What a weekend!!! Simply put, it was awesome. Good friends, good food, and good weather. Dinner last night was great. Italian always hits the spot. We arrived at the restaurant a few minutes early and thank God we had reservations. We were seated fairly quickly, but those without reservations had an hour wait. As a side note, I would have left. The food is good, but not that good. We were served quickly and we hung out laughing and having fun over some coffee. The area was buzzing as the Sabres were playing and the arena wasn't too far away. When we left about 8:30ish there was still a line to get in the place. In the car I immediately put the radio on to see how my boys were doing. It was the last preseason game and it was once again against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The score was tied at 2 about 5 minutes into the last period. The 'Guins scored shortly after we got moving. Within a few minutes Pominville scored with an assist from Roy. Finding out later Roy scored one of the early goals, giving him a 2 point night. He's an animal I tell you!! With about 5 minutes to go Tim Connolly scored and gave us the lead, 4-3. I was a bit rude and left the radio on to hear the play. I've learned the game isn't over until that final buzzer goes. Last year on more then one occasion we scored with only seconds left. The 'Guins have some offensive fire power so this one could change in a blink of an eye. We arrived at the hotel with a few minutes left and I sat there to hear it out. YEAH Baby... the horn goes and Buffalo wins 4-3. Now it's on to the 'real' games, starting Friday.
We sat in the hotel and had a few drinks and talked up a storm. Some deep discussions and lots of laughs. Before I knew it the clock was striking 1:30 and it was time to go home and get some sleep. A smile on my face and full belly. What more could you ask for? My head wasn't on that pillow but a few minutes and I was out cold.
Woke this morning to a crisp blue sky. The sun was out and it was perfect football weather. Had a few cups of coffee to kick start my body and got dressed. Of course sporting my red, white, and blue team colors. My house isn't to far from the stadium and really close to the highway entrance so they drove to me and then we switched cars, leaving their's here and I drove to the stadium. Traffic wasn't bad until we got close, but even then it wasn't too bad. We got into the parking lot and enjoyed the sights and smells. Tailgating every where you looked. Food cooking on grills, folks playing catch, dancing on roof tops of buses. The fans didn't seem to care that we were 0-3. They were ready.
We made our way to the gates and into the club level. We found a table and had some lunch. Believe it or not I spent almost as much there in that short time as I did for dinner the night before. Highway robbery!! I guess they know folks will pay it, so they charge it. Shawn (my clients son) and I walked out and took a look at the field. There were a few guys out warming up. Brian Moorman was practicing his kicks. It was fun to watch and of course with camera in hand I grabbed a few shots. Moorman has been with the Bills a few years after going to school in Pittsburgh. He is one of the best. My timing wasn't always perfect but I did get some nice shots. The one in the collage is actually during the game and I had to use it. All I could think of was 'Karate Kid' :)
After lunch we made our way to our seats. We had a great view! The first half ended with no score. Now, I'm not trying to take away from the Jets, but to be honest it was two shitty teams playing. It wasn't horrible, nor was it boring, there just wasn't any scoring. In the third quarter the teams traded touch downs. The Bills scoring first. In the fourth the Bills went on a drive and it ended in a field goal. They are up 10-7. The Bills defense wasn't perfect but they did come up with some big plays when they had to. With an interception the Bills drove towards the goal line. It was fourth down and less then a yard. The field goal unit came out. The crowd chanted, 'go for it.' They wanted the coach to try for the TD. A time out called and when the team took the field the offensive unit came out. The crowd went wild. If they score the coach is a genius, if not he's a failure. Doesn't matter what the fans wanted. In the end it didn't matter. A short one yard pass and the score was 17-7. The Jets did not give up. They drove down and scored, giving them hope. With about 4 minutes left the Bills had the ball and failed to do anything and had to punt the ball away. I cursed. Too much time left, defense has to stand tall and stop them. The Jets were driving and it looked like they might just do it. In Buffalo territory Chad Pennington attempted a pass, the crowd explodes as McGee intercepts and the clock reads 6 seconds. They did it. Holy crap they won! It was a good day. The Miami Dolphins got spanked so we are no longer the worst team in the league ::evil grin::
Both local sports teams pulled out a win and I had a great time with friends. I'm dragging my ass right now and it's off to bed. I know I owe several tags and will get caught up tomorrow. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. Mine was great with some escaping the deep heart ache I've had all week.
Hugs
~d
