On Christmas Eve morning, the Buffalo Bills’ official Facebook page and Twitter account asked Bills fans: “What will Santa deliver for the Bills today?”
The Bills were playing the Tim Tebow led Denver Broncos at 1pm on Christmas Eve. Even though the miracle Broncos had been snuffed by the New England Patriots the week before, the consensus was that the hopeless and injured Bills would lose.
On top of that, the game would be blacked out in the Buffalo and Rochester areas because Ralph Wilson Stadium did not sell out. In some markets, an owner will buy out the remainder of the tickets to ensure a sold out game, but Bills owner Ralph Wilson (or whomever is acting on his behalf these days) did not. To add to that, the Bills had squandered a successful first half of the season to fall to a 5-9 record, with no chance of the playoffs in sight. Add to that the general pessimism surrounding the Bills’ brass after they signed shaky starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick to a long term contract but have yet to restructure key cog running back Fred Jackson’s deal (they have merely “assured” him of one, but haven’t inked anything official.)
Given all of that negativity, why would a social media manager ask such a question? You could expect at least eighty percent bitter responses. But the Bills’ asked, and here are some of the actual responses they received:
The Facebook comments section – several hundred deep – felt like a big group therapy session, or at least an extremely curmudgeonly family Christmas dinner. Surprisingly, the Bills pulled out the upset and used a strong day on defense to defeat the Broncos 40-14.
Was it harmless for the Bills to ask such a question via social media, or does it illustrate how out of touch they may be with their fan base?