The Buffalo Bills have had a heckuva season. Under the
leadership of their star quarterback, Josh Allen, who has wowed
analysts and prognosticators, the Bills cliched the AFC East
Division Saturday with a win over the Denver Broncos. With two
games to go, the 11-3 Bills have their fans — who haven’t seen
their team take the division title
since 1995 — in a tizzy, with expectations set pretty
high.
But unfortunately for those diehards, they’ve not been able to
watch a single game in person.
The reason for that is New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s
edict that no one is allowed to attend a football game in person
throughout the state of New York. Which means that all home Bills
games have been played in an empty stadium — the Giants and Jets
both play their games in MetLife Stadium, which is located in New
Jersey.
However, now that the Bills are in the playoffs, Cuomo is
itching to attend a game — and Albany watchers are wondering if
maybe the governor’s wish to fulfill his own desires will prompt
him to open the gates to the public.
Cuomo said Sunday that he would like to be at Bills Stadium when
the Bills host a playoff game in January.
“I want to attend a Bills game,” he said on a conference call,
the New York Post
reported. “I’ve attended them in the past.”
Noting the Bills’ dominant performance over the Broncos, the
Cuomo continued gushing, “It was a great game, by the way — that
was just unbelievable. I mean really incredible. You almost sense
the energy and the optimism and the confidence, the way they
played, and Josh Allen was just unbelievable.”
The Post did not note whether the governor indicated that
traveling across the state from Albany to Buffalo would count as
“essential travel.”
Of course, the Cuomo administration still claims to be concerned
about crowds and COVID spread — which is why he has continued his
controversial and inconsistent dining bans that target New York
City.
And it’s not just the stadium crowd Cuomo and his team are
worried about, the Post noted. They’re also worried about partying
members of the Bills Mafia in the parking lot should fans be
allowed to watch games in person.
“The big issue here is tailgate parties,” New York state health
commissioner Howard A. Zucker said, the paper reported. More from
the Post:
Bills fans are known for wild tailgates before games,
which have included people jumping through flaming tables. And fans
have been itching to get together to revel in the Bills’ great
season. Thousands of raucous fans even greeted the team at the
airport early Sunday morning when they returned home from Denver
after clinching a playoff berth.
HotAir’s Jazz Shaw
asked, “Is Andrew Cuomo going to consider lifting that
restriction before the vaccines have been widely distributed just
so he can go watch a game? Even worse, would he really have the
temerity to ask if he can be allowed to go sit in one of the
skyboxes by himself to watch?”
