By Steve
In a long mostly sad life as a Bills fan I have been on many a road trip to watch the Bills (mostly lose) once or twice a year since 2004. And as I embark on yet another roadie this week to Charlotte what better time than now to recap all 13 road trips. Can you guess what my record is?
2004
Cincinnati
12/19/2004 The Takeo Spikes Game
33-17 Bills Win
The Bills were on a tear, and looking for a playoff birth for the first time in FOUR years! Fall semester was over and it was time for my first road trip. Wow, Jason Peters blocked a punt, Spikes went back to his old squad and the Bills rolled.
2006
Detroit
10/15/2006 October Storm Get Outta Dodge
16-20 Bills lose
This was the weekend of the October storm that basically killed every tree branch in Buffalo. The Sabres played the Red Wings the night before but we didnt get there early enough. The Tigers won the pennant in Detroit Saturday, lotta partying. We parked for free 2 blocks from Ford Field and the Bills lost in ugly fashion. Whitner had an INT reversed on replay and Roscoe caught a long TD pass.
2007
Pittsburgh
9/16/2007 Piss Stained Towel Beat Down
3-26 Bills Lose
Stayed with some old college buddies that lived in Shitsburgh. This mighta been the worst game ever. I got spit on in the parking lot before hand (albeit provoked because I had a megaphone) and things didnt get any better. The stadium in the upper deck swayed during the game. (Bills started the season 0-3 vs Den, Pitt, NE yikes)
12/16/2007 Snow Game
Cleveland
0-8 Bills Lose
Two roadies in the same year? Yikes. Thats what happens when the Bills go on an improbable winning streak. The Bills didnt score a god damn point. A blizzard hit the stadium like a snowball to the face, of which i got approx 41,000 snowballs in my grill. A punt went over Moorman's head outta the endzone. Some how I drove right home after the game.
2008
New England
11/09/2008 WHERES TOM?
10-20 Bills Lose
No Brady no problem. Cassel did nothing, BenJarvis Green Ellis ran roughshod through the Bills oof. I wore my now classic FUCK DA PATRIOTS shirt the whole tailgate and no one said a word. We drove to Albany after the game and some how I drove home that night from there tired AF. The loss basically ended the season as they fell to 5-4.
2010
Baltimore
10/24/2010 Why the Hell Are You Here
34-37 Bills Lose in OT
The loss dropped the Bills to 0-6 en route to 0-8 and the 3rd overall pick. We picked the game before the season and figured it wouldnt be THAT bad of a season. The Bills were up BIG then Shawn Nelson fumbled in OT on a cheap call where he was held up by every Raven on the field.
2011
Cincinnati
10/2/2011 Set an Example
20-23 Bills Lose
The Bills are three and 0 and we had a van load of dudes rolling to Cinci to roll over Dalton and co. The lot we parked in was seemingly 15,000 Buffalonians raging. Cop was sick of it so he threw me in the paddywagon to set an example. I had 8 game tickets in my pocket. After calmly apologizing I was let go with a disorderly conduct ticket. Phew. Stevie Johnson had a devastating "drop" that killed a game winning drive. Heart break and half an empty stadium. Wow.
New York Giants
10/16/11 a Long Train Home
24-27 Bills Lose
Hey why not keep the pain going? The stadium was gigantic and it seemed like we were watching the game from a blimp. Eli had a big comeback, Fred Jackson had a good game and Fitzpatrick proved he sucks. The train ride back to Brooklyn after this one seemed like days.
2012
Cleveland
9/23/2012 the Streak is Over!
24-14 Bills Win
The seven game road trip loss streak was snapped. But against the lowly Browns. Uneventful game but that sweet taste of victory was so rare it was worth the ride. The guy driving me home after the game was pissed I tried to crack a beer on the 90. Oof.
2013
Cleveland
10/3/2013 TNF Debacle
24-37 Bills Lose
Someone wanna double check and verify that score? Holy shit. EJ Manuel was on a roll early and the Bills seemed like they were gonna blow em out. Then he got hurt, then Cleveland changed QBs and the Bills got boat raced. Wow. Me and Wreck set up a 20 person bus ride from my house to go to the game. It broke down as we boarded it. Ha. Lotta beers on the bus round and round.
2014
Miami
11/13/2014 TNF Debacle II
9-22 Bills Lose
What a road trip. Beautiful Miami owned us from day 1. Stayed in 3 different hotels, too many casino trips, an amazing tailgate with half of Buffalo and a turd of a game. The game was as boring as any ever. The Bills were winning at half and didnt do anything after that. We landed back in Buffalo Sunday night on Spirit Airlines. I was still in my bathing suit with sand in my hair. We walked in icey slush in our sandles. I think it snowed a week straight starting Monday.
2015
Tennessee
10/11/2015 Buffalo Take Over
14-13 Bills Win
If half the city was filled with Bills fans it might be considered an under estimate. The game was, again, boring as hell. The Titans fumbled the opening kickoff and Buffalo recovered but we were offside. Classic rex. Tyrod single handedly won the game with his legs. We tailgated in a literal junk yard 4 blocks from the stadium and some old lady Bills fan had to be hospitalized via ambulance in the lot before the game. A wins a win.
2016
Baltimore
9/11/2016 Why Do We Do This
7-13 Bills Lose
How is it possible these games can be this boring? NOTHING HAPPENED. Zilch! 20 total points and it seemed like a fog was engulfing every brain on the field despite brilliant sunshine. Incredible. Baltimore is fun but RUGGED in parts, yikes.
Since I went to the first 6 of these road games, I figured I would add a brief comment on each.
ReplyDelete2004 at Cinci - We stayed at a $25 a night hotel room in the Cinci ghetto and some barefoot dude covered in blood knocked on our door at 7 AM. We had T.K.O. signs and after the Bills scored to take a 14-7 lead, some older woman ripped Wreck's sign from his hand - he tried to chase her, but we stopped him. Luckily we made it home alive.
2006 at Detroit - There was an injury and the stadium was dead silent, except for Wreck, who was screaming "SANTO - EH EH EH EH" across the section we were in. After the loss Santo said "at least it's Sabres season" at which point we almost left him in the motor city.
2007 at Pitt - nothing really to add, the game was a blood bath - the best part of the weekend was buying a Jacob's Field panorama from Schrum's friend for $20.
2007 at Cleveland - we sat in the dawg pound and did not pummeled with snow balls the entire game. Janis almost got in a fight with a old dude who kept saying that Janis had no idea what he was talking about because "he ain't ever played no ball". (he was right). Janis and Schrum left me in the parking lot in Cleveland while cleaning the windshield of their car.
2008 at New England - Pats fans were giving us steak despite the "F*** the Patriots" shirt. They truly felt bad for our pathetic souls. We paid at least $50 to park in a non stadium lot in 2008...which would have been the equivalent of parking at Feyes' old driveway distance wise.
2009 what a bad year if we didn't go to a single game, wow.
2010 at Baltimore - I sat by myself in the upper deck since Turner got booted from the game before ever making it to the seat.
1-5 in 6 roadies...brutal