OBL 5/14: Projecting the Bills 2026 Schedule, John Polka Updates The Latest With Highmark Stadium
Chris Brown and Maddy Glab shared all the latest rumors and announcements when it comes to the anticipated release of the 2026 schedule. They asked the listeners how do you feel about the Bills possibly playing a home game on Thanksgiving? The two then went around the NFL to discuss news and notes from the league. Bills VP of Stadium Development John Polka joined One Bills Live to update the progress of Highmark Stadium ahead of its anticipated opening later this summer. He shared details on the technological advancements, the magnitude of the signage that recently went up, and the anticipation for the 2026 season.
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Speaker 1: Now go boys.
Speaker 2: He is a feast for the Capitol.
Speaker 3: Fie the cook is in the kitchen, looks.
Speaker 4: Down the sideline.
Speaker 2: He's got kick Kade for a twenty three yard touchdown
Speaker 2: and it's intercepted. Jumping over in the air is bad
Speaker 2: for this the one Bills live all right. It's NFL
Speaker 2: schedule release day here on a Thursday. We finally made
Speaker 2: it on waiting with baited breath, and it will be
Speaker 2: coming our way in just a matter of hours. Manny
Speaker 2: and I'll have the draft special on all of our
Speaker 2: streaming channels and on the YouTube channel for the Bills
Speaker 2: later this evening, right when the schedules released by NFL
Speaker 2: Network and ESPN, which are one and the same now.
Speaker 1: Eight pm people scheduled viewing, so on the YouTube.
Speaker 2: So we'll have our stream because we'll have our schedule
Speaker 2: release as it's dedicated to the bill. So if you
Speaker 2: want to know exactly what the Bills are doing, you
Speaker 2: come see us tonight at eight o'clock. There is more
Speaker 2: stuff trickling out, leaks and whatnot around the league, and
Speaker 2: we'll get to those in just a second. Yesterday Maddie
Speaker 2: and I were trying to handicap the season opener by
Speaker 2: ruling out the teams that it could not be. So
Speaker 2: here we are twenty four hours later, and we do
Speaker 2: know a bit more about the Bill's schedule, as we're
Speaker 2: hours away from the full release tonight. So, as I said,
Speaker 2: we surmised on yesterday's show that with the Bills not
Speaker 2: a part of the international schedule, we felt they stood
Speaker 2: a good chance of playing in one of the holiday games.
Speaker 2: There are now multiple reports nothing official from the League
Speaker 2: or the Bills. There are multiple reports that they are
Speaker 2: the finale of the Thanksgiving triple header. Now what is
Speaker 2: official is Bears at Lions at one pm on Thanksgiving yep,
Speaker 2: followed by Eagles at Cowboys at four point thirty. That's
Speaker 2: also official. The league announced that two days ago, and
Speaker 2: then the reports are Chiefs at Bills for eight twenty
Speaker 2: kickoff at New Hei Mark Stadium to cap the Thanksgiving
Speaker 2: triple header.
Speaker 1: Hello, Hello, Holiday Bills were the reports.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we were speculating that maybe it's Chiefs Bills on Christmas,
Speaker 2: because the Chiefs always push, hey, we want to be
Speaker 2: a Christmas Day team. We want to play on Christmas.
Speaker 2: So yeah, we thought that, you know, that would make
Speaker 2: a lot of sense. As a holiday game. But the
Speaker 2: reports are indicating Bills the finale hosting Chiefs on Thanksgiving.
Speaker 2: We'll see if it is in fact accurate.
Speaker 1: If that's accurate, it would be the first time since
Speaker 1: twenty twenty two, that's when the Bills played the Lions
Speaker 1: at their place and beat them by three.
Speaker 2: Yeah. That I was the big rip throw over the
Speaker 2: middle by Josh to Digs for like thirty eight yards
Speaker 2: and then they got in field goal range.
Speaker 1: And bass teas.
Speaker 2: Yeah that was That was a wild game. Yeah that Yeah,
Speaker 2: that's a heck of a slate on Thanksgiving. I mean
Speaker 2: we know two of the three games.
Speaker 1: Yeah, reported games are nuts.
Speaker 2: I mean Bears at Lions, that's a that's a great game.
Speaker 2: Eagles at Cowboys, I mean two divisional games right there,
Speaker 2: and then if the reports are accurate that it's Chiefs
Speaker 2: at Bills. What a way to finish Thanksgiving.
Speaker 1: We've got to watch football, have.
Speaker 2: An early meal or something like, make sure you have
Speaker 2: dinner at three so you're covered. If in fact that's accurate,
Speaker 2: So yeah, that would be a heck of a trip
Speaker 2: header on Thanksgiving. We knocked another team off the list
Speaker 2: for potential Week one opponent for the Bills on the road.
Speaker 2: We know that the Patriots will now not be Buffalo's
Speaker 2: Week one opponent for the Bills because they were named
Speaker 2: as the opponent in the kickoff game at Seattle in
Speaker 2: a Super Bowl rematch week one. So knowing the Patriots
Speaker 2: are on the road themselves week one, we know they
Speaker 2: can't host the Bills in Week one, so they're off
Speaker 2: the list. So that leaves us with three possible road opponents.
Speaker 2: And the reason I say that is because there's also
Speaker 2: a report out there that the Raiders are playing at
Speaker 2: Miami week one, so that would take two more of
Speaker 2: the teams out of the mix. So if that's true,
Speaker 2: we're down to Green Bay, Houston, and Minnesota as Buffalo's
Speaker 2: possible Week one road opener. So we're down to three teams.
Speaker 2: We got thirty three percent chance of hitting, if you
Speaker 2: want to take a swing at that one. And it
Speaker 2: was kind of funny because the Bills themselves coming into work,
Speaker 2: I think it was yesterday, they were asked to guess
Speaker 2: the road open for their week one schedule, and social media,
Speaker 2: our social media people put that out basically some of
Speaker 2: their predictions. So let's let's roll that now, because I
Speaker 2: want to see. What's some of what they had to
Speaker 2: say as far as their road Week one opener guesses
Speaker 2: for opponent, Big Packers.
Speaker 1: We can win market, so the Seahawks don't put the page.
Speaker 4: We're gonna plet the Patris on the Dolphins.
Speaker 2: That's my case.
Speaker 1: Doesn't matter.
Speaker 2: I think he's got the Green Bay or Minnesota the Dolphins. Baby,
Speaker 2: oh Bacon's I think.
Speaker 4: The Dolphins plan of Patriots Miami, we want Houston tests
Speaker 4: the Vegas.
Speaker 2: It doesn't matter. Football down, Raiders, it doesn't matter, New England,
Speaker 2: the Jets, it doesn't matter.
Speaker 4: They gotta play across.
Speaker 2: Okay, So a wide ranging set of guesses. There four
Speaker 2: players echoing the coaches mantra for the season and playing
Speaker 2: teacher's pet.
Speaker 1: If you will, they have to play US.
Speaker 2: Dawson Knox saying they have to play US, Dalton King
Speaker 2: Kaid saying it doesn't matter. Michael Hoyt said it doesn't matter.
Speaker 2: Reid Ferguson said it doesn't matter. Put the ball down,
Speaker 2: you got to play US. So guys embodying the Montreal
Speaker 2: already didn't even guess, didn't even submit a guess.
Speaker 1: Of these guys are right.
Speaker 2: Yeah, a lot of people I think wisely guessed a
Speaker 2: division opponent because a lot of times the Bills do
Speaker 2: draw a division opponent in Week one, as was the
Speaker 2: case two years ago and even three years ago. Bill's
Speaker 2: at Jets Week one in twenty twenty three. That was
Speaker 2: a Monday night game when Aaron Rodgers lasted four plays.
Speaker 2: So yeah, and as we said yesterday, it hasn't been
Speaker 2: the Dolphins in a long time. Twenty ten was the
Speaker 2: last time the Bills hosted the Dolphins in Week one,
Speaker 2: and I don't know if they've had them on the
Speaker 2: road in Week one for a long time. And I
Speaker 2: don't think we want them in Week one because it's
Speaker 2: gonna be stupid hot down there. So if it's not
Speaker 2: the Dolphins, I'm not crying a river at all. I don't.
Speaker 2: We already kind of ruled out the Jets because the
Speaker 2: Giants are playing the Cowboys in MetLife Stadium Week one
Speaker 2: Sunday Night Football, and usually they don't have the Jets
Speaker 2: and Giants playing at Medlife Stadium on the same weekend
Speaker 2: unless one is playing Sunday one PM and the other's
Speaker 2: playing Monday night. They can turn the field around and
Speaker 2: the stadium around quickly enough for that, but more often
Speaker 2: and then not, they alternate home and away. So knowing
Speaker 2: the Giants are home week one, Jet's probably not a
Speaker 2: Week one home game, so they'll probably be on the
Speaker 2: road too. So yeah, we're basically down. You saw a
Speaker 2: lot of guys guest green Bay, a lot of guys
Speaker 2: guest Minnesota. So it's down to green Bay, Houston, Minnesota
Speaker 2: as Buffalo's possible road opener in Week one.
Speaker 1: I feel like green Bay green Bay could make sense
Speaker 1: as a opening season game, first game of season. You
Speaker 1: got a talented NFC North team in a really talented division.
Speaker 2: Yep, I could see that. I could easily see that.
Speaker 2: Houston tough place to play, as we mentioned.
Speaker 1: Yesterday, but let us get a little ramp up before those.
Speaker 2: Haven't won there since two thousand and six. That would
Speaker 2: be a that would be a tough way to open
Speaker 2: the season. And Minnesota, you know, a team with what
Speaker 2: we expect to be a new starting quarterback in Kyler Murray.
Speaker 2: That would be a heck of a receiving quarter against
Speaker 2: right out of the shoot. Jordan Addison, Justin Jefferson, Juwan Jennings, TJ. Howkinson,
Speaker 2: a tight end man alive. That's a that's a big
Speaker 2: test for Jim Leonards defense in Week one, even with
Speaker 2: a new quarterback in Kyler Murray facing them. So interesting
Speaker 2: choices there left for Week one for the Bills. But
Speaker 2: let's go around the NFL as there are some other
Speaker 2: scheduling news that has trickled out. The Black Friday game
Speaker 2: the day after Thanksgiving is confirmed. It's Broncos at Steelers.
Speaker 2: And I found this interesting, Maddie. It's a three pm
Speaker 2: kickoff on Amazon, which is which is a switch for me.
Speaker 2: I'm not First of all, I'm not used. I'm used
Speaker 2: to it being on Amazon. Has it always been three.
Speaker 1: It was three pm last year. We had a discussion
Speaker 1: about this in our office and somebody said, I think
Speaker 1: it's on three pm. We didn't know the opponent at
Speaker 1: that time. The team's playing each other, but somebody's like
Speaker 1: three pm, And then everybody else is like, why would
Speaker 1: it be at three pm? So then we looked into it,
Speaker 1: and sure enough.
Speaker 2: I guess. I guess they feel safe with that time
Speaker 2: slot because anybody that still actually goes out and does
Speaker 2: Black Friday shopping instead of online, they're probably back from
Speaker 2: the stores by that time because they're there for the
Speaker 2: Doorbusters at six am. You know they're ready to bust
Speaker 2: down the door when you know whatever store opens, So
Speaker 2: three pm is probably a safe start time. I couldn't
Speaker 2: remember for the life of me when the Black Friday
Speaker 2: game was in terms of kickof We thought.
Speaker 1: It was a bunch of us thought five pm.
Speaker 2: I don't know why I thought it was a primetime game,
Speaker 2: but I guess not. Packers are also, Oh, I should
Speaker 2: mention this, So that's the Netflix game or sorry, the
Speaker 2: Amazon game. Black Friday three pm, Broncos at Steelers. We
Speaker 2: learned yesterday that the Thanksgiving eve game now official is
Speaker 2: Packers at Rams and then the Packers are also reportedly
Speaker 2: going to play on Christmas Day against the Bears in
Speaker 2: Chicago time on that game, and that will be one
Speaker 2: of the Netflix games that day. So based on the reports,
Speaker 2: it looks like the Bears are going to be playing
Speaker 2: on Thanksgiving and Christmas because we saw reports that I
Speaker 2: guess this is official now Bears at Lion's twelve thirty
Speaker 2: Thanksgiving and now reportedly Packers at Bear's Christmas Day, So
Speaker 2: the Bears are on Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Speaker 1: The Bears are getting a lot of primetime games and
Speaker 1: a lot of games in front of a lot of
Speaker 1: eyes according to these schedule leaks. I think back to
Speaker 1: the NFL schedule release graphic that the NFL posted. I
Speaker 1: think it was NFL did it or ESPN. It was
Speaker 1: one of the schedule release posters, and the two quarterbacks
Speaker 1: featured the biggest in terms of size on this graphic,
Speaker 1: Josh Allen and Caleb Williams. What does that tell you?
Speaker 1: I think that tells you there's probably going to be
Speaker 1: a lot of opportunities to watch both of these teams
Speaker 1: throughout the twenty twenty six season.
Speaker 2: And in prime time probably too. The only other players
Speaker 2: on that graphic was the defending offensive player of the
Speaker 2: Year Jackson Smith and Jigba, and the defending defensive player
Speaker 2: of the Year Miles Garrett. The other two guys were
Speaker 2: just high profile quarterback yeah, Josh Allen and GAYLEB Williams.
Speaker 2: And those two guys will actually play each other as
Speaker 2: well at some point in the season too, so be
Speaker 2: interesting to see.
Speaker 1: Where that entire family is going to travel to that
Speaker 1: game whenever it is they are ready to bring the caravan.
Speaker 1: I was on the phone with my dad last night
Speaker 1: and he's like, should we do an RV for the game.
Speaker 2: Oh yeah, we know that game is here, so they
Speaker 2: have to come down.
Speaker 1: So it's gonna be here. We don't know when, but
Speaker 1: they're already planning on how they're gonna do it, how
Speaker 1: they're gonna tail it. I'm like, guys, just wait till
Speaker 1: tonight and then we can figure all of these plans out.
Speaker 1: But they're ready. They're ready to get into it.
Speaker 2: Now, here's the big question. What are they wearing to
Speaker 2: that game? Because cause their daughter works for the Bills,
Speaker 2: they're died in the wool Bears fans, but they're in
Speaker 2: enemy territory they are.
Speaker 4: So.
Speaker 2: What's the play there?
Speaker 3: Do they split the family down the middle?
Speaker 2: They could split I have two siblings, a mom and
Speaker 2: a dad, so they go two and two, or do
Speaker 2: they go clean sweep bear down.
Speaker 1: I mean there's gonna be extended family coming, aunts and uncles.
Speaker 2: And oh well, they'll all be wearing Bears.
Speaker 1: That's what I was gonna say, too far removed from
Speaker 1: the knees, see the inner circle being more chill and
Speaker 1: either wearing some Bills stuff or just some subtle navy colors.
Speaker 1: But my extended family, they're gonna they're gonna be in
Speaker 1: Bear's gear.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would expect that. So I don't know. Maybe
Speaker 2: they have to invest in one of those down the
Speaker 2: middle shirts. Remember Reed Ferguson's parents used to have those.
Speaker 2: Or actually mom would wear the Dolphins jersey when his
Speaker 2: son or his brother Blake was playing for the Dolphins
Speaker 2: the long snapper, and then the dad would wear the
Speaker 2: Bill's jersey and they would flip flop or whatever. That's
Speaker 2: another way to do it. You could split the difference
Speaker 2: one one parent Bears one parent. Knowing your mom she'll
Speaker 2: wear the Bills. Yeah, I could see him wear the
Speaker 2: Bill's jersey. Dad will wear the Bears jersey. There might
Speaker 2: be no hope for your dad.
Speaker 1: Family is going to be wearing Bear stuff.
Speaker 2: I mean, I don't think there's any hope for your dad.
Speaker 1: Where During the holidays, like we all get together on
Speaker 1: Christmas Eve and we do like a bigger gift exchange,
Speaker 1: and one of the years it was like a Bears
Speaker 1: themed gift exchange, but somebody got me a Bills present
Speaker 1: instead of getting me a Bears present. And then my
Speaker 1: uncle like for two minutes was like.
Speaker 3: I can't believe you got bellstop instead of a bar stop.
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, I literally work for this team, and
Speaker 1: I've worked teamed out for seven years. They write they
Speaker 1: signed my paycheck, They signed my paychecks. And I know
Speaker 1: these guys and I know their stories and I I
Speaker 1: am pulling for them all the way.
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's going to be an interesting week for you
Speaker 2: and your Friday for sure, whenever that game ends up
Speaker 2: on the schedule. Here some other Week one game matchups
Speaker 2: that have leaked around the league. The Bears are reportedly
Speaker 2: going to play at Carolina in Week one. Yep, Bucks
Speaker 2: are reportedly going to play at Cincinnati in Week one.
Speaker 2: Saints will open on the road at Detroit in Week one,
Speaker 2: and the Eagles are also going to reportedly host the
Speaker 2: Commanders in Week one. So a lot of Week one
Speaker 2: games trickling out around the league. We already know the
Speaker 2: Giants are playing the Cowboys on Sunday Night in Week one,
Speaker 2: that is official, but they are reportedly the Giants going
Speaker 2: to play on Sunday Night the following week on the
Speaker 2: road against the Rams in LA. So back to back
Speaker 2: prime timers for John Harbaugh, Jackson Dart and the Giants.
Speaker 1: There's some belief in that team in.
Speaker 2: Some big time Cachet there with their game scheduling early
Speaker 2: in the season.
Speaker 4: Uh.
Speaker 2: There's another report that we saw AFC North matchups says
Speaker 2: the Bengals and Ravens will tangle in a New Year's
Speaker 2: Eve Thursday night game in Cincinnati. And if you remember
Speaker 2: how this season series goes, it's usually the Bengals they
Speaker 2: have to go to Baltimore late in the year, and
Speaker 2: they did that last year and I think they actually
Speaker 2: beat him. Uh, this is the first time in a
Speaker 2: while that the division series between those two teams has flipped.
Speaker 2: So now it's gonna be Cincinnati hosting Baltimore. That's the Uh,
Speaker 2: that's the Trey Hendrickson return to Cincinnati game.
Speaker 1: So that's intense. I I want to say now that
Speaker 1: we're talking about Bengals and Ravens. I don't know if
Speaker 1: it was last year or the year before, I felt
Speaker 1: like those two matchups were they like I feel like
Speaker 1: they played each other within a quick time space, like
Speaker 1: three weeks.
Speaker 2: Two games in three weeks. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that was
Speaker 2: I think that was the year.
Speaker 1: End of the season.
Speaker 2: Yeah, wasn't that the year that Sam Hubbard recovered a
Speaker 2: fumble at the one yard line and ran ninety yards
Speaker 2: something yards the other way. Baltimore was going in for
Speaker 2: a go ahead score. I think the game you puntly
Speaker 2: fumbled the ball on like a quarterback sneak or something,
Speaker 2: and Hubbard picked up the fumble and ran like ninety
Speaker 2: five yards for a touchdown the other way.
Speaker 1: I don't remember when it was.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was only a couple of years ago, but
Speaker 2: don't ask me. I thought Amazon Primes only had games
Speaker 2: for three years, and they're entering year five, So what
Speaker 2: do I know. Other news around the NFL, Dolphins running
Speaker 2: back Devon a Chan is now one of the highest
Speaker 2: paid running backs in the NFL after he signed a
Speaker 2: four year, sixty eight million dollar contract extension. That contract
Speaker 2: includes thirty two million dollars guaranteed. He's earned it, He's
Speaker 2: he's been a workhorse for them. Jets have signed veteran
Speaker 2: receiver Tim Patrick after he made a free agent visit yesterday.
Speaker 2: Patrick was a reserve receiver for Jacksonville last season. And
Speaker 2: the Las Vegas Raider have signed veteran free agent nose
Speaker 2: tackle Benito Jones. Jones played for Miami last season, so
Speaker 2: that's kind of the nuts and bolts of what we
Speaker 2: have seen trickle out schedule wise, I'm sure there's gonna
Speaker 2: be more.
Speaker 1: Are you the type of person who last night's refreshing
Speaker 1: some of the schedule leaker twitter accounts?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was just like just I don't just get
Speaker 2: me there, just get me to eight pm Thursday, because
Speaker 2: it's I feel like this run up to the actual
Speaker 2: schedule release, Manny is a lot like the playoff scenarios.
Speaker 2: You know, when we're going through the playoffs, possible playoff
Speaker 2: scenarios with like three weeks, like, well, this team wins
Speaker 2: and this team, it's.
Speaker 3: Like, just just get me there, give me there.
Speaker 2: Or or give me two possibilities, right, get me down
Speaker 2: to If they win, they play this team. If they lose,
Speaker 2: they play that team. Like, get me there, because my
Speaker 2: head just starts hurting and I just cannot.
Speaker 1: And there's so many right, there's so many games every
Speaker 1: single weekend, and it's hard to keep track of everything.
Speaker 1: It's so hard to keep track of everything. So when
Speaker 1: you see all these things being leaked, it's nut.
Speaker 2: So yeah, okay, so now there's a report, is it, well,
Speaker 2: how how legit is at NFL nerd or at nerding
Speaker 2: on NFL? Is that guy a legit source. Oh, he's
Speaker 2: got a lot of these independent reporting on the schedule
Speaker 2: and so he is reporting bill's at Texans week one,
Speaker 2: So he's got a bunch of games on there. Wow.
Speaker 2: Oh he's got okay. So he's also reporting bills at
Speaker 2: Vikings week nine. Okay, he's got lions at Vikings. Oh man,
Speaker 2: he's even got Oh he's got bills at Rams. Who
Speaker 2: is this guy?
Speaker 1: This is one of the.
Speaker 2: NFL NERD main schedule leaker. Okay, so he's calling bills
Speaker 2: at Texans week one is his report, So we'll have
Speaker 2: to see it.
Speaker 1: Says he's based in Buffalo, New York too. Oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: who is this person.
Speaker 2: They'll find that person, track him or her down.
Speaker 3: Oh my gosh.
Speaker 2: It's amazing how much the schedule news has just taken
Speaker 2: off in the last six to eight years. It's bananas.
Speaker 1: Yeah, people go cuckoo for Coco pops.
Speaker 2: I mean they have a Twitter hand. This guy's got
Speaker 2: a Twitter handle that's at nerding on NFL and in
Speaker 2: his bio it says independent reporting on the schedule, unaffiliated
Speaker 2: with the NFL, so not official by any means. But
Speaker 2: we'll see if his leaks have proven accurate. I thought
Speaker 2: we did a pretty good job middling it down to
Speaker 2: three teams. I don't know if the guy's throwing darts
Speaker 2: or he's just I mean, he's got a thirty three
Speaker 2: percent chance to be right right, thirty chance to be
Speaker 2: right now that we've got it down to Green Bay, Houston,
Speaker 2: or Minnesota for Week one. But he also had Bills
Speaker 2: at Minnesota on.
Speaker 1: His here's another one.
Speaker 2: Oh wow, So Jordan Schultz is reporting Bills at Broncos
Speaker 2: playoff rematch on Christmas rematch of the divisional playoff on
Speaker 2: Christmas Day. Wow. So that would put the Bills reportedly
Speaker 2: on Thanksgiving and Christmas like the Bears. Wow, Because there
Speaker 2: are the report I mean, we know the Bears are
Speaker 2: playing on Thanksgiving, there's reports the Bills are playing on Thanksgiving,
Speaker 2: and now there's a report from Jeordia shows that the
Speaker 2: Bills are playing on Christmas Day as well. So Thanksgiving
Speaker 2: and Christmas double whammy.
Speaker 1: If that's true. That's the NFL saying we didn't give
Speaker 1: you an international game, so here's what you gotta do.
Speaker 2: Do us as solid. Yeah. So so that would mean
Speaker 2: the Bills and the Bears, if those reports are accurate,
Speaker 2: that would mean Bills and Bears both play games on
Speaker 2: Thanksgiving and Christmas, neither of which is against each other,
Speaker 2: because they do play each other, but it won't be
Speaker 2: on Thanksgiving or Christmas. Okay. So so based on those reports,
Speaker 2: Bill's home for Thanksgiving away for Christmas Day hmm, and
Speaker 2: it's triple headers on both of those dates. So they,
Speaker 2: according to the reports, are the last game on Thanksgiving.
Speaker 2: They didn't have a time for the Christmas Day. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm but at Denver it would probably have to be
Speaker 2: later if that's correct.
Speaker 1: I don't see a time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, but if it's I mean it's a road game
Speaker 2: at Denver, so it would have to be later. So
Speaker 2: I mean it's at least the.
Speaker 1: Four here's another schedule ks.
Speaker 2: Oh and that guy, Yeah, that guy's saying, yeah, that
Speaker 2: would makes sense. Yeah, I mean that's not a stretch.
Speaker 2: He's not really going out on a line him. He
Speaker 2: sees the Jordan Schultz report Bills at Denver on Christmas,
Speaker 2: and then he's like four thirty. Most of us would say,
Speaker 2: would guess that.
Speaker 1: It's gotta be a later game if that's true.
Speaker 2: But this is yet another reason why I just want
Speaker 2: to get to eight o'clock because it's like, are these valid?
Speaker 2: Can we take him to the bank? Are people just
Speaker 2: throwing darts?
Speaker 1: So and it's just like it's a mass of games
Speaker 1: getting released right now.
Speaker 3: Well, it's a lot.
Speaker 2: I know, I told you this before we went on
Speaker 2: the air. The entire Giant schedule is out, like the
Speaker 2: whole schedule, front to back, soup to nuts. It's been
Speaker 2: put out there by some leaker, which makes me feel
Speaker 2: bad for their social media department. You know, because this
Speaker 2: is the super Bowl for social media around the league.
Speaker 2: They all try to do up their you know, schedule
Speaker 2: releases in a unique and entertaining way, and you know,
Speaker 2: to their credit, like the vast majority of them do
Speaker 2: a bang up job. But that's kind of taking the
Speaker 2: air out of the balloon for the poor Giants. Social
Speaker 2: media people come on of stinks for them. I feel bad.
Speaker 2: Not that you can control the social media universe.
Speaker 1: It's hard.
Speaker 2: So it be all right, Well that's that's a big one.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So Jordan Schultz reporting bills at Broncos Christmas Day week
Speaker 2: sixteen mm, and we're we're guessing that that would be
Speaker 2: a road game. He's also saying, well, we kind of
Speaker 2: knew this one. We mentioned this one already. The Netflix
Speaker 2: game packers at Bears on Christmas Day, so hmm, heavy
Speaker 2: holiday slate, so perhaps even more holiday games than we anticipated.
Speaker 2: We were assuming they would be on one of the holidays.
Speaker 2: Now we're based on reports they might be on both.
Speaker 2: That's wild. H We got to take a break here,
Speaker 2: But our question of the day for you is as
Speaker 2: follows uh, and it pertains to the holidays. We were
Speaker 2: anticipating all only one holiday game based on the reports
Speaker 2: we saw, so we were gonna ask you, how do
Speaker 2: you feel about the Bills playing a home game on Thanksgiving?
Speaker 2: That's what the reports were before we came on the air.
Speaker 2: Now there's a report they might also be playing on Christmas,
Speaker 2: So let us know how you feel about one, maybe
Speaker 2: even two holiday games for the Bills. At One Bill's
Speaker 2: Live is how you comment and interact with us. But
Speaker 2: you're in the neighborhood, you're not avid road. You want
Speaker 2: to pop at the bill score and I'm on a
Speaker 2: live crowd miic you can do that as well. We're
Speaker 2: back in a moment with your comments on One Bill's Live.
Speaker 2: How do you feel about the Bills possibly playing a
Speaker 2: home game on Thanksgiving. That's one of the latest reports
Speaker 2: out there about the Bill's twenty twenty six CHIS schedule.
Speaker 2: Would say Bill's host Chiefs on Thanksgiving. So has that
Speaker 2: grab you? You let us know at one Bill's Live,
Speaker 2: because I think there are some people that get excited
Speaker 2: when the Bills are playing on a holiday, but knowing
Speaker 2: it's a home game, that's obviously going to interrupt people's
Speaker 2: Thanksgiving Day dinner. Although I suppose knowing that it's Bears
Speaker 2: at Lions at twelve thirty and Eagles at Cowboys at
Speaker 2: four thirty, if the Bills are in fact playing on Thanksgiving,
Speaker 2: it's going to be the late game eight thirty. So conceivably,
Speaker 2: if you're going to that game because you have season tickets,
Speaker 2: do an early Thanksgiving dinner and then roll out here.
Speaker 2: That's the way to kind of do it. Otherwise you're
Speaker 2: gonna have the biggest, most ridiculous tailgate spread that you've
Speaker 2: ever seen.
Speaker 1: That would be if the if the Bills are playing
Speaker 1: on Thanksgiving, that would be a game that I would
Speaker 1: want to walk through some of the lots for to
Speaker 1: see some tailgates, because I would assume some people are
Speaker 1: just gonna say We're just gonna do Thanksgiving keep parking,
Speaker 1: especially if like this would be more of a game
Speaker 1: time decision, but especially if the weather isn't terrible.
Speaker 2: Now Thanksgiving is late this year, it's yeah, Nomember twenty six.
Speaker 1: If it would be the night game, which if the
Speaker 1: Bills are playing on Thanksgiving. We've ruled out the other
Speaker 1: two time slides.
Speaker 2: Those have been taken, and it.
Speaker 1: Would probably get pretty cold. Tailgating late in the afternoon
Speaker 1: or early.
Speaker 2: I'll tell you, a deep fried turkey could warm me
Speaker 2: up real quick. Got one of those you know those pots.
Speaker 1: A little drop for duncan if you will.
Speaker 2: Because I think a lot of people will go that route.
Speaker 2: They'll go deep fried turkey and just bring the the
Speaker 2: fryer out, you know that they lower the turkey in.
Speaker 1: I hope nobody gets hurt.
Speaker 2: Well, there is the grease fire risk, as we know there.
Speaker 2: See all those on YouTube every year. See those on
Speaker 2: YouTube every year. Some guy in his driveway running down
Speaker 2: the street and full flames, trying to get his jacket
Speaker 2: off because he got too close to the got grease
Speaker 2: on his sleeve. It got close to the flame and
Speaker 2: boom up his arm. It goes He's running down the
Speaker 2: street screaming like a wild man.
Speaker 1: I love a good fail video does give me.
Speaker 2: We don't need that in the lots here if in
Speaker 2: fact that is the game in question. But let's go
Speaker 2: to the tweets sheet see how you feel about the
Speaker 2: Bills possibly playing a home game on Thanksgiving, as is
Speaker 2: being reported, nothing official yet, but Jacob says, as I
Speaker 2: said yesterday, the night game on Thanksgiving is perfect for fans,
Speaker 2: doesn't interfere with dinner, something to watch that evening. For
Speaker 2: those that tailgate, that's a pretty unique tailgate experience too.
Speaker 2: He's right, He's right, it would be, because you know,
Speaker 2: it's not most home games. You don't have stuffing in
Speaker 2: cranberry sauce at most home tailgates. I would say that's
Speaker 2: probably safe to assume. But yeah, your menu commits to
Speaker 2: the holiday for a tailgate if that in fact is
Speaker 2: the game. So I couldn't agree with Jacob Moore in.
Speaker 1: Terms of it being a unique experience. I also think,
Speaker 1: you know, if the Bills are playing on Thanksgiving, I
Speaker 1: feel like sometimes holidays run together, where if you're doing
Speaker 1: the same thing every year for a holiday, if you're
Speaker 1: going to the same people's house, or if you're going
Speaker 1: in the same place for Thanksgiving. It's hard to at
Speaker 1: least for myself. It kind of seems like every year
Speaker 1: is similar in a lot of ways, and it's hard
Speaker 1: to remember exact things from those years. If you're doing
Speaker 1: something completely different for that holiday, you might make some
Speaker 1: memories that last.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so you're saying, like sheet pizza.
Speaker 1: Sheet pizza, or or just tailgating for Thanksgiving instead of
Speaker 1: going to your aunt, yeah, Whoever's house.
Speaker 2: I do think the weather is dinner. The weather's a
Speaker 2: huge factor here though, because as we know, come November
Speaker 2: and December, it can get very windy here. We're five
Speaker 2: miles due east of Lake Erie, and there's a lot
Speaker 2: of flat ground between the lake and the stadium. And
Speaker 2: while it's not gonna be windy in the stadium, for
Speaker 2: the tailgaters outside, you get a windy day even if
Speaker 2: you got those hardy Thanksgiving day. Have you ever seen
Speaker 2: those monstrosity Thanksgiving paper plates? Because if you host for
Speaker 2: Thanksgiving and you've got more than fifteen people, you got
Speaker 2: a paper plate. Like, there's just no two ways about it.
Speaker 2: You can't pull out the china because you don't have
Speaker 2: enough china plates. You have like eight some people, twelve plate,
Speaker 2: you've got fifteen or more people. It's paper plates and
Speaker 2: plastic utensils. I'm sorry. We're making clean up easy here
Speaker 2: and at the tailgate it's obviously paper plates and you
Speaker 2: got those hardy ones, even those will blow away.
Speaker 1: Okay, I got an idea. Okay, if these reports are true,
Speaker 1: a high Mark Stadium opens a little bit earlier. They say,
Speaker 1: come on in have Thanksgiving meal with us. We're gonna
Speaker 1: sell Thanksgiving food items at all of our food stars,
Speaker 1: and we're gonna open up a couple hours earlier so
Speaker 1: you guys can enjoy an nice meal and then be
Speaker 1: ready for the game.
Speaker 2: Think you might have just given the Legends group of
Speaker 2: heart attack.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: Sorry, that would be something. Wow. I think a lot
Speaker 2: of people would would take them up on that.
Speaker 3: They honestly would be to make more money too.
Speaker 2: Well, yes, because I think in the grand scheme of things,
Speaker 2: while a Thanksgiving tailgate sounds great, there's so many more
Speaker 2: menu items number one, number two, weather, and number three.
Speaker 2: I think if you're doing it out here, you're probably
Speaker 2: gonna have more people than usual, even if they're not
Speaker 2: going into the game. Like I guess what we're getting
Speaker 2: at there is. I think that's one tailgate. If you
Speaker 2: have a Thanksgiving Day game, I think that's one tailgate
Speaker 2: where you may have family come to the tailgate but
Speaker 2: not even go into the game. Yeah, you know, they
Speaker 2: may park up the street, walk to where your parking
Speaker 2: spot is, do Thanksgiving with you before you go into
Speaker 2: the game, and then after that they go home. So
Speaker 2: your tailgate's bigger than it usually would be too, because
Speaker 2: it's a holiday.
Speaker 1: Are we gonna see some some bigger tables set up
Speaker 1: with chairs at its tables because you know, you think
Speaker 1: about a normal tailgates setup and some people have the
Speaker 1: lawn chairs. Some people are standing like I could see
Speaker 1: a more formal, Yes, tailgating setup. I'm thinking like college
Speaker 1: football esque the SEC like even have give me an
Speaker 1: old miss setup. I've been to some I've seen those tailgates.
Speaker 1: They're chandeliers that are hung.
Speaker 2: Places, flower arrangements in the middle of the tables.
Speaker 1: Yep, there's really nice table cloth, there's nice utensils, the
Speaker 1: plates are not paper. Yep.
Speaker 2: Now at the same time, their weather's a lot nicer
Speaker 2: that time is so a flower arrangement in the middle
Speaker 2: of the table is lovely when it's seventy degrees and Sonny,
Speaker 2: you know, when we've got twenty five mile per hour wins,
Speaker 2: that centerpiece is not going to hold up very well
Speaker 2: unless it's weighted with a lead anvil. So yeah, it's
Speaker 2: going to be a challenge. But I'm if this game
Speaker 2: proves to be accurate, I am going to be super
Speaker 2: interested to see what the tailgaters do for this one,
Speaker 2: because you could eat You could blow it out and
Speaker 2: totally blow the budget and really do it upright. Or
Speaker 2: you get creative and you pivot from the typical Thanksgiving
Speaker 2: fair and you say, let's make it a tailgate Thanksgiving
Speaker 2: and you stick with the tried and true stuff that
Speaker 2: you love to eat at tailgates. That might be easier
Speaker 2: to prepare because I'm thinking, like you're going to a
Speaker 2: Thanksgiving tailgate, you got to bring your best knife out
Speaker 2: there to cut up the bird, Like your quality quality
Speaker 2: cutlery has to make the trip. Yeah, because cutting a
Speaker 2: bird is that's a job. So I'm still picturing all
Speaker 2: the deep friers. I think a lot of people are
Speaker 2: gonna go because because that's the only thing that's unless
Speaker 2: you cook it.
Speaker 3: At home and you bring it Yeah, and.
Speaker 2: You bring it and warm it up here like that's
Speaker 2: really the only way outside to cook. Like, if you're
Speaker 2: cooking a twenty pound bird, you got to deep fry
Speaker 2: that guy to have it done in time so people
Speaker 2: can eat before they go in.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so no time for nap. Look at all these logistics.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Uh. Sam on the tweets sheet says, with the
Speaker 2: eight to twenty start time, I'm fine with that. Talking
Speaker 2: about if in fact the Bills are playing on Thanksgiving
Speaker 2: against the Chiefs, as has been reported, fine with the
Speaker 2: eight twenty star time, dinner at four at home and
Speaker 2: then off to the game. Plus it's Kansas City reportedly.
Speaker 2: I think a lot of people will do that, right,
Speaker 2: because I mean thanks there's no denying that Thanksgiving is easier,
Speaker 2: more easily done at home. I don't think there's any
Speaker 2: debate about that. Now, there probably will be some dudes
Speaker 2: that say, ah, we can deep fry that turkey out
Speaker 2: in the parking lot, no problem.
Speaker 4: I'll have that.
Speaker 2: Thing ready for you in fifteen minutes. It's gonna be delicious.
Speaker 2: We're doing it out at the lot. We're going, so
Speaker 2: there'll be some people in that camp too. Frank says
Speaker 2: I'm fine with it. I'll just have to wake up
Speaker 2: from my food coma before kickoff. Now this is a
Speaker 2: legitimate concern. Yeah, people that are gorging on turkey are
Speaker 2: also going to be struck with the trip to fan
Speaker 2: sleepy coma like state. So we need the fans to
Speaker 2: be loud when the Chiefs have the ball, and you know,
Speaker 2: if they're in a food coma, that could be a problem.
Speaker 1: Drink your coffee. Drink your coffee.
Speaker 2: Go yeah, yeah, drink coffee. No beer, because that's just
Speaker 2: another depressant on beer combined with turkey. That's a tough
Speaker 2: combo to stay awake after. I can. I'm just I
Speaker 2: don't know what it is. I'm picturing some weird scoreboard
Speaker 2: contest with you know, whose button is popped on their pants?
Speaker 2: You know, for me eating all in the parking lots.
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, there's so many, so many different things
Speaker 2: you could do with that. Seems like people are pretty
Speaker 2: happy with it if in fact comes to fruition. And
Speaker 2: I think the main reason why, Maddie is because we
Speaker 2: already know if it is in fact the Bills and
Speaker 2: Chiefs on Thanksgiving, it's gonna be the late game and
Speaker 2: people can work around that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you have more time in your day. Just like
Speaker 1: we were talking about a couple days ago, do you
Speaker 1: prefer a one pm or a primetime game or four
Speaker 1: twenty five? If you get a one pm or an
Speaker 1: eight pm game, you have a little bit more of
Speaker 1: your day.
Speaker 2: To work with, and you have the added bonus for
Speaker 2: most people no work the next day because a lot
Speaker 2: of people who are off on Thanksgiving obviously are also
Speaker 2: off on Friday. Schools are out. So yeah, even though
Speaker 2: it's a night game, it doesn't really impact a lot
Speaker 2: of people because they're not working the next day anyway.
Speaker 2: It's a long holiday weekend, So I can I'm I
Speaker 2: understand why people are totally cool with it.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Uh, Lyrics says, I normally host a massive Thanksgiving. Now
Speaker 2: I will be doing that two days in a row,
Speaker 2: once as a tailgate and once for the family on
Speaker 2: Victory Friday. Let's go coming to your house. Wow, go Bills.
Speaker 2: She's absolutely like.
Speaker 1: A massive undertaking way to go.
Speaker 2: Wow. That is that is commitment.
Speaker 1: Maybe yeah, maybe a lot of families If the Bills
Speaker 1: are going to play on Thanksgiving, it's a it's a
Speaker 1: two parter. Maybe you break up Thanksgiving into two days
Speaker 1: and you really focus on the game on Thanksgiving and
Speaker 1: Friday Friday and the meals on Friday.
Speaker 2: That is a good way to handicap that.
Speaker 1: Don't have to stress yourself out before the game.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I kind of actually, I kind of like lyrics idea. Yeah,
Speaker 2: like game is the focus. Thursday, yes, you tailgate, but
Speaker 2: you're not going nuts. You just do a normal tailgate,
Speaker 2: go to the game, and then.
Speaker 1: Friday Friday's Thanksgiving.
Speaker 2: Friday is Thanksgiving. You could do that too. Yeah, I
Speaker 2: like it.
Speaker 1: That's a good idea.
Speaker 2: Again, because most people are off the day after Thanksgiving.
Speaker 2: That's that's a really good idea. I would imagine that
Speaker 2: a good number of people you know that have season
Speaker 2: tickets and are going to be going to the game,
Speaker 2: if in fact that is the game, I think they
Speaker 2: would adopt that. I think they absolutely would adopt that
Speaker 2: practice and say, why are we gonna make game day harder.
Speaker 2: We're supposed to go enjoy that. Let's just do a
Speaker 2: normal tailgate. Let's go to the game, and then we'll
Speaker 2: do Thanksgiving on Friday and it'll be perfect. And there's
Speaker 2: still a game on to watch on Friday too. At
Speaker 2: three pm. So there you go. I think a lot
Speaker 2: of people subscribe to that. Kate says, I love the
Speaker 2: possibility of the Bills playing on Thanksgiving. They have always
Speaker 2: been on the road for Thanksgiving in the past. She's
Speaker 2: right about that, in the recent past at Dallas in
Speaker 2: twenty nineteen, Saints, at Saints in twenty twenty one, and
Speaker 2: then they played Thanksgiving again in twenty twenty two at Lions.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I hadn't thought about that. They've been on
Speaker 2: the road.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and they had a three year stretch too. I
Speaker 1: kind of forgot about that as well.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I don't believe I'm pretty sure I got
Speaker 2: this right. The Bills have never hosted a Thanksgiving game,
Speaker 2: certainly not in the old former Highmark Stadium history. I'm
Speaker 2: not one hundred percent sure about the rock Pile, but
Speaker 2: they weren't playing Thursday games back then.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so.
Speaker 2: Wow, So yeah, that would be a first in the
Speaker 2: first year of the new place. Wow.
Speaker 1: Kind that's perfect.
Speaker 2: I like that. We got to take a break here,
Speaker 2: but we're taking more of your comments at One Bill's Live.
Speaker 2: How do you feel about the Bills possibly playing a
Speaker 2: home game on Thanksgiving? That's the report out there. Nothing
Speaker 2: official but how does it grab you? You let us
Speaker 2: know what one. Bill's live back with more. Got John
Speaker 2: Polka coming up with a stadium update two in the
Speaker 2: second hour. All Right, the reports are out there that
Speaker 2: the Bills could be playing the home game on Thanksgiving.
Speaker 4: Nothing official yet.
Speaker 2: How would you feel if that was in fact the case.
Speaker 2: We also saw another that the Bills are playing on Christmas,
Speaker 2: also in Denver, that also obviously not corroborated by the
Speaker 2: league as of yet. The schedule leaker on Twitter has
Speaker 2: the full Christmas Eve slash Christmas Day slate. He's got
Speaker 2: Texans at Eagles on Christmas Eve. That's Thursday Night football,
Speaker 2: and then he's got Green Bay at Chicago at one o'clock.
Speaker 2: Bill's at Denver four point thirty Rams at Seahawks in
Speaker 2: an NFC title game rematch at eight fifteen. I gotta
Speaker 2: tell you, the league, if these games are all accurate
Speaker 2: based on what we saw for Thanksgiving and what is
Speaker 2: being leaked on Christmas, they have hit it out of
Speaker 2: the park. Some of these games are fantastic, Like there
Speaker 2: really isn't a dud in the bunch. I mean all
Speaker 2: quality teams. I mean that Christmas Day slate, that they
Speaker 2: lined up there. Every team there was a playoff team
Speaker 2: last year, all eight of them. It's kind of funny though,
Speaker 2: because you get to a point, Mattie, where you say,
Speaker 2: are there gonna be any games left on Sunday? I
Speaker 2: know you're gonna have three games. We got four games
Speaker 2: on Thursday, Christmas Eve, three on Christmas Day. Same thing
Speaker 2: with Thanksgiving with six teams playing. But let us know
Speaker 2: how it grabs you. We saw the reports earlier today
Speaker 2: that the Bills are the last game on Thanksgiving home
Speaker 2: against the Chiefs, and now it's there's a leak out
Speaker 2: there that they're playing four point thirty on Christmas at Denver.
Speaker 2: So at one Bills Live is where you weigh in
Speaker 2: and let us know how you feel about them playing
Speaker 2: a home holiday game on Thanksgiving, which be the first
Speaker 2: ever and possibly a road Christmas Day game. Let's go
Speaker 2: back to the tweet sheet where David says, tough one
Speaker 2: because we always host and cook for the entire family
Speaker 2: on Thanksgiving, but it would be a real event as
Speaker 2: there has never been a Thanksgiving game played in Buffalo.
Speaker 2: You are correct, David. All eleven games the Bills have
Speaker 2: been involved in were on the road. Perhaps it's time
Speaker 2: to change that. Yeah, I mean it's a valid point.
Speaker 2: It's a heck of a matchup, you could see. You
Speaker 2: can very easily see why the NFL schedule makers said, yeah,
Speaker 2: let's put that one on Thanksgiving. If in fact it
Speaker 2: comes to fruition, it is accurate the reports that we've seen,
Speaker 2: So it seems like on the whole, most people are
Speaker 2: pretty excited about it, and I get why, because it's
Speaker 2: a novelty hasn't happened before.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's something to do. It's must see TV. If
Speaker 1: you're not going to the game, if you are going
Speaker 1: to be at Heimark Stadium for the reported Thanksgiving game
Speaker 1: against the Chiefs, it's a big event that you look
Speaker 1: forward to. I mean, the holidays are so fun, and
Speaker 1: there's so many reasons to look forward to the holidays
Speaker 1: and being with friends and family, and this is just
Speaker 1: an addition that makes it even better for a lot
Speaker 1: of people.
Speaker 2: It's like I was saying yesterday, everybody's got one of
Speaker 2: those relatives in the family that can sometimes be difficult
Speaker 2: to talk to. Now you can just put a drink
Speaker 2: in that person's hand and say, hey, go watch the bills.
Speaker 3: Be quiet.
Speaker 2: But I have to talk down Aaron Drake or Manhattan.
Speaker 2: Sit in that chair, watch the game.
Speaker 1: I'll give you the pie in an hour.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'll talk to you then. And then with the
Speaker 2: reported leak over here about the Bills also playing on Christmas,
Speaker 2: the fact that it would be a four to thirty game,
Speaker 2: if that's accurate, that's a good spot too, because you know,
Speaker 2: you're doing Chris if you're a christ I know there's
Speaker 2: a lot of Christmas Eve families, so there's a lot
Speaker 2: of Christmas Morning families. If you're a Christmas Morning family,
Speaker 2: you got all the time in the world to kind
Speaker 2: of do what you normally do Christmas morning, hang around
Speaker 2: the tree, open some presents, can have a nice brunch,
Speaker 2: you know, and then family comes over. You do that
Speaker 2: whole gift thing, and you still might not be at
Speaker 2: four thirty yet for kickoff. So I think it's a
Speaker 2: perfect time slot for fans that want to watch their
Speaker 2: team on the road on a holiday.
Speaker 1: So yeah, thinking about the Bills possibly playing on Christmas,
Speaker 1: and thinking about the last time the Bills played around Christmas,
Speaker 1: that Christmas Eve game against the Bears. There was the
Speaker 1: weather that got everybody stuck in Chicago, and I remember
Speaker 1: talking to the players after that game and them saying
Speaker 1: the worst part about it was missing Christmas Morning with
Speaker 1: their kids, and so thinking about the Bills supposedly playing
Speaker 1: at four twenty five on Christmas. This also gives the
Speaker 1: entire coaching staff and the players time to do Christmas
Speaker 1: morning with their families before heading or not. They're gonna
Speaker 1: be on the road.
Speaker 3: Christmas Eve, Christmas Eve, you.
Speaker 1: Can do the morning families. Yes, you can do the morning,
Speaker 1: or you're on the road. Everybody goes to Denver and
Speaker 1: you have that morning time together with your family. If
Speaker 1: you have people traveling for Christmas, I.
Speaker 2: Would guess again, and this is just a leaked report,
Speaker 2: it's nothing official, but I would guess most of them
Speaker 2: would just do Christmas on the weekend.
Speaker 1: Christmas on the weekend, fly back, you.
Speaker 2: Get home late, and then Saturday Sunday you have. You
Speaker 2: do your Christmas on Christmas weekend the twenty sixth and
Speaker 2: twenty seven. That's probably the easiest way to.
Speaker 1: Do it, to sit your schedule.
Speaker 2: But yeah, that's Chicago. Yeah we got stuck. That was
Speaker 2: ridiculous cold, ridiculous wind, But it was more because of
Speaker 2: the weather back here. We couldn't get back because the
Speaker 2: Buffalo Airport was closed for like the first time in
Speaker 2: its history. And from what I found out, the main
Speaker 2: reason why was because the garages that housed the plows
Speaker 2: got snowbound from all the wind that blew up against
Speaker 2: the door, so they couldn't get the doors of the
Speaker 2: garage open to get the plows out to plow the runway.
Speaker 2: And the plows were stuck in there for like two days,
Speaker 2: so they couldn't They couldn't clear the runway. So we
Speaker 2: didn't lead. So that game was Sunday, I want to say,
Speaker 2: I can't remember, it was a Saturday or Sunday. Either way,
Speaker 2: Christmas Eve game. We can't get out that night, so
Speaker 2: we stayed in Chicago another night. We get up the
Speaker 2: next morning, they drive us to the airport and we
Speaker 2: were supposed to fly out at ten, and then there
Speaker 2: was a mechanical issue with the plane. Oh gosh, And
Speaker 2: so we're looking at each other going, oh, no, like
Speaker 2: a mechanical issue with a plane on Christmas Day, Like
Speaker 2: is anybody even working right? But to their credit, they
Speaker 2: had it turned around in a half an hour. They
Speaker 2: had the part fixed, and then we were in the
Speaker 2: air by like ten thirty ten forty five, and we
Speaker 2: flew into Rochester and bust back and there was still
Speaker 2: a travel band in Erie County. We're like, we're going.
Speaker 1: Back and with like a travel mishap like that, that's
Speaker 1: something you can't plan for. So all these families were
Speaker 1: planning for the players to be home by Christmas morning.
Speaker 1: You fly back after the game on Christmas Eve, you're
Speaker 1: in your bed late Christmas Eve night, and you're there
Speaker 1: for Christmas morning. If the reports are true that the
Speaker 1: Bills are playing in Denver for Christmas, that's something you
Speaker 1: can plan for. Like you said, Chris, doing Christmas on
Speaker 1: Saturday or Sunday makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 2: Gotta take a break here because when we come back,
Speaker 2: we're gonna get an update on new Haimmark Stadium. If
Speaker 2: you've been driving by, it's a lot of finishing touches.
Speaker 2: It looks like they're going on. We're gonna talk with
Speaker 2: Bill's vice president of Stadium Development and Operations, John Polka
Speaker 2: for the latest updates on Buffalo's new home for the
Speaker 2: twenty twenty sixth season. That's coming up next here on
Speaker 2: one Bill's Lock Love You Boys, We don't do what
Speaker 2: today he is a feast for the Capitol fime.
Speaker 3: The cup is in the kitchen, looks.
Speaker 2: Down the sideline, he's got kick paid for a twenty
Speaker 2: three yard.
Speaker 3: Touchdown and it's intercepted. Jumping up to the air is
Speaker 3: bad curtain.
Speaker 2: These these one Bill's Live all right, Umber two here
Speaker 2: on a Thursday, Chris Brown madding lab live from the
Speaker 2: Bill Store on Abd Road and joining us now a
Speaker 2: guy who really doesn't have a whole lot going on.
Speaker 2: So it's a few minutes here today, Bill's vice President
Speaker 2: of Stadium Development and Operations, John Polk. I kid because
Speaker 2: he's grinding right to the finish here along with his
Speaker 2: crew and a countless number of construction professionals across the
Speaker 2: way on Abbot Road. How you doing you all right?
Speaker 4: Yeah, doing all right? Yeah, busy days, but it's going
Speaker 4: quick and it's really exciting.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I would say. The most noticeable thing, just as
Speaker 2: you know a regular drow driving by every day on
Speaker 2: Abbot Road coming to work, are the letters that make
Speaker 2: up high Mark Stadium on the exterior of the building.
Speaker 2: It's not only on the side that's visible to us
Speaker 2: on Abbot Road, but it's on the north and south
Speaker 2: and the west side as well, and then I think
Speaker 2: even more exciting, you're seeing the outline of the Bill's
Speaker 2: logo that's gonna sit right under the letters. This is
Speaker 2: kind of one of the last major things happening now, right, Like,
Speaker 2: this thing's huge.
Speaker 4: Yeah, a lot a lot of signage going up. You know,
Speaker 4: the high Mark Stadium word marks and logos have been
Speaker 4: up for a little bit, but as you mentioned, the
Speaker 4: Bill's logos going up now has been really exciting. So
Speaker 4: on this side of the street we're seeing the outline.
Speaker 4: On the other side of the street, we actually have
Speaker 4: the Bill's logo in full color up, which is cool
Speaker 4: where our offices now look at. So, yeah, that's been
Speaker 4: an energizing moment for sure.
Speaker 2: Now, did somebody say that it can be lit? Is
Speaker 2: it lit up or yeah?
Speaker 4: Yeah, the Bill's logo as well as Highmark signage will
Speaker 4: be lit. Some people were surprised when they saw that
Speaker 4: the Bill's logo is a vinyl It's actually the same
Speaker 4: signage technology that we've used. It's a newer version of
Speaker 4: the same technology that we've used on this side of
Speaker 4: the road. So when you have something that's that large
Speaker 4: to try to put plexiglass or something rigid isn't really possible.
Speaker 4: So yeah, that's a cabinet that has vinyl over the top,
Speaker 4: and then that logo will be lit as awesome.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's gonna look so good.
Speaker 3: John.
Speaker 1: As you think about the last year, how has your
Speaker 1: job changed most in the last three months compared to
Speaker 1: the previous six months.
Speaker 4: I think in the last year it's become a lot
Speaker 4: about like final execution getting done. There was a lot
Speaker 4: of early planning, right that goes into it. I had a
Speaker 4: lot of design, a lot of conversations about what it's
Speaker 4: going to be. Now it is what it's going to be,
Speaker 4: and there are finishing touches, there are things we got
Speaker 4: to get done. There are decisions we have to make
Speaker 4: every day, you know, either something that we didn't think
Speaker 4: of or now that we're seeing it, maybe we want
Speaker 4: to do a little bit different, or an area where
Speaker 4: we just didn't plan anything and now we see an
Speaker 4: opportunity to do something. So tons of decisions to be made. Yeah,
Speaker 4: a lot of people out there working to get done.
Speaker 4: But it's a super exciting time of the project.
Speaker 2: Yeah, And I mean Maddie and I both had the
Speaker 2: privilege of getting in there and through it. In the
Speaker 2: last couple of weeks, and we had not been in
Speaker 2: since October, and the transformation for people like us is dramatic.
Speaker 2: For you, it's like, yeah, I was here yesterday, Yeah
Speaker 2: I was here the day before. So you don't notice
Speaker 2: the changes as much as we do. But like, you're
Speaker 2: really getting close to the finish line here, So how
Speaker 2: does how does the focus shift because we're talking about
Speaker 2: I mean, I know the logo out front, that's a
Speaker 2: big thing, but beyond that, how do you kind of
Speaker 2: have people checking all the fine tuning items off the.
Speaker 4: To do and that's what it is. It's thousands and
Speaker 4: thousands of details right now. And it's energizing to hear
Speaker 4: your guys feedback on getting in there after not being
Speaker 4: there for a while, because we are in there all
Speaker 4: the time, right so for somebody to come in and say,
Speaker 4: I can't believe what it looks like, it just helps
Speaker 4: us get to that, you know, that additional energy to
Speaker 4: get to the finish line. But as you mentioned, Brownie,
Speaker 4: I mean, it's thousands of people in there working, and
Speaker 4: it's hundreds of people in there checking details and working
Speaker 4: on getting things done. As we get to the finish
Speaker 4: line here.
Speaker 2: Because we saw the locker room, Maddie right, like drive
Speaker 2: a bus through that. Yes, I had not seen the
Speaker 2: locker room at all aside from renderings and pictures. And
Speaker 2: then you go in there and it's like you could
Speaker 2: literally put a bus through here and it wouldn't touch
Speaker 2: either wall.
Speaker 4: Yeah, we were Norman. We were fortunate to have QB
Speaker 4: one down there yesterday checking it out, so he was
Speaker 4: extremely excited, which again another energizing moment for us.
Speaker 3: But love that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, we're excited about the whole thing. So I to
Speaker 4: finally get some fans in there the next few months.
Speaker 1: As you've seen it come together and you're there every day,
Speaker 1: you're making decisions, a lot of decisions. Like you said,
Speaker 1: what are you most excited about now that you've seen
Speaker 1: it kind of come to fruition and it's in the flesh.
Speaker 4: I've this has been my answer to this question for
Speaker 4: a long time now, and it's no singular element. It's
Speaker 4: the culmination of everything we've been working on coming together
Speaker 4: once we finally have fans in that building. So whether
Speaker 4: it's return of Blue and Red preseason and really ultimately
Speaker 4: leading up to that home opener, but just seeing it
Speaker 4: all come together and seeing sixty thousand plus people in
Speaker 4: that building is the one thing that we are all
Speaker 4: going to experience together, right, Like we will not see
Speaker 4: that before everybody else. Everybody's going to see that at
Speaker 4: the same time. So we are really as a team.
Speaker 4: We're really excited to see that opening game.
Speaker 2: And I'm wondering how because you know the schedule. The
Speaker 2: full schedule comes out today, but we already know the
Speaker 2: home opening date. It's Thursday night football. It's September seventeenth.
Speaker 2: The Detroit Lyons are coming in. Like it's exciting for
Speaker 2: us and for fans to learn that, but it's this
Speaker 2: building's like debut nationwide. I'm wondering how that grabs people
Speaker 2: that are boots on the ground, Like you knowing there's
Speaker 2: a date now and like this is when the country
Speaker 2: is going to see it, Like how does that grab
Speaker 2: people in your roles and all the people out here
Speaker 2: doing it?
Speaker 4: Like, yeah, now that there's a date, it makes it real.
Speaker 4: I Mean, we were always targeting that we could be
Speaker 4: opening opening weekend game one, right, So that's we we're
Speaker 4: preparing for that, so we have a few extra days.
Speaker 4: I think we're really happy. It's an island game and
Speaker 4: we get to showcase this.
Speaker 2: Stage.
Speaker 4: Yeah, I mean everybody's going to be watching, right, so
Speaker 4: I think we're really excited about that. It's gonna be
Speaker 4: a great night.
Speaker 1: I want to see your you know, I'm sure people
Speaker 1: are thinking like first game or return the Blue and Red.
Speaker 1: I want to see Josh Allen's face when he runs
Speaker 1: on that tunnel. I want to see your face when
Speaker 1: you look around and you see the stadium full of people,
Speaker 1: knowing how much much hard work you've put into this
Speaker 1: thing over the last several years. Like, I want to
Speaker 1: see that on on like the five people who have
Speaker 1: been in there all the time. I want to I
Speaker 1: want to watch that with you guys. That'd be amazing.
Speaker 4: I mean I got a shot up adrenaline going down
Speaker 4: my spine as you just mentioned that, right, Like, there's
Speaker 4: gonna be a lot of emotion that day, no doubt
Speaker 4: about it. Probably a couple of tears, but yeah, really
Speaker 4: exciting to.
Speaker 2: Talk about John the because every every debut needs a
Speaker 2: dress rehearsal, and you'll have opportunities to do that. In
Speaker 2: terms of as Mandy mentioned, the Return of the Blue
Speaker 2: and Red scrimmage followed by a couple of home preseason games. Yep,
Speaker 2: So what what goes on a checklist for a new
Speaker 2: stadium opening, because those are you know, quote unquote dress
Speaker 2: rehearsals for the home opener September seventeenth. So how are
Speaker 2: you going to utilize those opportunities to make sure all
Speaker 2: the bells and whistles and all the tea's across, all
Speaker 2: the eyes are dotted when you're on national you know,
Speaker 2: a national program like Amazon Prime.
Speaker 4: It's a great question. That's really kind of what the
Speaker 4: next couple months or a few months are going to
Speaker 4: be for us. So we're rapidly approaching in the next
Speaker 4: few weeks here, we're looking at substantial completion of the building,
Speaker 4: which is followed immediately by a temporary certificate of occupancy,
Speaker 4: which means our buildings substantially complete, life safety systems are
Speaker 4: in place, and we can start getting our departments in
Speaker 4: there to start understanding the building as well as we do.
Speaker 4: So we've had a lot of departments already going through
Speaker 4: as you guys mentioned you took it to we're trying
Speaker 4: to familiarize themselves. But up until now it's been a
Speaker 4: construction site. Right in the next few weeks it transitions
Speaker 4: from a construction site to a building that we can occupy,
Speaker 4: so we'll have a lot of our departments in there
Speaker 4: to start getting ready. We will still have work going
Speaker 4: on through the summer, right you guys have seen in
Speaker 4: the old building. The summer is always the busiest time
Speaker 4: for us, right, So we're trying to finish up some details.
Speaker 4: We're trying to put signage up, we're trying to get
Speaker 4: our departments acclimated, we're trying to move furniture in. So
Speaker 4: it is going to be a really really busy summer
Speaker 4: leading up to those events though that you have mentioned,
Speaker 4: which are the return of the Blue and Red preseason games.
Speaker 4: Those are all our dress rehearsals, if you will, and
Speaker 4: learning what is working, what doesn't, where do we need
Speaker 4: to make a tweak. The football guys, just yesterday we're
Speaker 4: talking through like it's a different environment for them as well,
Speaker 4: so they're excited to get in there for those the
Speaker 4: return of the Blue and Red in preseason games and
Speaker 4: just understand their flow. How do they get to and
Speaker 4: from the field where their locker is going to be.
Speaker 4: Just acclimating themselves as well.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I have.
Speaker 1: A funny question and it was a test that everybody
Speaker 1: was looking forward to hearing about. Was the one big
Speaker 1: flush where you had a flush.
Speaker 4: All super flush.
Speaker 1: Yeah, at the same time, the super flush. How do
Speaker 1: you get on the how do you do that at
Speaker 1: the same time? How does that happen?
Speaker 3: How did it go well?
Speaker 4: First of all went successful? Also, that is that's a
Speaker 4: big so they you know, have volunteers, they have some
Speaker 4: of the workers, the plumbers who are responsible for are
Speaker 4: there and literally folks on radios at all the different
Speaker 4: locations and you've got three or four or five and
Speaker 4: everybody flushed at the same time. So yeah, very happy
Speaker 4: to report everything went well with it. Thanks. You don't
Speaker 4: think about initially.
Speaker 2: When you're designing the stadium, so I know that, you know,
Speaker 2: the big to do, Like a little while back was
Speaker 2: the scoreboards are in, they were tested, and the sound
Speaker 2: system is being tested I guess in stages from what
Speaker 2: I understand, Can you just maybe lay that out in
Speaker 2: terms of what you're trying to just cross off, you know,
Speaker 2: the punch list with those.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so this is actually next week is going to
Speaker 4: be an important week. So as you've mentioned, we've been
Speaker 4: testing all the systems individually, making sure all the parts
Speaker 4: and pieces are working. Next week will be the commissioning
Speaker 4: of the sound system. So now it takes all those
Speaker 4: parts and pieces, puts them all together along with the
Speaker 4: head end equipment, the programming, and we'll actually start using
Speaker 4: the system the way it's intended to.
Speaker 2: Gotcha.
Speaker 4: Next week will be a really fun.
Speaker 2: So it's like all twenty of the twenty nine of
Speaker 2: those hanging speaker systems are now going to be operating
Speaker 2: as want correct. Yeah, oh that's cool.
Speaker 4: Yeah. In addition to some of the programming we have available,
Speaker 4: which is we can have one side of the stadium
Speaker 4: you know, audio on, or we can have the sound
Speaker 4: chasing around the building. So oh wow, those types of
Speaker 4: things now we'll be able to do versus what we
Speaker 4: were doing before is just confirm that everything's connected, everything
Speaker 4: silence the way it's supposed to say.
Speaker 1: I know there's been some video board testing too, and
Speaker 1: we've had some images go out of testing that video
Speaker 1: board and seeing Josh Allen across the video board. Those
Speaker 1: are hard tests to do because those led lights are
Speaker 1: sometimes tough to manage. How did the testing for all
Speaker 1: of that go? And I'm sure you have different elements
Speaker 1: similar to the sound elements that you can do with
Speaker 1: all the video boards.
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's incredible to see the video boards in person.
Speaker 4: The clarity of them is incredible, the vibrancy and clarity.
Speaker 4: We were actually in the stadium the day that they
Speaker 4: turned them on, just happened to be in there for
Speaker 4: the first time that they turned them on with an
Speaker 4: image as opposed to some of the test screen and
Speaker 4: that was our immediate reaction with just the clarity and
Speaker 4: the vibrancy of those boards is incredible.
Speaker 2: And then I know a lot of fans are excited
Speaker 2: about the arrival of the bison to Family Circle. Frank
Speaker 2: Cravata kind of informed us they're gonna come in stages
Speaker 2: as well, But we're looking at what June, I think
Speaker 2: for the bison to roll in and be mounted in
Speaker 2: Family Circle.
Speaker 4: Yep, the herd is going to roll in here just
Speaker 4: across the street in the middle of June, and then
Speaker 4: it'll take about three to four weeks to get them
Speaker 4: both installed and then lighting and all the other things.
Speaker 2: They're gonna be illuminated too, right.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so there's a lot that goes on with those,
Speaker 4: but yeah, the hurd will be rolling into town right
Speaker 4: across the street here in the middle of June, and
Speaker 4: by the middle of July in advance of the return
Speaker 4: of the Blue and Red, we'll have those up in operational.
Speaker 1: That's amazing. You talked about the temporary certificate of occupancy,
Speaker 1: the sound testing as well as the video board testing.
Speaker 1: What are some other milestone events coming up?
Speaker 4: So we've got a lot of stuff that's going on
Speaker 4: in the building. Really at this point, everything becomes a milestone, right.
Speaker 4: We're working towards as you mentioned, checking off all the
Speaker 4: detailed items. We're finding these areas in the building that
Speaker 4: we want to add or continue to do other stuff too.
Speaker 4: So every day is a new adventure and we're just
Speaker 4: really looking forward to it.
Speaker 2: Outside there's a lot of activity too, Like the gate
Speaker 2: structures where fans are going to be passing through outside
Speaker 2: the building to make their way into the building are
Speaker 2: going up. I mean it's like little things are sprouting
Speaker 2: up here and there. It's like gay g gate h
Speaker 2: Like they're all popping up. Guys are pouring curbs out
Speaker 2: here and stuff. So what where would you gauge that at?
Speaker 2: Because that's really like you're still working inside the stadium,
Speaker 2: but we got the outside grounds to take care of.
Speaker 4: Yeah, right, Yeah, the guys are doing a great job
Speaker 4: despite the weather. They would kill I think right now
Speaker 4: for five days in a row without.
Speaker 2: This is supposed to be the last cold day, at
Speaker 2: least according to the forecast.
Speaker 4: I saw that fingers crossed. I'm with you when I
Speaker 4: see that would be great. But yeah, you're seeing it.
Speaker 4: I mean the site is really coming to life as well,
Speaker 4: right between gravel turning into concrete or asphalt and then
Speaker 4: other landscape area is actually getting plantings and vegetation, Like
Speaker 4: there's a lot of color now out here, which is
Speaker 4: a lot of fun as well. So yeah, those are
Speaker 4: some of the final touches that you know, again, it's
Speaker 4: turning from a construction site into a building that we're
Speaker 4: going to occupy here very soon.
Speaker 1: You talked about some of those opportunities that you maybe
Speaker 1: didn't foresee weeks ago, in terms of spaces that you
Speaker 1: can do new things with or things that are shifting
Speaker 1: and changing. I'm sure you have a plan, of course,
Speaker 1: a meticulous plan going into the stadium, and now that
Speaker 1: things are in their place, you have a pocket here
Speaker 1: or a pocket there that you can work with. What
Speaker 1: is that like coming up with new plans on top
Speaker 1: of the already existing plans.
Speaker 4: Yeah, and that's part of what the summer will be.
Speaker 2: Right.
Speaker 4: We've had groups like our ticket office guests experience our
Speaker 4: operations team I mentioned football. They've been in there doing things.
Speaker 4: But as they get in there, they're going to see
Speaker 4: these opportunities as well, and we'll be helping them act
Speaker 4: on those throughout the summer to get ready for the season.
Speaker 4: But you're right, there are areas where there's just a
Speaker 4: big area that we can do something with and let's
Speaker 4: figure out how to utilize that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, because Football's got to get in there because they
Speaker 2: need to test I guess, for lack of a better term,
Speaker 2: the functionality of their space so to speak, like whether
Speaker 2: it's the athletic training staff, like do our guys at
Speaker 2: tape ankles have enough room here to operate? Or is
Speaker 2: there a table that was installed that might need to
Speaker 2: be moved a little bit, or like are those the
Speaker 2: little kind of checklist items that you have to interact
Speaker 2: with your other departments? They test the functionality and then
Speaker 2: report back to you as that kind of Yeah.
Speaker 4: That's exactly right. I mean, we're testing to make sure
Speaker 4: things work the way we have them designed. But functionally.
Speaker 4: They're gonna then come in and say, yeah, you know what,
Speaker 4: can you help us move this over? Or can we
Speaker 4: add this or that? So it's gonna be a busy summer.
Speaker 4: Take care of all those things you guys included, right,
Speaker 4: you guys are that's why it's busy. You guys are
Speaker 4: gonna get in there for right. Well, if you guys
Speaker 4: can get there for preseason and then say, I would
Speaker 4: be great if I could add this. Can you help
Speaker 4: us out with that?
Speaker 2: Oh well, hopefully we give you a memo sooner than that.
Speaker 2: That's kind of late in the game. I don't want
Speaker 2: to hand you something in August. My god, you might
Speaker 2: hit me in the head if I do that. I'm
Speaker 2: not doing that. Yeah, I'm not giving you anything in August.
Speaker 2: I'll do it. You tell me what the cutoff date is.
Speaker 2: I'll give it to you. John. Thanks for all the updates.
Speaker 2: We appreciate it. It's really cool to kind of just
Speaker 2: see like I mean, we it was, it's been it's
Speaker 2: looked like a stadium for a long time. But seeing
Speaker 2: kind of the bells and whistles really take shape now,
Speaker 2: really cool stuff. I mean, I don't I'm excited about it.
Speaker 2: I can't imagine what it's like for you that, as
Speaker 2: Maddie said, you've put in months and years of time
Speaker 2: into this. It's got to be really really gratifying.
Speaker 4: It is, Jan You guys have a great view here.
Speaker 1: In every day Distracted, I'm like, what's Bob the builder doing.
Speaker 2: That's Bill's vice president of the Stadium Development Operations, John
Speaker 2: Polka joining us. We'll take a break, get back to
Speaker 2: more of your tweets about the possibility of a Thanksgiving
Speaker 2: home game. More on that when we return here on
Speaker 2: one Bill's Live. All Right, good conversation there with John
Speaker 2: Polka about some of the last stadium details that they're
Speaker 2: focused on here. And it's like I was saying, Matt,
Speaker 2: you can see every day. I mean you come into
Speaker 2: work like we do every day here on a and
Speaker 2: you can't not notice it. I mean, it's this giant
Speaker 2: structure to your immediate right. And over the last two day,
Speaker 2: the giant charging Bill's logo that is gonna sit under
Speaker 2: the Abbot road side high Mark stadium letters is huge.
Speaker 2: I mean we kind of got some of the specs
Speaker 2: on it. The high Mark letters span one hundred and
Speaker 2: twenty feet wide, fourteen feet tall, and then the charging
Speaker 2: buffalo logo that's gonna sit under it on the side
Speaker 2: of the stadium visible to Abbot Road is fifty feet
Speaker 2: wide and thirty five feet tall. And there's one on
Speaker 2: the other side as well, the west side of the
Speaker 2: stadium facing the old ECC South campus. So and then
Speaker 2: you're gonna have seven thousand led lights lighting it up.
Speaker 2: Oh my god, it's gonna look ass like. When I've
Speaker 2: driven past exit like fifty six to fifty seven on
Speaker 2: the throughway going south or technically west towards Eerie, can
Speaker 2: see the stadium from the road. I I'm not going
Speaker 2: that way very often because I go and I go
Speaker 2: north to go home. But I was driving down on
Speaker 2: a trip to Cleveland recently and I could see the
Speaker 2: stadium from the throughway.
Speaker 1: That's crazy. I saw a picture recently of something. You
Speaker 1: can see us from some point in Canada too, no kidd, yeah,
Speaker 1: holy because of how tall it is.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it has such a high profile in comparison to
Speaker 2: former Highmark Stadium, so it makes sense. But I'm wondering
Speaker 2: how far away you'll be able to see these charging
Speaker 2: buffalo logos on the side of the building. Knowing they're
Speaker 2: going to be illuminated.
Speaker 1: Huh.
Speaker 2: And they's talking about one point three million lumens of light.
Speaker 1: Sounds like a lot. I don't know what that is,
Speaker 1: but it sounds like a lot. One point three million
Speaker 1: of anything. Yeah, that's a big deal. One of the
Speaker 1: most recent things. And I'm I'm a plant person, so
Speaker 1: this gets me a sighted is we're starting to see
Speaker 1: trees and plants go in. Like on my way in
Speaker 1: this morning, there's all these little shrubs and plants that
Speaker 1: have gone in I think in the last two days
Speaker 1: that I really noticed this morning. I was like, oh,
Speaker 1: that looks so good.
Speaker 2: Uh. Yeah, I got a lot of landscaping going in.
Speaker 2: But guys are still pouring curbs and sidewalks, like concretes
Speaker 2: coming in. They had a back ho over here the
Speaker 2: other day. They were digging something. You know. Us being
Speaker 2: here in the bill store, we're kind of getting a
Speaker 2: daily viewing of the progress. It's interesting to just kind
Speaker 2: of see it. Steve has long said that, oh my god,
Speaker 2: over there, it looks like an ant hill, Like there's
Speaker 2: just thousands of people just scurrying around all over the place.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's like its own little uniververse across the street.
Speaker 1: You got a fence around you, you got all these
Speaker 1: machinery items, you got all these people working on it.
Speaker 1: It's like your own world.
Speaker 2: Uh So, we got some good updates there on the stadium,
Speaker 2: and it's nice to know that everything's moving along swimmingly
Speaker 2: over there. I'm wondering what that sound test is going
Speaker 2: to be like because just for a perspective, I believe
Speaker 2: in the old stadium they had eight speaker arrays around
Speaker 2: former Hei Mark Stadium. In the new place, they have
Speaker 2: twenty nine. Jeez, that is going to be insanity sauce
Speaker 2: when they blare that sound over there all at one time.
Speaker 1: And from the beginning, John Polka and the stadium crew
Speaker 1: was very upfront about we have seen the other teams,
Speaker 1: like the rams have done the video board, like that's outdated.
Speaker 1: The video board, it's been done. Teams have done crazy
Speaker 1: video boards. We want to invest in the sound. We
Speaker 1: feel like that really hasn't been done to a high level.
Speaker 1: So that's going to be what the Bills Stadium is known.
Speaker 1: One of the things the Bill Stadium is known for.
Speaker 2: But let's get back to your comments on the tweetsheet.
Speaker 2: Because we saw the reports earlier today indicating that the
Speaker 2: Bills could be hosting a Thanksgiving game for the first
Speaker 2: time in their history. How do you feel about the
Speaker 2: Bills possibly playing a home game on Thanksgiving? Nothing confirmed
Speaker 2: by the league, nothing confirmed by the Bills. That'll be
Speaker 2: done tonight at eight. But if it in fact is true,
Speaker 2: how does that grab you? And we go back to
Speaker 2: the tweet sheet and Joe says, it's all good for
Speaker 2: me because I don't visit family or anything. Same for Christmas.
Speaker 2: Bring it on, I have nothing better to do. Well,
Speaker 2: I'm sorry, Joe, I'm sorry to hear that, but I'm.
Speaker 3: Glad you'll giving you something to do.
Speaker 2: Glad it sounds like you'll have your Bills on Thanksgiving
Speaker 2: and possibly Christmas too, because we mentioned earlier in the
Speaker 2: show there is a report out there that the Bills
Speaker 2: could be playing on Christmas as well at Denver. Is
Speaker 2: the report nothing official? But we'll find out tonight if
Speaker 2: in fact the Bills are not only playing on one holiday,
Speaker 2: but possibly two. Already on the tweet, he says, love it,
Speaker 2: first time season ticket holder. I'll be coming from Atlanta
Speaker 2: to spend Thanksgiving with family and then go to the game. Well,
Speaker 2: the schedule worked out for already. Yeah, if that in
Speaker 2: fact is the game, it was kind to you in
Speaker 2: a big way. And I hadn't thought about that. Because
Speaker 2: if the Bills are in fact a Thanksgiving game host,
Speaker 2: that's really good for all the Buffalo transplants that presumably
Speaker 2: come back to Buffalo for Thanksgiving. Now you have a
Speaker 2: chance to go to the game as well. Like that's yeah,
Speaker 2: that's a major bonus for transplant Bills fans that now
Speaker 2: live elsewhere, because a lot of them will be coming
Speaker 2: home anyway. Ken says, my wife hates it, but I
Speaker 2: love it.
Speaker 1: Okay, Ken, I.
Speaker 2: Don't know if you needed to mention how your wife
Speaker 2: felt about it. Just tell us you love it. Your
Speaker 2: wife probably doesn't like it because she's got probably a
Speaker 2: lot to do.
Speaker 1: She needs help.
Speaker 2: Yeah, maybe you should be helping her out, Ken, help
Speaker 2: her out on Thanksgiving game if it is. If the
Speaker 2: Bills do have the late game on Thanksgiving, it's not
Speaker 2: until eight, so you'll have a lot of time to
Speaker 2: help the missus out. So do what you can. Bill's
Speaker 2: Sabers fan forever says, not a fan at all. Wish
Speaker 2: my holidays were left alone. I really wanted the Black
Speaker 2: Friday game. Yeah, the Black Friday Game was announced. It's
Speaker 2: a three pm game, so and the Bills are not
Speaker 2: part of that. So yeah, it's I get why some
Speaker 2: people want, you know, you got the purists out there.
Speaker 2: They want their holiday to be just about the holiday.
Speaker 1: And I want to focus on the holiday.
Speaker 2: I respect that. I totally get that. But yeah, the
Speaker 2: Black Friday game, I'm just trying to remember. Yeah, I'm
Speaker 2: trying to remember who it is. I'm going back to
Speaker 2: my notes here. It is Amazon, Broncos at Steelers, thanks
Speaker 2: Giving Eve, Packers at Rams. So the day before Thanksgiving,
Speaker 2: Packers at Rams, three games on Thanksgiving, one of which
Speaker 2: could be the Bills playing the Chiefs, and then Black
Speaker 2: Friday game on Amazon three pm, Broncos at Steelers. So yeah,
Speaker 2: these holiday lineups, if they're accurate, may z got some great,
Speaker 2: great matchups like that Christmas Day League with the Christmas
Speaker 2: EVE game combined with the three Christmas Day games, all
Speaker 2: eight teams were in the playoffs last year. Yep. So
Speaker 2: I mean salute to the NFL. I mean they are
Speaker 2: crushing it in terms of giving you know, entertaining matchups.
Speaker 1: Somebody today remember when the NBA owned Christmas NFL takeover
Speaker 1: of Christmas has begun.
Speaker 2: Yea, not anymore. And I think the NFL really had
Speaker 2: a chance to hit it out of the park because
Speaker 2: Christmas is on a Friday, So now your normal Thursday
Speaker 2: night football falls right into Christmas Eve. Perfect fit there.
Speaker 2: Then you do your triple header on Friday Christmas Day, man,
Speaker 2: I mean the skit. The calendar fell favorably for the
Speaker 2: NFL to really hit a grand slam here, and I
Speaker 2: looking at some of these reported matchups, they certainly did
Speaker 2: in a big, big way. Charles on the tweets sheet
Speaker 2: says Thanksgiving is cool because I can still go hunting
Speaker 2: in the morning, and on Christmas is okay too. If
Speaker 2: it's in Denver. For my son who's moving to Montana
Speaker 2: in July, he could go to the game with me,
Speaker 2: so all is good, all right. So clearly Charles saw
Speaker 2: the Christmas Day report as well. Nothing official from the league,
Speaker 2: but they're saying Bills at Denver for thirty kick on
Speaker 2: Christmas Day. That's the report that's floating around out there.
Speaker 2: We'll see if it is in fact accurate later tonight,
Speaker 2: but that would if those reports are all accurate, it
Speaker 2: would mean the Bills and the Bears are both playing
Speaker 2: on Thanksgiving and on Christmas.
Speaker 1: That's nuts, the Holiday Bills and the Holiday Bears.
Speaker 2: I don't think it's I don't think it's unprecedented because
Speaker 2: I seem to remember the Chiefs playing on both holidays
Speaker 2: in recenta.
Speaker 1: Hold me, that sounds right, Like, I know the Chiefs
Speaker 1: have done the Christmas thing. But yeah, I would say
Speaker 1: that good teams. They want good teams on during these
Speaker 1: slates and times that a lot of people are going
Speaker 1: to be sat and ready and watching.
Speaker 2: So yeah, I'm good with I'm good with the Thanksgiving game.
Speaker 2: Like you know, there are going to be games on
Speaker 2: that day every year anyway. And I guess we're getting
Speaker 2: a sense for what it's like to be a Lions
Speaker 2: or a Cowboys fan because they play on that date
Speaker 2: every year no matter what.
Speaker 1: And the Bills had a three year stretch where they
Speaker 1: played on Thanksgiving. These were away games from twenty nineteen
Speaker 1: or yeah, twenty nineteen, Yeah, twent nineteen, twenty twenty.
Speaker 2: Twenty nineteen, they were at Dallas twenty twenty one, at
Speaker 2: New Orleans twenty twenty two.
Speaker 1: After three three year stretch, but three and four years,
Speaker 1: four years.
Speaker 2: YEA and all on the road. The Bills have never
Speaker 2: hosted a Thanksgiving Day game, so that would be kind
Speaker 2: of a cool first in their new stadium to do
Speaker 2: it year one. Here's the other thing, Maddie. We know
Speaker 2: the home opener is a Thursday night game as well,
Speaker 2: so that would mean two Thursday night games, which granted,
Speaker 2: going from a prior Sunday to a Thursday not fun.
Speaker 2: But if on the Bills, So last year the Bills
Speaker 2: had a Week seven by.
Speaker 1: Also, yes, they had a week seven by last year.
Speaker 2: So and it was early the year for that too,
Speaker 2: if I remember right, I.
Speaker 1: Think in twenty twenty four it was later week twelve.
Speaker 1: So are you are you thinking like, because the Bills
Speaker 1: are playing on Thanksgiving according to reports, that maybe the
Speaker 1: bye week would be a little bit earlier in their skills.
Speaker 2: I'm wondering if it's earlier. But with what my original
Speaker 2: point was was with if the Thanksgiving Day game is accurate,
Speaker 2: that means the Bills are playing twice on a Thursday night,
Speaker 2: and if you have a bye week, because I think
Speaker 2: ideally you want your bye week to be somewhere between
Speaker 2: week nine and twelve. That's like the sweet spot. Yes, please,
Speaker 2: but if it's not there and it's earlier, you at
Speaker 2: least have this little mini bye from Thanksgiving after playing
Speaker 2: on Thanksgiving night, if in fact that is the game.
Speaker 2: So even if the Bills have an early bye, they
Speaker 2: at least get somewhat of a mini buye late in
Speaker 2: the season if they're playing that late Thanksgiving game.
Speaker 1: And if they're playing that length at late Thanksgiving game,
Speaker 1: that would technically be week twelve, I believe. Okay, So
Speaker 1: if that report is true, then you can knock out
Speaker 1: a week twelve by week for Buffalo.
Speaker 2: Yeah, okay, I mean, everybody's playing on Thursdays these days.
Speaker 2: It's not like the Bills are the only team, especially
Speaker 2: with a triple header slate on Thanksgiving and then Thursday
Speaker 2: Night Football basically week two to Week sixteen, I think.
Speaker 2: So it's part of it. You gotta know what you're
Speaker 2: signing up for. I feel better about the early Thursday
Speaker 2: night game. That's a tough turnaround if they're playing the
Speaker 2: Sunday before, So yeah, it would be I hope. I
Speaker 2: hope that bodies aren't hanging like they have been the
Speaker 2: last two years because the amount of injuries this team
Speaker 2: has undergone has been extensive. So yeah.
Speaker 1: I mean that's why we heard from Brandon Bean after
Speaker 1: the NFL Draft and he was asked about why do
Speaker 1: you draft a cornerback as high as you draft IGB
Speaker 1: and Bean said, well, this could be recency biased, but
Speaker 1: I remember we've been down cornerbacks recently in big time games,
Speaker 1: and I just felt like that was the position group
Speaker 1: where we lacked the most depth, and he wants depth
Speaker 1: that can be starting caliber quality if they need it
Speaker 1: at that position group.
Speaker 2: I want to get back to some comments on the
Speaker 2: tweetsheet here. Todd, with regard to the possibility of a
Speaker 2: Thanksgiving game said, I would feel like I need to
Speaker 2: make sure I add extra beverages to my fridge. Go Bills, Well, yeah,
Speaker 2: I mean he's he's got to get all the way
Speaker 2: to eight twenty. It's a long wait to get to
Speaker 2: eight twenty. I mean we all know that when when
Speaker 2: the Bills are playing on Sunday night or Monday night
Speaker 2: and you're waiting all day to get to the game,
Speaker 2: and it feels like the day just drags until you
Speaker 2: get to kick off. So I could see feeling the
Speaker 2: same way, especially on a holiday you're not even at work,
Speaker 2: you know, like a Monday night game, at least you're
Speaker 2: at work all day and then you get home and
Speaker 2: you've still got a couple hours for dinner and then
Speaker 2: the game. But Thursday night, waiting all day on a holiday.
Speaker 1: One thing that I've started to think about this doesn't
Speaker 1: relate to a holiday game, but more just the Bill's
Speaker 1: home schedule and us knowing that the home opener is
Speaker 1: going to be on Thursday night against the Lions. How
Speaker 1: early for some of these first few home games, are
Speaker 1: we going to have to get to the stadium because
Speaker 1: of traffic? Like, I'm just trying to imagine that first
Speaker 1: home game here, and I feel like people are gonna
Speaker 1: want to be here. Let's say, you know, Maddi's Maddie's
Speaker 1: guess is right, and Buffalo gets the entire Thursday off
Speaker 1: for the first home game at Hei Mark Stadium, I
Speaker 1: would assume that people are gonna want to be gating early,
Speaker 1: and then there's also gonna be an influx of people
Speaker 1: coming in right after work. I'm like, man, we're gonna
Speaker 1: have to get here pretty early. We're gonna be waiting
Speaker 1: at the facility for this game to start, and maybe
Speaker 1: for some of those first few home games. I could
Speaker 1: just imagine traffic being crazy, because even if people aren't
Speaker 1: gonna be aren't gonna have a ticket at the game,
Speaker 1: I'm sure a lot of people for those first few
Speaker 1: weeks that the Bills are at home, wherever that may
Speaker 1: be on the schedule. If it's if they get two
Speaker 1: home games in October or a two home games in September,
Speaker 1: people are gonna want to be there, even if it's
Speaker 1: just to tailgate or walk around.
Speaker 2: Yeah, there'll be a lot of exploration the first couple
Speaker 2: of homegates because this is all new for everybody. It
Speaker 2: doesn't matter how long you've been a season ticket member,
Speaker 2: you haven't seen this. So yeah, people are gonna want
Speaker 2: to get around. They're gonna want to explore, and then
Speaker 2: even when they're in the stadium, which is why I'm
Speaker 2: kind of glad that there are two home preseason games.
Speaker 2: I think for the first time in a long time
Speaker 2: that's true. Season ticket members are going to hold onto
Speaker 2: their preseason game tickets and not give it to neighbors
Speaker 2: with kids. They're gonna want to get in this building
Speaker 2: and check it out, and what better way to explore
Speaker 2: and not worry terribly about missing the action? On the
Speaker 2: field by going to a preseason game.
Speaker 1: See the lay of the land. You want to know
Speaker 1: what bar.
Speaker 3: You're going to, you know, happen choose from you.
Speaker 1: You want to know what staircase to take to meet
Speaker 1: up with your neighbors who are in a different section.
Speaker 1: Like you gotta figure it out too.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Candace on the tweet sheet says, I love it.
Speaker 2: I missed it the last couple of years. So there's
Speaker 2: someone that got accustomed to seeing the Bills on Thanksgiving
Speaker 2: when they played twenty nineteen, twenty twenty one, twenty twenty
Speaker 2: two on Thanksgiving. They haven't been on Thanksgiving Night since
Speaker 2: twenty twenty two, so it's been a minute. So if
Speaker 2: in fact the report is accurate that they're playing Thanksgiving night,
Speaker 2: Candace is on board. Meanwhile, Jacob is taking a different approach.
Speaker 2: On the tweet sheet, He says, is it really a
Speaker 2: good idea to pair copious amounts of high fat, high
Speaker 2: cholesterol food with the stress of a Bill's game?
Speaker 1: Oh my gosh, what do we do? What do we do?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Maybe hit more of the salad and less of
Speaker 2: the stuffing. Yeah, you know, it's it's you know, personal
Speaker 2: choices here, Jacob you know what your body can handle
Speaker 2: in terms of stress of a Bill's game and food.
Speaker 2: If you're concerned about combining the two, you're gonna have
Speaker 2: to make a decision there, and probably not a very
Speaker 2: easy one because the high cholesterol stuff usually tastes the best.
Speaker 2: So yeah, you gotta you gotta make a decision. Joe
Speaker 2: has an interesting take on this. I have mixed feelings.
Speaker 2: On the one hand, I like the spotlight, but is
Speaker 2: this another short week like week two? Mm?
Speaker 1: Hm.
Speaker 2: So that's a good point. You do get the benefit
Speaker 2: of the mini buy on the back end, and and
Speaker 2: I think so long as the team you're playing isn't
Speaker 2: on a bye the week before, their players and their
Speaker 2: coaches are in the same boat. So it's relatively an
Speaker 2: even playing field right now. If you're playing the Chiefs
Speaker 2: and the Chiefs have to buy the week before, I'm
Speaker 2: not gonna be happy. Yeah, I'm not gonna be happy.
Speaker 1: Point.
Speaker 2: So we'll have to see what the schedule poor tends,
Speaker 2: not only for the Bills but for their opponents. How
Speaker 2: many people get the extra rest before playing Buffalo, especially
Speaker 2: if they're playing on a short week, which would be
Speaker 2: the case if it was Thanksgiving and We're assuming because
Speaker 2: we've got it down to three opponents. We know the
Speaker 2: Bills around the road week one. Hopefully it's not a
Speaker 2: super far trip. We've got it down to Houston, Minnesota,
Speaker 2: and green Bay. Houston's far. It's not Denver, it's not
Speaker 2: La Rams, but it's it's a little bit of a
Speaker 2: haul to get back on a short week, knowing you're
Speaker 2: playing at home four days later. That's not an easy turnaround.
Speaker 2: But hopefully earlier in the season the bodies aren't as
Speaker 2: banged up.
Speaker 1: Yep, you're okay with doing it and you can.
Speaker 2: Make it work. So hopefully that's the case. Gonna take
Speaker 2: a break here, come back with some final thoughts on
Speaker 2: the tweet sheet as we mine for more clues on
Speaker 2: the Bills twenty twenty six NFL regular season schedule next
Speaker 2: year on One Bill's Live. All right, back on one Bill's
Speaker 2: Live for some final comments on the tweet sheet about
Speaker 2: the possibility of the Bills playing on Thanksgiving Night against
Speaker 2: the Chiefs. That's the report that's out there, nothing confirmed.
Speaker 2: There's also another report that the Bills are playing on
Speaker 2: Christmas Day at Denver at four point thirty, again not
Speaker 2: corroborated by the league, but we'll find out for sure
Speaker 2: tonight at eight o'clock. Some final thoughts on the tweet
Speaker 2: sheet about playing on a holiday at home here for
Speaker 2: the first time on Thanksgiving, Bruce says, Thanksgiving, I've always
Speaker 2: been with my family at home. Spending it with my
Speaker 2: bills Mafia family would be different but fun. Okay, wait
Speaker 2: to get behind that. Yeah, Glenn says it's cool to
Speaker 2: have primetime games. What concerns me is the short turnaround
Speaker 2: after playing Sunday. I hope the bye can be slotted
Speaker 2: in the week before the Thanksgiving game. Yeah, people get
Speaker 2: worried nice about the turnaround because that's tough on the body,
Speaker 2: and Thanksgiving later in the year.
Speaker 1: That would be week twelve. If it's true, more of.
Speaker 2: A cumulative effect in terms of the wear and tear
Speaker 2: on your body. So to come back in four days
Speaker 2: and play another game, I mean, I guess if it's
Speaker 2: not a buye, is it a quote unquote easier opponent,
Speaker 2: Not that there are any real easy opponents, but one.
Speaker 2: You know, they got a lot of playoff teams on
Speaker 2: their schedule this year. You know, wouldn't be a bad
Speaker 2: week to have Miami. You know, before you if you're
Speaker 2: playing the Chiefs on Thanksgiving the week before against Miami.
Speaker 1: You know, new quarterback, new staff, So yeah.
Speaker 2: We'll have to see Thanks for all the chiming in people.
Speaker 2: That was great. It seems people are for the most
Speaker 2: part excited about the prospect of a first ever Thanksgiving
Speaker 2: home game. If in fact it's accurate. I mean, I
Speaker 2: it seems hard to believe, but you have to remind
Speaker 2: yourself that you know, for the vast majority of the
Speaker 2: Thanksgiving Day schedule it was the Lions and the Cowboys,
Speaker 2: and they're both in the NFC, so playing on Thanksgiving
Speaker 2: was going to be a rarity anyway. And Detroit and
Speaker 2: Dallas our home every year, so hosting a Thanksgiving game
Speaker 2: isn't a common thing for the rest of the league.
Speaker 2: So to do it though for the first time in
Speaker 2: the first season of new Hei Mark Stadium, I think
Speaker 2: would be a really cool deal. So when we get
Speaker 2: the official schedule and find out if it is in
Speaker 2: fact true, I just think that's kind of a for
Speaker 2: opening the stadium. We knew there was gonna be a
Speaker 2: showcase game early in the season that's a Thursday night,
Speaker 2: but then to also get a Thanksgiving home game, if
Speaker 2: it comes to fruition, man, that would be kind of
Speaker 2: a cool deal.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And just thinking about the new stadium and the
Speaker 1: potential of a Thanksgiving game, it also makes me think
Speaker 1: of all these networks that air games on Sundays on
Speaker 1: Thursdays on Mondays. Because this is the inaugural season at
Speaker 1: Hei Mark Stadium, every network is gonna want to have
Speaker 1: that one big home game for the Bills that they
Speaker 1: can broadcast against a talented opponent. It's also the network's
Speaker 1: opportunity to showcase this new stadium.
Speaker 2: Right And we were talking to Ryan Fitzpatrick the other
Speaker 2: day on the show about that. Obviously he's a pregame
Speaker 2: halftime postgame host on Amazon Prime, but he was telling
Speaker 2: us the producers have already set a date to come
Speaker 2: out here to kind of canvass the ground and the stadium,
Speaker 2: because because they want to have a full breadth of
Speaker 2: knowledge about the things they should highlight about the new stadium,
Speaker 2: you know, in addition to airing the game. So I
Speaker 2: kind of envision like coming back from commercial breaks and
Speaker 2: they're featuring something else in the stadium that's new doing
Speaker 2: it that way, and I think they may even have
Speaker 2: an extended pregame show totally to kind of highlight some
Speaker 2: of those things too outside the stadium, like what's the
Speaker 2: tailgating like on the new grounds in the new lots?
Speaker 2: Does it change? Is it more even turned up another
Speaker 2: notch or too? Those are all things for us, for
Speaker 2: us all to discover, but to know that the country's
Speaker 2: going to discover it right along with us on a
Speaker 2: nationally televised game. I think it's kind of a cool
Speaker 2: deal too.
Speaker 1: It is cool. I'm excited for it.
Speaker 2: We have a giant show tomorrow. Why the OBL Friday
Speaker 2: fan mailbag is always entertaining, send in your questions, but
Speaker 2: we're also going to dive into this schedule soup to
Speaker 2: nuts tomorrow. Well, watch the live stream show tonight to
Speaker 2: day