granitestatebillsbackers

I really don't care what a long strange trip it's been a long time since I rocked and rolled a doob but then forgot hey are there still Twinkies in the breadbox but Belicheat isn't human--I checked-hahahahahaha--hey, what if Ralph shows up for the HOF ceremoni...wait, what was the question? New TBD Poll: Do you care if TBD readers smoke marijuana? __ Yes __ No __ Huh?

They would need a robust corporate suite program and personal seat licenses--but can the market bear that?

I subscribe to Sunday Ticket, and I am hardly aristocratic--oh wait, that was your term, not mine. As for my being "laughably pathetic," I'd reserve that label for the geniuses who have characterized fans who refuse to showboat and threaten to cancel EVERYTHING as suffering from "beaten wife syndrome," or your clever reference to "broken souls," whatever that means. Another poster--Dr. Chimp, Mr. Chimp, The Chimp, whatever--suggested that I stop sucking Ralph Wilson's dick. Nothing affirms a poster's credibility more than resorting to that kind of thoughtful, intellectual response.

Give me a break. This board is full of posers who believe that their season tickets or Sunday Ticket subscriptions entitle them to throw out all reason and common sense, rattle their swords by threatening to cancel everything, and heap disrespect on fans who dare to speak in support of this team. Some of you were around during the late Sixties and early Seventies when there was season after season of crushing disappointment. What makes it so different now? The fact that you are spending money? As I suggested in my original post, nobody is forcing you to spend the money. Let's call your posturing what it is: sandbagging. You're publicly bitching and moaning to buy an option on the right to tell the fans "nyah nyah nyah...told you so" next season if it goes badly. If it goes well, no harm, no foul--you fade back into the crowd of elated posters and all of this will be forgotten. Here's the calculus, if your brain isn't too addled with delusions of omnipotent power and influence because you've had the same lousy RWS seats for the past 137 seasons, blah blah blah: Bills fan DOES NOT EQUAL Dick Jauron supporter. Bills fan DOES NOT EQUAL Ralph Wilson supporter. You're either in or you're out. If you're a fan, great. If you're no longer a fan, hit the bricks.

What?! Did the sun rise in the west today? A TBD post that actually has some rational analysis? Your analysis makes sense. Kudos to you, because if I read one more self-indulgent post by a "fan" threatening to cancel tickets, burn Bills gear, etc., I am going to throw my Dell out the window. You're all trying to be clever and witty, but here's what you sound like: "Wahhhhhh. I have disposable income that enables me to buy season tickets, so that entitles me to whine sancimoniously about the quality of the 'product." "Wahhhhh. I am so mad about Jauron staying on as HC, I am going to hold my breath, stomp my feet, and not eat my carrots. Did I mention that I have season tickets and I am entitled to whine sanctimoniously about the quality of the product?" News flash: this is NFL football, not life-saving surgery. This is entertainment. If you don't like the entertainment, don't go to games, don't watch games, don't buy stuff--the same way you choose not to watch movies directed by certain people, or select the NHL over NASCAR. I'll bet when the Bills were 5-1 and the product was 'good,' the thought of selling your tickets or cancelling DirecTV was the farthest thing from your minds. Nobody is forcing you to spend a dime on Bills football--in fact, I am jealous of the fact that you can drop that kind of coin for tickets, travel and all the trimmings. So, fine. Vent a little on TBD, sell your tickets, cancel Sunday Ticket and sell your Bills merchandise on eBay. Then, don't let the turnstile hit you on the ass on your way out. Those of us who understand what it means to be a fan of an NFL team--especially one that has been part of our lives from childhood and is inextricably tied to the character and personality of a city--will still be with this team next year and for as long as it is in Buffalo. Your assertions that we are mindless drones will have about as much effect on our commitment as fans as your selling your season tickets will have on the Bills franchise.

Ok, assume for a moment that Jauron et al are gone, and that the same basic core of offensive and defensive players is in place for the 2009 season. What transforms this team from a 7-9 or 8-8 squad to a contender? Or are we looking at a 9-7 near miss for the playoffs next year? Or will the Doomsday Scenario, i.e. Mr. Wilson passes and the team does a "colts" in the middle of a cold, snowy February night, render all of this moot? Just wonderin'.

This isn't directed at any particular response, but... Wah! My team isn't winning! Wahhhh! I can't brag to my friends that they are leading the AFC East! Wahhhhh! I pay for tickets and watch them on TV so they owe me! Wahhhh! The wrong QB is in! Wahhhh! My shoes hurt! Wahhhh! This cheeseburger is cold. Wahhh! I should have used my 7-iron instead of my 8-iron! Wahhh! Throw Jauron, Wilson, and the rest of them under the bus and start over! Cripes. If some of the fans on this board lived their lives and did their jobs the way they react to the Bills, we'd have chaos.

Ah, yes, the proverbial "spark." Panacea of the misinformed, bane of true fans. In the midst of no pass rush, a banged-up secondary, an O-line that is arguably struggling, a missing possession receiver, and iffy play-calling a QB CHANGE is going to provide a "spark?"

Storied franchise?! When the Colts ske-daddled out of town, did the league care that they were an old NFL franchise? When the Browns bolted, did anyone try to stop it? There are no storied franchises--and the owners are loathe to ever let us (the fans) have a say in a franchise again.

Let me assert at the start that I would give my left...well, you figure it out...to keep the Bills in Buffalo. My sons are 4, 2 and new, and I would love nothing more than to bring them to Bills games in WNY when they are older. Unfortunately, I think they are going to end up being Pats* fans--or if I have any influence, Steelers or Browns fans. Here's why: It is a pleasant, sentimental notion to think that Goodell is going to try to keep the Bills in Buffalo. Statements such as this: “It’s going to depend on your passion for this team,” he told the crowd in the HSBC Arena Harbour Club, citing the team’s regionalization efforts that have helped expand its market to the Southern Tier, Rochester and Southern Ontario. do little more than keep fading hope alive--as do comforting comments from former greats like Jim Kelly and Thurman Thomas, who assert that they will do everything possible to keep the team in Buffalo. Let's be clear on one point. The only thing that talks in the NFL is $$$. It's not Roger Goodell that makes the decisions, it's the 32 owners. They are the members of the trade group known as the NFL, and if relocating the team to another city means more money in THEIR pockets, they'll do it in a second. I'm a native of Lackawanna, and have been a Bills fan for 44 years (living in NH since 1985). I am afraid that the only thing that will save this team, Buffalo and Erie County residents, is your willingness to fund a large part of a ultra-modern new stadium. That will spare the new owners most of that cost, they'll rake in the PSL and luxury box revenue, and the Bills will become yet another team with an average seat price of $150. Why won't the owners pay for the stadium themselves, a la the Krafts, Jerry Jones, or the people in NYC? Because the area doesn't have the corporate horsepower (even combining Buffalo, Rochester and Toronto) to fill corporate-priced-seats, support PSLs, or fill two to three times the luxury boxes at a state-of-the-art lakefront stadium. There aren't many folks who can afford that price point out of their pockets. What about the corporations in Toronto with the deep pockets? How much enthusiasm do you think they are going to have to support a team that's 50 miles away? You can talk regionalization all you want, but when it comes down to the bottom line, any corporation that's going to support a team in a big way wants it right in its own backyard. They don't give a rat's behind about the tradition, or Mr. Wilson's legacy, or you, or me and my boys. There are people who love Ralph Wilson, and people who think he is the devil. In the end, his legacy will be the fact that there was no succession plan within his family, and a proud franchise--glory, blemishes and all--was left to die. I hope to God I'm wrong, because the saddest thing I can imagine is Buffalo without the Bills.

I'll bet a lot of us have shed tears. The only thing worse than being back home in WNY right now is being a Bills fan in the midst of smart-ass, smug Patriots* fans in New Hampshire. My in-laws, my co-workers, every third vehicle on the highway with a f*cking Patriots decal. When I go into work this morning, I'm going to get it full force. About a month ago, I started a staff meeting (every one of them a Pats* fan) by reminding people that the Bills were 5-1. Ouch. Nobody circles the wagons like the Buffa...oh hell, the wagons are burning. I've been a fan for 43 years. Hard to stop now. When Mr. Wilson passes and we find out all the posturing about keeping the team in Buffalo by our former greats was just that, it'll be time to be an NFL fan. No more heartache, no more painful Sundays. Hell, I'll even save the money I'm wasting on Sunday Ticket.

Maybe Jauron can get all Singletary and drop his drawers at halftime. That'll get 'em fired up.

Maybe we drop both to the Pats* (MAYBE), but we're not losing to the Jets and Dolphins again. How about 11-5?

I want to go 2-0 vs. the Pats*, but I've got two words for you: Wes Welker. If the D coaches don't come up with an answer for Cassel/Welker, it is going to be a LONG afternoon.

Amen.