What Hockey Heaven Means to Me

me and missy at the ralph, a photo by kel h on Flickr.

(this post was written as an entry in the Buffalo Sabres Nation Hockey Heaven contest. I was one of the two winners selected and I get a super sweet T-Shirt from the folks at Hockey Heaven. The picture above is me and my sister AKA Her Heiny Granger of the Queen City Roller Girls' Devil Dollies)

I was born during the game that put the Sabres in their first Stanley Cup Final. Legend has it my dad had the game playing in the delivery room, and when I came home from the hospital he would rock me while watching the games on TV. I’ve been a Sabres fan since I was born, and Feb 22nd felt like a new beginning. For me Hockey Heaven is a rebirth, with the team and fans coming together as a hockey family. Seeing the Pegula family handing out programs, alumni welcomed back with open arms, and fans being truly listened to all reminded me of what brings me back to the Sabres year after year. It’s that sense of belonging to a community all dreaming of and working towards one common goal. Now we’re ALL united as a family, working towards the same vision: bringing the Stanley Cup to Buffalo.

Here's some old tyme hockey for ya!

Go Socks Go! or Why a Sports Blog?

My name is Kelly, and I am a sports fan in Boston.

Normally, that wouldn't be a big deal. Turn on ESPN...heck, turn on CBS and you're likely to see someone with a Red Sox hat on. "Loudmouth Boston sports fan" has become a "type" in pop culture in the last decade. From the outside, it looks like every single fan lives and dies with the Sox, the Pats, the Celts, and the Bruins.

Except almost none of my friends are sports fans.

There is a HUGE pocket of "geek culture" here in Boston. Most of my friends are more likely to know which Sci Fi/Fantasy author has a new title coming out and when than the score of the

latest Red Sox game, and could name several comic book authors before naming three players on the Sox. I'm pretty sure they know even less about football, hockey, and basketball (although they MIGHT know the names Chara and Brady...mostly because they've heard me talk smack about them). The two exceptions are my boyfriend, who is a HUGE Sox fan, and my roommate who has begun to absorb some hockey since both myself and the previous roommate are BIG hockey fans.

I remember sitting in my apartment once explaining to one of my roommates why the other team had to give the ball back on a failed fourth down conversion. "Kelly, what's a down?"

A question I get from time to time is, "why care so much about sports?" (especially when I bail on social events to go to the bar to watch a hockey game). We do spend a lot of time, money, and emotional energy on adults that get paid obscene amounts of money to play a kids game...but why?

The other question I get a lot from people from Boston is, why

don't I root for Boston teams? I have become a Red Sox fan (having no Major League team in my hometown of Buffalo, NY), but I still bleed Blue and Gold for the Sabres, and feel that I should list being a lifelong Bills fan on my resume as a testament to my loyalty and dedication in the face of adversity.

Jerry Seinfeld brings this up in a bit he does at the beginning of an old Seinfeld episode. The bit talks about how with free agency, players switch teams all of the time, and when a player like LeBron (BOOOO!) takes his talents from Cleveland to "South Beach", he's still the same guy, so why do we all hate him so much for wearing a different shirt? (BTW, I have a LOT to say about that at some point).

So, what is the point of being a sports fan? There are a million reasons, which is part of what I want to explore in this blog.

Play ball!