thronethinker Posted April 11, 2020 Posted April 11, 2020 (edited) Here is a long lasting question I have for Bills fans relocated to Orlando? Do you remember the Sports Page On I’Drive in Orlando? I remember a guy named DODY ran it an it was the place for Bills fans in the early90’s. It was also the best wings I have ever eaten, DODY called them ORLANDO WINGS, but I think they were just Buffalo Wings with Honey. Either way they were the best still to today. This is the place that I remember as a youth watching a Bills game in Florida. I was still in 8th grade, having moved to Orlando area from Buffalo. The Bills were coming into their prime, and my Grandfather and father took me to the Sports Page to watch the games. Buffalo was in the middle of the 89-90 season on the way to the first Super Bowl. I remember being told I was going to the Dolphins at Bills just before Christmas in 90. Kelly was out with a knee injury. Reich was starting. It was cold. I was only 12. This is when I got hooked on Bills football. I went back to Buffalo that season with my father. We attended the Bills Dolphins Game just before Christmas. Kelly was out and that was the talk all week, and MIAMI destroyed Buffalo at the beginning of the season. I went, and witnessed BUFFALO BILLS football coming into relevance. They beat Miami and won the Division and home field. Went to the Super Bowl too....The goal post were torn down. Imagine that as your first live Bills game, the goal posts were torn down by fans on the field. Nothing I have seen since then has ever matched the fans involvement after a win. After that season I remember going to the Sports Page every week in 1991. It was a great atmosphere. The games were all on the TV’s through the satellite dish that had to be positioned to each provider to get the feeds No Sunday Ticket then. It was hit or miss. When the feed finally came in you got to watch the commercials from the provider you tapped in to. So usually it was not local. At this time I was just12-13 years old, and the immediate memory of entering the locale was the smoke from all the cigarettes. It was a complete smoke screen when you entered, but no one cared. That was the mentality of the era, smoke all you want, it doesn’t matter. I got hooked on Bills Football at this point, and no one ever cared a 12 year old was in the smoke filled sports bar with all the other drunk Bills Fans. God forbid that today. After 1991-2 the Sports Page closed and Orlando Bills Backers relocated many times. I was even president once when they were in the Fort Gatlin location, but that was man many years ago. I have always watched games in many clubs since and on Occasion watch at The Harry Buffalo now. I now prefer to watch at home with my son on Streaming, but I always remember the Sports Page on International Drive to be the Best Bills Backers Bar ever. Edited April 11, 2020 by thronethinker 1
thronethinker Posted April 11, 2020 Author Posted April 11, 2020 2 minutes ago, Sig1Hunter said: Where on I Drive was it? Close to where Fun Spot is now. The whole building was torn down many years ago.
Sig1Hunter Posted April 11, 2020 Posted April 11, 2020 I was in Orlando, at the same time (just recently moved away), and about the same age as you... I didn’t frequent bars at that age though. ?
thronethinker Posted April 11, 2020 Author Posted April 11, 2020 I remember after every TD fans would sing SHOUT, then do a makeshift Hand Gesture That would go ... GO-GO-GO-BUFFALO....SUPER BOWL, which at the time was not just a fan shout, but reality.
gjv001 Posted April 11, 2020 Posted April 11, 2020 Are you talking about the Bills Bar in a Kissimmee strip plaza that was next door to a Tammy Faye Baker shop ?
Brueggs Posted April 11, 2020 Posted April 11, 2020 I remember this place. The first thing I thought was they had the best wings ever! I have been trying to copy the recipe but could never quite get it right. They were perfect every time. This was the abandoned strip mall that Jim and Tammy Bakker got busted in. It was the only storefront open in the whole place when the Sports Page was there.
Ridgewaycynic2013 Posted April 11, 2020 Posted April 11, 2020 This thread is useless without a Google Maps reference. ?
goldenboy81 Posted April 11, 2020 Posted April 11, 2020 It was a big warehouse looking building. I too went there as a kid and it was a awesome place for Bills games 1
thronethinker Posted April 11, 2020 Author Posted April 11, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, gjv001 said: Are you talking about the Bills Bar in a Kissimmee strip plaza that was next door to a Tammy Faye Baker shop ? This was off International Drive close to Wet N Wild and Universal studios, but on the Opposite side of Kirkman Rd. It was towards Kissimmee area, but still in Orlando. It Would have Been on Grand National drive. https://www.google.com/maps/@28.4673463,-81.4612532,1311m/data=!3m1!1e3 Edited April 11, 2020 by thronethinker 1
thronethinker Posted April 11, 2020 Author Posted April 11, 2020 34 minutes ago, Ridgewaycynic2013 said: This thread is useless without a Google Maps reference. ? https://www.google.com/maps/@28.4673463,-81.4612532,1311m/data=!3m1!1e3 On Grand National Drive 50 minutes ago, Brueggs said: I remember this place. The first thing I thought was they had the best wings ever! I have been trying to copy the recipe but could never quite get it right. They were perfect every time. This was the abandoned strip mall that Jim and Tammy Bakker got busted in. It was the only storefront open in the whole place when the Sports Page was there. The wings were the best I ever had. Always came out perfect, and that sauce....wow!
Brueggs Posted April 11, 2020 Posted April 11, 2020 13 minutes ago, thronethinker said: https://www.google.com/maps/@28.4673463,-81.4612532,1311m/data=!3m1!1e3 On Grand National Drive The wings were the best I ever had. Always came out perfect, and that sauce....wow! No doubt. They were always cooked to order and always crispy. I am a self proclaimed connoisseur of wings, and these were hands down the best every single time. We have to find this guy and get the recipe!
IDBillzFan Posted April 11, 2020 Posted April 11, 2020 The Orlando Bills Backers back then was an incredible group. I was there when it first started up because a few people posted an ad in the Orlando Sentinel along the lines of "Bills Fans! Want to gather for games?" In short order that bar was wall-to-wall Bills fans. One of the guys I used to hang with there was a huge dude named Rocky. Classic hard-core Bills fan no matter what. You had to be careful if the Bills scored because he could crush your ribs lifting you off the ground. If memory serves me, the owner's wings originally sucked, and someone in the group showed him the right way to make it. By the time he put Genny Cream Ale on tap, it became the only place to watch Bills games. (Though I was there for years, I believe he never killed that keg.) That was the bar where I watched the Comeback game. Probably my favorite memory of any Bills game. No one left that bar, even after the pick six to start the second half. One of our friends was in the bathroom when the Bills finally scored. We decided this was why the Bills scored, so every time the Bills got the ball, we sent him to the bathroom. Impossible to talk about how rocking that place was when the final points went through. Except for, y'know, the guy in the bathroom. 1 1
thronethinker Posted April 11, 2020 Author Posted April 11, 2020 6 minutes ago, IDBillzFan said: The Orlando Bills Backers back then was an incredible group. I was there when it first started up because a few people posted an ad in the Orlando Sentinel along the lines of "Bills Fans! Want to gather for games?" In short order that bar was wall-to-wall Bills fans. One of the guys I used to hang with there was a huge dude named Rocky. Classic hard-core Bills fan no matter what. You had to be careful if the Bills scored because he could crush your ribs lifting you off the ground. If memory serves me, the owner's wings originally sucked, and someone in the group showed him the right way to make it. By the time he put Genny Cream Ale on tap, it became the only place to watch Bills games. (Though I was there for years, I believe he never killed that keg.) That was the bar where I watched the Comeback game. Probably my favorite memory of any Bills game. No one left that bar, even after the pick six to start the second half. One of our friends was in the bathroom when the Bills finally scored. We decided this was why the Bills scored, so every time the Bills got the ball, we sent him to the bathroom. Impossible to talk about how rocking that place was when the final points went through. Except for, y'know, the guy in the bathroom. I remember Rocky, always said YO.
IDBillzFan Posted April 11, 2020 Posted April 11, 2020 Just now, thronethinker said: I remember Rocky, always said YO. Predictable, but yeah, he did. I wonder from your username if maybe you're the guy who we kept in the bathroom? 1
thronethinker Posted April 11, 2020 Author Posted April 11, 2020 2 minutes ago, IDBillzFan said: Predictable, but yeah, he did. I wonder from your username if maybe you're the guy who we kept in the bathroom? LOL, no not me. I watched the Oilers game at home.
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