BILLSBACKERINLA Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 Well being From Los Angeles it was weird for me to become a fan, but I'm damn glad that I did. Well back in "89" which I was 14 at the time I went to a card show wanting a Barry Sanders rookie card, but that didn't happen. What did happen when I did open the pack was a Thurman Thomas rookie card and ever since than I have been a DIE hard Bills fan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartshan-83 Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 My dad is from Buffalo and when I was four he decided I was enjoying life far too much and figured he would brainwash me and subject me to a life of torturous, bitter disappointment. Thanks, dad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erynthered Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 My dad is from Buffalo and when I was four he decided I was enjoying life far too much and figured he would brainwash me and subject me to a life of torturous, bitter disappointment. Thanks, dad. 734166[/snapback] Yeah, but look at that education he helped you get. God, love your Dad. Go Irish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikie2times Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 Well being From Los Angeles it was weird for me to become a fan, but I'm damn glad that I did. Well back in "89" which I was 14 at the time I went to a card show wanting a Barry Sanders rookie card, but that didn't happen. What did happen when I did open the pack was a Thurman Thomas rookie card and ever since than I have been a DIE hard Bills fan. 734161[/snapback] Somewhere between the Giants and Redskins Super Bowl is when I became a fan. I know this because I remember crying after the Washington game, but can't recall the same feelings after the Giants (a feeling I know I would remember). I was around 8 at the time. As a fellow out of state fan the fact that the Bills were such an exciting offensive team, and the TV exposure NBC gave them played the biggest role for me. What's kept me a fan is the fan base and atmosphere that surrounds the team. I hate the fair weather attitude, and enjoy the blue collar fan base and elements the Bills play in. Bottom line, I will never be a fan of another team like I am with the Bills. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 I grew up in West Seneca and went to games at a very young age(4 years old). I have always been fanatical. These years are easy compared to 0 for the 70s vs the Dolphins and 2-14 year after year. Any Bills fan from the 70s is the real deal Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffal0 Bill5 Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 I got an AM Radio for Christmas the year WGR did the Buffalo Bills 12 Days of Christmas, and I was hooked. I want to guess 1981 or 82. They played that song alot. Just curious, does anyone else remember that dumb song? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartshan-83 Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 Yeah, but look at that education he helped you get. God, love your Dad. Go Irish. 734172[/snapback] Oh, Notre Dame? I liked how he teased me for years filling my head with stories of legendary football greatness and National Championships only to send me to South Bend to enjoy the fine talents of Bob Davie, George O'Leary and Ty Willingham. Thanks again, Dad. i kid....pop's alright in my book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Tate Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 Any Bills fan from the 70s is the real deal The fans from the 60's fart in the general direction of the fans from the 70's. Good grief, I've been rooting for the same team for 40 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phlegm Alley Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 My mother and her side of the family are from Batavia. I remember going out there to visit my Grandparents and watching a Bills when I was 6 years old in 1985. My mother is worse than I am when it comes to the Bills (swearing at the TV, drinking white zinfandel, eating undercooked beef at game time), and I got hyped watching my mother going nuts after a play. I got so hyped, that I ended up choking on a Life Saver. Next thing I know, I'm getting turned upside down at my ankles by my uncle, and having every member of my immediate family pound on my back in hopes of dislodging the life saver from throat. I survived, and needless to say, I have been a bills fan ever since! Go Bills!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bartshan-83 Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 My mother and her side of the family are from Batavia. I remember going out there to visit my Grandparents and watching a Bills when I was 6 years old in 1985. My mother is worse than I am when it comes to the Bills (swearing at the TV, drinking white zinfandel, eating undercooked beef at game time), and I got hyped watching my mother going nuts after a play. I got so hyped, that I ended up choking on a Life Saver. Next thing I know, I'm getting turned upside down at my ankles by my uncle, and having every member of my immediate family pound on my back in hopes of dislodging the life saver from throat. I survived, and needless to say, I have been a bills fan ever since! Go Bills!!! 734201[/snapback] nice....would have been a bit ironic if you'd be killed by a life-saver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buftex Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 I was born in 1965, the year the Bills won their last outright leauge championship... It wasn't until I was 7, 1972 that I actually remember sitting down with my Dad, brother and uncles to watch a Bills game. Prior to that, my job was to run back and forth to the kitchen, and supply everyone with cold beers, and potted meat and crackers...when the Bills scored, I was able to get a swig or two...(I loved beer, even as a kid!) My first name being Dennis, up to that point, my nickname had always been "Dennis the menace" which I loathed...in 1972 the Bills QB was named Dennis Shaw...I was hooked...I had a pair of Bills jersey/pajamas...white...I scribbled "Shaw" across the back of the shirt...the fact that Shaw pretty much sucked, didn't faze me... I tend to get a little sentimental at times, for the "good old days" (if you couldn't tell by now)...my childhood wasn't the happiest, but my most vivid, and happiest of memories all seem to revolve, somehow, around the Bills. The Bills have always been a huge part of my life...I still, at the tender, jaded, crusty age of 41, get excited about the annual Bills - Lions pre-season snooze-fest...the only time I cried because of a sporting event, was when the Bills came back against the Oilers in the "biggest comeback ever"! I was overwhelmed... I have been to about 110 Bills games, my first was the innaugeral pre-season game at Rich Stadium, against the Redskins...I still have the commemorative coin, the ticket stub, the "I was there" certificate...I saved all of those garrish "art" posters that they printed in the Buffalo News in the 1970's...I still have them, dreaming of one day owning a house, with a basement bar, where I can display the mind-boggling number of Bills junk I have socked away over the years (of course, now I live in Texas, where there are no basements)...I remember when my ex and I split up, she said that I was the "John Wane Gacey of Buffalo Bills fanatics"...every time she turned around, there was some new friggin' Bills trinket popping up (she was a B word, but very funny, especially when she was mad!) It continues to this day...never really a big jersey collctor, in the last month, I baught a used (but in excellent condition) Joe Cribbs jersey (the Chuck Knox era Bills still make me stickey inside, just thinking about them) and just tonight, a Super Bowl 25 Jim Kelly jersey...I am not so crazy about the "new" duds, so decided to go retro! My obsessive Bills fandom was evident early on...in 1973, age 8, the year OJ broke the record, I became obsessed with getting his Topps football card...I baught pack after pack (likely lifted a few as well!) and could just not get an OJ card...it was that cool one, with OJ turning the corner, in his all-white uniform, with Dick Butkus gasping for air, in the backround....god I loved that card...it is still my favorite card of all time...anyway, I accumulated about 500-600 1973 Topps football cards, but not a single OJ card...of course, the kid next door, who had everything , had 3 of them...I thought of stealing one from him, but knew I would be pegged right off...so I did the industrious thing...I offered to trade...my first offer, was every card I had, that my neighbor needed, to complete his 530 card set, all for 1 card, #500-Oj Simpson. He wouldn't budge...he wanted more...having never been particularly good with money or capital, in the end, I got my card, my neighbor got every single 1973 Topps football card that I owned...the mulitiple Bradshaws, the Staubachs, Namaths, you name it, he got them all...today, that set goes for about $500...the Simpson card, $15...still the best trade ever, in my opinion... Sorry for the "wonder years" moment...gotta go wipe the tears from my eyes..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsGuyInMalta Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 My mother is a huge fan of the Bills and has been since the early 70s, growing up it was just kind of natural that I became one too. I really got into it in 1990...so I was just in time for the SB years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffOrange Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 Somewhere between the Giants and Redskins Super Bowl is when I became a fan. I know this because I remember crying after the Washington game, but can't recall the same feelings after the Giants (a feeling I know I would remember). I was around 8 at the time. As a fellow out of state fan the fact that the Bills were such an exciting offensive team, and the TV exposure NBC gave them played the biggest role for me. What's kept me a fan is the fan base and atmosphere that surrounds the team. I hate the fair weather attitude, and enjoy the blue collar fan base and elements the Bills play in. Bottom line, I will never be a fan of another team like I am with the Bills. 734174[/snapback] Huh, I generally like your posts and oddly enough my story is pretty similar. Grew up in Syracuse, which really means nothing in regards to pro sports, but the Bills & Giants were always on TV. I was so torn for the first SB when I was 10. Dad and brother were Bills fans and when SBXXV was over I grew tired of all of the suddenly new Giants fans at school. Plus when you're younger you like offense and the Bills were the more exciting team to watch at the time. So before 1991 I decided to be a full time Bills fan; will never forget the 35-31 opening day win over the fish that year, or any game since for that matter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swift Sylvan Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 Living on the west coast it's odd, but when it must have been 1990, I must have been 4 at the time. I realized that my lucky number was going to be 34, and then on TV I saw Thurman Thomas just amaze me. My only regret I wasn't old enough to fully appreciate him in his prime. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prince Far I Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 When I was a kid we used to drive to Cleveland (from Toronto) for a couple of Browns games a year. When the Brownies really started sucking in the mid '70's, my father decided that if we were going to drive to the States to see bad football, he'd rather make it a day trip. Within a couple of years, he was a season's ticket holder. We suffered through a lot of lean years before the team became a power... And now, we're suffering again. But the last few years weren't as hopeless as the Hank Bullough days. At least we know that things can get better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Hansen Forever Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 Back in the 1960's my dad worked for Buffalo Electric, and they used to reward employees with tickets to the Bills games. Now they weren't great tickets, it was the rockpile and they often fell behind the big concrete pillar up in the stands. Yet, even still I can remember as a kid how much my mother (specifically) loved the Bills. My father, a Texan, loved the Cowboys and endured the Bills. I took to liking the Bills too, and was there when Mike Stratton made his famous hit (I didn't see the play, it was in front of the pillar), but I did hear it. Since then, I've been a dedicated fan. No matter where my travels took me, I tried to take in a Bills game, though they seldom were anywhere near me (demands of the Air Force). Even the superbowl in Minneapolis kept me away, as the Air Force decided it was time to attend the NCO Academy is Shreveport, LA (!@#$ of america). Unless they move the Bills somewhere else, I'll be a Bills fan till I die. Even my wife, who is a native Iowanian has taken up the cause and got us tickets to the Bills Backers weekend last year. It was great and she enjoyed it too. It was nice to be back amongs real fans, not the whimpy ones here in Minnesota. They are nothing but fair weather fans, plus they never have to play outdoors unless they are playing the cheeseheads or the bears. Those fickle fans that think last year was terrible, obviously can't remember the 2-14 YEARS. It can get worse, and yes I still wore my Bills shirts PROUDLY even then. Drives them Vikings fans nuts, but then again...they lost four as well. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BILLS4LIFE Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 I became a fan the day #12 Kelly came to town! Why did I become one??? Well,after all the parties my parents had for games and all the swearing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExWNYer Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 I was born in 1965, the year the Bills won their last outright leauge championship... It wasn't until I was 7, 1972 that I actually remember sitting down with my Dad, brother and uncles to watch a Bills game. Prior to that, my job was to run back and forth to the kitchen, and supply everyone with cold beers, and potted meat and crackers...when the Bills scored, I was able to get a swig or two...(I loved beer, even as a kid!) My first name being Dennis, up to that point, my nickname had always been "Dennis the menace" which I loathed...in 1972 the Bills QB was named Dennis Shaw...I was hooked...I had a pair of Bills jersey/pajamas...white...I scribbled "Shaw" across the back of the shirt...the fact that Shaw pretty much sucked, didn't faze me... I tend to get a little sentimental at times, for the "good old days" (if you couldn't tell by now)...my childhood wasn't the happiest, but my most vivid, and happiest of memories all seem to revolve, somehow, around the Bills. The Bills have always been a huge part of my life...I still, at the tender, jaded, crusty age of 41, get excited about the annual Bills - Lions pre-season snooze-fest...the only time I cried because of a sporting event, was when the Bills came back against the Oilers in the "biggest comeback ever"! I was overwhelmed... I have been to about 110 Bills games, my first was the innaugeral pre-season game at Rich Stadium, against the Redskins...I still have the commemorative coin, the ticket stub, the "I was there" certificate...I saved all of those garrish "art" posters that they printed in the Buffalo News in the 1970's...I still have them, dreaming of one day owning a house, with a basement bar, where I can display the mind-boggling number of Bills junk I have socked away over the years (of course, now I live in Texas, where there are no basements)...I remember when my ex and I split up, she said that I was the "John Wane Gacey of Buffalo Bills fanatics"...every time she turned around, there was some new friggin' Bills trinket popping up (she was a B word, but very funny, especially when she was mad!) It continues to this day...never really a big jersey collctor, in the last month, I baught a used (but in excellent condition) Joe Cribbs jersey (the Chuck Knox era Bills still make me stickey inside, just thinking about them) and just tonight, a Super Bowl 25 Jim Kelly jersey...I am not so crazy about the "new" duds, so decided to go retro! My obsessive Bills fandom was evident early on...in 1973, age 8, the year OJ broke the record, I became obsessed with getting his Topps football card...I baught pack after pack (likely lifted a few as well!) and could just not get an OJ card...it was that cool one, with OJ turning the corner, in his all-white uniform, with Dick Butkus gasping for air, in the backround....god I loved that card...it is still my favorite card of all time...anyway, I accumulated about 500-600 1973 Topps football cards, but not a single OJ card...of course, the kid next door, who had everything , had 3 of them...I thought of stealing one from him, but knew I would be pegged right off...so I did the industrious thing...I offered to trade...my first offer, was every card I had, that my neighbor needed, to complete his 530 card set, all for 1 card, #500-Oj Simpson. He wouldn't budge...he wanted more...having never been particularly good with money or capital, in the end, I got my card, my neighbor got every single 1973 Topps football card that I owned...the mulitiple Bradshaws, the Staubachs, Namaths, you name it, he got them all...today, that set goes for about $500...the Simpson card, $15...still the best trade ever, in my opinion... Sorry for the "wonder years" moment...gotta go wipe the tears from my eyes..... 734214[/snapback] You must be my long lost brother or something because I can relate to just about everything that you just described. I'm a couple of years older, born in '63...my brother in '66. My obsession with the Bills goes back as far as I can remember...either the late '60s or early '70s. In any event, the Bills were NOT a good team. My Dad is originally from Dunkirk and he's the one who got my brother and me hooked. I distinctly remember playing out on the huge grassy area in front of our apartments in Orchard Park. It was 1971 (I know because it's the only year that we lived in OP), so I was around 8 and my brother was about 5. He and I had home made "jerseys"...my Dad's old white t-shirts that swamped us when we wore them. Mine had the number 16 scrawled on the front and back, in black magic marker, along with "Shaw" on the back for QB Dennis Shaw. My brother wore number 86 with "Briscoe" for WR Marlin Briscoe (I also had an O.J. "jersey"). We'd toss the ball around in our jerseys and toy helmets with the red standing buffalo, pretending to be our on-field heroes. Like you, I also have the commerative coin from the innaugural game. I was not fortunate enough to attend but an adult neighbor gave it to me knowing that it would mean more to me than it did to him. I too have all of my ticket stubs and most, if not all, of those same art posters from the Sunday comics. My pride and joy was one of O.J. from 1974. I finally had it matted and framed in black in the early '90s...it looked awesome. I never had a place to hang it (or the other posters) and was looking forward to doing so in a room similar to the one you described (alas, VA doesn't have many basements, either). The fateful night in June 1994 forever changed how I would feel about 'The Juice'. I still have that framed poster but to this day it is hidden in the attic somewhere and has never been hung up to display. I was fortunate enough to get the card that you described when I was a kid (in a gum pack - sorry) and still have it. I didn't manage to get his rookie card until much later in time at a card show. Like you, the Chuck Knox Bills have a special place in my heart as you can see from my avatar, although all of the teams - good or bad - have a special place in my heart. This team is in my blood...something to which only Buffalo fans can relate. From "0 for the '70s" to the glory days to today, I have lived and died with each season. I wish I had been able to see those AFL Championship teams but at least my Dad has told me all about them. I don't care what outsiders say or think, I wouldn't trade my memories or being a Bills fan for anything in the world! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
major Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 It all started for me in 1989 when the Bills lost to the Browns in the playoffs. I live in Texas and it was the first time I had seen the Bills on TV in our area. I remember telling my parents after they lost that this was my team. The next week my parents bought me my first Bills tshirt and the rest they say is history. I have supported them ever since. I remember going to school in 1990 telling everyone that my Bills were going to the Super Bowl. Teachers and classmates thought I was crazy, yet my dream came true. I used to tell my dad that the Bills were going to the Super Bowl every year until they won it. I was almost right. When the Bills didn't go to Super Bowl 29, I was crushed. I'm still waiting, as are all of you, for that special Bills team to come along and win the big one. Personally, I would love to see Marv and Ralph win that Super Bowl ring before they pass away. Hey, the Red Sox did it; therefore, anything is possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dibs Posted August 3, 2006 Share Posted August 3, 2006 Having English parents, I was never indoctrinated into the local game(Aussie Rules). Too much like aerial ping pong(in those days) for my liking. A good friend of mine(Greek background) was/is a big football fan(49ers). He invited a bunch of his mates to watch the Superbowl one year. "Why not?" I thought. The game was between the Bills & NYG. We all picked a side to barrack(support) for the game. I picked the Bills(obviously). Why? 2 main reasons....1. because of TT. My friend had told me that the Bills had this awesome RB who was fun to watch.....2. because of the helmet logo....the Giants logo was way too boring. The rules of the game were explained to us as the game progressed. I was captivated by the tactics & precision of the game. By the end of it, I was hooked....not just on the game but on the Bills as well. What clinched it for me was the attitude of the Bills organization(importance on character) & the Bills community of fans (seeing on the news over here the reception the Bullalonians(is that correct) gave their losing team, esp. Scott Norwood.) It goes to show that success, character, loyal passionate fans & a good logo are all important for building an international following. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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