Buffalonians Deserve More Credit

  Year in and year out, Buffalonians are disappointed with poor play from their beloved sports franchises.  It would be difficult to find a more loyal and determined fan base in the NFL and NHL and yet it seems that the people in charge of these teams just don't seem to appreciate the hard working men and women that support the Bills and the Sabres.

Yes, perhaps the Sabres are building through the draft and developing prospects, but at what cost? Anywhere between $861 - $3,444 per season for season tickets.  And that is the cost to renew your season tickets. Why did I go with the renewal price? Well, that's easy: because if you aren't renewing your existing season tickets you can't get season tickets.  That's how loyal and die hard these fans are.  Yet, every season the Sabres front office do little to improve the team they put out on the ice THAT year. 

Great fans deserve great teams to cheer for.  Not average teams.  Three consecutive season the Buffalo Bills went 7-9.  That is as mediocre as you can get.  Not good enough to be called decent, but not bad enough to be called horrible, or to get a top five draft pick.  Dick Jauron is one of the most pathetic excuses for a head coach that I've ever seen.  Better coaches were fired last year and they were fired from better teams.

And yet, week in and week out, Ralph Wilson Stadium sells out.  Season tickets sell by the thousands - 55,194 to be exact.  That is the third most in team history, and this is the first time that the Bills sold over 55,000 season tickets back to back. 

“To surpass 55,194 season tickets two seasons in a row is an outstanding accomplishment and it’s a testament to both the team and the community,” said a statement from Russ Brandon, Bills chief operating officer/general manager. No, Mr. Brandon, it is a testament to the community and the community alone.  This team is nothing special or spectacular.  Bills fans just keep hoping for a winning season, a trip to the playoffs, a return to glory. It certainly doesn't look like that is going to happen this season. 

Sub par teams aren't the only thing that Buffalonians deal with, either.  Each year there are hundreds of articles written about the Bills leaving Buffalo.  Each year, Buffalonians do everything they can to keep the Bills in Buffalo.  We've even given up one Bills home game a year to our neighbors to the north.  We deal with snooty Canadians calling the team that we've supported for 50 years the Toronto Bills.  I pity Canadians if they should receive the Bills once Ralph Wilson Jr. passes away.  Not because they will inherit a perennial loser, but because they won't be able to come to Buffalo anymore. 

You might say: "why the hell would Canadians want to come to Buffalo?" and I'd respond with: "you clearly aren't from Buffalo".  Each weekend, Canadians flock to the many shopping malls and restaurants that Buffalo has to offer.  Go to the Galleria in Cheektowaga during the holiday season.  The majority of license plates you'll see won't read "New York", rather, they will read "Ontario". 

If Toronto were to steal the Bills from Buffalo I am sure that many Buffalonians would treat those from Ontario about as nicely as they would treat a group of leppars.  Already if you ask a mall employee what they think of Canadians I'm sure 9 times out of 10 you'll get a negative response.  They leave their shit in the parking lots (not because Canadians don't mind littering, but because many do not wish to pay the duty when they cross the border), they complain about many stores not taking Canadian cash, they crowd the malls - making life harder on the mall employees. 

Now, I personally love Canada.  I have been spending my summer weekends in Long Beach, Ontario (just past Port Colburne) since I was born.  But what I am saying is that this is what Buffalonians deal with.  Imagine something so important to you that you'd be willing to spend great deals of money on it, even though it was just average, and then have someone tell you that you can't have it anymore.  It's bullshit.  I realize that it is business but we as Buffalonians have done everything we can to keep this team profitable.  And it is profitable.  Just because major television networks don't want us doesn't mean we don't deserve to have a team.  And trust me - once the Bills start winning again - they will want us. 

Buffalonians deserve more.