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.
