Bills and Sabres are part of our history

I’ve never followed football before. I knew we had a team. Everybody knows that. But I’ve never watched a game, not even on TV.

Sunday, I got a text from a friend that said, “Wow. Did you watch that game? We were going nuts!” My reply was, “No. I was making Indian food and homemade bread. Did we win?”

I may be the only person in Western New York or maybe the Eastern seaboard, who didn’t know that the Buffalo Bills beat the New England Patriots.

I don’t live in a vacuum, though. I’ve been on the periphery of Buffalo hometown sports my whole life. I come from a rabid hockey-fan family. My grandmother was Canadian, and a die-hard Edmonton Oiler’s fan. She never missed a game on TV. Ever.

She also followed Sabres hockey, of course. So did all my brothers and sisters, and my mother. Hockey night in our house was a loud, hooting, hollering time. I’ve got five siblings, so that’s a lot of racket. Where was I in the midst of all this melee? In my room, reading a book. But in my defense, I really didn’t need to be in front of the TV. In our tiny ranch house, I could tell when the Sabres scored no matter where I was, just by the screaming that came from the living room.

So, even though I didn’t follow sports, I still knew enough to get by. I knew about the French Connection. I knew that the Buffalo Bills went to the Superbowl four times in a row, which no other team has ever done.

There was a period of time in the early 1980s when I did become very taken with Buffalo sports.

That was when indoor soccer hit the scene. The Buffalo Stallions were a whole different ball game to me. I loved going to the Aud and watching the games. I had no idea what the rules for indoor soccer were, but the tickets were cheap and there were no crowds so I could get good seats. The action was fast and furious. Being in my twenties, the silky jerseys and short shorts were not lost on me either.

For the most part, in my life, I’ve been on the outside looking in when it comes to Buffalo sports teams. I can’t call myself a fan. Or can I? I’ve been to the HSBC arena for Sabres hockey. I’ve worked in a beer stand at Ralph Wilson stadium, even though I’ve never seen an actual Bills game. I was one of the only Stallions fans there ever was.

I’ve grown up around the games, whether on astro-turf or ice, and they are a part of who I am, even if I don’t know a goal from a touchdown. To be from Buffalo is to be a part of the Bills and Sabres, no matter how the season goes. Right now, we’re having a winning beginning, with both football and hockey. So, lets go, Buffalo! This year could be the one.