Shadenfruede at One Bills Drive
If Tom Brady is out for the season, it was good news.
Yes, that is a sick statement. And it’s a sad commentary of countless Bills fans who celebrated as word spread of the quarterback’s misfortune during the first quarter of Buffalo’s Week One 34-10 victory over the Seattle Seahawks.
With grown-men relieving themselves in the sinks of Ralph Wilson Stadium–this is only news to those who have never used the Men’s Room at the Ralph–news spread like the digested Coors Light that missed the urinals, collecting on the floor. And if you need any more evidence Bills fans were excited over Brady’s pain–remember the sinks served as temporary toilets–few bathroom patrons cared about germs as they high-fived just after zipping-up.
Only the thrills of Roscoe Parrish’s 63-yard punt return for a touchdown rivaled their joy.
It’s sad enough when a team’s fans hang their hopes on hope alone after a millennium without (meaningful) January football. But what’s pathetic is the shadenfruede Bills’ bretheren rejoiced in while sharing the news that the greatest quarterback in this generation could be finished for 2008.
This may have happened in the Meadowlands, Indianapolis and even Miami. It may have happened in your living room. But this writer can only speak on what he witnessed, and it’s disappointing.
And now, those who revelled in New England’s misery have allowed Bills haters point at their new shiners. Sure, this happens everywhere, but nobody wants to hear your when-I-was-in-Cleveland story when there are enough Bills tailgates on YouTube to make WWE fans look civilized.
These are same Bills fans who bought Browns fans lunches the Monday after Dan Marino tore his achilles in Cleveland–five games into the 1993 season.
In a decade, true sports fans will appreciate the Joe Montana of this generation and annoint some can’t-miss kid the next Tom Brady, if they don’t appreciate what he’s done for the league already. Meanwhile, the rest of them will be hoping the next Brady will tear his ACL to better the Bills’ (or the Toronto franchise’s) hopes of winning a Super Bowl.
Folks, before you return to thinking like a delusional Bills fan maybe you should pop that Sunday Night Bills-Pats tape into the VHS player to keep yourself humble. Some Bills fans will think and talk playoffs after a big win like yesterday. They think they’ll win the Mega Millions because last week they guessed right on two numbers. Sure, yesterday’s season opener evoked memories of a time when the playoffs were a certainty and not just a wish. A Week One blowout is the perfect fuel for perpetual hope–that of the longsuffering faithful whose wounds are re-opened every Super Bowl week, and in films such as Ace Ventura: Pet Detective and Buffalo 66. For once, Bills fans didn’t mind being soaked thanks to bad weekend forecasts from Buffalo meteorologists.
However, it could be a fluke and these may be the same ‘ole Bills and Patriots, so hang-on.
But after a fluke injury, Tom Brady’s season is over and his career may never be the same and some fans seem to be enjoying every second of it. While you’re at it, go dance on Babe Ruth’s grave, rip Michael Jordan’s 23 from the United Center rafters, and take a club to Tiger Woods’ good knee.
The most famous number 12 since Terry Bradshaw (sorry, folks) was 2:39 away from grabbing his fourth Super Bowl ring in eight seasons and quarterbacking the only 19-0 team in NFL history during the league’s parity-enduced, “Any Given Sunday” era.
If the NFL has a Jordan, it’s Brady, and he’s done. And like those two Houston Rockets championships won during MJ’s retirement/hiatus, we may forever wonder what might have been about 2008, just like those would-be Bulls-Rockets NBA Finals dream match-ups, or what Tiger what have made of this year’s US and British Opens, as well as the Ryder Cup.
There are two different types of Bills fans. There are sports fans who love the Bills as their chosen team, and there are Bills fans who only know about the Bills, show-up for a party, and don’t care about history. That outspoken minority basked in their own selfish glory, spitting in the face of history yet again. We’ll never know what would have become of this season had Tom Brady walked off the field after the fourth quarter instead of halfway through the first. But before Sunday, more pundits predicted the Pats would return to the Super Bowl than the world champion Giants.
So, where did we put those famous asterisks again?
September 9th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
Dan,
Great blog. I know the kind of Bills fans you are talking about. They are the guys who know nothing of any other sports, and like you say, see Sunday as a day to get drunk at home or get drunk at a game. The live and die by the Bills but can’t tell you who Gilbert Arenas, or Ryan Howard are. You may be adressing a totally different group of fans than I am, but I believe the fans you are referencing are the ones who do not have the attention span to be a fan for more than 16-25 weeks. (pre-season, playoffs, *off-weeks) I am not suggesting that all of use should be “sports nuts” like myself and presumably you, I am simply putting these people into perspective. As you say, they don’t get the history, they only know if the Bills are going to get to play more football in January. More parties. More hooting, holloring and cussing.
Not all Bills fans. But their certainly are alot of them.
September 9th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Exactly Mike. There are even “non-sports-nuts” who still appreciate Brady. But, Sunday, these fans were pretty disappointing.
Thanks for reading!
db