BillsfaninChicago Posted November 10, 2020 Posted November 10, 2020 I was in the 5th grade and for some reason it doesn’t seem that long ago yet now I am an old fat dude!
RyanC883 Posted November 10, 2020 Posted November 10, 2020 11. in Middle School in Vestal, NY. was surrounded by Giants fans. gross.
Sweet Lou Posted November 10, 2020 Posted November 10, 2020 3 hours ago, 4_kidd_4 said: Dang, you really wanted to be sure, huh? Don’t see many Peter Jennings name-drops these days 😂 It's a really long story and a long time to wait, because I said nothing, so she married someone else in 97 and then they moved to the Dallas Fort Worth area. I had to patiently wait and I did. When our paths crossed again in 2018 I got another chance and I didn't waste it. Afterwards I flew to Dallas helped her pack then drove back to NY. I tried to convince her that we could stay in Texas. It didn't work. I'm starting to really hate the winter season.
Augie Posted November 10, 2020 Posted November 10, 2020 3 hours ago, Mr. WEO said: working 105 hrs a week at $7 per... But.......what were you doing in your free time? 1
BobbyC81 Posted November 10, 2020 Posted November 10, 2020 15 hours ago, MarkyMannn said: I was 37, a Bills fan for 27 years, and preparing for SB loss #4. But it was a heck of a ride! I was 36 and a Bills fan for 23 years. 1
JGMcD2 Posted November 10, 2020 Posted November 10, 2020 11 hours ago, Augie said: That was a BIG year for us, a before & after kind of year. Married with 2 young boys and moved from Hilton Head, SC to Sarasota FL where my wife had what appeared to be a great job offer. We moved away 10 years ago, and my current goal in life is to get back there at least part of the year sometime down the road. Our first house there was within walking distance to the original Gecko’s sports bar, which came in very handy to follow the Bills until I got a dish! Lol. I've spent countless nights eating at Gecko's. Mostly because it's the ONLY place to eat right by the hotel I stay at for work. Decent little spot. 1
Augie Posted November 10, 2020 Posted November 10, 2020 (edited) 20 minutes ago, JGMcD2 said: Lol. I've spent countless nights eating at Gecko's. Mostly because it's the ONLY place to eat right by the hotel I stay at for work. Decent little spot. Not sure which one you hit up, but it made me feel good when I went back a few years ago and one of the owners recognized me and the Labatts were free all night. I was spending money when we were all just trying to get by back then! They seem to be killing it now. Big Mike and skinny Mike are great guys. It’s a bit better than average bar food, but a great vibe. I hope to have a place by the Hillview location one day. Add that to the wife’s dream of a mountain house.....OK, we can dream, right? EDIT: The original spot was in the Landings, where we lived. Apparently they still have that space for events. How I miss those old days...... . Edited November 10, 2020 by Augie
Che Guevara Posted November 10, 2020 Posted November 10, 2020 I was a sophomore at SUNY Cortland. Probably looking forward to the annual Cortaca Jug game and watching Bills games in the dorm TV lounge... way too many Jets and Giants fans.
BritBill Posted November 10, 2020 Posted November 10, 2020 It has been mentioned a few times on this thread but the 1990's was a pretty fantastic decade. I went from 10 to 20 years old in that time. I fell in love with the game I now know as football and the Buffalo Bills at the start of it. Now being able to pass this on to my son all this time later is special (although he has asked for a Mahomes jersey for Christmas 😔). In Britain it was a decade of Brit Pop and the emergence of mainstream dance music which was a special time for someone starting to grow up. By the time I'd left school and starting to earn enough cash to hit the town every weekend Labour had come into power and were throwing cash at folk like confetti at weddings. Even my ***** soccer team had a few decent years in the early/mid 90's. Our first match at Wembley and we were victorious! Beating the likes of Manchester United and Everton in the League Cup in the years following that. By 1998 I was out working 5 days a week. Out on the town Friday night. Sometimes work a Saturday morning then off to play soccer in the afternoon. In to the pub Saturday night. Home in time for Match of the Day with a half Mexico/half doner meat pizza. Eat half of it. Wake up around 8am the following morning ready to play soccer again. Not before devouring the remaining half of the pizza as a nutritious pre match meal/breakfast. Back to the pub after the match but sometimes just orange juice depending on what money I had left in my pocket and what state I was in after the previous two nights. My parents were great and always encouraged me to have fun doing what I want to do. As long as I wasn't putting myself in danger or making them worried. If I could go back to any decade and spend just one day in it, it would be the 1990's. Don't look back in anger, folks. 1 1
GunnerBill Posted November 10, 2020 Posted November 10, 2020 6 minutes ago, BritBill said: It has been mentioned a few times on this thread but the 1990's was a pretty fantastic decade. I went from 10 to 20 years old in that time. I fell in love with the game I now know as football and the Buffalo Bills at the start of it. Now being able to pass this on to my son all this time later is special (although he has asked for a Mahomes jersey for Christmas 😔). In Britain it was a decade of Brit Pop and the emergence of mainstream dance music which was a special time for someone starting to grow up. By the time I'd left school and starting to earn enough cash to hit the town every weekend Labour had come into power and were throwing cash at folk like confetti at weddings. Even my ***** soccer team had a few decent years in the early/mid 90's. Our first match at Wembley and we were victorious! Beating the likes of Manchester United and Everton in the League Cup in the years following that. By 1998 I was out working 5 days a week. Out on the town Friday night. Sometimes work a Saturday morning then off to play soccer in the afternoon. In to the pub Saturday night. Home in time for Match of the Day with a half Mexico/half doner meat pizza. Eat half of it. Wake up around 8am the following morning ready to play soccer again. Not before devouring the remaining half of the pizza as a nutritious pre match meal/breakfast. Back to the pub after the match but sometimes just orange juice depending on what money I had left in my pocket and what state I was in after the previous two nights. My parents were great and always encouraged me to have fun doing what I want to do. As long as I wasn't putting myself in danger or making them worried. If I could go back to any decade and spend just one day in it, it would be the 1990's. Don't look back in anger, folks. I remember that York win against Manchester United. It wasn't a complete youth team either was it for Man U? I know a young Becks and a young Neville played but I think a lot of their side was pretty established? I remember Paul Barnes scored.... he was a great lower league striker. I am about 5 years younger than you BritBill by the sounds of it.... but I recognise some of what you say. Particularly running out of work at lunchtime on a Saturday to try and make it to football on time.... especially if we were away and going by coach. That was more early 00s than 90s for me though. I didn't play Sunday football much.... I liked to consider it beneath me (though it wasn't really) so other than helping mates out when they were short I'd generally give it a wide berth and nurse my hangovers at home :D. But that era in British life and popular culture, the kind of Cool Britannia that started with Euro '96 and then flowed through Brit Pop and Blair and New Labour etc was the last time the country felt to me at least to actually have a pretty shared sense of its identity. I look at where we are now 25 years later and I honestly don't know how we ever get back there. It isn't a political point really, I think politics just reflects society, there is no shared sense of what 2020 Britain should be. 1
CA OC Bills Fan Posted November 10, 2020 Posted November 10, 2020 I had lived in Endicott, NY for 11 years since college. Finally in the spring I bought season tickets after having been going to between 2 and 4 games a year, I got a friend of mine to go in with me on either 2 or 4 tickets. Then, within a couple of weeks of each other, my friend Rob decides to move back home to Newburg and felt it's too far to go to games, and I took a job in California. Ended up selling all the tickets except for the season finally (to NJ Jerks, Dec. 24th). Never bought season's again since I'd been in CA ever since until two months ago when I took a job back in Central NY.
BritBill Posted November 10, 2020 Posted November 10, 2020 16 minutes ago, GunnerBill said: I remember that York win against Manchester United. It wasn't a complete youth team either was it for Man U? I know a young Becks and a young Neville played but I think a lot of their side was pretty established? I remember Paul Barnes scored.... he was a great lower league striker. I am about 5 years younger than you BritBill by the sounds of it.... but I recognise some of what you say. Particularly running out of work at lunchtime on a Saturday to try and make it to football on time.... especially if we were away and going by coach. That was more early 00s than 90s for me though. I didn't play Sunday football much.... I liked to consider it beneath me (though it wasn't really) so other than helping mates out when they were short I'd generally give it a wide berth and nurse my hangovers at home :D. But that era in British life and popular culture, the kind of Cool Britannia that started with Euro '96 and then flowed through Brit Pop and Blair and New Labour etc was the last time the country felt to me at least to actually have a pretty shared sense of its identity. I look at where we are now 25 years later and I honestly don't know how we ever get back there. It isn't a political point really, I think politics just reflects society, there is no shared sense of what 2020 Britain should be. Yes, the first leg against Man Utd they didn't have their strongest team out at the time but a few years later it made up a fair percentage of not only their first team but also England's. In the second leg however, wowzers! The game was Cantona's first away game after his ban for the attack on the Palace fan. I remember Schmeichel coming out to take a cross and the movement from the United players was unreal. They didn't have to think. Two split out wide, one went long and another short. Our lads had never seen anything like it. I hadn't live. We manged to score just before halftime and really go away lightly with a 3-1 defeat but it was just enough to see us through. We aren't ever going to get back to a society like that. Social media has made politics so divisive and in my opinion, evil. I used to think religion was the root of all evil but now politics is close to matching it. In the 90's nobody cared who or what you voted for. It was as close to hedonism as you'd get in my eyes. Probably a rose tinted view as I had no or very little worry at the time but everyone just seemed content to work hard and enjoy life without casting shadow on how other people lived their lives.
machine gun kelly Posted November 10, 2020 Posted November 10, 2020 I was starting my first professional position as I just graduated from my undergrad., starting graduate school at night, competing as a powerlifter, and bar tending on weekends as I started out as a teacher before I went into business.
GunnerBill Posted November 10, 2020 Posted November 10, 2020 9 minutes ago, BritBill said: Yes, the first leg against Man Utd they didn't have their strongest team out at the time but a few years later it made up a fair percentage of not only their first team but also England's. In the second leg however, wowzers! The game was Cantona's first away game after his ban for the attack on the Palace fan. I remember Schmeichel coming out to take a cross and the movement from the United players was unreal. They didn't have to think. Two split out wide, one went long and another short. Our lads had never seen anything like it. I hadn't live. We manged to score just before halftime and really go away lightly with a 3-1 defeat but it was just enough to see us through. We aren't ever going to get back to a society like that. Social media has made politics so divisive and in my opinion, evil. I used to think religion was the root of all evil but now politics is close to matching it. In the 90's nobody cared who or what you voted for. It was as close to hedonism as you'd get in my eyes. Probably a rose tinted view as I had no or very little worry at the time but everyone just seemed content to work hard and enjoy life without casting shadow on how other people lived their lives. I just googled it..... the United lineup that first leg... Kevin Pilkington (okay ended up a journeyman lower league keeper) Paul Parker (already an established England international by that point had played in a world cup semi... probably on the downslope career wise though) Pat McGibbon (a person whose existence does not register on my memory) Gary Pallister (at the time 1st choice Man U and England centre half) Dennis Irwin (Established top full back for club and country) Phil Neville (youth team graduate at the time but future Man U and England regular) David Beckham (even our American hosts might remember him..... obviously not an established name at the time) Simon Davies (youth team player at the time, had a good lower league career after and now Vincent Kompany's assistant at Anderlecht) Ryan Giggs (already a superstar) Brian McClair (probably had lost his first team spot by then but established international) Lee Sharpe (at the time was an England international and a regular first teamer) I'd say four of them - Pallister, Irwin, Giggs and Sharpe were first team players. Parker and McClair were former first teamers slightly on the downslope and then 5 youth team prospects of whom two made it big. That is still a pretty strong team for York to go and trash 0-3 at Old Trafford! 1
BritBill Posted November 10, 2020 Posted November 10, 2020 6 minutes ago, GunnerBill said: I just googled it..... the United lineup that first leg... Kevin Pilkington (okay ended up a journeyman lower league keeper) Paul Parker (already an established England international by that point had played in a world cup semi... probably on the downslope career wise though) Pat McGibbon (a person whose existence does not register on my memory) Gary Pallister (at the time 1st choice Man U and England centre half) Dennis Irwin (Established top full back for club and country) Phil Neville (youth team graduate at the time but future Man U and England regular) David Beckham (even our American hosts might remember him..... obviously not an established name at the time) Simon Davies (youth team player at the time, had a good lower league career after and now Vincent Kompany's assistant at Anderlecht) Ryan Giggs (already a superstar) Brian McClair (probably had lost his first team spot by then but established international) Lee Sharpe (at the time was an England international and a regular first teamer) I'd say four of them - Pallister, Irwin, Giggs and Sharpe were first team players. Parker and McClair were former first teamers slightly on the downslope and then 5 youth team prospects of whom two made it big. That is still a pretty strong team for York to go and trash 0-3 at Old Trafford! McGibbon was sent off and gave a penalty away in the process. I think it may have been his debut as well. Might have something to do why you have no knowledge of him!
GunnerBill Posted November 10, 2020 Posted November 10, 2020 Just now, BritBill said: McGibbon was sent off and gave a penalty away in the process. I think it may have been his debut as well. Might have something to do why you have no knowledge of him! Sounds like a first appearance and last appearance. My google machine tells me he played nearly 170 games for Wigan too. They must have been forgettable. In the late 90s I feel like I pretty much knew who most of the players in the football league were (blame the original Championship Manager) and yet he is a mystery to me.
Gugny Posted November 10, 2020 Posted November 10, 2020 1 hour ago, BritBill said: Don't look back in anger, folks. Great tune! 1
BillsPride12 Posted November 10, 2020 Posted November 10, 2020 This thread has been fantastic. It's cool reading all of the different stories and perspectives of where everybody was at in life the last time the Bills were a true contender. One of the underrated aspects of being a big sports fan is it spans different generations and era's. I'm not a huge fan of modern times right now but hopefully this McDermott/Josh Allen era Bills team is about to bring us some new happy memories 1
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