So Many Questions: Answered

Yesterday I attended a Gala at The Buffalo Club in association with The Western New York Chapter of the Penn State Alumni Association. Myself, Mike McQueary (chugabeer), Bryan Scott, Paul Pozluszny, and Lydell Sargeant were all in the same room. Oh. My. God.

In case you didn't know, Penn State Football is everything. So, if you ever wondered what me in my glory looks like, it looks like what this night was. I mean, there was Creamery Ice Cream! There were cookies that looked like the chipmunk head, footballs, and the Penn State helmet! They made everyone stand up and sing the Alma Mater before dinner! (Was I one of the only people in the room who knew all the words without looking at the screen? Hell yes I was.) There were Penn State football players there.

It was everything.

All that being said, here was the highlight of the evening: After dinner there was a question and answer session with the players. The very last question asked was: "Now that you are a Buffalo Bill, how do you feel about your home town teams; the teams you grew up supporting?"

The answer from one of the players (who shall remain nameless) (insert winking emoticon here) was: "I grew up a diehard Steelers fan. But I love the Bills organization. I mean, they are the ones who cut the checks."

Literally, the last thing I heard at this Penn State bonanza.

This seriously answers so many of the questions I have about professional sports.

Is my life to die for or what?

Best. Weekend. Ever.

OK, so this may go down in history as the best weekend ever. What constitutes the best weekend ever you ask? Free. Stuff.

Seriously, I had a weekend full of give-a-ways and it was unparalleled.

1. While Mother's Day shopping at Badding Brother's Farm Market (Look it up. If you live anywhere near Transit Rd., do your produce/plant/pumpkin/Christmas tree shopping there. It is amazing.) I received a free bag of popcorn. Now when I say popcorn I don't mean, like, popcorn, I mean popcorn. If you have never popped fresh popcorn, shucked (shucked?) dried corn off a cob, and popped it yourself on the stove, you haven't lived. It is the only way to eat popcorn. The point: FREE POPCORN. Absolutely fantastic.

2. Saturday night *may* have been the most epic night of my life. The family traveled to Pittsburgh for Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals. Penguins vs. Canadiens. If a game at (as the previously mentioned) historic Mellon Arena is a White-Out, it is basically a bonanza for paraphernalia lovers such as ourselves. Free t-shirt, free 'rally towel' for everyone who walks in the building. Turns out, I'm awful at waving a towel over my head in a manner that makes it make sense (or keeps it from hitting other spectators), but the point is, anything that says 'Let's Go Pens' and didn't cost me a dime (I know I paid for the ticket) is spectacular.

3. Lastly, after the game, we returned to our hotel for some dinner and some celebratory beverages. Naturally, it ended up being me and S at the hotel bar with about 4 other people. We capped off our evening with a bottle of beer (as opposed to a draft) so we could take it up to our rooms to finish it. Not only did our fantastic bartender give us those beers for free but she then handed us bottles of water AND bags of potato chips because, you know, they would help in the morning and such. Come on friends: Best. Bartender. Ever.

OK, so in this case, maybe just awesome people and awesome circumstances equal great weekends. On the other hand, free stuff doesn't hurt....

The Blood Line Continues to Never Disappoint

So the little brother won Beer Fest '10. We all know how Mom felt about that. This past Sunday the 4 of us attended a Penguins game in Pittsburgh. The Igloo is being torn down this year and it was our little family's final hoorah. Our farewell to a historic place. A place we hold very dear to our hearts.

Naturally, in what is apparently true Fahn fashion, this involved a few beers.

With a Mom to drive me back to Buffalo and a little brother to drive S back to State College, the 21 year olds took advantage and toasted the Pens. This led to a few encounters that may have proven Mom right about how it's difficult to be proud of the beer funneling, keg standing, and flip cupping.

First 2 rounds were on me. (First paycheck put to good use!) Round number 3 was on S. As we were getting ready to get round 4 (our last one, we aren't that bad) S looked to me and said, "I think I'm going to ask Mom for money to contribute to our drinking fund!" And thus she promptly turned to Mom and literally said, "Hey Mom, want to contribute to our drinking fund? We need a twenty!"

Rolling her eyes, Mom went into her wallet, handed us $25, and asked us to get her a water. At the close of the period we got up to go to the restroom and then get our beers. Mom decided to come with us. Naturally, the guy at the beer stand looked at us and as he began to pour said, "2 Bud Lights?" Naturally, Mom rolled her eyes and responded, "Yep, of course they want 2 Bud Lights but they also need a water this time. As you could probably guess, the water is not for them."

As we walked back to our seats she looked at us and said, "So you guys pretty much make friends with whoever is serving the beer everywhere you go don't you?" After a moment of pondering the only real answer we could come up with was, "Yep."

So, maybe she has a point, but: shouldn't she also be proud that we're like really, really good at making friends? It's not like everyone gets remembered by the beer stand guy. We were special.

Or maybe we were just frequent fliers....

UPDATE: Mom came home today with a bottle of Jameson so we can take victory shots (there was nowhere to take them after the game) this weekend when the the kids come home for Easter. At least we know we totally get it from somewhere.

Sid v. America v. My Head v. My Heart

It has been very difficult to explain my feelings about the Olympic gold medal hockey game. That being said, I understand it is even more difficult for anyone not in the same situation to understand my particular dillemma. For all but 2 weeks out of every 4 years it is Penguins before anything else. (OK, Penn State football is probably #1 all time but if a Penguins Stanley Cup Game 7 and a Penn State National Championship were to occur on the same day (a feat I realize is impossible, thank God), it would be the worst best day of my life.) So while country comes first and I wanted the USA to win gold more than anything, I couldn't help but be happy for Sidney Crosby. He is hero in this family. That doesn't just go away completely for 2 weeks because of how much you love America.

I didn't have a good way to say all this until I watched the simple ceremony before the Pens vs. Sabres game (at Pittsburgh) this evening presenting the Olympic competitors from both teams. On ESPN's PTI earlier today there was a discussion as to whether the people of the city of Pittsburgh would boo Sidney Crosby as his name was announced at Mellon Arena. The fact that this question was even asked proves these people clearly do not know the city of Pittsburgh.

Pittsburgh is town of homes and hearts. (One of my favorite quotes from a 1997 NPR Morning Edition piece called Where Are Your Loyalties? from Frank Deford.) It is a place, much like the city of Buffalo, where people are passionate about the place they live. People born there will live their whole lives there if possible. There is a loyalty there that is nearly impossible to shake. (I've lived in Buffalo for 14 years and still can't shake Pittsburgh. I support the Sabres but would never choose them over them over the Penguins. And that's not just because my mom would disown me. Literally. Disown me.) So no, when Sidney Crosby, took the ice back in Pittsburgh tonight, no one booed. It wasn't the loudest cheer I've ever heard when the announcer yelled 'Sidneyyyyyyyyyy Crrrrrrrrrrrosbyyyyyyyyyy!' But no one would dare boo Sid. He's ours. We simply lent him back to Canada for 2 weeks.

So that is why it was so difficult to be mad that it was Sid who scored that goal. If it had been anyone else on Team Canada it would have been considerably more heartbreaking. The fact that it was Sid was really just poetry to anyone from Pittsburgh. A strange, ironic, somewhat stinging kind of poetry, but poetry nonetheless.

All that being said, the cheers in Pittsburgh this evening when Ryan Miller's name was announced, were epic. (Those of you who know your likeness is in this picture, I cropped you out of it to maintain any kind of anonimity you may want. If you would like the original picture in this post instead, feel free to let me know.)

I think I'm in the middle of some kind of geographical quarter life crisis...

Hands down the best part of my job is the travel. Even when it's to places that are not exactly bustling with activity. Even when it causes serious considerations of where I am and what I'm doing there.

The Scene: Todd Conner's in Baltimore, MD.

The Players: Me, The bartender, The part owner of the bar

Me: Can I have a Bud Light please?

Bartender: Sure, can I see your ID?

Bar Owner: So who are you cheering for?

Me: The Penguins.

Bartender and Owner pretty simultaneously: Ohhhhhh...Hahahahahahaha...I guess we can forgive you.

*At the next commercial break*

Bartender: So wait a minute, let me get this straight, you have a New York ID, you're cheering for the Penguins, and you're in Baltimore. What's up with that?

Me: You want the kicker? I live in Philadelphia.

The above caused such whooping from the Bartender and the Owner that the cook actually came out of the kitchen just to hear the story and make sure he got a few jabs in at me as well.



So the story goes like this: I have a New York ID that I will not give up because some sort of weird malfunction in my brain that says "You must always be a resident of New York State."

I was born and raised in Pittsburgh and would be literally disowned if I cheered for anyone but the Pens. No seriously, I think my mom would kick me out of the family. I've been convinced for years the only man who could destroy my family was Mario Lemuiex. And of course, it's fun to be a winner. (And yes I know the chances of us being winners overall are slim, but a girl can dream can't she?)

I'm in Baltimore because work has beckoned me down for my monthly visit. If you ever find yourself near Fells Point get yourself to Todd Conner's. Good atmosphere, great people, delicious food. I dominated a pound of shrimp like there wouldn't be anymore shrimp ever again in the whole wide world. The people who worked for the bar were nice, the people at the bar were nice, both things very important to a gal who's going to sit alone at a bar. They didn't even make fun of me when I started screaming during the first period. Screaming followed by yelling, "Oh my God, I've turned into my mom! I'm so sorry!" (REALLY embarrassing)

I live in Philadelphia because... Well, I'm still not sure how to finish that sentence, not to strangers at a bar anyway. So yes, it is some kind of crisis I didn't know about until last night. Maybe its time to become a resident of Pennsylvania, maybe it's time to shuffle back to Buffalo, Lord only knows. But if all this mess will continue providing stories like the aforementioned, then I suppose I can let the crisis continue.