Bob O’Shea has parked The Billievers bus for the season outside his Ogdensburg home. His beloved Buffalo Bills will travel to play the Chiefs on Sunday for a berth in the Super Bowl, but even that 1,239-mile trip to Kansas City, MO, might be too long for this member of Bills Mafia.
O’Shea and his family endured snow and temperatures in the teens during the Bills’ scintillating, 27-25 victory over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday night to earn a berth in the AFC Championship Game.
As dedicated fans go, O’Shea rates at the top of the heap in the North Country. He is willing to go lengths – any length – to root for his favorite team. Each Saturday before home games, O’Shea guides the renovated mini school bus down Route 37 to Alexandria Bay, hops on Interstate 81 to Syracuse, then west along I-90 into Buffalo. It’s about 5 hours unless he runs into blinding lake-effect snow blowing off Lake Ontario or creeps to a near-halt behind a traffic accident.
“Once we hit the Thruway people take notice of The BILLIEVERS bus,’’ he said. “They take videos, pictures, honk their horn – anything to get our attention.’’
“My wife thinks we are crazy at times for making the trips as often as we do, being that it’s so far away,’’ he said. “In the winter months we have battled our way through storms, several inches of snow and unpredictable weather to make it to a game.’’
Regardless, O’Shea remains faithful to the Bills. This devotion started 21 years ago when the corrections officer and his father attended his first game, a 24-7 win over Washington. O’Shea bought five season tickets the next season, and now holds seven season tickets in Section 102.
“The fan base is incredible to be a part of,’’ O’Shea said. “The character of the Bills Mafia makes you travel the long distance week in and week out to be a part of something special. When you miss a game or a tailgate, they always ask where you were, so that makes you want to travel the distance every week.’’
He and his wife, Stacie, bring his father Bob, sister Nichole and husband Bill, and sometimes his two sons, Chase and Colbie.
Last season’s gut-wrenching playoff loss to the Chiefs at home even lent itself to a serious parenting moment.
“Tyler Bass missing a game-tying field goal at the end of the game was heartbreaking,’’ O’Shea recalled. “Chase cried all the way up the stairs to exit the stadium. The only thing I could tell him was things like that happen, and it probably wouldn’t be the last time he saw something like that in his lifetime.’’
Most of the memories are uplifting. He treasures the game two years ago when Ryan Fitpatrick, former Bills quarterback and now an analyst for Amazon Prime Video, stopped at the bus with two of his children. He and fellow analyst Andre Whitworth picked up a microphone and hyped the crowd.
That same game, Bills Hall of Fame receiver Andre Reed visited and signed the interior wall of the bus.
The O’Sheas aren’t the only North Country residents committed to this ultimate ground game. Bill Reed of Colton lived in in the Buffalo suburb of Kenmore for one year in the 1970s but has been a Bills fan ever since. The retired U.S. Border Patrol officer held season tickets for the 15 seasons but gave them up this season. Still, he braved the frosty weather for the Bills-Ravens playoff game.
Reed attended his first game on Sept. 17, 1984, a Monday night loss to the Miami Dolphins. His most memorable visit to Orchard Park occurred Jan. 15, 2022, when the Bills steamrolled the New England Patriots 47-17 in the wild-card round of the playoffs.
“It was below-freezing temperatures and a night game made it even colder,’’ Reed recalled. “The tailgate party was the coldest, however once you got in the stadium and got your blood flowing it didn’t feel so bad. That was the game Ryan Fitzpatrick was shirtless, not too far from where I was sitting.’’
The Bills Mafia has developed its own notoriety for tailgating in the stadium parking lots. Pinto Ron, a software engineer named Ken Johnson, staked his claim to fame by grilling on the hood of his red Ford Pinto and inviting guests to douse him with ketchup and mustard.
“I remember September 29, 2019, I was at the Pinto Ron tailgate party and was captured on the ESPN gameday show,” Reed said. “Friends and family were texting me that they had seen me on ESPN.’’
They couldn’t miss him. His frosted hair was front and center for the TV cameras.
Retired Massena athletic director Tim Hayes coached football for several seasons at Massena and St. Lawrence Central. When he is not selling sporting goods for Sports Locker, Hayes journeys alone to Orchard Park – “I can do it in my sleep’’ – where his brother lives. They hold season tickets.
“The Buffalo Bills are an addicting sport fan drug!’’ Hayes said. “You go once and you can’t wait to go back. Since my brother lives out there for quite a few years now, being a Bills fan has been easy. ‘’
“It is always memorable getting to go spend time with my brother,’’ Hayes said. “The other memorable times have been when Jerry Mahoney attends with us.’’
Two years ago, Mahoney’s 80th birthday was celebrated before a game with a tailgate party.
“It is always just a great time especially for a 1 p.m. Sunday game on a great fall day.’’
He punctuated his thoughts by borrowing a line from retired Bills Hall of Fame coach Marv Levy: “Where else would you want to be than right here right now.”
The Syracuse Orangemen have a grip on North Country sports fans too. Doug Farley, a 1986 graduate of Hammond, has been a season ticket holder for Orange football for eight seasons.
During the weekdays, he works as a teaching assistant, bus monitor and modified girls basketball coach in the Ogdensburg City School District. On fall Saturdays, you’ll find him and his wife, Sara, or perhaps sons Jacob or Jed, listening to ESPN Gameday as they drive down I-81 to the JMA Wireless Dome.
“My family and I all like to watch SU football in person and on TV,’’ he said. “We have friends that go to SU games as well, and when we can, we will meet up with friends and tailgate before home games.’’
Farley’s most enduring memory was a 27-24 upset in 2017 of No. 2-ranked Clemson.
Morristown native Paul Spilman of Plattsburgh seems to be the ultimate road warrior for his devotion to St. Bonaventure University basketball.
He works fulltime for U.S. Customs and Border Protection and plots his sojourns to Olean. He typically travels alone down the Northway to Albany, heads southwest past Binghamton and Corning, then arrives in Olean on the eve of a game. He endures 450 miles and 7 hours of driving to meet a classmate or his former roommate, Pat McMahon from Pittsburgh (he only drives 3½ hours).
Spilman said trying to explain his “seemingly unhealthy obsession’’ can be as difficult as pinpointing “why a person joins a cult.’’
“However, this passion is shared by virtually everyone I went to school with,’’ said Spilman, who pitched on the Bonnies baseball team for the 1984 season. “It may have to do with the shared experience of living on a small campus for four years and being immersed in the Franciscan notion that everyone’s friendship is valued, and these friendships don’t end.’’
“There is also a David vs. Goliath mentality, in that the schools we compete against are all larger, with far more resources than we have.’’
For his loyalty, he has witnessed some memorable moments:
- February 1983 vs. Boston University: BU coach Rick Pitino charged after the officials at halftime and received a technical foul.
- January 1996 vs. #1 UMass: Minutemen center Marcus Camby collapsed during warm ups and was taken to Olean General Hospital
- March 2000 vs. Kentucky: In the NCAA Tournament at Cleveland, the Bonnies lose a double-overtime thriller.
- March 2016 vs. St. Joseph’s: Marcus Posley scores 47 points as the Bonnies win at Rochester’s War Memorial Arena.
Since his first game in 1980, Spilman said he has watched the Bonnies at more than 30 venues, including two of the oldest gymnasiums in the nation – Matthews Arena in Boston and Rose Hill Gym in the Bronx. This season, he planned trips for Orlando, Fla., Amherst, Mass., and Kingston, R.I. Plus he will attend the Atlantic 10 tournament, scheduled for March this season in Washington, D.C.
“It has been said that the life of a Bonaventure student centers on the three B’s – books, basketball and beer. Thankfully, the books portion of that equation no longer exists for alumni, but the rest remain and endure.’’
Morristown native Jim Holleran is a retired teacher and sports editor from Rochester. Reach him at jimholleran29@gmail.com or view past columns under “Reflections of River Rat’’ at https://hollerangetsitwrite.com/blog/
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