Oct 12, 2014; Orchard Park, NY, USA; New Buffalo Bills owner Terry Pegula addresses the crowd before a game against the New England Patriots at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports
I wrote a knee jerk reaction piece yesterday about the Buffalo Bills loss against the Oakland Raider, I was harsh in my criticism of the coaching staff and the offensive line and I stand by that criticism as just for the way the game played out. However what happened after I post the article is what really got my blood boiling. Someone posted a petition in the comments section which infuriated me to the point I was not able to sleep last night because this person and what they are purposing is what will get our beloved franchises out of Buffalo. They are purposing that no one buy tickets or merchandise until Terry Pegula manifests a championship. That right someone proposes that we wait until a team has already won something before we start giving them our patronage.
This absurd and utterly idiotic and to whom ever keeps posting in the comments section these post for this petition I want you to know that we don’t want you as a fan so please go to LA or St Louis or Dallas because we don’t want you in our fan base. This notion rips at the core of what being a Buffalo sports fan is about, being a fan of either the Bills or the Sabres is not about. Being a Buffalo fan is about coming into the stadium and looking onto the field (or rink) and thinking this is our year this is our chance. Being a Buffalo fan is somehow having over 6,000 fans show up to a hockey in the midst of a crippling blizzard that shutdown several counties. Being a Buffalo fan is taking the good with the bad and showing up no matter what. Fans like this that are going to look to ownership and say that a boycott is on until you produce a championship are willing to let two teams that are the heart and soul of a community walk because of some petty slight that they believe has been slandered against them because their team doesn’t want to win a championship.
You don’t think that these players don’t want to win a championship more than anything in the world. You don’t think that someone like Brian Gionta or Corey Graham doesn’t want to bring a championship home to the communities that they grew up in dreaming of one day being able to return the type of glory that is limited to a select few. Do the Buffalo teams have some problems right now sure they do, but one problem that Buffalo has never had is loyalty because that is something ingrained deep within us. Something that is just as much a part of this community as hard work and a almost spiteful tolerance of cold weather. So to demand that Terry Pegula produce team that is a “championship caliber sports team” and until that point not a single person from the grittiest part of the state not set foot in a facility is a abxsV~surdity that is almost unfathomable. To do this is to lose the teams we love, but not only that it’s to lose our identity as a community and as a fan base and that would just as tragic as losing our teams because without that we are no better than the cities that lost their sports franchises because they couldn’t be bothered to take the bad with the good.
If you want to look at the petition here’s the link and if you’d like to share your opinion on this disgrace of time then there is a comment section in the area below the petition. If you think this is as absurd as I do please share this article with your family, friends, or colleagues have your voice be heard because I know there are fans out there who think the same as I, you just need to take the leap.