Shame on Buffalo

[rockpile]

"You are all welcome here as long as you keep spending your money."

695948[/snapback]

 

Gee, this is what I usually hear in Mexico and Canada.

[The Poojer]

as was stated earlier, there are a ton of central and wesern new yorkers in the raliegh area, i am sure alot of them grew up as sabres fans, but alot of people like to have something of their own when they move on, and i know alot of carolinians have completely adopted them as thier own

 

What always irks me... I don't honestly understand how an expansion team could have a big cutthroat following.  Honestly.  How.  Most of us grew up with the Swords!

696256[/snapback]

[stevewin]

No, actually it was pretty bad.  I've been going to a ton of Canes games down here, and I've never even seen a fight in Carolina.  There were a ton of Sabres fans acting like fools on Saturday.  It was actually kind of embarassing.

 

They are right, through Habs fans,  Devils fans, and about 4,000 or so Leafs fans a game in the last run to the cup for the Canes, alot of the Buffalo fans showed their asses on Saturday, and it was pretty pathetic.  I've never seen trouble in the RBC or in the parking lots to this extent until this series.  Most were piss ass drunk too.

 

It's amazing what one can see when looking objective, as I'm not a fan of the Sabres or Canes.

 

Now.....that being said.......I can't wait til the same sh-- happens at the Ralph at the opener and we crank up the home field advantage.  LOL

696259[/snapback]

I went to both game 1 and game 2. I grew up in Buffalo and have been in Raleigh for almost 15 years now.

 

I would say absolutely these two games have reflected poorly on 'Buffalo fan' and have catapulted him above Philly to worst fan ever in the minds of the people down here. I have been going to Canes games since they came to Raleigh - and it wasn't until this series that I realized I had never seen an obnoxious drunk in all the games I've been to (and definitely not anything *close* to a fight or even an argument) - until now of course.

 

At first it was great to see all the enthusiasm - but after a while it did become embarrasing. Cheering for your team is one thing - but is it really necessary to march around like packs of drunken animals getting in the face of anyone you can - screaming and being obnoxious? The thing it reminded me of was the Bills-Pats game a couple years ago - where thousands of arrogant obnoxious M a s s h o l e s came to Rich stadium and ran around as drunken hordes completed disrepecting and ignoring the fact that they were visitors in someone else's house.

 

No doubt there were tons of respectful Buffalo fans simply showing up to cheer and support their team - but I can say from my perspective it was more than a "few bad apples" who were behaving badly. These two games really solidified the stereotype of the "obnoxious New Yorker" for a lot of people down here.

 

I think it is sad when drunken obnoxiousness is somehow equated with being a "great fan". The major theme that came from these games for the people down here is pretty much what a bunch of a-holes the Buffalo fans are. If that was the intent of some of those who showed up you did a great job. Show some class and respect when you are visiting someone else's arena. I was not proud to be associated with a lot of the Buffalo fans at these two games.

 

One other thing FWIW - blasting the fans here as all being stupid rednecks is a pretty ignorant attempt at insult. This area has the largest high-tech research park in the world which is home to hundreds of research and development companies employing tens of thousands of highly skilled and educated workers, has the highest PHD per capita of anyplace in the country, has a school district ranked in the top ten nationally last year, three of the finest universities in the country all within 30 minutes of each other, and yes - has a huge population of people who are not even from the South.

[RuntheDamnBall]

What always irks me... I don't honestly understand how an expansion team could have a big cutthroat following.  Honestly.  How.  Most of us grew up with the Swords!

696256[/snapback]

They aren't expansion. They're carpetbaggers. Formerly the Hartford Whalers.

[Like A Mofo]

I went to both game 1 and game 2.  I grew up in Buffalo and have been in Raleigh for almost 15 years now.

 

I would say absolutely these two games have reflected poorly on 'Buffalo fan' and have catapulted him above Philly to worst fan ever in the minds of the people down here.  I have been going to Canes games since they came to Raleigh - and it wasn't until this series that I realized I had never seen an obnoxious drunk in all the games I've been to (and definitely not anything *close* to a fight or even an argument) - until now of course.

 

At first it was great to see all the enthusiasm - but after a while it did become embarrasing.  Cheering for your team is one thing - but is it really necessary to march around like packs of drunken animals getting in the face of anyone you can - screaming and being obnoxious?  The thing it reminded me of was the Bills-Pats game a couple years ago - where thousands of arrogant obnoxious M a s s h o l e s came to Rich stadium and ran around as drunken hordes completed disrepecting and ignoring the fact that they were visitors in someone else's house. 

 

No doubt there were tons of respectful Buffalo fans simply showing up to cheer and support their team - but I can say from my perspective it was more than a "few bad apples" who were behaving badly.  These two games really solidified the stereotype of the "obnoxious New Yorker" for a lot of people down here. 

 

I think it is sad when drunken obnoxiousness is somehow equated with being a "great fan".  The major theme that came from these games for the people down here is pretty much what a bunch of a-holes the Buffalo fans are.  If that was the intent of some of those who showed up you did a great job.  Show some class and respect when you are visiting someone else's arena.  I was not proud to be associated with a lot of the Buffalo fans at these two games. 

 

One other thing FWIW - blasting the fans here as all being stupid rednecks is a pretty ignorant attempt at insult.  This area has the largest high-tech research park in the world which is home to hundreds of research and development companies employing tens of thousands of highly skilled and educated workers, has the highest PHD per capita of anyplace in the country, has a school district ranked in the top ten nationally last year, three of the finest universities in the country all within 30 minutes of each other, and yes - has a huge population of people who are not even from the South.

696440[/snapback]

 

 

Good post....it's sad to hear that there were so many Buffalo fans acting that way down there though....

 

I must say....the fan behavior at the Ralph seems to get worse every year that I go up there..it is very embarassing..maybe Buffalo fans despise Philly fans so much because we see similar behavior from some of our own fanbase in Buffalo and it makes us VERY angry???

 

But most Buffalo fans are still well behaved though, but something needs to change...do you want to see Buffalo fans labled like Philly fans are?

[king bucko]

I'm most likely going to get nailed for this but here goes.

 

I have been a Bills fan since I was eight years old, before the Panthers existed, so I had the entire NFL to choose from. I picked the Bills because I had a friend whose father was from Oswego and rooted for Buffalo. I would go to his house every Sunday and watch football with them. I fell in love with the team; his father said that WNY was a lot like Eastern Carolina in terms of the type of people that lived in the region. I assumed that he represented a lot of the type of person from the Buffalo area, not the city type of guy that would come down from NYC.

 

I am from Eastern NC, my family owns a farm, we work hard, my brother went to Yale, I have a cousin who went to Cornell, I went to NC State, then went to Duke for law school, all of my friends are from the eastern portion of NC, all are college educated, we have all our teeth, we all know how to read. One thing I have issue with is every time somebody talks negative about the Sabres during this series everybody on here starts dumping on my region of the state where I grew up and was raised. It's where a good bit of you have never been or will ever visit, but seem pretty confident of your knowledge based on repeated viewings of the Andy Griffith Show. I guess there are no rural areas in New York State, its just NYC and Buffalo, no farming, no agriculture, just skyscrapers and banking. We sell a lot of our product to farms in WNY and other than an accent and some eating habits, there's not a whole lot of difference. I guess I should assume that every Bill and Sabre fan from the area either works for GEICO or has been laid off by Kodak because that's what I see on TV and hear on the radio. The redneck references to Raleigh are especially humorous since there are so many transplanted New Yorkers that have come down here.

 

I don't get how you quantify our education levels based our knowledge of a sport that has been here in the mainstream less than ten years. Maybe we should just stop going to games; Raleigh should stop writing about the only professional sport in their region of the state because the fans are just stupid and haven't caught on, I'm shocked any of them have the money to go.

 

I went to the game last Saturday, I asked the guy in my row in the Sabres jersey what he thought about drafting John McCargo and how neat it was that the Bills had someone from State for the first time since Damian Covington, he was nice all the way up until during the second period (after the drinking kicked in) when he called the family sitting in front of me a bunch of dumb redneck fans for not knowing that there is no icing during a power play. He also complained about the beer, the arena, the fans, the traffic pattern, the fact that there were basketball jerseys hanging in the rafters, he also informed me that the Hurricanes used to be in Hartford, I'm glad he told me, I had no idea. His buddy (he didn't wear a Sabres jersey, but told me he was from Rochester) kept chanting "!@#$ the hurricanes" in front of my eight year old daughter, when I asked him to stop he said I shouldn't bring a child to a hockey game. My wife had a lot of fun explaining to her what that meant after the game.

 

I will keep rooting for the Bills, I even rooted for the Sabres during the regular season because of their location and I extremely doubt that the majority of you would behave that way in public, but don't get on here and slam our fans and native North Carolinians when the only thing you can send to Raleigh is the classless trash that I have seen.

[stevewin]

What always irks me... I don't honestly understand how an expansion team could have a big cutthroat following.  Honestly.  How.  Most of us grew up with the Swords!

696256[/snapback]

WTF? Weren't the Sabres an expansion team once? Should fans of the "Original Six" be the only valid fans?

[Crap Throwing Monkey]

WTF?  Weren't the Sabres an expansion team once?  Should fans of the "Original Six" be the only valid fans?

696463[/snapback]

 

I think the key was where he said "most of us grew up with...". It takes time - about a generation's worth, give or take - for a region to really identify with an expansion team, particularly when they're not mass marketed like baseball or football (e.g. like hockey).

[Dan Gross]

I think the key was where he said "most of us grew up with...".  It takes time - about a generation's worth, give or take - for a region to really identify with an expansion team, particularly when they're not mass marketed like baseball or football (e.g. like hockey).

696467[/snapback]

 

So I guess our region didn't identify with the team during the sellout seasons of the 70's? Winning tends to speed up the "identifying process..."

[Crap Throwing Monkey]

Winning tends to speed up the "identifying process..."

696471[/snapback]

 

Wouldn't know. I'm a Bills fan.

[X. Benedict]

Playoff hockey. I am sure you folks in Raleigh will get over it.

Do you really think it would have been any different if any other team's fans

were able to purchase 4000 tickets and had an opportunity to flip the building?

 

That doesn't make up for a few schmucks.

 

But smarminess is no way to combat ignorance.

[Catholic Guilt]

I'm most likely going to get nailed for this but here goes.

 

696462[/snapback]

 

 

Bucko -

 

I was ALSO at the game. Sorry you had a bad experience with a rowdy fan. I tailgated before and after the game and saw no fights or bad behavior. Most of the Hurricanes fans were very nice and civil. Most are Northern Transplants. I was told numerous times to get my Yankee Ass back up North. I live in South Carolina and drove North for the game. The drunk fans should have known better to chant in front of the kids. But understand that in Carolina, it seems to be acceptable to bring toddlers and children to the game. I saw a ton of kids under ten. I don't get that logic. Next time, call an usher with one of those stop signs (a great idea BTW - wish the Carolina Panthers used them) and have the drunk thrown out.

 

I grew up in the sticks of WNY and spent alot of time in Eastern North Carolina. Yes you are correct, many simliar aspects of both areas.

[Lv-Bills]

I went to both game 1 and game 2.  I grew up in Buffalo and have been in Raleigh for almost 15 years now.

 

I would say absolutely these two games have reflected poorly on 'Buffalo fan' and have catapulted him above Philly to worst fan ever in the minds of the people down here.  I have been going to Canes games since they came to Raleigh - and it wasn't until this series that I realized I had never seen an obnoxious drunk in all the games I've been to (and definitely not anything *close* to a fight or even an argument) - until now of course.

 

At first it was great to see all the enthusiasm - but after a while it did become embarrasing.  Cheering for your team is one thing - but is it really necessary to march around like packs of drunken animals getting in the face of anyone you can - screaming and being obnoxious?  The thing it reminded me of was the Bills-Pats game a couple years ago - where thousands of arrogant obnoxious M a s s h o l e s came to Rich stadium and ran around as drunken hordes completed disrepecting and ignoring the fact that they were visitors in someone else's house. 

 

No doubt there were tons of respectful Buffalo fans simply showing up to cheer and support their team - but I can say from my perspective it was more than a "few bad apples" who were behaving badly.  These two games really solidified the stereotype of the "obnoxious New Yorker" for a lot of people down here. 

 

I think it is sad when drunken obnoxiousness is somehow equated with being a "great fan".  The major theme that came from these games for the people down here is pretty much what a bunch of a-holes the Buffalo fans are.  If that was the intent of some of those who showed up you did a great job.  Show some class and respect when you are visiting someone else's arena.  I was not proud to be associated with a lot of the Buffalo fans at these two games. 

 

One other thing FWIW - blasting the fans here as all being stupid rednecks is a pretty ignorant attempt at insult.  This area has the largest high-tech research park in the world which is home to hundreds of research and development companies employing tens of thousands of highly skilled and educated workers, has the highest PHD per capita of anyplace in the country, has a school district ranked in the top ten nationally last year, three of the finest universities in the country all within 30 minutes of each other, and yes - has a huge population of people who are not even from the South.

696440[/snapback]

You can't say this any better. I'm as big a Bills fan as they come, but a lot of Buffalo acted like pure, drunken, idiots all weekend. Definately not a good showing.

[stevewin]

I think the key was where he said "most of us grew up with...".  It takes time - about a generation's worth, give or take - for a region to really identify with an expansion team, particularly when they're not mass marketed like baseball or football (e.g. like hockey).

696467[/snapback]

Well - that is actually a big part of what is nice about what is happening with the Hurricanes now. I started taking my kids to the games when they were toddlers - they love the game and love the team. Eric Staal and Rod Brind'amore are to them what Perrault and Martin were to me when I was their age. Families are a big part of the fan base - which I think also amplified the disgust at all the drunken obnoxiousness the last two games.

 

The arrogance that only certain regions or cities can have great fans (or even should be "allowed" to have a franchise) I find truly ridiculous.

[X. Benedict]

You can't say this any better.  I'm as big a Bills fan as they come, but a lot of Buffalo acted like pure, drunken, idiots all weekend.  Definately not a good showing.

696482[/snapback]

 

As for Raleigh. The only Fan I saw intentionally swearing in front of a kid was

the guy sitting behind us with his 9 and 8 year olds.

The only assault we witnessed was a Carolina fan punching a guy in the face for chanting "lets go Buffalo" waiting in line to take a leak.

 

There is a little piece of log in your eye.

[Lv-Bills]

Playoff hockey. I am sure you folks in Raleigh will get over it.

Do you really think it would have been any different if any other team's fans

were able to purchase 4000 tickets and had an opportunity to flip the building?

 

That doesn't make up for a few schmucks.

 

But smarminess is no way to combat ignorance.

696477[/snapback]

Yes. The Maple Leafs had about 4,000 fans at RBC in 2002 during the Eastern Conference Finals. It was an awesome time. I don't remember one fight, or one incident in the parking lot. They were loud, partied all day with Carolina fans, and there were tons of them It was an awesome atmosphere.

 

Leafs fans came down, shared their traditions, and fit in well. They were loud, boisterous, and respectful. It was a great time. I remember, there were like 5,000 beer cans in the middle of the lot near the football stadium and both Leafs and Carolina fans built a huge cup out of empties. It was cool as hell.

 

Canadians were trading BLue Lights for Americans Krispy Kreme's. I can't even remember seeing a fight, or a problem.

 

Now, flip that on Saturday......and it seemed that a ton of Sabres fans were piss ass drunk and falling all over the place. There were a ton of Sabres fans all together throwing meat and food at Carolina fans cars on the way out of RBC until the cops came and arrested the jackasses. And this was a group of around 50 Sabres fans standing at the exit to the parking lot where there were 3 lanes of sitting traffic located. I saw two Sabres fans getting arrested at the tailgate tent where the band was between RBC and the football stadium for pissing on the backside of the trailer where they were selling BBQ. I've never seen security breaking up fights inside of the RBC Center during a game. I saw it about 5 times on Saturday, and twice in the concourses. It went on and on and on. I was like, man, this is horrible.

 

The newspapers, TV, and radio stations all picked up on it also. There are a ton of threads all over every Carolina message board about the fans behavior. It's not an accident that so many people in Raleigh were appalled. I've never seen anything close to this before form any other team's fans. Ever.

 

But oh well, everyone will get over it. However, Buffalo truly embarrassed itself this weekend in terms of grown men acting like they were 17 yrs old again. That reputation will stick with Sabres fans for a long time, unfortunately.

[Catholic Guilt]

But oh well, everyone will get over it.  However, Buffalo truly embarrassed itself this weekend in terms of grown men acting like they were 17 yrs old again.  That reputation will stick with Sabres fans for a long time, unfortunately.

696493[/snapback]

 

I guess I was at a different game, or got lucky and missed it all.

[Like A Mofo]

Yes.  The Maple Leafs had about 4,000 fans at RBC in 2002 during the Eastern Conference Finals.  It was an awesome time.  I don't remember one fight, or one incident in the parking lot.  They were loud, partied all day with Carolina fans, and there were tons of them  It was an awesome atmosphere.

 

Leafs fans came down, shared their traditions, and fit in well.  They were loud, boisterous, and respectful.  It was a great time.  I remember, there were like 5,000 beer cans in the middle of the lot near the football stadium and both Leafs and Carolina fans built a huge cup out of empties.  It was cool as hell.

 

Canadians were trading BLue Lights for Americans Krispy Kreme's.  I can't even remember seeing a fight, or a problem. 

 

Now, flip that on Saturday......and it seemed that a ton of Sabres fans were piss ass drunk and falling all over the place.  There were a ton of Sabres fans all together throwing meat and food at Carolina fans cars on the way out of RBC until the cops came and arrested the jackasses.  And this was a group of around 50 Sabres fans standing at the exit to the parking lot where there were 3 lanes of sitting traffic located.  I saw two Sabres fans getting arrested at the tailgate tent where the band was between RBC and the football stadium for pissing on the backside of the trailer where they were selling BBQ.  I've never seen security breaking up fights inside of the RBC Center during a game.  I saw it about 5 times on Saturday, and twice in the concourses.  It went on and on and on.  I was like, man, this is horrible.

 

The newspapers, TV, and radio stations all picked up on it also.  There are a ton of threads all over every Carolina message board about the fans behavior.  It's not an accident that so many people in Raleigh were appalled.  I've never seen anything close to this before form any other team's fans.  Ever.

 

But oh well, everyone will get over it.  However, Buffalo truly embarrassed itself this weekend in terms of grown men acting like they were 17 yrs old again.  That reputation will stick with Sabres fans for a long time, unfortunately.

696493[/snapback]

 

 

Embarassing. Simply embarassing.

 

And again, I know some Buffalo fans are in denial about this....but we Buffalo fans piss all over Philly fans for this type of behavior...and yet SOME, and i repeat...SOME.. Buffalo fans go out and do the very same things. Hypocritical.

[X. Benedict]

Embarassing.  Simply embarassing.

 

And again, I know some Buffalo fans are in denial about this....but we Buffalo fans piss all over Philly fans for this type of behavior...and yet SOME, and i repeat...SOME.. Buffalo fans go out and do the very same things.  Hypocritical.

696497[/snapback]

I think the only really scary part of that crowd was about

50-60 marines on leave from Camp Lejune all from WNY and

totally out of control. I am pretty sure they weren't there last night.

 

Most of us thought, yep, Marines on leave blowing off some steam. Like that would be a surprise.

 

That was the only scary element I saw. And half of that

Buffalo crowd was from the South.

 

I don't feel much shame about this one.

There was trash talking but a lot of it was from Canes fans

and a lot of fun.

 

Guess a few saw it differently. The big thing was the Canes fans

came to the arena already pissed off over management decisions about ticketing. Pregame all the Canes fans were saying "thanks management"

and slowly that anger was turned to the Rowdy but law abiding visitors.

 

Just my take.

[TheMadCap]

One of the things they are trying to do to make the sport of hockey grow in the south is by making it a family event. That is why so many young children go to the games. Which I think is great.

 

But what people need to do is let the security guards know when someone is being a jackass, don't just get mad, move and not say anything, that allows the problem to grow.

 

I am so bummed to hear about how bad some of the Sabers fans acted. What a shame, now I have to hear about what an uncivilized, redneck town it (and its fans) are for the next 10 years...