Bucky Gleason Leaving TBN After Requesting a Buyout - Jerry Sullivan and Now Tim Graham Out

[Rico]

Don’t really need him around any more now that the trash is gone from OBD. He did his job and he did it well. Thanks for always keeping it real, Sully!

[FLFan]

20 minutes ago, DrDawkinstein said:

Oh Glorious Day! Oh Glorious Day!!

 

 

Typical pretentious take by Jerry Sullivan in his parting shot to his long time employer.  Good riddance to both he and Gleason, who anointed themselves the "defenders of the realm" and justified their constant negativity as "fair, objective, and passionate" when it only occasionally was.  What they did not seem to understand is that being a constant contrarian does not equate to fair and objective, and eventually becomes very boring, if not outright annoying, while alienating the very people in the organizations they are assigned to write about.  This made them both ineffective and "bad for business" in the end.  Perhaps the News will look for a new columnist who does not just pretend to care about the fans, but actually demonstrates it by taking their job seriously, and not themselves.

[Lurker]

1 hour ago, 26CornerBlitz said:

 

 

Our long regional nightmare is over!

 

Thank you Josh Barnett!    Best of luck with your recruitment of talented, motivated replacement(s) for this important position...

[transient]

1 hour ago, 26CornerBlitz said:

 

 

You would think as a "professional" writer he'd have a better understanding of the meaning of words like fair and objective.

[zow2]

Glad they are moving these guys out.  Just too much negativity and “gotcha” questions at press conferences. Too much snarkiness.  I want balance, I want some actual reporting and positivity as well.  

[Estelle Getty]

I suggest Mathew Fairburn.  He seems to be the most knowledgable, balanced reporter.  

 

Sully and Russ are sharing remember whens with Donahoe and Whaley somewhere sipping fruity ass drinks.

 

 I heard Whaley now spends most of his time trying to master the english language.  

 

 

[LeGOATski]

Awesome. GTFO, Jerry.

 

He wasn't good for business. Even those who wanted an objective article did not want to read his.

[Yav]

This is cause for a celebration. Sully is horrible.

[QCity]

After 29 years here he became adept at pushing buttons, and he went to that place far too often. You can't continually antagonize the people that are paying your bills.

 

Maybe we'll get a Harrington buyout this week and hit the trifecta.

[Augie]

After skimming this thread, I can’t tell you how happy I am to have avoided these guys over the last few decades. 

[Dablitzkrieg]

23 minutes ago, transient said:

 

You would think as a "professional" writer he'd have a better understanding of the meaning of words like fair and objective.

You would think

[HT02]

I thought Sully was a pretty good read for his Bills stuff and I agreed with most of his attacks on the prior Bills administration.  His left wing politics annoyed me but I will miss his Bills columns.  

[Juice_32]

33 minutes ago, MAJBobby said:

Just die already BN

 

Relax Jerry. Go take up golf or something, it'll be fine.

[stony]

Maybe all you puss's who said Sully and Bucky were meanies will pony up the $2.99/mo now.  Not holding my breath.  

[dpberr]

He proved my point.  Without a column of easy to write opines, you just have an old, lazy journalist.  

 

I think tweeting out a parting shot to the company who employed you for so long shows the  character of Jerry Sullivan the individual.  

 

 

[Lurker]

14 minutes ago, MDFan said:

What they did not seem to understand is that being a constant contrarian does not equate to fair and objective

 

Yep.   IMO, neither guy had the ability to see, understand or provide substantive explanations / critiques of what took place on the field, rink, court etc.   They were masters of the 'fan perspective' of b*tching and moaning and brought no real expertise on the sports they covered.   

 

The icing on the cake (especially with Sully) was the conceit that fans had short memories and would never remember what positions they took from season to season.  Jerry would repeatedly beat the drum for the Bills doing [fill in blank] only to rail against it at a future date as "the worst decision ever!"    That's a cop out, and it destroys whatever credibility the writer has with all but the bar stool fan base.

 

Turning the columns over to eager young writers who want the job--not retired in place guys like Sully--will be a good thing and should find a receptive audience...

[Matt_In_NH]

I dont mind realistic but Sullivan is just a downer period....but then again I dont really care since I dont read the BN except when someone copies it to a thread.

Edited May 29, 2018 by mattynh

[Hapless Bills Fan]

3 minutes ago, Lurker said:

Yep.   IMO, neither guy had the ability to see, understand or provide substantive explanations / critiques of what took place on the field, rink, court etc.   They were masters of the 'fan perspective' of b*tching and moaning and brought no real expertise on the sports they covered.   

 

I can remember, actually, when Sully wrote stuff that was worth reading - that would be back in the '80s.  He knew something.  He just became trite and cliche'd

 

3 minutes ago, Lurker said:

The icing on the cake (especially with Sully) was the conceit that fans had short memories and would never remember what positions they took from season to season.  Jerry would repeatedly beat the drum for the Bills doing [fill in blank] only to rail against it at a future date as "the worst decision ever!"    That's a cop out, and it destroys whatever credibility the writer has with all but the bar stool fan base.

 

Yep, this!

 

 

[Shaw66]

1 hour ago, DrDawkinstein said:

Oh Glorious Day! Oh Glorious Day!!

 

 

Jerry, you don't get it, even on your way out the door.   "They felt my voice was becoming bad for business."   Yes, Jerry, "they" felt it because it was true, and you refused and refuse to recognize it.   From your point of view, it's always been that your voice was the voice of truth and therefore worthy of publication - just because it came from you.  

 

Well, guess what?   Gifted writer that you are, your voice nevertheless often was rude, insensitive, nasty, biased and downright uncivil.   Your voice offended many, and because nothing is more important to you than your voice, you just didn't care.   People don't like being around nasty people, but you never understood that, so you don't seem to understand why your voice was bad for business.  

 

It's too bad for you, too, because after all the years you invested in covering horrible Bills teams, you're now not going to have a platform from which you could enjoy what looks to be a team on the rise.   Of course, your voice might not have appreciated that, either.   

 

I hope you come at your new gig with a different perspective.  You're insightful and you can write, but if you're lacking basic human decency, you're going to be bad for business. 

[Jerry Jabber]

 

And this one for extra measures...

 

 

Edited May 29, 2018 by Jerry Jabber

[Bad Things]

28 minutes ago, stony said:

Maybe all you puss's who said Sully and Bucky were meanies will pony up the $2.99/mo now.  Not holding my breath.  

Please do hold your breath. 

[BearNorth]

47 minutes ago, Estelle Getty said:

I suggest Mathew Fairburn.  He seems to be the most knowledgable, balanced reporter.  

 

Sully and Russ are sharing remember whens with Donahoe and Whaley somewhere sipping fruity ass drinks.

 

 I heard Whaley now spends most of his time trying to master the english language.  

 

 

Unfortunately for Sully, Russ, Donahoe and Whaley were paid MUCH better...

 

[transient]

31 minutes ago, stony said:

Maybe all you puss's who said Sully and Bucky were meanies will pony up the $2.99/mo now.  Not holding my breath.  

 

I never said Bucky was a meanie.  I said Bucky was Sully with a crayon and a third of the vocabulary.

[Bad Things]

2 hours ago, 26CornerBlitz said:

 

Good riddance, Jerry.  Now you can be miserable in retirement.

[BADOLBILZ]

15 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

Jerry, you don't get it, even on your way out the door.   "They felt my voice was becoming bad for business."   Yes, Jerry, "they" felt it because it was true, and you refused and refuse to recognize it.   From your point of view, it's always been that your voice was the voice of truth and therefore worthy of publication - just because it came from you.  

 

Well, guess what?   Gifted writer that you are, your voice nevertheless often was rude, insensitive, nasty, biased and downright uncivil.   Your voice offended many, and because nothing is more important to you than your voice, you just didn't care.   People don't like being around nasty people, but you never understood that, so you don't seem to understand why your voice was bad for business.  

 

It's too bad for you, too, because after all the years you invested in covering horrible Bills teams, you're now not going to have a platform from which you could enjoy what looks to be a team on the rise.   Of course, your voice might not have appreciated that, either.   

 

I hope you come at your new gig with a different perspective.  You're insightful and you can write, but if you're lacking basic human decency, you're going to be bad for business. 

 

 

He gets it but he's old school and thinks people deserve an objective voice from their news source.    But it's like this.........there is a small but vocal % that absolutely loathe Jerry Sullivan because he says negative things about bad sports organizations.    The vast majority of readers are entirely indifferent about who writes for TBN.   Does not affect their purchase one way or the other.    So Jerry saying something critical about a dumpster fire entertains nobody any longer.    There is only something to gain......tiny as it may be...... by him not writing for them.    There really isn't enough interest or hope in the local sports teams any longer to support those who think quality is to be expected.    EVERYONE has pretty low expectations.    This isn't NY or Philadelphia or Boston.  Two years into a new regime in those markets the media is sizing up whether it's working,    Here you have long suffering fans saying "Welp....Rome wasn't built in a day".    In a way the incredibly pitiful state of the franchises has actually put a critical voice out of business.    If they ever get consistently competitive again the demand for holding the organizations to a high standard will return.   

[TheElectricCompany]

Jerry was fine. Ultimately, the team was a joke for almost two decades, I don't blame the guy. 

 

Anyway, This is not about Bucky or Jerry. 

This is about the newspaper trying to stay afloat, despite being tossed into Lake Erie with cement shoes on. 

 

Edited May 29, 2018 by TheElectricCompany

[corta765]

On 5/25/2018 at 6:26 PM, BillsPride12 said:

Do you have any examples of this?  I don't doubt this but I am just curious as it's an interesting topic.  I can vaguely remember hearing some reports of Kane and Eichel hanging out gambling together in Vegas before they played the Knights this season but other than that I really haven't heard of any instances of those two getting into any bad situations together.  

 

A source of mine who knows the broadcast crew was informed this was 100% true at least early on with Kane years 1 and 2. The players like Eichel and Rhino worshiped the money he made and apparently there was an altercation between Kane v Gionta where Gionta said he owed him respect and Kane replied he was washed up and didn't make much to that extent. Kane was seen as that rockstar figure by Eichel and Rhino something the team could not afford given the youth and experience of the kids they had.

[LabattBlue]

There was some kind of falling about between WGR and the BN a few years ago, to the point where no one from the BN appeared anymore on the station.  I wonder if Schopp and his Lapdog will go back to having Sully on, even if on an infrequent basis.

[HOUSE]

YOU NEVER MISS THEM TILL THEIR GONE

 

AND, if you think you hate these writers, wait till you see who replaces them

 

some kid in India who free lances on the weekends

Edited May 29, 2018 by THE SLAMMER

[Lurker]

1 minute ago, THE SLAMMER said:

YOU NEVER MISS THEM TILL THERE GONE

 

AND, if you think you hate these writers, wait till you see who replaces them

 

some kid in India who free lances on the weekends

 

Wanna bet?

[NewEra]

55 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

Jerry, you don't get it, even on your way out the door.   "They felt my voice was becoming bad for business."   Yes, Jerry, "they" felt it because it was true, and you refused and refuse to recognize it.   From your point of view, it's always been that your voice was the voice of truth and therefore worthy of publication - just because it came from you.  

 

Well, guess what?   Gifted writer that you are, your voice nevertheless often was rude, insensitive, nasty, biased and downright uncivil.   Your voice offended many, and because nothing is more important to you than your voice, you just didn't care.   People don't like being around nasty people, but you never understood that, so you don't seem to understand why your voice was bad for business.  

 

It's too bad for you, too, because after all the years you invested in covering horrible Bills teams, you're now not going to have a platform from which you could enjoy what looks to be a team on the rise.   Of course, your voice might not have appreciated that, either.   

 

I hope you come at your new gig with a different perspective.  You're insightful and you can write, but if you're lacking basic human decency, you're going to be bad for business. 

Amen brother!!  Glad to see our voice is heard.  He was bad for business

[May Day 10]

7 minutes ago, LabattBlue said:

There was some kind of falling about between WGR and the BN a few years ago, to the point where no one from the BN appeared anymore on the station.  I wonder if Schopp and his Lapdog will go back to having Sully on, even if on an infrequent basis.

 

I actually believe it may have been a condition of WGR becoming the official broadcast partner of the Bills.  

[John from Riverside]

23 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

 

He gets it but he's old school and thinks people deserve an objective voice from their news source.    But it's like this.........there is a small but vocal % that absolutely loathe Jerry Sullivan because he says negative things about bad sports organizations.    The vast majority of readers are entirely indifferent about who writes for TBN.   Does not affect their purchase one way or the other.    So Jerry saying something critical about a dumpster fire entertains nobody any longer.    There is only something to gain......tiny as it may be...... by him not writing for them.    There really isn't enough interest or hope in the local sports teams any longer to support those who think quality is to be expected.    EVERYONE has pretty low expectations.    This isn't NY or Philadelphia or Boston.  Two years into a new regime in those markets the media is sizing up whether it's working,    Here you have long suffering fans saying "Welp....Rome wasn't built in a day".    In a way the incredibly pitiful state of the franchises has actually put a critical voice out of business.    If they ever get consistently competitive again the demand for holding the organizations to a high standard will return.   

Personally I didnt care one way or the other but while the ppl deserve an "objective" voice....its also ok to write things that were "logical and objective" not just write things that you knew were so bad that ppl might read them like they cant look away from a car wreck.

 

 

[BRH]

First Russ Brandon, now Jerry Sullivan...

 

can Mike Rodak be far behind?

 

they say things happen in threes....

[Rochesterfan]

1 hour ago, Hapless Bills Fan said:

 

I can remember, actually, when Sully wrote stuff that was worth reading - that would be back in the '80s.  He knew something.  He just became trite and cliche'd

 

 

Yep, this!

 

 

 

 

Yep - I remember those days also - it is not they these guys did not at one time write half way decent columns, but since the success of the early 90s they have just been bitter and getting worse.  I see it with several of the Rochester guys also - they have taken the low road for so long that they do not realize they are no longer “fair or objective, but just being sarcastic and mean because that is who they have become.

[John from Riverside]

2 minutes ago, BRH said:

First Russ Brandon, now Jerry Sullivan...

 

can Mike Rodak be far behind?

 

they say things happen in threes....

Notice that Rodent has been much more upbeat these days with most of his stuff?

 

I think it is NOT a coincidence

[SDS]

 I may be off base on this, but what is the typical shelf life of a specific reporter in a market? It seems to me that if you have been writing for 29 years in the same market you should probably be a rockstar revered journalist. I am not sure the two in question met that level of esteem. With their tenure either you are a local treasure or your voice probably needs to be refreshed. 

[LabattBlue]

2 minutes ago, SDS said:

 ...With their tenure either you are a local treasure or your voice probably needs to be refreshed. 

The same goes for the 4 main WGR guys...Simon, White, Schopp & Bulldog.

[Shaw66]

30 minutes ago, BADOLBILZ said:

 

He gets it but he's old school and thinks people deserve an objective voice from their news source.   

He wasn't an objective voice.   He looked constantly for opportunities to bash management and the coaches, and when he couldn't find any, he worked to create them.   Listening to the press conferences, it was clear that he worked at catching speakers in what appeared to be contradiction when he knew perfectly well what they meant.   Then, when they said something that he could construe as contrary to something someone else said, he ripped them for lying.  It was cheap, disningenuous and nasty.  

 

He called the Bills a dumpster fire, and less than a year later the Bills were in the playoffs with pretty much all the same players that he'd called out the year before.  

 

He absolutely trashed Terrell Owens from the day he arrived in Buffalo until the day he left, calling Owens a locker room cancer when there was absolutely NO evidence to support it.   His teammates said he was great, but Sully ripped him mercilessly.   One day on WGR he went off on Owens and even the WGR personalities were astounded at how irrational he was.  The only thing wrong with Terrell Owens was that Trent Edwards didn't understand that he should throw the ball to Owens on every play.   Once Fitzpatrick became the starter, Owens was, once again, one of the best receivers in the league.   But that didn't stop Sullivan.  

 

Objective he was not. 

10 minutes ago, SDS said:

 I may be off base on this, but what is the typical shelf life of a specific reporter in a market? It seems to me that if you have been writing for 29 years in the same market you should probably be a rockstar revered journalist. I am not sure the two in question met that level of esteem. With their tenure either you are a local treasure or your voice probably needs to be refreshed. 

I tired of Larry Felser, but he was the rockstar you're talking about.   He was loved.   

 

Sullivan is talented, but he was way past needing to be refreshed.  

[aceman_16]

1 hour ago, stony said:

Maybe all you puss's who said Sully and Bucky were meanies will pony up the $2.99/mo now.  Not holding my breath.  

I just did.  But it would be gravy IF you would just hold your breath!

Edited May 29, 2018 by aceman_16