Fandom

[kscdogbillsfan1221]

We are all fanatics

otherwise we wouldn’t be on a message board talking about our beloved Buffalo bills

i wanna hear from you guys. What are some of the dumbest **** you’ve done in your lives or sacrificed in support of the bills

ill start

1) every year my wife and I take a 5 day trip to a sandals in January. I booked last year for this year so we could go the day after the afc championship game so I wouldn’t miss any potential games

2) getting ripped off for 15 years by direct tv

3) when I was a surgical resident in Pittsburgh, I went to a Sunday night game in Buffalo in 2007. Left at halftime because the bills were losing by 4 touchdowns, got back to Pittsburgh at 2 am and had to be in the hospital and round by 5 am.


what about you guys ?

[Forward_Lateral]

Ive missed a handful of games in about 20 years. Sundays are mine, and my family and my wife’s family know this. I’ve stayed home from numerous functions because the Bills were playing, even when they absolutely stunk.

I made my mother get TSN (Canadian sports channel) so I could watch the Dolphins Bills night game a few weeks ago.

Nothing crazy, but I’m all in when it comes to them

[DraftBoy]

Honestly, nothing. Just try and watch the games when they are on local TV. Otherwise I follow them here with you all if my schedule allows. My wife is rather accommodating but stuff happens that requires errands to be run or an event that is during a Bills game. It happens.

[kgun12]

A bunch of us at work want to got to a Bills game back in 1990 but we all couldn’t go because there wouldn’t be anyone at work. So we drew numbers out of a hat, numbers 1-6 got to go the rest would be working or called in for overtime because two of the guys were supposed to working that Sunday that got one of the numbers and called in.

Anyway, it was a rare 4:00 game and I’m in the break room eating dinner with the supervisor. I look up at the tv and the whole group of my friends faces are on tv, the Bills scored and we’re giving high 5’s in their section. My sup was just turning around from heating his dinner and was right behind me, when I saw those guys I jumped up and intentionally bumped (hard) into him and knocked his dinner all over him and the floor. I said how sorry I was and offered to buy him dinner. He was pi$$ed but declined my offer which surprised me because he was a real jerk. Had he seen those guys that called in at the game, he would have tried to throw the book at them!
When the guys heard what I did, they bought my lunch for a couple days and the next drawing I got handed the number 1.
The sup never found out!

[swiper]

Honestly, nothing. Just try and watch the games when they are on local TV. Otherwise I follow them here with you all if my schedule allows. My wife is rather accommodating but stuff happens that requires errands to be run or an event that is during a Bills game. It happens.

Are you part of the Bills fan club in Atlanta? I was when I lived there in the 1990's. It was a loud, crazy bunch of people. I seem to remember they met at a bar in Decatur somewhere.

[Albany,n.y.]

Some of my crazier moments:

When I first moved to Albany there weren't sports bars that I knew of. Since the games that were not televised in Albany were on in Utica, I would drive 40-60 miles towards Utica until I could get the broadcast on a 5" portable TV. I'd sit in my car at a rest stop on Rt 20 or the Thruway and watch the game. Along the same lines a couple of years later I went with 2 other Bills fans to watch a preseason game at a sports bar in the Albany area. When they told us near kickoff they couldn't get the game I told my friends to get in my car & I drove 80-90 MPH up to Saratoga to a bar I knew had the game.

From 1991-2016 never missing a home game (not counting preseason) while living around 290 miles away from OP, including two times I left my car in Depew for a week. Once to take a train home & back to avoid bad weather forecasts which meant I had to take a bus to work all week and another time flying down to NY for Thanksgiving & then flying back to Buffalo before the next game. At least I had a car I rented at JFK airport. During most of that time I was younger & in running shape. I would stay at friends' house in Depew & one time I once said to them if I was ever there & they played the game but closed the roads I'd walk to the stadium. Fortunately, that never happened because judging from what happened in the recent blizzard, I would have either had to turn around or froze to death.

In 1997 I had to go to Long Island draft weekend for a family event on the Sunday of draft weekend. My parents didn't have cable so I went to the draft that Saturday. I had my father drive me to the railroad station at 4:30 AM so I could get to NYC & get a seat at the draft which had 1st come 1st serve entry. Then on the way home on the NYS Thruway I knew I could get a Sunday Buffalo News in one of the Thruway rest stops around Newburgh. The problem was it was on the other side of the Thruway. So I parked my car in the median and ran across & back crossing on the Thruway to get my Buffalo News draft coverage.

I've been to all the Bills Super Bowls in spite of the fact I really stretched my finances to get there & I plan on doing it again if the Bills make it this year. I had it all worked out until I just got a huge car repair bill. Now I'm going to have to charge the Super Bowl and take 2-3 months to pay it off. I already have my flight, motel (an hour away, I'm not that crazy to be paying Phoenix rates) & rental car all either cancelable or in the flight's case, a credit I'll use later in the year if I cancel. I've already bought a parking spot near the stadium for $150 that I probably won't be able to cancel & get a refund.

[DraftBoy]

Are you part of the Bills fan club in Atlanta? I was when I lived there in the 1990's. It was a loud, crazy bunch of people. I seem to remember they met at a bar in Decatur somewhere.

No, I went to a Bills Backer bar many years ago and lasted for about a quarter before leaving. Just not my idea of a good time. There are a number of Bills clubs, or at least there used to be, down here.

[notacon]

During the real dark days....no, not the recent “drought”.....the Bills still fielded marginally competitive teams after Kelly retired....the “drought” refers to 17 years of no playoffs.

I’m remembering the REALLY dark days of the late 60’s and early 70’s when they had TWO one win seasons...SIX years with a top 10 draft pick including TWO seasons with the #1 overall draft pick in only a four year span (1969 through 1972).

The days when every home game was blacked out. That ended in 1973 (the year I started college) but blackouts were still possible because it would only be lifted if they sold 85% of the tickets 72 hours before kickoff.

During the total blackout years, when they were lower than whale **** bottom feeders, I would listen to the games on my little portable AM radio and would listen to EVERY LAST agonizing minute of each and every game. If it was an away game, I would each every minute no matter how badly they were getting their asses beat on our crapy 19” B&W TV.

And they got their asses beat regularly.

For example, in 1971, not only did the Bills have a 1-13 record, with the dismally bad Dennis Shaw at QB, they got shut out FOUR TIMES. And that was with OJ Simpson on the team.

Yeah....I listened or watched every humiliating minute of every debacle of a game. Some of the dumbest waste of precious time when I was a youth.

[swiper]

No, I went to a Bills Backer bar many years ago and lasted for about a quarter before leaving. Just not my idea of a good time. There are a number of Bills clubs, or at least there used to be, down here.

Same here. I went once. Couldn't hear the game, too much commotion. Never went back. I'm much more comfortable and focused at home in front of my own TV.

[Woodman]

Waiting 8 hours in a semi-blizzard for Championship tickets between the Bills and Chiefs.

War Memorial stadium "The Rock Pile"

1am till 9am with my dad.

Ticket booths opened at 9am.

Bills lost the game 31-7

Chiefs went to the 1st Super Bowl which they lost to the Packers (Lombardi)

There was a guy selling peanuts I'll never forget him.

Get your fresh roasted peanuts the peanuts with the talented taste.

FROZE MY ASS OFF!

[Novacane]

We are all fanatics

otherwise we wouldn’t be on a message board talking about our beloved Buffalo bills

i wanna hear from you guys. What are some of the dumbest **** you’ve done in your lives or sacrificed in support of the bills

ill start

1) every year my wife and I take a 5 day trip to a sandals in January. I booked last year for this year so we could go the day after the afc championship game so I wouldn’t miss any potential games

2) getting ripped off for 15 years by direct tv

3) when I was a surgical resident in Pittsburgh, I went to a Sunday night game in Buffalo in 2007. Left at halftime because the bills were losing by 4 touchdowns, got back to Pittsburgh at 2 am and had to be in the hospital and round by 5 am.


what about you guys ?




I'm also guilty of keeping DTV for years just so I could get the ticket for Bills games.

I've wasted a lot of money on jerseys before guys proved they were gonna be any good.

I also schedule things around Bills games during the season. Are you a real Bills fan if you don't?

The absolutely dumbest thing I've ever done is attend the Jets game the day after Christmas in 1993. I think it's the 2nd coldest Bills game in history. Windchills in the -20's. It had snowed the night before so the stands were a death trap. The stairs were more like a slide from the packed snow. I dragged my fiancee and my two little brothers, one who had the flu out in that crap. It was miserable. We left after the 1rst Q.




I hope you didn't forget a scalpel inside anyone that morning lol.

[Ingtar33]

i've been a season ticket holder since 1999; and been to a grand total of 17 bills games in that time.

i don't live in buffalo, i don't live in the same time zone. I'm usually busy on weekends; I have a wife and kids now, in fact since getting married i've seen the bills live three times.

I have direct tv, watch a lot of football, not just the bills; but we can rack up directtv as a long term (since 2003) expense, plus all the sundays i spent in a local bills and or football bar watching the games...

My tickets usually are used by my father or his friends; or my family when they end up in buffalo (there is just 2 seats so it's not like a lot of people can go). I think my brother and two step brothers have used those tickets all to see more bills games then I have in that time and none of them live in buffalo.


setting aside the financials, i think the craziest personal experience was going to the 92 (or 93?) Bills-Raiders playoff game. At the time it was one of the coldest football games played in the NFL; got to see that famous Bruce Smith almost sack of Randal Cunningham he turned into like a 95 yard touchdown pass... the catch happened right in front of me, I was a guest of a highschool best friend who's family had season tickets at the 40 yard line. Saw Berry Sanders win the rushing title on rich stadium turf beating out Emmitt Smith and Thurman Thomas while Thurman rested in a meaningless week 16 match. I remember going to the Bills-Dolphins shootout in the snow between Dan Marino and Jim Kelly in the playoffs...

[TacklingDummy]

Don’t have to do anything special here.

Usually every game is on TV, can’t recall when the last time it wasn’t. If it’s not on TV it will be on the radio.

[OpIv37]

I’m with you on DirecTV. I’ve had it since 2004 with the exception of 2 seasons when we first moved to Baltimore. And, I found someone on this site who had DirecTV and paid him for the enhanced package so I could stream the games.

In my younger days, I didn’t have much vacation time. We’d drive 8 hours to Buffalo from Northern VA on Sat, drive back after a 1 PM game and get home around 2 am, and get up at 7 and go to work the next day.

On Thanksgiving, we usually do it with my wife’s twin sister and her husband (and now their daughter), my parents, and my brother and his g/f. My dad and I are the only ones who are Bills fans. My wife and my mom like them cuz we do, but they’d much rather do thanksgiving than watch football. My sister in law and brother don’t care about football, and my brother in law is a Washington fan. But when the Bills play on Thanksgiving, I make them plan the whole day around me being able to watch the game.

I’m sure there’s more but basically, if there is anything I can do to watch a game live when it happens, I do it. I’ve missed maybe 10 games in 22 years despite being out of market, and most of those were late season games when the Bills were already eliminated.

[Gibby 2.0]

Lets see, in 5th grade I made a bet with my teacher that if the Bills beat the Chiefs in the AFC Championship I would get out of homework for the next two weeks. If the Chiefs won, I'd get double homework. The problem is, I think they taught a lot of math during that time.

In college during the false hope of 2002 (I was in ROTC at the time) I bet a friend that if the Bills beat the chiefs he'd polish my boots and if the Chiefs won I'd polish his boots. Damn, that was a close game too.

In more recent years, I can't tell you how many times I've cut work early to get home in time for a prime time week night game.

I also had to break up with this one girl, and she was very good looking, because she wanted to date at the same time the Bills were playing and her date was nowhere near a television and well sorry ladies, but if you want me you date my Bills too. That's just the way it is. Nice gal, I am sure she will do well for herself.

[jamze132]

I pissed my GF off and told I was unavailable Sunday.

[sukie]

Scored 2 tree suite tickets to a Jets Dolphins Game here in Miami. Both of us went full Zubaz , jerseys hats etc… in a box, And rooted for the Jets.

Similar incident… went to a Colts Fins game all decked out in Bills colors, quickly bought beers for the guys around us ( to not get killed) and had a whole section yelling at us.


in both instances the Fins lost… IT WAS AWESOME.

[helmetguy]

1. Attended the Jets-Bills game 12/26/93 with my brother and his wife, and my sister's son. En route to the game, we hit two snow squalls where visibility was less than a quarter mile. Game time temperature +9 degrees. Wind Chill -28 degrees.

2. Attended the Raiders-Bills Divisional Round Playoff Game, 01/15/94. Game time temperature 0degrees. Wind Chill -32 degrees. Stood in line to purchase tickets for the following week's AFC Championship Game vs. KC (the game Montana got his bell rung).

3. Won tickets to the Oilers-Bills playoff game played 01/03/93. While watching a taping of the Thurman Thomas Show at Chautauqua Mall in Lakewood, NY, I correctly answered the question, "Who was Buffalo's 7th round draft pick in 1971 (HINT: He was a wide receiver)." (Answer: Bobby Chandler)

4. Attended the home opener in 2004. At the time, I was in training for my newest job in Harrisburg, PA. (three hours from my home). BillsZone had planned a "convention" at the Buffalo Brew Pub for the evening before the game, and a tailgate party the day of the game. The friend with whom I had purchased season tickets with lived in Jamestown, NY (another three hours from my home). Prior to leaving for Harrisburg the previous Sunday, I packed a suitcase in preparation for the trip to Jamestown the following Friday evening. I reached my friend's home in Jamestown at around 11:00 pm that Friday. We left for Buffalo early Saturday morning to meet another friend at a hotel in Buffalo. We attended the "convention" that night, and left for the stadium early Sunday morning, arriving in ample time to have our obligatory Bowling Ball Shot at the Red Pinto, then meeting fellow 'Zoners at the tailgate party. At game's end, we departed straight for the car for the drive back to Jamestown. Normally, the drive is about an hour and thirty minutes under the best of circumstances. Post-game traffic made it more like two and a half hours. Upon reaching Jamestown, I dropped off my friend and off loaded our tailgate equipment. Next, it was another three hours back to my home in North Central PA. Once home, I packed yet another suitcase for the upcoming week of training in Harrisburg. After a short nap (an hour at most) it was back on the road. Being that this was occurring in September, fog was quite common at night. The further south I drove, the denser the fog, to the point where my car cast a distinct shadow on the fog in front of me from the lights cast from vehicles behind me. The fog and coffee stops added another hour to a normally three-hour drive. I was able to see my exit from US 15 with little difficulty. Once I exited, I was able to locate my next turn toward my hotel, but I could not see the entrance to the hotel parking lot. Fortunately, there was a gas station just up the road where I could turn around and try again. Driving at a 15-mph clip, I finally located the hotel parking lot. I checked into the hotel at 4:00 am, much to the chagrin of the night clerk. I did make it class that morning!

[Lexwhat]

I threw a Dildo onto the field against the Patriots.

(jk)

[Historian]

When we lived in Florida, my wife used to schedule her neurologist visits during a week with a Bills home game, and hopefully a Sabres game too.

My den is decorated with Bills memorabilia from 1960 to 2023, and I am currently collecting every program in team history.

Wrote a book about them during the lockdown. Hopefully I can do something with it this year.

[Discotrish]

Some of my crazier moments:

When I first moved to Albany there weren't sports bars that I knew of. Since the games that were not televised in Albany were on in Utica, I would drive 40-60 miles towards Utica until I could get the broadcast on a 5" portable TV. I'd sit in my car at a rest stop on Rt 20 or the Thruway and watch the game. Along the same lines a couple of years later I went with 2 other Bills fans to watch a preseason game at a sports bar in the Albany area. When they told us near kickoff they couldn't get the game I told my friends to get in my car & I drove 80-90 MPH up to Saratoga to a bar I knew had the game.

From 1991-2016 never missing a home game (not counting preseason) while living around 290 miles away from OP, including two times I left my car in Depew for a week. Once to take a train home & back to avoid bad weather forecasts which meant I had to take a bus to work all week and another time flying down to NY for Thanksgiving & then flying back to Buffalo before the next game. At least I had a car I rented at JFK airport. During most of that time I was younger & in running shape. I would stay at friends' house in Depew & one time I once said to them if I was ever there & they played the game but closed the roads I'd walk to the stadium. Fortunately, that never happened because judging from what happened in the recent blizzard, I would have either had to turn around or froze to death.

In 1997 I had to go to Long Island draft weekend for a family event on the Sunday of draft weekend. My parents didn't have cable so I went to the draft that Saturday. I had my father drive me to the railroad station at 4:30 AM so I could get to NYC & get a seat at the draft which had 1st come 1st serve entry. Then on the way home on the NYS Thruway I knew I could get a Sunday Buffalo News in one of the Thruway rest stops around Newburgh. The problem was it was on the other side of the Thruway. So I parked my car in the median and ran across & back crossing on the Thruway to get my Buffalo News draft coverage.

I've been to all the Bills Super Bowls in spite of the fact I really stretched my finances to get there & I plan on doing it again if the Bills make it this year. I had it all worked out until I just got a huge car repair bill. Now I'm going to have to charge the Super Bowl and take 2-3 months to pay it off. I already have my flight, motel (an hour away, I'm not that crazy to be paying Phoenix rates) & rental car all either cancelable or in the flight's case, a credit I'll use later in the year if I cancel. I've already bought a parking spot near the stadium for $150 that I probably won't be able to cancel & get a refund.

That's a pretty good story with the portable TV!


We live in Florida, so we bought a life-size resin replica of a buffalo and had it shipped to central Florida in a crate, and we paid a contractor to build a brick platform and install it in front of my husband's office.


https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUkNbg13OpYJexMNSYDCAY6a-hc_pYz2kJI6ALj7BBbq7SELS5afSMkNusJ5Rv0xYx-sTdkxj4drZ6qyLTstGplwZUsxwopDis4y4EB7c7hf4mo-N0t4l08VqrGuhaIYCNlSBL0GKq21G3puzHudJbM8qwZOTFXjxl7aX59vtSSAlURhfOQg/w419-h314/Buffalo.png

[Ingtar33]

2. Attended the Raiders-Bills Divisional Round Playoff Game, 01/15/94. Game time temperature 0degrees. Wind Chill -32 degrees.

cool we both were there!

I don't remember the cold getting to me till the second half. the first half, no problem but after walking around in the concourse at halftime, i must have got sweaty or something because in the second half i was absolutely frozen. by the end of the game my feet were so cold i could barely walk on them back to the car and i shivered straight through the car trip back to an afterparty held in a friends place on grand island... i remember STILL shivering when i got there, and it wasn't till i sat down and starting enjoying the food and drink did i warm up enough to enjoy the playoff game on tv.

[Albany,n.y.]

cool we both were there!

I don't remember the cold getting to me till the second half. the first half, no problem but after walking around in the concourse at halftime, i must have got sweaty or something because in the second half i was absolutely frozen. by the end of the game my feet were so cold i could barely walk on them back to the car and i shivered straight through the car trip back to an afterparty held in a friends place on grand island... i remember STILL shivering when i got there, and it wasn't till i sat down and starting enjoying the food and drink did i warm up enough to enjoy the playoff game on tv.

After my feet froze at the Jets game, I brought a garbage bag filled with newspapers to the Raiders game and put my feet in the bag the whole game. It was a little better but my feet were still pretty cold by the end of the game.

[notacon]

I’m with you on DirecTV. I’ve had it since 2004 with the exception of 2 seasons when we first moved to Baltimore. And, I found someone on this site who had DirecTV and paid him for the enhanced package so I could stream the games.

In my younger days, I didn’t have much vacation time. We’d drive 8 hours to Buffalo from Northern VA on Sat, drive back after a 1 PM game and get home around 2 am, and get up at 7 and go to work the next day.

On Thanksgiving, we usually do it with my wife’s twin sister and her husband (and now their daughter), my parents, and my brother and his g/f. My dad and I are the only ones who are Bills fans. My wife and my mom like them cuz we do, but they’d much rather do thanksgiving than watch football. My sister in law and brother don’t care about football, and my brother in law is a Washington fan. But when the Bills play on Thanksgiving, I make them plan the whole day around me being able to watch the game.

I’m sure there’s more but basically, if there is anything I can do to watch a game live when it happens, I do it. I’ve missed maybe 10 games in 22 years despite being out of market, and most of those were late season games when the Bills were already eliminated.
We’ve talked about DirectTV and Sunday Ticket several times. I had it once when I my job was national sales manager with over 160 overnights a year. I was still living in WNY at the time so was “in market” for most of the season except when I was on the road either working an event, or trade show, or traveling to a location for Monday dealer visits.

This season, there were only fours games that were not broadcast live in the Vegas market. Three of them (@Miami, @Jets, Cleveland) I watched in full on NFL+ premium. The fourth, @Chicaho, I used a VPN and streamed it live on Paramount+....with commercials and all...really annoying.

With so many prime time games, where the Bills were not playing 10:00AM Sunday (and not live in this market which forced me to not watch ANY early games on TV to avoid any spoilers while I waited for the game to be over so I could watch on NFL+) I finally was able to watch NFL Red Zone regularly

It’s better than DirectTV for keeping up with every game.

It’s going to be very interesting how Google handles Sunday Ticket next year. If they use the model that Amazon Prime TNF used, where you can “record” and watch the game with full rewind, ff and pause....I will probably pony up.

[notacon]

I pissed my GF off and told I was unavailable Sunday.

What’s so “dumb” about that? Priorities are priorities. And NFL Sunday is more important than any GF. :D:

[Historian]

After my feet froze at the Jets game, I brought a garbage bag filled with newspapers to the Raiders game and put my feet in the bag the whole game. It was a little better but my feet were still pretty cold by the end of the game.

I was at both games, and the Jet game was way worse due to the wind.

I could barely light my cigar.

The Raider game was frigid, but less wind.

[Historian]

In 1990, I got off work Saturday night in Philly...drove all night...attended the Bills-Cardinals "tundra" game, then drove all the way back to Philly through the night, and went into work at Noon on Monday.

Ahhh youth.