While growing up,
there was always some confusion as to how I should feel on Sundays. Yes, it was
a day off but it was impossible to ignore the five days of school that were
sure to follow. Football season added a whole new element to this Sunday
confusion. Yes, my favorite sport was on all day but I would also be forced to
watch the Bills.
It’s
difficult to imagine there are many fan bases who view watching their team this
way; as a chore. But can a Bills fan really be blamed for feeling this way, especially
the ones under 25 who have experienced no form of success in a lifetime of
fandom? As I type this, the Bills are playing out the string in their eighth
consecutive losing season. They will miss the playoffs for the 13th
consecutive season which, of course, means they won’t win a playoff contest for
the 17th consecutive season. In fact, right now Buffalo’s lovable
losers are getting blown out by the Seahawks…in Toronto. It doesn’t get much
lower than that.
This
was supposed to be the year for the Bills; the year they took advantage of an
easy schedule, didn’t make too many mistakes and grabbed a wild-card spot. This
is what optimism has come to in Buffalo.
These hopes sprung from the signings of Mario Williams and Mark Anderson
in the offseason. Yet, in typical Buffalo fashion, Anderson hasn’t played most
of the year while Williams has been a non-factor more often than not. Meanwhile,
the fans have had to sit through game after game of close calls, no shows and all
around horrific coaching. So here we are at 5-8, fresh off a home loss to the
Rams, getting dominated by the Seattle Seahawks in a neutral-site game.
The
very announcement that regular season Bills games would be played in Toronto
was enough to terrify the average fan. Sure the Bills are one of the least
compelling, least exciting and least successful teams in sports but we don’t
want to lose them. They may be losers but they’re our losers. What would we
cling to without our hope of the Bills getting better? After all, we’re almost
there, right?
We’ve
been “almost there” for nearly all my time as a Bills fan. I started watching
games as a six-year old in 1999. The Bills had a pretty good team that year
despite the ongoing QB controversy between the guy that looked the part (Rob
Johnson) and the guy that played the part (Doug Flutie). In the end, the Bills
went with the wrong guy for the playoffs and it cost them dearly. The Bills
tied the Titans with a field goal late in the game despite a below-average day
from Rob Johnson and the offense. Every Bills fan in the world knows what
ensued. Lorenzo Neal caught the kickoff and handed the ball to Frank Wychek.
Wychek then launched the ball (forward?) to an uncovered Kevin Dyson and we
know the rest.
After a
disastrous 2001, it appeared the Bills had a chance to return to the playoffs
in 2002. Drew Bledsoe threw for over 4000 yards, Travis Henry ran for over 1400
and the team had two legitimate targets in Eric Moulds and Peerless Price. Yet,
an awful run defense and poor coaching caused the Bills to miss the playoffs
for a third straight year. Despite the
disappointment, one couldn’t help but feeling the Bills were “almost there”
after a five-game jump in the win column.
2004 is
to young Bills fans as 1985 is to Bears fans. Under first year coach Mike
Mularkey, the Bills went on a second-half run for the ages. After a 3-6 start,
the Bills ripped off a six-game win streak, destroying nearly every team in
their path. All they needed to do was win Week 17 to clinch a wild-card spot.
As luck would have it, the 14-1 Pittsburgh Steelers already had the first seed
in the AFC locked up and therefore didn’t need a win. Most of the starters
rested for the Steelers and the Bills appeared to be headed for an easy
victory. But, the Bills were unable to overcome the talent of the Steeler’s
backups and fell out of playoff
contention.
Bledsoe
was let go in the offseason as the Bills ushered in the J.P. Losman era. The
team struggled in 2005 and finished 5-11. Mike Mularkey resigned due to the
stress his job was putting on his family. Dick Jauron was hired in the offseason
to replace him. It feels as though the Bills have been “almost there” ever
since. In 2006 Losman’s play began to improve and the team made a late-season
run to 7-7. In a must-win game against the Titans, the Bills lost and were
eliminated from the wild-card hunt. In 2007, the team overcame countless
injuries to run their record to 7-6 under rookie quarterback Trent Edwards. The
team matched up against 8-5 Cleveland week 15 to play for the upper hand in the
wild card race. The game was played in a blizzard for everyone not named Phil
Dawson and the Bills fell to the Browns, 8-0.
The
Bills raced off to a 4-0 start in 2008 under the improved play of Trent
Edwards. After Edwards suffered a concussion in Arizona and the Bills finished
7-9 for the third consecutive year. The team got off to a similar 5-2 start in
2011. After a few injuries and non-adjustments by Gailey and his staff, the
Bills fell apart and finished the season 6-10.
So here
we are, “almost there” yet again. In fact, the Seahawks have now run the score
to 50-17. Yet hope springs eternal for
Bills fans. As the season goes on, they cheer for the team to lose so that
their spot in the draft might improve. They clamor for Chan Gailey to be fired, for Ryan Fitzpatrick
to be cut. This is a sign the fans haven’t given up yet, they still hold some
slight hope that the right moves could change the Bills fortunes.
Bills
fans spend each Sunday glued to the TV for three hours completely emotionally
invested in the outcome of each play. We view each game as a culmination of our
week and react to each play as if it’s the last play we’ll ever watch. Broken fists
from punching walls and broken walls from flying fists are all too common in
Western New York. Each fan has their own story of outrageous actions they’ve
taken in a fit of anger after or during a Bills loss, yelling at the TV and
punching walls are the just the tip of the iceberg. Stories can be heard of people sobbing
hysterically, breaking TV’s, smashing laptops, trashing rooms and uttering the
all too common phrase; “I give up.”Yet the Bills fans won’t give up. No matter how many years in a row the Bills miss the playoffs, no matter how long poor management is in place, fans will always look to the future with hope. Each one of Todd McShay and Mel Kiper’s draft boards will be studied endlessly. Each big-time quarterback prospect will be looked at longingly by Bills fans. Each offseason signing will be looked at as a quality addition to the team.
Most importantly, each fall will not be viewed as a season of death, but as a season of rebirth and of redemption.
No comments:
Post a Comment