Someone Owes Me Money

So the Sabres evidently read yesterday's blog entry in which I stated that football was really boring and that the Bills were a complete mess and took that as some kind of challenge. Fellas, that reaaaally wasn't what I was going for. Tonight's game was one of the worst games I've ever seen live. It was three-fourths boring and one-fourth incompetence. I think low-scoring hockey games can be very entertaining but this was not one of those games. This was two bad hockey teams trying to see who could be just a little bit worse. And hey, the Sabres won due largely to Henrik Tallinder and Toni Lydman. Hank, get a grip, dear and please do it quickly. After I fired you for the third time tonight I was sitting in my seat seriously digging out my Tim Connolly jersey for the next game. I hate Tim Connolly! This is what you're doing to me and I don't like it!

So let's review. Yesterday Mark and I went to the Bills game. Tonight we went to the Sabres game. We saw a football team and an offensively gifted hockey team score a combined 3 points. Mark and I spent roughly $165 on tickets plus $13 for parking and somewhere in the neighborhood of $25 on concessions. Someone with the Bills and/or the Sabres owes us that along with 6.5 hours each plus commute time. One of the Sabres can cover my shift at work tomorrow and we'll call the time even. Start time is 7:45, loser.

Maybe I'll write a Bandits blog. Top Shelf works for lacrosse, right?

Heather and Mark Do Buffalo: The Bills Game

We went to the Bills game today. As the second half started I realized it was suddenly very cold, my jeans and gloves were completely soaked through by the drizzling rain, I hate drunk people especially when they're yelling "CALIFORNIA QUEERS!" and "SAN FRANCISCO FAGS!" over and over and over and over, even I could've done a better job coaching today and I know very little about football in general or the Bills specifically, the TV timeouts are aplenty and interminable, the 49ers are not that good at football, the Bills are evidently every bit as not good at football as the 49ers and football is not the same thing as hockey i.e. it's really slow and really boring.

Save me.

We've been home for five hours now and I still feel chilled right down to my bones. I currently have on two blankets, two comforters and two pairs of socks but it's not working. I'm pretty sure my teeth are chattering.

Only two things salvaged my day.

One, I finally got a chance to wear the kicking hat my mom made me for Christmas last year. Automatic favorite reader status to anyone not named Mark B. who can tell me what the inspiration for the hat is. Here's a better look:

"How's it sit? Pretty cunning, don'tcha think?"

And two, dinner at one of my favorite Buffalo eateries:

Thank God for foot longs and fries.

So yeah. That's a big FAIL on the Bills game. Good thing this is a Sabres blog.

Next Up... Real Hockey!

I wish I could say I was attentively watching the Sabres and taking meticulous notes but I really wasn't. I was partly distracted by the Bills-induced moaning and crying coming from the other room and partly just... distracted. It was nice to actually see a preseason game but in the end it's still a preseason game, you know? I'm a firm believer that you can't place too much importance on what happens in a preaseason game. For example, no way Ryan Miller gives up that crap ass goal in a real game. Right, Ryan?

The important thing is this: Henrik Tallinder was in the top six where he belongs. Looking at the pairs I think it's probably likely that he and Teppo Numminen are currently the third pairing but I'm fine with that. Lindy, you were pushing it but I'm happy to say that I'm not going to use the firelindyruff.com domain that I bought after all. It's there though, Ruff so stay on your toes.

So let's talk about some other sports:

- Wow, I'm guessing everyone who ran around looking for an antenna so they could watch the Bills game is real happy they did so. When I first met Mark I thought the "Buffalo is cursed" thing was kind of ridiculous but I don't know. It's one thing to lose your starting QB. Hey, it happens. But to start the season 4-0, getting everyone's hopes up, and THEN lose your starting QB? That's harsh, dude. In J.P. Losman's defense however it's hardly his fault the defense wouldn't have been able to stop me from scoring today. Hopefully this is not a Tim Connolly fall off the face of the earth level concussion.

- I'm way behind but I've been thinking about this for a while. People are being awfully harsh on Vince Young. I guess I understand why but I don't know, isn't it possible that he's realized that he just doesn't really want to play football? And is it that bad if that's how he feels? Don't people go out into the workforce after college and realize they kind of hate their chosen field all the time? I'm totally speculating here, I know, but if that's what's happening, how hard do you think it is for a still young kid who has probably gotten a whole lot of what he has in life because he was a great football player to realize he might hate playing pro ball? I guess if I was a Titans fan I might be frustrated but some of the criticism of Young has been a little much, I think.

- I've watched more of the first round of the baseball playoffs this year than I have in the last few years but I don't know why because it's been a pretty boring round so far. I was really pulling for the Angels to beat the Red Sox - as I'm writing this we're in the 11th inning of Game 3 so I don't know if the series is over yet or not - but I am pretty happy that Jason Bay has had such a good series. I'm sorry it's not in a Pirates jersey but when he was traded I heard a lot of grumbling that it was one thing to be good in Pittsburgh where he got very little attention and another thing to be good under the bright lights of playoff baseball in Boston. So far he's doing all right for himself.

- I haven't made a final decision yet but I think I might be pulling for the Rays and their itty bitty payroll to win the whole shebang.

Heather and Mark Do Buffalo: Bills Training Camp

We're going to ignore the fact that training camp is not actually in Buffalo and focus on the fact that the Bills are. Except for now. And those games in Toronto. Otherwise, they're totally in Buffalo.

I'll be honest, I'm not a huge football fan. I mostly understand it but I just don't find it terribly interesting. I don't get people who complain about baseball being slow but spend an entire day watching football. I'm pretty sure if you take away the pregame, half-time, and postgame shows, the commercial breaks, the huddling, and the running on and off the fields, you're left with 12 minutes of actual play per game. I grew up in Alabama where college football is the equivalent of life itself and I managed to escape without really falling in love with the sport (although I highly recommend attending a big SEC game if you ever have the chance because the atmosphere really is amazing and you can't help but get sucked into the sheer joy and insanity of it all) so I figured that was pretty much all she wrote for football and me.

But I kind of got into the Bills last season which is crazy considering that they weren't really that good. I thought there was something really likable about them and so I'm going to try and make an effort to follow them this season. I might even play fantasy football which will be a first. I've played baseball and hockey but that's it. Oh, and I got a Bills jersey for Christmas. So you know, there are seeds of interest there.

Okay, so I wrote all of the above before we actually left for training camp. Sounds pretty happy and optimistic, right? Well... little did I know.

I should start at the beginning. Mark and I decided to junk some of our current furniture rather than bother moving it to the house and the junkers came this morning to cart it all away. This furniture has been in the same place for four or five years so moving it kicked up all kinds of dust which had my sinuses going completely haywire after what was already a tough week in that regard. My head was throbbing, my eyes were watering, and I could feel everything creeping toward my left ear. Those of you following 100 Things will recall that I am friggin' miserable when my ears hurt.

When the very nice junk guys left, we filled up our gas tank, and headed out. We got all the way to the general Rochester area with no problems at all.

And then we got lost.

And then we got lost in another direction.

And then we got lost in yet another direction.

We saw all of Pittsford and the surrounding towns at least three times and while it's a cute little place, it's just not really that interesting. We finally pulled over so Mark could ask for directions and take over the wheel. I promptly curled into a ball of misery.

Kill me now.

It wasn't pretty. Mark was crabby that somewhere the afternoon practice had already started and I was crabby because I hated everything about life at that moment. The place where we stopped had no idea where we needed to go but they were kind enough to pull up Mapquest directions for us.

We finally found the off-location parking and we were then bussed to St. John Fisher's College. I ride a bus to another building for our specials classes (gym, art etc.) every day so this isn't an unusual thing for me but it was pretty amusing seeing a bunch of grown men in Bills jerseys piled on a school bus. In retrospect. At the time it was just hot and miserable.

Thank God in heaven, we finally, finally made it. Bills training camp, 2008!

I thought this day would never come.

I have to admit, things didn't get much better from there. Mark was kind of bummed that we'd already missed half of practice. It was around 3 when we finally got there - we left home at 11:30 - and my mood was just shot. My lack of football knowledge didn't help. I knew who was on defense and who was on offense but I don't know enough about the various positions to know who was doing what well and who was screwing up. I also only know five guys by number - Paul Posluszny, Marshawn Lynch, Donte Whitner, Trent Edwards and JP Lossman - so I was definitely lacking the player recognition that I have with the Sabres. Had I been in a better spot I might have been a little more willing to learn something, but this was not the good Heather. Mark mentioned stopping and eating before we left and while I didn't verbally respond, I think it was clear I really just wanted to go home. So I was really grumpy that he wanted to prolong the trip, he was really grumpy that I was so grumpy, and that made me even grumpier because jeez, can't a girl just be grumpy once in a while?

Some football players playing football.

Some football players watching football.

And then the batteries in my camera died and the last piece of my soul died with them.

Only one man had the power to save the day now. That man? Paul Posluszny. Let me explain: I love everything about Paul Posluszny. He seems so sweet and genuine and I just want to hug him. And that's not a euphemism. While he's definitely a cutie pie, I'm not really attracted to him in that way. I've joked with Mark that Poz is my back-up husband in case anything ever happens to him but I really just want to hug him and hang out with him. I already loved the guy and then I read this little piece on him. He's the only player who didn't bring a TV for his dorm room and he also doesn't have a laptop. He's passing his free time by reading. Guns, Germs, and Steel. That's like... a real book. I totally love this kid.

Poz! Save me, please!

After practice a bunch of players lined the field and started signing autographs. Now, I'm not a huge autograph person. I've never, ever stood in a crowd of people for an athlete's autograph before, not even when I was a kid. (I was pretty shy about that kind of thing when I was a kid though so that was probably part of it.) But Mark had suggested bringing a sharpie along and even though I really just wanted to go home I thought, what the heck, why not? This day can't get any worse.


I'm so, so glad I stuck around. Even if I hadn't gotten anything signed, watching Poz in that situation was pretty wonderful. I would never ever criticize a guy just cranking out autographs without paying attention to what he's doing because he's still going out of his way to do something for fans but when a guy takes those few extra seconds to look up and make eye contact with the person he's taking a photo or poster or jersey from and responds to whatever comment they make to him and then looks up again when he hands their stuff back it's really awesome. It's such a small thing but he was out there for a really long time - he was still signing when we left - and he made a lot of people really happy. He went out of his way to fuss over the little guy beside me who was probably five or six. Totally adorable. And hey, Poz even had enough power to make my camera batteries rejuvenate themselves long enough for me to take a few more pictures.

Behold the power of Poz!

Here, for all posterity, is the conversation Paul and I shared today as he signed my jersey:

Heather B: Thanks a lot, Paul.
Paul: No problem.
Heather B: It's really good to see you back on the field.
Paul: Hey, thanks. It's definitely good to be out there again.

I think we really connected.

Poz gets a major thumbs-up for taking the time to write legibly as well. His signature actually looks like his name. I have to give him that over even Hank. A lot of the stuff I've seen with Hank's autograph is basically "HT 10" which is totally lame.

Paul Posluszny, number 51 in your program, number one in my heart.

So thank you, Paul Posluszny. You totally salvaged my day.

And Now For Something Completely Different...

After I posted this morning, I decided I wasn't going to think about the Sabres the rest of the day. They're bugging me and I don't like it. Instead I thought about the Bills. They're kind of a charming little team, aren't they? Isn't it nice to have a team that makes up for a lack of talent by working really, really hard every week? I like that. It's fun.

This has been posted on various Buffalo websites before, but I'm throwing it up here because whenever I need to lighten the mood, I cue this baby up:



Marshawn came through my line late one night at the grocery store and he was exactly like he is on TV - funny, friendly, and just a tad loopy. He is truly, to quote Robert Royal, "a fresh of breath air."

I've also been ogling this tackle by Paul Posluszny (the replay from behind him is the best angle, I think):



That is, fierce, y'all. I think that deserves a "Rrrrawwwr!" for sure.

On Being a Fan

In honor of NaBloPoMO, I'll be attempting to post something every day in November. If you're not checking in every day, make sure you're catching all the posts! Today, Bucky Gleason strikes again (I know, I know...)

Once upon a time, I, Heather B, wanted to grow up to be a sports journalist. It's true. I loved to write and I loved sports, particularly baseball. Seemed like a perfect mix, no? I wrote for my high school paper and went off to college, jumping into journalism with both feet. But a funny thing happened on the way to the press box. I started meeting sports writers and they were the most miserable people on the face of the earth. I can understand the desire to let wide-eyed aspiring journalists in on the realities of their desired careers - the pay is usually not good, the traveling is tiring, athletes are often not what their reputations suggest - but people in sports were hands down the most negative journalists I came in contact with and they were often almost gleeful in that negativity. They didn't seem to enjoy what they were doing at all.

Which brings me to Bucky Gleason. Listen, fellow bloggers, I'm trying really hard to avoid Bucky but you all keep writing really entertaining and insightful entries about his columns, almost forcing me to read his stuff. I'm going to ignore a lot of the content that has already been addressed - check out Bfloblog, The Goose's Roost, and Getting Caught from Behind for some good responses - but I do want to say something about being a fan. Because I really think Bucky, like many sports journalists, has gotten so focused on being a professional (i.e. NOT a fan) that he's forgotten why he became a sports writer in the first place. That is assuming that at some point young Bucky actually liked sports. So here goes:

Should we be grateful that we have pro sports franchises? Yes, damn straight we should. There are roughly 18,000 cities, towns, and villages in the United States. There are 122 franchises in the 4 major sports. Two of those franchises are in Buffalo. I've mentioned before that I grew up in a state - Alabama - with no pro sports presence. Trust me, for a sports fan, that stinks. Living in Buffalo is like a different world. Those of you who have been fortunate enough to live in a city like Buffalo all your lives (Bucky), may not realize this but you have a gift. It's a gift to be able to drive 10-20 minutes down the road to watch an NHL and NFL level team play week after week. It's a gift to have teams that represent your city. Not the city on the other side of the state, not the next state over, your city, the one you work in and live in and love. It's awesome that 8 weeks out of the year, football fans can hang out together in the parking lot of a football stadium tucked in a little local suburb like Orchard Park, crack open the beverages of their choice, and forget about the real world for a few hours. It's awesome that hockey fans can take over restaurants and bars downtown and do the same thing. And the fact that some of us still choose to do that even when the teams are struggling doesn't make us losers, it makes us fans. Because that's what fans do, they find things to cheer for. If you're only going to cheer for the Bills or the Sabres when they're winning, hey, whatever, more room in the parking lot for the rest of us. But to say there's something wrong with those of us who show up to watch losing teams is ignorant.

I personally think there's something sweet and charming about this year's Bills team and I'm not even really that into football. They've been given every reason to give up - they watched a still and silent teammate get carted off the field in week one, their defense has been decimated by injuries, they lost a couple of last second heart-breakers, they've gone back and forth (and back and forth) between two quarterbacks, they're playing .500 ball. But even in the middle of all that, there's plenty for a fan to root for: This is a team full of heart and scrap, a team that seems to genuinely like each other. It's a team that's at .500 even though it lost three of its first four games. It's a team with good young talent on both sides of the ball, particularly in Marshawn Lynch and Paul Posluszny. You can argue that management hasn't provided all the pieces needed to really be competitive and maybe that's true. But the guys on the field don't have any control over that stuff and it doesn't make them any less worthy of my applause and support. It may sound dumb, but I was so proud to be a Buffalonian during the Bills Monday Night Football game. Watching a beat-down, average team fight tooth and nail against a team that was supposed to blow them out and seeing and hearing that crazed, full-capacity crowd urge them on, no matter how much they'd lost up to that point? That's the good stuff right there. Is it as much fun as watching the Patriots march toward an undefeated season? No, probably not. Would I rather watch the Bills win a Super Bowl than just barely lose a regular season game? Of course. But that loss was beautiful in its own way.

Bucky treats fans who talk about "thick and thin" a little snidely in his column, but being there through thick and thin makes a fan a fan. Being there for the bad is what makes the good so good. Watching Ryan Miller drag his team through the playoffs last year was more special for those of us who remember the kid who cried during a post-game interview a few years ago. Watching Brian Campbell tear up the NHL in the first half of last season (and for the haters, Brian did have a great first half) was even more enjoyable for those of us who remember him struggling to stick at the NHL level. And if the Bills or Sabres ever do win a championship, it's going to be that much sweeter for those of us who can say we were watching the Bills during that emotional topsy-turvy season back when Marshawn and Poz were rookies or pulling for that young Sabres team that was struggling to find a new identity after losing Briere and Drury.

I'm a fan and I hope I'm always a fan. I want a Stanley Cup or a Super Bowl as much as the next person, but I also know those things are tough to accomplish and that sometimes, the joy is in the journey. A sports fan who lives and dies only for a championship is probably going to be a pretty unhappy sports fan. I don't ever want to lose that little piece of my heart that's whispering, "Who says the Bills can't beat the Patriots? Stranger things have happened" or "When all is said and done, the Sabres are going to be just fine." Because I think it's that little piece of your heart that always believes that makes sports beautiful.

Why I Love Hockey: The Canadian Version

Why I Love Hockey #24 - O, Canada
Fans from other cities occasionally ask me why we sing the Canadian National anthem before every game even though Buffalo is in the U.S. The truth is, I have no idea. Maybe because we're so close to the border that we're practically in Canada. Maybe because we know hockey is, at its heart, Canadian. Maybe because we know a lot of our favorite players are Canadian. I don't know. All I know is, I'm really glad we do it. First of all, it's fun to sing. I'm an alto - I can't sing our National Anthem. I try but I'm sure the people around me aren't very pleased at the excruciating sounds they're being subjected to. But O, Canada? Totally in my wheel house. I can sing that sucker all day long and sound halfway decent doing so. I also think it's just a lovely melody. I often find myself humming or singing it under my breath. A couple of years ago I was doing this on vacation and one of my brothers expressed surprise that one, I was singing O, Canada and two, I knew all the words. But that's what hockey has done to me. And while I can't explain why we do it, I do love that Buffalo is, as far as I know, the only American city where both anthems are sung before every game regardless of the opponent. Just one more thing that makes us special.

On a slightly different note, I've never really gotten into the Bills or football in general. I watch a few games a year, I want the team to do well, but I don't go out of my way for them. However... I might be a little bit in love with Paul Posluszny. I grew up in Alabama so I do know college football fairly well - enough to know that linebackers who come out of Penn State are usually pretty darn good. He's smart (15th in his class in high school, Academic All-American in college), he goes to church every week, he seems like a nice guy, and he probably won't dance around the field after a sack when the Bills are down 31-17. And while I'm not sure I'd say he's handsome, he's kind of cute though he could smile more. I really think it's the Time Warner commercial with him and all the kids trying to pronounce his name that pushed me over the edge though. It's adorable. Also, I could be in that commercial. Every once in a while I say to Mark, "Okay, say Poz's last name again." When I'm looking at it, it's no problem. When I'm not looking at it I seem to want to put a "ski" at the end.

So yeah. I'm adopting Paul for the season. We'll see if it sticks.