SoMAn

Fortunately, the satellite revolution was coming in about the time the team was ascending into a playoff power, making it easier for us out of town transplants to witness the team’s rise. In the late 80’s Sports bars were discovering the advantages of catering to a dedicated team fan base, so in Atlanta there were a couple of ‘Bills bars’ that were sure to be a gathering spot for the pre-mafia fan base. Good fun and great way to commune with the fellow faithful. Eventually, residential dishes and NFL Sunday Ticket displaced the weekly sports bar. As convenient as the bars were at the time, it could get expensive and it was risky enjoying a few adult beverages unless you had a dedicated driver. As I get older, the comfort of my own easy chair and HDTV to never miss a game* are a luxury, though I’m hoping to join the mafia for at least one game at our local Anchor Bar in Kennesaw. * about the only time my viewing was interrupted was when some doofus let a Mylar balloon loose, hitting power lines outside the stadium and it blew out all power for the broadcast of the Chargers against the Trent Edwards-led Bills.

Times have certainly changed. We are probably about the same age. Relocating to metro Atlanta in mid-80’s, finding a crumb of Bills news was a chore. A few seconds on ESPN or a sentence or two in USA Today if you were lucky. No sports bars with satellite feeds and still a decade away from practical smaller residential satellite dishes. No internet. No cell phones. Around that time I found a large local bookstore in Atlanta where I could get the Sunday Buffalo News, usually by the following Friday. At least there was decent enough Bills’ content on the days leading into and throughout the season. The difference in today’s instant access is analogous to having to cross the continent by covered wagon in months compared to jetting from NY to L.A. in a few hours. You young whipper snappers with your fancy smart phones are the beneficiaries of a technical era in which you don’t know know anything other than immediate gratification. You spoiled little bastards! 😜 USA Today can SMD

After nearly 20 years dominating the AFC East and getting the better of the Bills in superbowk XXV, he and Brady still have the 'under the skin' lead on Bills fans by a wide margin As much we detest Belichick for being the architect of our misery, he's actually pretty gracious in his praise of Allen. The guy knows football inside and out and has respect for greatness. He gets pissed off and doesn't mask his emotions when he doesn't get the effort he's accustomed to from his players.

Arrange and sort the names first by least number of people murdered by that former player and then by year.

It’s obviously a serious condition, so regardless of the reason, my thoughts are with the Pegulas and praying for a complete recovery for Kim.

Do you know why you've experienced outages? Most problems can be resolved. I realize you've gone back to cable, but for others: Start with having maximum signal strength. Have you called DTV about the outages? Has your dish been 'peaked' recently? It may be as simple as getting a technician to re-point the dish to receive max signal. Do you have trees or other obstructions blocking the site line? If so, move the dish or the trees. Also, depending on the thickness of the foliage, you may get an ok signal in winter when trees are bare, but find the signal compromised in summer and more susceptible to weather-related outages when you're just barely locked in. If you're in an area that experiences frequent, slow moving violent storms, satellite TV may not be your best option. I haven't had an issue with it.

If you still think we (America) hasn’t made progress, consider how nobody today gives a second thought to a starting college or pro black QB. Briscoe and Harris and those who looked past color to give them opportunities were trailblazers. We’re not perfect, but we’ve come a long way. Briscoe was a great player. I was sorry the Bills traded him, but Saban was trying to get OJ to reach full potential, and to do that, the O-Line needed to be fortified. Briscoe was recognized in Miami for his accomplishments and awarded by having the Florida baseball team named after him. 😉 Thanks for the memories Marlin and for your part in advancing equal opportunity.

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