Stillll Waiting

by Anne

Every summer during training camp I'm all "EFF YOU, BILLS! YOU WON'T SUCK ME IN THIS YEAR. I'M STAAAAAANDING STRONG!" Then the first few preseason games come and they look not entirely hopeless and then they suck me back in.

I'm sucked back in. Sigh. It's just the way of the Bills fan. Desperate for the glory days of my childhood even though I know Trent Edwards is not Jim Kelly and Chan Gailey is not Marv Levy. Oh well, Trent Edwards is still hot and CJ Spiller will give us at least a few games before we hate him, ala Marshawn. We'll probably win a few games and lose a few and we probably won't make the playoffs... again. But I'll be there regardless. Ugh. Darn hometown pride, gets me every time.

I hope they get creamated by the Lions (not likely) then it'll help to soften the blow when they lose 42-3 in their season opener.

I'd be more willing to hate you after week six if you weren't so pretty.

Curse you, Trent.

In hockey news: blahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.......................................................................

I tweeted this but now must post it here: Shaonenenenenaede Morrrisonnnne will not be Skippy; he shall be Shenaynay. I'm not sure how to spell it best. I spelled it Shanaynay on Twitter but I'm not crazy about it; first because it looks dumb and second because apparently Shane Dawson spells some character that way and I don't think Shane Dawson is funny. Thoughts on how best to spell his nick name? Shenaenae? Shenaynay?

Since Soupy left we've been looking for a weak-jawed Casanova to troll the blue line... and it looks like we've found him.

Cabin Fever

by Anne

I had a whole post written about angry things because being cooped up inside all day with an annoying cat makes me a little cranky. However, I have opted not to force you to endure my rants about why I hate Chuck Palahahahhaaniuk.

-I'm bored so I'm thinking about dying my hair really dark brown again. Yes, Anne, because it looked so good the other 6 times. I've decided to start living by the rule that if I don't have to dye my hair, I won't. Its cheaper and natural is (almost) always better.

- Also, I was considering donating my hair to locks of love again, but then I remembered that my hair looked like this for about 8 months and I reconsidered:

It may work on Posh, but not on this girl.

- When I have nothing to do, I tend to call people and IM people more often. However, I realize that this can be annoying after a while so this break I'm making a conscious effort not to excessively bother people

-I also think about road trips but unlike most of my college days, most of my friends have these things called "jobs" and most of my friends are not enjoying these lazy days of winter break.

- My sister had a concert today that we did not go to. Well, she didn't go either. I'm not sure if the concert happened or not but she's sick so she wouldn't have been singing anyway.

-The Bills actually won. I was the Negative Nancy around the house today, predicting with each of the Bills' scores what would happen next to negate it all. I was basically right until the end. I declared the Broncos get the TD and 2 point conversion and then Lindell would miss a field goal. Peg predicted an interception. The big winner here? JP Losman. Ahahhahahaha

-I know the win was meaningless in the playoff picture but it is nice to play the spoilers for once. even if Dick Jauron claims that wasn't on their minds. Really, I have nothing against the Broncos, I used to love John Elway, but it's fun to be at least some part of changing team's fates.

-Great games for Trent and Fred Jackson. There's definitely a lot more confidence in their games these days. Hopefully that will continue next week and build into the off-season.

-Reggie Corner's play at the end of the 4th to breakup Cutler's TD pass to Stokley was awesome.

-They played the kind of second half we were used to seeing out of them. Its really too bad they couldn't have dug deep for that kind of 2nd half a few more times this season.

-If Steve Johnson continues to improve as he has in these last few games, we'll have some nice depth and a few more options next season.

- Its unfortunate that some of these pieces seem to be coming together a few games too late.

-Marshawn hurt his shoulder. I care but not that much because 1. We won anyway 2. He basically has until August for it to heal up and 3. He was cheering and carrying on on the sidelines quite a bit so it doesn't appear to be too serious.

- My dogs adamantly refuse to go outside if its like 70 degrees and there's a slight drizzle. However, 16 degrees and 2 feet of snow? GAME ON.

- I hope the weather is clear tomorrow. I have some more stuff I need to pick up including a book for myself that no one will be getting me for Christmas because I didn't ask for it. I read Sex Drugs and Cocoa Puffs this summer and I've put off picking up another Klosterman book during the semester but on my list of things to read is another of his books. I'm leaning towards Killing Yourself to Live. Thoughts?

- The Pirates have put together 2 wins in the last few days, righting the ship that had started to steer off course ever since we ruined everything first by calling up Mancari and then Gerbe. Whoops. Sorry, Portland!

-Ok. Dinnertime. Then wrapping Christmas presents! Our tree is up and needs some stuff for underneath it. Yay!

On a Sunday

by Anne

Last night after the "game" S(h)ara and I (plus some other friends as well) went to Fat Bob's for some delicious tasty food and darts and it was wwwaayyy more fun than that "sporting event".

I can take away 2 positives from last night:

1. Mark Mancari scored his first NHL goal!! Yay!!

2. I did really well in sales

3. ............ if we had been so inclined we could have gone to Level and booed Derek Roy in his face. Even though he scored a goal, it would've been symbolic.

Speaking of symbolic, apparently changing the name of this blog had no effect so I decided to resort to other tactics around the house to express my displeasure.

I have a standings tracker. It hangs over my bed.


I keep track of the divisional standings.
But where is the slug?


He's in the corner, thinking about what he's done.

But my symbolic rage wasn't finished there.

The other day, my Mom went on a field trip with the folks at the workshop for developmentally disabled adults where she works. They went here:


Delish.

They have many fun shaped cookies, including several Sabres' jersey cookies. The choices were Miller, Rivet, Paille, Pominville and:

She opted for Vanek because he's leading the NHL and the one I hate the least at the moment because of that very reason.

However, in spite of the fact that he hasn't done anything to personally offend me recently I was forced to sacrifice him in hopes of catharsis:



I didn't feel that was quite enough...

... so I ate his arm.

I feel a little better.

This 30-17 Bills score at the half is also helping my mood immensely. Trent is looking pretty DARN swaggery, whoever just said that on 97 rock, I wasn't paying attention to who it was.

Aaaaaand as I was uploading photos the 2nd half started and Trent ran in for his 2nd TD of the game. OWWWWWW!!!! That's a 20 point lead, baby!

I'll either write later declaring my immediate plans to move to Chicago or about how much I love Buffalo and my strong desire to make babies with Trent Edwards. WOOO!!!

Sabres Win!!! I Still Hate Phil Kessel

by Anne

Wooooo!!! Ok, so I can't deny that sometimes I'm kid of glad I don't watch every second of every home game, especially when they're a snooze fest like Boston games usually are. I prefer to chat with the ushers about the trap and how Manny Fernandez was great when he played for Minnesota and he hasn't played in like a year.

Anyway, who else had a sense of deja vu from Saturday's game? Trailing by 2, tie it up, 3-2 shootout decision. The only difference was we won this shoot out and there was less violence because the Boston Bruins pick "boring" over "punchy".

THOMAS VANEK DIDN'T SCORE A GOAL. OFF WITH HIS HEAD. Ok, well he did score the game-winning shootout goal. WHAT IS HIS DEAL?! WHATEVER IT IS, I LOVE HIS DEAL.

Things that happened tonight that don't happen every night:

• I sold popcorn to my AP Economics teacher from high school. He did not recognize me. Of course, rarely in high school did I wear a black baseball cap and a black and white refs shirt with price buttons on them. I said RARELY.
• KATEBITS WAS THERE!! And because I'm a loser and am terrified my students will find this blog one day, we did not take a picture. HOWEVER, KATEBITS, I REALIZED THAT THE PICTURE WOULD IN FACT BE ON YOUR BLOG AND NOT MINE, SO, GAME ON SISTER FRIEND, WE CAN POSE WITH THE DIET COKE AND COTTON CANDY.
• I ran out of quarters just as Katebits came through my line. HOW EMBARRASSING.
  
• A drunk man asked me for my phone number
• A girl paid for her popcorn with 4 $1 coins

I watched the shootout up in the stands because that's actually a lot more fun that watching it from the zamboni doors with the ice people and the guys who bring in and out those awning things because they block the ice and you have to watch on the screen, and whats the fun in that?

---

Dear Derek Roy,

Anytime you want to get a notch in that "G" column, that'd be SUPER. Also, I fail to see how you were more of a "star" in this game than Drew Stafford.

Love, Anne

---

The stars of the game were Miller, Roy and Vanek. I agree with 2 and 3, but Royzie over Staffy? Did he have some SICK passes that I missed?

OMG HOW RELIEVED AM I THAT DREW FINALLY SCORED. He's been solid for us in the shootout, it's great that he's finally gotten a regulation tally, and what a beauty of a goal it was. He's had so many chances and so many shots on goal early on this season (5 tonight alone) so its really really great to see him able to light the lamp, finally!!

Speaking of face offs that we weren't talking about, I've been impressed by Kotalik's face off numbers, the last few I can remember checking for him have been about 50%. He doesn't take that many but he wins most of them, and that's what counts. Matt Ellis was 0 for 6 on the face offs. I'm pretty indifferent about him at this point.

My inexplicable hatred for Mr. Yick continues. HE RUINED OUR PERFECT PENALTY KILL AND I'LL NEVER FORGIVE HIM. But then he didn't score in the shootout and I got way more excited than I should have about it. P to the S, I know he had testicular cancer and he's played incredibly well since then. My dislike for him is totally unrelated to his medical problems. That's Phil Kessel the human being, him I'm fine with, Phil Kessel the hockey player is yicky.

Petteri Nokelainen is a really fun name to say.

Danny Paille and I should compare iPod playlists sometime because most of the songs he usually picks for player tunes are on my iPod. Except for Saving Abel, I have no idea who that is.

WHO DO YOU THINK GOT THE PIGEON? DO YOU THINK ITS MILLSY? I VOTE FOR MILLER. BUT STAFFY WAS PRETTY OUTSTANDING, SO IF HE GETS THE PIGEON I'D BE OK WITH THAT TOO.

In other NHL news, the man I almost chose as my Detroit Red Wings WCB, Andreas Lilja just had an appendectomy... like 5 days after Chris Mason had an appendectomy. HOCKEY PLAYERS: PLEASE CHECK ON THE HEALTH OF YOUR APPENDIXES, (APPENDICES?.... APPARENTLY BOTH ARE GRAMMATICALLY CORRECT).

Apparently word that I've declared Ryan Getzlaf my Ducks WCB has not reached him, as he was unable to score tonight, but perhaps George Parros heard and the Ducks won anyway, WOO!

Dear Vancouver, didn't you put Kyle Wellwood on waivers? Was that someone else? He scored for you tonight, so I'm assuming I am not correct. Apparently Rick Nash realizes how fickle my love is and decided to score a goal to ensure my loyalty, BIG BEAR.

OMG, THE TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING FINALLY WON.

As of this posting, the Flames are up 2-1 over the Caps with the King of the Western Conference of my heart, Iggy, getting a PP tally. :) In other news, Caps red and Flames red are annoyingly similar but one is more blue (Caps) and one is more orange (Flames). In case you were wondering, yes I'm very particular about color and shades of color.

Oscar just attempted to jump from my bookshelf to my chest of drawers unsuccessfully. His front paws landed in my jewelry box and sent both it and himself flying. Fortunately I only own like 3 necklaces and about 5 pairs of earrings so the damage was not catastrophic and he's completely embarrassed and won't let me pick him to to check to see if he's accidentally pierced anything. I'm going to go ahead and assume he's fine. He got two breakfasts this morning, so I don't feel bad. Now he's fast asleep next to me on my bed. He's so freakin' cute. I hate cats. haha.

I love Trent Edwards. Check out First Time Long Time for a link to a great interview with him. He does Buffalo proud.

Woo! Grizz!
For some reason this picture makes me laugh.
He kind of looks like he's about to burst into song.
That might be a brilliant diversionary tactic, what do you think a defenseman would do if Clarke MacArthur came zooming over the blue line singing "You'll Never Walk Alone" at the top of his lungs?

No Go for Yo Yo

by Anne

:*(

According to Mike Harrington at Sabres Edge Yoyo's hurt and won't play tomorrow. CMac is centering the line with Paille and Pommer. Iiiiiiiii was not aware that Grizz ever played center.

Matt Ellis will center the 4th line and if any of our other centers go down, be prepared for Nathan Gerbe to appear from Portland after, uhhhh like 2 weeks of seasoning. *HEADDESK*.

IT IS WAAAAAYYYYYY TO EARLY IN THE SEASON FOR THIS TYPE OF INJURY CHIT CHAT.

Whyyyyy does it have to always be centers? TimmyHo, Goose, Yoyo???

Center is where we're thinnest up front and that's where we're feeling the most hurt. Perfection.

ITS FINE. REALLY, ITS FINE. I'M NOT WORRIED. NOT AT ALL. NOPE. TOTALLY FINE WITH THIS.

PAUL!
STOP PROMOTING UNDERAGE SMOKING AND GET BACK TO WORK!



Timmy, Timmy, Timmy.....
I hate you. You're still dead to me.
Your fractured vertebrae is immaterial because you have ceased to exist to me
Remember when I loved this phantom "Tim Connolly"? Yeah that's over

At least Trent practiced yesterday!!! That's one ray of sunshine on the Buffalo injury front!!!

Photo not actually from yesterday's practice but
WOOOOOOO!!! Anyway
The football gods were at least smiling on Buffalo and inserted this injury just before a bye week
Hopefully Trent will be ready to go on Sunday.
Lord knows we don't want him to aggravate anything if he isn't fully recovered

YO THAT STUNK

by Anne

Trent Edwards' frontal lobe appears to still be somewhere on the field in Phoenix, $50 to the first person who locates it.

Ryan Miller was nearly decapitated when his helmet just decided to leap off his head in open rebellion to years of being beaned with pucks

Derek Roy scored a goal but didn't score a goal and then got elbowed in the face

We had like 10 power plays and scored on NONE of them (even the producer in Detroit who didn't realize he could be heard said "this power play is terrible." Watch the FSN feed, he said it in the first period)

I'm having a "fat day"

The Bills are no longer undefeated


On the brightside:

The Bills are still 4-1 and next week is a bye

The Sabres game didn't count

I bought turquoise sunglasses and cheap socks

I made a wicked awesome collage for a "response" for one of my classes (GRAD SCHOOL RAWKS!)

He may be a (temporary) vegetable, but he's still the prettiest vegetable I've ever seen:

COME BACK SOOOOON!!!!!!

blah

What a terrible day for Buffalo sports.

2-0? 2-0? 2-0!!!!!!

by Anne

Ok James, I'm gonna throw it high to the top right corner, you're our big 6'5" guy we got for the high passes from the red zone, so I'm gonna need you to make sure your giant feet land in bounds, and I'm going to throw the ball higher than anyone else on the team could jump to catch it.Basically if you don't make this catch, we'll find ourselves in a hole its going to be hard to climb out of. So make the catch.

Got it?





Got it.

2-0!!! First time since 2003!

I was actually surprised that we were 2-0 in 2003. I figured like 2000. Where's the faith?

That was one of my favorite endings to a football game of all time:

"After reviewing the play, it was a forward pass which results in a 10 second run down... the game is over."

I would love for the Super Bowl to end that way, hahahahaha.

Woooooooooooooooo!!!!!!

More Shenanigans While I Should be Reading and Writing Papers

by Anne

Now the Lightning are interested in Mats' services. There is like no way the 'Bolts are under the cap. There have to be at least like 27 forwards and 12 defenseman, and probably like 5 or 6 goalies with NHL contracts by now.

This could spell disaster. It seems that his return hinges on Halpie being unable to come back from the knee injury he sustained during the World Championships. Ok, so that's well and good, but I can't imagine the problems it would create if Halpie becomes healthy btu can't come back because too much of the cap is eaten up by the Swede and there's no room for his salary. This could create issues. Are they implying that Montreal is a new team that's interested? Because they only named Tampa Bay as a new team. Montreal's been interested for a while. Oh please God, don't let the Sabres get mixed up in these shenanigans in ANYWAY. Do not agree to deal with a team that has to get rid of players to make room for Mats. I don't want the Buffalo Sabres to help Mats Sundin in ANY WAY, DARCY.

I can't imagine Mats Sundin would go to Tampa Bay. If Mats comes back I see him heading to the Rangers or the Habs. Not Toronto and most certainly not Tampa Bay. He wants a legitimate contender, and the 'Bolts are too much of a wild card at this point. They could completely dominate or completely fall apart. There's a lot of talent, but talent is no substitute for chemistry and a strong system (thank you, Jason Pominville) and with Barry Melrose just returning to the bench for the first time in the "new" NHL, this could be a huge disaster. He's been analyzing the new NHL, but talking and doing are two completely different things.

Wait, didn't I say I wasn't going to talk about Mats Sundin anymore? SHOOT.

Let's talk about something a little more pleasant, like this hilariously awkward-not-remotely-hot-shirtless picture of Ryan Malone:

Is this posed?
Is this a look someone was going for?
Does he know he's making that face?
Personally I love the "Cram the white man fro into a baseball cap and ignore the way it muffin tops out the sides" look.

I've been increasingly distracted by dreamy pictures of Trent Edwards, leading me to wonder...

Is Trent Edwards the athlete in Buffalo whose bones I would jump on sight?

For the last, let's say... 2 years-ish, its alternated between Drew Stafford and (mostly) Paul Gaustad.

Let's compare:



v.





Sabres' Advantage: Goose

Now, let's compare Trent and Paul:



v.



Ok, maybe that picture of Paul Gaustad wasn't the best choice, let's try that again:




He he he

I'm still torn, but whatever Goose was drinking and/or taking when that picture was taken, I would like some for those gloomy post-loss days.

I guess the only thing left to do is stalk both of them for the duration of the Bills' season and see how things pan out for our "relationships".

Can Trent Edwards be my #5 favorite Sabre? And can Jason Pominville also be my favorite Buffalo Bill? Let's throw things at the wall of Buffalo Sports teams and see what sticks.

FYI, please search for "Paul Gaustad" "camp good days" (with quotations) and like 80% of the image results are from this blog, hahaha.

I Really Love Fall

by Anne

Fall is my favorite season. I love September. I love the cooler temperatures, I love wearing hoodies and jackets and boots, I love apple picking, crunchy leaves, going back to school and fashion week. September also brings us those most magical of all things: the NHL pre-season and the start of the NFL season, and the Buffalo Bills made their debut quite memorable.

34-10?? WOW. I certainly didn't see that one coming. I think my prediction was 21-17 Bills and, yeah I was just wrong. Matt Hasselbeck was sacked at least 5 times and the Seahawk's first 6 or 7 possessions were punts by their terrible punter with an equally terrible name. Plackemeier. What an awful name. He's no Ashton Youboty or Felton Huggins, who, incidentally was sent to the practice squad. Boooooooo. Felton Huggins is such an awesome name.

The Bills' defense was solid, special teams rocked it out (did you see that wacky return by Roscoe Parrish?) and the offense delivered a solid performance. Can't ask for much more than that. Remember like 6 years ago our special teams were like the worst in the NFL and couldn't return a punt to save their lives? Yeah, not no more.

The Bills haven't been 1-0 in like 5 years or something redonkulous like that, so this start has to feel good. Jacksonville is next week and they're coming off a 17-10 loss to Tennessee. Let's see if the Bills can carry this momentum into next week and shake the confidence of the Jags. Wooooo!

Oh Tom Brady. I don't like you but I really don't want you to be hurt. He was hit low and totally messed up his knee. Knee injuries are so dicey and range from needing to be stretched out on the sideline between drives to requiring major surgery. Early pre-MRI reports have him out for the entire season. That sucks. Ok, well, its good for the Bills because they're in our division, but bad for the NFL. If the Patriots start sucking without him and start losing, people will wonder if they still would've been bad without Brady. Although Tom Brady isn't that entire team, there's still a solid corps of players left, but it goes without saying how big of a loss his leadership will be. Ugh. I'd say I'm 70% glad that the Patriots will be less of a threat and the other 30% is still glad but feels bad that its because its because Brady is out. I'd rather Brady was still in and all of a sudden was just terrible and threw like 15 interceptions a game and cried every time and Giselle broke up with hi because he's a pansy. Yeah, that'd be pretty sweet. Let's make that last part happen anyway, shall we?

I'm sorry, but can I just say:

What? Commentary? Oh, that's all I had to say. I think that picture speaks for itself.

On to hockey, shall we?

For the 30 days leading up to the start of the season, TSN has been doing a daily breakdown of each of the 30 teams. The Sabres day was today. It doesn't say anything that we as die hard fans didn't already know. Fans of other teams will get a feel for the rest of the league, but it doesn't offer any staggering insight into the Sabres that we haven't been hearing all off season long. These are pretty cursory previews and a look back at last season. Like most people he acknowledges that last season was bad with the loss of Briere and Drury, but the offense wasn't really the problem and this season will probably be better. How much better? He, like the rest of us says its hard to say, and the Sabres are a team to watch. That's right, buddy boy.

NHL.com has kindly decided to point out that Roysie was 6th in the conference and 9th in NHL in points scored on home ice last season. Awww, good boy Derek!!! It's so amazing how much I can love Derek Roy on the ice (he's like my #7 favorite) but how much I roll my eyes at him off the ice, which is what keeps him out of the top 5.

Grrrr. Rough and tough little goal scoring Roysie.
Much love.


Seriously?
What is the design on that shirt?
It's like Lady Justice and a skeleton fairy sneaking up behind her.
Is Roysie making some kind of commentary on the state of our nation's justice system?
Is he saying that the legal system of the United States is a corrupt antequated institution?
Should we take this to mean that Derek Roy is untrusting of authority?
Did a cute salesgirl at ExpressMen tell Derek it would look cute on him, so he bought it?
Is that a shell man necklace?
Unless this picture was actually taken in Hawaii (which is plausible considering the leis), no man should be caught wearing shells around his neck.
Ok, well if this was in Hawaii how would random girls know who he was?

I think that for the purposes of self preservation, I will declare that Derek Roy does not exist to me when not in full Sabres gear.

To illustrate:

Derek Heathcliff Roy*


Some toolshed

*As per usual, I imagine Derek Roy's middle name is NOT Heathcliff, just like Ryan Miller's middle name is probably not Horatio and Nathan Gerbe's 2nd middle name is probably not Augustus, nor do I think he even has a second middle name, but until anyone can produce documentation to assure me that these assumptions are incorrect, I shall continue to come up with middle monikers that suit my fancy.

I've Been Going About This All Wrong

by Anne

Everyday I read the Sports section of the Buffalo News, hoping to learn more about my team. So far, so good.

However, I'm having trouble with this and it occurred to me today exactly why.

I HAVEN'T DECLARED MY UNDYING LOVE FOR ANY PARTICULAR PLAYER OR PLAYERS.

Here's why:

Mama Peg is a huuuuuuge football fan, and always has been. However, Mama Peg is not a (whatever the football equivalent of a puckbunny is). Therefore, as I was brought into the football world by Dad Jim and Mama Peg, there was no one to show me the light: football players are very attractive and squealworthy.

ITS ALL COMING CLEAR NOW.

In order to REALLY love the Bills I have to develop a massive sports crush on one of them and then I will feel the urge to scour the interwebs for as much information as I can about my new man. This is how I got back into hockey in 2006, a massive sports crush on Jay McKee. He blocked a shot with his head or something badass like that, and it was L-O-V-E.

So I'm working my way into finding a Bills Boyfriend. HOWEVER. I do not want to commit my love to someone who might get cut from the team, I'm still reeling from the Big Bear trade and have only recently gotten over losing JKee right after I fell in SportsLove with him in 2006. I'm going to either have to throw myself at Trent Edwards or Pos, just to be safe, or fall madly in love with Steve Johnson and hope for things. He's 22 and is already married and has only been playing football for like 6 years. LOVE.

Also, do I love him because is name is Felton Huggins or is his name Felton Huggins because I love him?!

Then there's my pre-existing fondness for Brian Donald Moorman! Do I leave him out?

So many questions, so few answers.

Anyway, my quest will continue. The first preseason game is this coming Saturday against the Redskins in Washington, where hopefully I will be able to whittle down my list of potential boyfriends. I know the starters won't get to see as much action, so I'll have to use this opportunity to narrow down the list of youngin's to love.