By Taylor Nigrelli
Assistant Sports Editor
Like any American male, I’ve loved football for as long as I can remember. Every Sunday since first grade, (interestingly enough, the first and last time I saw the Bills make the playoffs) I sat in front of the TV all day and watched not only the ensuing Bills losses; but also every other team’s game.
But, living in the friendly confines of the Buffalo area, I never really met too many fans of other NFL teams (except of course for those despicable few who live in Buffalo and cheer for other teams, especially New England).
For so long, I spent Sunday after Sunday watching 10 plus hours of football without any real perspective on those who lived and died for the teams I was seeing besides my own.
This all changed when I came to St. Bonaventure.
The start of school has always been synonymous with the start of football, for me and many others. Now beginning school is a time when I met new people and make new friends from places I’d never even heard of. One of the first Thursdays of last year, the NFL season kicked off with a matchup of the Saints and the Packers.
As the Falconio lounge filled up with what must have been half of the guys from our class, some good (and bad) natured trash talking of each other’s teams began. I realized how each different fan base felt about their team.
As they talked about their team and the teams they despised, I saw how football easily brings people together.
For the entirety of the first semester and the beginning of the second, I spent every Sunday trash talking, eating pizza and yelling at the TV while bonding with my new friends.
The wild 2011 season culminated with a Super Bowl match-up of the Giants and Patriots. Instead of watching the game with bitter Bills fans like usual, I enjoyed the experience with fans of the teams that were actually playing in the game. For the first time I got to witness firsthand what it’s like to see your team fight to make it all the way to the Super Bowl only to fall short.
As every Bills fan over the age of 30 would tell you, it’s not pretty. But I also saw up close what it’s like to have your team win the Super Bowl. All that time spent wishing, hoping, cheering and crying could all be made worth it with a single championship. Last year, I learned a lot about what makes a football team, but even more about the people who root for those teams.
Giants oddly always have more fans in January than September and, in some cases, (Cleveland) fans have had it even worse than me. Other people didn’t find Bills fans to be as endearing and lovable as I had once thought.
Most importantly, I learned breaking things when your team loses isn’t crazy, no matter how valuable that object may have been.
Football, like many sports, doesn’t end well for most fans. Only one team brings home the Lombardi Trophy.
Thus, only one fan base has bragging rights on campus for the seven-month circus known as the NFL off-season. Sunday, we fans climbed from the abyss to cheer on our favorite teams in hopes of capturing some postseason glory.
Yet, this will not stop fans from resting a week’s worth of happiness on the shoulders of 53 men whom they’ve never met.
St. Bonaventure may no longer have a football team, but football season has begun at St. Bonaventure. Watch out, Chiefs fans!
