Eric Wood: "Toronto series is a joke"

[eball]

Awesome comments. Best part of the article, though, are the comments from a Toronto fan who chastises the Bills for putting a bad product on the field and expecting people to come see them play. This, from a city that supports (to ridiculous levels) a hockey franchise that has defined suckitude for far longer than the Bills.

 

Anyway, yes, Eric Wood is "da man."

[Heels20X6]

Awesome comments. Best part of the article, though, are the comments from a Toronto fan who chastises the Bills for putting a bad product on the field and expecting people to come see them play. This, from a city that supports (to ridiculous levels) a hockey franchise that has defined suckitude for far longer than the Bills.

 

Anyway, yes, Eric Wood is "da man."

 

You're not seriously comparing a team like the Leafs, an institution in the city of Toronto, with almost 100 years of history to a fly-by-day operation from another city like the Bills, are you? Of course Toronto fans want to see a winner. If the NBA said one team was going to play 5 games in your city, would you rather see the OKC Thunder or the Toronto Raptors? I can guarantee if the Raptors played 5 games in Buffalo, no one would go because they're a crappy basketball team.

 

Newsflash - the Bills have moved from city embarrassment thru national embarrassment to now INTERNATIONAL embarrassment. The Bills SUCK. The only people left supporting them are diehards like us. And we hate ourselves for doing so,

[dogman]

Another reason that top coaches/talent won't come here. They only get 7 home games.

 

Let's get some Blue Jays games here. Jays games have empty stands. Hmmmm... Better yet, Trade the Bills for the Blue Jays. Better yet trade the Bills for a two-four of Blue.

[mattsox]

You thought you would have fan support? Here's an idea! STOP SUCKING!

 

That would be different for a change!

[dogman]

And Eric Wood is standing by what he said- My new favorite player. Might wanna try that Stevie. As soon as Stevie says something "real" he backs up quicker than a French TankK!

[apuszczalowski]

I'm starting to think this guy really is the slow kid from Bad Santa, So whats the excuse for the just as Sh*ty play at home in RWS?

 

His comment might have a bit more truth behind it if they actually won games (or atleast played a little better) at home. But weither they are on the road, at RWS, or in Toronto, their play seems to be about the same, and its not good.

 

Of course, right now if you say anything negative about the front office, coaching staff, or Ralph, the fans here will start pushing for your bust in Canton.

Maybe thats what whitner should have done? Next week kelsay should just come out in an interview and say "Chan sucks", or "Nix should have taken Wilson" and fans would be begging for him to be re-signed!

[artmalibu]

Maybe if the Bills were any good the game up there would be better supported.

 

I'm sure a lot of people are pissed that they didnt buy a ticket to the game this year.

 

Wood should be more worried about his teammates and coaches game performance and less worried about who is in the stands.

 

The real joke is that he feels that the team should be better supported!!

[1B4IDie]

$7.73 a ticket.

$78 Million / 8 games = $9.75 Million/game

They say its "double" what they make at RWS = $4.875 Million

So a 5 year deal at the same rate for 1 regular season game would be $541,666 spread out over the 2 preseason games and 7 regular season games.

 

$541,666 / 70K fans = $7.73/person.

 

Which would gladly be paid if they werent such an amateur organization. Look at stubhub, etc during their start in '07 or last year. It is also worth mentioning they do next to zero marketing in Buffalo/WNY

 

Also worth mentioning the new deal will likely be less than the same price/rate.

 

Likely there are some holes here, just crunched this out. Edit: it is shared, what 60/40. So it would be closer to $10 a ticket.

And then lets take into the costs of the Toronto game against the revenue and oh its lets than $10 a ticket.

[benderbender]

Honest talk for a change instead of Gailey's platitudes. I'll take it.

[HeHateMe]

The series blows... and screw the argument that it helps keep the team here.... because doesn't make any sense, they are playing the game in another country!!!!

 

If we have to resort to giving away home games to keep the team, It just isn't worth it. Move on then. This org is a joke anyways and has been for most of it's lifetime.

[Captain Canuck]

Is the Toronto series a joke? Sure.

Are the Bills a good team? No.

Is it lame to point blame at Toronto fans for being blown out? Yes.

 

Eric Wood, his teammates and the coaching staff, should concentrate on playing better ball.

And they should stop drafting poorly. See: Aaron Maybin.

And if they are so small market, they shouldn't hand out 96 million dollars to an adequate defensive player.

I think Eric Wood is pointing the finger in the WRONG direction. What an idiot.

[dave mcbride]

The Toronto series regardless of the money (I know, easy for me to say) has been an f'ing disaster of the highest order.

[Tcali]

ralph that old sneak....-he should be a character in a christmas movie

 

Is the Toronto series a joke? Sure.

Are the Bills a good team? No.

Is it lame to point blame at Toronto fans for being blown out? Yes.

 

Eric Wood, his teammates and the coaching staff, should concentrate on playing better ball.

And they should stop drafting poorly. See: Aaron Maybin.

And if they are so small market, they shouldn't hand out 96 million dollars to an adequate defensive player.

I think Eric Wood is pointing the finger in the WRONG direction. What an idiot.

 

oh no havent you heard?? mario is a great ,dominating all pro that we were crazy to criticize early on.

[LabattBlue]

Bravo Eric Wood. How does that taste PT Barnum Brandon.

[San Jose Bills Fan]

I think that we all would be happier if Wood stands up and takes a hard stance and stands firm and never softens and is committed to obtaining a satifying result that is desired by all parties involved.

 

I see the talkative Missus signed on to her hubby's (Mr. Man of Few Words) account.

 

yes the team has sucked during the series time period but the fact that IT DOESNT FEEL like a home game is the main issue Eric brings up.

 

think about this game from a players perspective.

 

Eric said what every other player must be thinking. So kudos to him for telling the truth.

 

As for the Toronto series, at this juncture in time what's the point of it all? The Bills get a disadvantage by surrendering a home game to what's no better than a neutral site, Toronto is not likely to get an NFL team as a result of this experiment. Rogers is paying way too much. That leaves the only obvious benefit of more coin in the pockets of Bills ownership.

 

Yes. People have to understand what Wood is saying and that it comes from a player's perspective. There is zero home field advantage and in fact, the game being at 4 pm allowed the Seahawks to kickoff at the exact same time that they do for their home games.

 

And to your second point, the Bills in Toronto series is a lose, lose, lose for everyone except Ralph Wilson. This is unless you believe that the extra money is helping keep the team in Buffalo. But even if you believe the added revenue helps Buffalo remain a viable market, you have to wonder how much more revenue the Toronto game generates compared to if the Bills were simply a well-run team which played all its games in Orchard Park.

 

$7.73 a ticket.

$78 Million / 8 games = $9.75 Million/game

They say its "double" what they make at RWS = $4.875 Million

So a 5 year deal at the same rate for 1 regular season game would be $541,666 spread out over the 2 preseason games and 7 regular season games.

 

$541,666 / 70K fans = $7.73/person.

 

Which would gladly be paid if they werent such an amateur organization. Look at stubhub, etc during their start in '07 or last year. It is also worth mentioning they do next to zero marketing in Buffalo/WNY

 

Also worth mentioning the new deal will likely be less than the same price/rate.

 

Likely there are some holes here, just crunched this out. Edit: it is shared, what 60/40. So it would be closer to $10 a ticket.

 

Again, the Bills in Toronto series benefits one person, Ralph Wilson.

 

If the Bills spent as much energy trying to be a good football team as they do "regionalizing" (a team which already has a large percentage of Canadian season ticket holders), there would be no reason to prostitute 1/8th of their home schedule each year.

 

Several people here have said that the Toronto game would be more successful if the Bills were a better team. That ignores the possibility that if the Bills were a better team, the Toronto game would be unnecessary.

[May Day 10]

^^^ Good thoughts.

 

I think it is very obvious this series was nothing more than a nice pay-out for Wilson, and a dress rehearsal/display that Toronto was ready for the NFL for the Rogers side.

 

There are plenty of "customers" these days who would buy up the "inventory" if they could remain competitive past Thanksgiving.

[C.Biscuit97]

You're not seriously comparing a team like the Leafs, an institution in the city of Toronto, with almost 100 years of history to a fly-by-day operation from another city like the Bills, are you? Of course Toronto fans want to see a winner. If the NBA said one team was going to play 5 games in your city, would you rather see the OKC Thunder or the Toronto Raptors? I can guarantee if the Raptors played 5 games in Buffalo, no one would go because they're a crappy basketball team.

 

Newsflash - the Bills have moved from city embarrassment thru national embarrassment to now INTERNATIONAL embarrassment. The Bills SUCK. The only people left supporting them are diehards like us. And we hate ourselves for doing so,

 

I mean who else supports there team but diehards. It is funny how uppity Toronto is about the Bills when the Leafs are one of the franchises that achieves less success than the Bills. They are the Yankees of the NHL, only the exact opposite.

 

^^^ Good thoughts.

 

I think it is very obvious this series was nothing more than a nice pay-out for Wilson, and a dress rehearsal/display that Toronto was ready for the NFL for the Rogers side.

 

There are plenty of "customers" these days who would buy up the "inventory" if they could remain competitive past Thanksgiving.

 

It's been brought up many times but December games struggled to sell out during the SB years. I absolutely love tailgating but if it's a choice between staying at home & away from the cold or going to the game, I'm staying at home & watching it on a giant TV with good quality beer and food at my fingertips. I'm sure a lot of people feel like this nowadays.

[Justice]

 

 

I mean who else supports there team but diehards. It is funny how uppity Toronto is about the Bills when the Leafs are one of the franchises that achieves less success than the Bills. They are the Yankees of the NHL, only the exact opposite.

 

 

 

It's been brought up many times but December games struggled to sell out during the SB years. I absolutely love tailgating but if it's a choice between staying at home & away from the cold or going to the game, I'm staying at home & watching it on a giant TV with good quality beer and food at my fingertips. I'm sure a lot of people feel like this nowadays.

 

Russ Brandon keeps saying that but I don't recall this many blackouts in the 90s. The Saints, Eagles and Oilers comeback games come to mind, but not much else.

[C.Biscuit97]

Russ Brandon keeps saying that but I don't recall this many blackouts in the 90s. The Saints, Eagles and Oilers comeback games come to mind, but not much else.

 

Yeah, I don't know that the exact numbers but those were some of the greatest teams ever and they couldn't sell out all the time. and our tickets are freaking charity compared to the rest of the NFL.

[RyanC883]

http://blogs.buffalo...t-renew-it.html

 

Always loved Eric Wood, now I love him a lot more.

 

This is a ridiculous statement to make after your team getting blown out. Both teams played in the same atmosphere. Does he really think the result would have been different if played in 50 degree weather (comparable to Seattle weather) in the Ralph. How about manning up and calling out your head coach. THAT would take guts. This is just a weak, looser thing to do after getting blown out.

 

I mean who else supports there team but diehards. It is funny how uppity Toronto is about the Bills when the Leafs are one of the franchises that achieves less success than the Bills. They are the Yankees of the NHL, only the exact opposite.

 

 

 

It's been brought up many times but December games struggled to sell out during the SB years. I absolutely love tailgating but if it's a choice between staying at home & away from the cold or going to the game, I'm staying at home & watching it on a giant TV with good quality beer and food at my fingertips. I'm sure a lot of people feel like this nowadays.

 

You are correct. They always have trouble selling tickets in December, even in the good old 90's. And if the tickets sell, people don't show up when the wind chill is below zero. We need a retractable dome. Let the elements (snow, etc) affect the players, but have heating for the fans.