It’s been well documented that our Buffalo Bills fan base is atypical in many ways. Unhealthy? From a dietary perspective, no doubt… but what a way to go. Death by chicken wings. I can think of worse options. People who consider themselves diehard Bills fans bring tailgating to a level beyond insane. It’s how we compensated for decades of despair watching all our sports teams (except for the Bandits) languish in mediocrity or worse.
Mentally we are as tortured a fan base as you will find in all of sports today. Our collective identity as a region (and now globally) is inextricably tied with the story of Buffalo… a once great city finally on the rebound and flourishing. Bring this city an NFL championship and it will make New Orleans Mardi Gras look like a tea party.
Furthermore, let me be clear there is no such thing as the “offseason” with this fan base.
We count the days until training camp. There’s a ‘teaser’ mandatory minicamp June 10-12 and I suspect they may use all three days this year to work on bringing along all the new players on defense and special teams. We will all go nuts consuming every nanosecond of content we can. Then the team will go on quiet mode (one hopes) until training camp begins at St. John Fisher University on July 24th.
What do Bills fans do in the meantime?
Too many of us count the days until training camp begins. This season with ‘Hard Knocks’ coming to town, the frenzy will be worse than usual. Sadly, the system in place for gaining access to training camp tickets makes it nearly impossible to attend if you live in far flung places like Wyoming.
It’s the price of success but I’ll always consider my first trip to training camp in 2006 my very favorite. Didn’t need a ticket to get in and the stands were sparsely populated during weekday practices. That was the camp when I first saw Fred Jackson and rookie Kyle Williams… hard to believe it’s been almost 20 years.
Which brings me to the point of all this blabbering. Time goes by very fast. As I approach the ‘big 7-0’ this summer, I’m acutely aware of my impending expiration date. It brings a very different perspective about wishing time away. While looking forward to the season opener against the Baltimore Ravens, I don’t want to overlook the benefit of what the NFL quiet period brings.
For many of us in northern latitudes, the summer months fly by with so many things to do, people to see, places to go. It’s a time for rejuvenation, but many of us spend it stressing out about things we have little or no control over. Instead of obsessing about our team living in the moment and engaging in all the joyful things summer brings seems like a much better idea.
However, there’s also no right or wrong way to be a fan of the Buffalo Bills. Of all the fan bases in sports, we accept our status as the weirdest and arguably the most lovable. My guess is we also recreate like no other fan base in sports because native Western New Yorkers rarely if ever waste a sunny day moping around.
Here’s to a raucous ‘quiet period’. Go Bills!
Editor’s babble: For the record, this Bills fan also won’t obsess about the status of Joey Bosa’s calf injury. There will be plenty of time to worry about this when it matters. In the meantime you can find me swinging in my hammock or on Xwitter @RobynMundyWYO… or Bluesky @RobynMundyWYO@bsky.social.
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