Marc Kealey Online

As a season’s tickets holder for this storied franchise, I have to take exception to Toronto Star Sports Editor Chris Zelkovich’s early November piece asking the question of the Bills as – “The Worst Team in Pro Sports?”

I say hardly!

This is an NFL season of many, many stories about previously good teams having dreadful outings.  Look at Dallas! Look at Minnesota! Look at Cincinnati!  My goodness, look at Detroit!

The east division of the American Conference of the NFL is a tough one. New England and Indianapolis are two of the best teams in the NFL and Miami is surely a contender.  They have stable and well known rosters.  Buffalo is a young team with some veterans who make plays on the field as well as any of the teams above.  Ryan Fitzpatrick is the 4^th leading passer in the NFL. Roscoe Parrish has come into his own after former coaches for the Bills used him improperly in the past.  C.J. Spiller is exciting, young and has a winning spirit.  George Wilson is as effective as any defenseman in the league.  ‘The Pos’ is equally as effective a linebacker as any NFLer and both offensive and defensive lines are good.

So what’s the problem?  Nothing!  We’re conditioned as fans to have winners and when winners don’t win – fans react!

I think Zelkovich is a bit of a dramatist!

Buffalo is a great sports town and every game at Ralph Wilson stadium is an event unparalleled in the NFL.  The team had a rocky start and we’ll characterize 2010 as a growth period.

But they are not the worst team in sports.  The experiment in Toronto at Rogers Centre is an apparent failure because the fan base for the NFL in Toronto is NOT attracted to Buffalo – they are Dolphins, Raiders, Eagles, Cowboys and Jets fans more so. There are many bad, bad teams in the NFL – year over year.  Just ask any Lion’s fan!  The NFL has cult like following from its fan base.  I’m one of them and having long emotional discussions about what goes wrong comes with the territory.

I’m also a huge Leafs fan and having suffered through season after season suggesting that we shine up Stanley only to have our hearts broken – again – might make Zelkovich consider re-asking the question.