Yay Stillers!

by Anne

And by "Stillers" I don't mean Ben.

I was raised in a football house. My Mother's touchdown celebration cheers probably register on the Richter scale as a low-grade tremor. Most people when watching football with Peg for the first time are often shocked by her vocalizations, especially when a player misses what should be an easy catch.

As a child of the early 90s in Buffalo, football was a BFD. Big Freakin' Deal. However, as is obvious to all, not so much anymore.

Peg and Jim lived in Pittsburgh before settling in the B-lo so my back up football team has always been the Steelers, like my back up hockey team is the Pens. We were supposed to move back to Pittsburgh about six years before I was born, but hey, look at that, here we are in WNY. Pittsburgh is my parent's hometown, so what's theirs is mine or something like that. Anyway, during the regular season I'm all about the Bills, but once the post-season starts in football and hockey and Buffalo is no longer in it, I'm a Pittsburgh fan.

I loved Jerome Bettis, mostly because I liked his nickname and my Mom liked him. Most of my early sports tendencies were formed by my Mom, actually. She's not a huge baseball fan and neither am I. She hates Notre Dame for reasons I still think are ridiculous but for some reason I hate Notre Dame too. She went to the University of Pittsburgh and HATES Penn State and Joe Pa and therefore I feel the same way.

Here we find ourselves in yet another NFL playoff weekend with nary a sign of the Buffalo Bills I park myself in front of the TV to cheer on my would-be hometown team.

Happy to say that the NFL's #1 defense did not fail me today. It's nice when a team you're cheering for actually wins. That's pretty sa-weet. A healthy Roethlisberger and Parker combined for a 5 touchdown victory. Wooooo!!! Off to the AFC Championship game on the 18th against the Baltimore Ravens.

It all just seemed to click today. A punt return for a touchdown... I had to look it up, the last time that happened was in December of 2006. I'm not sure if the punt was bad, coverage was bad or the gods of football decided to smile on Pittsburgh today.

Anyway, I can still actually care about football next weekend! Last season the Steelers lost a heartbreaking almost come from behind victory during Wild Card Weekend and I stopped watching until the Super Bowl.

Come on! I'm going to wear my Steelers PJ pants and see if I can find my Mom's terrible towel she has somewhere.

The Stillers have won both of their games against Baltimore this season and with the divisional rivalry being what it is, next weekend's game should be a good one.

But before that, Sabres at Blackhawks on Wednesday. Can't wait for the all-but-guaranteed interviews with Soupy about his unwilling departure from the Sabres. Awww, Soup.

Mish Mash

by Anne

Yay UB!!!!!! Bulls fans couldn't have asked for a more exciting game. 5 turnovers and beating a team by 18 points that hadn't lost a single game this season, and had never even trailed by as many as 10 points. Wow, wow, wow. :) My heart is all a-burstin' with Buffalo and alma mater pride.

Hockey:

I don't like it when Mommy and Daddy fight :( All things like that do is make me think "desperation move?"

Owen Nolan left Minnesota's game against the Canucks in the first period with another lower body injury :(

The Canucks won! Jason Jaffray (who the eff is that) scored the game winner, his first of the season. Oooooook. Cory Schnieder picks up his first NHL win, making 30 saves, and on the road too. Woooo!!!

He looks like he fell out of a Norman Rockwell painting

Iggy scored in regulation and Mike Cammalleri scored the OT winner to beat the St. Louis Blues 4-3. Wooooo! Phaneuf earned an assist on all 4 Flames goals. There's a joke about sloppy seconds and only getting assists in there somewhere...

Not Hockey or Sports related:

The lovely people at the Apple store fixed Isaac so he's as good as knew. Literally. I mean, he's beautiful. They replaced the whole top of the keypad so its a new mouse, trackpad and keyboard. Its so pristine and feels like new again. And because they're awesome it didn't cost me a penny. Good times were had by all parties involved.

I'm so nervous about missing a deadline for a paper or exam that I've woken up like three times this morning panicking because I think its Monday and I missed an exam.

Good times indeed.

Football is More Complicated than Hockey Part 1 of... Whenever I Understand Football as Well as I Do Hockey

by Anne

Thanks to the guys at The Goose's Roost for the heads up on Brian Moorman's training camp blog. To be found here.

It is well documented that my love for hockey players who blog knows no bounds. As of my first perusal of my favorite Bill (he and Rian Lindell because they're good at what they do and don't usually screw up, and don't really play that much anyway), I can determine that he is far better at this game than his hockey compadres. He uses proper grammar, spelling, syntax and even tosses in a little humor. Does. Not. Compute. I'm used to Pominville's stilted run on sentences and Ryan Miller's odd attempts at being funny in his blog, although that one time he treated goalie equipment sizing like it was The Creature From the Black Lagoon was funny. That's a fun word to say. Lagooooooon.

So Mr. Moorman gets an "A" for his blog thus far. I anticipate more pithy self-deprecating and humorous stories and daydreams about getting a time machine to go back and lead his high school to the state championship, and insight into exactly what that Apple TV thing is. Brian Moorman is your all-purpose Pro Bowl punter, and for that we thank him.

In my attempts to know more about the Bills, tyring to learn more than just by watching games until their losing was a foregone conclusion for the past few seasons, I was perusing their website, only to discover that, unlike the Sabres, I will never in my life be able to name every player on the Bills roster. My GOD there are a lot of them. I'm just going to have to get a select few in my noggin and call it a day. Robert Felton, I've already forgotten who you are. LET ME KNOW IF HE'S ONE OF THE ONES I SHOULD TRY TO REMEMBER. I'm pretty new at this game. Does Andre Reed still play? How's Troy Aikman doing these days?

I spent a great deal of time with Mama Peg the other day trying to wrap my ice-covered hockey brain around the different positions on the football field. Let me clarify, I know the rules of football, I know how its played, I've watched countless hours of football in my life, possibly more than hockey...that's debatable, I briefly dated a football player in high school, but I never really bothered to learn too much about the subtleties of the game. CAN SOMEONE EFFECTIVELY EXPLAIN THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A SAFETY AND A CORNERBACK?! I WILL MAKE YOU COOKIES. I sort of get the difference but if I think about it too hard I start to blend them together because Wikipedia isn't good at answering the questions I shout at my computer monitor. I AM NOT YET READY TO GRASP THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN "STRONG" SAFETY AND "FREE" SAFETY. Or is that one of those things like in order to explain what a safety does you have to know the two positions, then I'm ready to learn, but speak slowly and use lots of hand gestures and analogies.

I just figured out what a "play action pass" is. Ok, I've seen it done before, and heard that phrase before, but never realized it was the same thing. I AM SO GOOD AT THIS.

Also, I wouldn't know the VAST majority of the Buffalo Bills on sight. I can guarantee I could ID Brian Moorman, JP Losman, Marshawn Lynch, Poz and Rian Lindell. I'd probably be able to ID Trent Edwards and Lee Evans.

Anyway, this season will be my attempt to REALLY love the Bills. I'm a Bills fan by default. They're my #1 football team no matter what, but I feel like I should better know the team I've committed the football portion of my heart to. As far as I can tell, there is only 1 Sabres game on Sunday in this coming season, and that is after the football season will have concluded, and there is no Sabres game during our Monday Night Football Game on November 17th. THE GODS OF HOCKEY AND FOOTBALL ARE CONSPIRING TO HELP ME IN MY QUEST.

Ok, so anyone who can help me out in my quest and won't be condescending when I ask stupid questions, let me know! I'M AN EXCELLENT BAKER, I'LL MAKE YOU COOKIES OR WHATEVER SUITS YER FANCY. WOO! K, thanks! Bye!

From a distance, the world (playoff picture) looks blue and green (not navy and gold)

by Anne

The good news is, my pep talk to Righty and Lefty seems to have worked and Millsey isn't seriously injured and will most likely play against Boston. Good.

Perhaps its that its Super Bowl Sunday and once again, same as it has been for many years, the Bills are not in it, nor have they been in the playoffs for the past 7 YEARS.

Born in 1985, my most formative years as a sports fan were the early 1990s when the Bills were tearin' it up and the Sabres were being torn new you-know-whats. Baseball was the sport my dad was raised on, and football my mom. Being that Buffalo has no major league baseball team, I became a football child. I usually listened to hockey games with my mom, but having never actually attended a hockey game, I really had no idea what was going on. I just really liked it when Rick yelled "La-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-fontaine!" and for years, in my mind, Pat Lafontaine was the greatest hockey player ever. Wayne who? My mom used to tell me about how she was at the Aud when Perreault scored his 500th goal and how the Sabres had never won a Stanley Cup.

So, this morning I find myself once again prepping to watch yet another SuperBowl in which I'm forced to choose a team that I want to win, rather than having it just be a given. This year I choose the Giants but not because I hate Tom Brady and not because I'm rooting for the underdog, but because I just think they're all cheating jerkfaces and I don't want them to win. This is the same reason why Anaheim is my favorite Western Conference team. They beat Ottawa. There's really no other reason. Ok, there's Ryan Getzlaf, and they team itself is pretty entertaining in interviews, but really, they came this close to being my new least favorite Western Conference team. If the Sabres had beaten the Sens and then lost to the Ducks, I'd hate Anaheim as much as I hated Dallas for years and still hate Brett Hull.

This mood also has me feeling down about my beloved Sabres. We're currently 5 points out of a play off spot, but once again find ourselves a few games down in the GP column. I should be optimistic, I should be. I just really hope that the Habs win this afternoon, I still think they're the Eastern team to go all the way, or at least to the ECF.

I think that knowing who our fearless leader shall be would go a long way to cheering me up, Lind-o. Eh? Eh?

Might I throw in my 2, 3 or 4 cents?

That jersey is aching for a letter, Lind-o

This boy made no bones about his determination to stay in Buffalo and we're better for it, that left shoulder is looking a little empty, Eh Lindy? I've switched from thinking he's terrifying to thinking he's one of those big brutish teddy bears.

Now, you already have the jerseys, why make them useless?


HONK!

And maybe someday?:


Total. Badass.


PIE-YAY!

I feel better now. GO SABRES!!! YOU CAN DOOOOOOO IIIIIIIIIIT!! Wooooooooooop!

Monday Mondaaaaay

By Anne

So, while anyone who is in public school under the college level or anyone who works in a government office is nestled snugly in their nice warm beds and homes on this freeeeeezing cold day, S(h)ara and I are at work. Enjoying every moment of it, I can assure you.

The one good thing about working today is that there are very very few people also driving into downtown Buffalo to get in my way, and many many open parking spaces to choose from. So, at least I always know on these mornings that my commute will be easy.

Enough about us, onto the sports.

I am sad to report that my favorite NFC team, the Green Bay Packers lost to the NY Giants last night in overtime. This saddens me greatly. Brett Favre has long been a favorite of mine, since he first started playing for Green Bay and received national recognition as AP MVP in '95. He's started EVERY GAME as a Green Bay Packer since he started there IN 1992. And his middle name is Lorenzo, can you really get much cooler than that? I watched every second of the career game he played right after his father passed away, and cried at the end of it, not gonna lie. I watched him take the sack from Michael Strahan so Strahan could earn the NFL's record for most sacks in a season. He's never publicly admitted that he took the dive, but if you watch it, it's pretty obvious that he did. I didn't agree that he should've done it as it, to many, cheapened the accomplishment. But let's be honest, how many quarterbacks would lower their pride enough to take the sack, lower their own numbers and those of their offensive line, to let someone on another team set an NFL record?

Basically, to be totally honest, the first reason I took notice of him at the tender age of 10 is because my aunt, who is irritatingly obsessed with pronouncing things correctly (including saying almost all Italian food names with an Italian accent, in spite of the fact that we're 100% Irish) was OBSESSED with the fact that Favre was being pronounced Farve. Ok, this is clearly not how his name should be pronounced, but who really cares?

Bretters might retire this season (NOOOOO!!!!) and all I wanted was for him to get one more NFC championship and maybe, just maybe, upset Tom Brady in the Super Bowl. The greatest upset EVER. The old man and the superstar going toe to toe.

I wanted to see this:

Not this:

I don't really care much about Eli Manning. I enjoy his brother much more. So do his parents probably, so that makes me feel bad for little Eli, but I don't think the poor boy and his Giants stand a chance against Tommy B. and his Patriots.

Anyway, on to the hockey:

I watched as much of yesterday's Bruins v. Rangers match up as I could take, as I kept nearly nodding off, I changed the station frequently. I can't imagine a game that's 1-0 for the first 40 minutes is exactly what the NHL wanted when the decided to highlight this "Original 6 Match up!!!". Does anyone else want to acknowledge the fact that anyone who doesn't follow hockey regularly will have no idea what that means? I was under the impression that the goal was to attract new fans, not confuse them.

The NHL on NBC game of the weeks seems to be "the NHL game of whoever the Rangers are playing on Sunday" game of the week. Next week its Rangers v. Habs. "ANOTHER Original 6 Match up". Hardly the marketing strategy I would employ.

I love looking at commercials and seeing how ridiculously focused they are on putting out ads created for a very specific audience. Yesterday it was middle aged men, their sons in their 20s and the girlfriends and wives that were forced to watch the games too. We had FloMax, Cialis, that Verizon commercial with the new dad banging on the nursery window (ok, I have to admit I laugh every time at that one) and the figure skating championships that will soon be on NBC.

Let's watch it, shall we?

I think I laugh because I fully anticipate one day marrying and having children with a man who will do just that when seeing our baby in the nursery window.

I also enjoyed Mike Millbury and his lower leg skeleton model he had to show the world just exactly where Sid the Kid has injured himself. Thank you, Mike "High Ankle Sprain" was such an ambiguous descriptor.

Also, Kobasew, another of my top favorite NHL player names scored a short hander, so it was an entertaining game. I was pissed that Tim Thomas, whom I enjoy as a person and a hockey player (I know I'm not supposed to as he's a NE division rival, but whatev) was denied his shut out with 44 seconds left. Booooo!!!!

There was hinting that Jagr isn't happy in New York anymore as they showed footage of him looking decidedly unenthusiastic about scoring a goal in a previous game. Sundin? Jagsie? Who's next?

If Jagr leaves the Rangers, my friend Scott will need some serious consoling. He's a huge Jagr fan. He'd walk around class during last season's playoffs in his Jagr jersey, very sure that his team would prevail. I couldn't help but rub it in a lot when they did not. Sadly, Scott-o and I were not in the same city when the Drury debacle went down, so he never got to have his revenge by bragging that his team got our captain.

In other news, the Sens dropped yet another one, losing 6-1 to Philly. Too bad Marty wasn't in net for that one. As I said, its hard to be too excited as Alfie and The Piece of Trash weren't in the line-up for the Sens. It'll all be different in a month or so when they're back and the Sens rebound. Same for Sid the Kid and the Pens. Yes, he'll be out for a while, but assuming the Pens can hang on to their playoff spot without him, they'll be a different team when he comes back.

K-Sylv is givin' the play-by-play this afternoon in Phoenix with Harry Neale. This should be interesting (read: painful and confusing for us all, like when Mommy has a new boyfriend). While I support the choice to use K-Sylv instead of...actually I don't know who else they'd use, I still would rather hear Slick Ricky than anyone else. There's been an argument made for Roby, but I prefer to hear Roby giving the tough love than the more neutral play-by-play position. Slick Ricky is certainly not neutral in his love for the Sabres, but he tends to not openly criticise the team...too often, and only when they really deserve it, like at anytime in the last 3 weeks.

I can't wait to see Rayzor and Roby alone with no K-Sylv to mediate them. They both like to play bad cop, so if the Sabres are playing badly, this could be a Dodge Intermission report bloodbath.