oregonbbfan Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 What do you think the main purpose of that presser was. I know it was supposed to give us a feeling about the future but has it created more questions than what were answered? There were many posts, mine included , about whether Ralph would pull out all stops to create a winning team. Marv tried to sugar coat the amount Ralph was willing to spend, i.e. "we will spend to the cap" but the Buffalo fan is too savvy, and sorry to say, know more about cap than Marv does. So Marv as Marv tried to assure the fans that Ralph was going to spend actually had a lot of negative effects, namely: All our capologists now see the truth in what we will spend Now that we all figured out what they are willing to spend, we are discouraged about the signing of our own FA's and our ability or desire to sign others. If they were trying to sell tickets, I'm not so sure they sold many with this presser This presser, after generating more questions than answered, now have more concerned about what Ralph is thinking and maybe he is really looking at selling the team. Marv did nothing to project a knowedgeable GM. If you don't know much about the cap, and he could be the sly fox here, you deferr to Obermier ( sp ?) and not say you don't know much about it even if you don't. I would think the GM should be fairly versed on the cap. I really like Marv but he disappointed me today. What was supposed to project stability and a plan going forward makes me a little queezy. They would have been better off skipping this presser. Was it me or was there a little exasperation in Marv's tone that he has lesser limits or bounderies than he'd like to have due to the Boss. I always liked Ralth but am getting real tired of his never being willing to go the extra mile. I hope this all misinformation to throw the others off. We will see real soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RayFinkle Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 um, check the 5 page thread right below this one.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartshan-83 Posted February 16, 2007 Share Posted February 16, 2007 He just likes to fck with Deluca every now and then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I 90 Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 um, check the 5 page thread right below this one.... Please don't. I hope the purpose was to lower free agent expectations while inspiring confidence in the Wilson-Levy fundemental and workmanlike (cheapass) plan. It makes sense if the all the unusual caproom that exists for so many teams leads to big prices for those players lucky enough to be available. Overbidding on mediocrity wouldn't be step forward. Is mediocrity on the cheap a better plan ? Up to season ticket holders, I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bdelma Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 He should of said the next GM is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In space no one can hear Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 um, check the 5 page thread right below this one.... There is a scrum going on in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oregonbbfan Posted February 17, 2007 Author Share Posted February 17, 2007 I read the scrum post below and all the questions and anxiety it generated. I guess I should have mage it clearer and more concise. What was the purpose of that presser? A presser is supposed to answer questions, not generate more. Like another said, it was to lower expectations. The more I go over it the more I think it came accross to fans as capitulation. We will not spend the max or over. Ralph, spend some of the money your loyal fans have given you. Quit the poor me crap. I have listened to this bull for 47 years and it won't change till he sells. He is so dumb he won't spend and amortize some of our future. Maybe Butler was right, do all that is possible, yes, even over paying sometimes (don't agree with all his contracts) but he knew you have to keep your good players. Marv should have skipped this presser and let us speculate rather than tick a lot of people off and show his inadequacies. I like Marv but now I am beginning to wonder. I hope I'm wrong. Our only chance now is for DJ to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acantha Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 I have a question. Is it cooler to call it a presser? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrite Gal Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 I read the scrum post below and all the questions and anxiety it generated. I guess I should have mage it clearer and more concise. What was the purpose of that presser? A presser is supposed to answer questions, not generate more. Like another said, it was to lower expectations. The more I go over it the more I think it came accross to fans as capitulation. We will not spend the max or over. Ralph, spend some of the money your loyal fans have given you. Quit the poor me crap. I have listened to this bull for 47 years and it won't change till he sells. He is so dumb he won't spend and amortize some of our future. Maybe Butler was right, do all that is possible, yes, even over paying sometimes (don't agree with all his contracts) but he knew you have to keep your good players. Marv should have skipped this presser and let us speculate rather than tick a lot of people off and show his inadequacies. I like Marv but now I am beginning to wonder. I hope I'm wrong. Our only chance now is for DJ to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Actually the Bills are involved with negotiations right now with these three where as long as you feel like you are going to stay in the game (he said resigning what we got is important and he left numeric room for at least one big size resigning) then creating a sense of restraint and uncertainty is not a bad negotiating poster (though it is dangerous as it increase the chances that Fletch and Kelsay simply assume they are gone and the Bills are out of the game with them). Likewise, the Bills are about to enter an intensive draft period where keeping your opponents in the dark about your needs and what you will do is a primary goal so again a goal of any presser right now is to create uncertainty and multiple options. I know us fans want real info, but for this fan if the choice is between tell me the truth and give aid to our competitors or lie to me but keep them in the dark or fool them I vote LIE TO ME. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nanker Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 Actually the Bills are involved with negotiations right now with these three where as long as you feel like you are going to stay in the game (he said resigning what we got is important and he left numeric room for at least one big size resigning) then creating a sense of restraint and uncertainty is not a bad negotiating poster (though it is dangerous as it increase the chances that Fletch and Kelsay simply assume they are gone and the Bills are out of the game with them). Likewise, the Bills are about to enter an intensive draft period where keeping your opponents in the dark about your needs and what you will do is a primary goal so again a goal of any presser right now is to create uncertainty and multiple options. I know us fans want real info, but for this fan if the choice is between tell me the truth and give aid to our competitors or lie to me but keep them in the dark or fool them I vote LIE TO ME. Didn't work so well for the President. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsVet Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 For all those optimists out there: Which other teams are restricting their front office with this cash to the cap idea? And are those teams close to being playoff-bound? Because we just did. Read into this PC what you'd like, our ability to import talent took an uppercut to the jaw when we decided the NFL's financial limits weren't strict enough for us. Cash to the cap is a term that translates into spend less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrite Gal Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 Didn't work so well for the President. Exactly. I think it's fine for my sports teams to lie to me to win this little game, but I think it is wrong and stupid for my President to lie to me about real stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scribo Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 What do you think the main purpose of that presser was. I know it was supposed to give us a feeling about the future but has it created more questions than what were answered? Such good questions. As a PR guy myself, I know an organization should only holds press conferences to promote something positive or counter a negative. Either way, you need to have a strong message to convey with an intended result of that message. The only intended result I can imagine the Bills were aiming for this time was motivating the fan base. That has to be the goal, and I really believe the team failed terribly. Unless Marv ignored his PR director, that director should probably be fired today. Marv certainly had a message to convey, but it was not what the fans wanted to hear. In my opinion, if you cannot tell the fans what they want to hear, don't tell them anything. But there are always positive ways to explain things. Yes, spin doctoring. This press event had the potential to drive up early ticket sales, to generate some positive local and national press and give players outside the organization a feeling that the team is indeed committed to winning. Instead, the message that came out was the Bills know what needs to be fixed but won't spend as much as most of the rest of the league. I don't necessarily disagree with the team's long-term strategy, but I think Marv and his PR staff did a horrid job yesterday at putting the best face on their strategy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jahnyc Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 I think the intended audience of the "presser" was the nfl hierarchy and big revenue teams. The message is clear: the lack of agreement on revenue sharing among the nfl teams has put the Bills in the position of being unable to compete with regard to signing bonuses to retain players or to sign free agents. The press has picked up on the cash to cap concept and it is highlighted on the Buffalo Bills website. This is no accident. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oregonbbfan Posted February 17, 2007 Author Share Posted February 17, 2007 Exactly scribo, if you can't say something good, don't say anything. This PR gaff should not have been held. Not only did did he alienate many fans and free agents out there with his surrender to the big boys, we come across as bush league and totally cheap. He may have tried to appear focused and all he did was come across as someone unable to multi-task. I'm beginning to wonder if all that age in the front office is not a detriment to our success. Marv is still learning at an age when it is more difficult to learn and Ralph is losing it. Ralph needs to quit begging and go out with dignity instead of a cheap azz whiner. The shame of all this is that I admired these guys for so many years. There is still hope that Ralph will come to his senses and make a splash, for once in his life. I can hope can't I? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scribo Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 I think the intended audience of the "presser" was the nfl hierarchy and big revenue teams. The message is clear: the lack of agreement on revenue sharing among the nfl teams has put the Bills in the position of being unable to compete with regard to signing bonuses to retain players or to sign free agents. The press has picked up on the cash to cap concept and it is highlighted on the Buffalo Bills website. This is no accident. You must be right, but that makes little business sense to me. As the old cliche goes, Marv is cutting off his nose to spite his face. This battle for more revenue sharing does not seem to be close to winnable, so I cannot understand why the team would at this point risk allientating its already fragile ticket-buying fanbase just to send a message to owners who DO NOT care any way. The Deadskins and Cowgirls do not give one damn bit about the Bills or parity. Those teams are raking in the dough with or without winning. The NFL is aready getting it from politicians, and this press conference did nothing to call fans to action. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeLuca1967 Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 Levy did accomplish one amazing feat of Friday. He made Matt Millen look like a friggin genius. The Bills thought they could throw Marv out there and tell some lame jokes and and skate by. They must have been mortified that actual football questions were asked. Levy being so out of touch is an embarrassment to the franchise. It got to the point of being sad. WGR had it right. It's not like Marv was cornered at some airport and was blindsided. The Bills called this press conference. What was their plan. Did Levy have a 20 minute presentation on Red & Blue quarterbacks he never got to finish? Was there anything sadder than Marv talking about charts and graphs he didn't understand. If it was in a meeting shouldn't he have stayed until he understood. Is it too much to ask that the Bills have an informed General Manger? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scribo Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 Levy did accomplish one amazing feat of Friday. He made Matt Millen look like a friggin genius. The Bills thought they could throw Marv out there and tell some lame jokes and and skate by. They must have been mortified that actual football questions were asked. Levy being so out of touch is an embarrassment to the franchise. It got to the point of being sad. WGR had it right. It's not like Marv was cornered at some airport and was blindsided. The Bills called this press conference. What was their plan. Did Levy have a 20 minute presentation on Red & Blue quarterbacks he never got to finish? Was there anything sadder then Marv talking about charts and graphs he didn't understand. If it was in a meeting shouldn't he have stayed until he understood. Is it too much to ask that the Bills have an informed General Manger? Agreed. I have to believe he has a good sized PR staff who should have really been working to ensure he was ready for every possible question that could possibly be posed. Either his staff failed him or he ignored him. I have no problem with a GM staying out of the weeds and really letting his top directors take true ownership of their responsibilities, but Marv needs to at least know the basics of each element of running the team. It makes me wonder if Marv is more of a figurehead than a real working part, providing meaningful input that is acted upon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pyrite Gal Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 Levy did accomplish one amazing feat of Friday. He made Matt Millen look like a friggin genius. The Bills thought they could throw Marv out there and tell some lame jokes and and skate by. They must have been mortified that actual football questions were asked. Levy being so out of touch is an embarrassment to the franchise. It got to the point of being sad. WGR had it right. It's not like Marv was cornered at some airport and was blindsided. The Bills called this press conference. What was their plan. Did Levy have a 20 minute presentation on Red & Blue quarterbacks he never got to finish? Was there anything sadder then Marv talking about charts and graphs he didn't understand. If it was in a meeting shouldn't he have stayed until he understood. Is it too much to ask that the Bills have an informed General Manger? One would think that the observers and legends in their own minds who declared last year's draft as a disaster in similar old fart (if not Alzheimered) laden language about Marv being over the bend, would take a step back in these declarations based on the results that the draft choices simply got a lot of PT on a team which improved its W/L from the year before and did this against competition which performed far better than the average NFL opponent. The bottom-line appears to be that us observers cannot see what exactly the Bills were trying to accomplish with yesterday's press conference, but the most likely explanation for this is that the Bills were trying to do something which we cannot see (as we are neither privy to all their conversations nor what exactly the over-arching strategy is) rather than a conclusion that all of the folks involved are simply nuts. I think the two most likely audiences that the Bills were intending to reach yesterday was either, folks they are not interested in tipping their hands to because they are in negotiations with them (the FA players and/or the NFL over revenue-sharing). The press conference was so short and their was so little advance publicity or hoopla about it, my sense is that they had some specific message or messages they wanted to get out to these audiences or lay a context for their discussion with them and having done so Marv spoke briefly and then dropped back. My guess is that they decided that they would run the risk of giving out nuggets of information about their strategies in exchange for the opportunity to create the context they wanted for negotiation this week. It strikes me as pretty impossible for us to say what those nuggets or messages were because we all still have little authoritative clue about what strategy for team-building the Bills are pursuing. My guess is that since the deadline for naming franchise players is this coming Thursday that the Bills are most interested in setting a context for the final negotiations with players over use of the franchise tag. One of the more interesting developments to me yesterday was what the messages delivered yesterday say to London F-B. 1. They said without saying it directly to him that they want to look elsewhere for a attacking LB rather than a pursuing LB (a point I found odd since in our scheme we clearly often assigned him to pursue and do coverage rather than go for sacks and attack if we wanted him to pinch and play at the point of attack more than we should not have chosen to run a scheme which puts the MLB in a better position to make INTs than it does the CBs). 2. Marv seemed to give a bit more strategic insight than he gave with other situations in saying that the Bills do have Crowell as an alternative at MLB if Fletch walks, i saw this interlude as an attempt to create leverage over Drew Rosenidiot who is probably holding tough in negotiations for extending F-B because the Bills have few good alternatives from FA or the draft at MLB. My guess (and i mean GUESS) at why they did this presser (as it is being called) is that they are trying to leverage the best deal they can out of F-B. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeLuca1967 Posted February 17, 2007 Share Posted February 17, 2007 It strikes me as pretty impossible for us to say what those nuggets or messages were because we all still have little authoritative clue about what strategy for team-building the Bills are pursuing. It seems they made it pretty clear. Ralph will not spend anything over the this years TV revenue. I would guess they are doing so as to not burn any future TV revenues. My guess is they are preparing for a sale. It's much like the Sabres situation where Regier was not allowed to pick up any long term contracts until the sale of the Sabres was complete. Adding this to everything Ralph has said about the Bills and WNY over the past year? It doesn't look good sports fans. Not good at all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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