her taking over after he passes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbb Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 My thought is why did he bring his daughter into the management position, unless he planned on giving the team to her after his passing. She is now well versed in the executive decision making and appears to be doing a rather fine job. I can't imagine Ralph giving the job away to his daughter just because. He is shrewd and he has alway said the team will be kept in the family. My money is on her taking over after he passes. Are you talking about his wife's niece? I don't think he has a daughter working for the team anymore, since Linda Bogdan unfortunately passsed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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