I'm not in Buffalo anymore...

$30 for a 3rd row ticket to a play-off game? For the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins that's all it costs for a good seat to a conference final game!

By the way, here's my pick for the Stanley Cup finals -- Penguins in 6. This is based more on the fact that I kind of like the Penguins (in the "my team missed the play-offs so I'll jump on the bandwagon of a team I don't hate" kind of way. In my defense I did pick them during the first round as my temporary play-off team) and I hate the Red Wings because they're a dynasty team and "Iron Groin" Hasek's broken promise after joining them. (Remember that "oh, it's just one more year so I can get the Cup then I'm going back to the Czech Republic to raise my son" comment? Yeah, how many years ago was that?)

Next week I plan on doing an about me series combined with things I like about hockey like what Heather did last summer.

This post may offend some sports fans...

WGR's current web poll asks i you would trade our Sabres for a MLB or NBA franchise. As of about 9:30 on 13 May 08, 83% say no and 17% of the people who responded are complete morons. Personally I find baseball dull and boring.

IF some good friends are going to a baseball game then I might go more to hang out than anything else. People say that hockey is boring, but I find that far from true. Even in a very low scoring game each shift players are constantly sprinting up and down the ice and getting slammed around. In baseball I see players standing around for at least half the time they're on the field. Then they might make a short sprint, only to stand around again. When was the last time you saw a runner get leveled? Furthermore, baseball has no right to complain about low scoring games. 22 innings for a final score of 2-1? Please, I don't know how people managed to stay awake through that snore-fest. Remember '99 or '94? Triple sudden-death OT, yet at the same we saw some very intense displays of athleticism. Sure, one of those games ended with a horrible call, but at the same time it was a great game.

Basketball is a sport that I cant' seem to get into. Basketball has the problem of over-inflated scores. A basket just isn't much when you have scores in the 90s to 100s. A game where a team wins 70 to 50 is low scoring? That being said I'd MUCH rather watch a basketball game than a baseball game.

Buffalo has a baseball team, so if that's your thing then go to a Bison's game. Buffalo had an NBA team, and it failed and moved out of town. Besides, I'd rather watch a college hoops game than an NBA game, and Buffalo is privileged with several college teams. Didn't the Arena play host to early rounds of March Madness a few years ago? (Ok, so maybe it was 6 or 7 because I think I was in high school at the time)

All this to say that I wouldn't trade the Sabres for any other sports franchise. I'd rather they be re-named and give an even more hideous logo and be filled with players like Ray Emery and Sean Avery than have the Sabres move away in exchange for a MLB or NBA team. (But please don't ever let it come to that! Fortunately Golisano seems committed to keeping the Sabres in Buffalo, and Buffalo continues to have some of the highest ratings in the country for hockey even without our team in the playoffs.

On an unrelated note (and to make the this entry a bit longer and more useless) I'll relate a story to you. But first I'm going to give you a little something about me. I'm in the Pa National Guard. Currently I am going through a readiness processing program. Last night we had to do a long boring medical briefing with paperwork. Right now we have a soldiers from all over the state here. During the briefing the sergeant in charge (NCOIC) asked if there were any Flyers fans. After a few people cheered he asked "What's the series at now? 2-0? Funny how the Flyers said they'd sweep the Pens." I just started laughing. Throughout the briefing he made fun of the Flyers fans, who tried to make fun of him back (kind of hard to do when your team is losing the series). It made an otherwise excruciatingly long and boring briefing bearable.

NHL on Hulu

So recently a friend of mine sent me to a website where one can enjoy TV shows with limited commercials for free (basically 4 commercial breaks in what would be an hour show, each with only 1 commercial). I was able to enjoy a show from when I was younger. (It got the ax in 2000) Recently on that site I found that the NHL posts some full games on there! Unfortunately when I went to watch the Derek Roy highlight (he was the only Sabres player I saw on there with a highlight) there was no audio. The website is hulu.com, and you can also watch some games on there, include a game from the '60s! Or perhaps you'd like to watch the Nordiques play the Candadiens from 1985. For those masochists out there you can also watch the agonizing shoot-out from the Ice Bowl! (I was there, and these pictures prove it!)







Oh yeah, one more thing -- Shootouts suck and should be eliminated.
(And since Ryan Miller must have enough time to read every Sabres blog out there and he's a member of the competition committee I'm officially tasking him with eliminating it from games.

Let's all welcome The Hobbit!

The Hobbit, aka Nather Gerbe has signed a 3 year contract with Buffalo! Now if this is news to you then you are really coming to the wrong site to get your Sabres information.  But congratulations, and we look forward to seeing (or in my case, hearing) you play in Buffalo soon. 

For those of you who are unfamiliar with The Hobbit, he lead Boston College to victory in this year's NCAA Men's ice hockey tournament, beating Notre Dame in the finals. He seems to be a dynamic player, racking up a hat trick in the semi-finals, yet he's only 5'5". My theory is that he's so short the other teams look right over his head and don't notice him. But as J.R.R. Tolkien told us in his wonderful tales of Middle Earth, sometimes the fate of many rests upon small, remarkable creatures. 

Or perhaps Master Yoda's words would be more appropriate for The Hobbit:

 "Size matters not."

 (Hmm, maybe I should have called him Yoda, but I already referred to him as The Hobbit and I'm not changing his nickname now, even if I'm the only one who calls him that.)

It's been a while...

Ok, so it has been a while since I updated this. Blame life for keeping me busy. At any rate I was able to watch the Penguins defeat the Rangers in OT on Sunday! Ha, take that Dury. Also, I'm glad that Brian Campbell lost (again, sorry San Jose, but Campbell's mouth ruined it for all of you. But if you simply dump him on July 1 then I'll return to my regular apathy towards you.) 

It was nice to see half of my side of the D-FAC (Dining FACility) stand up and cheer when the Pens won. Go Pens -- you are my adopted team for the play-offs. (In the west although I have MOSTLY forgiven Dallas for 1999 I still would love to see them get eliminated on a controversial call, and I don't like Detroit on principle for several reasons, including the fact that they are a dynasty team, they think they're better than Buffalo when it comes to fans [they're not even close], and Dominick Haseck's "Oh after I win the cup this year I'm returning to the Czech Republic to raise my son" lie. How many years ago was that?)

In the East I'm officially calling for the Penguins to beat the Flyers in 6, and in the West I'm hoping that Dallas beats Detroit in six or seven. I'm going with the Pens to win the cup, although that's partially (ok, mostly) based on the fact that I really don't want to see the other 3 teams win the cup. (Sorry Marty Biron)

So we shall see how things progress from here.