A Few Thoughts....Intro [LAMP]

[Virgil]

1 hour ago, buffaloboyinATL said:

OK, I have always been curious.  Bill's lyrics have always seemed to be chosen specifically because of something that happened in the game, or a point he was trying to make.  Did he do this on purpose, or did I just read too much into it?  Secondly, do you do this when selecting your lyrics?

Yes, as much as possible

[Virgil]

2 hours ago, corta765 said:

8 – Most Disliked Players – Donte Whitner dude was a jerk, Paul Poz he made a ton of tackles.... 7 yards downfield was always behind the play, Watkins for carrying about being a Diva then being a team player, Chris Hogan for his drops in 2015, McKelvin for just not catching punts/kick offs and going down, Willis McGhee self explained, Dareus not in play way more because he wasted potential to be so much better which was sad to see, and Charles Clay for the amount of drops and bad plays he made including his flub against Miami in 18 when Allen played lights out. Coach wise Marrone and Jauron were soul killing for punting on the 40 of the opponent on 4th and 2.

I agree with most of these, but I didn’t dislike them while they were here.  
 

Whitner was drafted way too high and really burned bridges as he left.  
 

Poz hurt because he was a fan favorite and I feel like he just bounced for money and never cared about being here.  
 

McGahee was a head scratching draft pick to me.  I was never really a fan as he made comments about being the best runningback in the league, when accomplishing nothing close to it. 
 

I can’t fault the other guys as they just had bad plays, but I believe they always wanted to be here and gave their all. 
 

Marrone is interesting to me as I’m really curious to know what happened as he quit.  As time passes, I think he wanted more control.  
 

Jauron is like hating your grandma for being stuck in her ways.  She just is who she is 

[corta765]

8 minutes ago, Virgil said:

I agree with most of these, but I didn’t dislike them while they were here.  
 

Whitner was drafted way too high and really burned bridges as he left.  
 

Poz hurt because he was a fan favorite and I feel like he just bounced for money and never cared about being here.  
 

McGahee was a head scratching draft pick to me.  I was never really a fan as he made comments about being the best runningback in the league, when accomplishing nothing close to it. 
 

I can’t fault the other guys as they just had bad plays, but I believe they always wanted to be here and gave their all. 
 

Marrone is interesting to me as I’m really curious to know what happened as he quit.  As time passes, I think he wanted more control.  
 

Jauron is like hating your grandma for being stuck in her ways.  She just is who she is 

 

I wouldn't say I hate them and def didn't mind most while here minus Poz and Hogan. 

 

Marrone I think wanted more control and if I remember one of Polians to come in and replace Whaley.

[Big Turk]

I love reading your posts late Sunday or Mondays...and rare Tuesday ones after MNF games...

 

I am equally excited to continue my thread on Allen's assault on the all time passing leaders ranking thread!

 

 

[BaaadThingsMan]

Thanks for the write up Virgil. Stealing just a few of your bullet points to add my two cents:

First Bills Memory – Bills Steelers Monday night game sometime in the 1970s. Apparently I picked the white team(Bills) to win. That was followed by a Bills Chargers playoff game in the early 80s with my grandfather, who added his own color commentary. *****in Ferguson.

Dedication – I've lived in California for many years years now. In addition to watching them live anytime they come out west, I still travel to Buffalo for atleast one game a year.

Back in the late 80s, early 90s when you could come to the stadium on a Friday in the camper lot, we would tailgate for 3 days. Those games were wild affairs!


Bill from NYC – Truckin', up to Buffalo
Been thinkin', you got to mellow slow
It takes time, you pick a place to go
And just keep truckin' on


Favorite Players – Besides the obvious players from the SuperBowl era including Bruuuuce, Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed, The Buscuit, Jim Kelly etc.

London Fletcher and Pat Williams were easy to root for and Josh Allen is quickly rising up the list. He could end up my #1 before he's done.

 
Most Disliked Players – Peerless Price. Dude, you're not a number one receiver just stay put and keep putting up great numbers.
Karlos Williams. Wasted potential.

 
Favorite Memories – Tailgating and going to games in all weather conditions during the late 80s,early 90s. The atmosphere in the lot and at the games during that time was off the hook.
For recent times, I was lucky enough to watch the Bills beat the Steelers live in Pittsburgh to go to the playoffs in 2019. The crowd was still hyped from their song and little video montage when Josh hit Brown with the bomb that changed the game. So fun!

 
Thank you - Virgil and formerly Bill from NYC. These writeups are part of my post game routine now as well and I appreciate the effort and thought you put into it.

GO Bills!!!!!!

[corta765]

1 hour ago, BaaadThingsMan said:

First SuperBowl for me. I was hosting a party. When I picked my head up out of my hands it was hours later, I was alone in the dark. 

 

Not the same level but the loss to Houston my parents had a party for with our family and friends. The mood swung from we are going to the airport! , "first playoff win in 23 years" , etc.. to the FG went in for HOU and no one said anything. At some point the Patriots Titans game came on and I am pretty sure I didn't leave the spot on the couch for 30 mins.

[Simon Says]

My thought is....keep it short or nobody will read your stuff. Consider starting a journal.....

Edited August 19, 2021 by Georgie
Spelling

[Patrick Duffy]

2 minutes ago, Georgie said:

My though is....keep it short or nobody will read your stuff. Consider starting a journal.....

Not sure if you're being sarcastic or not, but a large majority of posters read a lot of what OP post, long or not

[Mark Vader]

@Virgil I always await your "Thoughts" thread, I find your takes to be great and it's fun to hear what other people see.

I've had some good back-and-forth's with you as well.

 

You do such a great job especially since you give yourself just a couple of hours to write everything up after the game has ended.

I know how much time it takes to write up something so thoroughly.

I go through the same thing when I write up my movie posts. Which by the way everyone, I will continue to do this again, but probably not until 2022 starts.

Of course that's a monthly thing for me, not a weekly thing for yourself.

 

Thanks for all the work you put into these takes, Virgil. I'm ready for the Bills to have a memorable season this year. Looking forward to reading your thoughts again. GO BILLS!!!

[Virgil]

39 minutes ago, Mark Vader said:

@Virgil I always await your "Thoughts" thread, I find your takes to be great and it's fun to hear what other people see.

I've had some good back-and-forth's with you as well.

 

You do such a great job especially since you give yourself just a couple of hours to write everything up after the game has ended.

I know how much time it takes to write up something so thoroughly.

I go through the same thing when I write up my movie posts. Which by the way everyone, I will continue to do this again, but probably not until 2022 starts.

Of course that's a monthly thing for me, not a weekly thing for yourself.

 

Thanks for all the work you put into these takes, Virgil. I'm ready for the Bills to have a memorable season this year. Looking forward to reading your thoughts again. GO BILLS!!!

I didn’t know you wrote those and I’m actually a pretty big movie person myself.   I have the AMC pass where I get unlimited movies for $20 a month. 

[Mark Vader]

1 minute ago, Virgil said:

I didn’t know you wrote those and I’m actually a pretty big movie person myself.   I have the AMC pass where I get unlimited movies for $20 a month. 

Yes, that is me writing up those reports.

 

During the lockdown and all the movie theatres being closed, there was no reason to write them for awhile.

 

I thought about starting back up again since movies have steadily come back on a fairly regular basis, but I'll wait for the year to finish.

 

I am very curious to see how "Dune" turns out. Denis Villeneuve is an outstanding director, and I've enjoyed all of his films. He seems like the right person to give that film a chance to be a hit.

[Virgil]

3 minutes ago, Mark Vader said:

Yes, that is me writing up those reports.

 

During the lockdown and all the movie theatres being closed, there was no reason to write them for awhile.

 

I thought about starting back up again since movies have steadily come back on a fairly regular basis, but I'll wait for the year to finish.

 

I am very curious to see how "Dune" turns out. Denis Villeneuve is an outstanding director, and I've enjoyed all of his films. He seems like the right person to give that film a chance to be a hit.

 

Can't say I saw the original.  My best friend is really into it so I'm going to give this new one a shot

[gdabillsfan]

23 hours ago, Virgil said:

I'm not really sure if this is worthwhile to anyone here, as most of you know me and the weekly thoughts review, but I'm trying new things this year and figured it couldn't hurt.  MODs, if this needs to be moved, I understand.

 

In deciding to put “Thoughts” out there on more social media platforms, I began to think about the endless amounts of content that is out there between fan and professional writers. To be very clear, I am a fan writer and have zero affiliation with the team or any other news outlet. I did receive my English degree and debating sports journalism for a short while, but then decided being able to eat and place a roof over my head was more important. With that being said, if you’re a first time reader of “A Few Thoughts about the Game” or a long time reader, I decided to write this introduction about myself and why you may want to keep reading. With that, here are a few thoughts, in no particular order…

 

1 – First Bills Memory – Bills football didn’t become an obsession to me until I was around 12 years old, but I remember wide right. My father and sister were watching the game and incredibly into it. I didn’t fully understand the magnitude of the moment nor would the chain of events that missed kick set off. By the time we accomplished the biggest comeback of all time, I was fully invested in the team and cried my first sporting tears after the following Super Bowl because I just couldn’t understand why they couldn’t win just one. Since then, I have never (and I mean NEVER) missed a game.

 

2 Dedication – When I took a commission sales job at Circuit City, I told my manager that I could not work on Sundays during football season. Unfortunately, they didn’t allow that for an availability, so I had to let them know my next rule: If I work when the Bills playing, I will be in the projection TV section with the DirecTV remote. If a customer needs help with projection TV’s, then I will answer them. But, if they want to shop for anything else, I would hand them off to other associates. Now, other associates learned to appreciate this because I also promised to give away any commissions from large TV’s that I happened to sell. I did this for two reasons: One, projection TV’s were the highest commission items in the store and I knew they wouldn’t like me camping out there. 2 – The register was too far away from the TV’s to be able to see the game. I was at work during the Music City Miracle and had to leave early that day.

 

3 – I’m Wrong….A Lot – Let’s go ahead and get this out of the way now. I was beyond pissed off when we drafted Josh Allen. It’s nothing personal against Allen, but when have you ever seen a college player fail at the collegiate level and have poor accuracy, but then magically figure it out at the NFL level? My QB ranking was Mayfield, Darnold, Rosen, Allen, and lastly Lamar. I never believed Darnold would be in play for us and figured the Browns or Jets would take him. Mayfield was such a wildcard who showed me just enough accuracy and swagger in college to believe he would fit perfectly in Buffalo. Now, to be clear, once 48 hours passed and I calmed down, I accepted Josh as our quarterback because at the end of the day, I support the Bills above all else and he was immediately my quarterback.

 

4 – Bill from NYC – Every week, this spot is reserved for lyrics from a band. In the beginning, these thoughts were actually written by someone I now consider a friend, Bill. He wrote these recaps every single week after a Bills game and it became a staple in my post-game review process. Some years back, Bill stopped writing his reviews and I really wanted to see that tradition continue. Bill and I spoke, and I’ve since carried on this tradition with his blessing. The title and format are all originally Bill’s and I’m incredibly thankful to him for helping me start on this writing journey. It’s just too bad that he’s an Alabama fan.

 

5 – The Grind – Writing a weekly review of the games was an undertaking that I didn’t realize would be as daunting as it is. You never want to write the same things week over week, but if you forget to mention Josh Allen once, people will lose their minds. For me, I make a point to mention key plays or players that had the biggest impact on the game. If a player is trending in a positive or negative direction, I will write about it maybe two or three times before I stop mentioning them at all because it simply gets old. This season, I’m really going to be paying attention to players in their third year, defensive evolution, the rushing attack, and how we fair against tougher competition. This is not to say that I’m restricting my topics, but more so the more pressing concerns I believe this team needs to figure out if they want to be Super Bowl Champions.

 

6 – Rules – What? Rules for a fan review? Having done this for a few years and reading feedback from fellow fans, I learned very quickly that you can’t please everyone and stats can be very misleading. With that being said, I have three rules that I do my best to adhere to with each weeks Thoughts. First rule is, I don’t google or reference any stats online when writing Thoughts. If I can’t take it as a note or pay attention to it while the game is happening, then it’s not going to be mentioned or it’ll be done as more of a reference. The second rule is, if you respond to my posts by singling out one sentence and ignoring the context of the thought, then do not expect a response. I can’t tell you how many times I’ll mention one bad play by a player in one sentence out of a paragraph praising him, and then read how I’m a hater. The final rule is, and this is more from me, never write angry. Like anyone else, I am very capable of having a temper tantrum following a tough loss. In those cases, I might not write my Thoughts until the next day because coming in level headed is incredibly important and vital to the success of these posts.

 

7 – Favorite Players – I’ve always been an underdog kind of guy. Frank Reich and Kenneth Davis were my early 90’s favorite players. While there were so many hall of famers on that team, I still don’t believe Thurman Thomas gets enough credit for what he brought to the game. He was Marshall Faulk before there was a Faulk. I wanted JP and EJ to succeed as they seemed like good kids, and quite honestly, felt desperate at that point. Taking current players out of the mix, it was impossible to not love Fitzpatrick and Stevie Johnson. I still hope Fitz signs a one day contract and retires as a Bill. He’s the one guy I still can’t root against.

 

8 – Most Disliked Players – While I have nothing against the name Chris, Kelsay and Watson were two of the most head scratching players I can remember watching during the drought. They stole every penny of their contracts here and the only two players I can ever remember rooting to against. Kelsay was the king of standing next to a pile up, but never in it. Watson was so consistently out of position and burned by opposing receivers that you had to wonder if it was intentional.

 

9 – Favorite Memories – While still trying to keep this in the drought and not wanting to reference other teams, my favorite memory was when Fitz beats the ***Patriots on the last second field goal after a 21 point comeback. Fitz, Fred Jackson, and really the whole team fought back in the most amazing way that game and I wish I was at the stadium because it seemed like the most electric atmosphere of the entire drought. It’s easy to want to mention the Bengals win over the Ravens, but we weren’t part of that game. However, I can say that I’ve watched the locker room reaction video more times than most.

 

10 – Thank you - I will be the first to say that I’m not an expert on the Bills more so than any other fan. I genuinely enjoy watching them, rooting for them, slowly making my daughter into a fan, and learning more about the game through footage reviews and other analysts. I’m so incredibly thankful to those that have been reading my Thoughts over the years and pushing me to put myself out there more for others to read. I don’t know where this will lead to, but I’m happy to find out.

 

 

@Virgil thanks for your thoughts posts, I truly enjoy reading them (along with Shaw's Rockpile reviews).

I rarely post, (it's been years since the last time), but I read these forums daily and have a few thoughts also.

1. Bills memories; I haven't always been a Bills fan either. I originally was a Packers fan as a little kid. I idolized Bart Starr and wanted to be just like him. (Yogi Bear too, but I digress), so while watching a Bills game with my Dad, and my brothers, I was astounded by the Bills new running back, none other than OJ Simpson. I couldn't believe that he was so good. I was hooked, and I have been a Bills fan ever since. Although there have been many other memorable moments, and some not, through the years, I still am a Bills fan 50 some years later.

2. Dedication. 

In the early 90's, I attended a Bills/Jets game in late December, and although I expected it to be cold it was brutal.( I think it is the second coldest game on record at Rich Stadium. It had the record until the next game, I believe against Oakland , which thankfully I watched from the comfort of my living room in balmy Arizona.)

So, the night before the game Buffalo got like a foot of snow and though they did the best they could there was 6 inches of ice stuck to the seats. The temp was hovering around zero, and the wind was blowing at around 30 mph. We (my brothers and I) endured that for the whole game, with the only bonus being that we got on tv with my brothers sign which was a giant thermometer and read

"NEVER

BEEN

COLDER

Can't wait to get back to balmy Anchorage"

(He was in from Alaska, for Xmas and the game)

3. I am also wrong often, my wife will confirm that I'm sure.

4. "....shuffling off to Buffalo......

 What a long strange trip it's been "

7. Favs; Fergie, Cribbs, Smerlas,Talley, L.Smith, A williams, Fitz, Lee Evans (he is a super nice guy, I was fortunate enough to meet him once.) Pat Williams, and so many more.

9. Again thanks for your posts.

I have over the years been trying to inspire young fans to cheer for the Bills, with most of them now Bills fans too. My newest project is my great grandson, he's 2 1/2, and this will be his 1st season as a Bills fan, if I can get him to sit down long enough to watch.

 

 

 

[BaaadThingsMan]

4 hours ago, corta765 said:

 

Not the same level but the loss to Houston my parents had a party for with our family and friends. The mood swung from we are going to the airport! , "first playoff win in 23 years" , etc.. to the FG went in for HOU and no one said anything. At some point the Patriots Titans game came on and I am pretty sure I didn't leave the spot on the couch for 30 mins.

Rough. I was still dancing around with my back to the screen and my buddy goes... oh, no. Ugh.