Watching a Bills Game: Where Does it Rank for You?

[ajzepp]

I was thinking about how I've seen quite a few people on here say that if the Bills ever left WNY that you'd stop watching the NFL (a sentiment that I can't get my head around). So it got me to thinking how i would prioritize a Bills game in terms of my at home tube entertainment. So here's how I would probably prioritize the following events in terms of what would trump everything beneath it on the list just off the top of my head. Assume that you can't record and watch later:

 

 

1) Bills Post-season game

2) Superbowl

3) Bills Reg season game

4) NFL playoff game

5) Highly anticipated film.

6) NFL Reg Season game (strong match up)

7) World Cup USA match

8) World Cup Final

9) Finale of a favorite TV show

10) World Cup Germany match

11) NFL Reg Season game (weak match up)

12) First quarter of Bills preseason game.

13) World Series game elimination game.

14) Episode of favorite TV show.

15) NBA Finals elimination game.

Edited September 24, 2012 by ajzepp

[K-9]

Watching the Bills ranks somewhere between being boiled in oil and orgasm.

 

GO BILLS!!!

[Rico]

I was thinking about how I've seen quite a few people on here say that if the Bills ever left WNY that you'd stop watching the NFL (a sentiment that I can't get my head around). So it got me to thinking how i would prioritize a Bills game in terms of my at home tube entertainment. So here's how I would probably prioritize the following events in terms of what would trump everything beneath it on the list just off the top of my head. Assume that you can't record and watch later:

 

 

1) Bills Post-season game

2) Superbowl

3) Bills Reg season game

4) NFL playoff game

5) Highly anticipated film.

6) NFL Reg Season game (strong match up)

7) World Cup USA match

8) World Cup Final

9) Finale of a favorite TV show

10) World Cup Germany match

11) NFL Reg Season game (weak match up)

12) First quarter of Bills preseason game.

13) World Series game elimination game.

14) Episode of favorite TV show.

15) NBA Finals elimination game.

16) National spelling bee

17) Stanley Cup playoffs

[Dr. Fong]

I'm not going to do my homework in this thread, but I will throw my opinion in and try to get you to understand why no Bills in Buffalo = no NFL on my TV screen anymore.

 

Since as long as I can remember I've been a Bills fan. I learned about football by watching the Bills play football. The Bills have always represented NFL football for me. The only thing that is even somewhat similar is my love of Notre Dame football. I was raised Catholic, but grew up in a predominantly Baptist area. I always felt a bit out of place being Catholic when none of my friends were, so it was always appealing to me to see a Catholic school do so well in sports. In the same way, being from Buffalo I was always proud of the team that represented where I had come from. Almost everyone around me was a Redskins fan, but what did they know? They didn't know how great it was to be a Bills fan.

 

Some of my greatest memories come from watching the Bills play. My first fight in school was a kid trying to pick on me for having a Bills bookbag during one of their 2-14 seasons. There was the time my brother and I snuck out of bed to watch a Frank Reich led Bills face the juggernaut LA Rams on Monday Night Football. That game was a nail-biter the whole way and we had to fight really hard not to yell out in elation and wake up our Dad when the Bills pulled it out. Or the many trips to Orchard Park bringing me, my brother, and my father opportunities to grow closer or the many times when we would bring an outsider to learn what a wonderful experience gameday at Orchard Park is.

 

All of these experiences and memories total up to a connection that the rest of the NFL, no matter how compelling, cannot hope to match. If there comes a time where there is no room in the NFL for a team in Buffalo they are basically saying there is no room in the NFL for me. Corporate interests, TV, and revenue will have replaced what is best for the soul of the game. That's something that very well could come to pass some day. I would understand the reasons that are behind why it happened, but it doesn't mean I have to support it.

[Heitz]

1. Bills in Super Bowl

2. Bills in Post Season

3. Bills regular season

4. Everything else

[Garion]

1. Bills in Super Bowl

2. Bills in Post Season

3. Bills regular season

4. Everything else

 

This

 

[ajzepp]

I'm not going to do my homework in this thread, but I will throw my opinion in and try to get you to understand why no Bills in Buffalo = no NFL on my TV screen anymore.

 

Since as long as I can remember I've been a Bills fan. I learned about football by watching the Bills play football. The Bills have always represented NFL football for me. The only thing that is even somewhat similar is my love of Notre Dame football. I was raised Catholic, but grew up in a predominantly Baptist area. I always felt a bit out of place being Catholic when none of my friends were, so it was always appealing to me to see a Catholic school do so well in sports. In the same way, being from Buffalo I was always proud of the team that represented where I had come from. Almost everyone around me was a Redskins fan, but what did they know? They didn't know how great it was to be a Bills fan.

 

Some of my greatest memories come from watching the Bills play. My first fight in school was a kid trying to pick on me for having a Bills bookbag during one of their 2-14 seasons. There was the time my brother and I snuck out of bed to watch a Frank Reich led Bills face the juggernaut LA Rams on Monday Night Football. That game was a nail-biter the whole way and we had to fight really hard not to yell out in elation and wake up our Dad when the Bills pulled it out. Or the many trips to Orchard Park bringing me, my brother, and my father opportunities to grow closer or the many times when we would bring an outsider to learn what a wonderful experience gameday at Orchard Park is.

 

All of these experiences and memories total up to a connection that the rest of the NFL, no matter how compelling, cannot hope to match. If there comes a time where there is no room in the NFL for a team in Buffalo they are basically saying there is no room in the NFL for me. Corporate interests, TV, and revenue will have replaced what is best for the soul of the game. That's something that very well could come to pass some day. I would understand the reasons that are behind why it happened, but it doesn't mean I have to support it.

 

 

But don't you see it as a throwing the baby out with the bath water thing?

[Dr. Fong]

 

 

 

But don't you see it as a throwing the baby out with the bath water thing?

 

No, because if Buffalo football goes away NFL football goes away for me. I don't want to watch week after week as talking heads on ESPN go out of their way to gush about the latest flavor at QB or what a great stadium experience it is in New England. It just holds no interest if there's no Buffalo team to balance the sickly sweet presentation that is most of the rest of the NFL. Picking another team won't help because it won't be the same. For you I suppose your primary love is NFL football and Buffalo is the team you root for. For me Buffalo football is what I love and the rest of the NFL is something I tolerate in order for the Bills to have opponents to play. They're all the bad guys, so how could I pick one of these villains to be the new hero should the hero walk off into the sunset?

[ajzepp]

No, because if Buffalo football goes away NFL football goes away for me. I don't want to watch week after week as talking heads on ESPN go out of their way to gush about the latest flavor at QB or what a great stadium experience it is in New England. It just holds no interest if there's no Buffalo team to balance the sickly sweet presentation that is most of the rest of the NFL. Picking another team won't help because it won't be the same. For you I suppose your primary love is NFL football and Buffalo is the team you root for. For me Buffalo football is what I love and the rest of the NFL is something I tolerate in order for the Bills to have opponents to play. They're all the bad guys, so how could I pick one of these villains to be the new hero should the hero walk off into the sunset?

 

So do you ever watch any games other than Bills games then?

[Geno Smith's Arm]

1. Bills in Super Bowl

2. Bills in Post Season

3. Bills regular season

4. Everything else

 

Yep. There is just nothing that compares, and I don't even think I'm some super hardcore fan. I like to watch football, but I would rather watch a regular season Bills game, than a Super Bowl with any other teams involved. My emotional connection with the Bills, will always make their games more compelling to me than any other games.

Edited September 25, 2012 by Matthews' Bag

[Dr. Fong]

 

 

So do you ever watch any games other than Bills games then?

 

Yes I do, but if the Bills go away so goes my interest in supporting in any way a league that doesn't have room for a Buffalo franchise. I'd still be able to get my fill of football by watching college.

 

This is probably a really bad analogy, but it comes close to expressing how I'd feel in this scenario. Let's say you were in a club and were kicked out of this club. Would you have any interest in reading the club's newsletter?

Edited September 25, 2012 by Dr. Fong

[ajzepp]

Yep. There is just nothing that compares, and I don't even think I'm some super hardcore fan. I like to watch football, but I would rather watch a regular season Bills game, than a Super Bowl with any other teams involved. My emotional connection with the Bills, will always make their games more compelling to me than any other games.

 

I find that very interesting and had to do a lot of thinking about where I stood on that before I did my own rankings...when it comes down to it, though, I just can't put any regular season game over the Super bowl...it's interesting to hear how you guys feel about it.

 

Yes I do, but if the Bills go away so goes my interest in supporting in any way a league that doesn't have room for a Buffalo franchise. I'd still be able to get my fill of football by watching college.

 

Interesting. I don't have the same origin story that you have, but I have considered the Bills a part of who I am (pretty big part, actually) for almost 30 years...anyone who comes within ten feet of me at work, when I'm driving my car, my apartment, etc, will know I'm a Bills fan immediately....I advertise it as often as possible, and I'm proud to do it even when we suck for a decade. But as much as it would just KILL me to not have the Bills to root for anymore, I just cannot fathom abandoning the NFL for any reason. I would feel like my Sundays in the Fall and Winter were just completely meaningless without football. I'm just surprised that I've seen several people on here express the same sentiment as yourself.

[Geno Smith's Arm]

I find that very interesting and had to do a lot of thinking about where I stood on that before I did my own rankings...when it comes down to it, though, I just can't put any regular season game over the Super bowl...it's interesting to hear how you guys feel about it.

 

I hate the Super Bowl! I hate the "pageantry" and all the distractions that they put into the presentation to entertain people that aren't really into football. I hate listening to people talk about how much the commercial time costs (honestly, why do people find that interesting? I'm not an accountant.) The crowd sux! Barely any real fans of the teams...blah, I could go on, but I imagine you know what I mean. I hate the long half-time the most though, because I think it interferes with the game, and the game should always come first. The Conference championships are better to me, though they seem to be working on ruining those too. I haven't even watched most of the Super Bowls for the last 10 years!

Edited September 25, 2012 by Matthews' Bag

[ajzepp]

I hate the Super Bowl! I hate the "pageantry" and all the distractions that they put into the presentation to entertain people that aren't really into football. I hate listening to people talk about how much the commercial time costs (honestly, why do people find that interesting? I'm not an accountant.) The crowd sux! Barely any real fans of the teams...blah, I could go on, but I imagine you know what I mean. I hate the long half-time the most though. The Conference championships are better to me, though they seem to be working on ruining those too. I haven't even watched most of the Super Bowls for the last 10 years!

 

lol, wow....I do know what you mean about all the ancillary nonsense, but you don't even watch the game??

[Geno Smith's Arm]

lol, wow....I do know what you mean about all the ancillary nonsense, but you don't even watch the game??

 

Nope. I watched a bit of the last one. By that time, I'm usually so pissed that the Bills have squandered another season, that I'm thinking about the draft! I don't avoid the SB, but if I'm at a party, I'm more interested in talking to women.

 

It's really down to the fact that I'm not emotionally connected to other teams.

[Buffalo Barbarian]

I was thinking about how I've seen quite a few people on here say that if the Bills ever left WNY that you'd stop watching the NFL (a sentiment that I can't get my head around). So it got me to thinking how i would prioritize a Bills game in terms of my at home tube entertainment. So here's how I would probably prioritize the following events in terms of what would trump everything beneath it on the list just off the top of my head. Assume that you can't record and watch later:

 

 

1) Bills Post-season game

2) Superbowl

3) Bills Reg season game

4) NFL playoff game

5) Highly anticipated film.

6) NFL Reg Season game (strong match up)

7) World Cup USA match

8) World Cup Final

9) Finale of a favorite TV show

10) World Cup Germany match

11) NFL Reg Season game (weak match up)

12) First quarter of Bills preseason game.

13) World Series game elimination game.

14) Episode of favorite TV show.

15) NBA Finals elimination game.

 

I watched the Bills Jets game when Belicheat trapped Flutie in the pocket and we got got crushed while my wife was in labor (TV was in the delivery room though)

[Buffalo Barbarian]

Oh and I would still watch every NFL and College game I could, like I do now.

 

I by no means want them to leave and will be extremely pissed if they do and will be leading the Lynch mob to Ralphs grave and burn him at the stake if they do.

 

But it would make it easy on sundays to not get all bent when they do things wrong and I can pick every ground and pound team that is doing well and just jump from one bandwagon to another and will always be in a state of winning

[Meathead]

Watching the Bills ranks somewhere between being boiled in oil and orgasm.

 

/thread

[Chandemonium]

But don't you see it as a throwing the baby out with the bath water thing?

 

To me, the Bills are the baby and the rest of the league is the bathwater, so it would be more analogous to throwing out the bathwater after the baby had been kidnapped. That's not to say I would never watch NFL football again, but it would be very low on my list of Sunday afternoon priorities, whereas right now the Bills are very high on the same list.

[ajzepp]

Wow, this is so interesting to me...I've sort of touched upon this previously, but to see people get more into their thought process is very interesting.