Why Do Bills Fans Love Average and Hate Greatness?

[BillsImpossible]

I'm going to rip the negative aspects of Bills fans in general, so please be warned.

The Bills win and most fans are lost for words. When the Bills win the phones go silent on local sports talk radio. When they lose, the phones go crazy.

Buffalo loves to focus on the negative, and hates the positive.

Too many Bills fans don't know what to do besides criticize and nitpick, even after a win.

Winning is not average. It is not what we are used to. It's as if people wanted the Bills to lose just because they don't know anything else to identify with besides average crap, or below average at best.

Buffalo loves average. Bingo, bowling and the Bills losing. Anytime anything above average rises to the top, people smack it down in Buffalo.

Subway is popular in Buffalo because it sucks, bad. It's below average at best in terms of quality, but 3 separate locations are within 1 mile of where I live and they're very successful because Buffalonians love average and hate anything that exceeds it.

Buffalo loves crap. They love average at best and anything above average is met with a union like disgust. How dare the Bills win that game?

What are they trying to do, be great? How dare them!

How dare a single player try to be great and stand out above the rest in our wonderful collective of a city?

What are the Bills trying to do? Be better than average?

For Christ's sake, that's not allowed in this town!

Go get a footlong and shove it up your collective arses, Bills fans.

Average SUCKS, tastes like dog poop, and I'm sick of it, not used to it, and desire something better from my team and city.

What's wrong with that?

[Buffalo Thriller]

Not one person here loves being the average Bills. People are just tired of losing, granted we have had some bad injuries this year we have been in every game. But 13 years without playoffs with turn any fan-base looney. I think we are on the right track but it's gonna take time. As to everything else you said, wtf?

[Jeff1220]

Subway is popular everywhere, not just Buffalo. Heck, there are several here in Managua, Nicaragua even. As for the rant, I'm not sure what triggered it, but I'm pretty sure we'd all love to see some greatness for the Bills, and for Buffalo.

[PromoTheRobot]

It's because failure defines us. We love to roll around and wallow in it like a dog rolls in something smelly. If a Buffalo sports team ever won a championship we wouldn't know what to do. We would have nothing to complain or whine about. We'd have nothing to feel victimized over.

[BillsFever21]

It was great to win but with a record of 3-4 we're still just average. You're acting like we're 5-2 and leading the division and everyone is pissed. I'm optimistic it might turn around next year though. I do agree that Subway sucks.

[Crisis]

What the hell are you talking about? The team won to go 3-4, how is that wanting to be great? Are we supposed to be excited because we're probably headed to another below mediocre season? Great, we won the game. I'm sure we all celebrated and had a good time on Sunday... are we supposed to be holding a week long party or something? What the hell do you expect?

Even your stupid subway analogy is off considering it's popular everywhere. I live in Texas and there's at least 4 locations within a 5-10 minute drive of me I can think of, it's not some phenomenon that's limited to WNY.

When the Bills started 5-1 or whatever under Trent, there was plenty of buzz. There was plenty of buzz when the Sabres were Eastern Conference favorites. The problem isn't with Bills' fans outlooks, it's the fact that our teams being average would be an IMPROVEMENT.

Being content with a win that puts you at 3-4 is the best example of average I can think of- and that's what you want to celebrate.

[IlluminatusUIUC]

It's because failure defines us. We love to roll around and wallow in it like a dog rolls in something smelly. If a Buffalo sports team ever won a championship we wouldn't know what to do. We would have nothing to complain or whine about. We'd have nothing to feel victimized over.

You wouldn't know that from fans of teams that HAVE won titles. Listen to Giants fans complain about Eli Manning when he hoisted a Super Bowl trophy like 18 months ago.

[Typ0]

You have it wrong. The people in Western New York hate average. Winning a game is just not good enough. 4 straight Superbowls and no championships is not good enough. If you told Western New York they could have an average team with a playoff berth once every 15 years and no post seasons wins they would stop showing up and force the team out of town. Western New Yorkers are passionate and loyal...they are not stupid.

[BillsFever21]

Just another great thread started by BillsImpossible. Only people who ACCEPT AVERAGE would be thrilled to win a game that took us to 3-4 and last place in the division by 1/2 game.

I'm optimistic that the team can improve but to act like this is some amazing feat shows accepting mediocrity. We've been in every game but our 3 wins are by a total of 6 points.

[imbondz]

Bowling is average? :(

[BuffaloRedleg]

I'm a Bills fan and I'll just come out and say I absolutely in no way enjoy being average, and gain no satisfaction from constantly being correct about the team's inability to put together a group of players and coaches capable of winning a superbowl.

You have to understand, people who complain are always going to seem like they number far more than they really do. They are the loudest voice and therefore the most prominent.

Most of us are just normal people without an obnoxious axe to grind. We want to see the team succeed, but are not willing to tolerate ineptitude anymore. When we win games, we sit there holding our breaths because we've seen this movie before 5-6 times in the last 12 years and we know how it ends. It's not that we don't enjoy it, it's that our nervousness about the future makes the wins difficult to fully enjoy sometimes.

[WagonCircler]

Why do some people love creating stupid threads?

[GvilleBills]

Why do some people love creating stupid threads?
My biggest take away from this thread is people in Buffalo going to Subway. Being transplanted in Gainesville, I don't eat the **** from Subway because I know what a good sandwich tastes like.
I can't fathom passing all the great grub joints back home to go to Subway. Sitting on a gold mine of great food, but stuck on stupid.
This thread is ****, by the way. Subway-esq

[Pinkerton Security]

My biggest take away from this thread is people in Buffalo going to Subway. Being transplanted in Gainesville, I don't eat the **** from Subway because I know what a good sandwich tastes like.
I can't fathom passing all the great grub joints back home to go to Subway. Sitting on a gold mine of great food, but stuck on stupid.
This thread is ****, by the way. Subway-esq

So basically you got nothing out of this thread like everyone else, because the Subway reference is idiotic, people everywhere eat Subway, thats why its one of the biggest chains in the entire US and the world.

[Bill Cody]

Buffalo loves crap

If this were true your thread would be popular

[Bill Cody]

My biggest take away from this thread is people in Buffalo going to Subway. I can't fathom passing all the great grub joints back home to go to Subway.

Thanks for sharing

[mjt328]

Bills fans aren't happy, because of the complete opposite of what you are saying.

We aren't content with being average. We aren't content with a 2 point win, in a game where we were leading 14-0 early. We aren't content with a 3-4 record. We aren't content with "moral victories" and "being on the right track." We aren't content with another year of rebuilding and missing the playoffs.

Buffalo got outplayed on Sunday. Bottom line. If any one of a couple plays - Robey's TD, Aaron Williams INT, Mario's forced fumble, Fred Jackson's amazing run - if even one of those plays go a little different, we lose the game. True fans aren't content or excited, because they know MOST weeks this ends in a loss. And if certain coaching mistakes and player miscues aren't corrected, this win will mean absolutely nothing by season's end.

I'll be excited when this team starts consistently putting up wins against good teams, at home or on the road.

[ServoBillieves]

For some reason I want a $5 footlong now...

[Bill Cody]

For some reason I want a $5 footlong now...

I can give you half a foot

[sukie]

I don't think Bills' fans have " Average " as a benchmark but the view from that bench is far better than below average and even crappy. Plus from Average, one can see the better benchmarks ahead. Rarely do you see any team go from the dumper to dynasty in a snap. A winner is not microwavable... You cannot push a button and BAM SUCCESS. So Average looks way better than the level where feces rests.

[psubills62]

What on earth is going on in here?

[BuffaloRedleg]

Bills fans aren't happy, because of the complete opposite of what you are saying.

We aren't content with being average. We aren't content with a 2 point win, in a game where we were leading 14-0 early. We aren't content with a 3-4 record. We aren't content with "moral victories" and "being on the right track." We aren't content with another year of rebuilding and missing the playoffs.

Buffalo got outplayed on Sunday. Bottom line. If any one of a couple plays - Robey's TD, Aaron Williams INT, Mario's forced fumble, Fred Jackson's amazing run - if even one of those plays go a little different, we lose the game. True fans aren't content or excited, because they know MOST weeks this ends in a loss. And if certain coaching mistakes and player miscues aren't corrected, this win will mean absolutely nothing by season's end.

I'll be excited when this team starts consistently putting up wins against good teams, at home or on the road.

Forcing turnovers is how you win games. Those are not happy accidents. Those are a product of people making plays. They can't be discounted so the game can fit your pre-conceived notion that the Bills only win because of luck.

[mjt328]

Forcing turnovers is how you win games. Those are not happy accidents. Those are a product of people making plays. They can't be discounted so the game can fit your pre-conceived notion that the Bills only win because of luck.

I'm not discounting them, and I never referred to turnovers as "lucky." All I'm saying is - the ball bounced the Bills way on Sunday. There were about 5-6 plays during the game, that if they went even a little bit different, we would have lost.
- Robey's INT and touchdown.
- Aaron Williams INT in the endzone
- Miami's missed field goal
- Mario's strip sack
- Fred's 3rd down run to get past the markers

You can't really say the same for Miami. They dominated the vast majority of the game.

[trapezeus]

because we've been tortured by average being the ceiling for years. And a win here and there is average. the team needs to gel and win games in bunches. until they do, or they win one or two games convincingly, it's hard to believe anything will be different.

we all want the same thing. some people are more trigger happy to think the end is near while others want more proof. neither is right or wrong. for me, i just want to see mistakes cleaned up. the offensive play calling is weak and the QB play isn't good enough for January. It can get better. and we don't really care what Thad has to do. We care how EJ performs and gets better.

Accuracy is all that matters for this team that is scoring points. if we had consistency, we could easily be a 6-1 team. And if we were any lesser than we have been, we could be 0-7. consistency matters and this team has not been that.

[Generalissimus Gibby]

Stockholm syndrome?

[BuffaloRedleg]

I'm not discounting them, and I never referred to turnovers as "lucky." All I'm saying is - the ball bounced the Bills way on Sunday. There were about 5-6 plays during the game, that if they went even a little bit different, we would have lost.
- Robey's INT and touchdown.
- Aaron Williams INT in the endzone
- Miami's missed field goal
- Mario's strip sack
- Fred's 3rd down run to get past the markers

You can't really say the same for Miami. They dominated the vast majority of the game.

That doesn't matter. That's called finding a way to win. Teams do it all the time. We've lost plenty of games that we outplayed the other team, do we get credit for that? Of course not. Every single team out there makes mistakes in every game, often times the way to win is to capitalize on their mistakes. I'm not saying this is a great team, but that's what great teams do. Most games are usually pretty close for a good portion of the game. If you break down a lot of the middle pack of teams they are always a dozen plays away from 10-6 or 6-10. That's parity.

I don't know why people need to clench so tightly to the double standard that when we win it's because they other team made too many mistakes, and when we lose it's because we made too many mistake. Like we don't earn our victories and we earn our losses only. I mean I do know why, because we have suffered so many years of empty victories that lead to nothing we are unable to accept a victory as a sign of improvement. We at least need to acknowledge that as much as the team has not earned the benefit of the doubt, it is an obvious bias that we can't seem to shake.

Where you see a team that wins because of other teams mistakes I see a team that takes advantage of other teams mistakes. That goes way deeper than what is happening on the field, that is due to a bias that people like us will never see eye to eye on.

[imbondz]

This thread is offensive. I bleed Buffalo Bills and would almost sacrifice a finger or toe if I thought it'd do any good. Now if you were to say the Media in Buffalo could be doing a better job at keeping pressure on the organization then I'd agree. But to blame fans for their mediocrity is dumb.

[Bill Cody]

This thread is offensive. I bleed Buffalo Bills and would almost sacrifice a finger or toe if I thought it'd do any good.

Pretty sure it will help. Chop one off and see.

[Mace]

In general, making pretend the post was serious, because I like Subway and never met fast food I didn't like despite my "delicate" friends always whining about bad grease on a pizza, bad lettuce on a sub, bad this or bad that as an excuse for intestinal discomfort brought on by their own failure to wash their hands after going to the bathroom....

What was I saying....

Oh yeah. It was the same in the 90's. Everyone is always used to being well prepared for when things don't go well and don't know what to make of it when it does until it happens steadily and conclusively, and even then everyone knows it's just a matter of time before something goes wrong again because that's just how it is here and always has been.

[Fletch]

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Buffalo loves to focus on the negative, and hates the positive.

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Buffalo loves average.

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Buffalo loves crap.

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Too many Bills fans don't know what to do besides criticize and nitpick, even after a win.

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Average SUCKS, tastes like dog poop, and I'm sick of it, not used to it, and desire something better from my team and city.

What's wrong with that?

Boy, you said a mouthful there and implied another mouthful.

Here's what most do not understand, both in Buffalo and elsewhere, and particularly elsewhere around the country.

True Bills fans don't love average and crap, they want a real true blue winner.

What they hate is being sold a bill-of-goods and they can smell a bill-of-goods from a mile away. That's all that they've been handed in recent years, one bill-of-goods after another being told how this one's going to be better than the last one when any reasoning person knows damn well ahead of time that the odds of it working out are slim to nil, even now, with this bill-of-goods.

Fans and local media covering the Bills play an odd game, it's one whereby they dig out "positives" from anywhere that they can find them, and because they're positives they ignore the negatives in claiming that progress is being made. Meanwhile, on the other side of the tracks, the more astute observers can easily see that yes, in an isolated manner there may indeed appear to be some positives, but they also realize that the sum of the parts equals the whole, and while one or more things have improved, at least as many things have regressed, often for absolutely no explicable reason, like the D getting worse once we signed Mario w/ really no other significant changes, as merely one example.

So some sit there and applaud and say "look, progress," while others recognize that overall there really isn't progress.

Part of that also entails being able to recognize patterns on which we've been tricked before. It really wasn't long ago, two seasons IIRC, whereby the whole "BILL-ieve" thingy came about in Gailey's second year of coaching. At that time, amidst a 3-0, 4-1, 5-2 start, everything had changed and both fans and media were saying even more favorable things about Gailey & Co. than they are about Marrone & Co. now. Yet, there are even fewer immediate positives, as a whole, than there were back then, now.

Maybe the most idiotic thing that people say is about how our front office are "experts" or the coaches are "experts" whereas we fans don't know what they know, which while true in some regards, clearly isn't true in others. The other thing overlooked is the glaring favoritism that our FO and admin exercises upon selecting people to lead this organization, yet many of us overlook that, even most of us maybe, and dismiss it otherwise, yet, it's relevant.

Most of us are tired of watching this team take one risk after another merely hoping that the stopped clock just happens to be right on that watch, and occasionally it is, as in 2011 when Gailey's Bills started 3-0, 4-1, and 5-2, but then time continued moving and that clock was wrong again shortly thereafter and the other shoe fell and they finished off the season by going 1-8.

Right now we're saying many positive things about this team, of course the close losses incliuded, but what few people realize is how those wins are built, and frankly, they're not built on the fundamentals, they're more built on the emotional, which cannot last an entire season much less an entire coaching tenure.

Some of us, many of us, see that and say to ourselves that solid football is predicated upon fundamentals, not upon strange circumstances leading to wins that cannot nearly be counted on week-to-week much less season-to-season. Fundamentals on the other hand can be counted on from W2W or S2S. But we don't have fundamentals, we have emotion of newness and hope that isn't founded on fundamentals.

What we as fans want is a legitimate shot. We wouldn't mind seeing the admin/FO actually hire a qualified GM or HC that has a proven track record elsewhere in the NFL, a good and winning one. If that coach loses, then we can handle that as we realize that not everything works out and we move on, but the odds of that happening repeatedly are slim to nil. But what we get here is a reach into the Bills loyalty grab bag by Brandon or whomever else has been in charge over the years, as they pull out a pudding pop and then try to sell it to us as a golden nugget when most of us can easily see that it's really just a pudding pop that it is.

It's extremely unlikely that Marrone & Co. are not going to succeed here in that way, particularly as more film becomes available for opposing DCs and OCs. We wouldn't be able to say that if say Bill Belichick were to become coach of the team. This has nothing to do with the notion that Belichick isn't available, but everything to do with the notion that he's a proven winner even if that winning only extends into the regular season without cheating, so perhaps that was a bad example, but point made.

Instead this team goes out and repeatedly gets some joe-blow guy with questionable (Marrone, Gailey) or even poor (Jauron, Mularkey) credentials for whom the odds of success are notably less.

So when fans are critical, it's entirely because they do not "BILL-ieve," they're skeptical, as they should be. Those that counter those fans have no basis to do so. The adage, "fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me" applies here. We as Bills fans have been fooled time and time again and this time is tracking to be no different if one really looks at the differences between last season and this one, with an infusion of talent even, as young as much of it is.

Put into some perspective, Bill Polian has been this organization's only successful GM. The organization fired him over a non-football related matter, again, of the soft loyalty type. In 34 other NFL seasons not involving Polian-built teams, the Bills have been to the playoffs in only 7 seasons and are 2-7 in the playoffs. That's 2 playoff wins in 34 other seasons, and one of those wins was with much residual Polian talent. That's 27 seasons with no playoffs.

Which brings up another point, this team's administration seems to equate spending money with buying talent. So many times they've broken the bank for talent clearly not worth it. What they should be doing is paying for proven talent, what they do instead is pay and hope that the performance follows.

The bottom line here is that fans don't enjoy average much less like or prefer it, that's exactly the issue here. Hope is not concrete, it's just hope. Most people that hope for something never get it. They just know when that's all that they're going to get. Sure, we can all sit here and claim that "we owe it to the staff to have a shot at proving themselves," but no, we really don't. We don't owe the Bills organization anything, they owe us for our loyalty, and while they're loyal to their buddies in the industry in terms of employing them to high-paying jobs, there's precious little loyalty to us, the common fan.

That creates ill-will, understandably so. There's a rift between fans of this team and the front office/admin in case anyone hadn't noticed, and despite the fact that it's hardly ever talked about or otherwise discussed. But the reason for that is the team, not us.

We want a winner, we want proven competence, not merely another chance to reach into the bucket to pull out what we're told hiding in there somewhere is a blue ball amidst 200 other red ones.

Polian was not a deliberate hire, it was another one of Wilson's cheap moves at the time that just happened to work out. The odds of that occurring again, particularly in this era, are slim to nil.

Most fans smell a pudding pop a mile away.

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This thread is offensive. I bleed Buffalo Bills and would almost sacrifice a finger or toe if I thought it'd do any good. Now if you were to say the Media in Buffalo could be doing a better job at keeping pressure on the organization then I'd agree. But to blame fans for their mediocrity is dumb.

I can't agree with you more!