The Buffalo Bills have made a lot of news this offseason, and certainly quite a bit lately. And it’s Buffalo Bills news from all over the spectrum. We begin with the suspension of their cheerleaders, the Buffalo Jills, who will not be participating this season. Their legal action is a big story which will save for another time. It’s indicative of a growing trend within the NFL.
Next we move on to the fact that the Bills happen to have the drunkest fans in the league:
Sean MacDonald, a fan who has been to a game in all 122 stadiums in the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL, spent the 2013 NFL season attending a game in every stadium in the league. MacDonald, who wrote a book titled “Ultimate Football Road Trip,” said Bills fans were the drunkest he encountered during his road trip. He attended the Bills-Bengals game at Ralph Wilson Stadium on Oct. 13, 2013.
Hey, they have Toronto Mayor Rob Ford within their fan base! And we know how much he loves all of his controlled substances. Next we move on to the quarterback. We’re not sold on E.J. Manuel as “the guy” in Buffalo. He’s more talented than the last Florida State QB to be way over-drafted, Christian Ponder of the Minnesota Vikings, but that doesn’t mean he wasn’t a reach where he was picked.
I don’t believe in him. Sammy Watkins makes the quarterback look good though. I think the Buffalo Bills made the right move in trading up to get him.
Watch Watkins make this play:
And on to our next Buffalo Bills topic, ownership, relocation and Bon Jovi, from New York magazine:
The uprising against Jon Bon Jovi began on the third Wednesday of May. It started in Orchard Park, a Buffalo suburb, but quickly spread throughout the city, then east to Rochester and north toward Niagara Falls, as bars and restaurants and radio stations declared themselves “Bon Jovi–free zones.” There aren’t many American cities more down on their luck than Buffalo. But if the reports were to be believed, Jon Bon Jovi, American rock star, whose most famous song details the life of a union stevedore, was trying to take away one of the few things the city could still brag about—the Buffalo Bills—and move them to Canada. All Buffalo wants, if you will, is to hold on to what its got.
The protest’s inciting incident had occurred two months earlier. In late March, Ralph Wilson, a Michigander who founded the Bills in 1960—he wanted to start a team in Miami but settled for Buffalo—passed away at 95…
So what does it all mean? I’m still thinking the AFC East is one of the weaker divisions in the league, and Buffalo is the weakest team in the division. I’m thinking 4-12 or 5-11 this season.
Paul M. Banks owns The Sports Bank.net, an affiliate of Fox Sports and Yahoo! He’s been a guest on news talk shows all across the world. He’s also a special contributor to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. Banks has been featured in numerous media outlets including NFL.com, Forbes, Bleacher Report, Deadspin, ESPN, NBC, CBS, the History Channel and more. Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks)