Week 8: Kansas City Chiefs

Exodus from Failure's Land

       At the conclusion of last Sunday’s game I was awash with hope.  Yes we lost in typical Bills fashion, but in this loss we survived the 10th and final plague: “Death of a first round draft pick.” (Sorry Aaron Maybin)   With all the “plagues of failure” complete, we are free to cast off the chains of bondage and travel back to our homeland: Success.
       No longer will we fumble kickoff returns that only require us to maintain possession to ensure victory.  No longer will the refs watch our players levitate for 15 minutes before calling a fumble in overtime.  No longer will playing on Monday night require that we lead for the entire game only to lose by one point in the final seconds.  No longer my friends, we are now free.
       This Sunday you will wake up zapped of your motivation.  Your Saturday night Halloween party will get out of hand.  You will be up later than you thought.  You will drink more than you anticipated.  However, YOU WILL NOT allow these factors to decrease your loyalty to your region and your team.  Prophet Fitzpatrick's arms will not stay raised forever and when the waves come crashing down and the sea restored – on which side of the water will you stand?

       Salvation thy name is Bleacher Bar.

Pictured Below:
1.) Artist rendering of a young Ryan Fitzpatrick being discovered in the reeds of the Niagara River.
2.) Fitzpatrick presents the Two Commandments:  Love thy Region & Love thy Bills.
3.) Fitzpatrick blazes a trail to salvation.

**TV Coverage Map (the game is not on local TV): Gus Johnson and Steve Tasker- I like you... a lot.**

This Week at Bleacher Bar

• Salvation for all Buffalo's children.
• Tailgate Specials:  11 am to 1 pm - 1/2 priced Beef on Weck, $1 Sliders
• Free Wings at Kickoff and Halftime
• First 4 people to arrive wearing Bills gear get a free 22 oz mug of beer compliments of the Bills Backers of Fenway.
• Buckets of Labatt Blue and Genny Cream Ale: (6 for $20 & 6 for $15)



Week 5 Photos!

Week 7: Baltimore Ravens

11 and 5 - I see you & I hear you.
      

        This past week the Buffalo Bills had a "players only meeting."  In my mind, this players meeting was the most intense and inspirational event to happen in Buffalo since the invention of Lucky Charms (made in Buffalo).  I picture Lee Evans standing on a chair, wagging his finger in the faces of his teammates as he screams:

        "We owe it to the people of WNY to turn this season around! These people get 120 inches of snow a year. They have lost population and industry every year since 1976.  They have the lowest median income of any NFL market, but still manage to sell out one of the largest stadiums.  They gather in bars across the country, punishing themselves with cold Labatt Blue and warm shots of Crown Royal.  They are a people of little hope.  We can change that!  We can go out and turn this season around! We will not only save our football team but also the soul of an entire region."    

         

        At the conclusion of this speech, the locker room is in emotional chaos- grown men are crying, on their knees begging God for forgiveness.  They kill goats as sacrificial penance and brand each other with the phrase: "One region, one team, one moment."  They bust out of the locker room filled with purpose and promise.  They stop at every home they pass and ask forgiveness.  They......... it is usually around this point I realize that my co-workers have begun to notice I have been staring out the window of my office for 10 minutes, mouthing phrases like "soul of an entire region."

This Week at Bleacher Bar

• WNY/Bills Pictionary - Teams of 4 - Winner gets $50 gift card to Bleacher Bar.  (Please contact me if you are interested we may have to limit # of teams)
• Tailgate Specials:  11 am to 1 pm - 1/2 priced Beef on Weck, $1 Sliders
• Free Wings at Kickoff and Halftime
• First 4 people to arrive wearing Bills gear get a free 22 oz mug of beer compliments of the Bills Backers of Fenway.
• Buckets of Labatt Blue and Genny Cream Ale:  (6 for $20 & 6 for $15)
• We say goodbye to Carl and Maria Osterlof.  These founders of the Bills Backers of Fenway are moving in 10 days for California; this Sunday is their final game at Bleacher Bar.

BYE Week

Sunday 10/17/10 - You disappoint me.

        The BYE week has come.  Every year I look at the schedule and the only thing that scares me is the week labeled "BYE."  This week provides us with a small window into the off-season where we cannot fall into the arms of Sunday's upstate comfort.  But, let's not think of that... instead, let's recall the memories of this past weekend.  Despite the Bills performance, everyone who attended Bleacher Bar scored their first personal win of the season.      
        Even Patriots fans could not hate on us.  I found this article written by a visiting Patriots fan about last Sunday at Bleacher Bar.    A few backhanded compliments but all-in-all, pretty complimentary:   http://mcmanuspicks.wordpress.com/2010/10/11/bye-week-bills-fan/
        Even though the Bills are not a very good football team, we are going to be going strong at Bleacher Bar the rest of the season.   After the BYE week, we start the entertainment portion of the season:  WNY Family Feud, Scavenger Hunts, Upstate Dating Game & 10th Grade Bio: Frog Dissection lab.
        This past Sunday was incredible.  Below are just a few of the pictures taken at the 1 year party - the rest will be posted to the Bleacher Bar website, Bills Backers of Fenway blog & the our facebook page.    (links below).  Pictures from week 1 are already on the Bleacher Bar website, last week's pictures will be posted shortly.

       

Week 5: Jacksonville Jaguars

Bills Backers of Fenway: 1 Year Anniversary Party
**Details below**

        We are trapped in a loveless marriage.  The Bills have made us into a 1950s housewife; they barely speak to us, they are openly having an affair with our neighbor across the street, Toronta, and our "intimate moments" have been reduced to fetching a beer and turning on the ceiling fan. But yet, they are the love of our life and the Church of Western NY does not allow divorce.  We will continue to cook, clean and support our man 'til death do us part or until they leave us for that twice divorced harlot, Los Angela.  The Bills will love us again... In the meantime, we will continue to take refuge in the warm embrace of our Sunday afternoon lover:  Bleacher Bar.

**You are invited to the 1 year Anniversary Party of the Bills Backers of Fenway.**
 Sunday: 10/10/10   
$15: All you can eat “make your own Garbage Plates” and Buffalo Wings
$40: All you can eat “make you own Garbage Plates,” Buffalo Wings AND ALL YOU CAN DRINK beer, wine and well drinks (12:30 - 3:30)

**** You will have to enter to win a trip for two to Buffalo for the Browns game on 12/12/10.   The winners will have their plane, hotel and game tickets paid for by Bleacher Bar.  We will draw the winners at halftime.****

Please RSVP by Friday October 8th so Bleacher Bar can make an appropriate amount of food.

       From Dave, Nicole, Carl, Justin and myself we thank everyone for their support over the last year.  We are all looking forward to this Sunday and hope you can join.  The Bills play the Jacksonville Jaguars this Sunday for the coveted "Whose downtown is more depressing" trophy.  The game is NOT on local TV.

       TV Coverage Maps are not released until Wednesdays, so instead please enjoy these Upstate images:

Week 4: NY Jets

An Encouraging 0 and 3

        Yet again we endure another work week surrounded by the gloating, ugly, "oh my god I watched THE TOWN and now I am tough" faces of Patriots fans.  We hear things like: "I mean, if the Bills can put 30 points up on the Patriots then we have no chance of making the playoffs," or, "You do not need a good defense when your offense can score at will," or my personal favorite, "Well, if you really think about it, the Bills only scored 16 points, because 7 were the result of a Patriots fumble and another 7 points were the result of a CJ Spiller kick return."  
        You are absolutely right, Patriots nation, I do not know what the Bills were thinking writing down "30" on their scorecard.  We should probably call the NFL and have them put an * next to the score or have them change it all together so the rest of the world will realize just how badly you beat us.  Losers.
        But, you know what? Despite losing this past Sunday, I left the bar with a bounce in my step similar to the first time I heard Lady Gaga's breakout hit "Just Dance."  WE SCORED 30 POINTS!  We played the shout song 4 times!  A Bleacher Bar record.  Fredonia's children took down a full bottle of Crown Royal.  All-in-all, last Sunday was a good day. 
        Now, this Sunday has all the makings to be another top notch experience.  The Bills play the snack-driven New York Jets, led by their snack filled-coach, Rex Ryan.  This is a classic trap game for the Jets and the Bills are going to take advantage.    
        This Sunday is the final Red Sox game of the year against the New York Yankees.  Bleacher Bar will still have the audio on for the Bills game and all the specials you have grown to love.  Please have patience, the bar will be crowded around 1 pm but as soon as the baseball game starts, the place will clear out and once again you will find yourself surrounded by the friendly faces of your fellow Bills Backers.

  
*** Mark your calendars: next Sunday (October 10th) is the 1 year anniversary of the Bills Backers of Fenway and we are throwing a party starting at 12 pm Sunday.   Bleacher Bar will be putting together a pretty nice Upstate NY-themed spread.  If you do not come, you betray your region... stay loyal.

Week 3: New England Patriots

        First, I would like to thank all who braved the Red Sox crowd and came down to Bleacher Bar this past Sunday.  I heard many of you still managed to have a good time despite our dismal performance.  I am sure glad I took off two days from work, bought two plane tickets to Milwaukee (The Good Land), rented a car, booked two nights at a hotel, got tickets to the game... only to spend Sunday night in a familiar Bills-driven depression.
        The silver lining to the trip was that I have never met a nicer group of people than Green Bay Packers fans.  At points during the game they were genuinely apologizing for their team beating the Bills.  "If only both teams could win," an older lady in a Green Bay Packers bonnet said to me.  If only... if only... we... won...  anything.
        So here we are, 0-2, and coming into the lair of the evil New England Patriots.  Our co-workers are mocking us, "How's it going to feel when the Patriots take out all their anger from the Jets loss on the Bills?"  We respond, "Well, I don't know, co-worker- how is it going to feel when you die young and alone?" (**)
        After having a 3-part terrible experience last year at Gillette: 1) Losing in the worst fashion ever, 2) getting a beer thrown on me by a 40 year old woman, and 3) sitting alone on a tree stump, choking back tears in a small patch of forest, I decided I am never going back to Foxboro.  Instead, I am going to watch the game from the friendly confines of Bleacher Bar; my hope is that many of you will join me.  
       In all honesty, I have a good feeling about this game.  If we beat the Patriots, everything is different.   Imagine a Monday morning where the Patriots just lost two straight division games and we can hold our heads high as Bills fans.  Ryan Fitzpatrick: you hold our work week experience in your hands.  
       As always Bleacher Bar will be offering buckets of Labatt Blue / Genny Cream Ale for $20 / $15.    From 11am to 1 pm - Tailgate Specials: 1/2 priced Beef on Weck and $1 Sliders.   FREE WINGS   After the BYE week we will begin upstate themed gaming during halftime.
      In TWO WEEKS (October 10th -1 PM): BILLS BACKERS OF FENWAY 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY PARTY!
      The Game is on local TV, but who cares?  Come to Bleacher Bar anyway.  Nothing is more depressing than watching the Bills alone.

**Fact: all Patriots fans die young and alone.