Let’s Go BAND-ITS!

WOOOOOOO!!!

Tonight, along with some friends, I had the extremely good fortune of seeing the Buffalo Bandits win the National Lacrosse League Championship. That’s right! World Champions, baby!

Amy works the pom-pom

It was a nearly perfect game from the spectator’s perspective. The Bandits were ahead the entire night, but they were never very far ahead, so the game was never a forgone conclusion. The Portland Lumberjax (I hate those guys. :P) put up a good fight, and came very, very close to tying it up at the end. The final two minutes of the game were absolutely electrifying.

I really have to hand it to the Bandits crowd. The scene was pretty spectacular. It’s a little rough around the edges in comparison to a Sabres crowd, but the spirit and enthusiasm are the same. The Bandits are a good value, and it’s a great product, so I’m happy that so many people come out to support the team. It’s easy to dismiss arena lacrosse because it’s not a “major” sport, but let me assure you, it’s a good sport, and you are missing out if you skip the Bandits altogether.

Remember when I said that Flyers orange is gross? Well, I stand by that. Orange is gross when the Flyers do it, but when we do it, it’s cool.

Bandits orange is beautiful.

The Bandettes are also beautiful, but in a skanky kind of way.

I have a lot to say about how awesome the Bandits are, and how unexpectedly great the sport is, and how much MONEY the Sabres must be making off the Bandits, and how the players are regular guys who all have normal 9-to-5 jobs in addition to being Bandits, and how charming Buffalonians can be in their desire to cheer, but I’ll save all that for another post. For tonight, I just want to write about what it felt like to be a part of a crowd celebrating a championship win.

Listen, obviously this isn’t the Stanley Cup, or the Super Bowl, but it’s still an honest to God championship. We still got to watch men reach the pinnacle of achievement, on the highest level of competition in their sport. There was a Cup, and it was hoisted. There was an MVP (Mark Steenhuis), there was a sold out arena, and they played “We are the Champions” over the loudspeaker at the end. It’s a real championship. It was exciting, and moving to witness. I am certainly not as emotionally invested in the Bandits as I am in the Sabres, but at some point tonight I got swept up in cheering for cheering sake. I cheered out of love for Buffalo, in appreciation for sports, and for the great skill of the guys on the field. This NLL Championship is nothing to scoff at, and I for one, welcome the opportunity to celebrate this team. I got to honk “Let’s Go Buff-a-lo” all the way home. I got to high five strangers. I got to soak up the atmosphere of triumph and celebration. It was a great night.

The Bandits are the World Champs and we are lucky to have them in Buffalo.

(We are also lucky to have this mullet in Buffalo.)

Ouch

Okay, I have felt many things after many games, but that loss actually hurt my feelings.

I am never going to speak of my bad-luck-iness on this blog again. I ask that you do the same. A fan’s bad mojo is between herself and her Hockey God. It’s intensely personal. I ask that you respect my privacy during this trying time. Thank you.

(In lieu of cards and flowers, please consider making a donation to “Ryan Miller’s Home For Wayward Unlucky Hockey Fans”. Ryan’s in-patient program has already provided immeasurable comfort to me during this dark time, and I’m confident that by sticking to his 30-step recovery program, my luck will be rehabilitated, and eventually, I’ll once again experience the joy of a live Sabres win.)

The True Story of How the Ice Bowl Sucked Ass

As many of you know, HeatherB recently broke her ankle, which is why I ended up getting to go to the Ice Bowl. She was too injured to attend, and her husband Mark was too loyal to go without her, and so they gave their tickets to me and Robin.

Before you start feeling too sorry for Heather, let me tell you the truth about the Ice Bowl: It totally sucked. I know, I know, yesterday I went on and on about how wonderful it was, but it was all lies. After Gary Bettman delivered the suitcase of cash to Crunchy to compel him to let Sid win in the shootout, he called me and made me agree to write a positive post about the stinking Ice Bowl. (Oh, excuse me Mr. Bettman, the Winter Classic). I’ve been feeling dirty all day about that post, and I’ve decided that a chicken finger sub from Jim’s Steakout isn’t enough to buy my silence. I’m sorry Mr. Bettman, but your bribe was insufficient (but delicious); I’ve got to tell the truth about the Ice Bowl experience.

First of all, because we aren’t really tailgaters, Robin and I got stuck in traffic.

And this was the traffic before the game.

The traffic wouldn’t have been so terrible if we hadn’t been wearing ninety-five layers of clothing.

When we finally got the car parked, we spent a few fruitless minutes searching in vain for the BfloBlog tailgate. No dice. We never found them, but we did encounter all manner of drunken fans. Then, I bought a $10 souvenir program which was immediately soaking wet because of the constant precipitation. Plus, the program was totally stupid.

When we gave up on finding BfloBlog, we couldn’t resist going inside and finding our seats. Because the seats were in the obstructed view section, we had no idea what we would encounter. Well, the seats were nearly intolerable. I’m surprised we didn’t leave right then. Frankly, we should have. We were sitting directly underneath the scoreboard, which was fine before the game started because all they were showing was that clip of Crunchy taking pictures of the lake in his green hoodie that we’ve all seen twenty million times.

Yes Crunchy, we know….right now hockey’s the job, but photography’s the release. We GET it. You’re serious about your craft.

After the game began, the whining really began.

This sign says, “I’m cold”. See? Even our pictures turned out crappy.

 

I did my best to represent HeatherB, but I could tell Hank was sad without her.

 

 

And then, as you all know, the game was pretty bad. Snow everywhere, slow moving, low scoring, it was a terrible game. And to top it all off, after a day of sitting in the cold, wet and bored, we spent two hours trying to get out of the parking lot. Good times.

So, basically, the Ice Bowl was horrible, but good manners dictate that I still say…….

Don’t be fooled by our smiles. They’re just masking our pain and rage.

*UPDATE*

Heather, look away now….

(I can’t deal with the thought that anyone would think I didn’t love the Ice Bowl.  Just to be clear, I LOVED the Ice Bowl.  This entire post is joke designed to amused Heather whose broken ankle prevented her from attending the Ice Bowl herself.)

 

 

The Ice Bowl

Photo from Yahoo Sports

I just got home, and I haven’t read or watched any coverage about the Ice Bowl. I have no idea what the event looked like on television, and I have no idea if the game was any fun for the people watching in their homes.

As a person in the stands, the Ice Bowl was incredible. I’ve never in my life been a part of such a large crowd of positive energy, and I’m not sure that I ever will again. I am so proud of Buffalo today. We were cold, wet, inundated by the elements, and locked in a slow moving game, but the crowd just got louder, happier, and more enthusiastic. No one left before the end. Although the loss was hard, with every passing minute after Sid’s shootout victory, my disappointment with the end result dulled, and my gratefulness for having been a part of the day grew.

I felt honest camaraderie with the Penguins fans, and as we were walking out, I actually commented to Robin that I was happy for them. I didn’t see a single instance of genuine disturbance between the two fan bases. From my perspective, the crowd was pretty united in its giddy appreciation of the event. I hope the Penguins fans enjoyed the day as much as I did. (It’s probably safe to say they enjoyed it even more than me.)

I have read a lot of arguments for and against a gimmicky outdoor game like the Ice Bowl. Oh, it was gimmicky alright, but the gimmick was pretty spectacular in person. Personally, I don’t see anything wrong with using a gimmick to generate a little buzz from time to time. Even if the whole thing was a bust on television, I can’t imagine that this game was harmful for the NHL, and beyond that, I don’t really care to think too hard about the “success” of the Winter Classic. I’m just happy I was there. This game was undeniably wonderful for Buffalo, and what’s good for Buffalo, is good for me.

In the end, the game was not about the game, but instead it was about a community of hockey fans, and I’m perfectly fine with that. I love that, actually. Sabres fandom is all about community, and that’s what drew me to hockey in the first place. In a very fundamental way, hockey is what taught me how to reach out and embrace my community, and this game felt like the entire city of Buffalo embracing me back. For all of the cheesiness and the manufactured nostalgia surrounding the Ice Bowl, the end result really did speak to a very childlike part of my personality- the part of me that doesn’t want to resist being swept up by a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Yeah, the game was a gimmick, but there is nothing artificial about the joy it created in me.

LET’S GO BUFF-A-LO!

Happy New Year! (In a Good Way)

Well, this is turning into quite an exciting few days.

Last night I met Crunchy and Staffy at the concert, and tomorrow I’m going to the Ice Bowl! I can’t quite find the right angle for blogging about encountering the real-life Sabres, so I’ll just say this: both of them were incredibly nice, patient, and generous about dealing with the orchestra members. I was able to meet and get pictures with both of them and it was an extremely fun evening. I can highly recommend having the Sabres come to your workplace. (I seriously wanted to offer Ryan Miller half of my BFF locket, and Drew Stafford is a very compelling little zombie. Heh.)

And tomorrow is the Ice Bowl! I was already pretty much spazzing with excitement, but then I read this post on The Ultimate Sports Roadtrip, and now I’m not sure I’ll be able to sleep tonight (yet another reason why going to the Ice Bowl sucks).

Pooooommmmmerrrrrrdooooodlllling!

Inner Child Katebits is Pleased

Guess who got to play the Ronan Tynan concert tonight? That’s right! Inner Child Katebits!

I played the concert. Actually, I more or less, crashed the concert. My dear friend Janz got permission from our conductor, JoAnn Falletta, for me to simply pull up a chair and play along. It was all done outside of the laws of seating charts, union rules, and normal protocol. I really wanted to play the concert, and in the end, no one could think of a reason why I shouldn’t. So, I played!

Inner Child Katebits had an awesome time tonight. Take a minute, and try to imagine what it would be like to have Staffy and Crunchy wandering around at your place of employment. Yeah. It was a super fun day at the office.

I can’t believe the Ice Bowl is still yet to come (…even though it’s going to be totally LAME. If you can’t go you are SO LUCKY). Due to the incredible reversal of fortune for Inner Child Katebits, I’m starting to think that if I publish all of my little hopes on the internet, they’ll eventually come true. (Just in case the internet is magical, I would like to state for the record that Inner Child Katebits really wants world peace, an end to poverty, and a Wii.)

The One Where I Attend a Minnesota Wild Game, and Fall Deeper in Love With the Buffalo Sabres.

Sam and I gleefully headed out to the Wild game tonight. I have been looking forward to this game for weeks. Until tonight, I’d only attended games at HSBC arena, so I was very eager to get a glimpse of the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul.

First of all, the arena is beautiful. Gorgeous. Wide concourses which are open to the arena, plenty of delicious food, lots of friendly staff, and chock full of charming details. The usher guarding our section, wouldn’t let people in during play. When he did let them in, he chastened them to get to their seats and sit down quickly. I seriously wanted to marry our usher. He is possibly the best usher in the NHL. Everything about the Xcel experience was ten times more glamorous and more produced than at HSBC. From the gate, to the intermissions, to the way the players were introduced, to the look and feel of the actual space, everything is just slicker.  I cannot rave enough about the arena.

Sam got us incredible seats at center ice in the Club Level. In the Xcel Center, the Club Level means the single row of seats circling the arena above what we call the 200 level in Buffalo. Not only did we have a great view, but we were sitting at a little bar. Because there was no one behind us, we could stand up as much as we wanted, and no one had to shimmy by us to get to their seats. I can highly recommend watching a game at the Club Level at Xcel Energy Center.

Sam is making his “this game is not going well” face. We don’t know that weirdo behind us.

The game was…..well, it was…..not good. The Detroit Red Wings are a very good hockey team, and the Minnesota Wild were just not up to the task tonight. I seem to have a real knack for attending frustrating, slow games in which the home team looks brutally ineffectual. But, as we said as we were leaving the arena “It’s still hockey.” Bad live hockey is still better than no live hockey at all. In fairness, there was exceptional hockey at our game, it just wasn’t being played by the Wild. Stupid Red Wings.

It would be unfair to judge the crowd based on tonight’s game. The Wings were in complete control from start to finish and one lone goal at the end to the second period was our only real moment of celebration. Minnesotans are true hockey fans, and this game, like all of the games that have occurred since the Wild came into existence in 2000, was sold out. In Buffalo, I’m used to a pretty rough and tumble atmosphere, in Minnesota, things are a lot more manicured, for better and for worse. We were also sitting in some pretty expensive seats, and I’m willing to bet that things were a lot feistier up in the rafters.

So, there I was, sitting in amazing seats, in a beautiful arena, with one of my best friends…..watching a pretty shitty hockey game. Due to the slow pace of the Wild game, my attention began to increasingly drift towards the out-of-town score board. It was quickly deduced that the Sabres and the Flyers were playing a pretty good hockey game. Sam is a Flyers fan, so we had a lot of fun announcing the score to each other as the score crept higher and higher. Things seemed to rest at 4-5 (Flyers) for a long time, and that is where it was when our game (the one we were attending in person), entered the second intermission.

Sam and I headed out to the concourse and watched the last three minutes of the Sabres/Flyers game on the television with hoards of Wild fans milling all around us. I jumped for joy, along with my fellow and distant Buffalonians, when Vanek tied the game with 7 seconds left in regulation. Sam, understandably was less enthused than me, so he returned to his seat to watch the start of the third period. I stayed. I stood alone, in an empty concourse and watched overtime and the shootout. To the amusement of the guy manning the beer kegs, I did a little happy dance for the Sabres when Crunchy won the game. I am so proud of the Sabres and these games that they played against the Flyers. Surrounded by live hockey, in my home town, at a beautiful arena, my heart filled with love for the scrappy Buffalo Sabres. I had so much fun standing in that concourse watching the Sabres win. So. Much. Fun. (Sorry, Sammy. I’m sorry that it had to be against your team. I’m also sorry that your team is the Flyers, but that’s a post for another day.)

Here, Sam models my incredibly righteous souvenir. You wish you had a foam Minnesota Wild souvenir bear claw hand. Just admit it. But don’t be jealous; I’ll let you borrow mine.

All in all, it was a SUPER fun night. I ate a burger made out of a buffalo, I saw an incredibly beautiful arena, I sat in amazing seats, I found out that in person the Minnesota home jerseys do not look like elf costumes, I saw the best team in hockey, I got a feel for what NHL hockey in Minnesota is like, I bought a foam bear claw, I hung out with my dear friend Sam, my seats were guarded by the best usher in hockey, I got a free promotional puck, and best of all, I saw the Sabres win.

Hooray!

Stupid Bruins

-Robin and I bounded happily into the game tonight, and shuffled sadly out a few hours later. I’m scared that I make them lose. They are 1-3 with me in the building. At least tonight (unlike the last two games I attended), the Sabres had a lot of zip in their game. At first I felt guilty, but on further reflexion, I now refuse to take responsibility for this loss. There were clearly darker forces at work than anything I am capable of conjuring up. Which leads me to my next point….

-The Bruins are clearly using witchcraft against the Sabres, and I don’t like it a bit. Personally, I don’t think that sorcery and black magic should be allowed in the NHL.

-I don’t know why we hate Chara, but I followed the lead of the crowd and booed him every time he touched the puck. All I know about Chara is that he is big and ugly and he is a witch.

I dislike you for no reason that I am aware of.

-Crunchy got hurt in the third period, and he says it was his ankle, but I think he just got knocked in the beans.

-I hate the Transitown Dodge Blimp. I hate it so much.

-Is it just me, or is Goose a really handy Sabre to have around these days? I get confused about him because he is so tall and handsome.

-Toni Lydman and I are in a fight. Ordinarily his spacey disposition is what I love the most about Toni Tony Tone, but tonight he took things way too far. You’re sleeping on the couch tonight, buddy.

-With the exception of a few hideous turnovers which cost them the game, it looked to me like the Sabres played pretty decently tonight, they just couldn’t score. Wait. That makes no sense. Let’s try again. With the exception of sucking both defensively and offensively, the Sabres were pretty good tonight. Heh. It was confusing. During a lot of the game it felt like they should be winning, but they just…..weren’t. At all.

-Brian Campbell took a few shots that were, like, forty feet wide of the net. During the power plays, Robin and I kept joking, “Nooooo, whatever you do, DON’T SHOOT, Soupy!” I only mention this because I am very pleased with how much better I have gotten at watching hockey. An individual player taking crappy shots is something I wouldn’t have noticed even a few weeks ago. So, at least I’m getting better at hockey.

 

5 Things

So, Robin and I went to the game last night, and believe it or not, we had fun.

1. There was a hilarious crazy man sitting behind us. Although he was alone at the game, I honestly don’t think he stopped talking the entire time. He had plenty to say, and most of it was good natured in spite of the extremely unpleasant situation on the ice. Crazy dude, you rocked and you made an otherwise intolerable game pretty fun.

2. While the Sabres were standing around in the second period watching the Panthers score, I got in touch with my inner bee-otch, and I started booing. I wasn’t really booing. It was more laughing hysterically while informing Vanek that he sucks. (They were so bad in the second period, you guys. They should just be happy I didn’t leap from the balcony in despair.) Voicing my frustration was actually very satisfying and enjoyable, and I don’t regret it even one tiny bit. Good natured booing makes me laugh, and laughing is good when you are at a game like that.

3. I love the new guy. In our anger and confusion, Robin and I turned to the only Sabre who is still having a good season: the new guy, Nolan Pratt. Every time he touched the puck, we would squeal “Good job, new guy!” Unfortunately he hurt his groin during the game. Seriously guys, you need to strengthen your fucking groins.

4. At the beginning of the game, it was announced that if the Sabres scored three goals we could redeem our ticket stubs at Dick’s for $10 off a $50 purchase or more. This offer was totally forgotten by us until deep into the third period (when all hope of winning was totally lost), and Robin suddenly shouted “Do it for the Dick’s coupon!” and I replied with “I want to redeem my ticket for ten dollars off my next purchase of fifty dollars or more!” The Sabres did not accomplish this simple task. The next time I need some new sneakers, I’m dragging Thomas Vanek’s sorry ass into Dick’s with me and he’s going to pony up the ten bucks.

5. I am pretty frustrated with the Sabres right now, but I am going to to my best to cheer for them anyway. Last night I realized that I need to change my approach to this team. From now on, I am a.) tossing all assumptions about them out the window b.) going to consider them an average hockey team, plagued by injury, mental fragility, and inconsistency. This isn’t some sort of reflection of my pessimistic nature, rather this is a reaction based on my experience with this team. I want to continue loving them, so I had better hurry up and accept them for what they currently are: a mess. Obviously the potential to be great is there and it’s still very early in the season, but right now, this “potential” is not making for a very satisfying game. From now on, I’m judging this team based on what they do now, not on what they did last year, and not what they theoretically should be capable of doing. The ability to think this way is one advantage I have as a brand new fan.

I wasn’t around last year during the Big Exciting Season. I might be the only Sabres fan in town who isn’t totally attached to what they were. This team, the team who played last night, is my Sabres team. I harbor no illusions about them. Maybe they’re just not that good. Maybe they’re going to be awesome. Right now, the only thing they definitely are, is my first hockey team. That’s not nothing.

The Boringest Game With the Funniest People

While some might say last night’s 3-0 loss to the Blue Jackets was, “slow” and “painful”, I’m going to disagree, and declare the game, “leisurely” and “dreamlike”. I don’t feel so much like I attended a game as I feel I attended a zoo filled with hockey players. On Monday I was only vaguely aware of the men playing hockey because I was so engrossed in the action, but last night the incredibly disorganized hockey playing was akin to listening to your good-looking neighbors having a heated argument; mildly interesting, but largely unpleasant. At no point in the game did it seem as if the Sabres were going to score, and at no point was I thinking “Wow, these Blue Jackets are really good.” The game just slogged on and on; but the good news was that, even when the Sabres are listless and uninspired, they are still pretty compelling when viewed up close. Just saying.

It turns out that good seats go a long way while watching your team get shut out. On Monday night we were sitting in fabulous seats that provided a view of the ice almost identical to the one you see on most television broadcasts, but on Friday we saw a full game of powerplay cam. The delightful thing about powerplay cam is that for much of the game, the puck and the players are skating straight at you, close enough to startle you as they slam into the glass. The glacial pace of the game provided for plenty of opportunity to observe various details.

Non-hockey highlights included:

-We went to dinner at Chef’s mostly because it has a long history of attracting hockey players. All I can really say about Chef’s is, “whoa”. While the food was pretty lame, the atmosphere was fairly amusing, and even though we complained loudly about Chef’s for the remainder of the night, I’m glad I finally got a taste of this Buffalo institution. (Dear Buffalo, you need a better institution. Love, Katebits)

-Heather arriving with a variety of signs, one of which explained “Pommerdoodle” was so, so, so, SO funny. (Dear Heather, I’m sorry I was too embarrassed to stand behind the “Tally-ho” sign. I think that the fact that I had just eaten at Chef’s was negatively effecting my moxie. Love, Katebits)

-I thoroughly enjoyed watching Ryan Miller fussing over a little hole in the ice near one of his goal posts. He fretted, and poked at it, and squirted water on it, and circled around it during all the breaks in the action. Finally, he had one of the dudes with a snow shovel poke at it for him. Even that didn’t seem to satisfy old Crunchy. I think I could see a little thought bubble over his head that said, “There is a little hole in the ice right there. I can still see the hole. OMG, look at the hole. I wonder if I poke at the hole if it will go away. Goddamn it, that hole is annoying. Ryan, just ignore the hole. It’s fine. Life can’t be all about smooth ice; sometimes there are holes. I can’t wait for this period to be over so I can go down to the other net. What if there’s a hole down there too? I can still see the hole. Hole, hole, hole, hole, hole. I hate that hole. Why does there have to be hole right there? Fuck, here comes Rick Nash.”

-The little boys in front of us desperately trying to get on the jumbotron. Their strategy was two-fold: One of them took his shirt off and twirled it over his head for the entirety of the third period, while his friend held a large bucket of popcorn poised over his head, I assume to be dumped out in the event they made it onto the big screen. I think the loudest I cheered during the entire game was when they finally did end up on the jumbotron, only to forget their popcorn dumping scheme in the heat of the moment.

- Max is not my favorite Sabre. Toni Lydman and Goose are my favorite Sabres. Goose holds his puffy hockey shorts up with a belt made out of clear tape. I found this beguiling, to say the least.

- Teasing Schnookie about Ryan Miller’s Game Day playlist was infinitely amusing. The Sabres are doing this thing where they play songs chosen by the players during the game. At the beginning of the evening, the jumbotron told us that tonight was Crunchy’s night to play DJ, but it didn’t inform us of his particular choices, leaving us no option but to insist (to Schnookie’s great displeasure), that each and every musical selection was lovingly selected by Crunchy himself. If the music heard last night is any indication, Crunchy has really bad (and suspiciously gay) taste in music. Heh. Q: Would a GAY MAN put the Pointer Sisters on a playlist? A: Yes.

- After the game, we got into a traffic jam the likes of which I have ever witnessed in Buffalo. I’m not being bitchy or sarcastic when I say that this was one of the funniest parts of the evening. We howled with laughter as we inched along, comparing the pace of the traffic to the pace of the game, and analyzing every detail we could recall. You know you are with awesome people when a traffic jam is incredibly fun.

This has been such an great week. I couldn’t have asked for a better introduction to live hockey than the Sabres, the Ookies, and Heather provided for me. The internet, Dear Readers, is a wonderful place, but the real reward of blogging is meeting the incredible human beings on the other side of the computer. Hooray!