MarylandCuseBills

Hi Everyone -- Long time reader of the board, and while I hardly ever post or start my own threads I wanted to share an article about my uncle that was in the Buffalo News today. Unfortunately, about a year ago my uncle was diagnosed with ALS, and the disease was extremely fast acting in his case. He passed away about a month ago, and this article tells a bit about the last Bills game he went to go watch with my Dad at our local Bills bar down in Virginia. http://buffalonews.com/2017/12/07/a-terminally-ill-bills-fans-personal-super-bowl/ Being born in Washington, DC it's always been a bit odd telling people that I'm a Bills fan -- but my parents and my uncles were born and raised in Buffalo and there has never been a question in my household as to what team we root for. I have loved every second of it, despite this playoff drought that has lasted since I was an 8 year old -- and the memories and traditions of watching games with my Dad and my uncles are the only reason why. I wanted to share this just as a quick reminder to some as to why we love this crazy, stupid team of ours. It's more than just football -- it truly is family. I will always cherish the memories that the Bills have given my family, even if they've stunk for the majority of my lifetime. I know we're all so sick of how incompetent they always seem to be, and that the QB can't throw the ball more than 10 yards in the air, and they've got no receivers, and they've got no linebackers, yada yada yada. But at the end of the day, they are what they are -- and they're OURS. What else could you want? Go Bills and Happy Holidays!

So I don't really post here all that often, just usually read the boards to see how everyone's feeling about the state of our team. However, this thread strikes extra close to home for me, so I felt compelled to post. I was diagnosed with Crohn's when I was 8 years old. Of course, it was extremely difficult when I was first diagnosed and you truly need to stay on top of this disease or it will get out of control. There have been times where I have lost 30+ pounds in a 2.5 week span, so the rapid weight loss does happen and it comes extremely quickly. The point being, this is something that is serious and something that Seantrel will need to take seriously. HOWEVER, this does not mean it is an end for his NFL career in the slightest. Although I was never a professional athlete, I've played hockey since I was 5 years old and I continue to play to this day. You can go on and live your life normally as long as you keep up to date on your medication and seeing the doctors. I played contact sports my whole life with it. I went to college and drank plenty of beers with it. It is a very aggressive disease, but it can be contained. I did not post this in an effort to try and turn the tables to talk about myself, but I just wanted to express my own experiences with this disease and just say that it does not mean the end of his career. It is just going to be something that he powers through and gets tougher from, and he will be fine when he comes out on the other side. Wishing Seantrel nothing but the best, and a speedy recovery. While there is no cure, they will be able to get it under control. Once they do, he will be back to himself in no time. And we need him - we are a better football team with him on the field.

I am a regular at Greveys, as my parents have been taking my brother and I there since we were 3 months old. Greveys used to be packed with Bills fans and it was a great atmosphere to watch a game, but as the years have gone on and the team has been losing, the crowd isn't nearly as big as it used to be. Now you can go in there and find a lot of fans of other teams watching their games on tv, although the bills game audio does go through the whole restaurant. Jimmy's is a great time. Tons of people. Good beer, good wings. My only problem with Jimmy's is that he has very small TVs up in the bar, and there aren't that many. Although I have heard that he's recently built an addition on to the bar for Bills games, so maybe that is better now.

I don't post here often, but saw this comment and felt compelled. I go to SU and I had the complete opposite reaction at first. I felt that Marrone coming here made both of my football teams worse, because I didn't think he had what it took to be an NFL head coach. But I feel that he's proven me wrong. The players respect him, he's animated on the sidelines (who is the last bills head coach to actually get mad about a refs bad call?), and it really seems like this team is headed in the right direction. The last time the bills made the playoffs, I was 8 years old. I went through all of middle school, high school, and now all of college without them sniffing success. But for some reason, for the first time in the last 14 years, it really feels different to me. I know we've had some ugly losses, I know the team didn't show up against Pittsburgh or Tampa, and I know we've blown a lot of close games that we should have won, but Marrone is going to do something special here. Give this guy a full offseason to put his stamp on the team before calling him a failure.

Thanks so much for your help!! I will park in lot 5, and not bother getting on the thruway. I really appreciate it.

Hey everyone- sorry for not getting back sooner, my computer was stolen from the library yesterday while I got up during studying, so I've been off the internet since. Thanks a lot for all the replies, I appreciate the help. Getting home isn't an issue for me, as I am driving back to Syracuse after the game. The issue is that my dad has to take a flight back to Maryland after the game. In the past we've made 7:00 flights to get back home with a little time to spare, but it sounds like we may need to leave the game early. Sadly, theres a solid chance the Bills level of play may make us leave early anyways (I hope not). But thanks again everyone for the suggestions. Here's to hoping Coach Marrone and Thad have something big up their sleeves Cheers

Hey everyone- just looking for some help really quick. My dad is flying into Buffalo this weekend for the game and I am meeting him there. In the past, we have parked in Lot 2, but when I was there for the opener I noticed the awesome crowd over at Hammer's Lot. I was just curious how easy/ how quickly you can get out of Hammer's Lot after the game? My dad has a 6:30 flight back home after the game, and the traffic to get out of the team lots are usually a disaster. If anyone has any advice about where I can park so I can get my dad to the airport as quickly as possible, it would be much appreciated. My preference would be Hammer's Lot, I just want to make sure that I can get him to the airport. Thanks! And GO BILLS

Just a quick question on this topic- if I am in Syracuse and the game is blacked out on local tv, can i go to a sports bar that has the Sunday Ticket and watch the game? Or will it also be blacked out on the sunday ticket because we are in the local market? If anyone knows, thanks so much in advance

as someone who has been to a lot of Syracuse games over the past 4 years, our head coach will be bringing plenty of energy on the sidelines by himself. I like hackett sitting upstairs and calling his game. The days of this team making stupid mistakes on the field and having Chan stand on the sideline in silence are way over.

Last year, watching CJ sitting on the sidelines while Fred was getting carries because it "was Fred's turn" was among the most frustrating things of the season. I don't know about everyone else, but I'd find myself screaming at the TV for CJ to touch the ball. We finally have coaches who want to use the personnel we have to our advantage. We finally have a coach who wants to acknowledge that CJ is a super star. I can't see how this could possibly be a bad thing. Quite honestly, this is the best news that we could have gotten from our OC. Imagine if he had said that Fred would be the focal point of this offense, everyone would be freaking out.

How could anyone possibly be upset about this? With a rookie quarterback staring (hopefully) he's going to need to have a security blanket when things get rough. Thankfully for him and for us, we have one of the best and explosive backs in the league. On top of that, we also have Fred, but I don't think it is any question who's better between CJ and Fred. I agree, get them both on the field together, but if this team has any chance to be a winning team this year, it starts with CJ getting 20-25 touches a game (on the ground and catching passes) and with us playing sound defense. I think that is a winning formula for this young team.

I wouldn't really say there was one thing in particular that really turned me on to it, except that it was just so built in to our weekly lives. My dad and my brother went to 3 of our super bowls (luckily for them, they missed out on the first one). I was born 7 months after that first super bowl. Living in the DC area, every Sunday my parents, brother, and i would go to a bills backers bar in northern Virginia (Grevey's). The first time my parents took me there I was 3 months old, and we went there most Sundays of my entire childhood. I can't remember a time where I wasn't watching the Bills on Sunday- it was just something that we did. I didn't start getting really really into it until the Flutie days, when I was about 7 or 8. That's when I really understood what was actually happening in the games. But I always rooted for the Bills because that's just what we did. At a certain point though, I really took my Bills fandom to a new extreme. I really became obsessed while I was in middle school, and really would beg my dad to take trips to the Ralph from Maryland, or go on the road and see the team. At a certain point I showed more interest in it then my dad did, and it really gave us something to bond about. Now, it's more me keeping him up to date with everything that goes on with the team on a day to day basis, but he still loves them as much as ever. Being in Syracuse during football season is great because I get the Bills on local TV so I don't need to go to a sports bar to watch them every Sunday. You can probably count on one hand the amount of times we weren't there on Sundays watching while I still lived at home. But now, since we can't be together on game days, I watch the games from my couch and my dad drives to the same bar in Virginia that we've always gone to. Neither of us ever miss a game I've been going to at least one game a year at the Ralph every year for 15 years. now that im in Syracuse I make it up about 3 times, since the drive is so much closer. nothing like being there

You know, its actually kind of funny. The way my Bills fan experience has gone, I truly have zero expectations of them. I love the Bills because they have given me and my dad a real thing to bond over- something that we're both incredibly passionate about. We've taken trips to Buffalo and to the Ralph at least once a year every year since I was 7 years old. We've seen them play in Washington, Baltimore, New York, Detroit, Miami, Denver. The Bills were such a part of my childhood it barely even bothers me how bad they've been. I owe a lot to this team, as they've really brought me closer with my dad. Even though they've sucked for so long, I go into every season optimistic that they'll turn it around and surprise us- but if they don't, then there's always next year. My patience has started to run thin, as this playoff drought is really insane. The odds of this happening to a fan base is so slim, yet here we all are. I often times find myself wondering how great it will feel when they do win that Lombardi trophy, and selfishly, I'm glad I'll be able to experience the first one. Just hopefully they do it soon so my dad can experience it with us!

Thank you everyone for all of your kind words! Can't wait to talk some football with you guys. Really looking forward to seeing how this quarterback competition pans out. You can put me down on being on team EJ

For a long time I was satisfied with lurking around here and just reading everyone's opinion with no real desire to be active on the board, but after 14 years, I'm not sure I can suffer in silence anymore! For some reason, this time around this rebuild has a different feel to it. It doesn't mean that it will end up working, but there's a genuine excitement and buzz around this team, and I'm looking forward to experiencing it with everyone when this organization turns it all around.