PTS Posted February 20, 2006 Report Share Posted February 20, 2006 So I'm watching Center Ice's replay of Game Seven of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals. It's just not fair. We Sabre fans have suffered for so long and a team like Tampa Bay gets to lift the Cup before us. The final two minutes of the game were cool but I envisioned what it would be like if it was Buffalo that was just about to hoist the cup at home. The Tampa crowd was loud but I feel like they are just excited Buffalo, Toronto, Detroit fans that moved down to the Bay and took up the Lightning as their second team. If that fateful day ever comes, I think our city will implode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bob_sauve28 Posted February 20, 2006 Report Share Posted February 20, 2006 Maybe this will be our year. So I'm watching Center Ice's replay of Game Seven of the 2004 Stanley Cup Finals. It's just not fair. We Sabre fans have suffered for so long and a team like Tampa Bay gets to lift the Cup before us. The final two minutes of the game were cool but I envisioned what it would be like if it was Buffalo that was just about to hoist the cup at home. The Tampa crowd was loud but I feel like they are just excited Buffalo, Toronto, Detroit fans that moved down to the Bay and took up the Lightning as their second team. If that fateful day ever comes, I think our city will implode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corp000085 Posted February 20, 2006 Report Share Posted February 20, 2006 Maybe this will be our year. Listen, have some faith man. This WILL be our year. Just as the bills will go 19-0 en route to their Super Bowl XLI championship, the Buffalo Sabres will go undefeated and have 4 sweeps in the playoffs. And if they lose, we'll go from there. This is a playoff team here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inkman Posted February 20, 2006 Report Share Posted February 20, 2006 It's just not fair. We Sabre fans have suffered for so long and a team like Tampa Bay gets to lift the Cup before us. I defnitely do not believe cities, franchises or teams deserve to win because their fans would really, really like it. Your view is a popular sports take among fans and certain media types. I get annoyed when I hear, So and so has played for so long he deserves a championship. People who win championships, deserve championships. This hold true for every team minus the Yankees, of coarse. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PTS Posted February 20, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 20, 2006 I defnitely do not believe cities, franchises or teams deserve to win because their fans would really, really like it. Your view is a popular sports take among fans and certain media types. I get annoyed when I hear, So and so has played for so long he deserves a championship. People who win championships, deserve championships. This hold true for every team minus the Yankees, of coarse. :D I agree, I'm just really bitter. <_< Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LabattBlue Posted February 20, 2006 Report Share Posted February 20, 2006 I often think about what it would be like if the Bills or Sabres ever won it all and then just hope that it happens sometime in my lifetime. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest_Rabbit151_* Posted February 20, 2006 Report Share Posted February 20, 2006 The Flames are my second choice behind the Sabres, probably would have been my favorite had they been in Calgary when I was a boy. I lived there when the Flames won the cup in 89. What a party. We had a great time, everyone was sky-high for a while. But, you know what, the next day, the next week, the next month, the Flames victory did nothing and has done nothing to improve my life. When I was in my 20's and not a care in the world, it was fun. Plus you could cheer for athletes like they were one of the guys and not a million dollar baby. Now, I see a multi-millionaire hoisting a cup and being cheered on by people like he's a god and I wonder where our priorites are. I'm a spurs fan too, but it's hard to get excited when they laugh and joke about going to Disneyland while I have to save for 2 years to take my kids there. Heck, those NBA guys could literally afford to pay to have Disneyland shut down for a day and only be open to their family. My point is, whether or not the Sabres win makes no difference to our lives ultimately. Oh sure, some spin-off economic value will occur for your town, maybe the local sporting goods merchant sells more jerseys etc. I'm just responding to the guy wondering how awesome it would be if a Buffalo team won it all. Generally, for most of us poor schlumps who pay their salaries and keep the owners in schauffered vehicles and million-dollar mansions, there isn't much awesome about our team winning the championship. It's a quick and meaningless high, and the very next day you go back to your ant-like job working for peanuts and just hoping to pay all your bills on time. It's a lot harder in this day and age to cheer for millionaires. I'm Canadian and I'll tell you what, I actually found myself rooting for the Swiss to beat Canada in the olympic hockey. The Swiss leagues are full of Canadians who didn't make the NHL usually because they were considered too small. The Swiss were the mostly underpaid blue-collar hockey guys that a regular working guy really wants to see win. Is this cynical enough for you? I can get worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BetweenThePipes00 Posted February 20, 2006 Report Share Posted February 20, 2006 First of all, for the record, while I agree many Tampa fans maybe did not truly appreciate the Cup, I was happy for Craig Ramsay ... i was rooting for them just for Rammer. As for the "it doesn't matter, we all still have to go to work on monday" angle, I agree to a point ... no doubt as you get older other things become more important. But there is some value to being able to derive such enjoyment out of something so relatively meaningless ... I mean, just this season, how many nights have you gone to bed in a better mood than you came home from work in because of how the Sabres played that night? Quite a few ... no, your life is not really any different but it didn't cost you anything and you got the adrenaline flowing a bit ... still had to go to work the next day but ... better than American Idol. As for the value of actually winning a championship, no, it's not going to turn Buffalo back into the town it was 40 or 50 years ago ... but for better or worse, a lot of people still take a lot of pride in being Buffalonians and if it makes us feel good about that, even for a day or two, it's a good thing. I can't even explain exactly why, but I am sure I will cry my eyes out for about a week if the Sabres or Bills ever win it all. So what if it is just a "quick and meaningless high"? How many long lasting, meaningful highs does a person get in his life? I would hope those would be centered around marriages and kids and important stuff like that. A quick meaningless high is better than nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PASabreFan Posted February 21, 2006 Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 I have two fears about that moment the final horn goes and the Sabres are Stanley Cup champions. 1. I will have a massive heart attack and not get to enjoy it. 2. I will ball like a baby. I'm a very in control person, and I don't like the idea of sobbing in front of people. :) One day, it will be nice to find out which fate befalls me. rabbit, you've brought up one of my sports pet peeves -- people who complain about the salaries of athletes. They earn every penny! Short playing career on average; they've worked for years without pay to get to that point; they literally put there lives on the line -- do you know NFL players' life expectancy is significantly lower than the general population?; sports rakes in billions of dollars -- just who do you propose should get the lion's share of that? Odd that no one minds Tom Cruise getting millions and millions to appear in a movie. Sports is just another entertainment business. While it seems like people always want to harken back to the old days when guys played "for the love of the game, " I wonder if that was ever true. One year, Babe Ruth made more than the president of the United States, and it was a scandal. And, no, I'm not old enough to remember that. But I do remember Gilbert Perreault holding out one preseason for, I think, 100,000 dollars. I think it was during that stretch of playoff frustration after 1975 and before 1980, and fans were none too happy with Bert's outrageous demand. Anyway, welcome to the board, rabbit. Register your name and don't be a stranger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Guest_Rabbit151_* Posted February 21, 2006 Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 I think I did register, but I use different computers and I just click on reply. You know, I don't want to rain on anyones parade. Before I had kids, I remember the Sabres beating Philly on Groseks OT winner. Wow! I thought I'd die. Then, was it a couple of years later (?) they knocked out 2 of my most hated teams in Montreal and Toronto on the way to the cup. I didn't even care that they lost because they beat those two. Right around that time, 97 I think, I even came out to Buffalo from Western Canada to see a couple of games. When you're young and dumb, I guess sports is the be-all and end-all of everything. You bring up a pet peeve of mine, though. I think our whole society is way out of whack. The amount of money people heap on celebrities ( be it sports hero, music icon, movie star ) when they can barely afford to feed their families is ridiculous. How do we allow ourselves to get so reliant on the deeds and misdeeds of celebrities that we attach our emotions, hopes and dreams to them ? What sick god decided Britney Spears needs to be a multi-millionaire ( maybe even billionaire by now ) when there are so many people out there starving to death and living in the streets. 500 years from now, the people will look back on this time, mocking us for our bizarre way of life, the same way we look at people from 500 years ago. Oh well. I guess I can still cheer for the Sabres as long as they remain that lovable team of no-names and blue-collar journeymen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BetweenThePipes00 Posted February 21, 2006 Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 500 years from now, the people will look back on this time, mocking us for our bizarre way of life ... How the heck can we know that? and why should we worry about it? I have enough to worry about in the time I am here, no way am I worrying about what people 500 years from now will think if I hug strangers and cry my eyes out when a hockey team wins a championship. They'll just have to get over it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nfreeman Posted February 21, 2006 Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 First of all, for the record, while I agree many Tampa fans maybe did not truly appreciate the Cup, I was happy for Craig Ramsay ... i was rooting for them just for Rammer. As for the "it doesn't matter, we all still have to go to work on monday" angle, I agree to a point ... no doubt as you get older other things become more important. But there is some value to being able to derive such enjoyment out of something so relatively meaningless ... I mean, just this season, how many nights have you gone to bed in a better mood than you came home from work in because of how the Sabres played that night? Quite a few ... no, your life is not really any different but it didn't cost you anything and you got the adrenaline flowing a bit ... still had to go to work the next day but ... better than American Idol. As for the value of actually winning a championship, no, it's not going to turn Buffalo back into the town it was 40 or 50 years ago ... but for better or worse, a lot of people still take a lot of pride in being Buffalonians and if it makes us feel good about that, even for a day or two, it's a good thing. I can't even explain exactly why, but I am sure I will cry my eyes out for about a week if the Sabres or Bills ever win it all. So what if it is just a "quick and meaningless high"? How many long lasting, meaningful highs does a person get in his life? I would hope those would be centered around marriages and kids and important stuff like that. A quick meaningless high is better than nothing. well said, BTP. I was happy for a solid 3 days after we beat Ottawa in the shootout. In fact, I'm still happy. It didn't solve any of my or the world's pressing problems, but as I sat there with my 5-year old and my 2-year old in my lap watching Vanek beat Dominik in the shootout and Miller stoning 3 all-stars, it brought me back to going to the Aud with my dad as a kid -- and I was just about euphoric. The best summary I've seen of why we obsess over our favorite teams comes from Bill Simmons, a bostonian who is my favorite sportswriter (he's on espn.com). In writing about the Patriots beating the Colts in the playoffs last year, he said: "why do I care about sports this much? I couldn't possibly tell you. but I do." Go Sabres. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PTS Posted February 21, 2006 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 Well said, life without sports is simply not life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goodfella25 Posted February 21, 2006 Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 Sure, winning a cup doesnt seem like it would do anything for us, but you have to look beyond the "life-changing" aspects, because there arent any. If the Sabres won the cup, this city would FINALLY be able to say we have a championship sports team. The "curse" would be over, proving it never really existed anyway. I live in Buffalo, and this is not a great time for this city in the grand scheme of things. Jobs are scarce, everyone is moving away, and we continue to have piss-poor leadership. Just to see the words Buffalo and Champions in the same sentence in the newspaper would be a wonderful highlight and maybe give some hope to the blue collar nine to fiver in this city. If you are like me, you grew up watching this team, for better or worse. As a kid you were mesmerized by the Stanley Cup, and you wanted nothing more but for your team to win it, because you couldnt do it yourself. It would basically fulfill a childhood dream, which i would find extremely satisfying. As far as this team goes, how about being happy for the guys on the team? I know most think they are over-paid, and sure they are, but most of the guys on the team grew up with the same dream as we had....winning the cup. I think it would be great to see a guy like Derek Roy win it, because he worked hard to get to where he is, as have the rest of the Sabres, many of whom arent that far removed from being a little kid. If you love the game and enjoy the passion, or if you're like me and you still play the game, you can't help but get chills when that trophy is presented. It brings back all the memories of growing up and I think that is what makes it special. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrunkenSabre Posted February 21, 2006 Report Share Posted February 21, 2006 people will drown in tears of joy. i cant wait for that day to come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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