Russ Brandon and others...

[fridge]

Ah, the tri-monthly Russ Brandon thread.

 

Lemme guess; has been here throughout the drought, meddles in "football decisions", anyone could sell tickets, and he has to be shown the door if only he would release his Svengali grip on those Pegula rubes, right?

 

This has been explained ad infinitum for years now and it's tiresome to have to keep repeating the facts, especially those surrounding the growth of unshared revenue since his hire and how he made that all possible. And under the threat of NYS withholding $70m for renovations unless he came through to boot. But why let facts ruin a good, mob mentality desire to run him out of town.

 

Carry on, clod warriors!

 

Are you telling me Russ was unique in increasing unshared revenue during the most prosperous time in the history of the league?

 

Also, you know damn well the argument is that he's still involved in football decisions, and therefore it would be refreshing to see a systematic overhaul, starting from the top.

 

Again, as a fan, the marketing means nothing to me. I have no allegiance to the man trying to shill me a jersey, and I certainly don't care that he snagged some state dough to paint the bathrooms. And why exactly is that impressive? No other man could do that? You want to praise the man for doing an absolutely mediocre job at the business level but absolve him of guilt for the on-the-field stuff (you know, the only bit I care about).

[K-9]

 

Are you telling me Russ was unique in increasing unshared revenue during the most prosperous time in the history of the league?

 

Also, you know damn well the argument is that he's still involved in football decisions, and therefore it would be refreshing to see a systematic overhaul, starting from the top.

 

Again, as a fan, the marketing means nothing to me. I have no allegiance to the man trying to shill me a jersey, and I certainly don't care that he snagged some state dough to paint the bathrooms. And why exactly is that impressive? No other man could do that? You want to praise the man for doing an absolutely mediocre job at the business level but absolve him of guilt for the on-the-field stuff (you know, the only bit I care about).

Yes, that's EXACTLY what I'm telling you even though the late 90s weren't the "most prosperous times" in league history and Buffalo was reeling economically especially in terms of business support (read: UNSHARED revenue). Were you at the last game of the '97 season? Remember the sponsorship signage as you walked out? Were you there for the opener in '98 to compare just that one simple aspect?

 

The marketing may mean nothing to you but if you owned the team and you were spending 65% of revenues on player costs while others in the league were spending 35% on those same costs, would you think marketing might be important to you then? If $70m in NYS funding to help construct the very mechanisms for additional revenues was a condition for selling luxury suites, would marketing be of so little importance still?

 

As fans, we are all unhappy with the product on the field. As someone who is better acquainted with and cares a little about the revenue side of things, it's amazing Brandon accomplished those things IN SPITE of the poor product. And that was LONG before he did anything on the football side of things.

 

But yeah, sell ticket, any caveman can do it. But selling tickets isn't what drives the train.

Edited December 6, 2016 by K-9

[fridge]

Yes, that's EXACTLY what I'm telling you even though the late 90s weren't the "most prosperous times" in league history and Buffalo was reeling economically especially in terms of business support (read: UNSHARED revenue). Were you at the last game of the '97 season? Remember the sponsorship signage as you walked out? Were you there for the opener in '98 to compare just that one simple aspect?

 

The marketing may mean nothing to you but if you owned the team and you were spending 65% of revenues on player costs while others in the league were spending 35% on those same costs, would you think marketing might be important to you then? If $70m in NYS funding to help construct the very mechanisms for additional revenues was a condition for selling luxury suites, would marketing be of so little importance still?

 

As fans, we are all unhappy with the product on the field. As someone who is better acquainted with and cares a little about the revenue side of things, it's amazing Brandon accomplished those things IN SPITE of the poor product. And that was LONG before he did anything on the football side of things.

 

But yeah, sell ticket, any caveman can do it. But selling tickets isn't what drives the train.

You're better aquatinted with the revenue side of things? Other than an absolute ego trip, what does that even mean exactly? You think somehow I can't comprehend how the team makes money?

 

I'm not the owner, you're right, I'm the fan. No idea why I would value marginally successful business ventures over success on the field. Also...you again absolved him of any responsibility for the team's recent ineptitude.

[pepsicat17]

Yes, that's EXACTLY what I'm telling you even though the late 90s weren't the "most prosperous times" in league history and Buffalo was reeling economically especially in terms of business support (read: UNSHARED revenue). Were you at the last game of the '97 season? Remember the sponsorship signage as you walked out? Were you there for the opener in '98 to compare just that one simple aspect?

 

The marketing may mean nothing to you but if you owned the team and you were spending 65% of revenues on player costs while others in the league were spending 35% on those same costs, would you think marketing might be important to you then? If $70m in NYS funding to help construct the very mechanisms for additional revenues was a condition for selling luxury suites, would marketing be of so little importance still?

 

As fans, we are all unhappy with the product on the field. As someone who is better acquainted with and cares a little about the revenue side of things, it's amazing Brandon accomplished those things IN SPITE of the poor product. And that was LONG before he did anything on the football side of things.

 

But yeah, sell ticket, any caveman can do it. But selling tickets isn't what drives the train.

 

 

Yea buy doing things like giving up a home game to the organization in Toronto that wanted to buy and take the team out of Buffalo. If that idea was more successful do you think the Bills would still be here? Thank God for the Pegulas who saved our asses and kept the team here where it belongs. Also the majority of revenue for most NFL teams comes from the TV rights packages and Schumer and Cuomo were not gonna let the Bills move on account of $70 million or whatever it was for renovations.

 

Did Russ do some good things for the team? Sure. But the bad far outway the good and you have no idea, just like the rest of us, if he is still involved in football decisions but he had a say in the Rex hiring, that's documented, so it would be a decent assumption that he has the ear of the owners. Hell he is the Vice President of their entire sports organization. We need a football guy/girl who has current NFL knowledge to come in here and build this team and organization for the 21st century, not hiring guys who's schemes last worked 15 years ago. Unless you like this crap year after year and never being a real player in the new NFL. But I want to win, I want a shot at the playoffs each year and I want a shot at a championship, not more of the same 17 years of futility. I can't imagine a fan of this team being happy with how things have been run, it boggles the mind.

[K-9]

You're better aquatinted with the revenue side of things? Other than an absolute ego trip, what does that even mean exactly? You think somehow I can't comprehend how the team makes money?

 

I'm not the owner, you're right, I'm the fan. No idea why I would value marginally successful business ventures over success on the field. Also...you again absolved him of any responsibility for the team's recent ineptitude.

I don't know what you can grasp and what you can't and I don't really care. I presume I'm better acquainted than you because you openly admit to not caring about the revenue aspect of things, let alone the marketing that entails. That's not ego, it's common sense.

 

I'm sure you can comprehend how teams make money. How about comprehending the nature of wide disparities in the application of revenues to player costs? Is there or is there not an inherent competitive disadvantage when you have to spend 65% of your revenues in that area vs. teams that spend 35%?

 

You hate Brandon. I get that. But your hatred makes you incapable of the least bit of objectivity when it comes to the success he had in the job he was precisely hired to do and especially in the short time available he had to do it back in the late nineties.

 

And I don't "absolve" Russ Brandon of anything. What the phuck does that even mean? He's made some bad decisions and he'll be the first to tell you that. He doesn't need my absolution. But if you refuse to acquaint yourself with widely available facts, that's on you.

[K-9]

Yea buy doing things like giving up a home game to the organization in Toronto that wanted to buy and take the team out of Buffalo. If that idea was more successful do you think the Bills would still be here? Thank God for the Pegulas who saved our asses and kept the team here where it belongs. Also the majority of revenue for most NFL teams comes from the TV rights packages and Schumer and Cuomo were not gonna let the Bills move on account of $70 million or whatever it was for renovations.

 

Did Russ do some good things for the team? Sure. But the bad far outway the good and you have no idea, just like the rest of us, if he is still involved in football decisions but he had a say in the Rex hiring, that's documented, so it would be a decent assumption that he has the ear of the owners. Hell he is the Vice President of their entire sports organization. We need a football guy/girl who has current NFL knowledge to come in here and build this team and organization for the 21st century, not hiring guys who's schemes last worked 15 years ago. Unless you like this crap year after year and never being a real player in the new NFL. But I want to win, I want a shot at the playoffs each year and I want a shot at a championship, not more of the same 17 years of futility. I can't imagine a fan of this team being happy with how things have been run, it boggles the mind.

Oh, but I do have an idea, not like the rest of you. I just don't conflate what he did on the marketing side of things in his first few years with what he did on the football side later on.

 

On the football side, he was out of his depth and he knew it, which is why he NEVER made a unilateral decision, which is not always conducive to good operations. He ceded way too much power to Levy and, by extension, Jauron for instance. There were times he wanted to intervene but he felt his lack of bona fides in that department disqualified him. After the Donahoe disaster and knowing Mr. Wilson's (over) reliance on loyalty, I wasn't surprised Brandon got the call to help right the ship, especially after his success in increasing unshared revenue in previous years.

 

And as for Toronto, yeah it sucked to cede a home game once a year, like it does for Jax nowadays. Would you be surprised to learn that wasn't Russ Brandon's brainchild? But he executed the plan accordingly. And it was a financial success, no matter how you slice it which, AGAIN, was his primary role with the organization.

 

So stop conflating things and boil it down to this:

 

Football stuff: dumb

Revenue stuff: brilliant

 

People who can't admit that his marketing and growth of the business during some very bad economic times in WNY and the positive impact that had, are just intractable in their views of Brandon. Saying "anybody could have done that" is naive bordering on willful ignorance.

[Fadingpain]

Seriously, more then any coach or player I feel he is responsible for the almost two decades of futility more then anyone else. We are not a team or organization that is only a player away and we are wasting our best players prime years. What's it gonna take to get him away from the football team and hire the "football czar" that we so desperately need. Coaches, players and schemes come and go and we still lose in the big spots, under the brightest lights and in the moments we need the most. The Pegulas are obviously smart people, if they really looked at our teams in the past decades they would see one constant... Russ. Why is he untouchable? Time to completely rebuild the organization from the ground up. Continuity for continuitys sake is not the answer. The time has come, we proved that today. We need a complete overhaul of the team, coaches and front office. Hell, were not making the playoffs anytime soon with what we have so why prolong the agony. The time is now - time to Make the Bills Great Again!

 

 

(Obviously this is a bit tounge in cheek but really we're just spinning our wheels and I think to make the long lasting, team/organizational defining changes we need, we need to get new blood in the organization at all levels. We just got new owners so what better time then now? We all deserve it as long time BILLS fans and more importantly to the Pegulas, paying customers.)

From the Gospel according to pepsicat17, Chapter 23:

 

Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pegula. 2 And they began to accuse him, saying, “We have found this man subverting our team. He engages in marketing hoaxes, errs in his football related decisions, and yet claims to only be involved in business operations.”

 

3 So Pegula asked Brandon, “Are you the king of the marketing wonks?”

“You have said so,” Brandon replied.

4 Then Pegula announced to the TBD moderators and the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”

5 But they insisted, “He stirs up the people all over Bills Nation by his lying. He started in Florida and has come all the way here.”

6 On hearing this, Pegula asked if the man was a Floridian. 7 When he learned that Brandon was from Syracuse, he sent him to She Who Must Be Obeyed--Kim Pegula--who was also in Orchard Park at that time, having left the family home in Boca.

8 When Kim saw Brandon, she was greatly pleased, because for a long time she had been wanting to see him. From what she had heard about him, she hoped to see him perform a marketing trick of some sort. 9 She plied him with many questions, but Brandon gave her no answer. 10 The forum moderators and many Bills fans were standing there, vehemently accusing him.11 Then Kim and her bodyguards ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in a New England Patriots warm up jacket, they sent him back to Pegula. 12 That day Kim and Terry Pegula became business cohorts—before this they had been husband and wife.

13 Pegula called together the forum moderators, the Front Office, and the fans, 14 and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the fans to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. 15 Neither has Kim, for she sent him back to me; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve dismissal.16 Therefore, I will suspend him.” [17] [a]

18 But the whole crowd shouted, “Away with this man! Re-sign Fred Jackson!”19 (Jackson had been cut from the team due to an insurrection.)

20 Wanting to release Brandon, Pegula appealed to them again. 21 But they kept shouting, “Fire him! Fire him!”

22 For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for immediate dismissal. Therefore I will have him punished and then return him to the Front Office.”

23 But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be fired, and their shouts prevailed. 24 So Pegula decided to grant their demand. 25 He re-signed Fred Jackson, the one they asked for, and surrendered Brandon to their will.

[K-9]

From the Gospel according to pepsicat17, Chapter 23:

 

Then the whole assembly rose and led him off to Pegula. 2 And they began to accuse him, saying, “We have found this man subverting our team. He engages in marketing hoaxes, errs in his football related decisions, and yet claims to only be involved in business operations.”

 

3 So Pegula asked Brandon, “Are you the king of the marketing wonks?”

“You have said so,” Brandon replied.

4 Then Pegula announced to the TBD moderators and the crowd, “I find no basis for a charge against this man.”

5 But they insisted, “He stirs up the people all over Bills Nation by his lying. He started in Florida and has come all the way here.”

6 On hearing this, Pegula asked if the man was a Floridian. 7 When he learned that Brandon was from Syracuse, he sent him to She Who Must Be Obeyed--Kim Pegula--who was also in Orchard Park at that time, having left the family home in Boca.

8 When Kim saw Brandon, she was greatly pleased, because for a long time she had been wanting to see him. From what she had heard about him, she hoped to see him perform a marketing trick of some sort. 9 She plied him with many questions, but Brandon gave her no answer. 10 The forum moderators and many Bills fans were standing there, vehemently accusing him.11 Then Kim and her bodyguards ridiculed and mocked him. Dressing him in a New England Patriots warm up jacket, they sent him back to Pegula. 12 That day Kim and Terry Pegula became business cohorts—before this they had been husband and wife.

13 Pegula called together the forum moderators, the Front Office, and the fans, 14 and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the fans to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. 15 Neither has Kim, for she sent him back to me; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve dismissal.16 Therefore, I will suspend him.” [17] [a]

18 But the whole crowd shouted, “Away with this man! Re-sign Fred Jackson!”19 (Jackson had been cut from the team due to an insurrection.)

20 Wanting to release Brandon, Pegula appealed to them again. 21 But they kept shouting, “Fire him! Fire him!”

22 For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for immediate dismissal. Therefore I will have him punished and then return him to the Front Office.”

23 But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be fired, and their shouts prevailed. 24 So Pegula decided to grant their demand. 25 He re-signed Fred Jackson, the one they asked for, and surrendered Brandon to their will.

Outstanding!

 

[pepsicat17]

Geez I thought this was the board for actual discussion but guess not. Great jokes though

[kota]

Pretty obvious that hte deciders were the Pegula's and they were enamored with Rex Speak. Rex talks a good game and never really backs it up.

[vorpma]

Seriously, more then any coach or player I feel he is responsible for the almost two decades of futility more then anyone else. We are not a team or organization that is only a player away and we are wasting our best players prime years. What's it gonna take to get him away from the football team and hire the "football czar" that we so desperately need. Coaches, players and schemes come and go and we still lose in the big spots, under the brightest lights and in the moments we need the most. The Pegulas are obviously smart people, if they really looked at our teams in the past decades they would see one constant... Russ. Why is he untouchable? Time to completely rebuild the organization from the ground up. Continuity for continuitys sake is not the answer. The time has come, we proved that today. We need a complete overhaul of the team, coaches and front office. Hell, were not making the playoffs anytime soon with what we have so why prolong the agony. The time is now - time to Make the Bills Great Again!

 

 

(Obviously this is a bit tounge in cheek but really we're just spinning our wheels and I think to make the long lasting, team/organizational defining changes we need, we need to get new blood in the organization at all levels. We just got new owners so what better time then now? We all deserve it as long time BILLS fans and more importantly to the Pegulas, paying customers.)

This is a failed organization that has a "losing culture!" Horrible coaching, horrible drafting, horrible scouting, poor FO and FA acquisitions over a 17 year period. Everyone goes! Find the right guy - GM or football czar - and start over.

[26CornerBlitz]

This is a failed organization that has a "losing culture!" Horrible coaching, horrible drafting, horrible scouting, poor FO and FA acquisitions over a 17 year period. Everyone goes! Find the right guy - GM or football czar - and start over.

 

If they are so horrible, please explain why they aren't at the bottom of the league.

[vorpma]

Oh, but I do have an idea, not like the rest of you. I just don't conflate what he did on the marketing side of things in his first few years with what he did on the football side later on.

 

On the football side, he was out of his depth and he knew it, which is why he NEVER made a unilateral decision, which is not always conducive to good operations. He ceded way too much power to Levy and, by extension, Jauron for instance. There were times he wanted to intervene but he felt his lack of bona fides in that department disqualified him. After the Donahoe disaster and knowing Mr. Wilson's (over) reliance on loyalty, I wasn't surprised Brandon got the call to help right the ship, especially after his success in increasing unshared revenue in previous years.

 

And as for Toronto, yeah it sucked to cede a home game once a year, like it does for Jax nowadays. Would you be surprised to learn that wasn't Russ Brandon's brainchild? But he executed the plan accordingly. And it was a financial success, no matter how you slice it which, AGAIN, was his primary role with the organization.

 

So stop conflating things and boil it down to this:

 

Football stuff: dumb

Revenue stuff: brilliant

 

People who can't admit that his marketing and growth of the business during some very bad economic times in WNY and the positive impact that had, are just intractable in their views of Brandon. Saying "anybody could have done that" is naive bordering on willful ignorant

Totally disagree; the best marketing in the NFL is winning; winning as a dynasty is the ultimate as everyone wants to touch a winner. Just win baby! The rest will fall into place!

If they are so horrible, please explain why they aren't at the bottom of the league.

They are at best a .500 club - for 17 years! I guess I have higher standards and expectations!

[26CornerBlitz]

They are at best a .500 club - for 17 years! I guess I have higher standards and expectations!

We all want and deserve better. Irrespective of that ,you overstate the case for how bad things are.

Edited December 6, 2016 by 26CornerBlitz

[vorpma]

How can any NFL head coach get hired by new owners of a team that just finished 9 - 7 with high expectations for the next year, inherit the 4th best defense in the league, let the DC walk and restructure the defense! Insanity, total insanity! A failed organization; want more proof, review our first round picks over the last 17 years!

[vorpma]

We all want and deserve better. Irrespective of that ,you overstate the case for how bad things are.

No I don't, sorry my friend, I was sitting in the rockpile in 1966, starting following in 1964, I have lots of history to compare!

[26CornerBlitz]

No I don't, sorry my friend, I was sitting in the rockpile in 1966, starting following in 1964, I have lots of history to compare!

What does ancient history have to do with 2016? I go back to the rockpile days as well.

[vorpma]

"In the end Whaley, Brandon, and the Pegulas decided Ryan was the right man for the job."

 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000744128/article/the-queen-of-buffalo-a-look-at-kim-pegulas-surreal-journey%3FnetworkId%3D4595%26site%3D.news%26zone%3Dstory%26zoneUrl%3Durl%3Dstory%26zoneKeys%3Ds1%3Dstory%26env%3D%26pageKeyValues%3Dprtnr%3Dbuf%3Bteam%3Dbuf%3Bconf%3Dafc%3Bdvsn%3Dace%3Bplyr%3Dmarcell_dareus%3Bplyr%3Drayne_prescott%26sr%3Damp?client=safari

You can't fire the owners!

What does ancient history have to do with 2016? I go back to the rockpile days as well.

Look, I just stated the case, in addition we have no QB, lousy wide receivers, poor Defensive backfield ..... You keep shaking the poms poms. Me I'm staying in realityland. Look for the same in 2017!

[26CornerBlitz]

You can't fire the owners!

Look, I just stated the case, in addition we have no QB, lousy wide receivers, poor Defensive backfield ..... You keep shaking the poms poms. Me I'm staying in realityland. Look for the same in 2017!

 

Disagreement with your overstated case is shaking pom poms? Okay. Lol

[K-9]

They are at best a .500 club - for 17 years! I guess I have higher standards and expectations!

We all have higher expectations for the on field product. It's ridiculous to assume otherwise.

 

He EXCEEDED expectations for the job he was hired to do in 1997.

 

Again, the conflation is absurd.