Your guide to becoming a Buffalo Bills fan for the day
Photo Courtesy of Quintin Soloviev- Wikimedia Commons
On Oct. 4, I had the pleasure of attending a Buffalo Bills day with Greek organizations and sports teams from SUNY Geneseo. We spent the entire day in Orchard Park, from tailgating in a packed parking lot to watching the game on a big screen in one of the many bars surrounding Highmark Stadium. What I thought was going to be a typical football Sunday turned into a full immersion in the city of Buffalo and Bills culture. Here are four lessons I learned as someone not from Buffalo, but who still said, “Go Bills!”
It is always “Go Bills,” no matter what.
The first thing you learn when you come to Western New York is that Bills loyalty does not waver. It does not matter who they are playing, how they are doing in a season, or their lack of a Super Bowl win. I learned from my close friend—a born-and-raised Buffalonian—that “Go Bills” is a greeting, a goodbye, and everything in between. Now, as someone who is a New England Patriots fan (yes, you read that correctly), one would expect me to represent my blood-born team. But in Buffalo, there was absolutely no chance. The second I stepped off the bus, I realized that cheering for the Patriots would have been a fast track to exile, and I am simply not built for that kind of social risk.
2. Buffalo always wins a tailgate.
As I mentioned earlier, the Bills have never won a Super Bowl, but Buffalo always wins a tailgate. The minute our bus pulled into Orchard Park, it felt like I died and woke up in a Buffalonian’s version of heaven. Houses were dressed to the nines in Bills Mafia gear—flags, banners, Josh Allen fatheads; one house was even painted blue and red! Every yard within a couple of miles of the stadium had transformed into a makeshift parking lot, complete with port-a-potties and a hand-painted “Parking for X amount of dollars” sign. Every person was decked out in Buffalo Bills gear, and some were brave, or maybe just “hydrated enough,” to jump through tables.
3. Buffalo weather has its own agenda.
If you are not from Buffalo or within the realm of Western New York, you learn very quickly about a little thing called Lake Effect. In my opinion, it really is just Western New Yorkers’ way of saying, “The weather does what it wants, and we stopped trying to fight it.” Luckily for me, on Oct. 4, the sun was shining (minus the random 30-minute rain shower), and it was an overall beautiful day. Now, was I expecting sunshine? No, definitely not. I was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, and I brought a jacket…just in case. In Buffalo, you can never be too prepared!
4. Buffalo makes every seat the best seat.
Even though we watched the game from a bar right outside the stadium—instead of inside the stadium, where the nosebleed tickets were going for at least 250 dollars a pop—the atmosphere was just as electric. Honestly, for that price, the bar was the financially responsible choice, and we got to enjoy food and drinks while watching the game on at least four different gigantic television screens. My close friend, who I mentioned earlier, has hosted us at her house for a game day; having experienced both atmospheres, it is clear to me that no matter where you go—bar or restaurant, someone’s living room, or inside the stadium—Bills fans make you feel like you are a part of the action.
I leave you with the most important lesson of all: in Buffalo, you do not choose to say “Go Bills.” It just happens to you, so accept it and have fun!