Stealing Is Bad, But Community Message Boards Can Be Fun

I’ve probably mentioned this before, but I have found my community message board to be great for blog content. This recent thread will make any Buffalo Bills fan upset. Please note that I live in Northern Virginia. I also include my own thoughts on the comments throughout this post.

Warning: there’s a NINJA among us

(Sean’s note: Now this headline is perfect to attract attention. By the way, I had no idea that Drew Drechsel of American Ninja Warrior or the YouTube star Ninja live in my neighborhood.)

I discovered this morning my 3x5’ Buffalo Bills flag missing from its post on my street-facing third floor balcony. It was secure in its base, and couldn’t possibly fall or be blown off.

(Sean's note: I think a lawyer could definitely make a case to a jury that it is possible that the flag fell.)

I don’t have any photos of it flying from my balcony, but it is similar to this photo below. The pole was an old shovel handle from the farm I grew up on so it has sentimental value. How anyone could have gotten up to my 3rd floor balcony and taken it is beyond me. Unhelpful comments degrading my team will be deleted. If you had a flag of your team stolen, you’d be upset too.

Now to the comments!

1. I’m sorry your flag has gone missing ♥️ my grandfather had a large and expensive metal mallet and metal chisels stolen from his backyard a number of years go. It really sucks but eventually it just becomes a distant memory.

This seems like a nice message, but the phrase "eventually it just becomes a distant memory" seems kind of harsh.

2. That’s disappointing, hope it shows up & let’s keep our east division strong

AFC East! WOOOOO!

3. That’s crazy that someone somehow got 3 levels up to take your flag. Hope you find it! Looking forward to a good game this weekend between your Bills and my Patriots! I’ve been impressed with the Bills’ play this season! Josh Allen is da bomb!

Forget about the flag. Let's talk some football!

4. It sucks that you got ripped off. I doubt that a fellow Bills fan would do this, but having been to OP, I can understand their determination. Go Bills ! Beat NE !

I saw a comment below before I saw this one, so you'll have to see my thoughts below.

5. That's not good I like the Bills. From a PATS fan. I would be angry also!

6. I would start with any Jets or Dolphins fans in the neighborhood

This is my favorite! Go door to door and ask neighbors to declare their favorite NFL team. If they answer Jets or Dolphins, begin waterboarding! Of course, maybe it’s another Bills fan who likes the flag. As we saw before, they are determined. This case is wide open!

7. (Replying to 6.) no the Dolphins sucks too bad for them to care lol

Poor Miami Dolphins. At least they’re going to have lots of high draft picks in 2020. Plus, they live in South Florida in the winter. And there’s no income tax in Florida. And the city is hosting the Super Bowl in February. And Jennifer Lopez and Shakira will be there for it. You know, forget that poor Dolphins statement.

8. After the Bills lose to the Patriots this Sunday, the guy who stole the flag will return it.

9. Did you report it to the police? Go Bills

There were no replies to this comment. Maybe it was an inside job!

10. Time to send in the Bills Mafia! Poncho Billa lives!

I knew there would be a reference to Bills Mafia at some point.

11. I own a unit in [neighborhood]and am wondering - is there any chance it was removed during the recent painting and pressure washing they’ve done on the exterior of the buildings? You might look in your storage closet and check with your downstairs neighbors. The crews just worked on my section of the community so I’m wondering when they did yours. Just a thought!

This makes some sense. How dare there be a good and coherent point on a message board!?!?

12. Hope the Bills get to the Super Bowl in your lifetime! Would be nice to see the Bills defeat the Patriots! #LEGENDS

And we're back to football with nothing to do with the flag.

13. (Replying to 12) They already HAVE...FOUR times in a row! No team will ever do that again. Now let’s see them WIN one in my lifetime

14. This thread actually inspired me to order a Pats flag on Amazon to arrive in time for Sunday.

Helping the economy. That's what this message board is for!

15. Pats have been to 4 of last 5 Superbowls and won 3. That’s pretty good too (not taking away from Bills of early 90s, they were awesome)

Please, let's have more Patriots fans in this discussion. That would be great.

16. (Replying to 15.) I definitely respect what the Patriots have done...best team of a generation. Brady is awesome, Belichick is a genious. Doesn’t mean I LIKE them...😝

Yes, Belichick is a genious. A genious!

17. (Replying to 16.) I like it when the AFC East is good! Too bad Darnold got mono and the Phins decided to tank for Tua. It’s a two team race!

Okay, I did not come here for a breakdown of the AFC East. I'm done.

Why Did Buffalo WR David Clowney Get An HIV Test In Pittsburgh?

One of the big stories on the internet yesterday was Buffalo Bills wide receiver David Clowney tweeting the results of his HIV and Hepatitis tests. He's clean. Before we answer my question in the title, let's look at Mr. Clowney. According to Wikipedia, Clowney was born in Amityville, New York though ESPN lists him as born in Queens. After attending high school in Delray Beach, Florida and going to college at Virginia Tech, the Green Bay Packers drafted Clowney in the fifth round of the 2007 NFL draft. It appears that the Packers cut Clowney at some point since he signed with the New York Jets part-way through the 2007 season. Clowney played in 18 games for the Jets over the 2008-2010 seasons before being released by the team and signing with the Carolina Panthers where he played 10 games in 2010. It doesn't appear that Clowney played in 2011. Overall, Clowney has 22 career catches for 341 yards and 1 touchdown. That's basically 2-3 games for Mike Wallace.

I bring up Clowney's background since there doesn't appear to be any Pittsburgh connection. Why does this matter? Take a look at the medical results.

The testing was performed by Quest Diagnostics located at 875 Greentree Road (Parkway Center) in Pittsburgh. Did Clowney drive all the way to Greentree to take the blood test and then drive through the Fort Pitt tunnels? Clowney probably had the test done in Buffalo, but why was the testing performed in Pittsburgh? They don't have any Quest Diagnostics or anywhere else to test blood results in Western New York?

Suisham for Mayor (Steelers-Bills Recap)

Yesterday’s Pittsburgh Steelers-Buffalo Bills game likely took several months off of my life. I’m sure that it took several years off of the lives of Buffalo Bills fans. Here are my thoughts from the game:

- The Steelers dominated every possible statistic in the first half, but I’m sure that I wasn’t the only one who was nervous since the team only led 13-0 at halftime. I guess I saw too much football over the weekend with Alabama crushing Auburn early before Auburn rallied to win.

- As a Steelers fan, I realize that I’m biased in that I feel like James Harrison plays the game hard and is one of the best linebackers in the NFL. With that written, I guess I can see how opponents feel like Harrison is a dirty player, and it doesn’t help that the league fines him for anything. Therefore, anytime Harrison makes any play, folks see it as dirty. For the second consecutive week, Harrison was charged with a roughing the passer penalty that I’m convinced would not have been called if the defensive player was anyone other than Harrison.

- Stevie Johnson had a breakout game last Sunday with three touchdowns against the Cincinnati and the “Why So Serious” shirt to counter the Bengals’ “star” receivers.” Johnson’s Q-rating continues to rise among football fans thanks to his drop on what should have been a game winning touchdown. I feel a little bad for Johnson since he seems like a likable guy. I hope he bounces back, particularly in weeks 16 and 17 against the Patriots and Jets respectively.



- By the way, we need a ruling. Is the Buffalo WR going to go as Steve or Stevie?

- Of course, Steve/Stevie’s drop wouldn’t have happened if Leodis McKelvin didn’t run into his teammate during the overtime kickoff return. The game really should have ended on that play.

- While Hines Ward had a nice statistics with 7 receptions for 107 yards, he disappeared after the first half. In the second half and overtime, Ward had only 1 catch for 24 yards.

- We interrupt this recap for another Steelers holding penalty.

- Even though he spells his name incorrectly, Shaun Suisham had a great game going 4 for 4 in field goal attempts, all over 40 yards. If he decided to run today, I think Suisham could win an election to become Pittsburgh’s mayor. Just look how happy he made Daniel Sepulveda!



- When I lived in San Diego, I regularly watched games at a Steelers bar where one guy yelled “Get some pressure on him” during nearly ever pass play when the Steelers were on defense. While I applaud the passion, it got a little unoriginal after a while. On Sunday, a guy yelled “Get off the field” every time Buffalo had a third down. This got old quick.

- I’m not an NFL General Manager, but I’ll play one on the internet. Why did the Bills draft running back CJ Spiller with their first round draft pick? Fred Jackson is a really good running back and the team also had Marshawn Lynch, a former first round draft pick, at the start of the season before trading him to Seattle for two undisclosed picks. With so many needs at other positions, that seems like a wasted opportunity for the Bills.

- I'm also not an NFL coach, but I'll play one here. Why didn't Bills Coach Chan Gailey challenge Troy Polamalu's interception late in the fourth quarter? Sure, Polamalu caught the ball cleanly, but he was down by contact at the one yard line. However, Troy got up and advanced the ball to about the six yard line. Although it didn't end up making a difference, pinning the Steelers extremely deep inside their own territory could have had an impact.

- Mike Wallace scored only a 2.5 on the judges’ scorecards for his overtime dive.

- Remember when Lee Evans was a decent wide receiver for Buffalo? Now all he does is recover a teammate’s fumble and go out for coin tosses.

- Did you happen to see Rian Lindell wearing sweatpants over his uniform pants on the sidelines? I’ve seen baseball pitchers put on a jacket to keep their arm warm, but I’ve never seen a kicker put on sweatpants to keep their legs warm.

- I’ll take a 151-yard rushing performance, even if it was on 36 carries, from Rashard Mendenhall any day.

- I really do appreciate the fact that CBS provides player statistics for other games during its telecasts. (Fox, you are welcome to do this as well instead of spending money on the ridiculous jumping robot.) This is huge help when I’m watching the game at a bar/restaurant and don’t have internet access. However, was it really necessary to include players from the Thursday night games in your fantasy leaders? If you didn’t know that Tom Brady had four TD passes on Thursday, you should stop playing fantasy football.


It was an ugly win, but a win nonetheless. The Steelers are now 8-3, and just as important, are 6-2 in the conference. Next week is the monster Sunday night game against Baltimore, who is also 8-3. Fortunately, unlike the Steelers previous Sunday night appearances this season, the Ravens did not lose to (or even play) the Cleveland Browns the week before the primetime game.

For more about yesterday's game, check out the game story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and ESPN.