Anyone dream about the Sabres?

[Stoner]

I had the weirdest dream last night.

 

I?m in a Hawaiian shirt, milling around in a crowd of similary clad people, when we?re called in to take our seats in a large, open space, a ballroom of sorts. The atmosphere is festive. We?re definitely celebrating something, something big. By the time I?m ready to sit down, it?s a tiny classroom, and the only seat left is in the front row, far right. Lindy Ruff appears in front of the class.

 

?Do you remember the turning point? When the war was won?? he asks. Suddenly there?s an open view to the ocean -- walls no longer obstruct the view outside. The scene is breath-taking, not to mention attention-taking. I look up to see Lindy?s face about one foot from mine. ?Do you remember?? It?s one of those moments in school where the teacher catches you daydreaming, and you have no idea what the question is. I stare at the desk.

 

?GREAT BRITAIN! WHEN GREAT BRITAIN ENTERED, THAT?S WHEN THE WAR WAS WON!? Ruff screams.

 

?Great Britain,? I repeat, thinking I am funny. No one laughs.

 

Gaye Ruff gets up and tells a story about seeing a bird with brightly colored tailfeathers protecting something on the beach. She says she went to the spot, coaxed the bird away and found its treasure trove: four silvery eggs. ?This one?s for breakfast, this one?s for lunch, this one?s for dinner,? she says, and everyone laughs.

 

A familiar face turns around from the seat in front of me, a seat that has appeared out of nowhere. It?s a friend of my mother?s, a woman named Marge. In real life, she has Alzheimer?s. She takes my hand and asks me if I realize how much she lost on ?that terrible day.?

 

I answer in a hushed voice, but a voice that the now hundreds of people around me can somehow hear. ?I know it seems like we don?t understand what you went through that day, that we don?t hear you,? I tell her. ?But understand that NO ONE is paying attention, we?re ALL daydreaming. Hell, right now I?m out picking eggs with Gaye Ruff...

 

(A ripple of laughter. It feels good. I?m on a roll now.)

 

...and we?re walking on the beach. The warm sand feels so good between my toes. Gaye is telling me how much she loves me and that if anything ever happens to Lindy...

 

(long pause)

 

...she?s going to coach the Sabres.?

 

(Uproarious laughter. I?m killing.)

 

I tell Marge a story about a family of four that?s in a car wreck. The mother and father and one of the kids wind up without a scratch, but the other kid?s head is opened up pretty good.

 

?None of us here got hurt that day,? I tell Marge, ?but you WERE hurt very badly. I?m sorry, but things will get better. You?re talking about it, and laughing about it, and that?s the first step to healing.?

 

People are crying.

 

Joe, a friend of mine from college who is sitting behind me, jumps up on his desk and launches into something like a limerick, in almost a pirate?s voice. It?s hilarious. I forget the words, except the final ones:

 

?I knew the judge in Lauderdale/

67 Cent by name.?

 

That?s where I woke up, laughing out loud. I?ve always heard about people awakening from dreams laughing out loud, but it?s never happened to me. It?s great! In that twilight zone between wake and sleep, I tried to psychoanalyze my dream. It was about the Sabres, clearly, and the Stanley Cup, represented by four silvery eggs, one for each round, I supposed.

 

But it was about more than premature playoff fever. It was about a coach and his family who are going through a personal crisis, the sympathetic older woman with a brain disorder no doubt representing the grown Madeleine, the injured kid in the car, her life coming full circle in my mind.

 

In the end, it was about real life trumping sports, right down to the mention of war, which is on everyone?s mind, and ?that terrible day,? which must be September 11th.

 

I couldn?t figure out what 67 Cent was all about, so almost back asleep, I pretended to flip through my Sabres Media Guide. Brian Campbell! He was born in London! Was raised in south Florida, where his father was a judge! Played for the Ottawa 67s in junior! Scored 67 points his final year! Was drafted by Buffalo with the 67th pick!

 

Of course, in the light of day, the only ?fact? that holds up is that Campbell DID play for the 67s. But that?s good enough for me. Brian Campbell IS 67 Cent. I have no doubt that sometime in the future, Soupy will score the pivotal goal on the night the war is won.

 

This is my brain on Sabres. The playoffs can?t come soon enough. I?m going slightly mad -- my dear, how about you?

[mphs mike]

PA - you need a hockey game to watch my man!

 

The Sabres have scratched a 5 year itch and your fever is burnin'

[Strow]

I don't know what to say...

[Corp000085]

No, but i've dreamed of Ingrid Smolinska.

[nfreeman]

I'm right there with you. The reason you dream about the Sabres is that you really care about them. You probably grew up caring about them and now they are part of who you are. This is certainly true for me and I suspect for most of the posters on this board.

 

I'll never forget going to the Aud with my dad, sitting below the overhang in the blues (and later, the golds), and hearing the whole building get excited when Gilbert picked it up and started flying up ice. Or the disappointment of 1975 and the News headline: "Bernie 'freak thing' evaporate Sabre dream of glory". Or Rick Martin's slapshot. Or Schony challenging the entire Bruins bench. Or the "Taro Says" signs. Or a million other beautiful memories about this team, wrapped up in me as part of growing up.

 

As to the war: we will defeat them.

 

As to the Senators: we will defeat them too.

 

Go Sabres.

[slugspirit]

You know... if you apply Freud's analysis of dream interpretations, basically it would say that you probably want to have sex with Lindy Ruff.

 

After the season we've had, I completely understand.

[Stoner]

Wait, that would make me... GAYE. I get it. Now it all makes sense!

[frisky]

I dream of chicks.

[haseoke]

i had a nightmare where we traded Afinogenov, Mckee, Roy and Campbell all to Ottawa essentially for draft picks. Really i did.