Grading the Pegulas Thus Far

[4_kidd_4]

1 hour ago, BobChalmers said:

 

Huh???

 

Newsflash - longest playoff drought in any major American sports league ends at 17 years - Bills make the Playoffs.

 

 

 

It was certainly fun, but not that impressive.

 

Not ready to claim ‘success’ over needing an abacus and a slide rule to get into the playoffs to get shut down by Jax.

 

Consistency is the key. Control your own destiny, string some winning seasons together, win the division, then I’ll listen.

 

I’m not as easy to please as you, to each their own.

[The_Dude]

Kim’s butt gets an A+. 

 

Terry is doofy as hell. 

[LabattBlue]

3 hours ago, Kirby Jackson said:

C’s for me

 

I love that they aren’t afraid to spend. That includes facilities, amenities, players, coaches, etc... That is the single most important thing that an owner can do, enable those underneath them to do what needs to be done. 

 

The negative part is that I don’t believe they really know what they are doing. They’ve bungled multiple hires (Murray, Bylsma, Ryan). They are still learning on the job but I don’t believe them to be the savviest of business people. That has been corroborated by multiple people that they have had dealings with. They were affectionately refereed to as “the Clampets” during the Harbor Center project.

 

The important thing is that they have money though. If they hire the right people and enable them to do their job they will be good owners. The best owners in sports (think Peter Holt in San Antonio or the Rooney’s in Pittsburgh) stay in the background. 

Bravo...except i gave them a generous "D" for the Sabres .  PS Two t's in Clampett. 

2 hours ago, gjv001 said:

I would say buying the Sabres and keeping it in Buffalo is the most important thing they have done so far if I'm a Buffalonian. Yes, I understand the Sabres are not winning now. But for Buffalo Fans, I think they would take a losing Sabre Season over a NO Sabre season.

I take it that reading comprehension is not your strong suit?

Edited September 6, 2018 by LabattBlue

[Freddie's Dead]

C and D, because you didn't use +'s or -'s.  I'd give them a C- for the Bills, subjecting us to that flaming !@#$ Rex Ryan, before getting rid of Whaley, and giving us McBeane and playoffs.  As far as the Sabres?  Jesus.  D-.  The only reason it's not an F is because of Eichel.  But playoffs aren't even on the horizon for the Sabres.  Plus they had to fire their guy Russ for chasing tail.  Let's hope they learn from their mistakes, and soon.

[Augie]

7 hours ago, Gugny said:

I gave them a C because of the Ryan Bros., Barnum and Bailey Circus they created.

 

It seems they've learned from it; time will tell.

 

They were newbies who made a mistake but quickly realized it and cleaned it up. I actually give them credit for quickly sucking it up and moving on. I always thought in business that sometimes you come out better by making mistakes, if you do an amazing job of accepting it, owning it and correcting it. 

 

 

Ohh! And they still play in WNY! They get almost a decade of grace just for that! 

Edited September 6, 2018 by Augie

[Dopey]

2 B's.

They took over 2 franchises that were a hot mess. Bills grade would be an A, if not for the Rex debacle.

Patience with the Sabres hasn't waned yet...yet.

[RochesterRob]

1 hour ago, Augie said:

 

They were newbies who made a mistake but quickly realized it and cleaned it up. I actually give them credit for quickly sucking it up and moving on. I always thought in business that sometimes you come out better by making mistakes, if you do an amazing job of accepting it, owning it and correcting it. 

 

 

Ohh! And they still play in WNY! They get almost a decade of grace just for that! 

  None of the keyboard geniuses here make mistakes.  They were born all knowing and all powerful.

[StrikeParry]

8 hours ago, Chris66 said:

Its hard to compare the 2 sports. Hockey you go to the bottom and almost guarateed your going to get a good if not great player. 

Key word “almost.” They got to pick a so-called generational player in Eichel a few years ago and they still stink. Let’s hope Dahlin isn’t a repeat.

[May Day 10]

1 hour ago, RochesterRob said:

  None of the keyboard geniuses here make mistakes.  They were born all knowing and all powerful.

 

If i bought a team... during the purchase process i would be scouring the football world and assembling a management team to right the ship and guide the transition and build from the top down

 

Coming in unprepared and sticking with russ/whaley is inexcusable.  Especially after burning their hand on the stove the same way with the sabres

 

I would be comfortable admitting i dont know anything and tell management ill be there to accept the lombardi trophy.  Not 'scouting' quarterbacks 

 

[Rigotz]

If you gave them a C or below, shame on you.

They kept the F*ing team in Buffalo, single handedly.

They're opening up their pockets for the city of Buffalo and by all accounts, made a good recent hire of McDermott and Beane.

It really bothers me how ungrateful you people are.

[swnybillsfan]

i voted for "B" in both cases. it seems they went for splash over substance, and oldschool over new to begin in both organizations. but then they seemed to go a bit younger, with a more focused direction in both cases, so there is hope. 

[RochesterRob]

58 minutes ago, May Day 10 said:

 

If i bought a team... during the purchase process i would be scouring the football world and assembling a management team to right the ship and guide the transition and build from the top down

 

Coming in unprepared and sticking with russ/whaley is inexcusable.  Especially after burning their hand on the stove the same way with the sabres

 

I would be comfortable admitting i dont know anything and tell management ill be there to accept the lombardi trophy.  Not 'scouting' quarterbacks 

 

  How does anyone know what the Pegula's did and did not do?  You are assuming that the people that you asked would jump on the first plane to Buffalo just because you asked.  Experts are also people in that they may have loyalties to other organizations or other persons affiliated with other teams.  Some like Bill Parcells are just plain jerks who get off on sticking it to others.  Assembling a management team I have a feeling is easier said than done.  Going with Russ/Doug may have been the only option the Pegula's had at the time.  

[Coach Tuesday]

Hired two rookie GMs and paid the price.  Fired them both and hired... two more rookie GMs.  They are killing me.

[GunnerBill]

1 hour ago, Rigotz said:

If you gave them a C or below, shame on you.

They kept the F*ing team in Buffalo, single handedly.

They're opening up their pockets for the city of Buffalo and by all accounts, made a good recent hire of McDermott and Beane.

It really bothers me how ungrateful you people are.

 

I think you have to separate keeping the Bills in Buffalo from everything else. Thar should be taken as read. 

[May Day 10]

13 hours ago, RochesterRob said:

  How does anyone know what the Pegula's did and did not do?  You are assuming that the people that you asked would jump on the first plane to Buffalo just because you asked.  Experts are also people in that they may have loyalties to other organizations or other persons affiliated with other teams.  Some like Bill Parcells are just plain jerks who get off on sticking it to others.  Assembling a management team I have a feeling is easier said than done.  Going with Russ/Doug may have been the only option the Pegula's had at the time.  

 

I do not know what they did.  However, with both teams, they came in without help.  It showed with the Sabres as they retained the management... then decided to change it only when it was absolutely boiling over with fans in a series of half-measures.  They got rid of Ruff a month into a shortened season, after a lockout, when a new coach could have had a year and a half to prepare.  Then, the following season, they got rid of Regier in November, a month into a season again and brought in a completely inexperienced LaFontaine (based on a chance meeting) and a fly by the seat of the pants coach in Nolan.  Then months later hired an inexperienced young GM who ran the team into a tree, squandering a staggering amount of organization assets...... The Pegulas again, hired a first-time GM, who, before winning the lottery, made the team worse.  Through 7 years owning the Sabres, the Pegulas have not brought in any sort of experience or help at a management level.  I have witnessed a string of awful decisions that plague the franchise, often times embarrassing.  They have been stuck at the very bottom of the NHL for going on 5 years now.  They are paying so much money to people who aren't actively working or playing for them.    They have also kept the front office pretty much consistent, tons of nepotism that dates back pre-Pegula, and the franchise from an off-ice perspective really needs refreshing.   I thought Ted Black was doing a decent job.  You also have other hi-jinks like LaFontaine's "resignation", the situation around Russ Brandon, the unfair dismissal of Ted Nolan, etc.  

 

The Sabres have been a disaster and deserve an F. 

 

The Bills, is more incomplete.  We will see how this works out.  It has been a similar path as the Sabres, with trying to make it work with failed management, hitting a tree, and at this point Beane/McDermott = LaFontaine/Murray.  Maybe (hopefully) it will work out and the Bills will be primed in the next few years for perennial contention.  It is also possible it creates a dumpster fire and sets them back 5 years like Murray did.  Then at that point, the Pegulas will need to choose to either get help, or try their hand again at the full interview process and choosing a young executive, who doesnt mind owners helping scout players.

 

Terry Pegula said last Summer that he didnt want anyone else in control but he and his wife, and he really regrets handing some degree of control of the Sabres to a team president.  My fear is that owning Sports teams is a mid-life crisis vehicle and these teams are merely a motorcycle substitute.... toys to play with and entertain a man who can afford anything. 

 

 

With that said, I DO like the Pegulas.  I love the stability of the teams and resources available, as well as the downtown improvements.  They are likeable people, easy to get behind.   Someday, they are bound to strike the correct note with a coach/GM combo.  I'm about out of patience though with the Sabres (although with the Bills I am willing to wait a few more years before contention).

[Coach Tuesday]

22 minutes ago, May Day 10 said:

With that said, I DO like the Pegulas.  I love the stability of the teams and resources available, as well as the downtown improvements.  They are likeable people, easy to get behind.   Someday, they are bound to strike the correct note with a coach/GM combo.  I'm about out of patience though with the Sabres (although with the Bills I am willing to wait a few more years before contention).

 

Well said - though your tune has changed somewhat re: the Bills, you seem to be getting more skeptical of what Beane and McD bring to the table.  Which I agree with - Beane has shown very little ability to scout pro personnel to date, and his roster-building decisions are mind-boggling to me.  But you really hit at the core issue, which is that the Pegulas continue to hire unproven executives to "run" their teams, which executives keep running those teams right into the ground.  They have some kind of ingrained allergy to bringing in experienced team presidents and GMs, and it's the reason their teams suck so badly.  It might be different if the Pegulas themselves had experience running sports teams, but they don't - yet they refuse to hand the reigns over to folks who actually know what they're doing.

 

I'm not optimistic about the Bills, although you're right it's too soon to grade.  I see a roster with one aging playmaker, a bunch of middling vets, and very little young, up-and-coming depth.  I see an offense totally bereft of skilled players and a defense that doesn't look well-constructed to stop the run - something that became a serious concern at the end of last season (not coincidentally after Dareus was shipped out for a song).  And I question whether the fans are really prepared to stomach a 2-4 win season which seems likely at this point - and whether the fans' ire will make its way up to the owner's box, as it inevitably does, creating serious pressure on Beane & Co. to spend big in free agency next year.  As we know, that rarely works out in the long run...

[May Day 10]

23 minutes ago, Coach Tuesday said:

 

Well said - though your tune has changed somewhat re: the Bills, you seem to be getting more skeptical of what Beane and McD bring to the table.  Which I agree with - Beane has shown very little ability to scout pro personnel to date, and his roster-building decisions are mind-boggling to me.  But you really hit at the core issue, which is that the Pegulas continue to hire unproven executives to "run" their teams, which executives keep running those teams right into the ground.  They have some kind of ingrained allergy to bringing in experienced team presidents and GMs, and it's the reason their teams suck so badly.  It might be different if the Pegulas themselves had experience running sports teams, but they don't - yet they refuse to hand the reigns over to folks who actually know what they're doing.

 

I'm not optimistic about the Bills, although you're right it's too soon to grade.  I see a roster with one aging playmaker, a bunch of middling vets, and very little young, up-and-coming depth.  I see an offense totally bereft of skilled players and a defense that doesn't look well-constructed to stop the run - something that became a serious concern at the end of last season (not coincidentally after Dareus was shipped out for a song).  And I question whether the fans are really prepared to stomach a 2-4 win season which seems likely at this point - and whether the fans' ire will make its way up to the owner's box, as it inevitably does, creating serious pressure on Beane & Co. to spend big in free agency next year.  As we know, that rarely works out in the long run...

 

I was more optimistic before recently.  I feel like there are a few warning signs.  Going into the season with only Peterman and Allen seems like a risky move.  Trading McCarron seems like an unnecessary risk.  He seems like a great guy and has been through the grind a handful of times.  Even on the bench, he brings value.  I also dislike trading up to the core.  With a QB it is permissible.  With trading up for a linebacker though.  Although he looked great on the car lot... I dont know.  In the NFL, with all the injuries, career unpredictability, etc., many assets > 1 player.  They also have one of the older NFL rosters.  

 

They have a fairly clean canvas though with all the dead cap money coming off the books.  They have a QB with top-end physical talent.  They have 10 2019 draft picks, including a pick that could very well be a top 3 pick (I'm content with this being a step-back season).  McDermott seems like a very good coach.  He seems very detail-oriented, seems receptable to change for the good of the team.  He also is a great motivator.  Watching him addressing the team makes me want to suit up and run through a wall.  

 

Im still guardedly optimistic

[LABILLBACKER]

A+ for keeping the team in Buffalo 

 

B-  for hiring Rex

 

D  Sabres on a slow cook

[The Wiz]

Grading them is kinda a weird thing to do.  They aren't football people.  They aren't hockey people.  They are business people.  Grading them based on what the teams have done doesn't really reflect anything honestly.  They whiffed on Rex because the people they trusted told them to hire him.  They whiffed on Murray and dancing Dan likely because the people they trusted told them to.

 

They have done great things for Buffalo as a community which I think is fair to grade them on.  Keeping the team in Buffalo is also something that you can grade them on.  Hiring people that they think is a good fit for the team and it not working out is something that every owner has to deal with.  Doesn't make them bad owners, just means they made a mistake.

 

They either learn from it or they keep hiring Jeff FIsher's forever.  That's just my feeling anyways.

[Coach Tuesday]

The Pegulas may be the worst owners in professional sports.  They are lovely people - they have no idea what they're doing, but refuse to listen to outside advice and continue to hire incompetent executives based on their gut feel.  They have worked hard and spent a ton of money and have nothing to show for it in either sport - both of their teams are poorly-run tire fires.