Steve B

**festivus** · 01-01-2008, 03:25 PM

I got the feeling Steve B was (a) nervous and (b) trying very hard to communicate to the media and fans that he respected Billick and honored his career with the Ravens. I think some of you are reading more into the presser than it deserved; sometimes a simple explanation is the best.

**purplepoe** · 01-01-2008, 03:27 PM

Originally Posted by festivus

I got the feeling Steve B was (a) nervous and (b) trying very hard to communicate to the media and fans that he respected Billick and honored his career with the Ravens. I think some of you are reading more into the presser than it deserved; sometimes a simple explanation is the best.

Sorry, but when the GM of the team who's worked daily with Billick for almost 10 years says nothing about the him, Im gonna wonder what in the hell is going on.

And we didn't get a simple explanation at all. We got alot of tangents and unprepared answers to obvious questions.

The only person who seemed very content and forthright in the decision was Dick Cass.

And that fact alone is scary.

Im sorry, but if you think Ozzie was ready for this and was 100% on board, then I think you are missing something.

PP

**highwater** · 01-01-2008, 03:42 PM

Originally Posted by purplepoe

And we didn't get a simple explanation at all. We got alot of tangents and unprepared answers to obvious questions.

The only person who seemed very content and forthright in the decision was Dick Cass.

And that fact alone is scary.

Im sorry, but if you think Ozzie was ready for this and was 100% on board, then I think you are missing something.

I agree with purplepoe -- there was a vibe to that press conference that just didn't seen right, and a large part of it was Ozzie's reluctance to really say anything of substance. As I think I mentioned earlier in this thread, I'm not sure he was on board with this decision.

And as I also mentioned in this or another thread, I don't know why the hell Dick Cass, who as Bisciotti informed us has "run a successful law firm for thirty years," had such a big say in this. Who cares if he's run a law firm for thirty years?

I guess I'm repeating myself, but I just don't like how this all went down.

**Purpleguy** · 01-01-2008, 04:13 PM

The Biscuit is one of these guys that believes that they were successful in one venture then they will automatically be successful in this venture. After all business is business, right?

Unfortunately, at Aerotek, Steve didn't have a group of 53 guys with a payroll of over 70 million, and all most of those guys learned in college was how to read a playbook. An NFL team is an entirely different entity than any other business. That is why successful owners leave the operations to the football people they hire. I don't recall Art Modell holding many press conferences while he was owner in Baltimore. I don't hear alot out of Rooney, Kraft, or even little Irsay unless it's right after they won a Superbowl. The Biscuit seems to bomb everytime he has one of these "state of the team addresses" after a bad season.

This guy has alot more in common with Dan Snyder, Jerry Jones, and Al Davis than you think. He was very manipulative in his presser, saying thinks like he's only been in the locker room once while nobody was in there. You don't need to go into the locker room to poll it, moron. I picked up on alot of, "I'm really not lying, but I'm not telling the truth either", in that presser. I don't trust him, and like Dan Snyder, it's going to take a lot of cash to get a quality football guy to "trust" him as well.

**festivus** · 01-01-2008, 04:28 PM

Originally Posted by purplepoe

Im sorry, but if you think Ozzie was ready for this and was 100% on board, then I think you are missing something.

I never said Ozzie was ready or 100% on board. And I'm not thrilled with this decision originating with ownership. But I'm not ready to start trashing Steve B. for making the decision, and comparing him to Angelos as some have done. I don't think it was a decision made lightly, and I am not ready to agree with claims like Ozzie was lying when he said it's something that had been discussed for some time.

I've said more then once recently that the season had been such a train wreck that I could understand them letting Billick go. Well, that's come to pass, and I think they gave him a very respectful and fond farewell, even if the decision itself came across as abrupt.

Billick was often criticized - rightly or wrongly - for being afraid to make changes. Well, now we know that our owner does not suffer from that flaw. He's rolling the dice, in fact he said as much in the presser, and I am willing to go along for the ride.

**purplepoe** · 01-01-2008, 04:40 PM

Originally Posted by festivus

I never said Ozzie was ready or 100% on board. And I'm not thrilled with this decision originating with ownership. But I'm not ready to start trashing Steve B. for making the decision, and comparing him to Angelos as some have done. I don't think it was a decision made lightly, and I am not ready to agree with claims like Ozzie was lying when he said it's something that had been discussed for some time.

I've said more then once recently that the season had been such a train wreck that I could understand them letting Billick go. Well, that's come to pass, and I think they gave him a very respectful and fond farewell, even if the decision itself came across as abrupt.

Billick was often criticized - rightly or wrongly - for being afraid to make changes. Well, now we know that our owner does not suffer from that flaw. He's rolling the dice, in fact he said as much in the presser, and I am willing to go along for the ride.

1. I think you are brushing away the notion that Ozzie didn't seem 100% on board with this way too easily. He's the football guy. He's the one who gave Billick the tools to work with. Yet he's sitting there staring off into space as if he's just been told of the firing. I agree that referencing the Orioles at this point is certainly premature. However, this whole thing has left a terrible taste in my mouth.

2. I don't think it was respectful at all. He was told he was coming back. He told his team and staff he, along with them would be coming back. He was asked repeatedly by the media (who was also told by Ravens people that he was coming) about his job status and just relayed what he was told. Then, in a blink of an eye, he's blindsided. That's a slap in the fact any way you look at it. Hell, the team's website made mention of the fact that Billick was coming back on numerous occasions. Kevin Byrne, the head of PR said he was coming back. And now this? Sorry, but it stinks.

3. You're right, he is rolling the dice. And I'll be on board because I have no other choice. But he's got a long way to go to right this fiasco IMO.

PP

**festivus** · 01-01-2008, 04:44 PM

Originally Posted by purplepoe

3. You're right, he is rolling the dice. And I'll be on board because I have no other choice. But he's got a long way to go to right this fiasco IMO.

All fair points, P. I was queasy when I heard the news, I felt better after the presser but I can certainly understand your points. I will mark the date as a red flag for possible ownership issues, but will hope that it is not a sign of bad things to come.

:ihope:

**highwater** · 01-01-2008, 05:31 PM

Originally Posted by purplepoe

I don't think it was respectful at all. He was told he was coming back. He told his team and staff he, along with them would be coming back. He was asked repeatedly by the media (who was also told by Ravens people that he was coming) about his job status and just relayed what he was told. Then, in a blink of an eye, he's blindsided. That's a slap in the fact any way you look at it.

I agree, and I while I don't want pile on Bisciotti too much, I can't see how you can say this was respectful, for the reasons pp cited above.

You can come up with a lot of reasons for running Billick out of town, but hearing the owner basically say that he made up his mind yesterday and it was a gut feeling isn't too comforting to me.

"Happy New Year -- you and your whole staff are fired!"

**Dont Know** · 01-01-2008, 08:06 PM

I don't like how this all went down, Peter King sheds some light on what happened, but it just adds to the confusion.

I'm told that early in December, Baltimore owner Steve Bisciotti and Billick sat down and figured out how they'd change the staff for 2008, and how they'd handle the postseason announcement that Billick would return in 2008.

Maybe he took the loss to the Colts personal? I have no idea, the fact that he doesn't want to talk about it isn't helping. I would be cautious at this point.

**purplepoe** · 01-01-2008, 08:18 PM

Originally Posted by Dont Know

I don't like how this all went down, Peter King sheds some light on what happened, but it just adds to the confusion.

Maybe he took the loss to the Colts personal? I have no idea, the fact that he doesn't want to talk about it isn't helping. I would be cautious at this point.

Well, that column just made me even more unhappy with this whole thing.

Talk about blindsiding a guy.

Even the biggest Billick bashers should be able to see how poorly this whole thing was handled.

Yuck.

PP

**BertinNC** · 01-01-2008, 08:23 PM

Originally Posted by Purpleguy

That is why successful owners leave the operations to the football people they hire. I don't recall Art Modell holding many press conferences while he was owner in Baltimore. I don't hear alot out of Rooney, Kraft, or even little Irsay unless it's right after they won a Superbowl. I think Bisciotti HAS left a lot of the operations to the football people he hired and I am sure a lot of those same owners have just as many pressers but most are just picked up locally or remembered locally as many don't care of pressers about less than average seasons of teams you have no interest in ... unless there is a hiring or firing.

This guy has alot more in common with Dan Snyder, Jerry Jones, and Al Davis than you think. I think that comment is way overboard, he has never been known to be one to want to call all of the shots and who to draft and all of that He was very manipulative in his presser, saying thinks like he's only been in the locker room once while nobody was in there. You don't need to go into the locker room to poll it, moron. Moron? Once again I think that is overboard, maybe he has let the team run as it has for a long time and maybe there was a lot of lost interest from the team or players talking to HIM that made him change his mind. Maybe a poor public speaker but I would say far from moron. I picked up on alot of, "I'm really not lying, but I'm not telling the truth either", in that presser. I don't trust him, and like Dan Snyder, it's going to take a lot of cash to get a quality football guy to "trust" him as well. I still say that those in the industry knows this is a great organization and know with the talent, when healthy, we have not to mention the tenure of our last coach that this is a great job to take.

I respectfully disagree.

**Purpleguy** · 01-01-2008, 08:32 PM

That Peter King article made me sick. The more stories like that are leaked, then the less likely a top candidate will want to come here.

BertinNC mentions Billick's tenure and our talent. Most of billick's tenure was under Art Modell and most of our talent is from that era as well. Much of our talent needs to shut their mouth. Any new coach worth his weight in salt will want this to be his team, not Ray's, or Ogdens, or C-Mac's, or Ed Reed's, etc.. I think it's going to take a major house cleaning and a ton of money to bring in a top candidate. The money doesn't bother me because coach's salaries don't count against the cap like aging hobbled QB salaries. The Biscuit can just jack up our ticket prices again to pay a new coach.