Offseason Blogging

Is harder than I thought it would be. Especially when I'm not so keen on the current teams remaining in the playoffs. Now that the 'Canes-Pens series is finished, I can honestly say I probably watched a grand total of 20 minutes of the entire series...and that's being generous. I've watched more of the 'Hawks-Red Wings series, but it hasn't been nearly as exciting as the past series have been in the playoffs this year. Although Cam Ward did let in a goal that made the commentator say, "Oh em gee." which caused the play-by-play guy to chime in and say, "That means 'Oh my god', right?". Ahh I love it. I don't understand why people use internet lingo such as acronyms like "idk" and "lol" in real life. I mean it's alright when people are doing it as a joke, but I've heard people use it and I'm pretty sure they weren't kidding. Yikes...

Anyways...Chris, one of my readers from the lovely Portland, Oregon informed me of a Podcast interview with no other than our precious Paul Gaustad. It's definitely worth a listen. Seriously, who doesn't love the Goose? I've always appreciated his interviews because they are well thought out and honest. He talks about how Ryan Miller paid him a visit last month while he was on the West Coast to watch his brother in the Anaheim-Detroit series. He told Ryan that they wouldn't be recognized in Portland because it just doesn't happen, and the first day Ryan was there they got recognized. You can run but you can't hide, boys. Last summer my friend's sister was in Rome and she texted her and was like, "I think I just saw Ryan Miller and Paul Gaustad at a bar..." But anyways...Goose's interview is about 14:30 minutes into the Podcast, which is a little less than halfway into it.

Speaking of the Goose's and Miller's bromance relationship, Ryan also updated his blog and he wrote about the traveling he's done so far this offseason. I like how he mentioned getting advice at Wegmans again. Good old Shwegs. It has everything to offer pratically, even hockey advice. Really though, I've always wondered if professional athletes enjoy talking about the sport that they play when they're out and about, or if they would rather just not talk about it during their free time. Obviously I can't speak for them because I'm not a professional athlete, but after talking to my fair share of professional athletes and seeing them interact with certain fans, I think I understand a little bit. The bottom line is obviously hockey players are fans of hockey, so I don't think they mind when fans want to talk hockey with them. I think the mistake that some fans make is that they try to give advice to the player instead of just putting in their two cents or asking questions about the game. I mean let's face it, no one really likes being told how to do their job, so when a fan is trying to tell a professional athlete how to do his job, it can just be a little laughable. I do think they enjoy just sort of shooting the shit when talking about their sport, but once a fan will try to give them pointers is when I can see an athlete wanting out in the conversation haha.

I appreciated that he mentioned the Buffalo Fan Awards and how it reminded him of being a young athlete receiving awards. I know some people who received awards, so it was fun for me as well to see people I know get recognized. Spotted has some photos of the event if you'd like to see Ryan looking all snazzy along with other familiar sports figures in Buffalo (and a few of my friends...)


"Ain't nobody dope as me, I'm dressed so fresh and so clean."

I also liked how he talked about people impersonating him on Facebook. I've come across one fan page of his on Facebook where the user claimed to be Ryan, but the spelling and grammar was that of an 11-year-old's...so it was pretty obvious that it wasn't Ryan and it was probably...an 11-year-old. Which made it more funny when I saw people leaving comments like, "Ryan! I'm your biggest fan! Can you send me your autograph?!" and "Ryan" responded like, "thnx lol ya sure i'll hit u up" Oh boy...

While on the subject of Facebook, what is up with the recent phenomenon of these fan pages? I understand having a fan page for things such as actors, musicians, sports teams, etc...but there seriously is a fan page for everything. I want to create a fan page for breathing. "Caroline just became a fan of breathing." I mean they have a fan page for sleeping, so having one for breathing isn't too far-fetched. I don't really participate in joining those fan pages or taking those quizzes, but the other day I couldn't help take the quiz about which Elmwood Villager I was. I was the Bubble Man...even though he lives more in the Allentown area, I was pleased with my result. The Bubble Man is the man.

So I'm sure some of you have seen this shirt before, but last night when strolling down the street around 10:30 I suddenly had the urge to take a picture of it. Don't ask why, I just did ok.



It's mad blurry because I just had my point and shoot camera and it was late and I didn't really want to take the time to get a good shot on just a t-shirt on a display window. Anyways, it says, "T.O. in the B-LO" and below that it reads, "Get your popcorn ready." I first saw this shirt about a month or so ago, and the woman in the store told me that they're hard to keep in stock because people keep buying them. It's just amusing to see how excited Buffalonians get over a superstar athlete coming to play for us. I kind of find it cute in a pathetic sort of way. My friend's mom said she showed T.O. a house the other day (why would he want to buy a house? He only signed a one-year deal) and apparently he wasn't too friendly but his body guard was. Good to know. Oh and if you're interested in purchasing the shirt, you can buy them at Spoiled Rotten which is on Elmwood, right in the heart of the strip. It's the same place you can buy those "I <3 Buffalo Hockey/Football" shirts, which practically everyone and their mom owns...except for me.

Thursday at the Square starts tomorrow and I'm hoping the weather holds out so I can go, although the forecast is saying thunderstorms. I love thunderstorms, but not when they interfere with my plans (or my sleep). At least there are plenty of bars that I can flock to if the weather is too bad to enjoy the free music. I had already planned on hitting up a few after the show, so either way I suppose. Also, am I the only person in Buffalo to NOT be going to the Dave Matthews concert tonight?