Being a Bills fan means waiting for the other shoe to drop

Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

The first time I heard Einstein's definition of insanity I thought it was incredibly clever.  The managers used to recite it at my first sales job as motivation to get us to stop using failing pitches.  Ironically, that was the only job I ever held that I absolutely loathed.  I'd sit in the parking lot before going in each morning, trying to talk myself out of just turning around and going home.  I was insane.

A decade later, I hear that quote a few times per month and it's grown tiresome.  Like anything, if you hear it enough times it starts to lose its impact.  But I'm going to dust it off today to discuss the Buffalo Bills.

Being a Bills fan, and really, the fan of any perpetually bottom-dwelling team, is an exercise in insanity.  Before the current season ends you're already amping yourself up for "next year".  Then comes the offseason full of new players, maybe some coaching changes, and then the draft where you convince yourself that whichever player your team selected, he's the guy that's going to turn your fortunes around. 

Then the new season starts, the losses continue to pile up, and you start looking forward to next year again.  Lather, rinse, repeat.

That all said, I couldn't be more excited about the current direction the Bills are heading.  I know, I know.  But for the first time since I was a child, it legitimately feels as if this franchise is on the right track.  Granted, the quarterback, the most important position on the team, is a huge question mark.  In three years EJ Manuel could be an All-Pro, or he could be out of the league.  Neither of those outcomes would surprise me.  But the rest of the roster is being stocked with legitimate talent.

Not only that, but the front office under new GM Doug Whaley is very aggressive.  The team is swinging for the fences.  That's something that just hasn't happened in Buffalo in a long time.

Of course, because it's Buffalo, and the Bills, it can't all be sunshine and rainbows.  There's always some black cloud lurking around every corner.  Ralph Wilson, the only owner the Bills have ever had has passed.  His wife is now the majority owner and is looking to dump the team, with a sale being possible as early as October.

The team, and New York State, are trying to put a plan together for a new stadium; which is about the only way to guarantee the team remains in Buffalo.  But there's just about no possibility that this comes together before a new owner takes the reigns.  And if the new owner wants to pack up and move to Los Angeles or Toronto, or anywhere else, no stadium committee is going to stop them. 

Right now, all Buffalo fans are clinging to the hope that they are acquired by someone with local roots who's determined to keep the team in town.  That's certainly possible, but it's just as likely that they'll be acquired by some other billionaire that dreams of owning a team in Southern California or any other major market.

But we can save all that doom and gloom talk for another day.  For now, let's just appreciate the fact that there's legitimate hope on the horizon for this team.  And if they end the season with 6 or 7 wins again?  Well, there's always next year.