OT: Bills fans rooting for their team to LOSE

[livinginthe past]

That's pathetic but let's be real here, okay? If the Pats had a season like the Bills are having, you'd see that same attitude all over the place on here. "I hope they lose the rest of their games so we can get a good draft pick". Hell, I could name you three or four posters on this forum alone who hoped exactly that would happen earlier last season when Cassel didn't come out of the gates and set the world on fire. So don't just act like it's Buffahole fans that pull off this attitude because Pats fans have been guilty of it as well.

Its not really a high draft pick they want - some of them were happy at the begininng of the year because they thought TO would be the gunpowder to blow the Bills sky-high.

They want a total rebuild from top to bottom - and if that means a 3-13 year instead of one 7-9 after another then so be it.

 

[Kontradiction]

Its not really a high draft pick they want - some of them were happy at the begininng of the year because they thought TO would be the gunpowder to blow the Bills sky-high.

They want a total rebuild from top to bottom - and if that means a 3-13 year instead of one 7-9 after another then so be it.

Yeah but a total rebuild usually goes more smoothly if you have high draft picks AMIRITE?

 

[Deus Irae]

That's pathetic but let's be real here, okay? If the Pats had a season like the Bills are having, you'd see that same attitude all over the place on here. "I hope they lose the rest of their games so we can get a good draft pick". Hell, I could name you three or four posters on this forum alone who hoped exactly that would happen earlier last season when Cassel didn't come out of the gates and set the world on fire. So don't just act like it's Buffahole fans that pull off this attitude because Pats fans have been guilty of it as well.

In any slotted draft system, once your team is out of the playoffs, the smart move, as far as future team building via the draft, is to lose every game for the rest of the season until you've locked up the #1 pick.

I don't advocate that in week 5 of the NFL season, but I could understand the desires of a fan base that's as frustrated as Buffalo's when you add possible firings to the equation.

 

[Kontradiction]

In any slotted draft system, once your team is out of the playoffs, the smart move, as far as future team building via the draft, is to lose every game for the rest of the season until you've locked up the #1 pick.

I don't advocate that in week 5 of the NFL season, but I could understand the desires of a fan base that's as frustrated as Buffalo's when you add possible firings to the equation.

I can understand where they are coming from, but it's still pathetic if you think about it. They've had good to decent draft positions for the past decade and still can't do anything with them.

 

[BradyFTW!]

They want what's best for the team, and right now they feel that it's best for the team to lose football games. I'm glad that it's been a very long time since we, as Pats fans, were in such a position, but Celtics fans may be able to identify with this. When your team sucks and your FO is incompetent, but the owner won't change anything because of the money involved, then why wouldn't a fan be extremely frustrated? Doesn't make them worse fans- just means that they've been put in a crappy position.

 

[IcyPatriot]

I was hoping we would lose the year before we drafted Bledsoe

 

[TrueBeliever]

First of all, I think BSPN is reading a bit too much into comments made by a few fans. I'm sure every team's fans have said things to this effect at one time or another. Heck, a good friend of mine is pulling for the Vikings to beat the hle out of the Packers because he wants Ted Thompson to get fired for "running off" the ol' hillbilly Favre - and this guy HATES the Vikings.

Second, I can understand these fans' frustration. I remember the first time I went to New England in 2004 one of the Pats fans I met in person absolutely refused to root for the Red Sox - said every year he got his hopes up and every year they let him down. Just a few weeks later they won the World Series. That's how these Bills fans are feeling, but they know there's no light at the end of the tunnel. And they're mad and they're frustrated. If I'm not mistaken, the Bills currently hold the record for the longest playoff drought (not counting the Texans.) So getting the top pick in the draft is probably the best they can hope for. They won't get that with another 8-8 season.

It still seems blasphemous to say what they're saying, but we all say things when we're mad.

 

[TheBeers]

Honestly i don't blame them. Their team hasn't been to the playoffs this decade.. that f-in sucks. They are horribly coached and yet Jauron still has a job when there are really good unemployed coaches out there. They could have Mike Shannahan coaching and Jeff Garcia at QB which would most certainly be an upgrade. Edwards is absolutely horrible, i give TO maybe two more weeks before he completely loses it.

 

[Frezo]

I'm not so sure they had any sympathy for Pats fans during their AFCE victory years. So I say...HAHAHAHAHAHA!

 

[PatsFanSince74]

These are passionate fans who are rightly disgusted with an ownership that made its last major contribution to the NFL 40 or so years ago and is unwilling to bring its team into the 21st century by doing something as simple as selling naming rights to its stadium but instead plays games in Toronto thinking that will expand and enhance its brand image.

I understand this frustration and while I think it's immature, I respect it more than I do the weak-willed fans who were predicting a Pats loss last week in the Game Thread as soon as Flacco got the ball back with a couple of minutes to play; read the thread if you don't believe me.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Oh please. There are a lot worse fans here biatching and moaning about the best team in the decade. I have more respect for die hard fans who are simply sick to death of organizational incompetence than I do the entitled kneejerks here who bash players mercilessly and blather incessantly about the FO shortcomings...

And while I'm at it, don't threads like this belong in the NFL forum? Not that any rules ever really get enforced here consistently. The main board is supposed to be for half-way intelligent Patriots talk. Been a while though.

I agree with your underlying point, but I'll use this as an occasion to say that I've never been comfortable with a nick that "mercilessly" celebrates a major injury (some have called it "near fatal," but I'll leave that to the MD's...he lost two quarts of blood internally and world-class medical attention on the sideline kept it from being worse) to a guy who helped define this franchise for years and who took it to a Super Bowl. I'm the first to acknowledge Bledsoe's shortcomings and I take second place to nobody in my admiration of Tom Brady, but your nick is inconsistent with ripping others who rip our players.

 

[carolinatony]

I used to feel bad for Bills fans as I don't hate them as much as the Rats or Fish BUT

a lot of them cheered and made fun when Brady got hurt so now
F 'em

 

[PatriotsInGA]

I know the ownership and coaching staff is horrible, but you never root against your team, EVER.

 

[jmt57]

I think the decision for Buffalo fans on how to respond to what they see as a poor performance by the coaching staff, the front office, and ownership is a difficult one. If the fans continue to cheer and support the team like 'good, loyal fans' then they run the risk of sending a message that the team does not need to improve. From a strictly business perspective there would be no incentive to make the effort and investment to field a winning team.

My first thought was similar to how many others' reaction - don't boo your home team and you certainly don't root for your team to lose. I would have said show your displeasure by not supporting the team; don't attend the games, don't buy or wear their gear, don't even talk about them. Some may label that being a fair-weather fan but to me that would be the best way of sending a message to ownership that they need to do a better job in fielding a competitive team.

However, that action could easily backfire in Buffalo. If Bills fans stay away then that could very well lead to the team leaving town and relocating anywhere from Toronto to Los Angeles. That is a very real concern for Bills fans so in their case not attending games in order to show your displeasure would not be a recommended course of action.

Regardless, if the fans are going to join together to let it be known that they are fed up with the team, the radio station that is driving this idea should come up with another plan. Whether it be everyone putting a bag over their head, or not entering the stadium until the end of the first quarter, or standing up and turning their backs to the field, or something else, I would think there has to be something better than rooting for your team to lose in order to get your message across.

 

[TrueBeliever]

I used to feel bad for Bills fans as I don't hate them as much as the Rats or Fish BUT

a lot of them cheered and made fun when Brady got hurt so now
F 'em

Which reminds me...

In 2003, Bills fans briefly supplanted Jets* fans as my most hated. The days leading up to and immediately after the 31-0 spanking they laid on the Pats in the opening game of that year, I met more a-hole Bills fans online than ever. You'd have thought they won the Super Bowl (sound familiar?)

I kept telling them, "Yeah the Bills are good, now that they have a former Patriots quarterback, a former Patriots safety and God knows how many other ex-Pats on the roster." But it made no difference, the Bills had arrived and they were all that and a bag o' chips. Same thing as Jets* fans when they got our coach and RB (Parcells and Curtis Martin, respectively) a few years before.

Back on topic, it's sad to say, but the Bills are becoming like the Raiders - they won't improve until their current owner leaves this life. The difference where Al Davis is constantly interfering in team affairs, Ralph Wilson is more than happy to stay out of team affairs even when it's glaringly obvious the team needs to be interfered with. **** Jauron is a great guy, but he's not working out as their HC.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

In any slotted draft system, once your team is out of the playoffs, the smart move, as far as future team building via the draft, is to lose every game for the rest of the season until you've locked up the #1 pick.

True. And that's another reason why the wildcard playoff slots are important. Teams 'blocked' from division championships by accident of seeding in a division with a juggernaught still have a chance for post season play if they post a decent record.

That said, I do not blame Bills fans for wanting a horrible record such that there is a complete management overhaul. Unfortunately for them, the fish rots from the head, and ol Ralphie is way past his sell date as a good owner. A new management crew could very well be worse.