Wilson hasn’t bought his way into the Hall

By Anthony Bialy  |   Wednesday, February 04, 2009  |  Comments( 57 )

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Owning a team isn’t enough. Ralph Wilson’s election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame might please a certain percentage of Buffalo Bills partisans, but the fact remains that his résumé doesn’t transcend football. It remains shocking that he’s joining 2009’s class, as voters obviously took some of his actions during the '60s into account more than his team’s recent or overall record.

The team itself hasn’t flourished in the NCAA basketball tournament seeding equivalent of the record over the last 10 games. It’s fascinating that Wilson was elected while his franchise drifts through the midst of an unconscionable nine-season playoff drought. Making the case should have been tougher for an owner whose team is enduring a playoff absence that’s lasted for nearly one-fifth of its history, a slide that can’t be based entirely on coincidence and rotten luck.

Wilson is inexorably linked to the Bills, which hasn’t always worked out well. The three components to on-field success are a fervent fan base, sharp management and an owner dedicated to winning. This team only definitely has the first and literally doesn’t have the second: Wilson not springing to hire a true general manager is a backward gesture that makes it difficult to consider him someone intent on accumulating victories, although it’s apparently enough to guarantee permanent enshrinement. Of course he’d say he wants the Bills to triumph, but his actions haven’t corresponded with that desire.

His habit of pleading destitution doesn’t exactly make him a sympathetic figure, either. Instead of using his influence to spearhead progress that would help Western New York evolve into a large market, Wilson has been content with the stagnant status quo when he hasn’t gotten the government to pay to renovate and help run his team’s stadium.

Anyone who truly cared about his squad’s home would be looking to reduce its tax burden instead of charging fans at the gate and both fans and non-fans with receipts from levies. Change would ultimately help both the Bills and Buffalo, but it would mean that Wilson would have to start, say, paying for gameday security, so forget it.

The salary cap that Buffalo allegedly needs to remain competitive has for unimaginably mysterious reasons not helped, as there’s never been a clearer example of the difference between an owner doing what he can to win and an owner seeing how much cash he can keep. All of Wilson’s fighting for small markets just happens to allow him to minimize his personal costs, which has as much to do with random chance as does the aforementioned postseason drought.

There’s a difference between loving the Bills and endorsing every move made by their owner. The fact that backers are as loyal as they are to a team whose major highs over a half century consist of back-to-back AFL championships, O.J. Simpson, making the 1980 and ‘81 playoffs and the Super Bowl appearances is a testament to their fortitude. The lean years aren’t the exceptions, a fact missed by voters who didn’t consider this team is 36 games below .500 over its existence.

Wilson has been coasting on participating in the AFL TV deal, being one of the merger negotiators, and his loan to the Oakland Raiders for far too long. The notation next to his bust should read “Founded the Bills; owned them; didn’t move them.” And that only applies up until right now: Despite knowing that every single fan is apprehensive about relocation, Wilson still hasn’t bothered to announce what the future holds for the ownership transfer of this team or, more importantly, its ultimate base.

Guaranteeing the franchise’s permanence in Western New York could be his legacy, but the important thing for Ralph Wilson is that he and nobody else owns the Bills. It’s not the profile of a Hall of Famer regardless of what the selectors thought.
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About Anthony Bialy

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CommentsComments: 57  |  Sign Up  View all comments
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No.1
ba bye		10:32 AM
02/04/2009
Don't forget that Ralph has donated over a zillion dollars to charities...but Amir will fill in the details later.
No.2
11:28 AM
02/04/2009
Gee whiz, I'd love to argue with A.B. today but I really can't. Wilson got into the H.O.F. this year because of his early...
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No.3
Joe P.		11:57 AM
02/04/2009
Doomed - The people of Buffalo have donated over a zillion dollars to "charity", the Bills and Wilson. I wonder if I can use it...
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