Dan

2 decades is probably about right... Think about it this way... Look at any long-time, enduring band. They all have one thing in common, good live shows. It's hard to build a loyal following when loyal fans can't/don't see you live. Perhaps its the same way with sports? Its not about just making new fans, its about making loyal, die hard fans that watch a game even though it sucks. Fans that visit message boards even though their team has sucked for nearly 2 decades. So yeah, there's a ton of new fans. But as soon as the product on the field sucks, they all tune out. The rub is, rather than realizing this and focusing on building long-term loyal fans, the league focuses all their efforts on making money and wooing the casual fan with ever changing tastes and attentions. It was just a thought. I guess I'm wrong.. Dallas and Washington just had record ratings, maybe they just need to show more Dallas games on TV.

Precisely my point. The NFL has grown but not by adding a loyal and devoted fanbase. They've grown by adding casual, tepid fans that having changing interests and priorities. Few of the new fans are truly loyal to any specific team, and fewer still care for the NFL as league. As a true fan of the game and diehard Bills fan, I could enjoy a 6-3 win this weekend... provided its a good, defensive struggle in cold, windy stadium full of screaming fans. For the newer fans, they're gonna switch that game off and look for the game that's giving them fantasy points. With fans like that, sure they've grown the league and its revenue, but as many have suggested... Those fans are destined to leave the sport as soon as they're no longer entertained for all the reasons listed. For one type of fan, we're here through thick and thin until the end of humanity. For the newer fan the NFL has cultivated, they'll flip the channel as soon as the Gilmore Girls reboot comes on air. Problem is.... The league spends all their time catering to these people, to the detriment of the entire game.

That's how I see it. Add in all the commercials. I think its all just come to a head this season. You only have to miss a game or two, because you want to watch something else, to realize... Ya know I don't need to see every second of every lousy game. The icing on the cake... You do flip over and you see the referees blow some horrendously easy call to flip the game, and you immediately turn the game off and say... Why do I need to watch that crap. However, I was thinking yesterday, could it be symptomatic of a much larger problem with the NFL? Could it be that the league and the owners in their ever growing greed began relocating and building to get bigger stadiums, more expensive seating licenses, increasing tickets... They've essentially priced out a large portion of their fan base. Sure kids grow up being fans, but they're TV fans because they rarely can afford to attend the actual games. Add in the ADD of this generation, if they're not continually stimulated with entertainment, they just switch the channel. But, you have more tepid fan bases now because they haven't grown up attending live games every week and have that deep connection with their teams.

I knew they wouldn't complete it. However, I fully expected a pass interfence/holding call against the Bills to give the Bengals one more play with no time on the clock... And that's when they complete it and win.

Listening to it on the radio might give a different perspective than watching it, but from my couch it sounded like: 1. A lot of bad penalties and poor play callling on a several occasions. That's on the coaching. When you're running well and have the ball on the 2yd line with 2 downs to score, why are you passing? When you need to run clock off and there's 2:30 on the game clock, why are you passing? 2. I really like Tyrod. He's easily the best QB we've had in more than a decade. But, he just misses his throws too much on 3rd down. It sounds like he's hesitant and has no timing with the receivers. 3. We got lucky, sure. But we played a full 60 minutes and won a tough road game. This was huge. Past teams would have given up and let the Bengals score with 30 seconds left. But this team played hard all afternoon, fought through injuries, and deserved to win. Let's not lose sight of that. 4. I hope they switch focus tomorrow ans get to business thinking about the Jags. Go Bills!

Listening on wgr550.com is all I got.

So put him in Tampa's HOF, but in the league, he had about 4 really good seasons. Then he became extremely average before finishing his career in Oakland being average there. He did stay on TV and people liked him. I guess I just think the HOF should honor players that had a great career, not a few good seasons. Does TD belong in the Hall? He's a 2,000 rusher had a stellar couple seasons. But, he's not even close IMO.

They're well down this path. Apparently "Fame" is now defined as..he played and people like him. IMO, half the players getting in in recent years are good, not truly great. Warren Sapp. Really?

The problem with Tyrod is the same problem with the entire team... There's no discernable progress from year to year. We get a little good here, a little bad there, a glimmer of hope this way, then nothing. Maybe its coaching? Maybe its the players? Maybe its a cursed stadium? I don't really know nor do I care anymore, I just want to one day watch a professional football team wear the Bills uniform again.

I said it in the gameday thread, and I'll day it again... This game illustrates all that is wrong with the Bills. We are horrbily outclassd by the best in the league. In every facet of the team, NE has play makers, whereas the Bills drop easy passes, miss easy throws, miss easy tackes, miss the FGs that they make. It's evident in every aspect of the organization from the game planning to the conditioning of the players to the depth of the roster. Honestly, until this organziation is blown up and rebuilt from the top down, I can't ever see us fielding a consistent, professional NFL caliber team. I miss watching football.

Actually this one. Had we won, we would have swept the Pats and be one 0.5 games out of the division lead. That's why games like this are so miserable. We consistently come up small in every way, when we need to play our best.

We've all been making excuses for this team for over a decade. At the end of the day, none of that matters. These are supposed to be professionals. What we're seeing, again this year, is not professional football.

This game illustrates all that is wrong with the Bills. We are horrbily outclassd by the best in the league. In every facet of the team, NE has play makers, whereas the Bills drop easy passes, miss easy throws, miss easy tackes, miss the FGs that they make. It's evident in every aspect of the organization from the game planning to the conditioning of the players to the depth of the roster. Honestly, until this organziation is blown up and rebuilt from the top down, I can't ever see us fielding a consistent, professional NFL caliber team. I miss watching football.

Considering the fact that it's statisitically difficult to beat the same team 3 times in the same year, I think it's better to lose this week. Then we beat the cheaters when it really counts in the Divisional round of the playoffs.

I've been thinking this since the Rams game. We need Dareus back. The defense had been doing well, but today it sounded like they just ran all over us. Mr. Big Puff is the key to stopping the run. He needs to get healthy fast.

I still didn't watch... So it wasn't me! Sounds like we shoulda just let Shady rest and take the week off. And our run D ..really.. needs Mr. Big Puff back.

Very nice work, indeed. Thanks to you. Shady follows his blockers better than any RB currently in the league. He reminds me of Thurman in that regard. It's beautiful to watch.

4 wins and counting! I enjoy not watching the Bills win... Way more than wathcing them lose. Can't wait to see the highlights later!

LOL. Yeah..I am old.

Does it do video out if you're watching on an ipad? So I could watch on a hotel TV (i have the hdmi cable adapter) And thanks all for the responses.... Seems like its a good deal for someone that wants to watch the games but can't watch the games live.

Good question... And I'm anxious to hear more feedback. I've considered getting this as well, seeing as how its now proven that I'm a jinx and can no longer watch the games live. I enjoy listening to Murph and Kelso call the game, but it would be nice to see the games in their entirety later.

I hope to be at my parents house next weekend... Its always the best of times watching the Bills with them. But, I don't know man... Its a tough call.

I miss seeing the Bills win.... But I gotta say it's worth it to get our first 3 game win streak in 5 years. Keep it up everyone! Go Bills!

I've thought about that. I've just got to find a way to record them... or possibly get the NFL rewind stuff? I think that shows all the games. This year has been an even crazier year than most for me. I'm essentially homeless and have wandered from USVI, FL, MS, IL, MA (next) since the season started. So, I don't even have a TV to record and watch on. So it's all gotta be online for me. I've never been able to get behind the "tank for a draft pick" idea. I just can't do it. I can understand the reasoning, and it's probably not all that bad of an idea. But, I just can't. I want the Bills to win every week and nothing; no amount of 7-9 futlility can ever change that. Interesting. I tried the WGR app on my iPad and iPhone. Both weeks I got the same message... due to NFL restrictions we can't stream this braodcast on our mobile app. (or something very similar) So, both times I hotspotted my phone and cranked up the laptop, opened the WGR webpage and just clicked the "Live" radio link. It's worked like a charm both weeks. I have a Mac laptop, using an outdated version of Firefox and the Flash plugin (almost 2yrs old - I don't upgrade my devices for conspiracy reasons). So, it's certainly not an issue with you needing to upgrade, I'd guess. Do you have the Adobe Flash Plugin installed? That would be the first thing I'd check. Could be the browser, if you're on IE (maybe)??? I guess you'd know if you can listen to the Live WGR feed now. If that's the case and you can't get it on game day... The only other thing is maybe they do black it out if you have a Buffalo IP address??? Seems extreme, but using a free VPN prgram would solve that if all else seems to check out. I must say, listening to Murph call the game is refreshing compared to TV announcers.

Well... Typically with the lucky shirts/jersey/hat/underwear/pre-game meals/ etc. combinations, I would consider 2 or more lossess or wins as a measure of failure or success. So, although its highly unlikely we lose again given I won't be watching, a single loss is factored into the equation. I appreciate everyone's support. I may need some help when we're riding a 5 game win streak into the rematch with the cheaters. That will be difficult to stay away from! But until then.... Go Bills!