Buffalo, Texas, Plays Name Game -- It's `Blue Star' Till After Super Bowl

BUFFALO, Texas - George Chaika is the only Bills fan in Buffalo.

Buffalo, Texas, that is.

The rest of the town is so crazy over the Dallas Cowboys, they changed the town's name for the weekend to help cheer them to a Super Bowl victory Sunday.

The transformation of Buffalo to Blue Star, Texas, was well under way by midweek, with blue stars covering "Buffalo" in most shop windows.

"We're giving up our name," said Estaline Bounds, 49, who runs a beauty salon. "The Cowboys better win for us."

Mayor Byron Ryder came up with the idea after a reporter suggested doing something to celebrate Dallas' Super Bowl berth.

Residents immediately went to work painting 100 plywood stars Dallas blue. They also built an 8-foot sign for the largest intersection in this tiny town in southeast Texas.

Ryder got permission from the state highway department to cover exit signs leading to Buffalo, and the Postal Service agreed to accept letters addressed to Blue Star.

The only one in town who hasn't caught Cowboys fever is Chaika, a native of Niagara Falls, N.Y., who coaches the boys' basketball team at Buffalo High School.

"The Bills are going to do their work on Sunday," said Chaika, 44.

Ryder, like most residents, predicts Dallas will win. He cites a highway sign 14 miles south of Buffalo for his prediction.

It reads: Dallas 120, Buffalo 14.