Bills are relevant again

[bisonbrigade]

All of this is nothing if we beat the Pats. Beat the Pats and we become, everyman's team!

Every NFL fan, with the exception of Pat's fans, wants the Bills to deflate Brady's balls and destroy the CHEATS!! It's time to have a take over of the AFC East!

[Deranged Rhino]

I guess you guys have your own outlook, but threads about wanting attention from the media, feeling disrespected by the media, or wanting to be considered "relevant" are constant topics on this board. I know the reason why, and accept it.

 

[reddogblitz]

I recall we were pretty relevant in the midst of our 5-0 start in 2008. We'll be relevant when we lock up a playoff spot.

[fansince88]

Pretty great! This has been the best six months of football in my entire adult love, and I'm 33.

so you were 18 when we made the playoff last.

[nucci]

 

Why do you feed the troll?

I don't know. I'm usually pretty good at ignoring people.

[PromoTheRobot]

 

yeah, all those teams of the last decade were "different". Bledsoe, Lynch, Evans, McGahee, Spikes, TO. Jauron and Gregg Williams were supposed to take the D to the next level, then when the offense was patheic they brought in guys like Chan Gailey, Mike Mularkey, etc... now it's Taylor, McCoy and Rex Ryan. IMO this current team is no different than those teams of the past 15 years. You can name drop all you want, but until they actually do something, it's the same old story. I certainly hope this year is the year, but only time can tell.

 

I'll say one thing, Russ Brandon has done a great job of keeping the fans interested. They haven't been to the playoffs in eons, but that stadium is packed every weekend.

Well aren't you special, seeing through all the smoke and mirrors. No pulling the wool over your eyes.

Edited September 17, 2015 by PromoTheRobot

[eball]

If the last 15 years taught you anything it is to enjoy the good times, because they do not last. I am old enough to remember much of 0-for-the-'70s against Miami, the brief Talkin' Proud resurgence and the really bad mid-'80s. I started college right about when the worm started turning (1987) and I'll tell you, it didn't take long before people who were once just happy to get a win started carping that we didn't win by enough or go 16-0. These were also the people who thought Reich should start over a healthy Jim Kelly (and there were a lot of them), and their kids are probably the ones who called up WGR on Monday morning to complain. I'm not saying I never complained after a win, but I'm glad that I knew enough back then to appreciate what we had. Yeah I worry about the other shoe, but assuming things are REALLY getting good (and I think they are), I plan to enjoy every minute.

 

Oh, Christ, don't remind me. Ugh. Remember the ones calling for Kenny Davis over Thurman also?

[ThurmasThoman]

 

I didn't ask YOU to. I asked the people that challenged me. So you disregard ESPN...great. Other posters brought ESPN into the picture, I am talking about the media in general.

 

No one has provided a reason why they enjoy a particular sports team's victories. They just say "I like it because me and my friends can enjoy it".

 

Look deep inside, and ask yourself what is gratifying about your sports team winning. It's not your own accomplishment, you don't really know the participants...so what is it?

 

Your third eye is way too open for this board.

[BringBackOrton]

 

Just like in 2002 when they started 5-3... no wait, I mean 2003 after they pounded the Patriots 31-0 on opening day and made the cover of SI. No... actually, this is more like 2005 in JP Losman's first career start he beat the favored Texans 22-7. Nah... this is just like 2008 when Trent Edwards (they finally found a QB!) led them to a 5-1 start out of the gate. Or is this more like 2001 when Fitz led us to a 5-1 start?

 

While we have had success early on during the seasons you referred to (and eventually collapsed)... We never had the national media attention and hoopla we are getting right now. This is something I haven't seen before with this franchise.

[ThurmasThoman]

 

Thanks for letting me know when I can join an open thread, trolly.

 

You started your classic troll behavior in post #34 and people called you out.

He is not trolling at all--we are literally discussing the role of the media in sports, and the impact their "recognition" can have on ones enjoyment of the sport... in a thread titled "Bills are relevant again".

 

Relevant to whom, per se?

If, as multiple posters have claimed, the media attention is not why we watch, then why, pray, are we concerned about being "relevant"?

Why care if we win or lose, to extend that thought further.

A "win" is a completely arbitrary occurrence, where one group of men (not from Buffalo) scores more points in a made up game against another group of men (not from an opposing city). If that scenario occurs at a clip of about 67% or better during the regular season, these groups of men can continue onward, and play ever more challenging contests against increasingly tougher opponents, eventually culminating in a grand finale, supposedly pitting the two most qualified groups of men against one another.

 

These teams could be labeled by ANY fashion: teams A through Z, teams Red through Purple, teams 1 through 32, or, in the course of literally every organized team sporting event in the history of humanity: teams from Region A through Region Z.

 

The "value" that we as society have chosen to place on these competitions is in linking them to geographic proximity to us... as "fans".

 

None of the players or coaches truly represent the cities they play for, so the entire notion of sports leagues exists as, essentially, a social construct.

 

Following that logic, the only way to truly derive gratification as a fan, is hoping for your team to win.

Which, is hoping for the arbitrary grouping of players representing "Buffalo" to win.

Which, is to say, you are literally ONLY rooting for "Buffalo".

Your entire life of rooting for the Bills, is rooting for the "Buffalo metropolitan area".

The prize is, yes, a Lombardi trophy, but it's also the glowing accolades heaped upon the city/fans/team from national media, and yes, from ESPN.

[SonofaK-Gun]

Thanks for letting me into this community, so here's my first post.

 

I know we've been burned before...the 2011/2012 season comes to mind. I remember watching that first game against KC with my jaw on the floor as the Bills pounded them something like 44-14. Two weeks later they were 3-0 after beating the Pats...a few weeks later they were 5-2...only to finish the season 6-10. From week four onward I was living out of the country for the remainder of the season, and was spared most of the carnage coming from OBD.

 

But screw all that, I've loved this team since the first time I went to Rich stadium in 1990, and saw them trounce the Cardinals. After that performance last Sunday against the Colts, I'm proud to say I'm diving headfirst into the Kool-Aid once again. Being a Bills fan isn't easy, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I love what I'm seeing, and I think we're all going to be rewarded for our loyalty this season.

[Deranged Rhino]

He is not trolling at all--we are literally discussing the role of the media in sports, and the impact their "recognition" can have on ones enjoyment of the sport...

 

But he's not saying that. He's saying the ONLY satisfaction that can be gained from rooting for the Bills is national media recognition. Which just isn't true.

[Whites Bay]

Thanks for letting me into this community, so here's my first post.

 

I know we've been burned before...the 2011/2012 season comes to mind. I remember watching that first game against KC with my jaw on the floor as the Bills pounded them something like 44-14. Two weeks later they were 3-0 after beating the Pats...a few weeks later they were 5-2...only to finish the season 6-10. From week four onward I was living out of the country for the remainder of the season, and was spared most of the carnage coming from OBD.

 

But screw all that, I've loved this team since the first time I went to Rich stadium in 1990, and saw them trounce the Cardinals. After that performance last Sunday against the Colts, I'm proud to say I'm diving headfirst into the Kool-Aid once again. Being a Bills fan isn't easy, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I love what I'm seeing, and I think we're all going to be rewarded for our loyalty this season.

 

Firstly, Welcome Aboard!

 

Secondly, this game is going to be one where I can't drink until about 5 minutes before the end and the Bills are up by 18. The downer buzz is just awful when things go wrong against the Pats*. We've all seen it WAY too much. I'll be rooting with all I have...and one hand over my eyes.

 

Thirdly, not meaning to be the pee in the orange juice, but if you think you saw carnage from One Bills Drive in 2011, wait until you see Two Bills Drive/Stadium Wall if the Bills lose this weekend. Jesus.

[Prickly Pete]

 

But he's not saying that. He's saying the ONLY satisfaction that can be gained from rooting for the Bills is national media recognition. Which just isn't true.

 

That is NOT what I said. That is what you try to convince people I said.

 

I can't see why anyone would be upset about this. The media (TV, books, blogs, magazines, etc) provides recognition of the achievements of the team. It provides the context of the event. It archives the history of the game, and it showcases the event to wide audiences. Without media, it's 22 guys running around the field in a pickup game.

[Deranged Rhino]

 

That is NOT what I said. That is what you try to convince people I said.

 

I can't see why anyone would be upset about this. The media (TV, books, blogs, magazines, etc) provides recognition of the achievements of the team. It provides the context of the event. It archives the history of the game, and it showcases the event to wide audiences. Without media, it's 22 guys running around the field in a pickup game.

 

 

National media attention is basically the only reward for having a good sports team. To say that you don't care seems a bit disingenuous. What else is there?

 

Yup, it's not what you said at all.

Again I ask, if that's all it is, why do you root for the Bills? They haven't had national media attention for going on two decades. Clearly you're getting something out of your fandom, are you not?

[Prickly Pete]

 

 

Yup, it's not what you said at all.

Again I ask, if that's all it is, why do you root for the Bills? They haven't had national media attention for going on two decades. Clearly you're getting something out of your fandom, are you not?

 

I'm waiting for the payoff. But you never know when it might come, so you hang in there.

 

Plenty of people don't. They find "a 2nd team" (or pick a front runner) so they can feel like they are participating in the national pastime.

Edited September 16, 2015 by HoF Watkins

[Deranged Rhino]

 

I'm waiting for the payoff.

 

And that payoff is a bunch of people you don't know talking about the team you root for in the media?

Nothing else? You get nothing else from being a fan of the Bills?

[BillsFan-4-Ever]

my timing was spot on 20 minutes ago. Turned on NFLN and had a good 10 minutes of them talking Bills!

[Freddie's Dead]

Bills-Cheats is blowing up on ESPN. WWII comes to the Ralph on Sunday. It is a must win.

[Augie]

We've been getting more attention since Rex was hired. Because Rex is Rex. Let's hope we earn the attention on the field. Every week. But especially THIS week!