Europe Bound

by Anne

It has been announced that the Buffalo Sabres will be starting the 2011 - 2012 NHL season in Europe. 

Their opponent (for one game in Germany anyway)?

The Los Angeles Kings.

WHAT?! For real?

The conflicted emotions! The sadness! The joy! The overwhelming urge to listen to "Springtime For Hitler!" I'm all a-flutter!

On the one hand, I'm excited that my two most beloved teams will be together while traveling abroad, instituting the buddy system, sharing beers and weinerschnitzel, and whatnot. BUT ON THE OTHER! These teams only play each other once a year and I was hoping against hope to travel to Los Angeles next season to see them play. Now I'll have to cross international waters for this match-up. They'll be so far away! Europe is so far away! Curse you, continental drift. But at least they'll be together. Hopefully celebrating their fantastical deep playoff runs from a mere few months earlier.

Dear NHL:

Hello. As I'm sure your scheduler has made you all aware, the Los Angeles Kings and Buffalo Sabres have decided to begin their NHL season in Europe. It's a bold move that I hope they cleared with you before they went ahead and planned their photo-ops at the Brandenberg Gate.

I wanted to take this opportunity to offer my services as, um, uh, a fan. I guarantee you there are an EXTREMELY limited number of fans who know as much as I do about BOTH the Los Angeles Kings and the Buffalo Sabres. I think it's really in the best interest of the National Hockey League, NAY, THE FREE WORLD, that I be in attendance at this event. Heck, I'll gladly take up an empty seat on one of the team's charters. My passport is current, I'm a quick study, I can learn German, and Finnish if you'd like me to also accompany my hometown team to the wilds of Finland. Especially considering that none of the current Sabres are Finnish.

I think by not sending me to Germany, you are missing out on a golden opportunity to REALLY make an impression on the people of Europe. Anne + German Beer + Her Favorite Hockey Teams + Bullhorn + German/English Dictionary aka Jochen Hecht has international incident written all over it. 

You can't BUY that kind of publicity.

Please respond at your earliest convenience. I shall wait with bated breath.

Love,

Anne

Howdy from Nashville!

by Anne

Howdy, y'all!

I'm sitting in our hotel room while Moms takes a nap. We'll soon be heading out to explore some of what "Smashville" has to offer us this afternoon. The flight down was uneventful and the weather is gorgeous. It's a little cool but we Buffalo gals can handle it just fine. The hotel is really nice and very close to the Bridgesrone Arena and the Country Music Hall of Fame.

I don't have much nice to say about the Kings after last night's game other than to essentially BEG them to win because they never beat the Predators and Bernier needs the wins to earn him a roster spot.

Last night's Sabres game was far more pleasant and for once the Versus broadcast didn't really bother me. I have named the unlikely lone of Gerbe-Grier-Gaustad as the 3G Network. They responded to their new name by combining for a somewhat goofy but awesome Goose goal. A week or so ago I whined a bit about how it had been too long since Goose scored and he responded with his current three game scoring streak. Thank you, Paul.

It was nice but not altogether surprising to see the team's balanced scoring continue without Vanek and Connolly. Hopefully after seeing the zip in Ennis and Gerbe, those two will come back in fighting form.

Time to get ready to head out! Let's go Kings!!

Etiquette Question

by Anne

I have never attended an NHL game in another arena. The closest I've come was watching a game outside Mellon Arena during the 2009 Finals. While I was there, I was, of course, wearing my newly acquired Jordan Staal t-shirt and screaming my head off for the Pens.

This brings me to my question: on Tuesday I will be heading down to Nashville to watch the Kings play the Predators. I have never been a fan of the visiting team in an Arena and I'm not sure of the proper protocol. 

I have attended dozens of NHL games at HSBC Arena and encountered MANY visiting fans. There are some extremely obvious rules that I do not intend to break like heckling and taunting the seven Predators fans that will be there, drunkenly screaming, throwing things, etc.

My questions are more along the lines of: if the Kings score, can I jump up and cheer? Should I stay seated? I should probably keep the booing of the Predators to a minimum, right? How many Predators fans do you think will be there? I have no idea what average Tuesday night attendance is like in Tennessee. If they're playing like boneheads, can I yell at the Kings? Should I keep that to a minimum? If there's no one around me, I'm going to just scream my fool head off, k?

Nashville is not a hockey market I know much about. Are there any many diehard fans? 

I remember sitting behind a Red Wings fan in Buffalo once who didn't. move. the entire game. The Wings scored five times and she didn't move a muscle. Then at the end, she stood up, gave one irritating and obnoxious "WOOOO!" and left. It was probably more annoying than if she had just cheered for her team the entire time.

Those of you who have been to games in other arenas, help a sister out. Thanks!

Road Trip

by Anne

See you in a few hours, Pittsburgh!

If its before 2pm, can be found somewhere along this route.

Let's Go Pens!

Also, did the Bruins know about this when David Krejci signed his contract extension? I assume yes, but the timing is very odd.

Boo-YA

by Anne

Word up. I can also connect to the internet with the same password thingy that I could use in Chicago. $7 well spent.

Umm if only I had something to say.... hmmmmm.

I really want some coffee. I love coffee.

Yesssss. There's a girl? boy? (I can't tell) wearing a Pominville t-shirt. I think its a girl. Word up, I'm back amongst my kind. There's a restaurant here called "Slapshotz" in the Detroit airport, the first hockey reference I've seen in Hockeytown, USA.

For a hot second I contemplated buying a Michigan State tshirt and then I realized that's totally ridiculous. This is the 2nd time in my whole life I've been in the state of Michigan, the first was Monday.

A woman next to me is on the phone and she's kind of freaking out about something. She apparently is enroute to some city, maybe Buffalo, for something that she just found out was cancelled. Whoops.

So I entered like October - the begninng of February into iCal and I'm noticing a lot more gaps of like 3 and 4 days than we had this past season. Is this all in my head? We have a few weeks of a game Saturday and then not again until Wednesday. There are some longer road trips that seem a little crazy but who am I to judge the NHL's scheduling brilliance? January once again has some lengthy time on the road. But we'll get to see some IGGY! I really do like that we play all the teams now. It just makes sense that way. Woop! The "at large" thing is kind of weird, but eh? I don't particularly care one way or the other.

Anyway, I have nothing of relevance to say other than I'm still excited about Pie and I'm glad to be heading back to Buffalo. Wooohoooo! See y'all in Buffalo right soon!

Chi-Town Day 3

by Anne


So Chicago Day 3 started out with a little less gusto than Chicago Day 2. Mainly because Chicago Day 2 took a lot out of me. Walking around in flip flops is just a terrible idea and I should know better.

Anyway.

I decided to head to Navy Pier without really knowing exactly what it was all about. Anyway, I decided to forgo the bus and just walk the distance from the train to Navy Pier. What I did not realize is that it was about 10 degrees warmer today than yesterday and there was less breeze. Grrrrrreat. Therefore I wasn't as motivated to take pictures, so there aren't as many as yesterday.

I started out walking AAAAAALLL the way down Grand St. to get to the Pier. But that crosses the River, which I didn't get near yesterday. Some woman actually asked me for directions. I guess I blended in well. Perhaps it was the lack of fanny pack and large unfolded map. My map was far more discreet.

So you know how they dye the Chicago River green on St. Patty's Day? It's kind of always green:

This picture makes the water look slightly duller than it really is. It's pretty green.

Anyway, I went to Navy Pier which is basically just touristy stuff. However, they were having some IMAX premiere for the Dark Knight and the whole cast was there. Not when I was there, but they were setting up the red carpet while I was there. It was way too hot to give crap about Michael Caine. Don't get me wrong, I love Michael Caine, but about 1/2 way down Grand I wondered what would happen if I passed out from the heat and lay all willynilly in a gutter in Chicago. Would Dr. Mark Green or Dr. Doug Ross come rescue me?

Red Carpet. Fo' reals.

Also at Navy Pier I finally purchased some Blackhawks stuff that wasn't a t-shirt or a pint glass. Here's something to note: There are very few people in Chicago who give a crap about hockey. Baseball and Football alternate Kingship.

Sweet. In Buffalo you are completely inundated at all times with Sabres and Bills paraphernalia. It's unescapable.

There was also this wacky kids show featuring dancing pirates with some not so awesome stage combat, but whatevs, these people probably drink heavily to cope with the fact that they're a dancing pirate all day.

The guy blue with his arms crossed was super tall and wearing a crazy curly wig. Like totally ridiculous.

Then I rode around on this free trolley for a while. He took us by the foundation for the Chicago Spire. It's going to be wicked tall and apparently when completed it's going to block the new Trump Towers (not yet completed) from the skyline, whoops. When it's finished, The Spire will look like this:

I choose not to comment on the appearance of this structure.

As we zoomed by on the free trolley I snapped a picture of what The Spire looks like now:

Weeeell, they did say they'd be finished in 2012.

So I walked around for a bit and went into a few different stores. I bought a really cute trench coat and then ate some random food for lunch. Then, rejuvinated, I decided to attempt to find Wrigley Field. This is not as easy as it sounds. Wrigley Field is not at all in downtown Chicago. So I sat there and tried to compare 2 maps to figure out where exactly it was in relation to where I was at that moment. It took a solid 10 minutes of staring at the maps before I noticed that the description said that its at the corner of like W. Clark and N. Addison. So I hopped on the train heading in that direction and decided that I'd get off at Addison because it was way further away than the station that said "Clark", and just seemed more right. I was really trusting my gut here. So after a good 20 minutes on the train, I was like one stop away from Addison when I was like "Er, this doesn't seem right." So I decided to just get off at Addison and see if I could figure out how far I'd have to walk to find Wrigley Field. Here's exactly how far:

The view from the train platform. That's Wrigley Field. I am SO GOOD at this game.

For the record, if you're in Chicago and you need to get to Wrigley Field, the answer is "Take the Red Line to Addison."

So I snapped some photos. The only major league baseball game I've ever been to was a Cubbies game in 1998. I don't know who they played but I do know that they lost.

For the record, I didn't notice what the display said when I snapped this picture:


Wrigley Field: You WILL have your identity stolen.

This was only like 4:30. I wanted to find the White Sox field but I had to be back to go to some poster thing with MK so I headed back and didn't take any more pictures. Whoops. Tomorrow I'll regale you all with the details of my travels back home! Yay! Buffalo!!!!

I take off at 1:30 Central. Chicago is pretty sweet.

Chi-Town Day 2

by Anne

So yesterday was my first full day in Chicago, and as MK went about her merry studential ways I struck out on my own to see the sights.

My first plan was to head to the United Center where the Blackhawks and the Bulls play.

So it started out at the L:

The station is literally right behind MK's building, so its pretty awesome

Then, without the aid of a map because there is apparently a massive map shortage in the City of Chicago, I found my way to W. Madison St., where the United Center is located.

Much like HSBC Arena, there isn't much surrounding the United Center.



Ok it wasn't quite that hot really but it was darn hot. There was a breeze so it wasn't too bad



A monument commemorating 75 years of Blackhawks hockey
They listed like every player on the monument, but it stops at 2003



That fence in the corner is the fence around the Blackhawks statue

Oh yeah, in case you forgot about him:


They have a statue to Michael Jordan



His feet are big. I wanted to put my feet in there, but you cant, its inside the little fence



I love ridiculous quotes that have nothing to do with athletes or sports that are used to honor them. It's awesome and totally ridiculous.

I was unable to locate the glowing, electric spinning tribute to Kaner and each of his 72 points this season, but I'm sure it's just inside the United Center's doors that we weren't allowed into. PHOOEY.

Then I decided to head into downtown. The Sears Tower seemed so close, but I wasn't sure if it was like the time I was in Denver and the Rocky Mountains seem so close but they're actually like 100 miles away and you have to drive up some crazy roads to get to them. I learned that this was not actually the case but I hopped on the train anyway.

This is super zoomed in and standing next to the MJ tribute

Anyway, I got back on the L. However, I didn't know where to get off so I got off at the station that looked busiest. I then found myself it what I learned was the Illinois State Building. Here's the ceiling:

Thus began my quest for a map. Neither the Hallmark store nor the newsstand in this building had one. I went to City/County Hall, nothing. I went to another Hallmark, nothing, then I was directed to try Walgreens just down the block where I purchased the last known map of the City of Chicago. I shall treasure it always.



More precious than gold.

So after reading the map backwards, I found myself in Millenium Park, next to the Bean:

When MK mentioned the Bean I said "What is it?"and her response was "Its just a bean, that's all its for."

Here's what it looks like standing in the middle of the Bean looking straight up:


WHOA.

So I wandered some more and chose to rest my feet and get out of the sun and finish the liter of water I bought along with my priceless and rare map. So I sat down next to the Crown Fountain. Basically its these 2 roughly 2 story tall glass(ish) structures that sometimes broadcast peoples faces. Thankfully, not today. Also, when its hot enough they spray water and every child in the state comes to splash around. In true form, I chose which child I would kidnap as my own:

This kid in his Finding Nemo Pull-ups was all at once terrified by and fascinated by the water. Every time his dad would splash water at him he squealed with joy, but if he got too close on his own, he screamed and ran away like he was being tortured. I will call him Marlin.

Then I decided to venture to the Sears Tower. What an exciting time... eh. It was pretty sweet

My ticket. Sweet.


The people who designed the observation deck decided that just looking at Chicago was not enough to do, so they put up stuff about the city for you to read. Like this thing about how the Blackhawks haven't won the Cup since 1961. Yikes.


That's the United Center. I am showing you this building from all conceivable angles. It's what I do.


Soldier Field. Rockin'


I've added to the list of crazy extravagances I will own one day when I'm a billionaire: a rooftop pool


There is also a photo of my personal favorite lifetime member of the stone cold fox club. Harrison Ford will be 97 and he will still be sexy.


We ate dinner at a place called FoodLife. It's awesome. I had nachos. I recommend it.

Some people might not be aware that the greatest clothing store of all time s H&M. I have purchased clothing at H&M stores in Toronto, Rochester, New York, Madrid and Milan, and now Chicago. I bought a bag and two tops. I'm super pumped.

Then, we of course had to stop into the Ghirardelli ice cream parlor to get some tasty dairy deliciousness, and free samples:

They were already cut open for us. Yes, my two favorite things: free chocolate and being lazy.

Then we sat outside of some water tower that like didn't burn down in that big Chicago fire or something like that. They have these chairs you can sit in outside this kind of small fountain. Every park square/ monument isn't complete without some kind of water being sprayed around artistic-like. And, of course, what did we see but a man that seemed a little "not all there" was repeatedly almost diving headfirst into the fountain. It seemed as though he was trying to get some coinage, but each time, he came out empty-handed. He did this at least 6 times in the like 15 minutes we were sitting there.

Then we came home (it took like forever because apparently the southbound train wasn't working or something, I don't know, it was confusing. And then we slept in cuz MK doesn't have class until 10:00 am.

Today I think I'll do Navy Pier and maybe try to find Second City.

Woooo.

Just a Couple Things While I Pack

by Anne

Today I head to Chicago to visit MK while she slaves away at graduate school and I dick around having absolutely nothing to do for a week and it's AWESOME.

One of my missions that I shall undertake when I'm alone while MK is in class is to attempt to find wherever it is that the Blackhawks play. I have a feeling this will be quite easy and will not take up as much of my day as anticipated.

I plan on searching out the Chicago Blackhawks GM, Dale Tallon and promptly staging an intervention because, clearly, someone has lost his ever-loving mind. I will deck myself out, head to toe, in Sabres gear, just for added emphasis. BRIAN CAMPBELL IS NOT WORTH $56.8 MILLION, DALE. CAN'T YOU SEE YOUR FRIENDS LOVE YOU AND WANT YOU TO BE HEALTHY? I think a large sign and a bullhorn will be the best route to take. Perhaps a large flag? I'm still fleshing out ideas.

Then I'll fly on into the night to my next conquest: the Tampa Bay Lightning owners. They might take a while, I'll put on a pot of coffee.

So I got wicked sunburned last week and now my skin has reached that ubersexy state of peeling off my back like scotch tape that's lost its sticky-ness. Nothing says "listen to me as I try to talk reason into you, Blackhawks" like leprosy.

The school she attends is in White Sox territory. This means absolutely nothing to me.

I've been to Wrigley field before, but I think I'll stop in while I'm there to see how the construction is coming on their Winter Classic rink. Once again, I'll be decked out in Sabres gear so they'll know I mean business.

I will also try to find Oprah to convince her to give me a car too. COME ON, OPRAH! GIVE A GIRL A CHANCE!

This shall be a highly photo journalistic endeavour, expect many hard-hitting photographic exploits, including pictures of funny looking people and cute dogs. Only the facts people, only the facts.

The last time I was in Chicago was when I turned 10, so almost exactly 13 years ago. My memory isn't that good, I'm going to assume it'll be like I've never been there before. I also plan to get totally wasted while there. On like a Tuesday. That's how I roll- keep up, peeps.

If anyone has any Chicago-ly suggestions, I'd be happy to hear them. I'll have my computer with me so I'll be regularly updating with several hard-hitting touristy observations about the mid-west.

I fly into Detroit to steal back our President's Trophy. Shhhhhh! Don't tell them I'm coming. They'll never know. Muaahahahahahahahaha! Of course, I have to fly back through Detroit, so they might be expecting me... this might be a kink in my plan. Hmmmmmm.... perhaps it's for the best considering I have no idea how far The Joe is from the Detroit airport. To steal it from HSBC Arena would take about 20 minutes from the airport, no problem there. Wait, why am I encouraging people to steal from the Sabres?

Ok so I should really go pack and head to the drugstore for stuff. Wait. Is that 3 oz rule applicable to domestic flights? Cripes. I have lots of shampoo. DARN. Wait, I'll just mooch of MK. YES. Problem solved. I'm good at this game.

AND! The NHL schedule should be released sometime today!!! WOOOOOOOOO! WHO'S PUMPED?! This girl, that's who!! WOOOOO!

Ok, see y'all in Chicago.