Let’s start with something very obvious:  Western New York has an addiction to the Buffalo Bills.  Look at all the shirts, jackets, and hats – not just at a game, but in the everyday, walking around world.  The community is living and dying with every completed pass and missed extra point.  Checking off the upcoming schedule, not only for the Bills, but also the Chiefs and Dolphins is a must.  Projecting games that will be easy wins and those that will be difficult is a part of many conversations.  Calculating the chances of a first-round bye in the playoffs is the favorite math question in the area.

It’s catchy.  It is an addiction of sorts, but one that is mostly on the good side of things.  It’s like the words written on the football at the end of the M&T Bank-Stefon Diggs TV commercial: “Football brings us together.”

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Election 2022 was certainly one of the most unexpected political stories in recent history.  Democrats defied expectations, maintaining control of the Senate and coming within three or four seats of holding the House.  Republicans were anticipating gains of 30 or more House seats and two or three Senate seats.  The Republican House majority has more than two dozen potential rebels, making management impossible. 

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