Wanting to keep things low-key, a couple of guys in my wedding party decided to take me out to Buffalo as part of my bachelor party. In the end six guys made the trip including my best man Darryl, my brothers Wojtek and Greg, my friend Stuart and Wojtek's friend Mike B, who coincidentally is getting married a week after us, on Halloween night. Unfortunately, Mike K was not able to make as he had a Blue Jays game to attend that same day, as well as couple of other guys who had passport issues (as in didn't own one). Heather stayed busy today by babysitting Jolene whose parents were at the said Jays game.
Breaking from the norm, today's game was at 4pm as opposed to the usual 1pm. That late start meant that we didn't have to rush to leave. We left at 9am when Wojtek picked me up. We then picked up Mike B, Stuart and Greg. From Kitchener, all five us drove to meet Darryl somewhere around St. Catharines. There we stopped at a local Tim Hortons, changed seating arrangements and continued on our way shortly after 11am. After another stop at the Duty Free to pick up beer and a Styrofoam cooler and an uneventful border crossing, we were at Ralph Wilson Stadium at 1pm. We parked in a lot adjacent to the stadium and proceeded with tailgating until game time.
The tailgating crew: Mike, Greg, Wojtek, Stuart and Darryl.
Our pre-game food consisted of hot dogs, sausages and hamburgers. Along with beer, it made for a pretty standard, but yet excellent, tailgating experience. At some point, Darryl and I made our way towards the stadium to see what the vendors were selling. Even before we reached any vendor tents, we ran into the Buffalo Jills who were selling calendars. Darryl was kind enough to get me a calendar and take a photo of myself with the Jills.
Posing with the Buffalo Jills.
When finally finished with the vendors, I ended up with a Bills hat and t-shirt, while Darryl got a Trent Edwards authentic jersey. We went back to our group and continued partying until about 3:30 when we joined the masses of people heading to the stadium. Wojtek managed to purchase side endzone seats in the lower bowl. Having attended a handful of Bills games in the past, this was the first we weren't in the nosebleeds. What also made it different was the weather (although it rained for most of our drive, it was nothing but sunny throughout the game) and the atmosphere, which was quite different than we were used to. Both Darryl and I commented that we spent most the game on our feet largely due to the jacked up crowd.
In the end, the crowd couldn't help as Buffalo lost to New Orleans Saints 27-7. Buffalo's offense didn't do anything all day as their only touchdown came on a fake field goal. Also of note, Buffalo's stud receiver Terrell Owens didn't catch a single pass thrown his way, thus ending his streak of games with a reception at 185 (that's almost 12 seasons; 3rd longest streak all-time). Add insult to injury, the biggest cheer of the day was at half-time when a scrimmage between a couple of childrens' teams featured a 100-yard fumble return.
Half-time entertainment.
Getting out of the parking lot was challenging at best as it took well over 2 hours to get from the lot to the border. Once in Canada, we made another stop, said goodbye to Darryl and drove home. I finally got home at midnight after an excellent day of good, clean fun with great friends. Couldn't have asked for anything more.
I saw Darryl again on Monday as Heather and I drove to Brantford for supper with Darryl, Erin who were also hosting Imad and his wife, in town from Dubai for a couple of weeks.
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