Requiem for a sports columnist

[Punching Bag]

8 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

A little personal Sully story.

 

In 2002 Jerry wrote a glowing column about Tom Donahoe drafting OT Mike Williams. Several years later, once it was obvious Williams was a Grade A bust, Sully wrote a column ripping Donahoe for drafting Williams. I emailed Jerry and reminded him that he loved the pick in 2002, and wasn't it a bit disingenuous to be wailing on the GM now? Jerry wrote back to explain that as a columnist he had the prerogative to change his opinion. (True, but in that column he could have admitted that he also liked Williams at the time. He didn't.)

 

Anyway, thinking back, I wonder if Jerry leaned to the negative with the Bills so he never would need to reverse himself like this again?

 

He did multiple times.  He bashed the Bills for not giving Fitz an extension using his usual insulting remarks which would get your warned on the wall and then after he was signed he did it again for doing so several months later.

 

According to article he was not pushed out just been told the column was no longer his so he took the buyout.

 

Next time I hope to see Sullivan is in the obituaries about his reporting on Eugene Parker in hell.

[Big Turk]

Sullivan's main issue was tying the baggage of all the Bills past issues during the drought around new people that came into the organization. He couldnt seem to understand they had nothing to do with past failures.  

 

Sure, he claimed to give them a clean slate but that lasted abput one column before he started bringing up stuff from the past they had nothing to do with and talking about how they wouldnt be able to succeed because of blah blah blah from the past...or how they were doing the same thing as previous people in their position did or any myriad of other things that proved they were destined to fail.

 

And he was right for a long time. Not necessarily because of the past but because of the way things worked out. Except this time...he still clung to the belief these guys would fail in the end and when they didn't rationalized it away by saying they had all this luck go their way....well so do lots of other teams every year. I'm sure most Patriots fans thought they were pretty lucky Sneaky Pete decided to try and throw a quick slant rather than hand the ball off to Beast Mode at the 1 yard line in the Super Bowl...

Edited June 25, 2018 by matter2003

[Lurker]

2 hours ago, vorpma said:

Man, you need to get out more; I guess I am somewhat stunned that someones life is so emotionally tied to a sportswriter who expresses OPINIONS!

 

Nope.   I buy the Buffalo News to be entertained and informed, just like when I buy a movie ticket, magazine subscription or toilet paper.    The more the BN can deliver on that value proposition the better.   

 

Getting generic, gas station TP when I know it could potentially be Charmin is something that disappoints me.    Or stated another way, knowing that quality columnists like Felser and Kelley once were available for the same price as Sully and Bucky is a downer...

[oldmanfan]

He was offered a job.  He said no and left.  It's on him and not the paper.

[BADOLBILZ]

1 hour ago, matter2003 said:

Sullivan's main issue was tying the baggage of all the Bills past issues during the drought around new people that came into the organization. He couldnt seem to understand they had nothing to do with past failures.  

 

But this very same excuse has been made by apologists regime after regime.

 

Remarkably similar mistakes have been repeated over and over and over since Donahoe pretended the Bills had no choice but to gut their roster entirely.....using the Bills difficult cap situation as an excuse put his own stamp on the team when it already had an identity/culture that lent itself to being a competitive team year-in and year-out.

 

Will the McBeane roster purge be viewed as a success?  Or just yet another case of poor stewardship by the owners in allowing an unworthy GM/HC to be empowered like a couple dudes with SB rings in those roles?

 

We will see but it's not like the previous HC/GM had their hands tied by management and this level of empowerment from the Pegula's is not anything new.

 

The Pegula's simply don't know the game well enough at this point to do it any differently........so whether they hired McDermott or Rex or Hue Jackson they were going to let them do it their way.

 

Edited June 26, 2018 by BADOLBILZ

[Rob's House]

If they criticize the Bills they're pessimistic hacks. If they praise the Bills they're water carrying shills. These guys can't win.

[KingRex]

My sense as a consumer very interested in sports and the Bills in particular is that the Buffalo News has upgraded their coverage of the Bills simply letting Sully go.

 

The ultimate judgment about the results is who takes over the column inches and radio and TV coverage that Sully used.

 

However, as a starting point I hope that in terms of his work on WGR and his Sunday morning TV gig is that I hope these other outlets follow the Buffalo News also improve their Bills coverage by devoting their news holes to someone who 1. Demonstrated sound understanding of the operation and history of the sport, 2. developed good reporting contacts with the Bills, 3. Wrote with a focus on the product rather than a focus on themselves.

 

Sully generally struck me as 1. Rarely demonstrated knowledge and strong understanding of the game.  He seemed to simply spout his judgments on whether a player was a good or worthwhile athlete or even sillier a good or worthwhile person based on his assessment of whether that athlete was a good or bad person.  2. He seemed mostly interested in burning bridges with Bills contacts by publicly demeaning  athletes.  Finding fault with an athlete's particular performance in a game (particularly if it is stat based and includes suggestions on how to improve) is great to see.  However, Sully had too much of a habit of simply declaring a player a bum with no suggestion of the potential for improvement.  3. He tended to write about him judging the Bills rather than write about the Bills.

 

His screeds like his own failings at enjoying golf were an interesting concept which ended up being unreadable written maturbation.

 

The Buffalo Snooze has improved their Bills coverage simply by getting rid of him.

 

 

[BadLandsMeanie]

I think the Buffalo News did not have Opinion writers.

 

I think they had "I am Righters".

 

That is what bugged me about 3 of them who are no longer there. When it is impossible, flat out impossible to always be right about a football team, they always were pretty insistent that they were always right.

 

There is another thing about TBN and Bills sports reporting that is disappointing to me. There are 53 players and 10 practice squad guys. You got I don't know how many coaches, and most are "personalities". It is this giant, crazy, traveling circus full of all kinda personalities. But nothing funny ever seems to happen? No interesting fun anecdotes? I bet it is crazy behind the curtain but we learn none of it. The stuff in the news nearly always reads like the same bland pap put out by the teams themselves.

 

When I ask myself, of all of the players, coaches, support staff, lawyers, secretaries, salespeople, tech people, etc, who work for the Bills,  I wonder how many have an interesting story to tell?

 

My answer is, I think every one of them does. It is a gold mine.

 

Given the same access the press gets, Shaw could run rings around them all. I think a number of people on this board could.

 

So, Mr SDS and the powers that be, aren't you press? It seems to me you are. Has it ever been asked if TBD can get a press credential?

 

 

 

 

Edited June 29, 2018 by BadLandsMeanie

[BringBackOrton]

Lots of folks in here claim to hate Sully, but remember specific articles from 16 years ago and fan interactions like cherished memories. And they can't stop talking about him.

 

Its the media equivalent of pulling a girl's pig tails and telling her she's ugly in elementary school, because you have a huge crush on her.

 

Just tell Sully how you really feel.

Edited June 29, 2018 by BringBackOrton

[BadLandsMeanie]

2 hours ago, BringBackOrton said:

Lots of folks in here claim to hate Sully, but remember specific articles from 16 years ago and fan interactions like cherished memories. And they can't stop talking about him.

 

Its the media equivalent of pulling a girl's pig tails and telling her she's ugly in elementary school, because you have a huge crush on her.

 

Just tell Sully how you really feel.

I feel like he would make a hideously ugly school girl in pig tails. It is a really disturbing image.  ?

[Punching Bag]

On 6/25/2018 at 3:56 PM, jeremy2020 said:

 

How could it triple the length of any previous playoff drought when the Browns were always right there two years behind? Then you have Tampa...Jets, bears who were all less then triple. 

 

Please do not try to confuse irrational ranter with facts.

Like the fact that Ralph was the ONLY owner to object to NFLPA  deal saying it made no sense.

Like the fact that Ralph set it up to keep Bills in Buffalo post death despite what league wanted.  There were very mad about losing a large relocation fee.

Ralph tried to improve team and both GMs came heavily recommended but both had weaknesses not obvious at first hire.

[Shaw66]

17 hours ago, BadLandsMeanie said:

I think the Buffalo News did not have Opinion writers.

 

I think they had "I am Righters".

 

That is what bugged me about 3 of them who are no longer there. When it is impossible, flat out impossible to always be right about a football team, they always were pretty insistent that they were always right.

 

There is another thing about TBN and Bills sports reporting that is disappointing to me. There are 53 players and 10 practice squad guys. You got I don't know how many coaches, and most are "personalities". It is this giant, crazy, traveling circus full of all kinda personalities. But nothing funny ever seems to happen? No interesting fun anecdotes? I bet it is crazy behind the curtain but we learn none of it. The stuff in the news nearly always reads like the same bland pap put out by the teams themselves.

 

When I ask myself, of all of the players, coaches, support staff, lawyers, secretaries, salespeople, tech people, etc, who work for the Bills,  I wonder how many have an interesting story to tell?

 

My answer is, I think every one of them does. It is a gold mine.

 

Given the same access the press gets, Shaw could run rings around them all. I think a number of people on this board could.

 

So, Mr SDS and the powers that be, aren't you press? It seems to me you are. Has it ever been asked if TBD can get a press credential?

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the compliment, and let me give it back to you.

 

You are dead on about this.   Sports columnists used to know the stories of the athletes, the behind-the-scenes stuff, and they wrote about it.   They informed us about the stories behind the events.   The modern guys rarely do that.  They're too busy being "experts," telling us what's wrong with how this coach did this or that player did that.   

 

And I believe in Sullivan's case, as the years went by it became more and more difficult to tell those stories, because fewer and fewer athletes and coaches would talk to him.   When a new guy joins the team and is learning the ropes, you better believe that among things the vets tell him are whom you can trust and whom you can't.    You could hear it in Rex's first press conferences when he became HC.   He'd already had some experience with the folks who covered the Bills, and he was cautious and defensive with Sully and others from day one.   

 

If you're Kyle Williams, do you tell your story to Gaughan or Sullivan?  No brainer.   The tougher question is whether Sullivan even would have been interested in hearing his story.   

 

"I am RIghters" is exactly right.