slipkid

One of my former students down here in SC is probably an “average” fan. A few years ago, she didn’t watch football at all, but after she graduated, her friends in Augusta would meet in a sports bar. They were Falcons or Panthers fans, so she joined in and happened to catch the coverage of Kyle Williams and kids celebrating Boyd’s TD. She got excited, read up on the Bills, thought of me and better understood, and texted me something like “Go Bills! The playoffs! New fan here—won’t miss a game.” Then she watched “Four Falls of Buffalo,” and as far as I know, hasn’t missed a game since. I do know for certain, however, she couldn’t name more than a half dozen players. All this is to say that the Bills have fans because of their fans. That’s pretty cool!

I watched here in SC with a buddy from the southern tier and his son who he inexplicable allowed to become a Bills fan after he was born two months after the BS in Tennessee. We used ti give the kid grief that the drought was on him: he used to use Billy Buffalo as an excuse, which I appreciated because Billy Buffalo became a thing at about 2000. And then I watched as he went nuts (as we all were) when Boyd caught a d turned upfield between the safeties. The kid was another generation. This was also when Bills Mafia became a national influence beyond drunks jumping through tables, but of a responsible, caring community. Go Bills! A few weeks away from actual news!

Thanks again Chandler. That was the first time I’ve seen this game. I was delivering pizzas for Marvino’s, listening to Van. It felt like everyone I knew ordered pizza and wings that day just to rub it in.

As always, thanks for the share. I recall War Memorial was in a rough neighborhood (=low income with its own problems) but don’t remember the fans being that tough on opponents. Then again, I went to only one game there as a kid and joined in on the, “Get Hadl dirty!” chant.

Thanks for the vids Chandler. I think you’re being kinda tough on Cookie, though. The man wanted his money. It’s not inconceivable that a black kid with a HS education was ripped off some. He might have held onto it too long, but I’ll take his word that he was ripped off. Now, I gotta search for the 2006 vid he notes. There are far too few Cookie highlights out there.

It feels like we need a running back to crack the top ten for a Super Bowl run. Interesting that none are on any lists and wouldn’t be on mine. My thinking is that Singletary, Moss, and Brejda will split time and none will have a breakout year, but the Bills need more production from that unit to take it to the next level. Josh isn’t gonna get away with doing it on his own this year—teams are waiting for him and the receiving corps.

I think it was raising the drinking age to 21 tied to federal transportation funding—something I learned while attending college in Ohio (drinking age=19) while spending summers in Buffalo (drinking age=21) in the mid-1980s. I was pissed when Ohio had to change to 21. It was then that I started to watch how politics works. For my first post on a 60+ page thread, I think we’re going waaaay off topic, and I apologize. That said, I’m glad I didn’t pipe in on anything “on topic.”

I remembered where it is! Seriously, message me if you want it. I recall it was a hot item for about a month. Now? The shipping cost feels close to “fair market value.” I believe it’s a medium, but I have to get home to check.

I have one somewhere. You can have it if I can find it.

Perhaps my favorite Bill as the team gained momentum through the late 1980s. RIP.

“What books have you finished reading, Billy Joe?”

I second Schwabl’s* for beef on weck and a swing by Mighty Taco. I make sure to grab a royal sub from John and Mary’s whenever I’m visiting family in the area. I’ve found wings, cheap tacos and even an occasional beef on weck in other parts of the country. But Buffalo is the only place I’ve found a royal—maybe the best, most simple sandwich I’ve ever eaten. edit—*I actually prefer Charlie the Butcher for just the beef on weck, but Schwabl’s is the place to sit and eat one, especially around the holidays. Be sure to top it off with a Tom and Jerry.

I moved to teach at a small university in rural Minnesota in September 1991 and met this cool woman who seemed a little “stalky,” but I just chalked that up to my own awesomeness. We started dating casually. She was decidedly not a sports fan, let alone a Bills fan, so I tested her. When she didn’t really understand why we couldn’t spend Sunday afternoon together, I had recorded and made her watch “wide right.” She didn’t know the outcome nor much at all about football, and I didn’t tell her how it ended. She saw me well up as the kick sailed and hugged me. I also had the Denver crazy comeback recorded, and she agreed to watch that. I told her about the Washington Super Bowl. As we sat together on the sofa in January 1992 and watched Bubba McDowell cruise down the sideline, I clicked over to “Saturday Night Fever.” She didn’t get it that the game was over. “What about the Bronco game?” I clicked back in time for the Bills’ first TD. At the end of the game, my first decision was to get two tickets to the Super Bowl in Pasadena. (My father worked with attorneys who represented the Bills and could get them at face value—$250, I think—Monday morning.) After two excruciating (but not really close) road games in Pittsburgh and Miami, my future best man and I were on a red-eye to LAX. The first decision didn’t work out as I had hoped. One out of two ain’t bad.

Yep. That second half drive Colts TD drive drove me nuts. They just wouldn’t stop blitzing someone on third down and long, and Rivers is good enough to find the TE sitting down in the zone. It left Tre’ hanging out to dry. Rivers is good at that, and Frazier should have known better.

Thanks for this. 14:3&—Is Diggs wearing a Buffalo Braves hoodie?

Wow. Total whiff on that SF loss. How could you miss conjuring their injuries?! I’ll give you Tennessee, but by your post, it should have been a one-score game. I’ll grade your prediction as a B+. 😀

Got ya beat. I was at the 1965 game when I was eight days old! I stormed the field and tore up some turf to give to my father.

I’m pretty sure that was Ray Bentley; Darby the Dinosaur was his lead character in the books, though, so you were on the right track. And Doronbos is a magician.

I did, but I left it in my hotel room in Vegas when I went down to play some slots.

Meh. My childhood hero brutally murdered two people.

The Germans? I’ll forget about it—you’re on a roll.

Pederson took some heat for not going for the win in OT against the Bengals because ties almost always cost the team in the end. It turns out ties actually help your chances when everyone in the division has a losing record. Did he know something back in the beginning of September?😀

And I forgot to mention Joe D. The best pulling guard in the league at the time (imho, a bit better than than Reggie) and a great advocate for former players thereafter. The concussion protocol can largely be traced back to Joe D.’s work.

I would like to go with OJ, but you know . . . I loved JD Hill and Bobbly “toe tap” Chandler. And I always rooted for Tony Greene. Dad would say, “He’s too short,” but irc, he led the NFL in interceptions in 1977 or 78.

John Leypolt. My first game at Rich with Dad. Bills won a snoozer against the Jets, 9-7. Then again, I was freezing at Rich (something like 30-below wind chill) and watched Christie hit two, including the game winner, in another 13-10 “thriller” over the Jets. That must have been like kicking an ice cube.