Peter Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 since my name happens to be on this one, i'll chime in. i did ask the first question to Whaley in regards to the team seeming to be in a state of dysfunction. it's clear Whaley either wasn't prepared to provide answers or was busy sticking to a script or was merely not interested in providing anything of merit to the discussion that he helped prompt with his lengthy silence. it wasn't a good look.and it didn't sound any better. i'm well aware some Bills executives were not happy with how that went down with Whaley saying he's speaking for ownership and then making everyone in the operation look bad. that it took the Bills to resort to getting Terry and Kim to explain a thing or five does not reflect well on Whaley. he was supposed to help by start putting out the fire, not add more kindling to it. it became imperative for the owners to speak. and i know a lot of people are glad they finally did. whether i was "used" or not, i can't judge that. all i know is that i sent a text to both Terry and Kim and Terry responded within 15 minutes. the fact is, some clarity was required, and finally provided. jw Thanks John. It is not surprising that ownership responded to you given that you are fair. I suspected that ownership was not happy with Whaley embarrassing them and the franchise both in Buffalo and nationally. What role do you think Whaley played in getting Rex fired? Do you think that he worked behind the scenes to make Rex look bad to ownership? Do you think that Whaley was responsible for the devastating leaks to LaCanfora and others to undermine Rex? Do you have the sense that ownership is having buyer's remorse with Whaley? My view is that the answers to the above questions are yes and it looks like he outsmarted himself. I also think that it telling that a franchise icon (Polian) who also is close to the Pegulas would so readily and publicly call Whaley out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delete This Account Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 (edited) Thanks John. It is not surprising that ownership responded to you given that you are fair. I suspected that ownership was not happy with Whaley embarrassing them and the franchise both in Buffalo and nationally. What role do you think Whaley played in getting Rex fired? Do you think that he worked behind the scenes to make Rex look bad to ownership? Do you think that Whaley was responsible for the devastating leaks to LaCanfora and others to undermine Rex? Do you have the sense that ownership is having buyer's remorse with Whaley? My view is that the answers to the above questions are yes and it looks like he outsmarted himself. I also think that it telling that a franchise icon (Polian) who also is close to the Pegulas would so readily and publicly call Whaley out. these are all fair observations. my fear is we'll be experiencing angst in 12 months once again. jw ALSO NOTE: not that anyone's done this, but don't PM because I think that things nearly full. Edited January 4, 2017 by john wawrow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 these are all fair observations. my fear is we'll be experiencing angst in 12 months once again. jw ALSO NOTE: no that anyone's done this, but don't PM because I think that things nearly full. Thanks John. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rico Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 As Paul Harvey once said, now you know the rest of the story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed83HOF Posted January 4, 2017 Author Share Posted January 4, 2017 As Paul Harvey once said, now you know the rest of the story. I know you are shocked at the revelations.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delete This Account Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 good night all. jw wish i could have time to do this more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rico Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 I know you are shocked at the revelations....Stunned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reed83HOF Posted January 4, 2017 Author Share Posted January 4, 2017 John Wawrow @john_wawrow 6m6 minutes ago Plan? What plan? John Wawrow @john_wawrow 5m5 minutes ago Well, there's always next year. #toosoon? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 John Wawrow @john_wawrow 6m6 minutes ago Plan? What plan? John Wawrow @john_wawrow 5m5 minutes ago Well, there's always next year. #toosoon? More cryptic tweets from JW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wayne Arnold Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 since my name happens to be on this one, i'll chime in. i did ask the first question to Whaley in regards to the team seeming to be in a state of dysfunction. it's clear Whaley either wasn't prepared to provide answers or was busy sticking to a script or was merely not interested in providing anything of merit to the discussion that he helped prompt with his lengthy silence. it wasn't a good look.and it didn't sound any better. i'm well aware some Bills executives were not happy with how that went down with Whaley saying he's speaking for ownership and then making everyone in the operation look bad. that it took the Bills to resort to getting Terry and Kim to explain a thing or five does not reflect well on Whaley. he was supposed to help by start putting out the fire, not add more kindling to it. it became imperative for the owners to speak. and i know a lot of people are glad they finally did. whether i was "used" or not, i can't judge that. all i know is that i sent a text to both Terry and Kim and Terry responded within 15 minutes. the fact is, some clarity was required, and finally provided. jw Thanks for all you do, John. Keep up the great work. BTW - do you agree with the local (and in turn national) media narrative that the Bills are an embarrassment and dumpster fire? Or do you just think Whaley is a poor public speaker and the PR department needs improvement? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolishDave Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 How in the world did this thread ever get bastardized into what it became? That was outstanding reporting by John Wawrow. It painted a very clear picture (in my opinion) of exactly how the Rex firing went down. And if you stop and think about it and you try to imagine yourself in Terry Pegula's shoes as that went down, the entire thing makes perfect sense. It looks like it was handled perfectly fine as respectable, professional and classy business people would handle it. It was a respectful dismissal of a high ranking executive (Rex) due to a job performance issue. And the timing of it was due to circumstances. Makes complete sense. I don't understand all the hubbub at all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hondo in seattle Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 (edited) I don't think coaching candidates pay too close attention to the BN whining. They know not to trust the accuracy of the sports media (no offense, JW). But Whaley's statements were odd and open to interpretation. He just should have refused to answer any questions about the past and focused entirely on a better future. And Polian's comments didn't help either. He's a respected football man. I think some coaches may listen attentively to his opinion. Right now, we're losing the PR war. While I think the "dumpster fire" and "dysfunction" remarks are way overstated, our bad PR lately could hurt our ability to lure the right HC to Buffalo. Edited January 4, 2017 by hondo in seattle Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
May Day 10 Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 and for those wondering, i was on board with two options: keeping Rex, Doug and Tyrod not keeping Rex, Doug and Tyrod. jw This is/was my feeling 100%. Half measures/changes are the worst case scenario IMO for a lot of reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Big Cat Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 How in the world did this thread ever get bastardized into what it became? That was outstanding reporting by John Wawrow. It painted a very clear picture (in my opinion) of exactly how the Rex firing went down. And if you stop and think about it and you try to imagine yourself in Terry Pegula's shoes as that went down, the entire thing makes perfect sense. It looks like it was handled perfectly fine as respectable, professional and classy business people would handle it. It was a respectful dismissal of a high ranking executive (Rex) due to a job performance issue. And the timing of it was due to circumstances. Makes complete sense. I don't understand all the hubbub at all? Whaley's inability to communicate, in a linear way, the same crystal clear process which is/was apparent to everyone and alluded to in your post gave the media an opportunity to pounce at his vaugueries to make it seem like more was going on. Had Whaley directly and honestly communicated everything rather than try and get into verbal gymnastics with reporters (something he's proven to be very poor at) there would continue to be NOTHING to see. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ndirish1978 Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 since my name happens to be on this one, i'll chime in. i did ask the first question to Whaley in regards to the team seeming to be in a state of dysfunction. it's clear Whaley either wasn't prepared to provide answers or was busy sticking to a script or was merely not interested in providing anything of merit to the discussion that he helped prompt with his lengthy silence. it wasn't a good look.and it didn't sound any better. i'm well aware some Bills executives were not happy with how that went down with Whaley saying he's speaking for ownership and then making everyone in the operation look bad. that it took the Bills to resort to getting Terry and Kim to explain a thing or five does not reflect well on Whaley. he was supposed to help by start putting out the fire, not add more kindling to it. it became imperative for the owners to speak. and i know a lot of people are glad they finally did. whether i was "used" or not, i can't judge that. all i know is that i sent a text to both Terry and Kim and Terry responded within 15 minutes. the fact is, some clarity was required, and finally provided. jw Your article and Jenny Vrentas piece are really the only two pieces of real reporting we got out of the whole thing, so thank you for that. i raised the question of continuity on several occasions before Whaley's news conference, including once or twice in a few stories i wrote. so, when the chance presented itself, i was the one who raised the issue over continuity with Whaley. and yes, i did so with a straight face. sorry for spoiling your narrative. you seemed to be on a good roll there. jw ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ FTR I think continuity questions are fair, but I feel like the hierarchy of the team questions had been answered by Rex months ago, he told us that he reported to the Pegulas directly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolishDave Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 Whaley's inability to communicate, in a linear way, the same crystal clear process which is/was apparent to everyone and alluded to in your post gave the media an opportunity to pounce at his vaugueries to make it seem like more was going on. Had Whaley directly and honestly communicated everything rather than try and get into verbal gymnastics with reporters (something he's proven to be very poor at) there would continue to be NOTHING to see. I went back and watched the press conference again. I thought Whaley was crystal clear - perfectly clear. And after watching that press conference again, I have more faith in Whaley than I previously did. The guy seems 100% focused on doing what is in the team's best interest. If I was trying to build a football organization, that guy would be very high on my list of people I would love to have help advise me and help build it. I can see why the Pegulas appear to place so much trust in the guy. I can't believe a higher percentage of Bills fans also don't see what I see or maybe they do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IDBillzFan Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 http://pro32.ap.org/article/apnewsbreak-bills-owner-outlines-reasons-he-fired-rex-ryan John Wawrow @john_wawrow 1m1 minute ago Far more to come. Dear Buffalo sports writers, THIS is what excellent sports journalism looks like. Please take note. Thank you, Sincerely, Everyone who refuses to fall for your self-centered click-baiting idiocy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoloinOhio Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 I don't think coaching candidates pay too close attention to the BN whining. They know not to trust the accuracy of the sports media (no offense, JW). But Whaley's statements were odd and open to interpretation. He just should have refused to answer any questions about the past and focused entirely on a better future. And Polian's comments didn't help either. He's a respected football man. I think some coaches may listen attentively to his opinion. Right now, we're losing the PR war. While I think the "dumpster fire" and "dysfunction" remarks are way overstated, our bad PR lately could hurt our ability to lure the right HC to Buffalo. I live in a market where the NFL team relies on a lawyer and a baseball GM to run the organization. My perspective on disorganization and dumpster fire isn't that the coach reported up to the owner and the GM isn't a great public speaker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punching Bag Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 I went back and watched the press conference again. I thought Whaley was crystal clear - perfectly clear. And after watching that press conference again, I have more faith in Whaley than I previously did. The guy seems 100% focused on doing what is in the team's best interest. If I was trying to build a football organization, that guy would be very high on my list of people I would love to have help advise me and help build it. I can see why the Pegulas appear to place so much trust in the guy. I can't believe a higher percentage of Bills fans also don't see what I see or maybe they do? Some appear to have more fun when Bills are losing rather when they are winning (those who almost silent after a good game) so it is not surprising some do not like Whaley. I think Whaley is terrible at press conferences and should bring in some consultant to do weekly work with him; in the meantime let an assistant do the press conferences but be there in them and be there for statements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Big Cat Posted January 4, 2017 Share Posted January 4, 2017 (edited) I went back and watched the press conference again. I thought Whaley was crystal clear - perfectly clear. And after watching that press conference again, I have more faith in Whaley than I previously did. The guy seems 100% focused on doing what is in the team's best interest. If I was trying to build a football organization, that guy would be very high on my list of people I would love to have help advise me and help build it. I can see why the Pegulas appear to place so much trust in the guy. I can't believe a higher percentage of Bills fans also don't see what I see or maybe they do? He did his best. And he did better than most here could do. And he did better than he normally does. But he got twisted around trying to be vague about the conversation(s) he had with ownership re: Rex. He really did. For him to say that he never thought about it/talked about it before and he hasn't thought about it/talked about it since is either: A lie Completely preposterous Either way, it's negative. Edited January 4, 2017 by The Big Cat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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