I'm sitting here tonight watching the Buffalo Bills preseason game and I noticed I don't have the same enthusiasm I would normally have watching a game, even a preseason one. I think the Bills finally beat the life out of me. Ten years of crappy teams and a new dose of hoopla each year only to be exposed as empty hype really takes a toll on fans. I'm sure I'm not the only one. I was only marginally interested last season and that was because of Terrell Owens and I knew he wasn't going to be the answer. I guess I was simply excited over adding a controversial Hall of Fame caliber player to our team.
This season the team cleaned house. Gone was the big ticket acquisition like Owens, Drew Bledsoe or any number of overpriced busts we acquired through free agency or trade. Gone was the "bill" of goods the team sold us each winter and spring where they tried to get us to BILLieve. They didn't sign any big names. They didn't try to brainwash us into thinking they'd be a playoff team. They fired the coach and General Manager and decided to rebuild. Now other teams can take 2-3 years to rebuild but Buffalo has had 10 years and has tried to rebuild at least 3 times, maybe 4.
For us fans it's incredibly frustrating and Buffalo is the holder of a very dubious record at the present: They are one of two teams (Detroit is the other) that have gone the longest in the entire league without making it to the playoffs. Neither team has been there since 1999. That's right you have to go back to the 90's to find the last playoff team in Buffalo!
Now on the record, I have to say starting over with youngsters and building a team based on them instead of high priced has beens is the right move. This is how they began their rebuilding the last 3-4 times but they couldn't resist making the big splash in order to sell tickets. They tried to mix big signings with their youth movement as it's never worked. Sure it's a good idea to mix veteran players with your youthful core but it has to be the right guys at the right time. Right now is not the time to bring in any high priced players with high priced egos. Let the kids learn the job. Figure out who is worth building around these next few years. So I agree with what the team is doing right now but at the same time, that doesn't mean I am not bored with watching bad football from my hometown team.
It's almost like I want to take a break from the Bills for a couple of years and have someone wake me when they are getting good again but I know I can't do it. I love football too much, even if my team stinks, has stunk and will stink for the foreseeable future. In the meantime I will look for youngsters on the team who look like they'll be keepers, I'll bitch about the older guys I've bitched about for a few years and I will root for my boys to win every Sunday no matter what the odds. I just won't be rooting as enthusiastically this year. Hey, maybe that's a good thing.
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