Now that the Phillies have won the World Series - quietly, when everyone's back was turned, because we were all watching campaign commentary - maybe someone, somewhere will start paying attention to the fact that Buffalo fans are the most shat upon fans in the country.
We have teams in two major sports, neither of which have ever won a championship. (The Bills did win two AFL championships, in 1964 and 1965. But they haven't won since the merger in 1970.) The Bills made it to the Super Bowl four straight years and lost all four years. They haven't been to the playoffs since the 1999-2000 season, which ties the Detroit Lions for the second longest running playoff draught (the longest is held by the Cardinals, who last went to the playoffs in 1998, but they are a sure-in this year).
The Sabres made it to the Stanley Cup in 1974 - but lost - and again in 1999 - and lost again. That year, Buffalo lost on Brett Hull's no-goal in double overtime. They have made it to the Conference Finals twice in the past three years, but they don't seemed destined for greatness this year.
It is true that our minor sports teams have fared somewhat better. The Bisons (who, I just discovered, are no longer affiliated with the Indians, but with the Mets) have won their AAA league crown 3 times since 1979, the most recent of which was in 2004. The Bandits, our professional lacrosse team, has won championships 4 times since 1992. But the Blizzard (indoor soccer) never won anything before their league collapsed, and the Destroyers (arena football) were pathetic before they moved to Columbus.
The early '90s were our glory days, when the Bills would win (and then lose). Since then, we've suffered through a Homerun throwback ('99 Titans) and a handful of solid Sabres teams (especially the '06-'07 team that won the Presidents' Cup), but we've gotten more or less complacent with our mediocrity. We know we're going to lose. We expect to lose. We're great fans: we love our teams even though we are horribly and depressingly resigned to failure.
Then why, why did I start to believe that the Bills were really coming together when they started out 4-0? Why couldn't I have just kept my hopes and my expectations to a minimum?
The worst part is that I can't say, "Fuck you, Buffalo," and move on. I just can't.
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1 comment:
i didn't know that peanuts (the comic) adult-speak was also a written language.
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