Thinking of throwing in the towel

[bills1960]

Dude, it's American football in the US. The NFL will never struggle to have fans. Plus, people just love to tailgate anyways.

Not worried about the NFL. I'm worried about the fan base of the Buffalo Bills in particular.

[Smears]

Man this thread depresses me.

[Chef Jim]

I pay less then $6 a month to stream my Bills and Sabres with XS Sports John, I have it hooked to my new flat screen and get a better picture then some of my cable channels. XS has been up and running for three seasons without interuption, maybe you should check it out next season.

 

That's the beauty of being an old fart. I grew up listening to the Bills on the radio. I can get the 97 Rock feed online for free and can still enjoy it.

[Bob in STL]

Buffalo Rumblings did a poll on if the Bills can win one more game this season, that is a f@!cking joke!!! To think we used to be such a proud organization, the cream-of-the-crop in the AFC during the late 80's and early 90's. Even Santonio Holmes ripped on the Bills Sunday on the CBS pre-game show when commenting on Stevie Johnson's TD celebration saying "He's playing for the Buffalo Bills..."

 

19 winning seasons out of 52

12 years without the playoffs

 

Another year of watching other teams fight for a playoff spot, teams playing in the playoffs and 2 teams (other than the Bills) playing in the Superbowl. God I miss the early 90's.

 

Santonio Holmes and Plaxico Buress .... really?

 

Quit whinning and check out the Jets lifetime record.

[bowery4]

Haven't read the thread but okay bye, enjoy your Sundays. I took a break a long time ago and it wasn't really that much of a bad thing. I also take breaks from Facebook and just watching TV in general. Gotta live life and love it too. I can understand how the Bills can make that a bit hard (you'll come back anyway, we have been imprinted HAHAHAHa evillaugh )

[Donald Duck]

That's the beauty of being an old fart. I grew up listening to the Bills on the radio. I can get the 97 Rock feed online for free and can still enjoy it.

 

 

 

My bro and I used to watch Bills games from an antenna in West Valley,New York back in the mid to late 60's early 70's. It could be a blizzard out wind blowing so hard it would turn the antenna and we would take turns going out there and turning it back near the right spot. Even then you could barely make out the players sometimes.

 

The good old days...

[Jerry Jabber]

Santonio Holmes and Plaxico Buress .... really?

 

Quit whinning and check out the Jets lifetime record.

 

At least the Jets won a Superbowl. Wish we could say the same thing. Maybe if Ralphie wouldn't have fired Polian, we would have won a Superbowl. It was frustrating watching the Colts win a Superbowl...good job on that one Ralphie

Edited December 6, 2011 by Jerry Jabber

[McBeane]

Apparently a sense of perspective is pretty rare...

[I hate the Bills !]

I dont know how much more losing I can take, you wonder why depression runs wild in WNY, the Bills are a big reason....

[Bill from NYC]

There is nothing I can do. I will never stop rooting for this team. I am even dumb enough to believe that 1 sane, solid draft could make us respectable.

Other teams do have a great draft once in a while. Ours virtually all suck. The drafts of 1995 and 2001 were very good. That's 2 in 16 years.

[Thoner7]

My bro and I used to watch Bills games from an antenna in West Valley,New York back in the mid to late 60's early 70's. It could be a blizzard out wind blowing so hard it would turn the antenna and we would take turns going out there and turning it back near the right spot. Even then you could barely make out the players sometimes.

 

The good old days...

 

When I was a kid, and the games were blacked out, my Dad used to climb on the roof and gerry rig our antenna with coat hangers so we could pick up the Syracuse feed (back before the blackouts consumed syracuse like I think they do now. I grew up on the east side of Rochester btw). That was prob 15 years ago. Now my Dad doesnt even bother to watch the team and starting last year I dont always set aside the time to watch them either. If I do have a free Sunday afternoon I try to watch the other [real] teams play.

 

I still like coming to this site as a football fan bc it really is the best board around, hands down. I figure I'll try and stay decently close to the team hoping one day a real owner comes in and commits to winning, but I have no hope for the team with the current owner or any hope that the next owner will be a Pegula (who isnt having much success either).

[K-9]

When I was a kid, and the games were blacked out, my Dad used to climb on the roof and gerry rig our antenna with coat hangers so we could pick up the Syracuse feed (back before the blackouts consumed syracuse like I think they do now. I grew up on the east side of Rochester btw). That was prob 15 years ago. Now my Dad doesnt even bother to watch the team and starting last year I dont always set aside the time to watch them either. If I do have a free Sunday afternoon I try to watch the other [real] teams play.

 

I still like coming to this site as a football fan bc it really is the best board around, hands down. I figure I'll try and stay decently close to the team hoping one day a real owner comes in and commits to winning, but I have no hope for the team with the current owner or any hope that the next owner will be a Pegula (who isnt having much success either).

 

I'll give you credit for admitting to being a fair-weather fan. That's more than many around here would do.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[Homey D. Clown]

Actually the team has had 21 winning seasons, with 10 of those winning seasons coming between 1988 and 1999. I think the sum of winning seasons would be ghastly if Bill Polian never manages the team.... simply ghastly!

[apuszczalowski]

At least the Jets won a Superbowl. Wish we could say the same thing. Maybe if Ralphie wouldn't have fired Polian, we would have won a Superbowl. It was frustrating watching the Colts win a Superbowl...good job on that one Ralphie

Polian had 4 tries here in Buffalo to win a SB

 

In over a decade with arguably the greatest starting Qb to ever play the game he has exactly 1 Super Bowl victory (thats also his career total for SB victories)

 

I think I would rather have the current Packers Front office, or the Patriots front office of the last decade, or even the front office of the Steelers before I would want Polian back. I bet those 3 teams could lose their starting QB and still show a sign of life and win 1 game.......

[Jerry Jabber]

Polian had 4 tries here in Buffalo to win a SB

 

In over a decade with arguably the greatest starting Qb to ever play the game he has exactly 1 Super Bowl victory (thats also his career total for SB victories)

 

I think I would rather have the current Packers Front office, or the Patriots front office of the last decade, or even the front office of the Steelers before I would want Polian back. I bet those 3 teams could lose their starting QB and still show a sign of life and win 1 game.......

 

Polian wanted to resign key players here in Buffalo, but Littman wouldn't give him the funds to do it.

 

Polian has 6 trips to the Superbowl. So you're saying you wouldn't take one Superbowl victory? Really?!

 

I’ve been trying to justify the Bills actions year after year, but I’ve finally come to a breaking point with this organization. After looking back at the past 12 years and saw all the terrible mistakes this organization has made, I can’t help being disgusted and frustrated. Every year, I spend over $300 on the NFL Sunday ticket, buy Bills merchandise and go to an occasional game when I get a chance to come up to Buffalo, and the team continually puts a terrible product on a field. Look at this from a consumer standpoint, how long would you continue to pay someone, who’s goods/services used to be good & you enjoyed, and then started putting out a bad product and hasn’t been able to correct the problems? 12 years of a bad product is more than enough.

 

I don’t want to hear that this is Boss Hogg & Cooter’s 2nd year on the job, the problem starts at the top with Ralph Wilson. Chuck Knox didn’t want to resign with the Bills because Ralph was a meddling owner. Ralph fired Bill Polian, the man who created the Bills into a Superbowl team, because Polian was fighting with his treasurer…Hello Ralphie, you can always get a new bean counter. Look at how successful the Colts have been under Polian, 2 Superbowl appearances, 1 Superbowl victory, 10+ seasons in the playoffs, that still could have been the Bills. Next, John Butler & AJ Smith didn’t want to resign with Buffalo because of Ralph’s meddling. According to Eric Moulds, it was Ralph that made the decision to start Rob Johnson over Doug Flutie in the playoff game vs the Titans. Wrong decision at the wrong time. That decision should have been made halfway though the season, not at the end of the playoffs. What happened during that game, Johnson sucked for 58 minutes, got sacked for a safety and fumbled the ball, which gave the Titans a total of 9 points off turnovers.

[apuszczalowski]

Polian wanted to resign key players here in Buffalo, but Littman wouldn't give him the funds to do it.

 

Polian has 6 trips to the Superbowl. So you're saying you wouldn't take one Superbowl victory? Really?!

 

I’ve been trying to justify the Bills actions year after year, but I’ve finally come to a breaking point with this organization. After looking back at the past 12 years and saw all the terrible mistakes this organization has made, I can’t help being disgusted and frustrated. Every year, I spend over $300 on the NFL Sunday ticket, buy Bills merchandise and go to an occasional game when I get a chance to come up to Buffalo, and the team continually puts a terrible product on a field. Look at this from a consumer standpoint, how long would you continue to pay someone, who’s goods/services used to be good & you enjoyed, and then started putting out a bad product and hasn’t been able to correct the problems? 12 years of a bad product is more than enough.

 

I don’t want to hear that this is Boss Hogg & Cooter’s 2nd year on the job, the problem starts at the top with Ralph Wilson. Chuck Knox didn’t want to resign with the Bills because Ralph was a meddling owner. Ralph fired Bill Polian, the man who created the Bills into a Superbowl team, because Polian was fighting with his treasurer…Hello Ralphie, you can always get a new bean counter. Look at how successful the Colts have been under Polian, 2 Superbowl appearances, 1 Superbowl victory, 10+ seasons in the playoffs, that still could have been the Bills. Next, John Butler & AJ Smith didn’t want to resign with Buffalo because of Ralph’s meddling. According to Eric Moulds, it was Ralph that made the decision to start Rob Johnson over Doug Flutie in the playoff game vs the Titans. Wrong decision at the wrong time. That decision should have been made halfway though the season, not at the end of the playoffs. What happened during that game, Johnson sucked for 58 minutes, got sacked for a safety and fumbled the ball, which gave the Titans a total of 9 points off turnovers.

First, Polians fighting was with a member of Ralphs immediate family, his daughter, and its been reported that Polian was insulting to her. But I guess if you were in that situation, you'd push your own child down a flight of stairs if it meant keeping polian around

 

Second, how much of Indys success has been because Polian continues to build a great team, or because he happened to have such a great QB fall into his lap at #1 that year? Going by this season, I'm guessing it must be Polian, cause the Colts are sure showing that they don't need Manning to win In his decade + in Indy, and with Peyton manning as his QB, HE HAS ONLY HAD 2 APPEARANCES IN THE SUPERBOWL, AND 1 VICTORY. Is it more then the Bills have since he left, sure, its more then a bunch of teams can say they have, but its not like there aren't plenty of others that have had similar success or better in that time

[Bleed Bills Blue]

It's sad, I've seen a bunch of long-time season ticket holders in our section stop coming over the last several years. Same with some of the (formerly) faithful contingent who make the long trip every week from our part of Livingston County. As for me, 21 years going to games and counting. I spend $1000 every year on tickets, gas/parking, tailgating and restaurants. It's still money well spent, but I'd be lying if I said my enthusiasm was what it used to be.

[nbash]

I can't imagine bailing now, when we are so close to the ultimate event horizon as Bills fans. Ralph is ancient, he is going to be gone soon, then we will either lose the team via relocation or, for the first time ever, experience the Bills under new ownership. The days are growing short, the team is at least mildly amusing to watch compared to the Jauron era, how could you pull the plug when armageddon is close at hand?

[Jerry Jabber]

First, Polians fighting was with a member of Ralphs immediate family, his daughter, and its been reported that Polian was insulting to her. But I guess if you were in that situation, you'd push your own child down a flight of stairs if it meant keeping polian around

 

Second, how much of Indys success has been because Polian continues to build a great team, or because he happened to have such a great QB fall into his lap at #1 that year? Going by this season, I'm guessing it must be Polian, cause the Colts are sure showing that they don't need Manning to win In his decade + in Indy, and with Peyton manning as his QB, HE HAS ONLY HAD 2 APPEARANCES IN THE SUPERBOWL, AND 1 VICTORY. Is it more then the Bills have since he left, sure, its more then a bunch of teams can say they have, but its not like there aren't plenty of others that have had similar success or better in that time

 

I'd be very pissed off if someone was insulting a member of my immediate family. But did Chuck Knox, John Butler & AJ Smith insult Ralph's daughter too?

 

So you're saying that Manning just fell into Polian's lap? Ryan Leaf was hyped up just as much as Manning was that year. San Diego picked Leaf right after the Colts picked Manning at #2, and look at how well Leaf did. Polian knows how to build a winner, he took the Bills from 2-14 to the Superbowl, the expansion Carolina Panthers to the NFC Championship, the 1-15 Colts into a playoff contender and a Superbowl winner. Everyone around here seems to think Bill Cowher was such a great coach, but look at how long it took him to win a Superbowl? More time than it took Polian to win a Superbowl in Indy.

 

Since you don't think the Colts under Polian were that good, let's look at 3 former Bills GM's (Bill Polian, John Butler & AJ Smith) time with their teams compared to the Bills over the last ten years:

Indianapolis Colts

Jan. 8, 2011 AFC Wild Card N.Y. Jets 17, Indianapolis 16

Feb. 7, 2010 Super Bowl XLIV New Orleans 31, Indianapolis 17

Jan. 24, 2010 AFC Championship Indianapolis 30, N.Y. Jets 17

Jan. 16, 2010 AFC Divisional Indianapolis 20, Baltimore 3

Jan. 13, 2009 AFC Wild Card San Diego 23, Indianapolis 17

Jan. 13, 2008 AFC Divisional San Diego 28, Indianapolis 24

Feb. 4, 2007 Super Bowl XLI Indianapolis 29, Chicago 17

Jan. 21, 2007 AFC Championship game New England 34, Indianapolis 38

Jan. 13, 2007 AFC Divisional Indianapolis 15, Baltimore 6

Jan. 6, 2007 AFC Wild Card Indianapolis 23, Kansas City 8

Jan. 15, 2006 AFC Divisional Pittsburgh 21, Indianapolis 18

Jan. 16, 2005 AFC Divisional New England 20, Indianapolis 3

Jan. 9, 2005 AFC Wild Card Indianapolis 49, Denver 24

Jan. 18, 2004 AFC Championship New England 24, Indianapolis 14

Jan. 11, 2004 AFC Divisional Colts 38, Chiefs 31

Jan. 4, 2004 AFC Wild Card Colts 41, Broncos 10

Jan. 4, 2003 AFC Wild Card Jets 41, Colts 0

 

That's 17 playoff games, 3 AFC Championship Games, 2 Superbowl appearances and 1 Superbowl victory

 

Now let's look at the San Diego Chargers:

 

Jan. 17, 2010 AFC Divisional N.Y. Jets 17, San Diego 14

Jan. 11, 2009 AFC Divisional Pittsburgh 35, San Diego 24

Jan. 3, 2009 AFC Wild Card San Diego 23, Indianapolis 17

Jan. 20, 2008 AFC Championship New England 21, San Diego 12

Jan. 13, 2008 AFC Divisional San Diego 28, Indianapolis 24

Jan. 6, 2008 AFC Wild Card San Diego 17, Tennessee 6

Jan. 14, 2007 AFC Divisional New England 24, San Diego 21

Jan. 8, 2005 AFC Wild Card N.Y. Jets 20, San Diego 17 OT

 

That's 8 playoff games and 1 AFC Championship game

 

Now, let's look at the Bills:

0 PLAYOFF GAMES

 

Nothing will change until the Bills have a new owner. But hey, Ralphie, Brandon & Overdorff need kool-aid drinkers like you, so have your fill, because I've had enough Bills kool-aid.

[K-9]

First, Polians fighting was with a member of Ralphs immediate family, his daughter, and its been reported that Polian was insulting to her. But I guess if you were in that situation, you'd push your own child down a flight of stairs if it meant keeping polian around...

 

I feel a need for a slight correction here. Polian's firing was about his many disagreements with Littman over the years and had nothing to do with his calling Linda Bogdan a C-word. Polian was known for his irascible personality around 1 Bills Drive and he had many arguments with scouts and others over the years. RW's daughter had been a scout for 6 years under Polian before he was fired. Linda Bogdan could more than hold her own and didn't need daddy's protection from anybody.

 

GO BILLS!!!