Anyone who works in an industry with lots of suits, can attest they tend to be faker than a stripper's breasts. I can say unequivocally that I hate corporate America. I hate rich people and I hate people who just give orders while not even thinking about consequences, or flashbacking to what they went through while climbing the ladder of success. At times, you do things that are right for the bottom line, instead of the moral compassing of humanity.
It is a position that I don't really have any aspirations of attaining because there's a sense of phoniness to it. A world where you can't be yourself while sending out a bunch of platitudes no one really believes in or they have to believe in because you are the boss. Outside of having trepidation in believing the words because of the insincere delivery, exists the fact that a lot of times leaders don't deliver on their promises for being better. Corporate CEO or politician. You pick it.
Buffalo has gone through a lot of this.
From the sole reason for existing… to giving the tools to finish the job… to Bass Pro/New Peace Bridge, folks are always guarded whenever rich people in highly corporate settings shower their grander quotes upon us. I'd like to be fair to Russ Brandon when he opens his mouth, but the guy will always be a politician.
He can talk about how much he loves Cuse football, or he can bestow valor quotes upon us about winning, but he will always be a suit in my eyes. It is just in his nature because he's not a football guy. He's a businessman. He's a white-collar dude who would no doubt make it in any Fortune 500 company. He just has that smooth talker demeanor going for him that he uses constantly, which would make him a gem in any other industry.
So, when he comes on the radio and talks about how he's going to evaluate the Toronto series, he knows he's in a shareholders meeting. A meeting where the stock is falling and he's doing everything he can to appease the stockholders from selling everything. Maybe folks believe him, but my experience with broken promises shapes my cynicism.
Who is he kidding?
He was in charge of the business proceedings to get us the Toronto series back in 2008 and last I checked he was only a month into his reign as being president of the team when the Bills decided to re-up for another five years. I don't think you need a marketing background to know that this series was doomed from the start. So, don't tell me that Brandon just had an epiphany about playing a neutral site game. Now, you may think I'm being too hard on Russ, but consider how many times Russ was caught in a little white lie or exaggeration.
1) Preaching continuity last year when everyone knew Chan Gailey was going to get fired.
2) Saying the Bills would leave no stone unturned in their coaching search and interviewing just five guys.
3) Saying Buddy Nix would stay for a loooooooooong time in April.
4) Hiring Chan Gailey/Buddy Nix in 2009 after all the coaching search hype.
5) Ralph Wilson Stadium is the Fenway Park of the NFL.
I'm sure I'm missing stuff. His comments last week about reevaluating the series was classic bartender judging a patron with one hand for being a dumb drunk and pouring the whiskey with the other. He mentioned how many problems the team has gone through with selling out home games this year (Here's a solution: Win some fucken games) and then he added how they were going to look at training camp at St. John Fisher. Why? That crap has been a huge success. Hmmm…Maybe the team will alternate weeks between Fisher and Toronto in August or even yearly.
Would it be out of the norm that Brandon was trying to placate a pissed off Bills fan base, or was agitated because of the Bon Jovi reports coming from Toronto? Of course. He's a politician. He's a suit. Their job is try to steer the ship right even if there are leaks in it. They try to sell you the truth while reinventing it to maintain it.
Look, I'll give you a little bit of a happy ending here. If Russ Brandon somehow gets rid of the Toronto Series, I'll fucken wash his car for the rest of my life. There would be a parade for him and it would truly show whether this franchise has really changed since he talked about the Bills brand being tarnished on the day he took over as President.
However, I'm skeptical. A lot of Bills fans have been asking the question, "Are things different with this team?" I think you have to look at Russ to really assess that question.
They always say it all starts at the top. Sadly, I've never been one to really trust the top dog in any sense of the way.
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