HockeyFan T Posted October 4, 2006 Report Posted October 4, 2006 HockeyFan T, I'm just wondering what gives with your flashing avatar. Why would anyone supporting the Sabres also support the Hurricanes? Can you shed some light on this? Also, in regards to the ticketing situation, I really don't feel that we can harp on Carolina until it's announced that we've sold out our home opener. I know it would be different if the Sabres were raising a banner Friday night, but c'mon, how can we bash them when there are still tickets available as of Tuesday afternoon? It seemed like a once in a lifetime chance to for a guy in Raleigh to return the favor in pointing out that we were sold out or barn and Buffalo hasn't. Of course it backfired with the SRO's available. In the eyes of several members on the board, being a Sabres fan and a Canes fan living in Raleigh is like saying you root for both the Bills and the Dolphins while you're living in Florida or the Bills and Patriots while living in Boston. Although that's not the same to me, I understand that sentiment, especially after the way things ended last year. I've been here for 15 years and remember dreaming of a local NFL or NHL team. Now that we have both here I support them unless they are playing a Buffalo team. I was sick losing to the Canes in the playoffs, so sick that I sold my tickets to Games 1 and 2 of the Finals. Not that I started hating the team but a lot of stupid drunken idiots yelling insults on the way back to the car certainly kept me from saying, "Oh well, Go Canes!" There were a few classy fans who had good things to say about the Sabres and the series but it didn't make me feel much better. After about a week, my rooting interest for the Canes was restored. Carolina, (my 2nd favorite team) was a team that I pulled for for 78 regular season games and 2 playoff rounds. I wasn't going to miss an opportunity to see them win a championship. It was awesome being there to see them win the cup (but deep down I wished it could've been the Sabres)
BetweenThePipes00 Posted October 4, 2006 Report Posted October 4, 2006 It seemed like a once in a lifetime chance to for a guy in Raleigh to return the favor in pointing out that we were sold out or barn and Buffalo hasn't. Of course it backfired with the SRO's available. In the eyes of several members on the board, being a Sabres fan and a Canes fan living in Raleigh is like saying you root for both the Bills and the Dolphins while you're living in Florida or the Bills and Patriots while living in Boston. Although that's not the same to me, I understand that sentiment, especially after the way things ended last year. I've been here for 15 years and remember dreaming of a local NFL or NHL team. Now that we have both here I support them unless they are playing a Buffalo team. I was sick losing to the Canes in the playoffs, so sick that I sold my tickets to Games 1 and 2 of the Finals. Not that I started hating the team but a lot of stupid drunken idiots yelling insults on the way back to the car certainly kept me from saying, "Oh well, Go Canes!" There were a few classy fans who had good things to say about the Sabres and the series but it didn't make me feel much better. After about a week, my rooting interest for the Canes was restored. Carolina, (my 2nd favorite team) was a team that I pulled for for 78 regular season games and 2 playoff rounds. I wasn't going to miss an opportunity to see them win a championship. It was awesome being there to see them win the cup (but deep down I wished it could've been the Sabres) People are just different I guess ... I don't think it's that you also root for the Canes specifically ... I think many of us just can't grasp the concept of a "2nd favorite team." It's just a foreign concept that I cannot get my head or my heart around. It's not like having a favorite band or favorite restaurant to me, where it's enjoyable to go to other concerts or eat at other places. (It can be enjoyable to go to other team's games, but I can't bring myself to care who wins) I'm not condemning you, and I should not speak for others ... I may be in the minority and the one with a problem, but no matter how rational your explanation, I'll never get it. I moved away from Buffalo in 1986, to this day if people ask me where I am from I say "I grew up in Buffalo, but I live in Nashville now." Maybe it's dumb, but I can't stop, nor do I want to. The Bills and Sabres are a big part of the attachment I still feel to the city, so it's just impossible to care even 1/1000th as much about a team I have no attachment to. Again, your explanation for having a "2nd favorite team" is probably far more rational than mine for not having one, but it's not a conscious decision. I can't set my mind to pick one and root for them ... you have to feel it, and if nearly 20 years in Pittsburgh didn't do it, it ain't happening here either. All that said, you SHOULD enjoy the Canes winning it all if you have that kind of connection. But like I said, people and fans are different, and I'll just always kind of feel I have more invested in the Sabres than those that can have a "2nd favorite team." I hate that it sounds condescending when I say that, but ... there it is.
Claude_Verret Posted October 4, 2006 Report Posted October 4, 2006 People are just different I guess ... I don't think it's that you also root for the Canes specifically ... I think many of us just can't grasp the concept of a "2nd favorite team." It's just a foreign concept that I cannot get my head or my heart around. It's not like having a favorite band or favorite restaurant to me, where it's enjoyable to go to other concerts or eat at other places. (It can be enjoyable to go to other team's games, but I can't bring myself to care who wins) I'm not condemning you, and I should not speak for others ... I may be in the minority and the one with a problem, but no matter how rational your explanation, I'll never get it. I moved away from Buffalo in 1986, to this day if people ask me where I am from I say "I grew up in Buffalo, but I live in Nashville now." Maybe it's dumb, but I can't stop, nor do I want to. The Bills and Sabres are a big part of the attachment I still feel to the city, so it's just impossible to care even 1/1000th as much about a team I have no attachment to. Again, your explanation for having a "2nd favorite team" is probably far more rational than mine for not having one, but it's not a conscious decision. I can't set my mind to pick one and root for them ... you have to feel it, and if nearly 20 years in Pittsburgh didn't do it, it ain't happening here either. All that said, you SHOULD enjoy the Canes winning it all if you have that kind of connection. But like I said, people and fans are different, and I'll just always kind of feel I have more invested in the Sabres than those that can have a "2nd favorite team." I hate that it sounds condescending when I say that, but ... there it is. Thank you. That's exactly how I feel.
HockeyFan T Posted October 4, 2006 Report Posted October 4, 2006 People are just different I guess ... I don't think it's that you also root for the Canes specifically ... I think many of us just can't grasp the concept of a "2nd favorite team." It's just a foreign concept that I cannot get my head or my heart around. It's not like having a favorite band or favorite restaurant to me, where it's enjoyable to go to other concerts or eat at other places. (It can be enjoyable to go to other team's games, but I can't bring myself to care who wins) I'm not condemning you, and I should not speak for others ... I may be in the minority and the one with a problem, but no matter how rational your explanation, I'll never get it. I moved away from Buffalo in 1986, to this day if people ask me where I am from I say "I grew up in Buffalo, but I live in Nashville now." Maybe it's dumb, but I can't stop, nor do I want to. The Bills and Sabres are a big part of the attachment I still feel to the city, so it's just impossible to care even 1/1000th as much about a team I have no attachment to. Again, your explanation for having a "2nd favorite team" is probably far more rational than mine for not having one, but it's not a conscious decision. I can't set my mind to pick one and root for them ... you have to feel it, and if nearly 20 years in Pittsburgh didn't do it, it ain't happening here either. All that said, you SHOULD enjoy the Canes winning it all if you have that kind of connection. But like I said, people and fans are different, and I'll just always kind of feel I have more invested in the Sabres than those that can have a "2nd favorite team." I hate that it sounds condescending when I say that, but ... there it is. Good post! I certainly understand your point of view. I shared it for several years and never thought the Canes would grow on me, but they did. It wasn't a conscious decision, it just evolved. Good management and a core of just good guys, some who have given us free tickets to games even though they knew we'd be rooting for the Sabres... and the last of the Hated Whalers leaving town... Does "my local team that I root for unless they're playing Buffalo" sound better than 2nd favorite team? By 2nd favorite team, I have always meant 2nd place in my heart, not that I have 2 favorite teams. Anyway, thanks for the post. Go Sabres!
Two or less Posted October 4, 2006 Report Posted October 4, 2006 Yes it would... I get chills when I think of how loud the Buffalo faithful got during Game 5 when I was there... yeah me and you both. lol. I'm still not over that whole series and that game.
bills_fan_in_raleigh Posted October 4, 2006 Report Posted October 4, 2006 I just couldn't resist! The opener has been sold out here in Raleigh for weeks. I noticed there are still plenty of seats available for the opener in Buffalo. What gives? You all were less than 20 mins from going to the finals and you can't sell out your opener? Maybe you need some Caniacs to make the drive up from Raleigh to help you sell out your arena! Nah, just kidding! I know it's still football season, I never went to many Sabres games until after football season either. And yes, I know your attendance as a whole will be much better in Buffalo than in Raleigh. The Canes may win the opener at the box office, but hopefully it'll be the Sabres Stanley Cup banner that gets raised next year! Go Sabres! Tickets will be available at the game since its really not a sellout jusy holding tickets hostage for future season ticket holders
Bmwolf21 Posted October 4, 2006 Report Posted October 4, 2006 Good post! I certainly understand your point of view. I shared it for several years and never thought the Canes would grow on me, but they did. It wasn't a conscious decision, it just evolved. Good management and a core of just good guys, some who have given us free tickets to games even though they knew we'd be rooting for the Sabres... and the last of the Hated Whalers leaving town... Does "my local team that I root for unless they're playing Buffalo" sound better than 2nd favorite team? By 2nd favorite team, I have always meant 2nd place in my heart, not that I have 2 favorite teams. Anyway, thanks for the post. Go Sabres! I can understand the concept of a local team you like to go see play, or another team that you enjoy watching, but I cannot get past this idea of a 2nd favorite, so I am glad you made this distinction. My story is this - I loved the Lightning when they came into the league - I loved the name, the colors, the new franchise in Florida, all of it - and I was lucky enough to get to go to one game in their inaugural season (in that county fair Expo Hall that seated 11,000.) Fast forward to 2003, and my wife & I move to Orlando, where we live for 3 years, during the Lightning's Cup championship run. Most of you know that Orlando is part of Tampa's market, just like Rochester is part of Buffalo's fanbase, and they are about the same distance apart. In my 3 years in Orlando I went to exactly one Lightning game (and left after the 2nd period), and that was a free ticket resulting from attending a job fair at St. Pete Times Arena. Why the change? Really, honestly and truly - it was the Center Ice package. I could not justify going out-of-town for an overnight trip and spending a few hundred dollars to watch any team other than the Sabres, especially when we could stay home and watch 2 Sabres games from the comfort of our living room. The Center Ice package really renewed my vigor and love for the NHL and for the Sabres, as living in such traditional hockey hotbeds as Tallahassee and Orlando left me with no one to talk to about the games, no one who cared that the playoffs were starting, no one who gave a rats' ass about the lockout. On a side note, one of my biggest frustrations is realizing that there are a lot of bandwagon fans in every city who take their team for granted, only want to go in the playoffs, etc., when there are fans spread all across the country who would kill to go to a Tuesday night game in mid-January. When we were in Orlando, the stars never seemed to align right for us to go see Buffalo at Tampa - we would be out of town, or have projects to work on and couldn't get time off work, etc., so now that I am closer to home, I am planning on snagging some of my buddies' extra season tix for as many games as I can get to.
shrader Posted October 4, 2006 Report Posted October 4, 2006 It just hit me really hard. I can't wait any longer. This day needs to end so I can go home and watch the game!
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