Neo

Stolen from TBD ... echoing @That Aud Smell ... I love this guy. One of the things I like about The Bills and Trust the Process is that the slogan isn’t cover for “lose your individuality and become a robot” ...

I’m with you, completely. I loved the kick.

I left a box to join the crowd for “Renegade”. No one owns Heinz field except the Steelers, but the Bills players and fans said “BRING IT” all night long. There was a series, deep in Bills territory, in the fourth quarter. The Bills defense was exhorting the crowd with their arms. A roar erupted and was sustained. The scoreboard flashed “Quiet, Steelers at work”. HA!

I watched Sunday’s game with the coach of two coaches. We talked for a long time about trust and love. You are so, so, spot on about leadership and wild diversity. NFL coaches are men you meet only a few times in your lifetime. Imagine yourself walking into an NFL locker room and owning it. These men are Senators, CEOs, Generals and Prophets all at once, each with a different style and emphasis. Sunday gave us a Prophet and a General. When you think “I’d not yell so much, stew so silently, clap so much, play so aggressively, so conservatively ...”, follow up and ask “would men follow you?”. Would they do as you ask? Xs and Os are necessary, but not sufficient. Same with talent. I believe the Bills trust and love. We’ll see about Xs, Os and talent. We are light years from 2016.

TD ... and a LOUD Bill’s Mafia roar.

Observation ... the bars and restaurants are full of red, white and blue as the Bills Mafia travels. In Pittsburgh, however, there’s an equal amount of black, gold and white. This city loves its Steelers. Another observation ... the red, white and blue and the black, gold and white each hug, shake hands and buy drinks for one another. There is no taunting and “your teams sucks” going back and forth. The spirits are .... common ... among the fans in these cities.

Represent ..... I arrived last night, enjoyed a steak with old friends .... and am getting ready for the game.

I’m no football coach, but I think the problem is that the Bills can’t make you pay “fast” when seven are coming. Needed, big fast slot guy. I wanted Duke Williams. I would’ve loved Duke on that last play. All due respect to John Brown. Maybe I over value Duke. Kid’s fun.

You move fast ... I edited in ten seconds.

Nice. A good sports day. I am enjoying moral victories.

They hung with the elite ...

We are benefitting from calls. That said, NFL football is unwatchable with penalties.

I am finished with Knox.

He’s not a second year tight end. He’s a 42 year old Hell’s Angel.

Well, nose to nose with the NFL elite. A bit ugly for both.

You have been a measured voice of reason ...

Excited, yes ... but this has that extra “is it here? are we real?” feel.

I haven’t felt this way about a Bills game since 1988 ...

My GRANDson took to the ice, today ... first time!

Vegas, cough. .. cough .... Vegas

I guess I was thinking “players”, without a particular attribute in mind.

I am overwhelmed ... with so many thoughts. Sparing you all a 2,500 word NeoThon ... 1). Lehner just leapt seven categories higher on my “public persons with something important to say” list. 2). Cancel Culture. Perfect shorthand for all that’s wrong with viewing yesterday through today’s lens. That mistake is often a characteristic of youth. I erred. The mistake is more prevalent, now, and it’s not disappearing as human beings age through youth into adulthood. 3). Gotcha ... is a bad instinct. 4). Yoda*: Beware, Progress ... you are tomorrow’s yesterday. 5). Good people behave badly. There is a graceful way to address this. Being graceful is always a good idea. It’s a critical idea when standards change day to day, even when the change is righteous. Ward Cleaver was not a toxic male. 6). The Athletic is the best bargain in paid sports media. 7). @dudacek, thank you. * Recognizing the iconic status of Yoda, and the large number of people who are fans of his films, I point out here that Yoda never said that. I made it up.

Good observation on semantics and could be fun. Elite to me is top four or five. I am thinking that may be a miserly use of the word. I wish I wasn’t as old when it happened, also for clearer memories ...

I understand @John Tucker‘s point about the product. The NHL used to sell a Passion Play inside a hockey game. It now sells a Skills Competition as a hockey game. The league’s been transparent. I understand medical realities. I still buy, but I recognize the product is different. Frankly, I liked the old stuff better. I also liked booze, saturated fats, refined sugar and fried stuff. The 1980s were the ne plus ultra of NHL hockey. I look at attendance and fandom through two lenses. You've heard them from me, before. First, you could put on a Passion Play every night, regardless of relative skill. Two, competition for our attention was a tiny fraction of today’s competition. We were ALL Sabres fans. It was a Tuesday night in Buffalo during January; you watched the Sabres. You looked forward to watching the Sabres. What the hell else were you going to do? The shared community was large and powerful. Today? The Sabres have to win the skill competition more often than not and hope the next season of Better Call Saul isn't available for binge watching on Netflix, or Amazon Prime, or HBO Go, or A&E, and that potential fans would rather not stream any song ever recorded, update MyFaceSnapGram, check email, IMs, DMs, leave the house for a $5.00 coffee and a leather sofa seat, walk the mall looking at phones and assembling near Pókemen .... I go to a beautiful little theater in Sarasota seven times a year and see shows. Musicals, dramas, classics, etc. I’m 58 and about a decade short of the average age. Maybe more than a decade. Where there were once 100 towering institutions, there are now 10,000 lesser institutions. All of this connectivity has, quite ironically, disconnect the world. Everyone will have their own view of “progress, or not”. The differences, and the consequences, aren't debatable. Hockey and The Sabres no longer tower. They vie ...