Outdoor hockey celebrates Buffalo's culture
12/28/2007 12:17 AM
By Erik Brady, USA TODAY
(USA TODAY) -- Buffalo has two seasons, an old vaudeville gag goes.

Winter and the Fourth of July.

The outdoor game between the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins on New Year's Day (NBC, 1 p.m. ET) honors both of Buffalo's vaudevillian seasons: It will be a wintry mix of fireworks and thermal underwear.

The game is billed by the NHL as the "Winter Classic" but is better known by locals as the "Ice Bowl." More than 73,000 will watch at Ralph Wilson Stadium, home of the NFL's Bills. The Sabres say they could sell 50,000 tickets more.

That's because in Buffalo this game is more than a mere event. It is a celebration of the city, its hockey culture and its Northernness.

In much of the USA, hockey doesn't matter. Here, where mothers lace their kids' skates in the dark at dawn on chilly winter mornings, little matters more.


Outdoor hockey celebrates Buffalo's culture (http://rss.usatoday.mlogic3g.com/news.jsp?key=799407)

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It is truly a North American game. People down south and on the West coast don't really have the passion and the roots to be interested in the game as much since it is warm and you don't have any nature created skating rinks like you'd see in Minnesota or New York.

It is truly a North American game. People down south and on the West coast don't really have the passion and the roots to be interested in the game as much since it is warm and you don't have any nature created skating rinks like you'd see in Minnesota or New York.

I was born and raised in Buffalo. Always has been a good hockey town and they even had an NBA franchise once before it was moved to San Diego.

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I was born and raised in Buffalo. Always has been a good hockey town and they even had an NBA franchise once before it was moved to San Diego.

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You've got that right. I was in Buffalo once and can see how hockey could be popular there.

Outdoor games are very special. If it's anything like the last one they had in Canada, the atmosphere is very intimate and personal.

As Bills' players clean out their lockers Monday at the team's practice facility, the Buffalo Sabres (http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/related_content.html?topic=Buffalo%20Sabres) and Pittsburgh Penguins (http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/related_content.html?topic=Pittsburgh%20Penguins) will take to the newly installed rink inside the adjacent stadium. Both teams will hold a practice session, trying to get acclimated to outdoor conditions. On New Year's Day, the Sabres and Penguins will face off in the AMP Energy (http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/related_content.html?topic=AMP%20Energy) Winter Classic, the National Hockey League (http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/related_content.html?topic=National%20Hockey%20Lea gue)'s first outdoor regular season game in the United States. Crews have spent the past week building the rink from scratch on the football field.


More than 70,000 tickets have been sold for the game, scheduled to begin just after 1 p.m. The National Weather Service (http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/related_content.html?topic=National%20Weather%20Se rvice) has forecast occasional snow, but mainly after 3 p.m., with a high temperature near 33 degrees and breezy conditions. Winds are expected to increase to between 20 and 23 miles per hour. Because of the anticipated windy conditions, the NHL will split the game into four periods, with the third period stopping at the 10-minute mark, allowing the teams to change ends.


Bills confirm Levy exit; NHL takes to stadium - Business First of Buffalo: (http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/stories/2007/12/31/daily3.html)

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http://assets.espn.go.com/photo/2007/1231/nhl_g_ralphwilsonstadium_412.jpg


ESPN: The Worldwide Leader In Sports (http://espn.go.com/)

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Outdoor games are very special. If it's anything like the last one they had in Canada, the atmosphere is very intimate and personal.

Leave it to Roscoe.

Most guys take a girl to a romantic dinner or a play to get the mood right.

BUT Roscoe tries to get intimate and personal at a bloody hockey game. :pound::nerd2:

No wonder he never gets any...:lol: Our Cannuckian friends kill me.

Leave it to Roscoe.

Most guys take a girl to a romantic dinner or a play to get the mood right.

BUT Roscoe tries to get intimate and personal at a bloody hockey game. :pound::nerd2:

No wonder he never gets any...:lol: Our Cannuckian friends kill me.

We all have our favorite things that make us want to get intimate. Variety among consenting adults in great.

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We all have our favorite things that make us want to get intimate. Variety among consenting adults in great.

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I know the sheep was an adult. But I'll have to ask Roscoe if it consented.:sssh:

I know the sheep was an adult. But I'll have to ask Roscoe if it consented.:sssh:


That was baaaaaaaddd.

I was thinking the other day, "Gee, I wish Darth Tater posted more".

After reading this, I want a lobotomy.

I was thinking the other day, "Gee, I wish Darth Tater posted more".

After reading this, I want a lobotomy.

If you insist on going to such an extreme, then the Ludovico technique may be preferable. If you don't like the outcome they can reverse the results.

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How could anybody see what was going on in that game? The fans with the closest seats were 40 yards away at ground level. That is a terrible view.

They would have been better off putting it in sideways by the endzone and erecting temporary bleachers on the empty side. They they could have had 30,000 and charged more $.

How could anybody see what was going on in that game? The fans with the closest seats were 40 yards away at ground level. That is a terrible view.

They would have been better off putting it in sideways by the endzone and erecting temporary bleachers on the empty side. They they could have had 30,000 and charged more $.
It's all a fun of being there. Who needs to see anything? You have enough beers and everything is great.
On the other note, it is difficult to see the puck while at the game if you sit far, I do agree it is nearly impossible to see it sitting as far away as some people were at the stadium.

I was thinking the other day, "Gee, I wish Darth Tater posted more".

After reading this, I want a lobotomy.

It just goes to show you...a person doesn't have to post often to still get his job done effectively! :pound:;)


On the game...I think it would have been awesome to see it.

I think the WDFN mentioned today that the Red Wings would like to host an out door hockey game next year possibly at the BIG House in Ann Arbor. Seems like Tiger stadium would be more intimate if is still standing next year?? Didn't it hold about 55,000?

I think the WDFN mentioned today that the Red Wings would like to host an out door hockey game next year possibly at the BIG House in Ann Arbor. Seems like Tiger stadium would be more intimate if is still standing next year?? Didn't it hold about 55,000?

I don't think that the locker rooms are functioning any longer and a lot of the seats and stuff are gone, auctioned off.

I think that the Big House makes a lot more sense.

http://www.giftbasketsfrommichigan.com/images/TigerStadium/Tiger_Stadium_today.jpg

http://schneiderind.com/tigerstadiumsale/seatsale_files/image003.jpg


From this satellite photo you can see that the playing field has seen better days. No longer manicured, watered, and fertilized, but abandoned, neglected, and vacant.

You can't see the trees growing in the stands or the wires hanging down from the pressbox in this photo. You probably don't want to. That is no way to remember an old friend.


The link "Tiger Stadium Auction Starts Today" on Motownsports.com has over 600 posts.

Tiger Stadium Auction starts today! - Page 16 - MotownSports.com Message Board (http://motownsports.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53068&page=16&highlight=tiger+stadium)

Tiger Stadium on Squidoo (http://www.squidoo.com/tigerstadium)

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