If you follow me on social media or know me in real life you have had the misfortune of hearing me go on and on about my new obsession with the Buffalo Bills.
Understandably so, I have gotten a lot of questions. Mainly, why does a guy who grew up in Minnesota loving the Vikings all of a sudden love the Bills? And, of all teams in all the sports, why the hell the Buffalo GD Bills?
The answer isn’t all that complicated. My love for the Vikings has waned over the years for a combination of reasons, mostly because of the amount of times they have given us ol’ Mortal Kombat heart-rip-out fatality in big times.
But why the Bills? Well before snapping off a few wins the Vikings started the season crapping their compression shorts and I just had enough. I said on Twitter I was ready for a new team. Jumping ship. I surveyed the league and I landed on the Bills for a few reasons:
- My love of buffalo wings is very well documented and the Anchor Bar in Buffalo is the birthplace of the wing. How cool is that?
- Their fans are bat-shit crazy in a great way. They spend their tailgates throwing each other through tables WWE style. They also call themselves the Bills Mafia. Those are my kinda people.
- Their main color is royal blue. I basically only wear blue clothes so the merch factor was in play.
- Lastly, one of my best buddies Greg is from New York and a huge Bills fan so I have a friend to talk shop with.
So there you have it, that’s how I became a Bills fan. Since I never do anything half-assed I have gone all-in. I have jerseys, flags, socks, beer mugs, etc. I was yelling so loud during the game last Sunday one of my neighbors texted wondering if things were OK.
You might think I am absolutely nuts for all this. A lot of my friends and family certainly do. But here is the thing: it has brought me so much joy and happiness heading into the winter of the shittiest year of our lifetimes. It gives me something to look forward to each week. Yeah, sure it is a little silly, but there is nothing wrong with that.
Now to my main point of writing this: I encourage everyone to find their Buffalo Bills, whatever that may be.
The normal stuff we typically love to do this time of the year – concerts, sporting events, holiday parties, bars and restaurants – are all shutdown. It is going to be a long, dark winter. Find something new that brings you joy to help fill the void. It can be as ridiculous as falling in love with a team from a city you have never even been or something as important as finding a way to help a charity. But find something. Find your Bills. Find something that brings you happiness. We are all gonna need it in the months ahead.
Lastly, and most importantly, please reach out if you are interested in joining the Bills Mafia. We accept everyone. Well, actually, just reach out if you need anything at all. As I always say, we are all in this together.
Go Bills!
Dana Wessel 