You've been a Bills fan for too long if...

[BackInDaDay]

my first 'jump-off-the-couch-and-shout-at-the-television' rant took place during the '66 championship game when i was 10.. the particulars are hazy, but i'm pretty sure it was a kickoff, and the Chiefs' Bobby Bell committed a blatant clip during the play that didn't get flagged.

 

thus began almost 50 more years of watching my team get screwed by the refs!

and oh, by the way.. my wife still has to shout down to the family room to sarcastically remind me that - "they can't hear you!"

 

fantastic OP! made even better by some fantastic memories..

[John Gianelli]

- you remember watching AFL Hilights, with Charlie Jones

- you remember the taxi squad

- you remember thinking, "How did the Dolphins get better than us?"

- you remember them as the Boston Patriots

- you remember wondering, why aren't Flores and Powell as good with us as they were with the Raiders?

- you remember the first number O.J. wore as a Bill (36), and you remember who had 32 (McDermott)

- you remember fearing having to play against Bambi

- you remember how exciting it was to play teams like the Rams or Vikings for the first time, even if it was preseason

- speaking of preseason, you remember when it was six games

[LewPort71]

A++ list

well done GBiD !!

[MaineMoxie]

Too young to remember Sestak as a player, but I remember the pizza from Sestak and Maguire's was pretty good.

 

Never saw him play, but I was an altar boy at his funeral.

[VADC Bills]

How about if you were heard screaming " Give the ball to Earthquake" or found yourself saying "Dan Darragh is going to pretty good one day, he just needs a line."

[BackInDaDay]

WHY DID THEY TRADE MOSES?!?

[TheJuice]

There's a Bills greatest moments video, I believe from NFL Films, where Paul Maguire talks about McDole and someone else eating so many lobster daintees at a place in Dunkirk that they were told never to return for all you can eat night. I believe they ate their jersey # worth.

Edited April 16, 2015 by TheJuice

[Kirby Jackson]

 

...Superbowl 50 champions!

 

OTOH, we can love our team and make crazy statements!

The beauty of it is that it isn't crazy to believe that the Bills may win the Super Bowl. It's s pretty nice change.

[ddaryl]

 

You've been a Bills fan for too long if...

 

 

If you remember the Bills in the Playoffs

[dib]

I am old. Sooooooooooooooo old

 

wooden slat seats

[RevWarRifleman]

i remember a season ticket that a group had for a seat to hold a keg.. you didnt think of it as a big deal at the time(and being 8-10 years old , didnt pay it much mind), but in hindsight, it is unbelievable that it was done.

That's a GREAT recollection! Thanks for posting it. These kinds of things about the old days of Bills fandom must be told to the new generation of Bills fans so they get a better sense of how things were in earlier times.

[Guffalo]

My father is the artist for all of those covers from the early days. He got $35 per drawing, plus he did some of the artwork inside the programs. As a kid I would watch him drawing the next cover and since we shared the same name, he would hide his (our) signature in the drawing to see if I could find it. He wouldn't put it in until the final version. He was a salesman for Holling press, and he handled the account for the bills programs until he left. Every Thursday he would bring home this weeks program. I had a full set from around 1967-1974 as well as several random ones from the early 60s. I went away to college, and Mom decided to clean up......they were all gone.

[RevWarRifleman]

There's a Bills greatest moments video, I believe from NFL Films, where Paul Maguire talks about McDole and someone else eating so many lobster daintees at a place in Dunkirk that they were told never to return for all you can eat night. I believe they ate their jersey # worth.

I've seen that video! It's an awesome story by McGuire. It was a place that offered all-you-can-eat lobster dainties & those guys eat dozens and dozens of them 'til there was no more. While they were doing that, according to McGuire, they washed the lobsters down with several pitchers of beer, topped off with every one of them (there were about 5 -6 Bills at this place) had butterscotch sundaes for desert! When they were through, the owner came over to them & told them to "get out and never come back"! I laughed my U know what off. And McGuire was the perfect guy to tell that story! To me, he seemed more like that real informed football fan that hangs out at your neighborhood bar, and is always willing to talk football with. Anyway, a great story. Thanks Juice for posting it!

[rfk]

 

...You think "Cookie" is a "who", not a "what".

...You think "Rockpile" is a "what", not a "who".

...You know what "Best Exit" means.

...Your idea of a quarterback controversy is Kemp-Lamonica.

...You remember that the only Bills home game that your Mom ever wanted to see in person was against the Los Angeles Rams, and that was because the Rams brought along Jim Nabors to sing the national anthem.

...You don't think that Bruce Smith is the greatest NFL defensive lineman of all time. Shoot, you don't think that he is the greatest BILLS defensive lineman of all time (see Sestak, Tom).

...Your dad took you to Bills games while wearing a fedora and a tie with a tie clip.

...Today, you have the strongest bladder of anyone in your office because, as a kid, it was either “hold it” or use the bathrooms at War Memorial Stadium.

...You have neck problems in your middle age because you spent most of the time in your youth watching Bills games in person while straining your neck in your seat while trying to look around a pole.

...Your idea of a sideline reporter is Dick Rifenburg.

...You thought that your Dad was the coolest because he left High Mass early with you so that you wouldn’t miss the opening kickoff.

...Your dad drove to the game, parked his car on the East Side, and the car was undamaged when he returned.

...You thought that Pete Gogolak was a sissy because he wasn’t a linebacker or lineman like all the other kickers in the league.

...You can still identify the smell of a warm Genny spilled on wood seats and concrete.

...Your parents thought that Miami was a neat place full of warm weather, people their age, and Jackie Gleason.

...Your Dad would go to the game with you and would sit through rain, sleet, snow and gloom of night so that he see that twinkle-towed sissy boy Joe Namath get slapped around by Ron McDole.

...More than once, you saw a Bill in the off-season in Buffalo working his part-time job as a steelworker / laborer / truck driver.

...You remember snow fences and a cinder track.

...Yohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh-HO!

...you cared what Charley Bailey says.

...you think Laverne is a man’s name.

...you remember the haze on a Saturday night caused by stadium lights and thousands of chain smokers.

...your idea of "all sports, all the time" is WBEN-AM.

...you remember when Sunday games started at 2:00 p.m., then later on at 1:30 p.m.

...you consider Marty Schottenheimer to be a linebacker, not a coach.

...you remember Saturday night games.

...you thought that Ernie Warlick was the coolest football player around, not because he played football, but because he owned a hamburger stand.

...you remember a boy scout tent on the sidelines where the cheerleaders went to change, as well as dozens of men standing on the cinder track behind the snow fence next to the boy scout tent.

...your dad parked the car by the armory.

...you know what “What’s New, Harry?” means.

...you think that the best home uniforms were the ones with the stripes around the shoulders.

...you stopped at Freddie’s Doughnuts Sunday morning before the game.

...your kids don’t believe that there were once real first names like Remi, Hagood, Birtho, Daryle, Buster, Booth, Mack and Wray.

...you know the significance of the numbers 45,748 and 46,206.

...you remember Bills’ players missing games because they were on National Guard duty.

...your idea of “color commentary” is Stan Barron.

...you never could understand why Paul Maguire was listed on the roster as “LB”.

...you thought that Orchard Park was a “farming community”.

...you remember your dad sometimes still called it “Civic Stadium”.

...you know that “Duby” was a “flanker” and that “Bass” was a “split end”.

...you remember serious talk about the “Seattle Bills”.

...you remember the Camelot Motor Inn.

 

Ha great...

you haven't been a fan long enough if:

 

wide right..is japanese for wild night

jim kelly is just a guy who beat cancer

[ddaryl]

My father is the artist for all of those covers from the early days. He got $35 per drawing, plus he did some of the artwork inside the programs. As a kid I would watch him drawing the next cover and since we shared the same name, he would hide his (our) signature in the drawing to see if I could find it. He wouldn't put it in until the final version. He was a salesman for Holling press, and he handled the account for the bills programs until he left. Every Thursday he would bring home this weeks program. I had a full set from around 1967-1974 as well as several random ones from the early 60s. I went away to college, and Mom decided to clean up......they were all g

 

 

 

WOW that sucks mom tossed them

[yungmack]

My father is the artist for all of those covers from the early days. He got $35 per drawing, plus he did some of the artwork inside the programs. As a kid I would watch him drawing the next cover and since we shared the same name, he would hide his (our) signature in the drawing to see if I could find it. He wouldn't put it in until the final version. He was a salesman for Holling press, and he handled the account for the bills programs until he left. Every Thursday he would bring home this weeks program. I had a full set from around 1967-1974 as well as several random ones from the early 60s. I went away to college, and Mom decided to clean up......they were all gone.

Thanks for sharing that story with us. It's a good one.

[The Crowing Rooster]

Don't understand this thread how can you be a Bills fan for too long.

[vorpma]

my first 'jump-off-the-couch-and-shout-at-the-television' rant took place during the '66 championship game when i was 10.. the particulars are hazy, but i'm pretty sure it was a kickoff, and the Chiefs' Bobby Bell committed a blatant clip during the play that didn't get flagged.

 

thus began almost 50 more years of watching my team get screwed by the refs!

and oh, by the way.. my wife still has to shout down to the family room to sarcastically remind me that - "they can't hear you!"

 

fantastic OP! made even better by some fantastic memories..

Dudley Meredith fumbled the opening kickoff leading to Chiefs TD, and yes, Bobby Bell creamed someone after the whistle and no flag.

[Gordio]

Does anyone actually think that Tom Sestak was better than Bruce Smith? While Sestak was a great athlete Bruce is arguably the greatest DE of all-time. He is at least on the short list. He had 200 sacks as a 3-4 DE.

 

 

I never saw Sestak play but anybody that thinks he was better then Bruce Smith is delusional.

[vorpma]

I've seen that video! It's an awesome story by McGuire. It was a place that offered all-you-can-eat lobster dainties & those guys eat dozens and dozens of them 'til there was no more. While they were doing that, according to McGuire, they washed the lobsters down with several pitchers of beer, topped off with every one of them (there were about 5 -6 Bills at this place) had butterscotch sundaes for desert! When they were through, the owner came over to them & told them to "get out and never come back"! I laughed my U know what off. And McGuire was the perfect guy to tell that story! To me, he seemed more like that real informed football fan that hangs out at your neighborhood bar, and is always willing to talk football with. Anyway, a great story. Thanks Juice for posting it!

Great story, both very large men and well fed.

WHY DID THEY TRADE MOSES?!?

Denver Broncos. The Bills had four great wideouts in 1971 - JD Hill, Heaven Moses, Marlin Briscoe, and Bobby Chandler but still had crap for offense.