We meet each Sunday during the season (and hopefully the post season this year) at Hard Times Café and Cue at Four-Mile Fork in Fredericksburg, Va.

Our meeting place is located at 5099D Jeff Davis Highway, Fredericksburg, VA 22408. The phone number there is (540) 710-6771. A link to a map to the place is located on the Northern/Central Bills Backers' Web site at fredericksburgbbs.tripod.com

For those of you who have never been there before, the location is less than a year old. One half of it is a restaurant; the other half is a large sports bar. We meet on the sports bar side, which is to the right as you enter. The Bills game is shown with sound on the large projection screen television at the back of the place well past all the pool tables. This place has at least 50 TVs and will show every other game going on, as well as auto racing.

The food at Hard Times is pretty good. They have cheap wings, which aren't exactly Anchor Bar caliber, but they are decent for this region. Their Buffalo Chicken salad is excellent. The place is really known for its chili. They have four varieties of chili -- Texas, Cincinnati, Terlingua Red and a vegetarian chili. You can see the whole menu by clicking on the link near the bottom of the Web site mentioned above.

The atmosphere at this Hard Times is a pretty mellow. A good number of teams are represented by fans, but there is no other group like ours there.

The chapter will send out an e-mail soon as the season opener against the Texans gets closer. If you'd like to receive that e-mail, please go just let us know by e-mailing our point of contact at jchenelly <at> gmail <dot> com.

We had a great time Sunday as about 20 fellow Bills Backers turned out to watch J.P. start off his career with a win.

Thanks to everyone who made it! Becuse of our good turnout, we were able to see and listen to the game on two of Hard Times' three large-screen format TVs.

We plan to meet again this Sunday in the same place at the same time for the game against the Bucs.

We're hoping for a even more fans next week as several e-mailed to say they were going up to Buffalo last week for the game.

More info is available at the link in my signature line.

Thanks to everyone who came out Sunday as the Bills took on the Buccaneers in Tampa Bay. Our group continued to grow as nearly 30 Buffalo fans came out to root on the team.

Despite the disappointing finish to the game, spirits were high and we had another fun afternoon of football.

Everyone is invited to come out again this Sunday, Sept. 25, as the Bills try to get back into the win column with a home match up with the Atlanta Flacons.

More info is available at the Web site linked to in my signature line.

Thanks again to everyone who came out yesterday to see the game. We continue see new faces each Sunday. Unfortunately, as the losing streak continues, our attendance numbers are declining. I guess that is to be expected though.

Yes that is a regular pattern along with whenever (rare in our area) game is on TV . Even I do not typically drive to my bar when the Bills play ESPN game.

Yep, we had the Atlanta game on local TV, and our numbers took a little dip. No big deal really. We have built a base. We just need the team to go on a nice winning streak now and we'll fill every seat again.

I love Hard times Cafe. I watched the Bills lose to New Orleans there. Their chili is really good. I liked all the draft beer choices too. Next time, hopefully,
the Bills will win while we're there!!

Glad you had a nice time Jokurdog. Hope to see you again soo -- someone needs to lead us in the "Shout" song.

We won't be officially meeting for the Sunday night game against the Pats. Our next get-together will be at Hard Times for the 1 p.m. game Nov. 13 against the Chiefs.

Draft party anyone?

I don't know about the rest of you, but I am missing football, so I would like to gauge interest in getting together for a draft party April 29.

The Bills have at least three first-day draft picks, including the eighth pick overall. I say "at least three" because the Bills may have a compensatory draft choice or two coming there way.

The draft begins live from New York City at noon Saturday, April 29. Rounds one through three will be held that day. If the Bills stick with the eighth pick, the team will likely make its selection around 1:30 p.m., but no one can ever tell what will happen on draft day. With that unperdicatbly in mind, I'd be willing to run a draft pool for the first round that day if there is interest.

Our meeting place from last season, Hard Times Café & Cue at Four-Mile Fork in Fredericksburg , will be showing the draft live, but we do not necessarily have to meet there. If you are interested in getting together for a draft party, please let me know if Hard Times is a place at which you'd like to meet.

That said, I'd also like to solicit ideas from you on where you would like to meet for the games next year. While most people have told me they are fine with meeting at the same location next season, some have said they would like to consider other establishments. I am open to either staying put or looking for another place, but I do not want to make any decision like that by myself.

So, please let me know if you have any other meeting places in mind, and please let me know if you would like to help review other places to see if there is a place that better fits our group's needs. I really need some help on this point.

You can post a reply here, PM me, or click on http://fredericksburgbbs.tripod.com and visit the "contact us" page.

Membership update: We now have well more than 60 people registered with the International Bills Backers. We had between 60-70 different people come out last year at one point or another, and we averaged 20 people per week, which I think is pretty good considering how poorly the Bills finished the season.

Draft party Saturday, April 29

Many "experts" are already projecting that the 2006 NFL Draft will prove to be one of the best ever, and the Bills have a big part in it.

So, we are looking to gather for this year’s draft at our regular season site, Hard Times Café and Cue at Four-Mile Fork, in Fredericksburg.

The draft is scheduled to being at noon Saturday, April 29. It will be on a large-screen television at Hard Times live from Radio City Music Hall.

More info is available at http://fredericksburgbbs.tripod.com.