Stranded in Boston

1974 MNF vs. Raiders. Bills lose lead on Jim Braxton fumble with only 1:15 left, but Joe Ferguson caps last-minute comeback drive with TD pass to Ahmad Rashad with only 26 seconds left. What a game ...

Most won''t remember him, but Lydell Mitchell was a beast for the Colts in the 1970s. Great shifty runner and prolific receiver out of the backfield (before it became fashionable). Another great back of the 70s-80s was Chuck Muncie, incredible combination of size, power and speed. The guy had stretches when he was damn near unstoppable. He scored 19 rushing TDs in 1981, I believe a record at the time. Muncie could have been the next Jim Brown -- if not for his cocaine habit.

You gotta love Tre White: "Kyle at fullback, what the hell?". Is that kid ever not smiling?

Hell yeah Pete! ? I've lived in Boston 34 years and always wear my Bills and Sabres gear proudly. I get a few sneers here and there from locals, but mostly Buffalo sports gear is a great way to attract fellow WNY transplants. We always stop and chat a few minutes; it drives my non-Buffalonian wife nuts! Last week we were heading out to Wegman's (we have one in Boston now -- but bummer, no Sahlen's hot dogs), and she said, "Do you really have to wear that hat?"

Well, you know, I've lived in Boston for 34 years, and you know, with time your feelings soften, blah blah, blah ... BS. I &^%$# HATE THE PATRIOTS WITH EVERY FIBER OF MY BEING. And so do my kids. And so will their kids, so help me God. Amen. ?

RIP, big guy. I don't get to the Harp as often as I used to, but Charles was super friendly and always had something funny to say to my twin boys.

Wait a second -- the REAL Jimmy S always ends his posts with the "psst ... J-E-T-S" thing. I smell a rat.

Awesome story, OP, thanks. Ironically, given your moniker, I used to see Thurman's mom occasionally in Houston during the Bills glory years, where she worked at my local post office. We'd always chat about the Bills; super nice lady (although she also looked like wouldn't take any guff from a young Thurman!). Also, I remember Robb Riddick well. He toiled on some pretty crappy Bills teams in the mid-80s -- but the guy was absolute money from short yardage, goal line, etc. He got some serious air on those dive plays. Now we have big Josh for that!

yeah baby! I'll be there with my twin boys! Don't you love observing the few baffled Pats "fans" at the Harp, staring as us (200+ crazed Bills fans) with dazed looks on their faces, sipping their foofy craft beers at the bar ... ? for statistics aficionados: 2007-2014, bootstrap test, p < 0.00000000001 ...

Take it easy, dude; there's good and bad people everywhere (although I'll always maintain that WNYers are particularly friendly ). But before you buzz-saw off Mass, be aware that it has a lot of good things going for it -- super high employment/work opportunity, great public education systems and world-class universities, universal statewide health care, great public transportation, etc. Plus thousands of smart, selfless people working insane hours on really important stuff for all of us -- like medical research -- when they could be making a lot more money in finance or whatever. So ... sorry you didn't enjoy visiting Mass in your teens, but I'll bet you'll appreciate it as you get older -- and wiser. (That all said, I still can't stand these New England SOBs two weekends every fall, plus assorted Sabres-Bruins games -- not to mention that BS series-ending foul call on Bob McAdoo in the 1974 Braves-Celtics playoffs series ... )

Hi Punt, I don't post here often, but thought I'd add my two cents to your comment ... I moved from Buffalo to Boston 33 years ago. No doubt New England sports fans can be smug homers -- which is especially annoying given how many of them are band-wagon transplants to the area! But in the end, spectator sports are just entertainment, and the give-and-take between fan bases is all in good fun. For example, I always enjoy sparring with my students here before Bills-Pats games (and then usually lying low for a few days after!). However, it's a bit over the top to claim that "the Boston area is full of people that [sic] feel superior to others". There are lots of good folks here, just like back home in dear old WNY. I'll assume that was a typo, and you meant "sports fans" when you wrote "people". Have a good day -- and let's go Bills!

... and we'll of course have to play New England the week after both those moon games.

heck yes, K-9! My thoughts exactly ...

Jeff Glor, from Kenmore East, baby!!

Good stuff, guys. I've lived in Boston for 32 years. Luckily my wife is from Italy and doesn't give two ***** about the Pats (except that "Jimmy Garoppolo ees very cute!"). It was also a good thing that she married me before she observed me watching a Bills game. But I have to keep an eye on my kids, especially my twin boys. So far my propaganda efforts have been successful (maybe a little too much -- one time they stomped on the Pats logo at Foxboro, which forced us to run for our lives). But if those little bastards ever come home wearing any Pats gear ... ...

Awesome, Ocemur! It's all in good fun, but I've lived in Boston for 32 years now and enjoy the yearly sparring with my (bandwagon) Pats-fans medical students. This year I threatened to fail any of them who show up to my class wearing Pats gear. They all chuckled, so I followed it with a stone-cold rejoinder: "I have tenure, so there is nothing they could do to me if I fail you." That wiped the smile off their smug little faces -- except for one kid, who I found out after class is from WNY! Anyhow, we better beat those bastards this year or I'll never hear the end of it!!!

Gentlemen, I'm with you on Robert James. (See my avatar! )

This is actually pretty fun. We've had a lot of good corners through the years. I unfortunately don't remember Butch Byrd, but for my money, Robert James was the best of the bunch (of course, DB play was more bump than run in the early 70s!). I loved Antoine Winfield (fearless tackler), and Thomas Smith was a fantastic cover guy and sticky tackler. And of course Nate Odomes just made plays. I'd take all those guys over Gilmore, although it's so hard to compare with all the rules now hindering DBs.

Since moving from Buffalo to Boston 31 years ago, I have become generally numb to the Patriots (punctuated with bouts of intense loathing). Sure, they have their blah-blah unique pin-prick passing formula that allows them to win in today's milquetoast NFL, with its faux concern for player safety. And sure, somehow the chips always seem to fall their way -- the miraculous Edelman catch, the missed face-mask call that would have offset the holding penalty that put Atlanta out of field-goal range, the dropped pick in the end zone in OT, etc., etc. But take solace, fellow Bills fans. On my way home from the Super Bowl party last night, there was absolute DEAD QUIET; I mean, you could hear a pin drop in the street. And it's not just that New Englanders have become inured to winning: it was the same going back to their first SB win in 2002 (OK, maybe there was a bit more bewildered excitement that time). Even last night, as I politely clenched my jaw and fumed as the Patriots came back in the 4th quarter, the Patriots' fans at the party mostly chit-chatted about some new device that they'd bought, or commented on the commercials. Accuse me of sour grapes if you will, but I'm making an objective, empirical observation. It's just different from back home. So I'll just keep my mouth shut and carry on for yet another off-season. But one of these nights, I'm going to drive over to Tom Brady's house at 3 AM (I know exactly where he lives), calm as could be, pull into his driveway, lock the doors of my car, and lean on the horn until the Brookline cops smash my windows and haul me out of the car. You know, like in that scene from Shawshank Redemption when Tim Robbins plays opera over the prison PA.

Hear, hear! A lot of old timers (like me) are just baffled by the whole kerfuffle. OK, the Bills had a less-than-stellar-year, and everyone is upset. But It's football, for crissake, not a soap opera! Poor Larry Felser must be rolling in his grave ...

Wow, thanks for that. Besides Shady doing Shady stuff, did you notice the block by Cordy Glenn on that play? Absolutely blasted the DE/LB 6 yards off the left end. I just love to watch Cordy play; great technique and work ethic, and strong as a bear.

Deep behind enemy lines here in Boston ... I wore my Bills hat all week, and had to listen to a lot of smack-talking from my students. Tomorrow morning will be fun! Plus the Bills fan club at the Harp across from TD Garden will be rocking next week for the LA game.

I also just saw the Alexander sack and RTP call. Just wow ... can you imagine how many times Bruce Smith would have been flagged for that?

I have to say, half the fun of threads like these is waiting for DC Tom's response.

I'll just weigh in on the "one good play" category: unknown Bill Cahill busting a 51-yard punt return back for a TD on the last game of the year in 1973, against the Jets, effectively putting the game out of reach. Oh yeah -- that was the same game in which OJ broke Jim Brown's single season rushing record. I watched that game with my brothers on a broken down black & white TV in the dingy basement of our house. To our minds, Cahill's punt return was the most exciting play in that game, because we cared much more about the Bills getting the win than that rushing record!