Look it up in a dictionary. By definition, the word “winning” can best be described as the act of one that wins or victory.
By trade, it’s a word that we as sports fans have lost grasp of its true meaning while living in Buffalo and following the Bills and Sabres.
In sports, winning means many things. It brings joy and prosperity to those who achieve it and, as we know, embarrassment, jealousy and hatred to those who don’t.
In fact, you can probably make a great case that Bills and/or Sabres fans spend more time loathing other franchises or players than any other fan base in the United States (We won’t get into what soccer does to Europe.. I can only imagine).
We’ve been subject to “wide right” and “no goal”, among other tragedies. We’ve been forced to merely watch as golden boys Tom Brady and Sidney Crosby lead their respective teams to unfamiliar glories.
So, naturally, as sports fans here in Buffalo, we all waste an obscene amount of time hating other franchises.
Brady and Crosby take the brunt of that hatred, but you can probably throw the likes of Jerry Jones, George Steinbrenner and Milan Lucic, among others, into the “people we all love to hate” category.
We feel a certain disdain for these people not because they’re terrible human beings (OK, maybe Lucic is a degenerate asshole, but he’s still one of the best at what he does), but because they’re all great at what they do.
So, why is it that we can hate these people and their respective franchises for being great when, in reality, the only team we should feel a sense of outrage toward is our own?
I was born a Bills fan. I’ve loved them for as long as I can remember. And that means something, considering I don’t hold the fond memories of the four-straight Super Bowl trips of the early ’90s like most of you do.
I’m 20 years old. The Bills have been a dreadful franchise for as long as I’ve been old enough to comprehend what being a fan means.
My fondest memory of the team is not Jim Kelly. I can’t even remember the Music City Miracle disaster. I was still too young. I was eight the last time the Bills made the playoffs.
The last time I remember I was proud to call myself a Bills fan was when the team traded for Drew Bledsoe and signed Takeo Spikes and London Fletcher.
Sadly, that was the last time I was genuinely excited for a Bills season.
Since then, it seems Ralph Wilson has sort of put the franchise on cruise control when it comes to doing all he can to ensure the Bills compete on Sundays.
From that day forward, I’ve watched many football games. I’ve seen every playoff game. None of which have included the Bills.
Last week, as I watched in awe as Brady dismantled the Broncos with his six touchdown passes, I couldn’t help but wonder if there would ever come a time that the Bills would feature a product so dominating and so exhilarating that we as Bills fans could be proud to call them our team.
Not any time soon, I thought. Certainly not while Ralph Wilson is still with us.
It was then that it dawned on me. I really hate this franchise.
I don’t hate the Patriots or the Steelers or the Red Wings (insert your hated dynasty). How can you? They give their fans everything they could possibly desire. All you can do is simply appreciate their greatness and watch in envy as they produce while the Bills sit out yet another Janurary.
But I hate the Bills. Because they may never give to us what the aforementioned franchises give to their fans — an exciting, winning product.
For years, we’ve been stuck watching other fans enjoy their team’s electrifying wins and heartbreaking playoff loses.
With the Bills, there’s a sense of emptiness that comes with watching them on Sundays. As my generation of young fans reaches the 20-somethings, I can’t help but think most others know nothing but losing and mediocrity much the same as I do.
That the Bills as a franchise has allowed this to happen to its freshest generation of young fans, the future foundation of their franchise, to me, is sad and utterly disgraceful.
If you’re older than 25, you’re obviously unable to sympathize with me as your opinions likely differ. You still remember Jim Kelly to Andre Reed. Thurman Thomas pounding the ball up the middle and Bruce Smith racing around lineman to pummel the opposing quarterback.
But, if you’re my age, when we think of the Bills, we see Trent Edwards laying on his backside. Willis McGahee coughing up the ball. Losing to the Steelers’ second-stringers with the playoffs on the line. Botched draft pick after botched draft pick. The list seems to be never-ending.
Just a few weeks ago, Buddy Nix addressed the media about the team’s offseason plans, the team’s needs and exactly how it is he plans on addressing those gaping holes. Naturally, Nix’s words brought glowing optimism for older Bills fans naive enough to believe this team’s intention is anything different than it has been for 12 years.
For me, I sat watching, wondering, waiting for something to be said that I couldn’t laugh off.
It may not be the best time to write this article, but seeing as we’re mere weeks from Super Bowl XLVI, this is just another year I have to watch other teams square off in the most exciting sporting event in the world. It’s another year that the Bills were long out of contention before December and January. And next year almost certainly won’t be any different. Hell, it may even be worse.
As a Bills fan (And, unfortunately, a Sabres fan to boot, as that team is almost just as guilty as the Bills are in this regard), when it comes to winning, I sometimes find it necessary to look the word up in a dictionary to learn of its true meaning.
I’m not ok with that. But Ralph Wilson is.
You almost certainly don’t agree with Brandon’s opinion on this matter, so please, let him hear about it in the comment box or be sure to follow him on Twitter @THWGoldSchlager and express your distaste.
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