Surviving the ACC

You guys! I went to my first away Sabres game and I was pretty ambitious and I went all balls to the wall and decided to trek up to Shoronto (Toronto for all those non-Caroline language speakers out there) with Tamara to cheer on mah favorite hockey players. I figured it wouldn't be as dangerous as it was only preseason, and I can say that Tamara and I left pretty unscathed. Although we did see two fights...one was a bunch drunken Sabres and Leafs fans having your typical pushing match, but security was there to break them up. The other one was pretty shitty...some guy walking out of the arena in a Sabres jersey all by himself got jumped by some pathetic Leafs fan who couldn't hold his liquor or the fact that his starting goalie allowed 7 goals in a preseason game...I felt really bad for the Sabres fan who got dropkicked in the face but being a 5'3 female, I figured that I would probably do more harm than good if I had decided to intervene.

So anyways, the game was a lot of fun. As the alcohol and the goals started to flow, I got a little more comfortable cheering on our boys. When MacArthur scored the first goal, I tentatively stood up and let out a little, "Woo!", but after about the 3rd goal I was screaming and chanting "LET'S GO BUFFALO!" Even though it was only preseason, it was still a very exciting game and I was glad that the Sabres won so I could leave enemy territory without feeling like a jackass. I held my head up high in my Sabres jersey even though I got a lot of "Fuck yous" and "Buffalo sucks!" shouted at me. I was hoping the souvenier shop would have a t-shirt that said, "I survived a Sabres-Leafs game at the ACC and all I got was this lousy t-shirt", but to my dismay, no avail.

Anywayyysss...it was quite the barn-burner, but I was glad to see that our guys battled back and they didn't give up until the final second to secure a victory. I also thought Jochen Hecht played a good game, which is nice to see after such a disappointing season from him. After the game, Tamara and I bumped into a lovely man who was born and raised in Toronto but is a huge Sabres fan. He gushed about how much he loves Buffalo and the people, and how he loves the city of Toronto but he thinks the people are too uptight (hehe) and he went on talking about his first game at the Aud and the French Connection. I think he said it best: "How can you not love the Buffalo fucking Sabres?"

Sooo that was how I spent my Sunday and I had a lot of fun. It's definitely a different experience to cheer on your team when they're on the road...you instantly become friends with everyone who is wearing a Sabres jersey and you have to make sure you represent your team and your city with dignity and pride.

In other news...the season starts in FOUR DAYS!!!!!!!! I cannot believe it. After such a long offseason it's going to be so thrilling to see our boys out there competiting again. I have to say that I'm pretty optimistic about our additions to the team, but I've also said before that I'm always optimistic when the season rolls around just because I'm aching for hockey. We've got a lot of players who are trying to make a crack at the final roster so it'll be interesting to see how all of that shakes out...

Just wanted to comment on this... Maxim Afinogenov has signed with Atlanta. And Andrew Peters has signed with the Devils. I wish nothing but the best for the two players, and I hope they both have successful seasons with their new clubs.

And a little aside...I took care of Mike Weber at work the other day. I actually recognized him as being a member of the Sabres and it wasn't awkward like it was when I took care of Gerbe and I played the "Where do I know you from?" game. Yeah, it was a very smooth encounter, I sold him his ticket and I wished him good luck for the upcoming season and that was that!

Oh...and I also would like to inform everyone that I found a replica of Marilyn Monroe's dress that she wore in the movie Niagara. I came across it on eBay and I bid on it and won! I'm so ready for Catwalk for Charity!

Anyways, I'll end this post with the pictures that I took over the course of training camp and from my adventure at the ACC...if you're friends with me on Facebook, some of them are up on there as well, but all of them can be found my on my Flickr. Enjoy!










My two faves!