MEYER'S MUSINGS: Buffalo Bills hit rock bottom as the NFL’s most dysfunctional franchise
By: DANIEL MEYER
WIN COLUMNIST
Some random thoughts on items of interest that may or may not be making headlines.
With Valentines Day festivities now behind us, ‘tis the season to be in love... and opinionated:
• I know this is normally a politically based column, but last week’s news of a price hike for season tickets for the Buffalo Bills caused the sports fan in me to nearly erupt.
Jacking up the cost to watch a team that has not qualified for the postseason in a decade doesn’t sound like a sound business decision but obviously Ralph C. Wilson Jr. and the rest of the organization’s brain trust are confident the blind allegiance many fans have to the team will not waver as the latest rebuilding process of a once-proud franchise gets underway.
Not only have the Bills not made the playoffs in the past 10 years, but they also have had only one winning season during that time. The team’s struggles are deeply rooted in inconsistent drafting of college players and extremely poor decisions made in signing free agents.
While new employees have been brought in to fill the positions of general manager, head coach and various assistant coaching jobs, I remain skeptical. I’m afraid it’s just going to be the same results with a team that on the field has serious personnel issues, particularly at quarterback and up front in the trenches.
I am normally an optimistic person but at this point in time this franchise is rudderless, particularly when it comes to evaluating college prospects. Its off-the-field follies have translated into on-the-field failure year after year. I don’t see things getting better anytime soon.
The Bills franchise is the most dysfunctional in the National Football League and may be vying for the most screwed up organization in all of pro sports if the new “football people” don’t straighten things out ASAP.
My message to fans? Stay home this season and don’t buy any tickets. The team has committed to spending less and took the cheap way out with their new hires, particularly General Manager Buddy Nix and Coach Chan Gailey. You can still be a fan of the team and root the Bills on by watching the games on television and listening to the action on the radio.
The time has come for fans to show Wilson what they think about a subpar product. The team is not entertaining — in fact, it’s boring, bland and downright bad.
If I’m going to pay more, then I want more for my money than what I know some season ticket holders have been paying for the last 10 years. Sure, the cost of business goes up, but the quality of the team doesn’t appear to have improved. The decision to raise ticket prices is disrespectful to the season ticket holders who have loyally supported a franchise that rewards its fans with higher prices for a low quality, under-performing product.
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• Count me among those interested in attending a special “Irish Buffalo Tour” next month in the City of Buffalo’s historic First Ward, the “Valley” and South Buffalo as the Forgotten Buffalo organization helps remember Tim Russert and Jimmy Griffin, two of South Buffalo’s most famous native sons.
The March 5 guided tour will include bus transportation and a meal as both men will be fondly remembered for their love of the Queen City, their blue-collar work ethic and their colorful Irish-American personalities. More details are available online at www.forgottenbuffalo.com.
It’s just a hunch, but I have a strange feeling that a few pints of Genesee beer may be consumed during this tasteful tribute to “Tim and Jim.”
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• Got the wintertime blues? If you haven’t tried it yet, a way to cure those February blahs may be an afternoon of snow tubing. While tobogganing is getting lots of love thanks to the recent re-opening of the chutes at Chestnut Ridge Park in Orchard Park, I recently flopped onto a snow tube for several rides down the snowy hills of Colden.
I can honestly say it was the most fun I’ve ever had while wearing five layers of clothing and I’m now looking forward to another spirited session of tubing.
(Daniel Meyer is a columnist for the Weekly Independent Newspapers (WIN Group) of Western New York, a consortium of community-based weekly newspapers in Erie and Niagara counties with a combined circulation of over 75,000 homes. E-mail comments to: meyersmusings@gmail.com. Opinions expressed here are those of the author.)
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