CodeMonkey

It's not bull or laughable. The north and south are vastly different, as are big cities and small ones like Buffalo. Everything he said highlights the differences in culture. I don't agree with what he said about the fans, but everything else is accurate.

I wish they had autographed ones for all the players like they do for Sanborn. I would be picking them up for my kids for sure! Hmm I see now that they do have FredEx autographed ones .. hmmmmmm In fact most players seem to have them available, just not super Mario. And nothing for Gilmore yet. Probably still stocking up.

We have typically paid about $5-$10 a ticket on stub hub for previous kids day preseason games for sideline seats. This year that game unfortunately is Pittsburgh so people are trying to get about 3 times the norm. If you look on stub hub you should be able to see what people are asking. The ones you see are generally priced too high and the ones priced under that have sold. If you have 5, let me know

People are that way now everywhere else. Why should a football stadium be any different. I'm over 45 and prefer my family room to the stadium.

It isn't news. Just someones opinion like all the others. We will know when we know and not before.

When there is that much money involved it is no longer a game. It is all business. Has been for a long time.

Yeah its quite strange. If you search at the global dhgate level you come up empty. However if you contact the individual sellers directly they seem to have them for sale. I wonder if the US finally put enough pressure on China on behalf of the NFL to make them remove NFL jerseys from the public store fronts. Update: I heard back from the one dealer I know there and this was his response ... If the main dhgate site stops listing the knock-offs people will probably have to start getting them from other places like ebay and pay a little more.

Best of both worlds? They get the "energy of the crowd" when they want to. The technology when they want to. And not be rained/snowed on or freeze their asses off. Sounds like a great gig if you can afford it.

The middle one makes a good point. There are a lot of people who are not physically able, or cannot afford, to go to the stadium for games. The NFL has no legal obligation to lift blackouts, but in my opinion they certainly have a moral obligation in cases like these. A great many people like myself could go if they wanted to. And if I get blacked out on broadcast TV I will just watch via a internet or some other feed. But how the NFL can tell lifelong fans who would go if they could to !@#$ off is beyond me.

I agree completely. Large, affordable, HD televisions definitely did not do the NFL stadium experience any favors. And the NFL really cannot sabotage the TV experience (any more than they already do with blackouts at least) because of the amount of money they make from the TV contracts. If you strip out commercials the TV experience is even better. However if you are in the comfort of home with friends and family watching in real time the commercials aren't nearly as annoying. Only thing I miss about the stadium is tailgating with people I don't see very often when the weather is nice.

So to summarize ... 1) National media think the Bills are improved but probably not quite enough to make the playoffs next season. 2) Some Bills fans think the national media is full of **** and the Bills are vastly improved over the team that last year would have made the playoffs were it not for unlucky injuries. 3) The same fans think that not only are the Bills playoff bound this year, but they have a very good chance of winning the division. SSDD.

I think they upgraded the food vendors last year if memory serves. We don't get much there except something to drink though so I may be mistaken.

The whole cost thing got me thinking that in recent years the NFL has been trying to make games more family friendly in order to sell more tickets to families. While at the same time the ticket prices are so high (talking entire NFL, not just Buffalo) a large number of people cannot afford 4 tickets or more per game. I wonder if the smarter play by the NFL is to drop the family friendly facade and market it as an adult experience. Its easier for a guy and his buddies to buy 1 ticket each than it is for each guy to buy 4 or more in order to bring his entire family.

I agree about the cost issue. Before it's said and done I'm probably going to spend $250 taking my family of 5 to a meaningless preseason game (kids day) where the starters will play half the game if we are lucky. Considerably more than that for a regular season game. And Buffalo is among the cheapest in the league. It's easy to see how a great many people simply cannot afford to attend games even if they wanted to.

The NFL loves big markets, and they don't get much bigger than LA. So I don't see the NFL ever giving up on it. Filling the stadium never hurts. But whatever person or group ends up purchasing the Bills, they know where the team will be located before they even place a bid. And ultimately the fans have no say, full stadium or no full stadium.

That's not rocket science. Addresses (for GPS) and/or driving directions to any lot you choose here. They are not bus stops so asking for a bus stop will get you no where. And most people living near the parking areas probably have no clue what places are being used for training camp parking. But if you used the correct name, like "Pittsford Sutherland High School, 55 Sutherland Street" I suspect most in the area would know where that is. Of course if you just drive to some random place in Pittsford and ask where the Bills camp bus stop is then yeah, you might have trouble finding it. But if my wife can find it easily multiple times every year I'd have to think pretty much no one should get lost looking for it

It's a great time. Even better if you have kids. But you and your buddies will enjoy it as well. The shuttle to camp is good. However the lines to get on the shuttle back to your parking lot can take a while.

Only vanilla. Toppings are extra.

I think that his entire first draft has been a whiff. A #9 overall RB should contribute immediately. But with 2 seasons under his belt Spiller has managed to find the field only due to an injury the second half of the second season. It's not all his fault, he showed signs of life last season as he got more touches. But you do not draft a project "waterbug" RB at 9 overall. You pick one of those much later and lower. That's why I call that pick a whiff as well. Hopefully the Spiller pick starts paying dividends this season and Spiller wows Gailey so much in camp and preseason that Gailey loses sleep over how to get 2 outstanding RBs enough touches during the season. But so far, eh. Totally agree about the other 2 drafts.

For business I have traveled around the country and around the world and I do not remember one time being asked about the Bills. I live in Rochester though and not Buffalo so that I'm sure has an impact. Wings yes, Niagara Falls yes, but never the Bills. I generally don't hang out in sports bars on the road either though. I have been recruited by companies in many cities over the course of my career, some big and some small. And I do not remember a single recruiter (head hunter or company recruiter) mentioning a sports team. Time was spent talking about the job, the company, benefits, compensation etc. But the subject of a sports team did not come up. Not that I am saying you are wrong. Maybe as a recruiter in the Buffalo area you know of many instances where the Bills were a factor in someone accepting a position. I just cannot even imagine a circumstance where that would be true, unless the position was working for a Bills related industry in some capacity. I mean when considering a life changing thing like relocating is the city having or not having a NFL franchise enter into your decision making process? If it does you are a far different person than I. Your comment on "highest percentage of people in ANY NFL city watching a game" in intriguing though. Where did you get that information? I googled quickly and came up empty.

Lets just hope we never find out for sure!

Yeah I made the mistake of having my headphones on as well.

I think Arrowhead Addict has a man crush I remember thinking at the time that it was at the very least a incredibly brain dead play by Johnson. With the whole bounty-gate thing still lingering I doubt there is anything being said out loud in the Chiefs locker room. But football players being what they are it wouldn't surprise me at all if Johnson finds himself in the locker room getting medical attention prior to the end of that game. I guess we will see how much Gailey likes Johnson by how often Johnson gets sent across the middle that game

Really? To me major league franchises are generally associated with "big time" cities. GB and Buffalo being exceptions. I think a city being big time depends far more on it's economy, size, and quality of life than a sports franchise. The Bills do increase the quality of life for a relatively small percentage of people, but makes Buffalo "big time"?

I doubt this. A lot of people would be annoyed for a short while but that would be about it. I figure that only the hardest of the hardcore Bills fans would let that affect their vote. So figuring that season ticket holders represent the hardcore fans, that is about 40,000 - 50,000 voters. A significant amount of season ticket holders are outside the Buffalo area (Canada, Rochester, and Buffalo transplants). But even if every season ticket holder lived in the politicians district, was an eligible voter, and was pissed off enough to not vote for that politician, we are still only talking about 50,000 votes. It would give the politician a black eye for sure, but hardly guarantee non-reelection. However the "probably worse" could happen. All it takes is one psychotic !@#$ with a gun. Just ask Gabrielle Giffords.