Jeremy Clauze and his wife, Lisa Clauze, B.S. ’95, enjoyed watching the December 15 Bills-Chargers game with other alumni and friends at Blind Melons, a Buffalo Bills backers bar near San Diego.

Four festive "tailgate" television events for the Buffalo Bills were hosted in December by alumni chapters around the country.

Blind Melons, a Buffalo Bills backers bar in "The Beaches" area of San Diego, was the site of a December 15 chapter event where 35 alumni and friends gathered to watch the Bills host the Chargers. Event chair Eric Miller, B.S. ’01, worked with the bar’s management to coordinate and host the event. The crowd was ecstatic as the Bills hung on to defeat the Chargers, despite the first appearance (and some late-in-the-game heroics) of former Bills quarterback Doug Flutie. Another highlight was the halftime cell phone call Kathryn Wells, B.S. ’88, received from Martha Rodgers, B.A. ’90 and her husband, Jim, a San Diego State alumnus, who were in the upper deck at Ralph Wilson Stadium. Martha Rodgers’s words certainly didn’t inspire envy among the alumni watching the game in San Diego when she said: "It’s cold."

On the other coast, a lively group of 35 UB alumni and friends in Baltimore enjoyed Buffalo wings and beef on weck, as they cheered on the Bills against San Diego at Fletcher’s in the Fells Point district. Owned by a former Buffalonian, Fletcher’s is home each week to the newly established Charm City Bills Backers Club. "It’s great to see so many people here with the Western New York connection," says Kelly Davidson, B.A. ’93, one of the club’s founding members. "I think we recruited a lot of new Bills Backers today!"

On December 8, some 40 alumni and friends convened at the Harp in downtown Boston to watch Drew Bledsoe’s exciting "homecoming" game against the New England Patriots. The delicious spread of authentic Buffalo wings and beef on weck disappeared quickly. "I’m disappointed that we lost the game," commented Arlone Cofield, B.S. ’72, chapter vice president, "but the food was a taste of home."

The weather in Phoenix was far different than it was in Buffalo on December 1, when the Bills hosted—and blasted—the Miami Dolphins. While the fourth quarter was played in blinding snow, some 40 alumni and friends were quite comfortable in the Mill Avenue Beer Company in downtown Tempe. Ed Ryczek, B.S. ’71, chapter cofounder, welcomed the group at halftime and made a special presentation to the most "mature" UB alumnus and Bills fan, Rochester native Edwin Cornell, B.S. ’49, who was accompanied by his son, Allan, and daughter-in-law, Diane.