Catwalk for Charity IV Recap!

My, my, my...what a night! I've got tons of great pictures and videos to share with you all... and some pretty funny stories as well. Let's get on it...

I'm kind of weird and I always get so nervous before every Catwalk...just because it's such a big event for me, being such a big Sabres fan. I'm a pretty reserved person by nature, so as much as I love to converse and socialize with people, I still get nervous around the Sabres. So I took some advice from my soon to be 16-year-old brother and had "some of that liquid courage", as he put it, and I had a glass of wine beforehand.

So I get to the Town Ballroom and everyone is all decked out in 50s attire...everyone looked so cute. I made sure to talk to Ryan, and I forgot how much of a lightweight I am...I was only on my second glass of wine and I was, how do you put it, maybe a little too friendly with Ryan. He's such a nice guy though, so he put up with me. Anyways, I told him how I went to The Refinery in East Lansing over the summer and how I was really impressed with the town and all that... we made small talk and I got my picture taken with him. It was funny because it was so early in the night and someone stumbled by and dropped their beer bottle and it made a real loud noise and Ryan shook his head and said, "Wow...already?" to Lalime (I think), who was standing by. Then the woman who was walking around with the golden retriever puppy went up to us and Ryan started holding the puppy so I had to get a picture! It was pretty cute.

Then I remembered that I was a woman on a mission... I forgot that I was on a quest to find out why Ryan got rid of his blog. So as he walked away I was like, "RYAN WAIT...I have a question." and I asked him why he deleted it. And he said, "Because we didn't win shit when I had it." I was like, "Yaa well...it was was so good!" I think he said something along the lines of that he didn't think it was a good place for him to clear his mind or something...I can't really recall. I asked him if maybe he would consider blogging after the Olympics and he was like, "We'll see how I feel." Maybe when the Sabres start winning shit he'll reconsider and join the blogosphere again...let's hope because his blog was golden.

We were standing right by the photobooth and I remember last year I wanted to get pictures with Ryan in the photobooth, but he was being bombarded by fans asking him to and he kept saying, "Okay, but this is the last one..." and then like 5 other people would go up and ask...sooo last year I didn't want to bother him because he was being nice even though he had to be up onstage. So this year I decided to jump on the opportunity before he had to be somewhere and before everyone wanted a piece of him. So being the nice guy that he is he went in the photobooth with me! I remember apologizing... I was like, "Sorry I'm not normally like this..." and he smiled and was like, "You're fine." I just felt like I was being so naggy haha...but I couldn't help it. Catwalk for Charity is sort of like my time where I can socialize and talk to him and the rest of the players. Plus when else am I going to get the chance to get photobooth pics with Ryan Miller. Answer me that.

Right before the auction, Rick Jeanneret and Harry Neale came onto the stage and RJ was dressed in drag as a 1950s sock hop girl hahaha. It was a sight to see... My friend Michele won the bidding to have a wine tasting party with Ryan and the Goose...she told me that I could get in on that, so I'm pretty stoked for that. The fashion show, as always, was extremely entertaining and I took some videos of it. The players really seem to enjoy themselves on the catwalk and it's always awesome to watch the guys have fun.

After the fashion show I saw Ryan again and he was like, "Hey Caroline." and then I was like, "You're so precious!" and I hugged him and that liquid courage went into overdrive and I stood up on my tip toes and gave him a kiss on the cheek and then I kissed his hands. Jesus christ...poor Ryan hahahaha. It's so out of character for me, I can't believe I did that. I'm pretty sure I told him that I love when he has facial hair too... Good god, I'm sure Ryan is so used to being bothered by annoying girls, I just never wanted to fall into that category haha. Still shaking my head when I think about what I did haha.

Alright so now I saved the best story for last... Toward the end of the night I saw Tyler Myers and I went up to him and asked him if he remembered when he came into where I work and I told him how I thought his goal was sick. Then he goes, "Yeah I remember! I read it on your blog too!" and I was like, "You read my blog?!" and he said, "Yeah my dad sent me the link!" I was pretty floored when he said that. So if you happen to be reading right now, HI TYLER!

I was a little bummed that Mike Grier didn't really mingle around like the rest of the players so I never got a chance to talk to him... And Drew Stafford kept trying to convince me that some really tall dude was Tyler Myers. Tamara also told me that Stafford and Connolly bid 20 cents on the Patrick Kane jersey which is absolutely amazing. Pretty much made my day when she told me about it this morning.

I'm sure I'm leaving out a lot of stuff but that's all I can remember right now...and I don't want to keep you waiting for my pictures! Here is a link to my Flickr with all the pictures, and here are some of my favorites...

First up...my annual photo of me with Ryan:



Photobooth fun:


His smile couldn't conceal the bewildered look in his eyes...

The Gooooose




nice midriff...


I just love this picture!



Aaaaand...last but not least:



Hell yes. I also have videos up on YouTube. They aren't titled yet...but most of them are of the players strutting down the Catwalk. I got a video of RJ and Harry too when Rick was in drag, make sure to check that out as well.

Lindy is Confused, Miller is Pissed.

Alright, so maybe I should be working on my final paper for English and putting together a portfolio. Don't judge me. But I had to bring this up.

Lindy Ruff called out Ryan Miller for last night's 2-1 loss against the Florida Panthers. Look, I'm no "Lindy hater" and demanding he be fired, and I always respect what he has to say and I usually agree with him. But I think calling out Ryan Miller last night was ridiculous. Saying that he let in soft goals? Maybe. But the fact is that Ryan made some pretty big saves on odd-man rushes and he only allowed 2 goals. If your goalie is only allowing two goals per game, then he's doing his job by giving his team a chance to win. So why did Lindy only call out Ryan?

Miller was surprised and angry at Lindy's comments. Usually when Ryan is criticized by Ruff, he's pretty level-headed about it and he will usually agree with Lindy. But this time is obviously different, since I'm sure he doesn't agree with Lindy's comments at all. Messing with a goalie's confidence is not smart, and I believe a goalie's confidence is more fragile than any other player's considering their high pressure job.

Has Lindy lost his mind? I don't know. I sure hope not. I like Lindy, and I think he's a great coach. But he knows better than that. You can't blame a goalie when he's only allowed 2 goals and his team only scored 1. That shouldn't be on Miller. Maybe if he was allowing 2, 3 soft goals per night then Lindy's comments would have been more valid.

Am I being overly sensitive because I have a soft spot for goalies? Is this me being biased because I've taken a special liking to Ryan Miller because of my like for goaltenders? I don't think so.

I hope Ryan takes these comments and uses them as inspiration to play better. I hope the rest of the team realizes that their goalie is being called out and that they should shape up and score a few goals for him. I just hope that it doesn't create tension in the dressing room.

Oh and I'm aware I've missed out on all the fun with Sean Avery and his sloppy seconds. All I can say is I think Sean Avery is terrible and I have no sympathy for the little prick, whether he's being treated fairly or unfairly in this situation.