CA OC Bills Fan

I'm travelling for work this week to Detroit (high level business meeting of course), arrived close to midnight last night (Monday night) at the hotel. There were around 7 people in front of me to check in at the Embassy Suites near the airport. Saw a guy with a Bills shirt on and the Bills emblem shaved in his hair. I called out "Hey Bills fan" and asked what he was doing there. He said that I was at he tail end of around 30 Bills fans coming back from Green Bay who missed their connection. Sucks to end the trip that way, but said he had a blast.

What is LAMP? Nothing Google tells me makes sense and my kids don't know.

I was at the game. Got up to go to the bathroom at some point during this, can't remember exactly when, but I missed most of it. The next week they had another huge comeback in the 4th quarter against the Raiders on Sunday night football. The Bills scored on a 42 yard Kelly to Lofton pass, then a bit later James Williams blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown and the first Bills lead of the game. They then added a field goal and a fumble return for a touchdown.

I’ve been to two Monday night games, both wins. The Miami game in ‘81, 31-21, just a year after ending the 0 for the 70’s against the Fish. And ‘89 against the Rams, Frank Reich’s first start, Rams were undefeated going in. Reich sucked until the very end of the game. He had two short touchdown passes in the last 3 minutes, the Rams scoring in between. Bills won 24-20 to go to 4-2. Here’s a listing of all of Buffalo’s Monday night games. https://www.buffalorumblings.com/bills-news-notes/2015/11/16/9746950/buffalo-bills-monday-night-football-history-all-40-and-counting-games

Major mistake if you do not go to the falls. Although the Canadian side is better, the American side is still awesome. Definitely do the Maid of the Mist (it leaves from both sides) and Caves of the Winds. I moved to So Cal in '93. I plan to go to the Chargers game with two friends who lived their whole life in So Cal and became Bills fans in the early '90s. We went last year to the home opener (Jets) as well and of course we've gone when the Bills have come out West; Arizona a few years ago (Edwards concussed on first play), San Diego a few times, San Fran something like 12 or 15 years ago, LA for the Chargers last year and the Lambs the year before.

Absolutely. I grew up in Rochester. My two best friends were Dolphins fans. Actually, I didn't know many Bills fans in Rochester back in the 70's (I was born in '60). My father was a Bills fan and an Orioles fan (Rochester Red Wings were the AAA farm team of the Orioles while I was growing up). My mother was also a rabid Bills fan. My parents had an antenna on our roof where we could at least sometimes get a grainy picture of the Bills games from either Buffalo (if not blacked out) or Syracuse when they were on. Or, we'd have the radio on to listen to the games. in the '90s, when games were blacked out, my parents would go to the Garage Door (a bar / restaurant that used to be a few miles from their house) to watch the games. My father turns 94 this August and I'm very fortunate to still have him. My mother passed away 2 years ago. Her last training camp that she went to was either 3 or 4 years ago. My father still makes it to camp most summers, he wouldn't go on his own, but either me or one of my brothers or nephews will be in town at some point during camp and will want to go and he's always up to go with us. I started taking each of my kids to a Bills Backers bar in Orange County CA when each turned 8 weeks old. I kept taking them every week for several years. They're now about to turn 20 and 16. Unfortunately, even though I tried my hardest, neither is really into football. I think if asked, they both would say the Bills are their favorite team, but in actuality, they don't really care. Happy Fathers Day.

Two more come to mind that weren't mentioned yet: Andre Reed double reverse pass play. Last season, cant remember the receiver but catching the ball in bounds with seconds left in the half and the Bills in fg range. Oh, one more, didn't affect the game but boneheaded. Against Miami last season, a defender, forgot who, celebrating AFTER it was announced that his fumble recovery was overturned.

I remember when he quit I was so P.O.ed that Ralph basically ran him out of town by his cheapness. I told others I was done with the Bills and was going to send Ralph a letter telling him he lost me as a lifelong Bills fan by being so cheap. Of course, I didn't follow through with the letter and I never stopped following the Bills even though they were pretty horrible again after Chuck left. He was a very good coach who changed the culture of the Bills. I read his book many years ago and I remember him saying that the scouting staff and front office looked nothing like a professional organization when he arrived. His first order of business was to get a real scouting staff.

When you asked, I couldn't remember any. Found this website to check however (I don't remember any of the three mentioned for jersey #1): http://www.newyorkupstate.com/buffalo-bills/index.ssf/2016/06/all-time_best_buffalo_bills_by_jersey_number_part_1_1-33.html "1. Mike Hollis Only three Bills have worn the No. 1--all kickers--so there's not too much to choose from. Mike Hollis only played the 2002 season in Buffalo, but he connected on 25-33 field goals and all 40 extra points. The others who donned the No. 1 jersey, Efren Herrera (8 of 14) and Benny Ricardo (1 of 4) all had far less success. Years with team: 2002"

Sounds great. Only thing is, last I knew there are never sure things in the draft, especially QBs (okay, consensus was that Luck was a sure thing, but almost never are QBs sure things), and in particular this year there is not. Which “sure thing” did you want?

Yes, it wasn’t Trump who started the USFL or who took Kelly to Houston. But it was Trump who destroyed the USFL by moving from Spring to Fall and then suing the NFL for antitrust. Perhaps the USFL would have soon failed anyway, but could have taken a bit longer.

Not sure if I'd agree with this (assuming you mean solid in the NFL). Todd Blackledge (taken #7 by KC) was never KC's full time starter. Tony Eason (#15 by NE) played 8 seasons, was the starter for 3 seasons and was not very good. Ken O'Brien (#24 to NJ Jets) played 10 seasons, was the starter for 7 of them, and the Jets had a 50-59-1 record with him starting. A couple of footnotes: Bruce Mathison was drafted by the Rams in the 10th round. In 1985 he played for the Bills, started 7 games and went 1-6. Also, Gary Kubiak was drafted by Denver in round 8 and of course was Elway's backup for most of his career before becoming a coach.

Parella didn't go to five straight, he went to three total, but not straight. He was on the Bills for their last SB in his rookie year (1993 season/1994 SB), then the Chargers the next year when they went to the SB, and was with the Raiders for the 2002 season when they went to the SB (played in 2003).

I grew up in Rochester, born in 1960 so the 70’s is when I really was growing up. I was always a diehard Bills fan probably mostly because my parents were. However, I didn’t know any other Bills fans. My best friends were Dolphin fans. Others I knew were Cowboy fans. When the Bills finally got good in the late 80’s, I think all of that changed but there still are many fans of other teams in Rochester.I remember leaving a friend’s apartment after the 51-3 drubbing of the Raiders. I had some kind of car trouble. A kid was outside and talking to me while I was trying to start my car, he was around 10 years old, lived his whole life in Rochester and was a Raiders fan.

Great find, thanks for posting this. i live about halfway between LA and San Diego. At the time, I mostly listened to San Diego sports talk radio. I remember after the Chargers traded to the #2 spot that most that called in were very afraid that the Colts could take Leaf and they’d either be “stuck” with P. Manning or would take a non QB.

I heard Gil Brandt say it yesterday. I'm likely off with the numbers, but there were somewhere around 20 "1st round players" in this year's draft.

I have Bills plate covers on all four of my family's cars even though my wife and kids (sadly) only care about the Bills because I do. Obviously Bills plates aren't available in California but I've never wanted to pay the state an extra annual fee for specific plates so I doubt I'd have them if I still lived in NY.

What are you disagreeing with? No one above said he was the best Bills DL, although Colorado said he was his favorite. Sadly I don’t remember any of them. I was born in ‘60, didn’t follow football until I was around 8, and even then only remember offensive players until years later.

Great news. Good luck Frank!

Was listening to Polian the other day. First, he spoke up both Reich and Frazier for the job (Reich a bit more enthusiastically), then he basically how bad off the Colts are. Not saying Reich should wait and not take it, but that th Colts have virtually nothing other than Luck and are likely to be last in the division until they can completely turn over the roster.

I disagree. Perhaps “fun” is going too far, but you should enjoy your job. People leave well paying jobs all the time because they don’t like their boss, their colleagues, the company culture, etc. We spend most of our waking hours at work, ͏y͏o͏u should not be miserable their. Now, I also think part of enjoying your job is being successful, so, if the rest is great but the company is consistently doing horribly, that can take much of the enjoyment out. The original premise was 5 rings (I.e. consistent success) in a fear based organization vs. 1 ring (I.e. some success) in a fun organization. I think it still depends on the person as many likely don’t consider the one fear based as much as driven to succeed. But, I think if as am employee you believe it’s fear based, you’d prefer to be in the occasional success environment.

First, I’d love for the Bills to get Foles, I don’t believe his postseason play is a fluke. The Eagles do not have significant cap issues that would force them to make this move, Jason Peters will be gone if he doesn’t restructure to give cap relief. They have less free agents than most teams and I believe know what they want or can do with them. Combined, there top two qbs are making less than many teams are paying one. They will get get a quality backup cheaper than Foles. Wentz had an acl and lcl tear. Those are the reasons the Eagles should keep him. On the other hand, Wentz still is confident he’ll be ready and will start the season opener. It seems unlikely the Eagles will be able to keep Foles for more than this season as he will sign a big contract elsewhere. They can likely get a first for him now or get nothing next year (unless they plan to tag and trade which could be possible). Ultimately, I think it depends on: - when do they believe Wentz will be ready - what are they offered - what is their backup backup ab plan As I started with, I would be thrilled for the Bills to make a run for him.

I read your first few posts and then skipped ahead to the last page. As with most here, I can't buy much of what you are saying. Of course he has the legal right to change his mind, pretty sure no one is in dispute on that. Your argument is that there is no integrity issue with what he did since he did not sign a contract and that is where I and others disagree with you (including Tony Dungy, Bill Polian, Pat Kirwin - but, as you say, his kids could care less about what any of them or us think). You made the statement that anyone who gets a better offer and would still honor their verbal commitment is lying. I don't buy that at all. I know I have and would in the future honor my word with or without a signed agreement (I've always been an "at will" employee so a signed agreement could not stop me from changing my mind if I so desired). I've switched companies and have told the one I was leaving to not bother counter offering because I already accepted the other position. I've hired quite a few people in my time, and none has ever backed out although I've always heard that it's possible. I have had people delay giving an answer because they have been waiting for either a counter offer from their current company or an offer from someone else they've been waiting on. In those cases, yes, some have taken the other offer, but, they never accepted the position with me either verbally or in writing prior to the other offer. If they did agree and then decommitt, they would have been blackballed from every company I've worked for. The point is, the time to negotiate both and to do due diligence with your family, etc. is BEFORE you give your word, before you hire others to follow you, not after. That's called integrity and in my opinion most still have it. To your points that teams break contracts all the time, not really true. They act within the agreement. I.e. with coaches they pay the remainder of the contract (as you know, Rex is still taking quite a bit of money from the Pegulas), or whatever the terms were. When Ralph fired Wade and refused to pay him saying he quit but being insubordinate, I think most Bills fans were horrified by Ralph's actions and he eventually lost in court.

I was at that game. When Denver lined up to take the FG I decided it was a good time to go to the bathroom. Bad decision. https://www.buffalorumblings.com/2010/9/30/1703600/september-30-1990-bills-score-20-points-in-77-seconds Also, the next week was the Monday night game against Oakland that others had mentioned where they came back from losing from 10 to winning by 14 in the 4th quarter. It was not quite as dramatic a comeback only because it took longer (i.e. more than 77 seconds), but was still a huge comeback in back to back games. I remembered both of those, but had forgotten until I just watched this video but the following week they came back against the Jets in the last 30 seconds to make it three straight fourth quarter come from behind victories. http://www.buffalobills.com/video/videos/1990-Three-Straight-Come-From-Behind-Victories/f1793f31-d7f1-4abb-9c20-82fd3e075d7a

Three years ago, both of our dogs died. Our whole family went when we put Lulu to sleep in March. I think it was important for all of us to say goodbye. Eight months later our other dog was having breathing problems. The vet wanted to keep him overnight for treatment, we got a call in the middle of the night that Buckley died of heart failure. I was upset that we weren’t with him and able to say goodbye. Bring your family with you.