I'm done.

[DC Bills Fan]

Dude. 

 

You're not on the team.  You're just a fan.

 

Get your priorities straight.  Does this really impact your life?  I remember getting all pissy after the music city miracle (it was a forward lateral, by the way ) and it ruined an opportunity to have a great night out with my friends.  And why?  Because I would not be able to watch a bunch of overpaid athletes play another week. 

 

Players can get upset because it will cost them money.  Did the loss impact MY income?  NO!  So what's the point in getting so invested?

 

Sports are supposed to be a release from the real world.  Sounds like you're having trouble letting go.  

 

So try to think about how a Bills loss -- and they will always find new and creative ways to lose -- impacts your real life.  And then just live by the old saying "if they don't win it's a shame."  Because at the end of the day, that's all it should be.

 

[Low Positive]

I felt like this as the game ended, but I’m starting to move on. But I certainly did feel that way a few hours ago. 

[Success]

I mean - did fans expect the NFL to roll out the red carpet?  For the Bills to coast to a #1 seed, and then just show up for their coronation?

 

For the sake of pete.  To be "done" after a classic game against a worthy opponent, where we're still just 1 game out of the AFCE and #1 seed, is almost incomprehensible.

 

I've been done a bunch of times, but today is nothing.

 

[gotme365]

1 hour ago, letsgoteam said:

Make fun of me, say I'm a liar, say whatever you want.

I'm done.

 

I'm 34 years old, married with a 1 month old. I live out of state. 

I have been a Bills fan all of my life, I'm not going to stop being a fan, I can't. I've been cursed. For many years, I dreamed when I finally had a kid that as they grew up, I would have someone who would love the Bills as much as I do, something we could share. My wife doesn't care about sports (it sucks). That dream is over, I'm not cursing my daughter to a lifetime of misery. 

 

Of course, I will keep up with the Bills, but I've got to change the way they have an impact in my life. Beyond my family and job, the Bills have come next. Watching every game, having whatever app needed to watch them out of state, clothing, $, etc. 

 

I'm done. I cant keep doing this. The way I feel after a loss has to stop (especially the epic meltdown losses we are all to familiar with); I'm miserable, I'm mad, I'm angry, it consumes me. I'm to emotionally invested. Beyond my job and family, the Bills have been everything and anyone who knows me knows its my identity. 

 

Something has to give. 

 

So, I thought about it after the KC game last season. Now after this, its time. I'm no longer watching the Bills live. 4 hours every "Sunday" for 17 weeks and whatever playoffs and preseason stuff. That's over 70+ hours each season. That's roughly 3 days of my life each year devoted to the Bills.

 

What has it given back to me, how am I a better person for doing this. What good, what accomplishments, what have I earned from this. 

NOTHING

All I do is become a emotional wreck and a miserable, grumpy jerk when they lose. (I can remember crying as a little kid, like 6/7 years old). The crying as a little kid, now is mostly just meant with anger. Any of my friends and family know. To the point of, my best friends wife, texted my wife and wanted to see how angry I was after the KC loss. It's embarrassing. I have become a side show spectacle, to point where people are curious how "epic" my meltdown was. (I would like to say, I actually took it like a champ, and kept it all in eternally and showed nothing emotionally). No anger, just disappointment in myself and the Bills. 

 

From here on, perhaps I go back to it at some point. I dont know. I'm just done. I am disappointed in myself more for caring so much for 30 years. 

 

From this point on, I'm not watching another Bills game live. I need to do better in my life, maybe this is a small step in the right direction. I know I will watch replays if they win (just like I might watch Netflix or Disney +), but I'm gaining my life back. I'm done.

 

 

Well said. I’m right there with you

[Pete]

lol you thin skinned, fake ass Bills fan.  34- you dont know what its like to lose 4 superbowls.  Or go 0 for the 70s against the Dolphins.  Thats one thing I hated about hype train.  Because before Josh, if you met a Bills fan, they were true blue Bills Mafia

[Danger Mouse]

I think you're all being hard on the man. Anyone who can endure the last 30 years and then decide to jump ship just as the Bills look like playoff regulars is an absolute HERO in my book. 

 

But then I am a miserable scotsman 

[billsfan714]

As an old timer, I never get why people act like the music city miracle was that devastating.   Anybody with a functioning brain cell knows Rob Johnson wasn't going to take us to a superbowl win.  At best we win that and lose the next week, so no big deal imho.  Now the 13 seconds, that's a different story.

[NoHuddleKelly12]

Never make a lifetime decision in the heat of the moment…my advice would be take a week off from the boards, all media, all news bits etc., and after that week goes by, see where you’re at with everything. 🤷🏼‍♂️. Crushing losses are part of the Faustian bargain we all have as fans of the greatest football franchise of all time! 

[letsgoteam]

I appreciate all of the responses. I knew I would hear things from both ends of the spectrum.

 

To anyone who doubts my fandom, I've been a fan as long as I have been cognizant of my memories growing up. One of my earliest memories, is trying to wake up my parents to see if they won the Super Bowl or not. It must have the 2nd Cowboys game, because I do remember watching the 49ers/Chargers game the following season. I mean I have a 96 Bills season poster (the type from bars/restaurants, that you fill in the scores throughout the year, which I have filed in during 96) that I've hung up everywhere I have lived, which included my put of state college dorm room. 

 

That's why I need to make changes, I care TOO much.

 

I do appreciate the responses, its why I posted all of this, because it will help me stay accountable. I'm not giving up being a fan, but I need to take a break from watching the games live. 

Edited November 14, 2022 by letsgoteam

[RobbRiddicksTDLeap]

I’ve been where you’re at. I was a spectacle myself. Still am. However, it’s worth it all. 
 

I remember painting my sons nursery room the day they hired St Doug. I remember thinking that it felt different. Like something was going to come of it. And it did. 
 

Through it all though, watching my son live through the glory years of Josh Allen, is so rewarding. 
 

Todays loss is baffling, and it should make very fan angry. But don’t quit. Regardless of what these butt heads in this thread say, we need you. We need your family. We need the passion and the pain. Otherwise, it’s just us out here alone. And that’s like being a Texans fan. Yuck. 

[wagon127]

The key change in your life, wasn't today's game, but your child. I was the same way when i had my kid. You can still have fun watching the team, but when the game ends, you have to suck up your frustration and play toys with your kid. 

Edited November 14, 2022 by wagon127

[Livinginthepast]

53 minutes ago, letsgoteam said:

Make fun of me, say I'm a liar, say whatever you want.

I'm done.

 

I'm 34 years old, married with a 1 month old. I live out of state. 

I have been a Bills fan all of my life, I'm not going to stop being a fan, I can't. I've been cursed. For many years, I dreamed when I finally had a kid that as they grew up, I would have someone who would love the Bills as much as I do, something we could share. My wife doesn't care about sports (it sucks). That dream is over, I'm not cursing my daughter to a lifetime of misery. 

 

Of course, I will keep up with the Bills, but I've got to change the way they have an impact in my life. Beyond my family and job, the Bills have come next. Watching every game, having whatever app needed to watch them out of state, clothing, $, etc. 

 

I'm done. I cant keep doing this. The way I feel after a loss has to stop (especially the epic meltdown losses we are all to familiar with); I'm miserable, I'm mad, I'm angry, it consumes me. I'm to emotionally invested. Beyond my job and family, the Bills have been everything and anyone who knows me knows its my identity. 

 

Something has to give. 

 

So, I thought about it after the KC game last season. Now after this, its time. I'm no longer watching the Bills live. 4 hours every "Sunday" for 17 weeks and whatever playoffs and preseason stuff. That's over 70+ hours each season. That's roughly 3 days of my life each year devoted to the Bills.

 

What has it given back to me, how am I a better person for doing this. What good, what accomplishments, what have I earned from this. 

NOTHING

All I do is become a emotional wreck and a miserable, grumpy jerk when they lose. (I can remember crying as a little kid, like 6/7 years old). The crying as a little kid, now is mostly just meant with anger. Any of my friends and family know. To the point of, my best friends wife, texted my wife and wanted to see how angry I was after the KC loss. It's embarrassing. I have become a side show spectacle, to point where people are curious how "epic" my meltdown was. (I would like to say, I actually took it like a champ, and kept it all in eternally and showed nothing emotionally). No anger, just disappointment in myself and the Bills. 

 

From here on, perhaps I go back to it at some point. I dont know. I'm just done. I am disappointed in myself more for caring so much for 30 years. 

 

From this point on, I'm not watching another Bills game live. I need to do better in my life, maybe this is a small step in the right direction. I know I will watch replays if they win (just like I might watch Netflix or Disney +), but I'm gaining my life back. I'm done.

 

 

I feel your pain and react the same way. You have it easy though because you didn't really experience the SB losses (as an adult like I did) along with the rest  of the heartbreak. Sadly there is no cure for this feeling until we break the curse and win a SB. And no saying you are done wont work. The Bills are like being in an abusive relationship or a crack addiction. They are bad for you but you cant break free!

[The Frankish Reich]

You get a little (well, a lot) older, you get a little perspective.

1. It was great entertainment! Really the best 3.5 hours of entertainment this month. Makes up for my wife making me take her to the opera last week. Honestly, I would rather spend those 3.5 hours of fantastic entertainment resulting in a Bills loss than 3.5 hours of a 6-3 Bills win c. Jauron Era.

2. I saw tremendous feats of athleticism. Diggs' ridiculous one-handed grab. Jefferson's ridiculous multiple grabs. Gabe's ridiculous non-catch catch.

3. I saw jaw-dropping twists of fate. The goal line stand followed by the fumbled snap. I don't even care to try to calculate how many hours of football I've watched in my life (could it add up to a full year? isn't life too short for that?), and I have never ever seen that happen before. That's why we keep watching.

4. In the end this is watching grown men play a kid's game, putting on a helmet with a stylized bison on it even though almost no one on the team has a true connection to Buffalo - at least not a connection that pre-dates signing with the Bills, or that will post-date a Bills career. They trick us into watching by saying it's "Buffalo vs. Minnesota." It's not even the World Cup with general identification of teams and nationalities. It says nothing about the relative merits of Erie County and Hennepin County. It is entertainment, not life.

Relax. Enjoy the show. Get on with life. Until next Sunday.

 

[ALLinALLEN]

Haha I feel your pain buddy. I wound up watching the final Q and OT in a local DC bar (stopped in to pickup food) with 5 people in it, and 1 was a diehard vikings fan. I mean what are the odds of that? I'm not going to stop watching or following them but losses like this and in this fashion are unfathomable. And of course all my NFL friends texting me "OMG" and "I cant believe this" during the last Q and OT doesnt help....it sucks to be the BFLO guy in a different city but oh well.

 

I understand your pain and frustration completely, and I won't be the guy that says "but it will feel so great when we finally do win". Maybe just give it a week or two off. I won't say "good riddance" or "bye" like some stubborn folks here either...It sucks to feel this way. You'll bounce back.

[Low Positive]

3 minutes ago, The Frankish Reich said:

You get a little (well, a lot) older, you get a little perspective.

1. It was great entertainment! Really the best 3.5 hours of entertainment this month. Makes up for my wife making me take her to the opera last week. Honestly, I would rather spend those 3.5 hours of fantastic entertainment resulting in a Bills loss than 3.5 hours of a 6-3 Bills win c. Jauron Era.

2. I saw tremendous feats of athleticism. Diggs' ridiculous one-handed grab. Jefferson's ridiculous multiple grabs. Gabe's ridiculous non-catch catch.

3. I saw jaw-dropping twists of fate. The goal line stand followed by the fumbled snap. I don't even care to try to calculate how many hours of football I've watched in my life (could it add up to a full year? isn't life too short for that?), and I have never ever seen that happen before. That's why we keep watching.

4. In the end this is watching grown men play a kid's game, putting on a helmet with a stylized bison on it even though almost no one on the team has a true connection to Buffalo - at least not a connection that pre-dates signing with the Bills, or that will post-date a Bills career. They trick us into watching by saying it's "Buffalo vs. Minnesota." It's not even the World Cup with general identification of teams and nationalities. It says nothing about the relative merits of Erie County and Hennepin County. It is entertainment, not life.

Relax. Enjoy the show. Get on with life. Until next Sunday.

 

That’s how I felt about 13 seconds, but it took me a week to get there.

[T&C]

2 hours ago, letsgoteam said:

Make fun of me, say I'm a liar, say whatever you want.

I'm done.

 

I'm 34 years old, married with a 1 month old. I live out of state. 

I have been a Bills fan all of my life, I'm not going to stop being a fan, I can't. I've been cursed. For many years, I dreamed when I finally had a kid that as they grew up, I would have someone who would love the Bills as much as I do, something we could share. My wife doesn't care about sports (it sucks). That dream is over, I'm not cursing my daughter to a lifetime of misery. 

 

Of course, I will keep up with the Bills, but I've got to change the way they have an impact in my life. Beyond my family and job, the Bills have come next. Watching every game, having whatever app needed to watch them out of state, clothing, $, etc. 

 

I'm done. I cant keep doing this. The way I feel after a loss has to stop (especially the epic meltdown losses we are all to familiar with); I'm miserable, I'm mad, I'm angry, it consumes me. I'm to emotionally invested. Beyond my job and family, the Bills have been everything and anyone who knows me knows its my identity. 

 

Something has to give. 

 

So, I thought about it after the KC game last season. Now after this, its time. I'm no longer watching the Bills live. 4 hours every "Sunday" for 17 weeks and whatever playoffs and preseason stuff. That's over 70+ hours each season. That's roughly 3 days of my life each year devoted to the Bills.

 

What has it given back to me, how am I a better person for doing this. What good, what accomplishments, what have I earned from this. 

NOTHING

All I do is become a emotional wreck and a miserable, grumpy jerk when they lose. (I can remember crying as a little kid, like 6/7 years old). The crying as a little kid, now is mostly just meant with anger. Any of my friends and family know. To the point of, my best friends wife, texted my wife and wanted to see how angry I was after the KC loss. It's embarrassing. I have become a side show spectacle, to point where people are curious how "epic" my meltdown was. (I would like to say, I actually took it like a champ, and kept it all in eternally and showed nothing emotionally). No anger, just disappointment in myself and the Bills. 

 

From here on, perhaps I go back to it at some point. I dont know. I'm just done. I am disappointed in myself more for caring so much for 30 years. 

 

From this point on, I'm not watching another Bills game live. I need to do better in my life, maybe this is a small step in the right direction. I know I will watch replays if they win (just like I might watch Netflix or Disney +), but I'm gaining my life back. I'm done.

 

 

Lol... one of the best threads I've read here lately. Sorry to hear that a football team, the Bills, have crushed your life. Get more into nature, that is my advice to you crusader.

[2020 Our Year For Sure]

3 hours ago, letsgoteam said:

Make fun of me, say I'm a liar, say whatever you want.

I'm done.

 

I'm 34 years old, married with a 1 month old. I live out of state. 

I have been a Bills fan all of my life, I'm not going to stop being a fan, I can't. I've been cursed. For many years, I dreamed when I finally had a kid that as they grew up, I would have someone who would love the Bills as much as I do, something we could share. My wife doesn't care about sports (it sucks). That dream is over, I'm not cursing my daughter to a lifetime of misery. 

 

Of course, I will keep up with the Bills, but I've got to change the way they have an impact in my life. Beyond my family and job, the Bills have come next. Watching every game, having whatever app needed to watch them out of state, clothing, $, etc. 

 

I'm done. I cant keep doing this. The way I feel after a loss has to stop (especially the epic meltdown losses we are all to familiar with); I'm miserable, I'm mad, I'm angry, it consumes me. I'm to emotionally invested. Beyond my job and family, the Bills have been everything and anyone who knows me knows its my identity. 

 

Something has to give. 

 

So, I thought about it after the KC game last season. Now after this, its time. I'm no longer watching the Bills live. 4 hours every "Sunday" for 17 weeks and whatever playoffs and preseason stuff. That's over 70+ hours each season. That's roughly 3 days of my life each year devoted to the Bills.

 

What has it given back to me, how am I a better person for doing this. What good, what accomplishments, what have I earned from this. 

NOTHING

All I do is become a emotional wreck and a miserable, grumpy jerk when they lose. (I can remember crying as a little kid, like 6/7 years old). The crying as a little kid, now is mostly just meant with anger. Any of my friends and family know. To the point of, my best friends wife, texted my wife and wanted to see how angry I was after the KC loss. It's embarrassing. I have become a side show spectacle, to point where people are curious how "epic" my meltdown was. (I would like to say, I actually took it like a champ, and kept it all in eternally and showed nothing emotionally). No anger, just disappointment in myself and the Bills. 

 

From here on, perhaps I go back to it at some point. I dont know. I'm just done. I am disappointed in myself more for caring so much for 30 years. 

 

From this point on, I'm not watching another Bills game live. I need to do better in my life, maybe this is a small step in the right direction. I know I will watch replays if they win (just like I might watch Netflix or Disney +), but I'm gaining my life back. I'm done.

 

 

Do what you feel is right and never apologize to anyone for being the best man you can be.

[stevestojan]

1 hour ago, Pete said:

lol you thin skinned, fake ass Bills fan.  34- you dont know what its like to lose 4 superbowls.  Or go 0 for the 70s against the Dolphins.  Thats one thing I hated about hype train.  Because before Josh, if you met a Bills fan, they were true blue Bills Mafia

Incorrect. We didn’t call ourselves Bills Mafia because that’s ridiculous. Sorry, just found an opening to voice my hatred of the moniker Bills Mafia. 

[Nextmanup]

1 hour ago, stevestojan said:

Incorrect. We didn’t call ourselves Bills Mafia because that’s ridiculous. Sorry, just found an opening to voice my hatred of the moniker Bills Mafia. 

Bills Mafia is a term used to describe Bills fans, by people other than Bills fans.

 

Which is why I have always hated it.  That's not my term!  Don't use it to describe me!

[The Frankish Reich]

1 hour ago, stevestojan said:

just found an opening to voice my hatred of the moniker Bills Mafia

I've hated it since it started. But it's gone past the point of no return. It's now the official moniker for Bills fans everywhere.