Season Finale

Well it's hard to say that the 2008-2009 season is finito for the Sabres. Another season cut short, and another long offseason. I was looking foward to today's game in a way because I knew it was going to be the last time I would watch Buffalo Sabres Hockey for a long time. But honestly, watching the game today just made me more depressed. I think this goes without saying, but I'm going to say it anyway...this just flat out blows. While I was watching the game I was just thinking to myself, "Wow, the Bruins have an exciting few months ahead of them, while the Sabres and their fans...don't." I just want the playoffs so bad. There's nothing like the feeling that goes around this city once the playoffs roll around. There's always room on the bandwagon and everyone hops on and supports our boys while they compete for the Cup. It's just a lot of fun to be apart of that.

So while nothing will make us feel any better about missing the playoffs for the second straight year, at least the Sabres gave their fans who attended the finale an entertaining game. I have to agree with Rob Ray, that Paetsch-Ellis-Paille line was great. I've mentioned this a few times on this blog before, but I wish that Paetsch got more playing time. He and Ellis seemed to provide great energy for one another today. Maybe next year he'll get more opportunities. There's that phrase again, Maybe next year... Ellis is a player that I've always liked. I like those "energy players" and the grinders like Ellis. No they aren't going to put up 30 goals, but I think they are very important parts to the team and I've liked his game. It was nice to see Butler score another goal, and I believe that Lindy said Butler will be assigned to Portland so he can get some playoff experience down there. Butler is a huge bright spot at the blueline for us and I've been more than impressed with him, especially considering this was his first time up in the NHL. He's definitely a player whose got tremendous upside and I look forward to seeing what he can do for us in the near future. A lot of people are speculating that today was Teppo Numminen's last NHL game. If that's the case, I just have to say how much I've appreciated Numminen and he's really a classy guy. It really is an amazing story how he had major heart surgery and then returned to play in the NHL. Good for you, Teppo. Did anyone see Thomas Vanek's post-game interview? He pratically started crying at the end. Poor guy...it really made me feel sad. I know he's gotten a lot of criticism and sometimes it's deservingly so, but it just never makes me feel good when I see someone upset. Especially when they're so upset it brings them to tears. Aww...poor Thomas. :(

I knew that the Sabres would go to center ice after the game and salute the fans. It was nice to see but it also made me sad for obvious reasons that I've already mentioned. It's just not right...


My babies! :(

Yes I just referred to a group of men who are all older than me as my "babies". Hey, look. I've watched a lot of these guys grow up. From when they were just little teeny prospects, to competiting in the AHL as baby Sabres with either the Amerks or the Pirates, to finally going up to the big league and being NHLers. My little babies...

Well anyways, my favorite bb, Ryan Miller, updated his blog today and went more in depth about his new mask. Why did I get such a kick out of him explaining the characters behind his mask? I don't know, just the way he described them cracked me up. He did give us a little more insight into what the phrase means that's written in Japanese on the mask. Although he did say he doesn't know what characters the phrase is written in, I know a little bit about the Japanese writing system and to me it looks like it's written in hiragana. Back in high school I had some Japanese exchange students write my first name in kanji calligraphy and my last name in katakana calligraphy. Anyways, Ryan also said in a few days he'll update his blog with a season wrap up so I'm interested to read that once he posts it.

So now that the season is over, I'm sure my updates will be few and far between. Of course I'll post my thoughts about the playoffs, but after that, it's just a long summer with not much hockey to discuss. But you can be sure I'll cling onto anything slightly hockey or Sabres related. I'll post a lengthy entry if I happen to see a certain Sabre in public getting coffee or something. It will become pretty pathetic. In all seriousness though, the entries that I do happen to post will probably be more related to myself and what's going on in my life with a little hockey stuff thrown in there. Sorry if that sounds a little boring to you, but by the time July rolls around I don't know if there really will be anything else for me to blog about. So I figured I should give it a try and post a little but about myself right now...

My semester is ending soon and I am coming to a point where I think I want some changes in my studies. I don't know how many of you are aware but I am going to school for photography. It's always been a hobby of mine and I was always told by people that I had a good eye and I was pretty talented. I loved doing it, and when it was time for me to choose schools and what to study, I figured I might as well apply for a fine arts major with my primary focus being in photography. It was great when I got accepted, it was almost a way to reassure to myself that I really was talented and it wasn't just my friends and family giving me compliments. But honestly I never thought I'd be a professional photographer. Not that I wouldn't mind selling some of my work for a profit, but I just never thought it would be my career. Even though I'm pretty much self taught, I figured going to school to refine my skills and learn more about photography wouldn't hurt. It's also a good way for me to meet and interact with people in that industry, just to get myself out there.

My biggest thing for me has always been traveling. I want to go everywhere pretty much. There are certain countries and cities that I have a bigger desire to visit for various reasons, maybe I'll go more in depth on that sometime in the future (during July or August when I don't have jack shit to blog about). As a person I would just love to travel to experience the world around me. Whether it's traveling to another state, or to another continent, it's always interested me. As a photographer, I've always wanted to travel to capture the world through my own eyes. So I thought to myself what career would give me this opportunity? With the help of my parents I've realized that being a translator is right up my alley. It would open a lot of doors for me especially if I want to travel. I can speak Spanish fairly well, being that it was the language I took in high school and my dad's side of the family is Spanish. After doing some research, I found out that Japanese and Arabic are two languages that would be really fitting for me. Translators are needed in those areas of the world especially so businesses in the English speaking world can connect with businesses in Japan and Arabic speaking countries. Secondly, those cultures have always fascinated me. I think I've discussed on here before my interest in Middle Eastern/Southern Asian/Asian cultures. After talking to several people familiar in the field, they've told me that Japanese and Arabic translators are what's really needed right now.

I'm still really young but I'm sitting at a point where I have to make a few decisions. I don't want to abandon my photography studies, but I also want to begin my studies in those languages. UB has a great program for Japanese studies and Buff State (where I currently attend) has great programs where I can study at UB for a semester to see if it's the right thing for me. I'm still doing research as where I can take Arabic lessons. I figure I would first focus on my Japanese studies since I know UB offers it and see where it takes me. Registration for classes next semester at Buff State begins next week so I am a little puzzled on which classes I should take and if I should consider starting at UB in the fall. I'm still weighing my options.

So that was my attempt at blogging more about myself since I'll probably be doing that more often once hockey is completely finished around June. Plus it was a good way for me to get that off my chest since it's sort of stressing me out at the moment because I have a few important decisions to make. Anyways, I hope everyone has a good Easter if you celebrate it. I'm not really religious so my family does not really do anything huge. My aunt and uncle are coming over tomorrow for dinner and that's about it. Part of my family on my dad's side is Jewish, so sometimes we'll have a nice dinner at my aunt and uncle's house on Passover. But I skipped out on that this year due to school getting in the way. So if you celebrate Easter, enjoy your family and eat a lot of chocolate bunnies.