For those unaware, I take a road trip to Buffalo every fall for a Bills football game. My friend Mark has season tickets, so I go up once a year to Western New York. The first time I went was really for the guy weekend/drinking aspect of it. I was also curious to see what this guy from the Boston area was doing with season tickets to the Buffalo Bills and driving up for games on weeekends. After the first trip, I was hooked. Its a great time in Buffalo and the journey up there is enjoyable as well.
Among my fellow football fans, I have a nickname or reputation of Delicate Flower Don. I don’t like the real cold games and not a big fan of sitting or tailgating in the rain. Anywhere from 50-75 degrees is perfect football weather for me. Hence, I usually try to avoid the December games on the Bills schedule. Of course, Mark and others tell me I am missing the true charm of going to a game at Rich Stadium. One year, I got the game the first weekend of December but it was a freakish weather weekend, it was close to 50 degrees out. For a few years, Mark and I were going to the Bills-Pats game in Foxboro, just about every game I went with him there had worse weather than Buffalo. Cold or nasty enough, I couldn’t even drink enough before the game.
Enough for the history, how did last weekend go? I have to say I had a couple of concerns going into the weekend. One was the Bills were 0-3 and the Jets were 1-2. The thrill of being at an NFL game is a big part of the draw and I was concerned about seeing a subpar game. Two, this would be my first sober trip to Buffalo. It meant no stop at the Saranac Brewery in Utica on the way out, no beers at the Buffalo BrewPub in Cheektowoga by our hotel and a dry tailgate. I knew it would all be fine but it would be a new sober experience for me.
Mark picked me up at 10:30 in West Springfield. This is the sixth or seventh year that I have done the trip out. I swear the ride seems to get shorter and easier. Its also a great time to catch up with Mark and have alot of laughs. We stopped on the NY Thruway for a bathroom stop and I always use this chance to pick up a copy of the NY Post for some reading material and laughs. There is nothing like the New York daily tabloids. We planned a stop in Utica at a Wendy’s for lunch. Mark however blew right past the exit, so this led to a decision. What would be the backup plan? I let Mark make all the decisions on these trips, I am along for the ride and always have a great time wherever and whatever we do. We decided to power onto Syracuse and get something there. Lunch would be a little later but the better dining options were there. As we got closer, he recalled a good BBQ place in Syracuse that he used to go to when he had a job there.
Dinosaur BBQ was a homerun! What a find and a break from our usual routine on the way out. For those from Boston, it was very Redbones like. The BBQ was maybe a little step behind but the decor and setup of the place was very similar. I went with the pig porkout plate. It was a giganto pile of pulled pork along with two sides. I went with fries which were good and a delicious bowl of chilli. The cornbread that came with it was fantastic as well, as good or better than Redbones. I love the seating hostess setup. They do we got there a little late for lunch, 1:30 or 2 but there was a wait and the wait was there when we left around 2:30. Very popular spot and they have picnic tables at the front of the building, their biker regulars seem to like the picnic tables. Anyways, the hostess calls your name and number of guests, then points you at your table, over there behind the computer, you’ll see it, no walking to the table, you have to walk over to her for the menus. Its classic. She will go “Sue, table for 4″, if she doesn’t see a hand shoot up, she will say, “if you are outside, grab a picnic table, there is one free” Great food, great vibe and a value, everything was nicely priced. They even had Saranac Root Beer available.
http://www.dinosaurbarbque.com/syrIndex.php
We saddled back up from Dinosaur, very full and ready for the next few hours steaming onto Buffalo. Tradition is that we stay at one of the discount hotels by the Niagra-Buffalo International Airport in Cheektowaga and by Rick’s Tally Ho, the jewel of Western New York. This year, it was the Discount Inn. Nice room, clean and a big step up from the Econo Lodge on Transit Road. We dropped our stuff off and headed into downtown Buffalo.
The reason for the trip to downtown? A Sabres preseason NHL game! Last year, we were able to pull off a Sabres-Bills doubleheader weekend and it was awesome with the rebirth of the Sabres on the ice. This year was a preseason game but it was a chance to see the Penguins. Sydney Crosby did not make the trip to Buffalo but Evengi Malkin did so it was a good chance to see one of the young guns of the NHL. I usually hate preseason hockey but the game was played at a great pace and was very competitive. The Sabres are a young, fast, skilled team and play a great brand of hockey. Also, like many of the ladies of Western New York, I am a big fan of their goalie, Ryan Miller. Number 30 in your program but #1 in your hearts.
We didn’t have time for a pregame meal but that was just fine since we were both still nice and full from the Dinosaur stop. A couple of funny things from the game. One is the couple next to me. The woman managed to put on half a bottle of the nastiest smelling perfume available from Rite Aid. Thankfully the two of them were pounding beers too and getting sloppy. She also managed to reload the perfume between the first and second periods. I had my revenge in the third though, Dinosaur was starting to escape the belly. To sound like a 9th grader, I ripped a vile fart in the third. She actually commented on it to her boyfriend, like he was supposed to do something about it. 
Next up on the comedy scale, there was two rows of Penguins fans in front of us. They cheered loudly at every Penguins goal or nice play. Behind us was a boisterous group of 9 to 12 year old boys. They were defending Buffalo territory by heckling the Penguins fans. One kid would always yell “Suck It” at them with complete venom in his voice after the other kids finished yelling, it was unbelievable. Lastly, it was fans night at the game, so every Sabre was available 45 minutes after the game for autographs around various parts of the arena’s lobbies and concourses. They put Ryan Miller and a couple of other popular players at the same spot, you should have seen the clusterf*ck as we left the areana. I would have loved it when I was a kid. Nice of the club to do something like that.
After the game, we went right back to the hotel. The Dinosaur still was covering us, no need for a postgame snack. Some years, I have hit the Brewpub hard on Saturday night with the beers. I was looking forward to a non hangover wakeup on Sunday.
Game Day was here on Sunday, early departure from the hotel, 7 am in the lobby to meet Mark. The gates open at 8 am for a 1 pm kickoff and Mark likes to get there early to get his usual spot in the lot. It only means about a 30 minute wait at the gate before they open. Gives me a chance to snooze or read the Sports Section of the Buffalo news. After we get in, the beauty of Mark’s tailgate regimen unfolds. Mark has all the tailgating stuff. The grill, the chairs, the ez up, the flags, etc. It all requires setup and he has it all down. I more or less stay out of the way but once its done, you are ready to tailgate in style.
Mark has a usual crew that he meets up with in the lot and its always nice to catch up with them the once a year I make the trip up. We did have a loss to the crew for this year. The bedrock of the crew Big John has fallen victim to the economy of Western New York and is not able to make it to the games. Here’s a Jack and Coke for you big fella! Mark cooked up some nice bacon and eggs in the morning. I hate to think how many strips of bacon I ate but they were tasty. For pregame meal, Mark brought three racks of pork ribs up with him. By coincidence he had some Dinosaur BBQ Sauce packed as well. The ribs came out fantastic, delicious but very messy pregame meal. George, another of the usual crew has a nice tradition before heading in. He walks up to the crew and asks if they smell anything? Someone says no and this guys lets rip with a bellowing, “I SMELLLLLLL an ASSSSSSSS KICKING!” It is fantastic. The guy is in his 60’s and total salt of the earth guy, its fantastic. No matter the opponent or the season the Bills are having George gets a whiff before every game.
I stopped by the Bills fan wagon and picked up a t-shirt for Kevin Everett. He is the Bills player that was thought to be paralyzed but is making a fantastic recovery. Part of the proceeds were going to spinal cord injury research. Plus, it helped to break up the Raiders hat and long sleeve t ensemble I had going on. Mark has great seats, front row in the endzone. You really feel a part of the action down there. You get to see how big and fast the players are from that angle. Its always the best when a Buffalo TD is in his endzone.
The game was 0-0 at halftime but the Bills did their thing in the second half and brought home a victory of 17-14. It went right down to the last Jets possession so it was fun. Bills fans were thrilled with the first start of Trent Edwards at quarterback. Postgame, we polished off the third rack of ribs and listened to the postgame radio show.
Great trip as always to Buffalo with Mark. The sober football experience was a positive one. I probably don’t need a five hour tailgate before the game with no booze though. The game was great too, so my pre weekend concerns were completely taken care of.
As they say, Buffalo Makes Me Wanna Shout!
Let’s Go Buffalo!
