Go Bills!

Last Sunday I went to my very first NFL football game, ever. And it was one the greatest experiences of my life. 

First, the build-up.

Me, Liz and Damon. Damon and I are wearing
Sammy Watkins jerseys.

I’m a long time football fan, American style (ever since my days as a Fulbright student almost 25 years ago). When talked about it to Liz this summer when we were still planning my visit, then what do you know, she said they – Liz and her husband Damon – have season tickets to the Bills games and would like to take me to the Pats-Bills game on October 12. 

The Pats are of course the New England Patriots and the Bills are the local team, the Buffalo Bills. The Bills won the American Conference Championship and went to the Super Bowl 4 times in a row in the early 1990s but they haven’t been doing so well since those days. But things have been looking up lately. They won an exciting game at Detroit the weekend before this, I was at the Wrights to watch that game, together with some of their family and friends.

So off we went: I was picked up 7.30 Sunday morning by Damon, Liz and their daughter Olivia and drove to Orchard Park where the Bills stadium is.  Along the way we were joined by Liz’s nephew C. J. and his girlfriend Haley. 

The Big Tree Inn at Orchard Park.

More fans on their way.

Why the early start? 

To get the best place 

for the tailgate party, of course!  In this  case, the parking lot across the 

street from the Big  Tree Inn. This way we got  there early enough to avoid  the increasingly heavy traffic.  

Happy Tailgating! 

Do you want to catch some ketchup?!?

This was my first time ever at a tailgate party. And it was like nothing else I’ve ever seen. I wish we had something like this in Finland. And the Bills fans are also something else! These guys are famous.   

The Ralph Wilson Stadium an hour before the kick off.

The kick off time was at 1 p.m.  Before the game, the new owner of the team – Terry Pagula – was officially introduced. Not that he needed introduction, he’s also the owner of the local NHL team Buffalo Sabres who play their home games at First Niagara Center downtown Buffalo (more about downtown later).  

The stadium began filling out about an hour before the kick off. The game was sold out. There were approximately 70 000 – 75 000 fans in the stadium, screaming their lungs out – me included. 

Right before the kick off. Follow the link for this and more photos
from the Bills game.

In some ways, it was like a big party – people coming and going to get soda and beer and snacks, standing up, sitting down, cheering and yelling. As I said, I’d never been to a football game. In fact, I’ve never been to a sporting event this big, ever. First of all, there is no stadium as big as this in all of Finland. Second, what with the tailgating and fans, this was a really intense experience. 

Unfortunately, the Bills lost the game 37-22. But it was still a close game up until the 4th quarter. What was amazing to me was that after the game, everybody left in good order.  Incidentally, people were not afraid to wear Pats jerseys either (or other teams) at the game either.  As far as I can tell, fan violence is not at all as big a problem over here as it’s in Europe. Traffic was backed up for hours afterwards of course (all those people) so I wasn’t home till 6 p.m.

All in all, a most awesome experience!