I’m going to miss the Ralph Wilson Stadium
I’m going to miss the Ralph Wilson Stadium
Yes, I’m going to miss that shrine once it’s gone. I wasn’t alive for the defeat of the Dolphins in 1980, or winning the division against the Jets in ’88. I wasn’t there for 51-3 or the Comeback game. Hell, I didn’t even step foot into the stadium until the 1999 preseason, to which the Bills defeated the Steelers of Pittsburgh.
By that time, Jim Kelly was gone and the 90s Bills were on their last leg. The stadium had renamed itself, “Ralph Wilson Stadium” and had the NFL known what a forward pass looked like, I might’ve watched that team beat the Rams in the Super Bowl. We all know what happened there and 19 years later, we’re still looking for our first playoff win since ’95.
Oddly enough, that last playoff game was held at the Stadium. If I’m not mistaken, I believe the Bills set a single-game record for most yards in an NFL game. It’s been way too long since a playoff game was held there. I hope the ghosts of this town are kind to this team, it would be so much fun to close the Ralph with this kind of team playing on the field.
As long as we don’t tear the goal posts down ;)
Personally, I’d love for the Bills to stay at Ralph Wilson’s Stadium forever but I know that’s not plausible. I feel the people who say that the new stadium should be located downtown are either not familiar with the city of Buffalo or not using logic. Let me tell you, having attended enough Sabres and Bandits games down there, that traffic is bad enough. It will be five times worse should the new stadium go there.
There’s a lot of talk about a dome. I’d only have a problem with a dome if it weren’t retractable. If Buffalo builds a stadium with a retractable dome, there’ll be no protest here. I’d advise them to build it either on the same location the current stadium is on or a lot that resembles the land. If they put it downtown, it’ll be a nightmare the city will never wake up from.
I’m not going to say much about the commissioner’s comments, except for the fact that he has much bigger fish to fry than telling the Pegula’s they need a new stadium. If the Bills leave, that means the world’s ending. It’s no big deal for Dallas or New York to pump out a new stadium but I don’t see him telling Green Bay they need a new stadium. I wish Chicago had their old stadium instead of the spaceship they play in now. There’s something so cool about walking into a shrine and recognizing whom else had walked through those doors.
I know the Ralph doesn’t have the lure of old Yankee Stadium, the Forum in Montreal or the Boston Garden but it’ll always be the number one football stadium to me. I know that other stadiums are bigger, cooler and more historic but there’s no place like home. I promise you, it’s a great home-field advantage to have. It’ll be a very say day when the Bills decide to close New Era Field but in the meantime, I’ll be sipping my beers, screaming at the players and hoping they play well enough to win.
Break that table, Bills
-By: Thomas P. Braun Jr.