Leo Roth needs to find a new team to trash

[TC in St. Louis]

I'm not mad at him for being tired of the Buffalo Bills. He's been covering them for a long time, and for the last few years it's been an eddy of despair. However, as a journalist, he has become jaded and way too negative to continue covering the Bills. He and that Sal guy did a half an hour video blog Thursday that would have turned the happiest, most delusional Bills fan into a two week funk. He painted a picture of this team as one with no hope whatsoever.

 

The Pegs are probably done with their baptism into the NFL. TP even mentioned that they shouldn't be held accountable for the years before they bought the team. Hell, we're lucky they bought the team. Who else would buy this spent piece of used jet trash? TP and his wife put up, what, 1.4 billion to get this team, and we're riding them?

 

They got all jacked up and hired Rex because it seemed like the right thing to do. They realized their mistake and got rid of him.

 

Leo seems to think there is more of the same. If anything, it's refreshing to see owners who made the move to get rid of Rex, throwing away 17 million more dollars.

 

Leo, you should go cover the Globetrotters. They win nearly all the time. They even make the children laugh.

Edited January 14, 2017 by TC in St. Louis

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

Rex got fired for being a hot mess more than for wins and losses. He could have gone 11-5 next season, but same dumb things would have still been happening. That's why he's gone. So agree good that TP figured that out and made the move now.

[Solomon Grundy]

Leo Roth=Jerry Sullivan

[Pbomb]

McDermott has A LOT to prove to the fan base and media.

 

The OC and QB decision will tell it all.

 

They !@#$ that up and it will get even uglier from the media and then the fans.

i think their record will tell all, not gonna make judgements or jump to conclusions til i see the on field product

[White Linen]

He should look at what happened to Hyman Roth.

[Boatdrinks]

McDermott has A LOT to prove to the fan base and media.

The OC and QB decision will tell it all.

They !@#$ that up and it will get even uglier from the media and then the fans.

He has a lot to prove as any new HC would, but he certainly doesn't have all that much to live up to in recent franchise history. The OC and QB decision will tell us what they are thinking , but will it " tell it all" ? Whatever it is, they need to get it right. That means get a QB that can win enough to get to the playoffs and is capable of winning a championship. It may not be the decision you agree with.

[BADOLBILZ]

I'm not mad at him for being tired of the Buffalo Bills. He's been covering them for a long time, and for the last few years it's been an eddy of despair. However, as a journalist, he has become jaded and way too negative to continue covering the Bills. He and that Sal guy did a half an hour video blog Thursday that would have turned the happiest, most delusional Bills fan into a two week funk. He painted a picture of this team as one with no hope whatsoever.

 

The Pegs are probably done with their baptism into the NFL. TP even mentioned that they shouldn't be held accountable for the years before they bought the team. Hell, we're lucky they bought the team. Who else would buy this spent piece of used jet trash? TP and his wife put up, what, 1.4 billion to get this team, and we're riding them?

 

They got all jacked up and hired Rex because it seemed like the right thing to do. They realized their mistake and got rid of him.

 

Leo seems to think there is more of the same. If anything, it's refreshing to see owners who made the move to get rid of Rex, throwing away 17 million more dollars.

 

Leo, you should go cover the Globetrotters. They win nearly all the time. They even make the children laugh.

 

 

Losers will be scorned.

 

Nothing you can do about it.

 

Nobody doubts the Pegula's desire to win but they have two pro franchises in town, and both INCESSANTLY lose...........so complaints from the fans and media are just the byproduct of a resounding absence of success.

 

Until the object of the professional game becomes something other than winning.........that's life.

 

Grow up and deal with it.

 

One other thing........do not attack fans/media for wanting to win by saying they should just be glad the team is in Buffalo.......you have no right to tell people in WNY what they should be thankful for.

[sodbuster]

Sal Maiorana is pretty negative too, but for some reason it works for him. When he does it, it's kinda funny. It comes across as a frustrated fan, not as a snarky know it all. Leo just seems so bitter.

[Kelly the Dog]

Sal Maiorana is pretty negative too, but for some reason it works for him. When he does it, it's kinda funny. It comes across as a frustrated fan, not as a snarky know it all. Leo just seems so bitter.

That's something not really discussed a lot here. It's a lot easier to tolerate perpetual criticism if you're entertaining and clever and sometimes funny about it. If you're a miserable bitchy blanket wetter, it's intolerable.

[The Big Cat]

Leo is entirely out to lunch and Sal *admits* to being the laziest journalist on the planet and doesn't even realize it. Clowns like these wouldn't last a second if they were trying to get work nowadays. They've been granted in. They're a dying breed. No shock whatsoever that guys like Dunne, Fairburn, Cover 1 Eric, ****, even Galliford do laps around these dinosaurs. Young journos today can't afford to be as apathetic as the old farts tying up the newsroom payroll. And we get better work because of it.

 

It'll be good riddance when the old guard gets the !@#$ out of the way.

[Boatdrinks]

Sal Maiorana is pretty negative too, but for some reason it works for him. When he does it, it's kinda funny. It comes across as a frustrated fan, not as a snarky know it all. Leo just seems so bitter.

Agree 100% Sal understands nuance and shows a sense of humor through the disgust. I often get a chuckle from his columns, unlike Leo and Sully.

[yungmack]

I'm not mad at him for being tired of the Buffalo Bills. He's been covering them for a long time, and for the last few years it's been an eddy of despair. However, as a journalist, he has become jaded and way too negative to continue covering the Bills. He and that Sal guy did a half an hour video blog Thursday that would have turned the happiest, most delusional Bills fan into a two week funk. He painted a picture of this team as one with no hope whatsoever.

 

The Pegs are probably done with their baptism into the NFL. TP even mentioned that they shouldn't be held accountable for the years before they bought the team. Hell, we're lucky they bought the team. Who else would buy this spent piece of used jet trash? TP and his wife put up, what, 1.4 billion to get this team, and we're riding them?

 

They got all jacked up and hired Rex because it seemed like the right thing to do. They realized their mistake and got rid of him.

 

Leo seems to think there is more of the same. If anything, it's refreshing to see owners who made the move to get rid of Rex, throwing away 17 million more dollars.

 

Leo, you should go cover the Globetrotters. They win nearly all the time. They even make the children laugh.

I've been thinking the same thing and looking for the word to describe him. "Jaded" is a good one. So is "cynical." Both come from too long on the same beat, watching the endless "Groundhog Day" situation with the Bills. It might be a good idea for all the papers in WNY to get rid of the old, "jaded" reporters and columnists on the Bills beat and replace them with fresh ones, ones that would be far less cynical, more upbeat. Ya know, people that aren't in "Same Old Same Old" default mode.

[BADOLBILZ]

I've been thinking the same thing and looking for the word to describe him. "Jaded" is a good one. So is "cynical." Both come from too long on the same beat, watching the endless "Groundhog Day" situation with the Bills. It might be a good idea for all the papers in WNY to get rid of the old, "jaded" reporters and columnists on the Bills beat and replace them with fresh ones, ones that would be far less cynical, more upbeat. Ya know, people that aren't in "Same Old Same Old" default mode.

 

FWIW changing out the media isn't going to help the team on the field.

 

Just isn't.

 

If this struggling organization had to deal with NYC media some of your heads would explode.

[Boatdrinks]

Losers will be scorned.

 

Nothing you can do about it.

 

Nobody doubts the Pegula's desire to win but they have two pro franchises in town, and both INCESSANTLY lose...........so complaints from the fans and media are just the byproduct of a resounding absence of success.

 

Until the object of the professional game becomes something other than winning.........that's life.

 

Grow up and deal with it.

 

 

 

One other thing........do not attack fans/media for wanting to win by saying they should just be glad the team is in Buffalo.......you have no right to tell people in WNY what they should be thankful for.

Incessantly? Bills record since Pegulas :9-7 , 8-8, 7-9. Seems to be right around .500 . Not exactly incessant losing. Did the OP tell anyone what they should be thankful for .?He just pointed out that he feels we are lucky someone else didn't buy the team and move them. He's probably right. Hardly an attack. Has nothing to do with the W-L record, separate issue entirely. He's got every right to his opinion, just as everyone else has a right to disagree with it. Including you.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Sal Maiorana is pretty negative too, but for some reason it works for him. When he does it, it's kinda funny. It comes across as a frustrated fan, not as a snarky know it all. Leo just seems so bitter.

 

Isn't he the one that asked McDermott the idiotically long winded question that turned out to amount to "if you want Taylor, are you confident you can get him?"

[BADOLBILZ]

Incessantly? Bills record since Pegulas :9-7 , 8-8, 7-9. Seems to be right around .500 . Not exactly incessant losing. Did the OP tell anyone what they should be thankful for .?He just pointed out that he feels we are lucky someone else didn't buy the team and move them. He's probably right. Hardly an attack. Has nothing to do with the W-L record, separate issue entirely. He's got every right to his opinion, just as everyone else has a right to disagree with it. Including you.

 

The MINIMUM measurement of a successful season for a professional team is qualifying for the postseason.

 

If you aren't making the playoffs......you are losing.

 

Again.....another reality of professional sport.

[jumbalaya]

All those that are jumping on the Sean McDermott bandwagon are the same ones that jumped on the Ryan bandwagon, the Gailey bandwagon, and Jaurons, and Marone's and coaches I can't even remember their names anymore like the schmuck in Tennessee.

 

Please just stop it. It doesn't matter who is the coach, this is a 7-9 team and will be a 6-10, 7-9, or 8-8 team for the next three years if they keep Tyrod. If not, they are a 3, 4 or 5 win team and that's our ceiling. We will make some strides in some areas, but we will lose quality starters (Gilmore, Hughes, Z or P Brown, Woods, Goodwin, etc) that will go on to glory for other teams. We are a just farm team that feeds the bigger fish.

[Boatdrinks]

All those that are jumping on the Sean McDermott bandwagon are the same ones that jumped on the Ryan bandwagon, the Gailey bandwagon, and Jaurons, and Marone's and coaches I can't even remember their names anymore like the schmuck in Tennessee.

 

Please just stop it. It doesn't matter who is the coach, this is a 7-9 team and will be a 6-10, 7-9, or 8-8 team for the next three years if they keep Tyrod. If not, they are a 3, 4 or 5 win team and that's our ceiling. We will make some strides in some areas, but we will lose quality starters (Gilmore, Hughes, Z or P Brown, Woods, Goodwin, etc) that will go on to glory for other teams. We are a just farm team that feeds the bigger fish.

Ahh yes , that long and ever growing list of ex Bills that went on to glory for other teams. So many pro-bowlers and Super Bowl champs. Most teams are chomping at the bit to get their hands on that all-star Goodwin. He should be a catch in free agency. Newsflash: every NFL team loses players, some of them are even quality starters. There is a salary cap and this isn't baseball, the Bills are no more a farm team than anyone else.

[Hapless Bills Fan]

Incessantly? Bills record since Pegulas :9-7 , 8-8, 7-9. Seems to be right around .500 . Not exactly incessant losing. Did the OP tell anyone what they should be thankful for .?He just pointed out that he feels we are lucky someone else didn't buy the team and move them. He's probably right. Hardly an attack. Has nothing to do with the W-L record, separate issue entirely. He's got every right to his opinion, just as everyone else has a right to disagree with it. Including you.

 

Boatdrinks, IMO that record is a big part of what has the Buffalo fans so depressed and upset right now. We've been within 1 game of 8-8 for 9 of the last 17 years.

[Boatdrinks]

The MINIMUM measurement of a successful season for a professional team is qualifying for the postseason.

 

If you aren't making the playoffs......you are losing.

 

Again.....another reality of professional sport.

Oh , thank you for clarifying your expanded definition of " incessant losing" . Because the actual winning percentage is closer to .500.

[8-8 Forever?]

Complete restart. I am with Leo, my old high school football team mate. Just tired of this crap. rebuilding time. new QB. new schemes, mismatched roster. the usual rebuild bullcrap. 3 more years of suck... Leo and I are both about 60 and are pretty much done. the franchise has taken its toll. time for the next generation to take up the mantel... these guys just keep spinning the wheels

Edited January 15, 2017 by 8and8-->NoMore

[Boatdrinks]

Boatdrinks, IMO that record is a big part of what has the Buffalo fans so depressed and upset right now. We've been within 1 game of 8-8 for 9 of the last 17 years.

 

Hey, I get it. They have just lacked that QB and have managed to screw it up so many times. Just giving it to BAdOL and his self aggrandizing posts .

[DCBongo]

I live in Connecticut and have being reading Leo Roth since the late 90's. He is a columnist, not a reporter and it's his job to express his opinion. Given the last 17 years he has the right to be openly skeptical. If McDermott does a good job, I am sure Leo will give him his due.

[BADOLBILZ]

Oh , thank you for clarifying your expanded definition of " incessant losing" . Because the actual winning percentage is closer to .500.

 

 

Incorrect......actually they've "averaged" just 6.5 wins per season over the last 17 years.......only 2 seasons over .500 and only 3 seasons AT .500.

 

But that's misleading because the last 11 seasons have been worse.........NINE losing seasons......just 1 season at .500 and 1 season finishing one game over .500.

[The Big Cat]

 

 

Incorrect......actually they've "averaged" just 6.5 wins per season over the last 17 years.......only 2 seasons over .500 and only 3 seasons AT .500.

 

But that's misleading because the last 11 seasons have been worse.........NINE losing seasons......just 1 season at .500 and 1 season finishing one game over .500.

Feel better now?

[Boatdrinks]

Incorrect......actually they've "averaged" just 6.5 wins per season over the last 17 years.......only 2 seasons over .500 and only 3 seasons AT .500.

 

But that's misleading because the last 11 seasons have been worse.........NINE losing seasons......just 1 season at .500 and 1 season finishing one game over .500.

 

You specified the " Pegulas teams" so I only was considering the Bills record since they've owned the team. Thanks for the breakdown though. I'm well aware of the franchise's record since the late '70s when I started following them.

[BADOLBILZ]

Feel better now?

 

 

Actually it's a little chilly tonight......got any of them heat maps?

[The Big Cat]

 

 

Actually it's a little chilly tonight......got any of them heat maps?

 

You mean the ones that reinforced everything some of us said 15 months ago which took others until September of this year to grasp?

 

No.

[Punching Bag]

If journalists were rated same way coaches were most of the sports journalists would be out of jobs.

[BADOLBILZ]

You specified the " Pegulas teams" so I only was considering the Bills record since they've owned the team. Thanks for the breakdown though. I'm well aware of the franchise's record since the late '70s when I started following them.

 

Yes the Pegula teams.....and all you wanted to talk about was the Bills.

 

The Pegula's have owned the Bills for two full seasons and offseasons and are 15-17 after INHERITING a fully constructed team that went on to finish 9-7 and appeared on the upswing.

 

They also inherited a Sabres team that made the playoffs a month later in 2011.

 

The Sabres have since missed the playoffs for 4 straight seasons and are a virtual lock to make it 5.

 

So in total........7 full seasons as owners and 7 non playoff seasons.

 

That's 0-7 if you are scoring at home.

 

In a sporting world where teams average making the playoffs every 2-3 years......that is a lot of losing.

[Boatdrinks]

Yes the Pegula teams.....and all you wanted to talk about was the Bills.

 

The Pegula's have owned the Bills for two full seasons and offseasons and are 15-17 after INHERITING a fully constructed team that went on to finish 9-7 and appeared on the upswing.

 

They also inherited a Sabres team that made the playoffs a month later in 2011.

 

The Sabres have since missed the playoffs for 4 straight seasons and are a virtual lock to make it 5.

 

So in total........7 full seasons as owners and 7 non playoff seasons.

 

That's 0-7 if you are scoring at home.

 

In a sporting world where teams average making the playoffs every 2-3 years......that is a lot of losing.

I don't care at all what the hockey team does. Especially with a well known and purposeful tanking job thrown in the mix. Only concerned about the Bills .

 

Oh, and the 2014 team wasn't exactly on the upswing. They were one game above .500 . A highly suspect game at NE where the Pats pulled Brady at the half and they weren't exactly trying to win the game as it meant nothing to them. They had a journeyman QB that was about to go back into retirement and the HC left unexpectedly. The Rex hire was a bad move and missing the playoffs in Hockey is much more difficult to do, granted.

Edited January 15, 2017 by Boatdrinks

[BADOLBILZ]

I don't care at all what the hockey team does. Especially with a well known and purposeful tanking job thrown in the mix. Only concerned about the Bills .

 

Then you should've read my post more carefully before responding.

 

Like I said........people that want fans and media to give the Pegula's mull-agains for their mis-steps with the Bills are neglecting the fact that the Sabres have been very bad under them.........which is part of their story.

 

Like it or not....."One Buffalo" is a thing because the Pegula's want it that way.

[purple haze]

McDermott has A LOT to prove to the fan base and media.

 

The OC and QB decision will tell it all.

 

They !@#$ that up and it will get even uglier from the media and then the fans.

Any new coach has a lot to prove. But basing it on an OC or QB decision before any games are played won't tell us anything.

It will tell us that some of the fans will be fine with it and others will complain about it just because it did not fit their personal

desires.

[Boatdrinks]

Then you should've read my post more carefully before responding.

 

Like I said........people that want fans and media to give the Pegula's mull-agains for their mis-steps with the Bills are neglecting the fact that the Sabres have been very bad under them.........which is part of their story.

 

Like it or not....."One Buffalo" is a thing because the Pegula's want it that way.

Not giving them a mulligan for the Rex hire. Just glad they ended it early rather than too late. I don't care about the Hockey team. I do t watch hockey and the fortunes of the two teams are not connected. If the Sabres start wing because Eichel is great, fine but it doesn't mean the Bills will. I read all of your typically idiotic post, thank you . Enjoy!!

[BADOLBILZ]

Any new coach has a lot to prove. But basing it on an OC or QB decision before any games are played won't tell us anything.

It will tell us that some of the fans will be fine with it and others will complain about it just because it did not fit their personal

desires.

 

Yeah when you take over a team where coaching supposedly kept you from the playoffs you are EXPECTED to make the playoffs.

 

Like Rex, McDermott isn't going to be automatically allotted 7-8 losses the way Marrone, Gailey and Jauron before them.

 

If they aren't in contention at the end of the regular season Bills fans are going to be furious and I don't think he survives two non-playoff seasons in a row.

 

Pegula's may WANT continuity but this team is at a point where they are too talented with too many older players to tear down.......so if McDermott can't raise their level of play he is going to become perceived as part of the problem.

 

At which point you want a new GM and a new HC and a clean slate for both.

[Boatdrinks]

I think the move to make would have been to show both Rex and Whaley the door . But I think they stick with McDermott for awhile if he's not awful ( like 6 wins or less). I don't think this team was all that close to being a playoff team .

[Bad Things]

As far as I'm concerned, with a couple exceptions, all of the Rochester and Buffalo sports columnists need to be purged.

They've all become toxic with nothing positive to say.

 

Yeah, yeah yeah, I know... the team has sucked for 17 years. No Sh!t.

I've been following this crappy team through thick and thin too, but these writers have all become cancerous.

Just take the season-ending press conference as an example. What a joke! In my exprience living in different states and countries, the Western NY media stands alone as the most pathetic group I've ever read.

The sad thing is that I've just about always enjoyed Leo's writing. Now, I refuse to read his drivel, just like those hack at The Buffalo News.

 

The thing is that the newspapers need to understand that they should be providing their fans with a service, not a disservice.

Who wants to read this depressing nonsense day in and day out.

 

That said, people in Upstate New York have turned bitching and complaining into a true artform. It all needs to change.

 

This is an entirely new era for our Bills. Let's be positive about the changes and hope that things will finally turn around. Let's give this new coaching staff a chance.

If not... why are you even bothering to follow this team?

[BADOLBILZ]

As far as I'm concerned, with a couple exceptions, all of the Rochester and Buffalo sports columnists need to be purged.

They've all become toxic with nothing positive to say.

 

Yeah, yeah yeah, I know... the team has sucked for 17 years. No ****.

I've been following this crappy team through thick and thin too, but these writers have all become cancerous.

Just take the season-ending press conference as an example. What a joke! In my exprience living in different states and countries, the Western NY media stands alone as the most pathetic group I've ever read.

The sad thing is that I've just about always enjoyed Leo's writing. Now, I refuse to read his drivel, just like those hack at The Buffalo News.

 

The thing is that the newspapers need to understand that they should be providing their fans with a service, not a disservice.

Who wants to read this depressing nonsense day in and day out.

 

That said, people in Upstate New York have turned bitching and complaining into a true artform. It all needs to change.

 

This is an entirely new era for our Bills. Let's be positive about the changes and hope that things will finally turn around. Let's give this new coaching staff a chance.

If not... why are you even bothering to follow this team?

 

 

That's not true at all.........Bills fans don't complain more than fans of better organizations.......if anything they are generally LESS engaged.

 

The media is so negative because they CAN'T ignore the sh*t show......it's their job........and because of that they don't appreciate the relentless incompetence.

 

Fans can check out and they have started doing so in recent years.

 

Ask Astro how the attendance was at SJF last summer.

[Bad Things]

 

 

That's not true at all.........Bills fans don't complain more than fans of better organizations.......if anything they are generally LESS engaged.

 

The media is so negative because they CAN'T ignore the sh*t show......it's their job........and because of that they don't appreciate the relentless incompetence.

 

Fans can check out and they have started doing so in recent years.

 

Ask Astro how the attendance was at SJF last summer.

 

We'll just need to agree to disagree.

 

I've been away from NY for almost 30 years now, and try to get back every 5-10 years or so. One of the first things that always strikes me is how much people complain back there. It always takes me a couple days to acclimatize to it. When I do, I realize that people don't even realize they're complaining... it's just what they do, it's part of the culture.

To be honest, I usually just sit back and laugh to myself.

 

I don't want to make it sound like I'm disrespecting the region. I'm happy and proud that I was born and raised there and only have good things to say whenever people ask me where I'm from. (Well, except the weather.)

 

Anyway, I've always been a positive person and truly believe that a positive attitude will get you way further in life than being a miserable bastard.

 

That said, I'm looking forward to seeing how the new staff for the Bills pan out.

What's the point of complaining about them before they even get a chance to do their jobs? If this team brings you that much misery... find something else to do.

 

The Rochester and Buffalo columnists are toxic and I wish they would just retire.

 

 

 

Let's go Buffalo!

Edited January 15, 2017 by Bad Things

[Beerstm]

 

Grow up and deal with it.

 

One other thing........do not attack fans/media for wanting to win by saying they should just be glad the team is in Buffalo.......you have no right to tell people in WNY what they should be thankful for.

 

Really? In today's’ modern NFL teams can up and move to where they please. I haven't lived in WNY for several years. Fact is, Buffalo is lucky to have the Buffalo Bills organization. Plain and simple. TP stepped up and kept this team in WNY. That is something the fans and the media should never forget.

 

Nobody wants the Bills to be successful more than I do (been a fan since 1981). However, how the local media has treated this team the past year was a joke. So unprofessional. It’s one thing to question the product on the field. But when reporting the facts becomes personal. When people are attacked when character is challenged. You’ve gone to far.

 

Keep attacking this team Buffalo fans and media I’ll never blame you for wanting to win. However, you better pull your head out of whatever delusional orifice you spewing all this crap from. Because you should be thankful and grateful there is a team in Buffalo to even talk about.