Next team up

This is the off season where I am replacing my favorite NFL team. Like so many coaches talk about when an injury occurs, I am using a "next team up" attitude to this decision. 

As a kid growing up in Western New York, I should have been a Buffalo Bills fan. My dad has been a Bills fans all my life. It would have made sense. Watching the Sabres on channel 2 was the reason I am a lifelong Sabres fan. But, for some reason, John Riggins and the Hogs caught my attention as a kid and the team from the nation's capital was my favorite team growing up. But, because they were both my dad's favorite team and the home area team, the Bills were always my second favorite NFL team.

I am not a fan of bandwagon fans that hop from team to team to follow a winner. I have been a Sabres fans my whole life and that will likely never change. The same goes for the Philadephia 76ers and the New York Yankees. I was a Yankee fan as a kid during the Dave Winfield and Don Mattingly years. So, that was as far from a bandwagon thing as you could get. I have been a Sixers fan starting with Dr. J, through the Barkley years, through the AI years, through The Process years, until today. I don't like jumping off a bandwagon because a team is down. My favorite college football and basketball teams have been down for years. But, I don't have teams that I root for instead of Nebraska and Georgetown. 

But, this is different.

There are two main reasons why I am no longer a Washington fan and they lie at the feet of owner Dan Snyder. First, I grew tired of the stubbornness that Snyder had with regards to changing the team nickname. I don't get why people fight so hard to hold onto racist team logos and nicknames. As a 1992 graduate of Jamestown High School, I am proud of how the district has been moving away from the logo that was used when I was in school. But, there are tons of people that still don't get it. Snyder finally decided to change things, but it was after I decided that I was done with the team as long as he was owner.

The straw that broke the camel's back with me were the reports of the horrible #MeToo treatment of the team's cheerleaders. As a father, husband, and son, I could not support a team that would treat women in that manner. So, I was done.

Then I debated for a few years which team to make my new team. It really came down to two teams for me. It was the Cleveland Browns and the Buffalo Bills. Cleveland was in the mix as another team without recent success, but some hope of being good one day. But some time during last season, I could no longer resist the urge to go next team up and hop on the Bills bandwagon. I think my almost 18 year old son getting more into the Bills was what put me over the edge. 

And even after making the switch, I was still worried about the bandwagon jumping angle to things. But, one Twitter interaction made me OK with things. One of my fraternity brothers from college replied to a comment about my dilemma. He said that he never remembered me being a Bills hater 25-30 years ago, so he was signing off on the mood.

So, all that is left to say is Go Bills!