TXBILLSFAN Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 Very odd OP ?? . . . . that's like me saying if the score was Atlanta 34 and Buffalo 31, the Falcons would have won if it was in RWS. The point us "anti-Toronto Series" folks are trying to make is that the Bills opponents would NOT be able to accomplish what they accomplish in Toronto if game was in RWS. This game as much as any, Atlanta is a dome team and plays 3 road games a year in NO, Carolina and TB that are good weather cities (or dome) --- they as a team are not used to the elements --- but more importantly CROWD noise --- it kills opposing offenses and BTW, helps Bills defense and offense --- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leelee Phoenix Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 Weather is such an overrated topic used to drum up discussion. It was 40, low wind and mostly dry here anyway. If anything the conditions were worse in Toronto, that field sucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgia Bill Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 The worst part yesterday was the fans. Forget the elements, the refs, the play on the field even. That was a falcons home game. The cheering was clearly FOR the Falcons. That would not have happened in the Ralph. The quiet during the Falcons drives would not have happened in the Ralph. The crowd cheering as the fg went through the uprights would not have happened. That is what bothered me. How in the world are there Falcons fans in Toronto? How did they outnumber Bills fans? Those were Leafs fans and their buddies who hate Buffalo and everything that comes with it. So they cheer on the Bills opponents and have fun doing it. The only way to shut them up is to win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heels20X6 Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 Those were Leafs fans and their buddies who hate Buffalo and everything that comes with it. So they cheer on the Bills opponents and have fun doing it. The only way to shut them up is to win. Or...possibly buying tickets to the game and supporting the Bills in a different field? I thought Bills fans traveled well? There were definitely Bills fans at the game but we were outnumbered by empty seats and casual fans just cheering against the Bills because it wasn't their team. There were maybe 20 ATL fans in the actual place. Half were wearing Vick jerseys. One thing I'll say and I'll leave it at that...if Bills fans were as great as they say they are, they'd fill up the Skydome, take advantage of it being indoors, and make a ton of noise that would be deafening in there. Instead, we whine about something we have no control over and then complain when we don't have home field advantage. It's not that long a drive. We can easily make the Skydome Bills Central ONCE a year. We choose not to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All_Pro_Bills Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 "What if's" can be argued forever because they are mostly opinions and speculation. The key "fact" here is that playing in Toronto provides the Bills with absolutely no home field advantage. Zero. That should be obvious to everyone. The question is whether or not you believe the presence of that home field edge would have altered the outcome in favor of the Bills. IMO, it would have but as I stated its speculation on my part and maybe they lost because the Bills simply suck when it comes to the big pressure moments in a game and if they didn't they would have won on Sunday and an additional couple other games this season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
section122 Posted December 3, 2013 Share Posted December 3, 2013 One thing I'll say and I'll leave it at that...if Bills fans were as great as they say they are, they'd fill up the Skydome, take advantage of it being indoors, and make a ton of noise that would be deafening in there. Instead, we whine about something we have no control over and then complain when we don't have home field advantage. It's not that long a drive. We can easily make the Skydome Bills Central ONCE a year. We choose not to. I thought Ontario became the largest secondary market of the Bills? Shouldn't those people who don't have to travel fill it up? It's 2.5 hours each way for me to the Ralph. I do it because I love the Bills and the experience makes it worthwhile. When tailgating isn't allowed I would essentially be driving 7 hours round trip to watch a 3 hour game. No tailgating, no kan jam, no grilling, no beers in the lot. Just football. There is no way I can justify the time or money it would cost me to do that. It's a shame that they sell a game each year. The bills record is 1-6 up there!!! The checks keep coming tho so I guess all is well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Homey D. Clown Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 (edited) With all the whining about the venue and the (false) claims that it would have been a totally different game if played at RWS is this: So you are blindly exclaiming that home field advantage is a myth? Russ, is that you? Edited December 4, 2013 by Homey D. Clown Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dog Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 Toronto, no matter how friendly to the Bills is not home field, We lose a home game and home field advantage one a year. How about playing Toronto as an away game? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillnutinHouston Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 (edited) Let me see if I got this straight - if they cut the Toronto series off and we revert to playing 8 home games at the Ralph, that will open the door to move the team to LA in 2020? I think you Toronto apologists have been brainwashed. Ask yourself this - does the Toronto series make the Buffalo market more or less attractive as the future home to a franchise, relative to LA, London or elsewhere? Are you hoping that the next owner just happens to have a heart for Buffalo? What happens if the winning bidder is just a financial shark? If he is a shark, do you think his location decision will be unaffected by the proximity to the Toronto market? Before you answer, consider that Brandon just pointed out on GR this morning that Buffalo had only two true sellouts this year, with the other four being manufactured. And this is with ticket prices among the absolute lowest in the league. Bottom line, the Buffalo market has shown itself to be handicapped, and Toronto/Southern Ontario is the long term crutch. Nobody is asking people to like that, but the truth is the truth. People who whine about this fact only reveal the insularity and narrowmindedness of their thinking. Edited December 4, 2013 by BillnutinHouston Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apuszczalowski Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 The worst part yesterday was the fans. Forget the elements, the refs, the play on the field even. That was a falcons home game. The cheering was clearly FOR the Falcons. That would not have happened in the Ralph. The quiet during the Falcons drives would not have happened in the Ralph. The crowd cheering as the fg went through the uprights would not have happened. That is what bothered me. How in the world are there Falcons fans in Toronto? How did they outnumber Bills fans? And the only ones to blame for that are the "NFLs Greatest Fans" in Buffalo who would rather sit at home to throw temper tantrums on internet message boards then drive the 1 hour to get to the game and make it a Home game for the Bills. As for Crowd noise and weather, when has that been a factor in favour of the bills for the last 10-15 years? I don't think any team in the league has been shaking in their cleats having to come into Buffalo to play the Bills because of the home team atmosphere, and that its anything more then what they face during any other road game they play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
All_Pro_Bills Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 (edited) And the only ones to blame for that are the "NFLs Greatest Fans" in Buffalo who would rather sit at home to throw temper tantrums on internet message boards then drive the 1 hour to get to the game and make it a Home game for the Bills. As for Crowd noise and weather, when has that been a factor in favour of the bills for the last 10-15 years? I don't think any team in the league has been shaking in their cleats having to come into Buffalo to play the Bills because of the home team atmosphere, and that its anything more then what they face during any other road game they play. Having an expectation that tens of thousands of Bills fans are going to make the trip up to Toronto more or less invalidates the entire concept behind the regionalization approach. The goal is to attract 'new' fans from Toronto and Ontario not to market the game to current fans. The game in Toronto doesn't appear to be generating any fan interest in the Bills in Toronto and is a negative from the point of surrendering home-field-advantage to play at what is at best a neutral site game in an atmosphere that has the look and feel of a pre-season game. While it is providing some financial benefit to the team based on the payments from Rogers that's about it. And what benefit the Canadian sponsors are deriving from this arrangement at this point is unclear. Ending this would appear beneficial to both parties. Edited December 4, 2013 by All_Pro_Bills Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QCity Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 Ask yourself this - does the Toronto series make the Buffalo market more or less attractive as the future home to a franchise, relative to LA, London or elsewhere? It makes the Buffalo market less attractive. It's clearly evident that it's only a temporary money grab for the team, and a way for Rogers to position itself as a potential buyer. We now know that the people of Toronto will never root for a team from a different city (this could be drastically different if it were their own team). This money grab has no long term future, the only question is - will it end next year or will we have to suffer for the remaining 4 games there? Do you honestly think a prospective buyer of this team would believe that this series has any legs past the current deal?? Are you hoping that the next owner just happens to have a heart for Buffalo? What happens if the winning bidder is just a financial shark? If he is a shark, do you think his location decision will be unaffected by the proximity to the Toronto market? Before you answer, consider that Brandon just pointed out on GR this morning that Buffalo had only two true sellouts this year, with the other four being manufactured. And this is with ticket prices among the absolute lowest in the league. If the next owner is a "financial shark" that is only interested in the bottom line, then the team is 100% gone and the debacle that is the Toronto series will have nothing to do with it. Bottom line, the Buffalo market has shown itself to be handicapped, and Toronto/Southern Ontario is the long term crutch. Nobody is asking people to like that, but the truth is the truth. People who whine about this fact only reveal the insularity and narrowmindedness of their thinking. The Buffalo market will always be handicapped in terms of luxury box sales and corporate seating, and this has become the big money maker for owners over the past decade. However, I'm quite certain Toronto companies haven't started buying up our suites. What's keeping people people out of the seats is a culture of losing and that fact that ownership places financial goals above winning. There are college kids out there that can't remember a playoff game - this organization has literally lost a generation of fans. This team hasn't been over .500 in a decade, it's a miracle that any games sellout. "Win and the games will sell" is the mantra - but do you not see the folly in attempting to be competitive while at the same time selling away home games? Insular and narrow-minded? You might want to take a glace in the mirror, because you are simply parroting Mr. Brandon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chris heff Posted December 4, 2013 Share Posted December 4, 2013 Ask yourself this - does the Toronto series make the Buffalo market more or less attractive as the future home to a franchise, relative to LA, London or elsewhere? Are you hoping that the next owner just happens to have a heart for Buffalo? What happens if the winning bidder is just a financial shark? If he is a shark, do you think his location decision will be unaffected by the proximity to the Toronto market? Before you answer, consider that Brandon just pointed out on GR this morning that Buffalo had only two true sellouts this year, with the other four being manufactured. And this is with ticket prices among the absolute lowest in the league. Bottom line, the Buffalo market has shown itself to be handicapped, and Toronto/Southern Ontario is the long term crutch. Nobody is asking people to like that, but the truth is the truth. People who whine about this fact only reveal the insularity and narrowmindedness of their thinking. The solution to selling out RWS, making the Toronto game a true home game and vastly increasing the odds that the Bills stay put is winning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts