Buffalo Bills
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Scenes From a Yellow Wood
It was a crisp October Sunday. One might say it was the Platonic ideal of a fall day in Central New York — the kind of day that makes me feel a little guilty if I don’t spend at least part of it outdoors. If Mother Nature is going to provide an autumnal paradise, you Continue reading
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Exit Stage Wide Right
I don’t like Hallmark holiday movies. I don’t like the fact that there is going to be a Hallmark holiday movie about my favorite football team. I really don’t like the fact that, despite not liking anything about this concept, I’m still 100-percent going to watch this movie when it comes out. All that said, Continue reading
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Dueling Fandoms
A week or so ago, I was following a baseball game that my favorite team, the Baltimore Orioles, were playing in and a thought struck me: This year’s Orioles squad is simply a lot of fun. They are a young team, loaded with talent, and they have a knack for come-from-behind victories. This team, I Continue reading
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October
I’ve heard it said that tourism is all about collecting clichés. When it comes to the enduring clichés associated with the fall season, I don’t need to engage in tourism to collect them. They are right outside my front door. Central New York has all of the stereotypical/archetypical ingredients of American autumns in spades: pumpkin Continue reading
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“We”
A few days ago, I was in a grocery store and overheard a couple of young men discussing the Bills’ prospects for the upcoming season. One of the fellows kept referring to the team as “we” (e.g., “We need to get consistent production from James Cook!”). I cringe a little bit when I hear sports Continue reading
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Tornado Warnings with Cake
It always rains on my birthday. That’s not a complaint or a lament. It’s just a fact. I know it’s going to happen, so I never plan anything weather-dependent for that day. Yesterday, Mother Nature provided the expected rain early in the day then, later on in the evening, she took things to the next Continue reading
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Three Cheers for the Red, White, and Blue
The Buffalo Bills’ first preseason game is today. That means it’s time for this household’s time-honored annual tradition (started last year) of the Switching of the Flags. Old Glory, which has been displayed on the house since Memorial Day weekend, comes down, and the Bills flag goes up. The latter won’t be taken down until Continue reading
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A Meeting of the Minds?
Seeing Jim Boeheim and Josh Allen standing next to each other shouldn’t seem so weird to me, but it does. Boeheim’s visit to Bills training camp reminds me of when I was in elementary school and I’d see one of my teachers out in public, in a store or something, and the scrambled contexts would Continue reading
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I’m Just Going to Watch the Games
“This (game) is not a must-win; World War II was a must-win.” – Marv Levy, former Buffalo Bills head coach and master of keeping things in perspective. NFL training camps are opening up this week. Most years, that fact would activate Football Mode in my brain and I’d start eagerly seeking out as much news Continue reading
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A Man of Many Hats
It was always in the cards for me to be a hat guy, even if it took me a half-century to fully embrace my destiny. My father never left the house without a hat. Part of that was because he was bald, but it was also largely generational. Being born in 1922, he came of Continue reading
About Me
Researcher. Marketer. Teacher. Father of adult children and dogs. 20th Century holdover. Central New York native. Long-suffering Buffalo Bills fan. History nerd. Traveler. Vintage advertising enthusiast. Hat wearer.
a.k.a. V.J. 