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The Russ Brandon - Buffalo Sabres Thread


LGR4GM

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So here's my response to 38 from the GM thread; he asked why people don't like Russ:

 

Mainly, he moved a bunch of Buffalo Bills (NFL team) home games for Toronto, one per season, for a few seasons.

 

He also was the de facto GM of the Bills for a short period of time, despite the fact that his background is in business and not marketing.

 

The prevailing theory (to which I do not subscribe) is that, as a high-level executive with both the Bills and the Sabres, he is involved with player / personnel decisions despite a lack of qualifications with respect to either team.

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It is creeping into multiple threads. What does Brandon do for the Sabres? Is he helping Terry with the GM search? Do you think he is good or evil? Light or dark?

http://buffalonews.com/2017/04/24/tim-grahams-power-take-thank-russ-brandon/ 

The problem in knowing what Brandon does is that the organization, either because it doesn't respect the fans or is paranoid that its state secrets will be revealed, doesn't feel it necessary to tell us. We'll never know details of the Drury-Briere deal, the LaFontaine Affair or the Great Babcocktease of 2015. What did Sawyer do and why did he leave? Mind your bidness, fans.

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Russ Brandon is balls deep into Bills operations. He's a regular in their War Room. Why a marketing person is involved in the draft is a legit question, especially given his history of being the Bills GM at one point. This is indisputable. What his role is in the Buffalo Sabres organization? Who knows. Let's hope he isn't a hockey fan.

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Russ Brandon is balls deep into Bills operations. He's a regular in their War Room. Why a marketing person is involved in the draft is a legit question, especially given his history of being the Bills GM at one point. This is indisputable. What his role is in the Buffalo Sabres organization? Who knows. Let's hope he isn't a hockey fan.

 

He's in the War Room, man. The freakin' WAR ROOM, sending out his Brandon vibes. What more do you need?

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He is President of the freaking organization. I'd be in the war room too. Some day people will realize there are three people responsible for the Bills being in Buffalo. Wilson, Pegula and Brandon.

Has he made mistakes sure and he'd be the first to admit that he was out of his element as GM but he is one of the most respected executives in the NFL and will soon be the same in the NHL. His presence and ties to WNY will be huge in the growth of sports and entertainment events in the area.

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He is President of the freaking organization. I'd be in the war room too. Some day people will realize there are three people responsible for the Bills being in Buffalo. Wilson, Pegula and Brandon.

Has he made mistakes sure and he'd be the first to admit that he was out of his element as GM but he is one of the most respected executives in the NFL and will soon be the same in the NHL. His presence and ties to WNY will be huge in the growth of sports and entertainment events in the area.

He was in the War Room well before he was president of the Bills.

 

I don't see how him "keeping the Bills in Buffalo" has to do with him being involved in football personnel decisions. And let's be honest, he had 0% with keeping the Bills here and Pegs and his money bags had 100% to do with it.

 

Lastly, I don't know how you think he'd admit to his mistakes. Has he apologized for the failed Toronto experiment?

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He was in the War Room well before he was president of the Bills.

 

I don't see how him "keeping the Bills in Buffalo" has to do with him being involved in football personnel decisions. And let's be honest, he had 0% with keeping the Bills here and Pegs and his money bags had 100% to do with it.

 

Lastly, I don't know how you think he'd admit to his mistakes. Has he apologized for the failed Toronto experiment?

He did apologize actually.
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He was in the War Room well before he was president of the Bills.

 

I don't see how him "keeping the Bills in Buffalo" has to do with him being involved in football personnel decisions. And let's be honest, he had 0% with keeping the Bills here and Pegs and his money bags had 100% to do with it.

 

Lastly, I don't know how you think he'd admit to his mistakes. Has he apologized for the failed Toronto experiment?

As someone else stated, he did apologize and you need to do a little research on business reaction to the business model that Russ put together. Ultimately it was Pegula money but they were astounded by the numbers Russ presented. Even a billionaire needs to be convinced he's not going to blow his fortune on a losing proposition.

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He did apologize actually.

 

Link?  I do not recall an apology -- I recall him saying it wasn't working and they were going to reevaluate the series.

 

As someone else stated, he did apologize and you need to do a little research on business reaction to the business model that Russ put together. Ultimately it was Pegula money but they were astounded by the numbers Russ presented. Even a billionaire needs to be convinced he's not going to blow his fortune on a losing proposition.

 

Crediting RB for keeping the Bills in Buffalo is like crediting a doorman with opening the door.  As I've said previously, there is NFW that he did anything other than execute RWS' wishes.  And if TP hadn't materialized like a gift from heaven, the Bills would be in Toronto right now.

 

As for presenting numbers -- again, you are giving him credit for doing what anyone in that position would've done.  More importantly, TP certainly had his own financial people run their own numbers, and they relied on their numbers, not RB's, in making the decision. 

 

Finally, when TP finally cuts RB loose, no one else is going to give him a comparable job.

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Link? I do not recall an apology -- I recall him saying it wasn't working and they were going to reevaluate the series.

 

 

Crediting RB for keeping the Bills in Buffalo is like crediting a doorman with opening the door. As I've said previously, there is NFW that he did anything other than execute RWS' wishes. And if TP hadn't materialized like a gift from heaven, the Bills would be in Toronto right now.

 

As for presenting numbers -- again, you are giving him credit for doing what anyone in that position would've done. More importantly, TP certainly had his own financial people run their own numbers, and they relied on their numbers, not RB's, in making the decision.

 

Finally, when TP finally cuts RB loose, no one else is going to give him a comparable job.

This is a great post. As I recall, the reason for pulling out of the Toronto series was due to RW's poor health and the poor numbers. As for him apologizing, I would agree, it would've been a poor PR move to apologize. Sorry fans of Toronto, we're sorry we gave you Bills games to watch and that you suck for not showing up.

 

And can we get a link also detailing his presentations to Pegula during the sale?

 

I also doubt that he's the reason people buy tickets to Bills games. We eat, drink, and breath Buffalo Bills football here in Buffalo. Ticket sales wouldn't suffer if he wasn't here. They sell themselves.

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Brandon was at a press conference today to announce the creation of the John Labatt House, next door to the arena: 

 

C-WEkjrVwAAzaG6.jpg-large.jpg

 

I'm light on facts, but I gather that it's a venture whereby Labatt USA will be able to do some small batch craft stuff.

 

I have my problems and concerns with the Pegulas as owners. And with Brandon's role and influence.

 

But it ain't all bad - that's for sure.

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Brandon was at a press conference today to announce the creation of the John Labatt House, next door to the arena: 

 

C-WEkjrVwAAzaG6.jpg-large.jpg

 

I'm light on facts, but I gather that it's a venture whereby Labatt USA will be able to do some small batch craft stuff.

 

I have my problems and concerns with the Pegulas as owners. And with Brandon's role and influence.

 

But it ain't all bad - that's for sure.

 

Labatt is moving its US HQ into the building.

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Fair deuce.

 

tumblr_nfddubm0n21rc0fiao1_1280.jpg

 

We just need some of those young hipster brewers to bring this beer back. 

 

I forget where I read it, but I believe currently it's not possible to revive the Iroquois trademark in NYS. Someone owned it for a while but now it's abandoned and I don't think it can be re-appropriated because of its Native American content. 

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This topic is OLD. A NEW topic should be started unless there is a VERY SPECIFIC REASON to revive this one.

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