BreezeMafia Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/patriots/2017/01/07/the-pegulas-should-take-step-back-with-bills-and-sabres/80Y0oMLRl87FdQKzjCPl0I/story.html Whether we want to or not, just can't argue with the context of the article. I suspect that the sentiment shared will not stop in Boston. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fadingpain Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 When the owner fires the coach, then turns his GM into a dithering fool, repeatedly saying he’s “not privy’’ to the biggest decision on the team, that should be enough for Terry Pegula to realize he is in way over his head. Time to step back, hand both operations to true professionals, and eventually reap the rewards. Until then, the Pegulas are only in for more craziness and more hurt, both of which have flowed deep through Buffalo for far too long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fixxxer Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 They will probably step back a bit, but not until they finish playing with their new "toys". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BreezeMafia Posted January 8, 2017 Author Share Posted January 8, 2017 They will probably step back a bit, but not until they finish playing with their new "toys". The "Shine" of the new toys is starting to dull for sure. Also, take a step back from commercials, national interviews, what have you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmur66 Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 Or maybe TP was correcting his mistake of going around his GM and hiring Rex Ryan. Maybe TP gets it. You have to consider this is a possibility. Or maybe not. Time will tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taterthegator Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 4 Weeks ago, these boards wanted Whaley's head on a platter. Now it sounds like folks feel badly for him. I was on the fence with Whaley but now I think he's an absolute liar and tries to clear himself from blame. With that being said, I am not sure why the Pegula's retained him, It doesn't make a lot of sense to keep him around. I agree with the article to a point, Pegula needs to get better people in the front office and then step away. This HC selection and now subsequent QB situation must be done perfectly. I'm not sure with Doug E. Fresh that can be accomplished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2003Contenders Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 Remember also that the Pegulas essentially inherited the existing paradigm that was more or less put in place by Russ of having the GM and HC serve as peers -- each reporting directly to the owner. In Ralph's final year-plus as owner, Russ served as the de facto owner -- a role he continued with during the transition when the Pegulas to over. From a distance none of this looks good -- and perception is reality when it comes to sports and entertainment. We have to hope that the Pegulas and others at OBD have learned a very valuable lesson. The good news is that it appears that Russ has been stripped of football-making decisions and that DW has been granted the task of identifying the next coach. DW knows that he HAS to get this right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baskingridgebillsfan Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 The line saying they don't speak to the media for some reseason . This is Untrue . They speak to the media they don't speak to the Buffalo news . If any of us were given the extremely bias coverage of the News we would speak to them either. Now the for the Sabers . Their first plan failed , tfhey adjusted and now are in the middle of a rebuild from the bottom up . I listen now to those would have the Bills do the same , follow the Cleveland plan . Which amazes we when we are witnessing how long it takes to rebuild a team from the ashes . Back to the Bills. Ryan didn't work. Plan and simple. The owner pulled the plug . Can everyone take a breathe and let plan b play out . Remember Steinbrenner did make the playoffs to year 5 . Kraft ran Parcells out of town because his wife was complaining about how Bill was speaking with players . The point is there are tons of examples of owners having a learning curve. The Peluga's are far from a clown show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hapless Bills Fan Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 https://www.bostonglobe.com/sports/patriots/2017/01/07/the-pegulas-should-take-step-back-with-bills-and-sabres/80Y0oMLRl87FdQKzjCPl0I/story.html Whether we want to or not, just can't argue with the context of the article. I suspect that the sentiment shared will not stop in Boston. Good article. There seems to be a bit of an assumption about what an NFL org structure ought to look like, based upon what Belichick has. Love this line: "kudos to the Pegulas for finally figuring out the error of their ways in hiring the ex-Jets pigskin con man. They finally got it right, although they’re still on the hook for the remainder of Rex The Wreck’s $27.5 million-plus heist". Could live without the Sullivan quote: “Quite possibly,’’ wrote Buffalo News columnist Jerry Sullivan, “the worst moment in the history of the franchise.” but they deservedly mock it with the next line "And a good wide-right mornin’ to you, Scott Norwood." (in other words, As If.) Whaley is not the only GM in the league who could get a phone call from the owner or the team president/CEO saying "I just fired the coach". One of the missing pieces I would like to see in the Buffalo press is an article delving into this question, and whether one or another structure seems to lend itself more to team success (there's going to be a bit of correlation there, because coaches on long-term successful teams tend to be given more power). One has to remember that Whaley comes from Pittsburgh, so that is a power structure that seems comfortable to him: "The Rooney family has the power in Pittsburgh, but the stability within the front office and coaching staff is what defines the Steelers. GM Kevin Colbert, Head Coach Mike Tomlin, and Director of Football and Business Administration Omar Kahn answer to team President Art Rooney II" - in other words, the Steelers structure is very similar to what the Bills had with Rex. But I can't argue with the overall sentiment. The Pegulas need to find people they can trust to run the show(s) , and step back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Gianelli Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 With Boston's 35 major league sports championships to Buffalo's 0 (much as I love the AFL, I'm not counting the Bills' '64 and '65 titles), nine in this millennium alone, I am grateful that the writer did not take cheap shots at us. I got the sense that he was saying, enough is enough. Competitive franchises in Buffalo are good for sports. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dave mcbride Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 With Boston's 35 major league sports championships to Buffalo's 0 (much as I love the AFL, I'm not counting the Bills' '64 and '65 titles), nine in this millennium alone, I am grateful that the writer did not take cheap shots at us. I got the sense that he was saying, enough is enough. Competitive franchises in Buffalo are good for sports. Good post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris heff Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 With Boston's 35 major league sports championships to Buffalo's 0 (much as I love the AFL, I'm not counting the Bills' '64 and '65 titles), nine in this millennium alone, I am grateful that the writer did not take cheap shots at us. I got the sense that he was saying, enough is enough. Competitive franchises in Buffalo are good for sports. Why would you not count the two AFL championships? Until Belichick and Brady arrived the Patriots never won anything. The Red Sox went 86 years without a championship. Almost half of those 35 championships were the Celtics, a dynasty that hasn't existed for years. Boston has four major sports franchises, Buffalo has two. Red Sox founded 1903, Bruins in the 1924, Celtics 1946. Not a very good comparison. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Haslett_Stomp Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 Dupont's wife is from Buffalo so he knows more about the Bills and Sabres than your typical out of town writer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CardinalScotts Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 ALL coaches that are fired come from the owner, some handle their own business some pass on the hit but the owner is making the call not the GM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyst Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 Why are they worshipping krafts saggy nuts? This was a guy on the verge of firing belichick. A coach that lost everywhere! A coach that Was terrible, giving the farm away to Bledsoe who was already done. If not for More lewis we would not know Tom Brady. If not for mo lewis the patriots would very likely be sjmilar to the Jets. Its very easy to see Bledsoe being the highest paid player in the league never getting hurt and playing 3 more yearswwith Brady moving on to another team and possibly excelling. At the time the Chiefs needed a QB, among othes, with Romeo Crennel going there to HC. Imagine with me Tom Brady QB for the chiefs, Garrapolo or other middling average QB in NE* and an average coach. The narrative in Boston would be they should have kept Brady and should have trusted Pete Carroll more enough to give him a chance when they had him. Now on to the Celtics. A historically rich franchise that's done very little the last 20 years. The red Sox? Finally won after 1,783,893 years. The B's? They're nothing special. Population wise Boston beats Buffalo and they have 4 major sports leagues. We have 2. We have a brand new owner for both. They weren't much better when Kraft was starting. In over his head and still a regular non creep. Now he is captain McCreepface and a jackass Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gobillsinytown Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 I think this is a very good article and paints a more accurate picture of the Pegulas. They seem to be genuinely interested in Western New York, and committed to its future. That's the good part. The hard part for them is learning to be patient with the two teams, and in hiring people that you honestly believe in and letting them do the work for you. Of course the Globe is going to use the Patriots as the model example, but they should. We can hate them all we want, but Kraft has made the right decisions and it's paid off. I also agree with the article's take that the Pegulas have taken some risks financially in owning these teams. I don't think they're toys at all. I think that they're seriously invested in both of them and so it's natural that they want to be involved. Let's hope that they're realizing that just because they've been successful in business doesn't automatically make them good at running sports businesses. Look at how long it took Jerry Jones to finally let go (at least a little), and let the football people run the team. I'm hoping that the Pegulas can learn from their mistakes, especially in the area of media relations. I'm sure it's a thorn in their side, but I think they would benefit from getting some consultant help in this area. Jim Kelly learned this the hard way when he was playing, until he realized that he had to "play the game" and stay with the script. Once the media realizes that they're not going to get anything but scripted responses, they move on to something else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 (edited) People are again surprised about things that they should not be surprised about: People pay $1.4 B and are involved . . . not surprising to me. As for picking the HC, our neophyte owners picked someone who ended up being the most successful Bills HC in the past 17 years (even with all of the injuries, suspensions, QB play, devastating leaks). (Some want us to believe that this was done against Whaley's wishes. Whatever.) Not too bad a decision and nothing about which to be embarrassed. Whaley made Whaley look bad all by himself - not the Pegulas. As an aside, the article looks like either the writer borrowed Sully's notes or Sully was the ghost writer. Just my two cents. Edited January 8, 2017 by Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rico Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 When the owner fires the coach, then turns his GM into a dithering fool, repeatedly saying he’s “not privy’’ to the biggest decision on the team, that should be enough for Terry Pegula to realize he is in way over his head. Time to step back, hand both operations to true professionals, and eventually reap the rewards. Until then, the Pegulas are only in for more craziness and more hurt, both of which have flowed deep through Buffalo for far too long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PromoTheRobot Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 Dupont's wife is from Buffalo so he knows more about the Bills and Sabres than your typical out of town writer. Still, seeing the Jerry Sullivan quote makes me wonder how much of the story KPD wrote and how much is Sully's take? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Posted January 8, 2017 Share Posted January 8, 2017 Still, seeing the Jerry Sullivan quote makes me wonder how much of the story KPD wrote and how much is Sully's take? I agree. As I mentioned above, it seems like either the writer borrowed Sully's notes or Sully was the ghost writer. It is a very Sully article. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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