At the NFL Owners meeting in Phoenix, Arizona, Kim Pegula told reporters that they are in the early stages of studying the future of New Era Field. Since the early 2000s, NFL teams have been in a frenzy to use the public’s money to construct the newest coliseum.
The Buffalo Bills stadium, commonly referred to as the Ralph, has been criticized by opposing players, fans and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. Critics say it lacks modern amenities and lags far behind the rest of the league. Let’s face it, the Ralph isn’t the greatest looking stadium. There are no fancy amenities, and they don’t have the latest stadium food creations. It also lacks a roof, permanent or retractable. Bills fans don’t want or need that crap; let’s call a spade a spade. They don’t want Chicken and Andouille Jambalaya, Purple Grip or the Kingdom Inferno Chicken Sandwich. Your average Bills fans just want their ticket in one hand and a Bud Light in the other.
Bills fans are true diehards. They will come back year after year, loss after loss and still love the team no matter what. If New Era Field was dropped in another city and the team had similar losing results, fan support would dry up and the team would be forced to move. Buffalo Bills football is all about being outdoors, arriving five hours early and firing up the grill. It’s the Western New York, blue-collar culture. We don’t need to be like everyone else because we aren’t everyone else.
Proponents of a new stadium want it to be located in downtown Buffalo as opposed to Orchard Park. A downtown stadium means traffic nightmares (it’s already hard to get out of a Sabres game that has a quarter of the Bills attendance), no tailgating and expensive tickets. And what would football in Buffalo be without tailgating and Pinto Ron? The Bills have long been in the top half of NFL attendance, sometimes in the top five, proving they don’t need the new amenities… or even winning football.
Maybe the “fans” who are craving an indoor atmosphere for a sporting event should visit Rogers Stadium just across the border and take in a baseball game indoors.
As the great George Carlin said, “Baseball is played on a diamond, in a park! The baseball park! Football is played on a gridiron, in a stadium, sometimes called Soldier Field or War Memorial Stadium. Football is played in any kind of weather: rain, snow, sleet, hail, fog… In baseball, if it rains, we don’t go out to play.”
If the thought of potentially being too cold, rained or snowed on scares you, stay home and sit on your couch. The atmosphere at Bills games is something special. We don’t need the voice of the minority to ruin that.
If the public feels it’s necessary to spruce up the stadium, maybe we should take a look at the Green Bay Packers’ approach. The Packers have continued to upgrade the legendary Lambeau Field over generations. New upgrades include upgraded concession stands, new seats, the Lambeau Atrium with a plaza for activities, the Packers Hall of Fame and a restaurant. Go ahead, give the Ralph a paint job and a few upgrades, but a brand new billion-dollar stadium isn’t the answer. It isn’t the answer because there isn’t a problem to begin with. Not only is it unnecessary, it’s a waste of your tax dollars. Fans will continue to show up to the stadium and support the Bills no matter what. Western New York doesn’t need Roger Goodell telling us how to use our tax dollars or operate a stadium. The Bills aren’t going anywhere, and neither is the Ralph.
By Sean Mickey, Contributing Writer
mickeys17@bonaventure.edu
