The only positive thing with our recent struggles, for the board

[Mango]

1 hour ago, Nextmanup said:

I have solidly beat.  I remember the garbage this franchise put on the field for most of the '70s and '80s.

 

This team ripped my soul out for the first time (I think)...losing on the road in San Diego in the playoffs, January 1981, after we won the AFC East, which was a BIG DEAL at that time.  

 

Honestly, all I have ever known is heartache with the Bills....which is why I am going nowhere, and am good at dealing with it at my age now.

 

😄

You're just not much of a Sabres/hockey fan, that's all.

 

I didn't miss a single Sabres game throughout the drought (still ongoing of course) and that takes into an account a LOT OF UNWATCHABLE HOCKEY.  LOL

 

You're a little behind with the Sabres and their stench.  That went away maybe as much as two full seasons ago...

 

Disappointing start to this season, but we still have a solid shot to pull together and make the playoffs.

 

Anyway, it's the same at my Sabres/hockey forums.  Everyone there is crazy for the Sabres, but can take or leave the Bills.

 

Everyone has their own interests.  It's not a big deal.

 

 

I don’t know man, I’m not here to be in a duck measuring contest. You can win, you’re a better Sabres fan. You’ve watched more games.

 

I am not going to hijack this thread with how many games I’ve watched and not watched year by year with this franchise or my take on the state of the team. I’ll leave that at HF and SS. 
 

Moving on to the actual point of my comment….

 

None of that is what my comment was about. It was about fan engagement. I posit that because the Sabres stink and the Bills and Sabres share the same owner, that fan engagement is at much higher risk. The fact of the matter is that when it comes to championship hockey Buffalo, NY is a top 5 television market for the league. But because of historically bad ownership we have some of the lowest arena attendance in the league despite being a community that watches a lot of hockey, just not a lot of Sabres hockey. The Pegulas have trashed a thriving hockey market for the NHL.
 

Sports fans in this town have already sharpened their pitch forks at the Pegula’s. They just need a reason to point them.

[PBF81]

41 minutes ago, frostbitmic said:

Can't really blame people for being angry, this team is playing far below their talent levels, the coaching has been weak and they gave a home game away (a fireable offense) to a team that would've been competition for a higher playoff seed, had this actually been a playoff caliber team.

 

Agreed

 

It's not so much that we're bad, it's those facts as to why.  The presence of Allen in particular.  

 

As Bills fans we're a passionate bunch.  LOL

 

 

41 minutes ago, frostbitmic said:

Now lets see if the players react positively or negatively about the Dorsey punting. If they don't wake up from that, maybe it's the DC they want ousted.

 

Agree here as well.  

 

The next several games will be telling.  

 

McD will never be able to say he wasn't given a fair chance should it not work out well.  

 

 

[kkim0904]

Of course as a Bills fan, I am disappointed and frustrated about this season.  We had Superbowl goal, but now we are .500 team that is praying for Playoff hope.  But, this is the team I support whether we win or lose, always proud of wearing the color.  I love how this team bounce back and persevere.  I left Buffalo in 1996 for a job in NYC and Now, I have no family ties in Buffalo after my parents left the city about 10 years ago. My most memorable time with my sons is taking road trips to Buffalo for 5 years when they were teenagers until they left for school.  I  truly thank people of buffalo for keeping the team in Buffalo and now with new stadium, the team will stay in Buffalo for indefinitely.  I am going to the game tomorrow with younger one who is home for Thanksgiving.  Go Bills!! Beat Jets

[19Bills83]

6 hours ago, Bills fan since 87 said:

 

Fair.  I get that. Most of our fandom pre-dates the "Mafia" tag.  Perhaps a mis-use of the term on my part.

I still go with 12th man.

[BADOLBILZ]

On 11/17/2023 at 3:35 PM, eball said:

I’ve just stayed away from the board.  I’ll never give up on the Bills.

 

 

Your irrational takes combined with your equally hilarious disappearances amid team adversity are approaching lifetime achievement for humor category

 

 

[BADOLBILZ]

21 hours ago, GoBills808 said:

There's no such animal as a fair weather bills fan

 

C'mon now..........Bills fans are a mostly resilient group but there are LOT's of FWF's.

 

When it gets cold in December and the team is out of the playoffs or just "in the hunt" that stadium can get pretty empty........even with the reality of 10 months or more between games to attend..........and the excuses for mailing it in fly like snow in a blizzard.   

 

Thankfully,  no matter the weather the stadium should be full for the last two home games THIS YEAR because one is Dallas and the other is a New Year's eve party.

[Dablitzkrieg]

4 hours ago, 19Bills83 said:

I still go with 12th man.

So do the Bills apparently 

[GunnerBill]

I have missed 1 regular season game and 1 pre-season game since 2009. I might actually miss this Sunday. I don't know yet. A friend who is getting married is having a 1 night stag do at a drag bar on Sunday night. Normally I'd make sure to leave early and be home for the Bills. This time I am not sure I will. 

[Low Positive]

1 minute ago, GunnerBill said:

I have missed 1 regular season game and 1 pre-season game since 2009. I might actually miss this Sunday. I don't know yet. A friend who is getting married is having a 1 night stag do at a drag bar on Sunday night. Normally I'd make sure to leave early and be home for the Bills. This time I am not sure I will. 

I’m going to sound like a bad fan here, but they’ll win or lose with or without you and that party sounds like a roaring good time. 

[Nihilarian]

It usually takes a few years for a new regime to come in and build a top team and McD and Beane did just that. Drafting Josh Allen in the 2018 draft and hitting 13-3 in 2020 and 2022.

 

The Buffalo Bills should have made it to the Super Bowl one of those two seasons and ran into the Kansas City Chiefs with home-field advantage. Buffalo had this same aspect back in the 90s and it was so prominent that the KC HC Marty Schottenheimer begged the NFL to have the AFC Championship game on a neutral field. 

 

In 1992 Buffalo did make the playoffs as a Wildcard and needed to go to Miami for the AFC Championship game. That was also the year of the OT WC win against the Oilers in OT. 

 

If you think about it the Buffalo Bills kept Dan Marino with the Miami Dolphins out of the SB, along with John Elway in those early 90's years. KC even had Joe Montana and he couldn't get them past Buffalo. 

 

Home field meant so much back then and it probably means the same now considering how difficult it is to beat the Cheifs at Arrowhead in the playoffs. 

 

The point here is it seemed that after four Super Bowl losses that fans were getting sick of seeing Buffalo even get to the SB. If fans want to jump the wagon, it's okay. 

 

Anyway, look back at the Denver Broncos and John Elway who went to three SBs in 86, 87, and 89 and lost all three. They were in the playoffs in 83-94 with Elway and didn't make it far. As great an arm as Elway had and as good an athlete he was... he didn't win an SB until Mike Shanahan built a power run game for Denver in 1997, 1998 with RB Terrell Davis. 

 

I think the current Buffalo Bills have the talent to get past KC and get to an SB. This new OC needs to keep Josh Allen under center and find a way to make that running game work...even as a WC.

[GunnerBill]

8 hours ago, Low Positive said:

I’m going to sound like a bad fan here, but they’ll win or lose with or without you and that party sounds like a roaring good time. 

 

Ha exactly. 

[CSBill]

I can remember watching OJ as a kid. I have been through it all. I am not going anywhere.

[BuffaloBill]

On 11/17/2023 at 3:35 PM, eball said:

I’ve just stayed away from the board.  I’ll never give up on the Bills.

 

 

 

Yep, this place has a very strong negative bias. (Probably true of all similar boards).  It gets tiresome.  

 

In a weird way, this place was more interesting and fun during the drought years.  At least then you would get a mix of hope and disappointment.  

 

Now there is a huge overlay of winning expectations that that seems to be making people responsively negative as their expectations are not met.

[PBF81]

14 minutes ago, BuffaloBill said:

Now there is a huge overlay of winning expectations that that seems to be making people responsively negative as their expectations are not met.

 

LOL, well yeah, when you begin a season with more than reasonable hopes and expectations for winning a Super Bowl, with winning the division all but a given, then lose to three of the worst teams in the league, the Jets, Broncos, and Pats, while nearly losing to two more, all while watching your offensive production plummet with one of the league's top QBs under center, and subsequently find yourself facing the Jets in a must-win game for 2nd place in the division as well as for mathematically keeping already slim playoff hopes alive, ... that'll contribute heavily to the critical nature of the fans.  Don't ya think?  

 

Should that be considered unreasonable?  

 

 

[billsfan714]

Same as the guy above, been a fan since the OJ years.   The drought years had some of the worst posts.   Like discussing how many sacks Maybin would get, or how good EJ Manuel was going to be, or JP Losman or how one side of our line was set with Mike Williams.  The constant drafting of runingbacks.  I would roll my eyes at people thinking we really had something in David Nelson.  Not being excited at the thought of Dick Jauron or Chan Gailey made you negative.  I would rather read someone who has an actual opinion than somebody who wouldn't say crap if they had a mouthful, you know its going to be all sunshine, rainbows and puppies when reading their posts.  Your maker gave you 2 eyes and a brain for a reason, use them.

 

I will never stop watching, I live in another state, pay my Sunday Ticket money every year.    I wear my Bills gear and am back to taking crap from my Steeler fan buddies.  They complain all the time about Canada and Tomlin.    I don't need anyone questioning my fandom. 

[Drew21PA]

I hate these posts sheesh

 

let them be fans how they want to

 

its part of the venting and coping process 

 

I come here to vent and cope after let downs

 

we have had a lot of them this year

 

 

A LOT

[PBF81]

57 minutes ago, Drew21PA said:

I hate these posts sheesh

 

let them be fans how they want to

 

its part of the venting and coping process 

 

I come here to vent and cope after let downs

 

we have had a lot of them this year

 

 

A LOT

 

One could quite easily argue that taking it out on fellow Bills fans, as if they've contributed to it or are the reason for it, and when the opposite is true, is worse than the complaint of the OP.   There's no good reason for it.  

 

Once again, we have no say in what happens with the team.  We can only influence it, but even then, there only en masse once the critical mass of fan and media opinion, which is related to fan opinion, reach a tipping point of sorts.  

 

Again, I don't think that most fans are upset with losing to better teams or when we show up with our A-Game and lose because our opponent brought their A-Game as well and simply beat us.  That happens to all teams every season, including the best and Super Bowl winners.  

 

What most object to is our coach being handed the keys to something great, turning it to mush, routinely showing up with our B if not C-Games, starting games as if they're scrimmages only to show up in the second halves doing what should have been done all game, abandoning aspects of our game when that's what's working at the time, and taking a generational talent like Allen and turning him into a Fitzpatrick.  

 

Then, having the "audacity" to point fingers at the one(s) responsible.  LOL  

 

Think of it as paying a top-notch contractor to build a home or home addition for you.  But all you get is fly-by-night incomplete and shoddy work.  

 

Would the same people then argue that that person should simply be happy that they have a roof, leaky or not, to live under.  LOL  

 

Apparently.  

 

And with that in mind, there also seems to be some misdirected anger by those that trusted and insisted that McD was a great coach despite cracks having been visible during his entire tenure, starting with the Peterman debacle outward, but have now been blatantly disappointed with the realization that their faith and beliefs have been misplaced.  It seems that that is then inappropriately turned on fellow fans by some of them.  

 

 

Edited November 19, 2023 by PBF81

[Sherlock Holmes]

On 11/17/2023 at 3:13 PM, Spiderweb said:

Became a Bills fan when Jack Kemp was our QB. As angry as I have gotten he past few weeks, I still can vidily recall the years of having no chance before the season even began.  We can debate who should stay and who should go, but I'll always be a Bills fan!

I get to stay right? Right???!

Edited November 19, 2023 by Sherlock Holmes

[Daniel from az]

The idea that it's a Super Bowl or nothing doesn't make sense to me. Football is unusual relative to basketball, hockey and baseball with the playoffs a one and done model. Further, the very physical game with the salary cap and the two teams left standing are not necessarily the best teams. I have not lived in Buffalo for many years but I like the connection back to my roots and the toughness of the people of Buffalo. The Buffalo Bills are iconic of who we are as we journey through life, picking ourselves up off the floor and going back again.

[BuffaloBill]

1 hour ago, PBF81 said:

 

LOL, well yeah, when you begin a season with more than reasonable hopes and expectations for winning a Super Bowl, with winning the division all but a given, then lose to three of the worst teams in the league, the Jets, Broncos, and Pats, while nearly losing to two more, all while watching your offensive production plummet with one of the league's top QBs under center, and subsequently find yourself facing the Jets in a must-win game for 2nd place in the division as well as for mathematically keeping already slim playoff hopes alive, ... that'll contribute heavily to the critical nature of the fans.  Don't ya think?  

 

Should that be considered unreasonable?  

 

 

 

 

Did I state that it was unreasonable?  I simply said the place is more negative as people’s expectations are not fulfilled.