Franco_92 Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 One time Ralph picked Rob Johnson to start over Doug Flutie in a playoff game, and the Bills lost on a forward lateral that wasn't noticed in real time. Bill Clinton was in the White House for a couple more weeks. I was 4. The house I have spent 82% of my life in didn't exist. My little sister, about to be old enough to drive, was still 2.5 years away from gracing us with her presence. A lot can happen in 18 years. The Bills are a huge part of what helps distract WNYers from the worst parts of life. They are a mediocre franchise, but even so they have provided all-time-great memories to people with the most luck and success, and to people who desperately need more hope and luck. My personal favorites include, but are not limited to: -JP Losman hitting Lee Evans for identical 83 yard TD passes in Houston, and then winning with a strike to Peerless Price with less than a minute to go -Practicing those three routes from that game in the front yard with my brother for dozens and dozens of hours after, during halftimes, before and after big wins and crushing losses, no matter what -My first games with my brother and father, watching us clown the fish in horrifically snowy weather, my brother's favorite Lee Evans always putting on a show -Trent Edwards looking like the real deal en route to a 5-1 start in 2008 before a concussion ruined his career -Watching Kevin Everett walk again -Watching Fred Jackson in the preseason with my brother and father for 3 consecutive seasons, waiting for the Bills to notice what we did and stop sending him to the practice squad, while he just worked harder and harder and eventually carved out a career which put him on the wall and onto my computer background where he still resides -Watching Fred Jackson finally slay that team with the gigantic asterisk next to every shred of success they have ever had -Watching Fred Jackson lead us to another 5-2 spot in an MVP caliber first half of the season before falling to injury -Watching Fred Jackson's psychic powers as he busted off an 80 yard TD run against NYG and veered left at the perfect moment to evade capture -Watching Fred Jackson steamroll Chris Conte to all but seal the win in game 1 of the first winning season I ever got to witness, 2014 -Watching the defense that entire season, completely and utterly dominant -Mario with the strip sack on Rodgers to seal the biggest Bills win in my life -Shady McCoy blowing my mind each and every week of his tenure here -Kyle Williams fighting through blood, sweat, and tears each and every snap for this city and the fans -Sean McDermott restoring law and order and getting a bunch of rag-tag pieces to this position -Tre White's pure enthusiasm and insane talent for this game -The entire sideline rallying around Brandon Tate, jumping up and down as he generates a huge first down on 3rd and 15, showing the world that here in Buffalo, we are family But today there's a chance to acquire the memory that would top all of these. Even taking into account the perspective comes with age, responsibilities, tragedies, opportunities. Perspective that forever alters the awestruck gaze with which we saw our favorite sports and teams growing up. For me, these things have actually strengthened my love for the teams in WNY and the silly games they play. They are so essential to lighten the load of so many lives. They mean so much to so many people going through so many things. They bring us all together in a way that nothing else really could. They connect a homeless, lost soul to a billionaire oil dude that may be aloof and have misplaced trusts but who ultimately bought these teams to try and help lift up the region we all call home and pay absurd airfare to come back and see whenever we possibly can. I know that objectively there is a good chance that today is just another letdown to add to a 17-year-long list. But today is also the best chance we've had in my 12 years as a fan. It's a chance for 53 guys from wildly varying backgrounds, who have overcome so many of their own demons, to bring pure elation to a once-dying and still-hurting rust belt city. Even if it doesn't work out, we are just so happy to have this feeling of hope in week 17 again, or in many of our cases, for the first time ever. Vegas agrees that this post may look pretty stupid at 7:35 pm. But until then, I am feeling the strongest hope I ever have as a Bills fan, the hope that brings me back every single Sunday. No fanbase deserves the next 24 hours more than this one. Let's go Buffalo. ?❤️?❤️? 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SinceThe70s Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 I'm not from WNY but me and my two boys can't wait for tomorrow afternoon and I'm hoping they get a memorable Bills day! Love your attitude! Go Bills! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LABILLBACKER Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 We're all praying for a miracle tomorrow. It's been long enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bills4everNY Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 Great post! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad Things Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 (edited) Tomorrow is going to be great. Watching with the entire family down here in New Zealand. The last time the Bills were in a playoff game, I was watching it, while holding my newborn son. Needless to say, he's now 18 years old. Let's go Buffalo! Edited December 31, 2017 by Bad Things Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsFan4 Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 Well said. I can't even imagine what this city would be like tomorrow if everything goes right. I'm excited and very nervous. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have hope of things working out. But I'm tying notmto be too hopeful... Whatever happens, it's definitely nice to actually see a meaningful Bills regular season finale. Go Bills! And go Bengals, Raiders and Jaguars! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lfod Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 Great post. I'm feeling positive that the Bills will win. It's the other games that have me uneasy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJS Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 Would be great to get the monkey off the back of this franchise. I think it would go a long way to helping the team move forward and build something good. I am too young to remember the super bowl years because I was an infant, and my earliest Bills memory was the music city debacle. Would be nice to make some good memories with this team. So hard to have to hear about the glory days in the early 90's and only be able to watch highlights and old games from those guys and not actually experience it real time. Here's to making the playoffs. We have a decent shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KW95 - JA17 Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 Go Bengals Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasons1992 Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 Always great to get the temperature of the "love" of the team from the younger crowd. While I'm not as old as Augie or Plenz (a combined 186 years together!), I was 12-16 during the SB years and this drought has really been painful for those of us who rode the wave through the best time ever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schoepfel1 Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 Im 29 years old and I have never seen my Buffalo Bills reach the playoffs. I remember in 6th grade watching the music city miracle at a friends house thinking that my dad was going to be pissed haha, little did I know that that moment would haunt not only me but bills fans to this day. I didn’t like the bills until around 8th grade, but once I was hooked, it was like heroin. I remember going to games as a child, Bills crushing any team to step into orchard park, an atmosphere of positivity, and spending time with our fellow neighbors. I remember going to games and hoping that the opposing teams would score touchdowns because a lot of the Jim Kelly games I remember would be straight beatdowns of the other team and often the game would be wrapped up by halftime. As a child who didn’t understand how epic this time must have been for the city and for the community during some of the most depressing months of the year sounds like a dream come true right now. I would kill to see the bills lose 4 super bowls straight as sick as this sounds. Around the time of the changing of the bills jersey and retirement of eric molds was the time that I was all in on this team The bills losses would be so devastating for me growing up that if the bills would lose it would not only make the drive home miserable and bleak, but would also make the beginning of my week of school miserable until around thursday when the pain would subside and I would start getting excited to see who the bills were going up against that week. This process has lasted my whole life. It wasn’t until my late 20’s that I was able to take the bills off of my most important things in life and try to focus on making a career. The past year or two I have been resentful towards the bills because they have been so cruel to me that my values no longer aligned with anything about the bills (I hated the constant poor choices made by upper management which has included everything from changing coaches every 2-3 years usually along with a gm to trading away first round draft picks or very talented players (hogan, lynch, watkins, darius, woods, just examples) for literally dog ****. On top of the loses the uppermanagement decisions just seemed to be the icing on the cake for me. I think a lot of the fans would consider it similar to an emotionally abusive relationship. Ive visted many citys, been to many stadiums across the NFL socialized with fans of many teams and the conclusion is plain and simple, bills fans are the most dedicated and resilient fans of any NFL team. Tell me this, Name one team in the NFL that can lose 15+ seasons straight, have little to nothing really to look forward to of a future really BUT have 60,000 fans plus show up year after year, game after game to only be embarrassed for doing nothing other than loving their city and their team. Plain and simple the performance and culture of our buffalo bills does not align with what the people and city of buffalo respresent. The fans show up every sunday, the buffalo bills show up just enough each year to keep the fans invested the whole way through only to crush their soal at the end. (pittsburgh buffalo, 3rd stringers). The lasting impact of having a losing culture is toxic. Our regions fate is depending on my generation and we need as many leaders and role models as possible in our community so we are a place that people want to live, not a place everyone is in a hurry to leave. I lived in colorado for 4 years and that is what was required in order for me to figure out that my home of rochester is where I am needed for the rest of my life. Its embarassing that our team is known for tanking on the national stage and losing in breathtaking fashion. If that is how the rest of the country views buffalo then it makes me sad. 80,000 people show up on sunday in Buffalo NY to have a good time . Its definitely not because the bills are winning games. The people around me deserve better, they deserve to know that in the real world when you show up everyday and commit to something even when its kicking you in the ass and you wanna quit that the Reward is waiting for you if you just go that extra mile. The buffalo bills are only reinforcing to my fellow fans on why something is not possible or can’t be done. I am very curious to figure out how bills fans mindsets would be different if we had the success of the new england patriots. Mindset is an important attribute that affects every aspect of our lives. One with a negative mindset may never reach close to their potential where as a person that is resilient and can hold that positive mindset through even the darkest of hours have the capability to not only change their lives and the people around them but communities as a whole (george eastman, Robert Wegman, Tom galisano). I am curious if the bills losing culture has rubbed off on my fellow peers of my generation. The Bills are going to make the playoffs. Im not sure when but when they do, the feeling will be the greatest feeling that only a select few fans ever experience (Red sox, Cubs, Cavaliers). When the bills do make the playoffs and then make the push into the Super Bowl and finally bring the Lombardi trophy to Orchard Park; all the pain during the process will have been worth it and it will be THE Greatest underdog story of all time. I wrote this up a few weeks back when i was thinking about the impact of a losing team on a region of people. I'm not an english major, i'm just a die hard bills fan who has been reading these threads for the past 10 years and has never posted. The Bills will end their 17 year playoff drought today and it will be a glorious New Years in western new york this evening. Remember The darker the night, the Brighter the Day!!! The losing culture ends today Seya all in Jacksonville!!!!!! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewEra Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 7 hours ago, Bad Things said: Tomorrow is going to be great. Watching with the entire family down here in New Zealand. The last time the Bills were in a playoff game, I was watching it, while holding my newborn son. Needless to say, he's now 18 years old. Let's go Buffalo! Did you go to the Seattle game last year and go to the Tailgate party the night before? If so, I miss you! If not, you missed a great evening. ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SDS Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 [This is an automated response]As a courtesy to the other board members, please use more descriptive topic titles. A better title will help the community find information faster and make your topic more likely to be read. The topic starter can edit the topic title line to make it more appropriate.Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsfaninChicago Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 (edited) Bill Clinton actually still had more than a year left in office. The illegal forward pass happened in early January 2000 and Clinton left office on January 20th 2001. Just to give an idea how long this drought has gone on. Edited December 31, 2017 by Leonhart2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GunnerBill Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 We are going to do it. Not sure how.... just got a feeling that today is the day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackOrton Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 1 hour ago, GunnerBill said: We are going to do it. Not sure how.... just got a feeling that today is the day. Me too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WotAGuy Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 Just wanted to bump this thread; read it this morning and thought it was touching. Hope the OP is very happy tonight! Happy 2018! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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