The Buffalo Bills Mafia is everywhere, even vacationing in Maine

Jim Memmott
| Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

I’m walking from the ferry from Peaks Island, Maine, to Portland, Maine.

I’m wearing my vintage Buffalo Bills cap, the blue one with the red Buffalo, no lettering, just the Buffalo.

A man walking onto the ferry, a man I don’t know, looks at me and says, “Go Bills.”

That’s it, just those two words.

We could be spies in a John le Carré novel.

We pass each other in West Berlin. We whisper a password. Go Bills.

Although sometimes in Maine there’s nothing mysterious about the Bills’ trades at all.

At another point we’re walking toward the ferry and a group of about eight people shout, “Go Bills.”

I stop. We talk. They’re from Buffalo. Well, actually they’re from Williamsville near Buffalo, and they’re on a walking tour of Portland.

But for a minute or two, we forget about Portland, the restaurants, the cobblestones, the lobsters and the craft beer.

No, we’re back in Bills country, in Orchard Park, and we quickly decide that this is the year the Bills are going to make it big.

The Bills will, you know. They have Josh Allen. He’s enough.

The hat also does its job on Peaks Island.

I’m walking, a runner gives me a “Go Bills” as he races by. I respond, giving him a thumbs up.

My wife Cindy, a die-hard Bills fan, and I keep score. “Did you get a ‘Go Bills’?” I ask her when she returns from a walk wearing a Bills jersey.

“Only one,” she says, disappointed.

But one here, one there. It adds up. The Bills Mafia is everywhere.

Of course it is a sect, I find that questionable.

I never thought I would end up in a cult, but there I am: brainwashed and religious, impervious to logic and truth, a disciple.

For years I couldn’t be in the cult. I was a journalist and journalists don’t take sides. There’s no cheering in the press box.

I would interview Bills fans with the objectivity of an anthropologist.

I documented their patterns, their rituals, their chants and their clothing.

Yes, their clothes.

They wore layers of clothing, including Bills socks, shorts, shirts and caps, in short, everything needed to ensure the Bills victory.

If the Bills lost, they’d burn all those clothes and try something else.

I found it all intriguing and funny.

“What’s wrong with these people?” I asked myself.

What’s wrong with me?

How did I get sucked into this cult? Why do I put on a Bills hat hoping I’ll run into someone else wearing a Bills hat and we’ll say, “Go Bills,” and maybe stop and talk about the upcoming season and all the joy it will bring?

We’re in Maine, for God’s sake. Can’t we just talk about how nice the people are here? Can’t we just look out over the Atlantic and not think about the newly established attack line?

Maybe it’s time for an intervention. Maybe a trained therapist should take me aside and say, “We need to talk.”

The trained therapist can gently point out that the purpose of traveling is to see new places, meet new people, and expose yourself to other cultures.

Perhaps the trained therapist can recommend some ways for you to escape the cult.

“When you’re on vacation, you can leave your Bills hat at home,” the certified therapist would say.

I could do that, but I’m thinking of all the other Bills fans getting on or off the ferry, or running or walking around the island.

They need to talk about the Bills too. They need support. I need support. Ignore this cry for help. Go Bills.

Notable Rochesterians: John Williams

Here’s a vacation tip: make sure you go in an Olympic year so that when it rains, and it will rain, you’ll have something to watch on your cabin TV. Gymnastics, diving, swimming, breaking. Snoop Dog. It’ll all be there for you when the storms come. Thanks, Paris. Thanks, Olympic organizers. Thanks, Olympians.

In appreciation for all things Olympic, we are adding this former Rochester Olympian to the list of notable Rochester residents at: https://data.democratandchronicle.com/remarkable-rochesterians/

John Williams (1965- ): The Mendon resident and champion equestrian was a member of the bronze medal-winning eventing team at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, a sport in which a rider and horse compete in dressage, cross-country jumping and stadium jumping. He won a gold medal in team eventing at the 2002 World Equestrian Games and is a graduate of Honeoye Falls-Lima High School and the Rochester Institute of Technology, where he studied furniture design and woodworking. He now lives in Virginia and designs eventing courses.

From his home in Geneseo, Livingston County, retired managing editor Jim Memmott writes Remarkable Rochester, Who We Were, Who We Are. He can be reached at [email protected] or write to Box 274, Geneseo, NY 14454.