I can pinpoint a moment about 5-7 years ago, that epitomizes what the Bills mean to me. It was after the Bills super bowl run, and the team slowly began to get worse. Back in these days, my family hadn't yet sprung for NFL sunday ticket, so each Sunday we waited and hoped that the Bills would be shown in our viewing area. On this specific Sunday, we were out of luck. Some other game was going to be on. Disappointed once again, we prepared ourselves of another Sunday of frequent update checking. Then, an idea came to my Dad. He had just got a TV tuner for has laptop and he must have been eager to use it because he cooked up the hairbrained scheme to drive an hour to Binghamton to get into the Bills viewing area. In the Bills area we would be free to watch the game as we pleased. Dying to see the Bills game, I agreed.
That day, my Dad and I huddled in our Honda Civic glaring at a fuzzy computer screen not as a couple of losers that could have just drove 10 minutes to a sports bar, but as Bills fans. It didn't matter who we played (Bears), or if we won (we did), what mattered is that Bills fandom runs through our blood, and it's something that can't be denied. We don't watch the Bills games because they are a great team, we watch them because we are compelled to. We grew up with them. We've watched in excitement while they've demolished teams. We've watched in shame as they were killed. Why do you think so many of you are here today after nearly 10 years of mediocrity. Because you have no other choice. So whine and complain and threaten to sell your season tickets, but in the end, you know where you'll be next season. You'll be sitting in front of you TV screen cheering for the Bills, yelling at the refs after the inevitable bad call, and celebrating with your buds after each touchdown. See you guys in Buffalo for our eventual super bowl celebration.