The Ice Bowl: Almost Perfect
There are only two things that could have made the Ice Bowl (Winter Classic) better - a win and a downtown stadium. What an incredible day it was for Buffalo. The weather was made to order… the fans were at their best... I can barely imagine what would have happened if we had come away with a win. Despite the pit in my stomach (that I still have), I continue to vividly remember what an amazing experience it was to watch such an unusual event. It was one of those days when the actual game far outweighed the hype that had been building up. I was fortunate enough to get my hands on a last minute ticket. We had been planning on heading down to the HSBC to join the fans at that location, which I'm sure was a blast.
The Ice Bowl will go down, for me, as one of the all-time most memorable sporting events I have ever seen. I look back and can visualize the parking lots filled with some of the most unusual hybrid fans ever. Everything was fair game yesterday. There were people ringing in the New Year. Others were staunch Sabres' fans. Years of Bills tailgating experience came in handy, while footballs flew overhead and hockey pucks bounced off of the cars. While the end result was not what we had hoped, the game kept us cheering right up until the end. Ice Bowl parties around the country, national media attention, spirited fans singing the praise of their hometown team... what a way to welcome in 2008. If the stadium was located in downtown Buffalo I am sure that the bars and restaurants would have enjoyed the spillover that other cities benefit from when these types of games wrap up. Oh well... it's fun to think about what it would be like... and of course we still have the Bills and Sabres here to cheer (and that's the important thing).
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Spaulding97
I had a riot. The atmosphere was fun and much more laid back than at a Bills game, I felt safe! Everyone was friendly and cheerful. The game was kinda blagh cause of the snow, but it was still great being there. The traffic was worse than a Bills game though cause normally everyone is gone cause the Bills are loosing. Everyone stayed till the end, took forever to get home. Didn't matter. would love to do it again.
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icecreamsub
would love to see it again against the Leafs.....maybe do it in Hamilton
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Gotime
Great day! A few observations:
Buffalo should own this game every year. We have proven that we can fill the stadium. Let the other teams visit here, similar to the NFL Games that Detroit and Dallas host every Thanksgiving. Make it a double header with regional teams taking part (Pittsburgh, Toronto, Detroit, Buffalo) Think of the hotel rooms being filled for the weekend. Better yet have them play a round robin tournament. four games over two days.
The NHL should revamp the ticket policy and take the game back from the scalpers. I bought four tickets on ebay for 300.00. It was worth every penny, but wish I had a chance to purchase them. Just a chance.
I took my three kids as a Christmas present. they were so thrilled to be a part of it. They got ipods, digital camera's among other things, put this 10.00 obstructed view seat was the hit of the gifts. We sat down low with a great view of the Jumbotron, it was great to see the players up close, they were having as much fun as the crowd. you could see it in their faces as they looked up into the crowd smiling and in ah.
Best behaved crowd ever in Rich Stadium. I did not see an incident all day. Never saw some many kids at a game. I don't think anyone left till the wend of the game. Traffic wasn't as bad as you may think. I got downtown after the game in about an hour.
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Perry
It was an awesome experience...you hit the nail right on the head when you said that the event lived up to the pregame hype. I was happy to see that over 4,000 hotel rooms were utilized by the Ice Bowl spectators - that's a lot of out-of-towners. I also saw some signs down on Chippewa welcoming Ice Bowl fans. Great event for this individual, even a better event for our region. And yeah, it did seem nice going to The Ralph and not have a bunch of drunk fans brawling or falling all over the place. A great day indeed!
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LastCall
If the NHL doesn't want to put this on every year, I hope the Sabres will
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galaxyjay
It was great..even watching from home. A bit slow because of the zamboni's,however, it was an amazing game anyway.
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Prodigal-Son
It was a awesome and unique News Years this year. We went down to Laughlin's for a dinner New Years Eve, and it was great to not only see the crowds and fireworks, but plenty of "Welcome Winter Classic Fans" signs for the visitors. I hope the donwtown hotels and restaurants got the boost they were looking for. Then we went to the game yesterday, and it was a party like none I've ever been to. I don't think we should host it every year, because it would lose some of the magic. How about Buffalo, Montreal, Vancouver and Minnesota do a 4-year round robin?
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SLEEPL8
Lastcall...The Sabres are part of the NHL, you can't separate the two. The league makes the schedule and the Sabres can't make that move without their approval.
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sbrof
couldn't see a licl pf the ice from my 10 buck second row seats.. still one of the best events I have ever been too! Just great.. except for the shoot out lose and the NBC crosby hour ad...
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dougk
the ice bowl was a showcase for: the game of hockey, the nhl; wny, the city of buffalo...be proud, we did good!
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KittyKat
I received e-mails today from friends in South America, saying how cool it was to watch this event! They were amazed at the tolerance we have for the cold. I just thought it was really great that other continents got to experience a little of what Buffalo has to offer...and of course there was snow involved!
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IamMe
I Wanted to see this. I flipped on the tv there was a comercial on so I did some channel surfing and ended getting stuck on the Game Show Network. They had a Let's Make a Deal marathon. Monty Hall just gave away a pair of Sky blue Chevy Vegas one of them was the Estate Wagon & had A/C & Faux wood grain sides to a couple dressed like monkeys. I was hooked and missed the dam hockey game.
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gaustad
THE KEY TO REVITALIZING DOWNTOWN IS TO BUILD A NEW STADIUM THERE - EASIER SAID THAN DONE, BUT IT WOULD ACT AS AN IMMEDIATE SPARK PLUG FOR ALL KINDS OF VENUES.
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RisingDamp666
It would have been even better if they had played the Bills.
BTW: This game got huge press on BBC.
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Colin
Public funding for stadium building doesn't produce the benefits that many folks claim. This isn't an opinion -- it's been empirically studied.
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NewBuffalo
if they played the bills the sabres would have won (either in hockey or football!). too bad this stadium is not downtown where it belongs. At least this stadium will be used for at least one more event than a bills game. Why did the NHL need ralph wilsons and the bills permission to use the stadium for the game? I thought this was a COUNTY owned stadium. Maybe we need permission for concerts also. Will we ever see another concert here?
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aka_mouse
I thought the game was awesome having watched it at home on TV, but I just want to address the first thing you said there about a downtown stadium. I used to think then the more I thought about it I changed my mind. I'd like to know, given the amount of space this magazine devotes to criticizing the large amount of surface parking lots etc in the city.... why on earth would you ever want something like the Ralph and its massive lots anywhere near the city? UB-North Campus in the city? Yes. 70000+ capacity football stadium that usually would be sitting idle? No.
Plus one of things great in Buffalo is the tailgating at Bills games. People like coming here for that from all over. Out in OP theres tons of space and no one cares about acres of pavement thats sits empty and unused other than 16 days a year. Even if you condense the parking issue with a downtown stadium then you ruin the tailgating. Theres way better ways of getting people downtown.
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WholeLottaJibbaJabbah
Gottime, I completely agree with you! I've been talking about how this should be like the Thanksgiving games the NFL have. They are usually held by teams of the Blue Collar type of town, and I think Buffalo fits that criteria pretty well.
Every new year should be the Winter Classic in Buffalo!
I had such a blast at the game and in the parking lot. Hockey fans are far more civil than Football fans, just my observation.
Way to go NHL you got it right this time.
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coolrobc
Absolutely Awesome!
What an event. We arrived to tailgate at 8:30 and didn't leave until around 6:00p.m. The weather wasn't ideal for game play, but I received calls from all over about the game and what a site it was on TV.
It was the greatest sporting event I've ever attended. I can't wait to go to another. I can't imagine anyone else that attended feeling different.
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benfranklin
While I agree with the spirit of 'do it every year', it points out the postseason drought our Bills have been in. We've come to the point where it's more plausible to play a hockey game in Orchard Park (in January), than a first round (football) playoff game. Regardless, a big congratulations to all those involved, from the person who conceived the idea, to all the fans in the stands. It was a day when your hometown took center stage, and performed flawlessly.
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RisingDamp666
Hmmm. Didn't the Bills enjoy their own Ice Bowl there in Cleveland? And with similar results?
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