SoMAn

That sounds about right. Again, 20+ years since it all went down so don’t remember the sequence of events, but my sense is that the excitement generated by Flutie’s success which put the Bills back into the playoffs played a role in extending the lease. Up until that point, there was concern and the usual panic and hand-wringing among the Bills faithful that their beloved Bills could suffer the same fate as Modell’s Browns who departed for Baltimore after the ‘95 season.

Actually, the success of the Flutie-led Bills of the late 90’s was probably more of factor in keeping the Bills in WNY. I don’t recall all the details, but I believe the renewed interest, increased attendance, enthusiasm, etc was integral to funding for the necessary stadium renovations and extended lease. Anyone remember just how that went down?

Just gotta turn off the phone. But…that said…this past season I didn’t do that too much. Kind of got sucked into the social media vortex so I could tap into this forum and commune with the mafia when there were outrageous penalties or non-calls by the officials or phenomenal plays by the bills. Was curious to see if my fellow bills brothers and sisters were seeing things the same way I was. Time shifting isn’t an option when browsing the Stadium Wall during game time.

Surprised. Sometimes you just need to hit at the right time or get a knowledgeable rep. a lot of people received the email last year telling them it was being given free. I got something like that, then they billed me. Had to call and schmooze a bit, but got the ticket free and credits for $$ off. The password to get what you want is “cancel”. On the plus side for those without the ticket or DTV- Probably at least half the Bills’ games (or more) will be available without DTV, depending on their market.

When Sunday ticket goes to one of the other services, I’ll look into those options. DIRECTV gets expensive, though they’re usually willing (or desperate enough) to negotiate better rates. I do like the recording options. A lot of the shows are now available on demand, but the fly in the ointment is the inability to fast-forward through ads. During negotiations they’re always pushing the movie channels. Don’t have much interest in todays movie offerings. Mostly Kids fare, low brow comedies, superhero retreads, sci-Fi fantasy-just not my thing. Eball- are you still in Atlanta area? I’m in northern ‘burbs.

I’ve had DIRECTV for 24 years. Weather-related outages are infrequent. If the dish is peaked correctly and the line to the bird not obstructed by trees or other structures, outages are rare, but when it happens it’s usually very temporary. It only occurs when a large storm system is passing in the line between the dish and satellite transponder. I’d bet that cable subscribers have more outages. With satellite, there’s always ample bandwidth. It’ll be frustrating when the streaming services are overloaded and buffering becomes an issue. I enjoy the multi-room and DVR recording (time-shifting*)benefits that come with DIRECTV. I don’t know that streaming has those advantages. * while recording Bills’ games, I’ve often sat down to watch the game (from the beginning) an hour or so after real time kickoff. This makes the most of my precious weekend hours. I can skip through all the lame advertising, halftime banter, and endless promos for mindless CBS sitcoms and enjoy all the Bills game in about 2 1/2 hours.

I was there....sort of. I don't remember exactly, but I believe the couple I was with gave up and wanted leave early to beat the traffic when it looked like the Bills were going down.. We were just outside the stadium when we heard the roar and cheers from the crowd who stayed until the end. I've learned to NEVER give up when there's still a chance, as slim as it may be. Don't think I ever again left before the final gun.

There were some indicators last season that there may have been unrest on the domestic side. When a guy is suddenly not wearing the wedding band for several weeks and there seems to be a change in overall demeanor, there might be some issues. I think it's a challenge for any spouse that has an absentee husband or wife with career that demands significant hours of their time. Professional coaching jobs are not for 9 to 5'ers.

That’s been my thought- that the fate of Kim will be revealed when she appears in the post BB world with Gene in Nebraska.

I tend to agree with the assessment, though I’m not as quick to put Marino in thr upper tier category. He was boy wonder coming out of the gates when Kelly was still in the USFL. He had inflated numbers in a pass-happy offense and was the media darling breaking records. But, he only made it to a single Super Bowl early on, then was consistently beaten by Kelly, who played in a balanced offense with 1000 yd runners (unlike Marino). Marino gained an early reputation as one of the best. Kelly called his own plays and was far more successful in big games. Kelly was also a better ‘team player’. I can’t rate Marino higher just because he had a super fast release, great accuracy, and threw the ball enough to rack up big passing numbers.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard that term before, but the description is so perfect there’s no doubt what it looks like. And yes, one wrong move and…..

The best line was from Barkley after tee shots were continually sliced and hitting the viewers in the gallery. Paraphrasing: The people watching can stay safe from stray shots if they stand in the middle of the fairway.

Who came up with these par numbers? I’ve played golf and it’s my opinion par on most holes should be between 8 and 10. 😜

This match gives a lot of appreciation for how good the touring pros are, not too mention the superb TV coverage by CBS.

Ok, what the hell are ‘jags’?

I believe Dabol did a good job as coordinator. But he can thank Beane and McD for putting the pieces in place to allow him to shine. Allen gave him a versatile weapon that allowed him to be far more creative than he could have been with a less athletic man under center.

Ironic that I’m reading this only minutes after NFL Network talking about Dabol’s achievement as O coordinator and citing Allen’s success. The feature was considering if Dabol can do the same with D Jones. I had that exact thought as you that Allen was more responsible for Dabol’s success than the other way around.

No

Prayers for the families, the people of Buffalo, and hopes that this tragedy unites rather than divides.

One of my favorite movies. One of the very last things you can hear is Eric Idle saying “I told him …Bernie I said they’ll never make their money back”. It’s a poke at Bernard Delfont, who was supposed to finance the film, but thinking it was too controversial, pulled out at the last minute. Fortunately, George Harrison liked the script and put up his house as collateral to get it done. Love the pythons.

Yes, I was at that one too. And the KC game, first ever Monday nighter at Rich the year before in their shiny new stadium. That Raiders game has come up a few times recently. Strange it's a somewhat forgotten game, though it was one of the most exciting endings in memory. I supposed it's been eclipsed by the Comeback game, superbowl games, and some others. And since it was nearly 50 years ago, it pre-dates the existence of a large portion of the fan base. Very similar to the Bills' last game in KC - lots of lead changes in the 4th quarter. Only the 1974 game had a better ending.

How'd like to be the guy chosen for he 2025 wall of fame honor, knowing that when they unveil your name on the wall, O.J.'s name has been up there more than 30 years after the murders, and your name will be in a pile of ruble in a matter of months? 😊

And none of the teams' classmates will watch it either!

Oliver and Phillips, or whoever is playing DT. Actually, any of the front 7 (including Johnson). The Bills need to be able to stop the run. The Patriots and Jets are gearing up to have stout run games, probably realizing that is the Bills biggest weakness. The Colts and Titans made the Bills look like a DIV III team with their runs. One loss against an inferior opponent can mean the difference between being at home or away, or even making the playoffs. But if I have to narrow it down, it's mostly the guys in the middle of the D-line.

Exactly. In the words of Hank Bullough, the Bills 'took the sails out of their wind'. KC had to scratch and claw to win at home against the Bills. When the Bengals came in, they were playing a team still recovering from the previous battle. I have little doubt that if the Bills had won and hosted the Bengals in the AFCC, they would have beat the snot out of them. In some ways, I'm almost glad they didn't get to the superbowl. Not sure they were quite ready. If they'd lost it would have stirred up the whole 'Bills lose superbowls' talk and the current team (most of whom weren't even born since last appearance) would be saddled with that stigma. I'm not worried about that now. With the FA signings and draft class, there are few (if any) weakness on this team. If they stay healthy, they should be able to beat any other team soundly. They just need to take care of business and not lose to vastly inferior teams like the Jags and Stillers. Those are the kind of losses that will determine being at home or on the road come playoff time.