I Will Never Miss Another

My obsession with football started back in 1986. I was seven years old and I had just moved a mile away from Rich Stadium. There is evidence that I liked football before this, but there is something about being able to go into your backyard and hearing the crowd, the music and the public address announcer from an NFL stadium that will spark an obsession like nothing else. On Sunday mornings when the wind is right in the fall the smell of tailgate food would make its way to our house. On my way to school on Monday morning I would pass right by the stadium, looking in awe at the trash and debris left behind, longing for a chance to see a game. Eventually I would get the chance, seeing my first game in 1987, a shutout of Dan Marino and the Dolphins.

I would go to many more games after that, always getting to go to one or two with one of my uncle’s or my Grandfather or sometime’s my Dad as well. It was always exciting and the novelty never went away. Years later when I had my first job at McDonald’s I bought tickets to every Bills game in 1996, a sort of unofficial Season ticket member. On December 1st 2002, the Dolphins once again visited the Bills. it was a memorable game for a few reasons. Ricky Williams ran over the Bills defense, rushing for 228 yards, overshadowing the 151 yard rushing bills back Travis henry had. In the fourth quarter the snow began to fall and the game began to spiral for the Dolphins. The crowd started singing “Let It snow” and Peerless Price caught a touchdown falling into the arms of a man on the sideline who he would later find out was Jim Kelly. Meanwhile, when all of this excitement was happening, I was a mile away in my bedroom watching on an old standard definition 19″ television. My parents happened to be at the game that day and I could not be anymore jealous. After the game ended, I vowed to never miss a Buffalo Bills home game again, scalping tickets to the final games of the 2002 season and becoming a for real season ticket holder the next year in 2003. My very first game as a season ticket holder was the famous 31-0 shutout of Tom Brady and the Patriots. Since then I have not missed one home game (not counting the Toronto Games or a game in 2014 that was moved to Detroit because of a Blizzard). in total it is like 124 games total. Even though the Bills were terrible to disappointing that entire stretch, I kept my promise to myself and have no plans on missing any games anytime soon.

Grass stains And Hutch Uniform sets

I love looking at the old sears catalog pages with the youth helmet sets, featuring al of the classic logos and uniforms and awesome helmets. I’ve actually bought a couple (Bills And Chargers), just because they are still a cool item. I’d love to get my hands on a full vintage 1970s set, but the asking price on those is a bit steep and I probably wouldn’t fit in one. By the time I was at the age to get my first uniform, Hutch was the king. Hutch sets came out for every team and had one of their players numbers on the jersey. The set also came with shoulder pads and pants, giving you a complete uniform. I believe I got my set for my 7th Birthday. My uncle bought both my brother and I a set. Being a smart guy he got us two different teams, because it would not be right for the same teams to play each other on the gridiron, that would just be a scrimmage. I got the LT Giants set, my brother the Jim Kelly Bills set. I loved that set, I can still remember the distinctive smell jersey and pads had, which probably wasn’t very healthy. we would play each other in one-on-one football match-ups, with the occasional neighbor joining in on the fun with his real Pop Warner equipment. Not the smartest move, but it was great fun. These days they still sell uniform sets, but they just don’t seem to have charm that my old hutch set had. They don’t even include a jersey with a number. Somewhere along the way, after years of abuse our two helmets and the rest of the sets disappeared. I really wish i still had it, although I was able to find a near mint Bills Hutch helmet on eBay which now sit on our shelf in the living room.

Here is a full (Newer mask) Raiders Set
Giants Hutch Helmet (I kinda want this one to right a wrong)
Older Hutch Rodger Staubach set (missing jersey)

Escape The Hum Drum

If a person has to work a real job to pay for all of his football stuff, amongst other things, that person is going to need to decorate their workspace with things that will allow them to escape. I had these helmet printouts framed and hanging in my Sports Lair, but I decided to move them to make room for some other stuff. Not to let them got to waste, I decided they would be the perfect cubicle decoration. Now all my co-workers will be envious or more than likely uninterested, but who cares, it is for me not them.

What I Watched: Dolphins Vs. Bills December 1st 2002

As I mentioned earlier, the last Bills game at Rich/Ralph/New Era Field/Stadium I missed was on December 1st 2002. Youtube comes to the rescue with the full game available. Like I said, the game is worth a watch just to see Ricky Williams run for well past 200 yards.

Helmet Of The Week: Hawaii Rainbows 1982-1998 and 2014-2015 (Throwback)

I’m a huge fan of the Hawaii Rainbows or Rainbow Warriors. The bright green and rainbow of colors is very visually appealing to me. In 1998 they decided to move away form the colorful uniforms and turned into the Warriors (returned to Rainbow warriors in 2013) with dark green and black, just not the look a team from an Island paradise should wear. Before the UH helmet they had an equally as cool Rainbow surfer logo. All great stuff. they did wear the UH helmets as a throwback/alternate in 2014 and 2015, but unfortunately have not worn them since. They need to bring them back at least as an alternate.