Big Turk Posted December 4, 2008 Posted December 4, 2008 I am all for it. I have to say when all this talk about moving to Toronto started, my stomach was turned in knots for days and days. I was diametrically opposed to it from the beginning, and didn't want anything to do with it. But here is the thing. This team hasn't been relevant in the NFL landscape in over 10 years. I am sorry to say that and it hurts me to say that. It just isn't good enough to field good teams every 20 years in the NFL, with how fast the roster can be tuned over with the ability to spend money and put yourself on an even playing field and by drafting well. I believe we draft fairly well...good enough to be a much better team than we are. The problem is that we are constantly trying to fight against good teams with our hands tied behind our back because we won't spend the money they will. I honestly would rather see this team move a few miles north and be able to spend the money to bring in good coaches and good players on a consistent basis, rather than watch the current team in Buffalo be mired in mediocrity and constantly trying to sell the hope of next season. I love this team, and am gonna love this team regardless of where they play. I know most people don't feel the same way, and I never thought I would hear myself say that, but I have come to the realization that no matter how many years they spend here, its just not going to happen with the deck becoming more and more stacked against us as other teams build bigger and better stadiums that generate double the revenue that we do in ticket sales just in personal seat licenses every year. Then fans can buy tickets that are priced 2 or 3 times higher than ours. Will extra money guarantee success? No, but it will give the team more options and it will allow them to cut bait if a player is not working and not worry about eating a few million dollars in cap cost. It will allow them to hire coaches that have more than 1 winning season in the NFL or hire new coaches that noone really wants anyways. It will allow them to stop eliminating half the free agent class every year because they can't afford the players. Does anyone think the Jets would be anywhere near as good as they are if they didn't go out and spend a TON of money in the offseason on high ticket free agents and then trade for Favre? The Cowboys go out and get Roy Williams from the Cowboys to line up opposite Terrell Owens and don't worry about the cost. These teams basically walk around with blank checks and go out and do anything they feel will make their team better, regardless of cost. Teams like the Bills walk around and eliminate half their options based on the cost and then are left to choose from the second and third tier free agents. Not to mention they end up having to let their own players walk away because they can't afford to pay them properly(although in some cases its probably a good thing) Anyways, enough of my ranting and raving. All I want to see is this team win and if it happens to be in another city close by, I am OK with that as long as we still get their games on TV. I will still love this team and its players. I am emotionally drained from living and dying with this team for years and never having anything to show for it. At least bad teams in big markets can keep changing and spending until they get it right. The Bills have to get it right and then have all the breaks go their way to have any chance of winning because they won't spend the money needed to ensure themselves of it. Obviously if another owner buys the team and wants to keep it here and spend the money to bring in a winner, I would love to see the team here. I just don't see how it is going to be possible...
Flbillsfan#1 Posted December 4, 2008 Posted December 4, 2008 I am all for it. I have to say when all this talk about moving to Toronto started, my stomach was turned in knots for days and days. I was diametrically opposed to it from the beginning, and didn't want anything to do with it. But here is the thing. This team hasn't been relevant in the NFL landscape in over 10 years. I am sorry to say that and it hurts me to say that. It just isn't good enough to field good teams every 20 years in the NFL, with how fast the roster can be tuned over with the ability to spend money and put yourself on an even playing field and by drafting well. I believe we draft fairly well...good enough to be a much better team than we are. The problem is that we are constantly trying to fight against good teams with our hands tied behind our back because we won't spend the money they will. I honestly would rather see this team move a few miles north and be able to spend the money to bring in good coaches and good players on a consistent basis, rather than watch the current team in Buffalo be mired in mediocrity and constantly trying to sell the hope of next season. I love this team, and am gonna love this team regardless of where they play. I know most people don't feel the same way, and I never thought I would hear myself say that, but I have come to the realization that no matter how many years they spend here, its just not going to happen with the deck becoming more and more stacked against us as other teams build bigger and better stadiums that generate double the revenue that we do in ticket sales just in personal seat licenses every year. Then fans can buy tickets that are priced 2 or 3 times higher than ours. Will extra money guarantee success? No, but it will give the team more options and it will allow them to cut bait if a player is not working and not worry about eating a few million dollars in cap cost. It will allow them to hire coaches that have more than 1 winning season in the NFL or hire new coaches that noone really wants anyways. It will allow them to stop eliminating half the free agent class every year because they can't afford the players. Does anyone think the Jets would be anywhere near as good as they are if they didn't go out and spend a TON of money in the offseason on high ticket free agents and then trade for Favre? The Cowboys go out and get Roy Williams from the Cowboys to line up opposite Terrell Owens and don't worry about the cost. These teams basically walk around with blank checks and go out and do anything they feel will make their team better, regardless of cost. Teams like the Bills walk around and eliminate half their options based on the cost and then are left to choose from the second and third tier free agents. Not to mention they end up having to let their own players walk away because they can't afford to pay them properly. Anyways, enough of my ranting and raving. All I want to see is this team win and if it happens to be in another city close by, I am OK with that as long as we still get their games on TV. I will still love this team and its players. I am emotionally drained from living and dying with this team for years and never having anything to show for it. At least bad teams in big markets can keep changing and spending until they get it right. The Bills have to get it right and then have all the breaks go their way to have any chance of winning because they won't spend the money needed to ensure themselves of it. Obviously if another owner buys the team and wants to keep it here and spend the money to bring in a winner, I would love to see the team here. I just don't see how it is going to be possible... If The Buffalo Bills move to Toronto they will NO LONGER BE THE BUFFALO BILLS!!!
Big Turk Posted December 4, 2008 Author Posted December 4, 2008 If The Buffalo Bills move to Toronto they will NO LONGER BE THE BUFFALO BILLS!!! Yeah, but at least they will start winning in a few years....
EndZoneCrew Posted December 4, 2008 Posted December 4, 2008 Yeah, but at least they will start winning in a few years.... Obviously you are a douche bag...and obviously you are not from Buffalo or have ever lived here..... I would rather root for a mediocre team in Buffalo than a winner in another city...enough said!
Kipers Hair Posted December 4, 2008 Posted December 4, 2008 IF they leave Buffalo and you want to support a winner - just pick a good team...you will no longer have a home team to root for....
FloridaSnow Posted December 4, 2008 Posted December 4, 2008 The day the Bills move is the day I switch over to the local team in my area or simply stop watching the NFL. I'm not sure which one I'd go with and won't until/if it happens (I by no means see the move as an inevitability). However, my relationship with the team ends the day they move and will return only if another team takes root in Buffalo. I am fully committed to the Buffalo Bills, not the Toronto _______ (Insert whatever they will eventually rename the team). However, I can understand how this condition may not apply to people who have a stronger link with the team than the town. Still, as indicated by the incredibly harsh responses you're about to receive, I believe my view is in the majority (that is, if one accepts the community here to be representative of the larger national fan base).
The Dean Posted December 4, 2008 Posted December 4, 2008 Yeah, but at least they will start winning in a few years.... They won't be us, so who cares? Might as well root for the Pats* or the Dolphins* or a team with some former Bills you like. Clearly you simply want to root for a winner. So much so, that you don't care if the team you root for now leaves it city and changes its name. Wouldn't it be much easier for you to just root for a different team? That's what your talking about, anyway. So, why wait for them to move? Pick another team now, and avoid the Christmas rush.
silvermike Posted December 4, 2008 Posted December 4, 2008 What if it took moving to a stadium in Manhattan? Still in-state, no border crossing, easy flight - still 100% not the Buffalo Bills. If the Bills can't win in Buffalo, then I want them to keep losing in Buffalo until the city turns it around. A game or two per season up at the Skydome, sure. But the team is the Buffalo Bills, and their home is in Western New York. Anything else, well, you might as well find a Browns fan who roots for the Ravens.
DanInUticaTampa Posted December 4, 2008 Posted December 4, 2008 even though i no longer live in upstate ny, i would never want the bills to leave buffalo. And i would never stop being a bills fan just because they don't win. My first NFL gam i attended was a bills game, and i grew up watching them. I don't care how incompetent the coaches are, or if Ralph doesn't bring in the best possible coach. My heart is still with the team/franchise. Even though they dissapointed me in their performance most of my life. the only thing that can turn me away from them if they have scandles like the Pats* with their cheating, or michael Vick with the dogs, and so on. I don't think jauron is going to be cheating any time soon and i don't think Trent is going to have a bunch of dogs go at it. So even if they lose, even though i hate it, they will still be my team. Personally, if they finish 9-7, i would probably take it ok. That is kind of how i predicted they would end up. I think the 5-1 start really gave me false expectations. but right now, 9-7 doesn't look too likely unless they "turn the corner" on the offense.
Dan Posted December 4, 2008 Posted December 4, 2008 I am all for it. ... I wonder how everyone in Cleveland felt when their team won a Super Bowl in Baltimore? Why not just pretend the Bills moved to New England? So now you can watch the Pats* and be so glad they're winning. See problem solved.
Typical TBD Guy Posted December 4, 2008 Posted December 4, 2008 I wonder how everyone in Cleveland felt when their team won a Super Bowl in Baltimore? Why not just pretend the Bills moved to New England? So now you can watch the Pats* and be so glad they're winning. See problem solved. Bingo. Instructions for matter2003: 1. Grab razor blade. 2. Sit in bathtub. 3. Slit wrists. 4. Wait 3-4 hours.
Dr. Fong Posted December 4, 2008 Posted December 4, 2008 What would be the point of them succeeding in Toronto? As others have pointed out they wouldn't be the Buffalo Bills and they'd be dead to me. So would the rest of the NFL for that matter.
Tcali Posted December 4, 2008 Posted December 4, 2008 I am all for it. I have to say when all this talk about moving to Toronto started, my stomach was turned in knots for days and days. I was diametrically opposed to it from the beginning, and didn't want anything to do with it. But here is the thing. This team hasn't been relevant in the NFL landscape in over 10 years. I am sorry to say that and it hurts me to say that. It just isn't good enough to field good teams every 20 years in the NFL, with how fast the roster can be tuned over with the ability to spend money and put yourself on an even playing field and by drafting well. I believe we draft fairly well...good enough to be a much better team than we are. The problem is that we are constantly trying to fight against good teams with our hands tied behind our back because we won't spend the money they will. I honestly would rather see this team move a few miles north and be able to spend the money to bring in good coaches and good players on a consistent basis, rather than watch the current team in Buffalo be mired in mediocrity and constantly trying to sell the hope of next season. I love this team, and am gonna love this team regardless of where they play. I know most people don't feel the same way, and I never thought I would hear myself say that, but I have come to the realization that no matter how many years they spend here, its just not going to happen with the deck becoming more and more stacked against us as other teams build bigger and better stadiums that generate double the revenue that we do in ticket sales just in personal seat licenses every year. Then fans can buy tickets that are priced 2 or 3 times higher than ours. Will extra money guarantee success? No, but it will give the team more options and it will allow them to cut bait if a player is not working and not worry about eating a few million dollars in cap cost. It will allow them to hire coaches that have more than 1 winning season in the NFL or hire new coaches that noone really wants anyways. It will allow them to stop eliminating half the free agent class every year because they can't afford the players. Does anyone think the Jets would be anywhere near as good as they are if they didn't go out and spend a TON of money in the offseason on high ticket free agents and then trade for Favre? The Cowboys go out and get Roy Williams from the Cowboys to line up opposite Terrell Owens and don't worry about the cost. These teams basically walk around with blank checks and go out and do anything they feel will make their team better, regardless of cost. Teams like the Bills walk around and eliminate half their options based on the cost and then are left to choose from the second and third tier free agents. Not to mention they end up having to let their own players walk away because they can't afford to pay them properly(although in some cases its probably a good thing) Anyways, enough of my ranting and raving. All I want to see is this team win and if it happens to be in another city close by, I am OK with that as long as we still get their games on TV. I will still love this team and its players. I am emotionally drained from living and dying with this team for years and never having anything to show for it. At least bad teams in big markets can keep changing and spending until they get it right. The Bills have to get it right and then have all the breaks go their way to have any chance of winning because they won't spend the money needed to ensure themselves of it. Obviously if another owner buys the team and wants to keep it here and spend the money to bring in a winner, I would love to see the team here. I just don't see how it is going to be possible... If they move north and are good it would be exponentially more nauseating.I'd spit in their general direction.
Chalkie Gerzowski Posted December 4, 2008 Posted December 4, 2008 Sorry...it's about the city, not the team. It's nice to know the LA Clippers finish near last in the NBA pretty much every year.
billsintaiwan Posted December 4, 2008 Posted December 4, 2008 The day the Bills move is the day I switch over to the local team in my area or simply stop watching the NFL. EXACTLY. This Bills love takes up a lot of time and energy. It has been particularly excruciating this year. If the Bills leave, I will have much more spare time and energy. I would rather have angst than its absence however.
Jim in Anchorage Posted December 4, 2008 Posted December 4, 2008 Why cant they just win the stupid super bowl IN BUFFALO????
The_Philster Posted December 4, 2008 Posted December 4, 2008 If the Bills move out of Western NY...to Toronto, LA, or Timbuktu, may they go 0-16 til the end of time
Pine Barrens Mafia Posted December 4, 2008 Posted December 4, 2008 If the Bills move out of Western NY...to Toronto, LA, or Timbuktu, may they go 0-16 til the end of time Philster... You know that wouldn't happen.
Kelso_Helmet Posted December 4, 2008 Posted December 4, 2008 I'm not even from Western NY (I know enough not to call it upstate) but would probably relinquish fandom if they moved. Been a fan of the team my whole life, been to about a dozen games in Orchard Park (and many road games) and it would not at all be satisfying to see the team bring home a championship to any other city, let alone another country. Having been to many stadiums (and the lame cookier cutter, artificial vibe that surrounds each) there is no genuine football experience like a Bills game in Buffalo and the NFL would be a lesser product without it.
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