Tweets from Bills practice = AWESOME!

[eball]

On the continuum of attitudes mentioned above there seems to be optimism at one end and pessimism at the other, or maybe best described as tomorrow and yesterday. Realism is in there somewhere, too. I think of all sorts of analogies when I think of investing time and emotions in the Bills. The one I subscribe to at present is that if I've been mugged several times while walking down a certain street, I'm not going to walk down that street again until it is proven to be safe.

 

The problem with that analogy is you're comparing rooting for a football team with personal safety -- truly apples and oranges. What is the big fear of being optimistic about the Bills and then being wrong? We've all been there, and we keep coming back because it's a fun diversion. The folks who live to "keep expectations in check" subscribe to a philosophy I simply don't understand -- when it comes to being a fan.

[swnybillsfan]

On the continuum of attitudes mentioned above there seems to be optimism at one end and pessimism at the other, or maybe best described as tomorrow and yesterday. Realism is in there somewhere, too. I think of all sorts of analogies when I think of investing time and emotions in the Bills. The one I subscribe to at present is that if I've been mugged several times while walking down a certain street, I'm not going to walk down that street again until it is proven to be safe.

i think optimists, pessimists and realists are all fine. very interesting conversations and debates can come from any combination of these. it's the @$$holes that'll keep screwing it up for the rest of us.

[CodeMonkey]

That one's easy. Following the Bills is something we do in our leisure time, for entertainment, so why not dream big? It's like playing the lottery. If you don't get crushed when your dreams don't pan out, there's no harm in wishful thinking.

I agree there is no harm in wishful thinking. Also no harm in not doing it.

When my wife buys a lottery ticket I don't yell at her for being bad at math, but I don't go shopping for Lamborghinis with the wishful winings either

Edited April 22, 2013 by CodeMonkey

[FireChan]

The problem with that analogy is you're comparing rooting for a football team with personal safety -- truly apples and oranges. What is the big fear of being optimistic about the Bills and then being wrong? We've all been there, and we keep coming back because it's a fun diversion. The folks who live to "keep expectations in check" subscribe to a philosophy I simply don't understand -- when it comes to being a fan.

 

I think some of the issue lies in the fact that people take football so seriously. If they are a disappointment this year, that really sucks, but it's not going to affect my personal mood for longer than 15 minutes after the game. These pessimists are speaking to the guys who will be posting in week 5, "this team sux i'm done move to LA i hate marrone i hate tjax i hate freddy" whom truly are insufferable.

 

I'm excited this year, and I will be til proven otherwise. It's a game, and I'm not a degenerate gambler, so I have nothing to lose.

Edited April 22, 2013 by FireChan

[ganesh]

I agree there is no harm in wishful thinking. Also no harm in not doing it.

When my wife buys a lottery ticket I don't yell at her for being bad at math, but I don't go shopping for Lamborghinis with the wishful winings either

+1

[eball]

i think optimists, pessimists and realists are all fine. very interesting conversations and debates can come from any combination of these. it's the @$$holes that'll keep screwing it up for the rest of us.

 

You are correct -- it would be an incredibly boring place if everyone was posting the same thing, or everyone was a pie-in-the-sky optimist. I've been involved in countless discussions here that include reasoned positions and a willingness to look at things from different perspectives; I believe what turns off many of us, though, are the folks who absolutely refuse to budge an inch from their negative perceptions of everything that happens, and seemingly live to call anyone who doesn't share their gloom-and-doom a "pollyanna" or worse.

[Rockinon]

I kind of think there is a degree of optimism and a degree of pessimism in each of us. On the subject of the Buffalo Bills, I tend to be more of an optimist simply because I have been a fan for so long that I just can't see wasting my energy by being pessimistic. I want to feel good about them. As a young man, and an athlete, I always had a strong sense that simply believing in yourself and having people around you who also believe, can move mountains. It's an attitude for me to be more positive and more of an optimist. My wife and I sometimes disagree because she doesn't like to get her hopes up only to be disappointed in the end. She was never much of a sports fan.

 

All of us have different ways of looking at things. My wife the pessimist, myself the optimist, we don't always agree but we have learned that we can at least accept each other for who we are.

 

I don't always agree with all of you pessimists, especially the ones who like to do so in the name of so called realism. In my experience the things that are most real are the ones that you work hard at to make it so. It's the things you believe in first and then make it happen that count. When you put in the effort and something great happens, now that is real. If you put in the effort and something great didn't happen, at least you tried. But if you are to busy arguing to try, you are getting in the way. I guess as a fan, I see my job as supporting my team. I believe they feed of of us. What we give them to eat matters.

[MRW]

I agree there is no harm in wishful thinking. Also no harm in not doing it.

When my wife buys a lottery ticket I don't yell at her for being bad at math, but I don't go shopping for Lamborghinis with the wishful winings either

And I don't make any bets or guarantees that the Bills will have a good season.

 

The funny thing is, I think I actually agree with the pessimists in terms of expectations for the Bills, it's just that I don't share the relentlessly downbeat overtones I see in many posts. Yeah, I don't think the Bills are poised for a great season - but what's the big deal? I'm not gonna be a downer about it.

[AJ1]

I

Iquote name='FleaMoulds80' timestamp='1366299736' post='2783330']

Great. We look awesome in practice. Doesn't mean anything if we can't transition that onto Sundays. I won't get excited about anything til I see something on Week 1.

 

I remember a lot of fools here were giddy during OTAs and minicamp, then we got CRUSHED by Sanchez and the Jets. We made Sanchez look like Drew Brees out there. All this excitement doesn't mean squat until they produce in reg. season.

/

 

quote]

 

I don't remember many giddy posts pre-season last year. In fact, I thought that the team consistently looked like crap in practice reflecting the personality of a lost, in-over-his-head HC.

[FleaMoulds80]

I

Iquote name='FleaMoulds80' timestamp='1366299736' post='2783330']

Great. We look awesome in practice. Doesn't mean anything if we can't transition that onto Sundays. I won't get excited about anything til I see something on Week 1.

 

I remember a lot of fools here were giddy during OTAs and minicamp, then we got CRUSHED by Sanchez and the Jets. We made Sanchez look like Drew Brees out there. All this excitement doesn't mean squat until they produce in reg. season.

/

 

quote]

 

I don't remember many giddy posts pre-season last year. In fact, I thought that the team consistently looked like crap in practice reflecting the personality of a lost, in-over-his-head HC.

 

Maybe you're memory goin

[peterlaw]

Looking good in practice seems much preferable to looking bad in practice.

 

Next step is for the 1st and 2nd string players to look good and execute in the pre season games rather than produce zilch and pretend it will all come good in week 1.

 

But for now all we can do is practice well.

[mead107]

 

 

It's really stunning to me that rather than be hopeful, people just revel in being !@#$ing miserable. I've been a Bills fan longer than most of the posters here have been alive yet every year, I try to be hopeful at the start of a new season. How ****ty is your life if you can't find anything positive?

 

Yes, it's meaningless. Yes it doesn't matter till we win some games but can't we just take a little !@#$ing joy in some positive news?

Only way to be, is positive.

[TC in St. Louis]

Hope springs eternal. What's in the past is gone. What happens tomorrow has not happened yet. Celebrate today. Enjoy the day. I don't anticpate problems for the Bills because they have not happened yet. Send out positive and you'll get positive back. It's the law of attraction.

[Peace Frog]

I keep coming back to this team because we've not only been through so much together, but when they win a SB I can tell everyone about what I had to endure to savor a championship. I always start the season cautiously optimistic. I'm happy so far with not only the players they brought in, but the ones they got rid of.

[Yoho]

Congratulations on your life's achievement. You're OLD.

 

That said..BRING ON THE NEW SEASON. I fall for this crap every year...

 

I truly hope you reach this life achievement. As a Bills fan for 53 years, I guess that makes me OLD but it beats the hell out of the alternative.

 

At least I watched the Bills win Championships in 64 and 65. I would have loved to see a Bills/Browns game in 64.

 

When did OLD become an insult?

[tonyjustbcuz]

Great. We look awesome in practice. Doesn't mean anything if we can't transition that onto Sundays. I won't get excited about anything til I see something on Week 1.

 

I remember a lot of fools here were giddy during OTAs and minicamp, then we got CRUSHED by Sanchez and the Jets. We made Sanchez look like Drew Brees out there. All this excitement doesn't mean squat until they produce in reg. season.

 

 

Thank You from saving me from having to say all the things you just said as that's pretty much along the lines of what I was thinking!!! To sum it up briefly "Doesn't mean a Dam thing" it's May! Trent Edwards looked good without pads in the spring as well! Every year everyone say's 10 wins & 6 losses and I'm the miserable person who say's 5, 6, or 7 wins! Unfortunately, I've been right or close to it every year for the past 10!!!! So here's about what you are looking at...Don't hold your breath, 5 wins give or take one win! I sure hope I'm wrong, but the Bills are missing parts yet, missing depth yet, and have to nurture and groom a hopeful rookie, replace levitre, suit up an effective LB corps (yeah, right), hope McKelvin can find some game as a CB, not just on Teams! I like the new WR's we have if D'rick Rodgers can keep his nose clean and their track star in Goodwin can use his speed to catch some balls instead of dropping them like T.J. Graham does. Woods should be a solid WR..nothing flashy but solid! Rookie coaches, new offense, new defense, some promise and close games, but too many holes and too many carryovers from the past regime to succeed. 5-11

[poo]

Wow. The guy liked the tweeted pictures and is excited to watch football in the fall. This has begun another thread debating the relative merits of optimism and pessimism for Bills fans. Offseason is best! I am pessimistic about next year! I hope EJ does well!