kickedface Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 i found this article about about b-lo and the western ny area. http://www.constructionlitmag.com/blog/the-black-ulcerated-bowel-of-america i don't agree with all the points, i thought i should share it though. the funniest thing is that if anyone from anywhere else said or wrote anything like this anyone from the b-lo, roc or any other local areas would go crazy on them. flame away! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 Well that was a soul-searching stream-of-consciousness… and not a very flattering perspective either. On the other hand, I've met many people who felt confined/trapped in their hometown and left and never went back. It doesn't mean she is a bad person but again, she presents a pretty negative collection of thoughts and memories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 Just got done poking through that online magazine/website, Construction Lit Magazine. There's lots of good writers and here's a piece written by a young man who at the age of 9, embarked on a journey to find his favorite NFL team. The writing is excellent and he expresses some cool thoughts: "Futility is endemic to the game of football. It is there in the inexorable ticking of the game clock. It is there in the violent opposition of two teams fighting either to gain or defend ground. It is there in the costly errors—the interceptions, the broken plays, the sacks, the fumbles—on which the game turns. It is there in the desperate heaves from the backfield on fourth-and-long, the quarterback lining up as a wide receiver in the Wildcat Formation, the teammates holding hands in silent prayer, and the ridiculous and inevitable series of laterals from player to player after a final kickoff. It is even there in those teams that do succeed: the brutal physicality of the game exacts a price, and even the finest teams become so diluted by injuries, age, and forced retirement, that each successive win merely becomes one more pyrrhic victory in a longer war of attrition. But, for the football fan, that futility manifests most in one’s love for a team." http://www.constructionlitmag.com/culture/football-fanaticism Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
I hate the Bills ! Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 (edited) I don't Live in WNY anymore either, but I visit my Mom every summer and have flown back for many funerals even during the winter months. I see the run down areas then I also see the signs of progress, but the bad areas are really starting to outweigh the good. The People of Buffalo and WNY are salt of the earth good hardworking folks, and yes there is crime and decay, but if our elected leaders could construct a solid rebirth plan Buffalo could thrive again! It may not have the weather of Florida, but I'll take the people any day of the week. GO BILLS ! Edited November 10, 2011 by Wood is Good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GoBills! Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 I left buffalo about 5 years ago for florida, I love it down here Bills backer bar is great. The sad part about buffalo is with all the young college students there is no jobs in those fields to give them a opportunity to succeed with a decent salary. I miss the food and the friends, but I wouldn't go back unless the taxes were lowered and the job market improved by at least 10 fold. I still carry my pride for the Sabres and Bills and watch the games every time they are on and travel to tampa and miami for games. Would love to go back for a fall game and feel the roar of the Ralph, when I was a kid I loved it there and even attended the greatest comeback in NFL history and stayed through the whole game (still have my ticket stub). But Buffalo is what it is and I wish it all the best but it needs some new business tax breaks and jobs for college graduates above the 50k pay mark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Turk Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 She is from hamburg, so she doesn't even count as far as talking about buffalo like she lived here... As far as the negativity...I guess to each their own..plenty of people have been to a lot more places than she has and have made this area their home... Personally I love the area and moved back after being away for 12 years...I think this is a special place that is brought together by a lot of things...the harsh winters, the us against the world attitude, the constant barrage of people poking fun at us for one reason or another... All I know is there are a lot of people living in other places that have no idea of the mental toughness and fortitude it takes to know u are gonna take mother nature's beating for 5 months out of the year between the wind, snow and cold and to not miss a beat from it. There is a reason so many athletes that have enough money to live anywhere after they retire still live here...its hard to understand exactly what the differences are between here and other places until you've been here a while... Things are looking up finally here...between UB, HWI, Buffalo General and Roswell Park, we have one of the best BioInformatic and research corridors in the entire country and believe me that is not going unnoticed...they are big time players in their respective fields and are going to feature prominently in the continued turnaround... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BuffaloBillsSD Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 Left in '05, always thought I would be back when my enlistment was finished but I met a girl and I don't know if I will ever move back. Still love to visit, there is nothing like The Ralph or F'N Arena. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 All I saw was an article about how bad the WNY accent is. Which it is. Did y'all read the same article? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tcali Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 i found this article about about b-lo and the western ny area. http://www.constructionlitmag.com/blog/the-black-ulcerated-bowel-of-america i don't agree with all the points, i thought i should share it though. the funniest thing is that if anyone from anywhere else said or wrote anything like this anyone from the b-lo, roc or any other local areas would go crazy on them. flame away! Certainly a darkish piece/article.-But after reading/absorbing it I don't find it negative at the core. I left Buffalo because I felt trapped there..-But it wasn't the city's fault. It was more my own being in a rut. I needed to get out.--And I think a lot of young people felt confined by the weather,the scarcity of jobs,the same old routine and the same old people knowing your faults/mistakes only too well. Could very well be that SOME of those who stayed felt more secure and happier with themselves than those who left. Others had family businesses etc and good situations that they didnt want to leave.Or their whole family was there--and they liked/got a long with their family:) I love Buffalo.And I visit often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SactoBillFan Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 (edited) All I saw was an article about how bad the WNY accent is. Which it is. Did y'all read the same article? And spreading it around the world. I've been gone from WNY since 79 but go back every year to see my mom and sisters. Can always tell when I'm back by their accents (I think I still have little bit of it myself). I don't mind it at all. Nothing like a game at the Raaalph. Edited November 10, 2011 by SactoBillFan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
San Jose Bills Fan Posted November 10, 2011 Share Posted November 10, 2011 All I saw was an article about how bad the WNY accent is. Which it is. Did y'all read the same article? "As I grew older and more restless, too brown to be content bumping up against the culturally homogenous borders of Western New York, I saw Buffalo fall into ruin, its once-great buildings one by one razed “for progress.” But progress never came, only dilapidation and suddenly empty lots… "We foam at the mouth when questioned about the propriety of “pop” over “soda,” “wings” over the ever-reviled “buffalo wings,” just to salvage a little dignity in the face of our crippled way of life… I left for an even worse city when I went to college in Binghamton… Now I imagine those clear-faced children down in a bar with some Irish name on the south side of Buffalo, tipping back Labatts with the old boys, who haven’t been to work since the steel plant closed a few decades back. They complain about the ball and chain and the Bills, but the Bills still manage to keep their loyalty. They eat whatever’s come out of the deep fryer in the back, they barely avoid a DWI on the way home, and when they wake up in the morning there’s frost on the ground and they don’t notice the very deep blue of Lake Erie and the sunbeams shining along that unending horizon." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billsintaiwan Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 (edited) These two bits reek of something false. the first is over-the-top dramatic, the second seems like it is an imagined experience, not the author's. pretty crap actually. "We foam at the mouth when questioned about the propriety of “pop” over “soda,” “wings” over the ever-reviled “buffalo wings,” just to salvage a little dignity in the face of our crippled way of life… Now I imagine those clear-faced children down in a bar with some Irish name on the south side of Buffalo, tipping back Labatts with the old boys, who haven’t been to work since the steel plant closed a few decades back. They complain about the ball and chain and the Bills, but the Bills still manage to keep their loyalty. They eat whatever’s come out of the deep fryer in the back, they barely avoid a DWI on the way home, and when they wake up in the morning there’s frost on the ground and they don’t notice the very deep blue of Lake Erie and the sunbeams shining along that unending horizon." Edited November 11, 2011 by billsintaiwan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chaccof Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 It was written by a 20 something who's getting a Masters in Fine Art - in Indiana of all places! It was probably a class assignment and she had to puff it up a bit... Me? I love my accent...I can still hear my mom saying "aaaabsooooluuuutely....." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bills_fan_in_raleigh Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 what gets me is when writers talk about 7 feet of snow overnight. I know its tongue in cheek but jeeze get real every once in a while we got a snow day ( see blizzard of 77 ). It does pain me to return to my hometown south of buffalo were urban renewal succeeded in tearing down old buildings but failed to make the other than vacant lots and parking lots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marv's Neighbor Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Read between the lines; She regrets leaving and is jealous of the people who stayed and are making a living in BUF. She should try Detroit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 All I saw was an article about how bad the WNY accent is. Which it is. Did y'all read the same article? What accent is that? I moved to the ChicagoLand/Northwest Indiana area and people don't pick up any accent... They can't tell I have a BFLO/WNY accent... Even in other parts of the midwest that I lived in (Iowa). If anything, they have harder, longer vowels out this way! The thing where she went wrong is comparing the BFLO accent with the northeast and considering that accent as normal! It is anything but normal in the northeast... It is bizzare! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim in Anchorage Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Hamburg, which was settled by dour Germans in the 19th century after they drove out the Erie Indians, Creative writer alright. The Erie where slaughtered by the Iroquois. How can someone who calls themselves a "writer" screw up fundamental facts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Blizzard Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 what gets me is when writers talk about 7 feet of snow overnight. I know its tongue in cheek but jeeze get real every once in a while we got a snow day ( see blizzard of 77 ). It does pain me to return to my hometown south of buffalo were urban renewal succeeded in tearing down old buildings but failed to make the other than vacant lots and parking lots. I live near ROC, but the ex and her family is from Buffalo. Spent lots of time there in the 80's. Sad to see the decline over the years. It's weird seeing nothing where Bethlehem Steel used to be. The weather does get old, but family and friends are what hold me to this area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbb Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 Funny, but tonight, Luke Russert tweeted out a link to this story, where an ex-pat said eff it, I'm coming back no matter what: http://www.buffalorising.com/2011/11/the-idea-of-buffalo.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billsguy Posted November 11, 2011 Share Posted November 11, 2011 There are so many Buffalo ex-pats and each has a different point of view. Having traveled extensively through the US I can tell you there are no perfect places, but only different places. I grew up in WNY and wouldn't have traded it for anything, but I'm glad I left when I did. There are many things to praise about the region and many things to criticize. I choose to remember all the great things and hope my hometown prospers in the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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