bills v. dolphins, the playoffs.
best ever makeup birthday gift.

in november, i was supposed to attend the bills-browns game for my birthday gift. then, a massive snowstorm struck the area the day before the game, and it was moved to detroit. we were issued a massive refund (140% of our original ticket prices), so when the bills first playoff game was scheduled for a sunday afternoon on a semi pleasant january day, frankie and i jumped at the chance to attend.

we arrived early, to take in a bit of the tailgating scene, throw a football around, and remind ourselves of the disgustingness of a bills parking lot porta-potty situation. eventually, we made our way over to the stadium to begin our adventure.

we found our seats and brushed off the snow and settled in to watch the warmups. did i mention we were in row six on the 35 yard line behind the team bench? not too terrible.

its always so surreal to see all of these guys in real life.

then it was time for the pregame theatrics. the place was so loud.

i tried to just enjoy the game and put my phone away. also it was pretty chilly so i didn’t really want to take my gloves off to snap photos. but during a few timeouts and such, i caught a close up or two of the players milling around.

the bills jumped out to a big lead. which they were sort of predicted to do. but then also, because the bills are the bills, they then gave up that lead. in sort of devastating and dramatic fashion. the game was really close. and stressful. which at least made it interesting i guess, if you’re looking for silver linings.

and loud. it was really loud. my watch kept alerting me that the environmental sound levels were too high and i was going to be deaf. worth it.

ok. everything was great. a little chilly. a little annoying that the bills were playing poorly. but also. now let me tell you about some annoying parts. firstly. there’s the tv camera guys, who glide up and down the sideline on a lift, obstructing the view. it was only terrible when the play was directly in front of us. but. what was terrible for the entire game, was this guy, behind me. he started out nice enough. loud and obnoxious for sure. but as the game wore on, and he got more and more intoxicated, it began to be a little bit much. like, just yelling the worst obscenities incessantly. grabbing us, shaking/hugging us and leaning over us to reach the row in front of us. not cool. everyone around him was visibly annoyed. anyhooo.

back to the game. at halftime, in a desperate bid to warm up my feet, which were the only part of me that i couldn’t keep warm, we walked up to the concession area. when we strolled back out to the stadium, and took in this view, it was glorious. and. we decided that row 6 is actually too close. we had a hard time seeing anything on the sideline that wasn’t right in front of us. next time we will be a few rows up.

so, in the end, it wasn’t pretty, but the bills won. it seemed concerning for sure. but, at this point, we were still sure a deep superbowl run was still our destiny. but, as you might know, the bills lost, very decidedly, the following week. and the stupid chiefs won it all. but for this one day. everything was perfect. ish.