Ralph's Non-Ceremony
Bills owner Ralph Wilson decided late last week that he didn't want to take part in a planned halftime ceremony to present him with his Pro Football Hall of Fame ring. Joe Horrigan, the vice president of communications for the Hall of Fame, confirmed that in a phone call with The News after the game.
"Friday morning, we got a call from Marc Honan [the Bills' VP of marketing and broadcasting)] saying Ralph was not feeling up to doing it and that we would reschedule," Horrigan said.
Unfortunately, the Bills never informed the media of Wilson's decision. Nor did the Hall of Fame remove a story from its Web site, announcing the ceremony. The Hall of Fame story was still up as the lead story on the Web site at 4:30 p.m. Sunday.
The halftime ceremony was a point of discussion on chat rooms and in the local media all week. The Hall of Fame's story first appeared on its Web site on Wednesday. All in all, a pretty weak communications effort by both the Hall of Fame and the Bills, who certainly had enough time to inform the media that Wilson would not receive the ring at halftime.
And you wonder why the team can't get a play off in time.
