Morning Joe! What is your Game Day Ritual?

1:00 – Turn on the radio broadcast of the game in the background.
4:00 – Listen to the post-game stuff.
6:30 – Turn the radio off.

Unfortunately, I don’t get to watch the games, since I don’t have cable and they’re never the national game.

An enjoyable read… I walk my Boxer Augie every Sunday morning, he wears a Bills T-shirt and the neighbors love it…

But it also depends on if Im going to the game or not.

If Im at the game, I always park in the same lot, it doesnt matter how packed it is, or the fact that its more expensive than other lots… Im always in the grass lot, thru the guys driveway, right next to the Field House.

I got a new pair of red, white and blue Zubaz so theyll be thrown into the mix now on game days as well.

If Im not at the game, I like to watch the game at home, preferably alone, but if Im watching it with someone, it cant be anyone who wants to talk about othe things or wants to check the other games that are on. I get annoyed with that, especially when Im at someone elses house, they switch to FOX real quick and then we miss a play or 2 of the Bills game.

I try to always drink Blue Light, because its a “Buffalo thing” with either some sort of Buffalo food, whether it be Buffalo chicken cheese steak, wings, Bison chip dip, etc.

I place my bets at 12:30. I try to stay away from the Bills because following them so closely and having a rooting interest clouds my judgment. I usually drink a 24 oz. black Dunkin Donuts coffee during the first half and make a can of soup at halftime. I pound cans of seltzer water throughout the game (my whole family drinks boxes of seltzer). I’m off every Monday and have been my entire career, so I enjoy beers for the 4:00/ Sunday Night games. When the weather’s warm, I only drink Mexican beers (I like Modelo and Pacifico). When the weather starts to turn, I switch to Newcastle Brown Ale.

Live out of town (Pittsburgh), but had Season Tix for years (until gas went over $3/gal and It got way too expensive to travel up 7/8 times a year). Still make it home for a game or two.

Going to Game:
Up at 6:00. Jeep packed by 8:00, and on the road no later than 8:30. Stop at Timmy Ho’s on the way for coffee and a BELT.
Breakfast burritos on the grill when we first arrive, then steaks if we won the week before, or hotdogs if coming off a loss.
Canadian Bottles and Red Stag on tap.

Home:
Up at 6:00 (stoopid internal clock).
Coffee and eggs (Sunday only Bills mug)
9:00 – NFL Network on PC (DTV streaming package).
10:00 – Review fantasy rosters/player updates. ESPN GameDay on TV.
12:00 – Switch to CBS pregame
12:30 – Finalize fantasy rosters
1:00 – Redzone + 3 games streaming on PC; Bills on TV
1:00-1:15 – First beer when opposition scores (been a long time since a “dry” Bills Sunday).

Best thing I’ve read all week:

I go get Flutie my English Bull Dog and dress him up in Bills attire

I have a pitbull named Dexter that wears his Lynch jersey on game days (pictured to the right.) I throw on my Stevie Johnson jersey and head over to my friend’s house to watch the game on his 110" screen (and drink his alcohol, haha.). We’re both from Rochester, but live in Jax now so his man cave is our stadium on game days.

My wife puts on her Fred Jackson jersey to show her support, but is usually passed out on the couch by half time (the nerve of that girl!)

I live in NJ outside of NYC. Often, I go to a local bar with the NFL Sunday Ticket Package and watch the Bills. This particular bar is the only establishment in the NYC metro area I’ve found that gets Buffalo wing sauce right. That’s a plus.

Every Sunday, I wake up, put on my football boxers, my red undershirt, my ratty jeans, and my Bills jersey of the day (Flutie, Poz, Evans, or Jackson).

However, during the 2011 season I did something different. Instead of going to the bar and stuffing my face, I joined a gym with the Sunday Ticket Package. I’d still get dressed in my Bills jersey to walk into the gym, but then I’d throw on my gym clothes and a read Bills t-shirt and do 3 hours of cardio. Each Elyptical, Bike, and Treadmill has it’s own tv. So, I’d do an hour on each machine, watch my game, and scream during big plays so the whole gym could hear me (I had 50 people staring at me with baffled looks when I was celebrating the week 3 NE victory). This is irrational superstition, but I felt like the harder I pushed myself on the machines, the harder the Bills would fight to win. That formula felt like it was really working during the Oakland and NE wins.

Alas, I injured my neck midway through the season (count me among the list of injured Bills) and stopped going to the gym. I went back to the bar (and my couch when NYC area tv played the Bills) and the Bills went on a disheartening losing streak. So it goes…

bloody marys,chili,and natchos.

I don’t have any rituals, really. When we used to attend all the games, my dad and I would make sure to wear the same (washed) clothing from the previous week’s win, and do so until they lost again.

But “73” ?! If I turned my TV up to 73, I think i’d blow the windows out. I don’t even know if my TV goes to that number.

Given the last decade, maybe it’s okay for you to change up a few of your rituals to try and spark a change in the team?

Let’s see – I get up and try to find something for my wife to do or I go somewhere where my wife is not – that’s the key for the day.

Then I start drinking around noonish – check fantasy football and make sure i’m in some sort of Bills attire prior to the game. Watch NFLN, ESPN, CBS, FOX, BET, Oprah channel, HSN – anything with football on it at some point.

Sleep late ( 7:15) – go to work ( 8:00), run like mad—- sign out at noon, pick up 2 Chinese lunches ( Hunan pork & chicken n shrimp w/peanuts, 3 egg rolls ) grab Game day 6 pack of something thats an upgrade over daily grog, turn on radio or tube——and smile smile smile : I got the game and get paid for the afternoon. SOOOO much nicer when we win. :)

3am, alarm rings. Start computer and go to NFL.com Audio Pass. Lay on couch with headphones and listen to the away team’s feed for the first half. If we have any chance of winning, switch to Murph and Kelso for the 2nd half (they are legitimately the best announcing duo I heard this year). If we are getting blown out, go back to sleep.