The Nattering Nabobs of Negativity

[JohnC]

Sully has been frozen out by both the Bills and Sabres organizations for years. He can't cultivate sources as a result and this rankles him to no end. The bias this has created his palpable in his columns. If he were a better craftsman as a write, had more talent, he would be easier to take, but that's just not the case. He's a bitter hack in every sense of the word.

 

GO BILLS!!!

Most often reporters who have little association with the team/s are in a better position to report about a team than those who are allowed to be insiders at the discretion of the team/s. As an example Sal Cappacio (who I like and consider to be an earnest reporter) is granted access. Not once last year during the season or shortly after report that Mario willfully quit on the team. It wasn't until he left that he made the comment on WGR that Mario basically made a decision to quit when Rex was named the coach. The point I'm making is that he was either co-opted by the team or afraid to make a controversial claim about a player he would come in contact.

 

Jerry Sullivan is a columnist. He is not responsible for the daily coverage of this franchise. His task is to provoke---and that is what he does well. You may consider him to be a hack but what you can't say about him is that he is afraid to challenge a franchise and ask the pointed questions that a consistently losing franchise is uncomfortable responding to.

 

The Buffalo Bills in the market they reside in have had to face an insignificant amount of criticism relative to their level of competency compared to most markets. Compare the NY or Philly media market to the Buffalo market?

 

Without a doubt Jerry Sullivan can be irritating and full of himself. But overall to his credit he is one of the few voices in the room willing to call people out who should be called out and challenge those people who should be challenged.

[chris heff]

Most often reporters who have little association with the team/s are in a better position to report about a team than those who are allowed to be insiders at the discretion of the team/s. As an example Sal Cappacio (who I like and consider to be an earnest reporter) is granted access. Not once last year during the season or shortly after report that Mario willfully quit on the team. It wasn't until he left that he made the comment on WGR that Mario basically made a decision to quit when Rex was named the coach. The point I'm making is that he was either co-opted by the team or afraid to make a controversial claim about a player he would come in contact.

 

Jerry Sullivan is a columnist. He is not responsible for the daily coverage of this franchise. His task is to provoke---and that is what he does well. You may consider him to be a hack but what you can't say about him is that he is afraid to challenge a franchise and ask the pointed questions that a consistently losing franchise is uncomfortable responding to.

 

The Buffalo Bills in the market they reside in have had to face an insignificant amount of criticism relative to their level of competency compared to most markets. Compare the NY or Philly media market to the Buffalo market?

 

Without a doubt Jerry Sullivan can be irritating and full of himself. But overall to his credit he is one of the few voices in the room willing to call people out who should be called out and challenge those people who should be challenged.

 

That may be true, however the minute that Sullivan called for Marcell Dareus to be cut for making some dumb, but not terribly egregious mistakes, he labeled himself as a sanctimonious prick.

[JohnC]

That may be true, however the minute that Sullivan called for Marcell Dareus to be cut for making some dumb, but not terribly egregious mistakes, he labeled himself as a sanctimonious prick.

Dareus's behavior was beyond being " non-egregeous" behavior. It was a criminally reckless behavior that could have gotten innocent bystanders killed. This was a near miss tragedy caused by someone who acted like a fool. I don't agree with Sullivan's position of cutting MD but I'm not going to condemn him for it.

[chris heff]

Dareus's behavior was beyond being " non-egregeous" behavior. It was a criminally reckless behavior that could have gotten innocent bystanders killed. This was a near miss tragedy caused by someone who acted like a fool. I don't agree with Sullivan's position of cutting MD but I'm not going to condemn him for it.

 

So you made no bad decision in your twenties? Good for you.

[JohnC]

So you made no bad decision in your twenties? Good for you.

I made plenty of bad decisions. But not to almost kill innocent bystanders.

Of course not.

 

But Sullivan's take to cut him was ridiculous.

I disagree with his position but I wouldn't characterize it as being ridiculous.

[What a Tuel]

JohnC, while you articulated Jerry Sullivan's job rather well, and I do think there is a place for the media to "challenge" an organization, I sincerely hope they are not giving any credence to Sullivan's opinions on anything. Even if he riles the fanbase in support of whatever the clickbait article of the month is.

[GunnerBill]

I don't want to turn this into a Jerry Sullivan thread, but the virulent hatred for this guy around here is another example of fans wanting to lynch the bearer of bad news. Like it or not, Sullivan has been right about this team and this organization a lot more than he's been wrong. And when he's been wrong, it's usually been when he's bought into what OBD was selling (the Fitz contract extension, the Rex hire, etc). Is he the most knowledgable football writer around? No, but he's also no dummy and he is almost always thought-provoking, which is an opinion columnist's number one job. Those who complain about Sullivan should read the garbage spewed out by fishhacks and homers in other markets around the country. There is a guy in our market named Canzano who has not written an interesting paragraph in 10 years. Trust me, Sully is way above the average.

Trust me as a former journalist.... Sully can't write. His "opinions" are one thing, his journalism is another.

[Maury Ballstein]

I don't want to turn this into a Jerry Sullivan thread, but the virulent hatred for this guy around here is another example of fans wanting to lynch the bearer of bad news. Like it or not, Sullivan has been right about this team and this organization a lot more than he's been wrong. And when he's been wrong, it's usually been when he's bought into what OBD was selling (the Fitz contract extension, the Rex hire, etc). Is he the most knowledgable football writer around? No, but he's also no dummy and he is almost always thought-provoking, which is an opinion columnist's number one job. Those who complain about Sullivan should read the garbage spewed out by fishhacks and homers in other markets around the country. There is a guy in our market named Canzano who has not written an interesting paragraph in 10 years. Trust me, Sully is way above the average.

Wow. This is hilarious.

[mannc]

Trust me as a former journalist.... Sully can't write. His "opinions" are one thing, his journalism is another.

As a person who writes for a living, I think Sullivan is better than most sports opinion columnists.

Wow. This is hilarious.

Well thought-out post. Thanks for your contribution to the discussion.

[Buffalo Barbarian]

Why hasn't anyone brought this up before?

 

beats me

[stony]

I don't want to turn this into a Jerry Sullivan thread, but the virulent hatred for this guy around here is another example of fans wanting to lynch the bearer of bad news. Like it or not, Sullivan has been right about this team and this organization a lot more than he's been wrong. And when he's been wrong, it's usually been when he's bought into what OBD was selling (the Fitz contract extension, the Rex hire, etc). Is he the most knowledgable football writer around? No, but he's also no dummy and he is almost always thought-provoking, which is an opinion columnist's number one job. Those who complain about Sullivan should read the garbage spewed out by fishhacks and homers in other markets around the country. There is a guy in our market named Canzano who has not written an interesting paragraph in 10 years. Trust me, Sully is way above the average.

 

Jerry's wrote every article with the "same old Bills" premise for what, 10+ years? I guess it works, and could even be considered 'correct.'

 

But is it good, thought provoking commentary? Meh. I would argue otherwise. It's safe. It's easy.

[GunnerBill]

As a person who writes for a living, I think Sullivan is better than most sports opinion columnists.

Then I disagree, respectfully but in the strongest possible terms.

Edited May 21, 2016 by GunnerBill

[Coach Tuesday]

I CAN'T BELIEVE I READ THE WHOLE THING

[Rico]

As a person who writes for a living, I think Sullivan is better than most sports opinion columnists.

Absolutely. I think his style of writing is masterful, and I always find him to be a very entertaining read.

[Rico]

It certainly does have its desired effect

Yep. I don't always agree with him, but he has perfected his own art of smack-talking.

[JohnC]

JohnC, while you articulated Jerry Sullivan's job rather well, and I do think there is a place for the media to "challenge" an organization, I sincerely hope they are not giving any credence to Sullivan's opinions on anything. Even if he riles the fanbase in support of whatever the clickbait article of the month is.

If there is a franchise in any sport that needs to be challenged it is the Buffalo Bills. This is a franchise in a sport designed for parity that his been out of the playoffs for a generation. What do you want him to do? Compliment the organization for its outstanding record? Do you want him to throw rose petals at them for their organizational wisdom?

 

The suffering fan base doesn't need Sullivan to rile themselves up. You don't think that after watching garbage for so long that they can't make up their own minds that this organization is a ramshackle organization. They don't need to have a prickly reporter to tell them anything because they can see for themselves the consistent product coming from a systemically mediocre organization.

 

Too many get upset with the messenger. Focus on the product and judge for yourself.

Edited May 21, 2016 by JohnC

[D. L. Hot-Flamethrower]

Wow. This is hilarious.

Seconded. Truly laughable post. Sully the pulitzer prize winning writer.

[K-9]

Most often reporters who have little association with the team/s are in a better position to report about a team than those who are allowed to be insiders at the discretion of the team/s. As an example Sal Cappacio (who I like and consider to be an earnest reporter) is granted access. Not once last year during the season or shortly after report that Mario willfully quit on the team. It wasn't until he left that he made the comment on WGR that Mario basically made a decision to quit when Rex was named the coach. The point I'm making is that he was either co-opted by the team or afraid to make a controversial claim about a player he would come in contact.

 

Jerry Sullivan is a columnist. He is not responsible for the daily coverage of this franchise. His task is to provoke---and that is what he does well. You may consider him to be a hack but what you can't say about him is that he is afraid to challenge a franchise and ask the pointed questions that a consistently losing franchise is uncomfortable responding to.

 

The Buffalo Bills in the market they reside in have had to face an insignificant amount of criticism relative to their level of competency compared to most markets. Compare the NY or Philly media market to the Buffalo market?

 

Without a doubt Jerry Sullivan can be irritating and full of himself. But overall to his credit he is one of the few voices in the room willing to call people out who should be called out and challenge those people who should be challenged.

I appreciate the difference between reporters and op/ed writers. There have been many columnists critical of the Bills over the years that were also talented writers. Sorry, but Sully is just not a talented writer. He isn't a wordsmith, doesn't have many original thoughts, and I get the impression he just peruses various forums, sticks his finger in the air to gauge the negative sentiment of the moment, and writes accordingly. It's not that he's critical of the Bills, it's that he isn't very good at it. Which is interesting given the sheer amount of bungling the Bills provide as fodder for the columnists.

 

If you've ever had a beer with Sully or even been in the presence of him having beer with others at a bar, you would understand first hand how butt hurt he is over his relationship with front offices of both of our major sports teams.

 

As for Sal, I recall him saying he wouldn't be surprised if Mario played in self-preservation mode before the season even started. He had talked about him balking at a restructure and the high likelihood of him not being a Bill if he didn't. But Sal is a beat reporter vs. being an opinion writer anyway.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[D. L. Hot-Flamethrower]

I appreciate the difference between reporters and op/ed writers. There have been many columnists critical of the Bills over the years that were also talented writers. Sorry, but Sully is just not a talented writer. He isn't a wordsmith, doesn't have many original thoughts, and I get the impression he just peruses various forums, sticks his finger in the air to gauge the negative sentiment of the moment, and writes accordingly. It's not that he's critical of the Bills, it's that he isn't very good at it. Which is interesting given the sheer amount of bungling the Bills provide as fodder for the columnists.

 

If you've ever had a beer with Sully or even been in the presence of him having beer with others at a bar, you would understand first hand how butt hurt he is over his relationship with front offices of both of our major sports teams.

 

As for Sal, I recall him saying he wouldn't be surprised if Mario played in self-preservation mode before the season even started. He had talked about him balking at a restructure and the high likelihood of him not being a Bill if he didn't. But Sal is a beat reporter vs. being an opinion writer anyway.

 

GO BILLS!!!

Very good post!

[boyst]

I appreciate the difference between reporters and op/ed writers. There have been many columnists critical of the Bills over the years that were also talented writers. Sorry, but Sully is just not a talented writer. He isn't a wordsmith, doesn't have many original thoughts, and I get the impression he just peruses various forums, sticks his finger in the air to gauge the negative sentiment of the moment, and writes accordingly. It's not that he's critical of the Bills, it's that he isn't very good at it. Which is interesting given the sheer amount of bungling the Bills provide as fodder for the columnists.

 

If you've ever had a beer with Sully or even been in the presence of him having beer with others at a bar, you would understand first hand how butt hurt he is over his relationship with front offices of both of our major sports teams.

 

As for Sal, I recall him saying he wouldn't be surprised if Mario played in self-preservation mode before the season even started. He had talked about him balking at a restructure and the high likelihood of him not being a Bill if he didn't. But Sal is a beat reporter vs. being an opinion writer anyway.

 

GO BILLS!!!

a slightly contrary point other than agreeing with all of this is that sully actually does good for his limited ability which is not an insult. he chooses low hanging fruit and does not delve deeper. whether he can or cannot is not relevant. i stopped reading him when he offered no original insight or ability to engage further discussion. he writes in absolutes - which as an op/ed writer is dangerous grounds. his submission of an idea is tactically flawed which destroys his ability to further gain an audience.