Buffalonians, myself very much included, hold an unusually special place for the Bills and Sabres in our hearts. We have been at the heart of some of the most tremendous moments in both of these sports, such as wide right, the comeback game, and no goal, but we keep plugging away, and we come back for more. We hunger for these teams and, let us be very honest, they are a key portion of the city, and in many cases, our own personal identity.

Unfortunately, this hunger makes us prime targets for the sports talk and sports media markets. Sports talk and its off-shoot, the message board environment, have certainly held a great place in the growth of professional sports. The ability to talk and discuss our teams, and the ability to reach not only nationwide, but worldwide, to fans, has transformed the NFL and all pro sports into international phenomena.

With this growth has come the influence of profit, and along with that, a competition to gain market share. This cut-throat aspect, especially in the world of talk radio, has spawned an ever-growing aspect of one-upsmanship that has destroyed all semblance of credibility of the journalistic aspect of sports talk. Instead of true discussion, it is so much a professional wrestling match with the discussion guided a certain way as a means to an end.

A prime example of this pro wrestling mentality is the WGR afternoon show, and the despicable whiner line. The station obviously has a vested interest in being as critical of the Bills and the organization at every turn. Schoop and the Bulldog spare no effort in deriding the Bills' every move, to the point of ignoring any possible alternative opinion or perspective. The Howard Simon morning show is marginally better. What takes it over the top is "whiner line." This segment is not about opinion, it is about who can say the most originally outrageous and ill thought out statement about the ineptness of whatever sports team is playing that day. It is a cruel, foolish exposition of fringe personalities shouting at the world.

Of course, the Jim Rome mentality is growing, and is very popular, so I can understand the station's desire to capitalize; the businessman in me gets it. Furthermore, the Bills and Sabres certainly deserve a lot of what they get. What really hurts is the fact that WGR has a corporate interest in hurting the Bills brand name, while protecting the Sabres, whose games they broadcast. Sure, they criticize the Sabres, but nowhere even remotely close to the reckless assault on the Bills that happens daily.

This has left the sports fan in Buffalo, and the generations to follow, with a growing sense that, when it comes to sports, no holds are barred. Nothing is taboo. It is pervasive, as the "say and do what you want, on the radio, at the stadium, on a message board, at a player's house" mentality is reigning supreme. No responsibility, no consequences. Buffalo has traditionally been the city of good neighbors, especially sports-wise. We are moving daily toward Oakland East.

It is like outrageous statements and behavior are a test of your sports manhood. Opinion, responsibility, support, optimism? All signs of weakness. These are/were hallmarks of the Buffalo sports fan, and all are falling away day by day, hour by hour. True fandom is dying an ugly death. We have always held that if the Bills ever left, it would be a terrible wrong done to city of good people who deserve their team. Recent events, especially the McKelvin incident, make me wonder if that is so true any more.

We have always prided ourselves on not being like New York City, Philadelphia, Boston. We have prided ourselves on rising above the ugly mentality that pervades the fans in those places. Unfortunately, we seem to have lost our way. Hopefully, we find the path back soon, before it is too late to fix the wrongs.