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Bills Raiders AFC Championship game - the National Anthem

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bbb

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I was just reminded tonight about that. It was spine tingling, goose bump causing unbridled patriotism..........Flags just all over the place out of nowhere, everybody singing as loud as they could, fly-by iirc.........I remember back then trying to find a recording and I dont' think NBC had done a good job, if they even had us on (they kept switching to war coverage during the game)..........Is there anyway to find that video?

 

Does anybody remember how incredible that was?

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Punch Veteran

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I was just reminded tonight about that. It was spine tingling, goose bump causing unbridled patriotism..........Flags just all over the place out of nowhere, everybody singing as loud as they could, fly-by iirc.........I remember back then trying to find a recording and I dont' think NBC had done a good job, if they even had us on (they kept switching to war coverage during the game)..........Is there anyway to find that video?

 

Does anybody remember how incredible that was?

 

You're probably thinking of Whitney Houston at the Super Bowl the following week--- but, yes, it was awesome!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR_KwLvf0is

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bbb Hall of Famer

bbb

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You're probably thinking of Whitney Houston at the Super Bowl the following week--- but, yes, it was awesome!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR_KwLvf0is

 

I am not thinking of Whitney at all..........It was the AFC Championship game. The first national event since the start of the war earlier that week. I was there, but I wasn't at the Super Bowl...........It was something I'd never forget or mix up with soemthing else.

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bbb Hall of Famer

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I'm not sure who the band was, and you're right nobody mentions it...........and, I hadn't thought about it until somebody brought it up tonight as being the most awesome patriotic thing they've ever seen, and that was exactly what it was..........It was 1000x better than Whitney's prerecorded national anthem, as good as that was. This was real, this was Buffalo people, this was red white and blue everywhere - not just the team colors but these American flags that just all appeared for the anthem.

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plenzmd1 Hall of Famer

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I was just reminded tonight about that. It was spine tingling, goose bump causing unbridled patriotism..........Flags just all over the place out of nowhere, everybody singing as loud as they could, fly-by iirc.........I remember back then trying to find a recording and I dont' think NBC had done a good job, if they even had us on (they kept switching to war coverage during the game)..........Is there anyway to find that video?

 

Does anybody remember how incredible that was?

Of course I remember how awesome it was, as I was wiping the tears from my eyes.

 

My memories of that day are as follows

 

1) Listening to the radio on the drive from DC to Grand island, first night of missile attacks into Isreal, fearing chemical weapons, not even thinking of the game

2) Mom desperately not wanting my brother and me to go to game..first national event and all

3) Tailgate lots swampped with American flags, and 90% of the converstaion focused on the war, 10% on the Bills

4) Leaving 40 minutes earlier than usual for the stadium from the lots, as security was intense

5) The anthem

6) The Shell basketball timeout followed by the Kelly to Lofton TD after Jimbo dropped the snap.

7) the post game watching Gints and 49ers play, being disappointed the Gints won as I wanted to Bills to be the one that crushed the muich better thought of 49ers, beating the Giants was just not going to mean as much :D<_<

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gmac17 Veteran

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would love to see some pictures. here is a decent link:

 

 

 

http://www.empiresports.com/maiorana.shtml

 

It couldn't have been a more glorious, yet poignant day for Wilson. Yes, his team was finally going to the Super Bowl as it pummeled his old rival from the renegade AFL days, Al Davis, with a devastating display of power and precision, the 48-point margin of victory the third-largest in playoff history. But Wilson's elation was tempered by the fact that the United States had just become embroiled in the Persian Gulf War, and it was not lost on Wilson that as the Bills and Raiders were playing a

football game, fellow Americans were fighting a much more important battle in a desert halfway around the world.

 

A World War II veteran who served his country proudly, Wilson had tears in his eyes as he surveyed the patriotic, flag-waving, record crowd of 80,324 during the emotional playing of the National Anthem by the West Point marching band. And as the throng chanted "U-S-A!, U-S-A!, U-S-A!" he felt genuine respect in his heart for those who had been called on to carry out Operation Desert Storm.

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Boatdrinks Hall of Famer

Boatdrinks

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I was just reminded tonight about that. It was spine tingling, goose bump causing unbridled patriotism..........Flags just all over the place out of nowhere, everybody singing as loud as they could, fly-by iirc.........I remember back then trying to find a recording and I dont' think NBC had done a good job, if they even had us on (they kept switching to war coverage during the game)..........Is there anyway to find that video?

 

Does anybody remember how incredible that was?

 

 

I remember it. Sharon Jones sang it(wife of Rusty Jones). She had a very good voice. Crowd was very loud (was at the game).I have the telecast recorded (somewhere). They had some audio problems. NBC was showing gulf war coverage and Bob Costas broke in and they switched to live coverage of Jones' national anthem and America the beautiful. Great stuff. :thumbdown:

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dib Veteran

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I flew up for that game. I still have my shirt "Bo dont know snow" I even showed up in a picture in the newspaper.

Whic game was it that the crowd sang the Anthem unaccompanied? That was amazing.

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Las Vegas Calling... Practice Squad

Las Vegas Calling...

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I still remember watching that game on a big screen while working at BJ's Wholesale Club (my college job). The place sounded like you were at the stadium. That was the best time to be a Bills fan. The Raiders (espically Howie Long) talked a lot of smack before the game and just choked when they faced JK and the no huddle. The patritoism of the Bills fans was awesome! If I remember correctle, LB Carlton Bailey's father was serving at the time, and Baily was playing for his father.

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Rubes All Pro

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I have the original NBC recording of that somewhere, but I don't remember if it has the anthem. I'm pretty sure it has at least a snippet from it, though.

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bbb Hall of Famer

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would love to see some pictures. here is a decent link:

 

 

 

http://www.empiresports.com/maiorana.shtml

 

It couldn't have been a more glorious, yet poignant day for Wilson. Yes, his team was finally going to the Super Bowl as it pummeled his old rival from the renegade AFL days, Al Davis, with a devastating display of power and precision, the 48-point margin of victory the third-largest in playoff history. But Wilson's elation was tempered by the fact that the United States had just become embroiled in the Persian Gulf War, and it was not lost on Wilson that as the Bills and Raiders were playing a

football game, fellow Americans were fighting a much more important battle in a desert halfway around the world.

 

A World War II veteran who served his country proudly, Wilson had tears in his eyes as he surveyed the patriotic, flag-waving, record crowd of 80,324 during the emotional playing of the National Anthem by the West Point marching band. And as the throng chanted "U-S-A!, U-S-A!, U-S-A!" he felt genuine respect in his heart for those who had been called on to carry out Operation Desert Storm.

 

Oh, yeah - I forgot about the the USA chant at the end......Wow..........As great as that game was, that national anthem was even better. What a moment. (I'd love to see it again, but if iirc NBC didn't do a good job on it. These days there would be some great homemade video on youtube)

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todzilla Rookie

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Most fun game I ever attended. Just a 3+ hour celebration of the Bills and the country. The USA chants gave me chills and chanting "Thank You Bills" and "Super Bowl" during the 4th quarter still makes me smile. We stayed up all night to get tickets at an M&T bank. I have the USA Today copy from monday with an awesome article about the Bills and the juxtaposition of the war, and my friends and I are in the picture of the crowd going crazy. It was a perfect day.

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Red Veteran

Red

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I was just reminded tonight about that. It was spine tingling, goose bump causing unbridled patriotism..........Flags just all over the place out of nowhere, everybody singing as loud as they could, fly-by iirc.........I remember back then trying to find a recording and I dont' think NBC had done a good job, if they even had us on (they kept switching to war coverage during the game)..........Is there anyway to find that video?

 

Does anybody remember how incredible that was?

 

My friends and I drank so much for that game that the only thing I can remember is never sitting down because the Bills kept scoring.

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BillsPhan RFA

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I am not thinking of Whitney at all..........It was the AFC Championship game. The first national event since the start of the war earlier that week. I was there, but I wasn't at the Super Bowl...........It was something I'd never forget or mix up with soemthing else.

 

I was at the game with my future wife, and we both cried our eyes out during that anthem. You know, I seem to remember that our game may have been the second major sporting event on TV since the Gulf War started, although I could be wrong about this. (After missing the playoffs for 10 straight years, thinking back to the actual beginning of the greatest Bills teams ever is really getting more and more difficult!). Was there an NHL game on national TV from Chicago played perhaps the Saturday evening before our game, where I remember the fans taking the roof off old Chicago Stadium during that anthem? Whatever, I'm glad you brought our National Anthem up for that game, since I did not attend the SB the next week, and was there at our game to experience the anthem, as opposed to watching Whitney Houston on TV.

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bbb Hall of Famer

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I was at the game with my future wife, and we both cried our eyes out during that anthem. You know, I seem to remember that our game may have been the second major sporting event on TV since the Gulf War started, although I could be wrong about this. (After missing the playoffs for 10 straight years, thinking back to the actual beginning of the greatest Bills teams ever is really getting more and more difficult!). Was there an NHL game on national TV from Chicago played perhaps the Saturday evening before our game, where I remember the fans taking the roof off old Chicago Stadium during that anthem? Whatever, I'm glad you brought our National Anthem up for that game, since I did not attend the SB the next week, and was there at our game to experience the anthem, as opposed to watching Whitney Houston on TV.

 

There may have been some NHL game or something like that in between the start of the war, and our game, but ours was the first what I would call national event. Something where a huge part of the population would be watching.

 

It also was such a different time, which somebody younger wouldn't really understand why it was so emotional........It was our first real war since Vietnam, which was over 15 years before that, a very long time, esp. to most young people at that game. It was not like this decade, where war has been a constant. (Plus, there was fear and machismo and patriotism and alcohol to turn this into such a rush - we weren't sure if the Iraqis would win this war - they were the veteran warriors.)

 

And, terror was not something that was on our minds much yet. But, when the NBC cameras came in front of us, they had pictures of terrorists tape all up and down them, so that the cameramen could spot any in the crowd. Then, we were like Whoa, this is serious!

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Just Jack Hall of Famer

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It also was such a different time, which somebody younger wouldn't really understand why it was so emotional........It was our first real war since Vietnam, which was over 15 years before that, a very long time, esp. to most young people at that game. It was not like this decade, where war has been a constant. (Plus, there was fear and machismo and patriotism and alcohol to turn this into such a rush - we weren't sure if the Iraqis would win this war - they were the veteran warriors.)

Born in 1970, I stayed up all night that first night of the bombing watching the news. I can't remember when I went to bed, I do remember my Dad going to work the next morning asking me if anything had happened overnight. I think my reply was something like "we're kicking the **** outta them with the bombing".

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JÂy RÛßeÒ All Pro

JÂy RÛßeÒ

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I remember it. Sharon Jones sang it(wife of Rusty Jones). She had a very good voice. Crowd was very loud (was at the game).I have the telecast recorded (somewhere). They had some audio problems. NBC was showing gulf war coverage and Bob Costas broke in and they switched to live coverage of Jones' national anthem and America the beautiful. Great stuff. :lol:

I believe this is right. Losing Sharon Jones was almost as bad as losing Rusty :wallbash:

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bbb Hall of Famer

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Born in 1970, I stayed up all night that first night of the bombing watching the news. I can't remember when I went to bed, I do remember my Dad going to work the next morning asking me if anything had happened overnight. I think my reply was something like "we're kicking the **** outta them with the bombing".

 

Yeah, I remember doing that. Watching it non stop, staying up late. I asked my father how he made it through WWII. My emotions were up and down by the hour and we were only a few days in and, unlike him, I wasn't doing the fighting.

 

Thanks for volunteering to get anything that anybody has up on youtube. That would be awesome.

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Chalkie Gerzowski Veteran

Chalkie Gerzowski

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I was at the game with my future wife, and we both cried our eyes out during that anthem. You know, I seem to remember that our game may have been the second major sporting event on TV since the Gulf War started, although I could be wrong about this. (After missing the playoffs for 10 straight years, thinking back to the actual beginning of the greatest Bills teams ever is really getting more and more difficult!). Was there an NHL game on national TV from Chicago played perhaps the Saturday evening before our game, where I remember the fans taking the roof off old Chicago Stadium during that anthem? Whatever, I'm glad you brought our National Anthem up for that game, since I did not attend the SB the next week, and was there at our game to experience the anthem, as opposed to watching Whitney Houston on TV.

 

 

The NHL All-Star game was in Chicago the day before the Bills-Raiders game. Chicago was real loud for the anthem, so was OP.

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