As a kid I was an Atlanta Braves fan and Buffalo Bills fan (my fandom began before both rose to prominence). I came by the Braves thing honestly, having grown up in Richmond watching all of the stars from Atlanta's "dynasty" teams coming through the AAA franchise. The Bills affection came from having lived across the street from one of Jim Kelly's brothers when I was very young. I remember my Dad telling me when I was probably 4 years old that the guy playing quarterback on TV was the brother of our neighbor, and I thought that was the coolest thing ever. I was fan from then on. Once I started to pay attention to VT and realized who Bruce Smith was, I was even more into the Bills.

So it was fun watching those teams during their prime years...until the postseason. It gets pretty crushing to watch your favorite teams come up short on the biggest stage time and again when you're a kid. Now that Atlanta pulled their AAA team out of Richmond, I've lost the feeling of connection to their team, although I still hope to see them do well. I just haven't kept up and didn't watch any of the most recent postseason failure. The Bills are showing life this season, but as long as Brady and Belichick are around, it won't amount to much.