The Buffalo Bills new uniforms, one part of a throwback Friday in Western New York. (Photo: BuffaloBills.com)
For Western New York, Friday was a day where old things were new again in the world of sports.
One of the American Hockey League’s traditional franchises, the Rochester Americans, were purchased by Terry Pegula and the Buffalo Sabres. My hometown Amerks had fallen on some tough times in the past few years, with a declining attendance and a lack of talent coming with their 2005 affiliation with the Florida Panthers. Even with increased effort (which kept being promised, but rarely seen), it was going be very difficult for the Panthers to live up to the classic days of the Sabres-Amerks affiliation, where the Amerks developed Ryan Miller, Marty Biron, Jason Pominville, Steve Shields and many others.
Buffalo’s sports teams – the Bills and Sabres – have had to take the more regional approach to maintaining a fan base due to the area’s declining population and economy. Pegulia’s purchase of the Amerks and their reaffiliation with the team makes huge overtures to the regional appeal of the Sabres franchise. Pegulia gets it – he knows that the Amerks are a key part of keeping the sport of hockey popular in his fan base’s region.
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Friday evening, the Buffalo Bills held a grand new uniform unveiling – despite the design being leaked in a Madden 2012 promo a few weeks back. The design harkens back to the 1970s and 80s, with a white helmet and a heavy use of classic styling.
With Ralph Wilson Stadium as a backdrop, the Bills trotted out players from the Super Bowl heyday – Jim Kelly signed autographed and modeled the new jersey, while Steve Tasker hosted – and used local service people to show off the new-old gear.
One of my Facebook friends commented, “Why are they outfitting the Bills in the styles of the old days? These teams will never compare to the players that wore these styles in the past.” I don’t think the duds are something to be lived up to – they are distinctive from uniforms past – but more of a statement. The Bills, as a franchise, are classic, much like the Packers or Cowboys. No need to go futuristic for a team that has represented for so long what the sport of football’s most dedicated fan base has always been, for a team whose fans weather thick and thin. The new Bills uniforms remind us of the tradition and the circular nature of the NFL – how the Bills were woeful once before, then turned it around and had a run unlike many other teams in history.
Plus, everything old is eventually new again. That means that dark navy, silver and red of the 2000s should come back in 2030, right?
If there ever comes a day where we look back on those unis that they mercilessly retired and go, “those were classics,” I’m going to hide in my closet. Buffalo’s navy silver jerseys were some of the worst football jerseys the NFL has ever seen. Smart move by Buffalo to go back to royal blue, though I will miss the red helmets.