Cancer is a bitch of disease that affects too many people. The Ride is a great way for those of us to support Roswell Park, a great Western New York asset dedicated to helping our friends and neighbors treat the cancer they have, and search for a cure to prevent it completely. We all know somebody that has been affected by cancer, and the unfortunate truth is that if you don’t, someday you will.

This year, I’m riding the 44 mile route. Although my large midsection might violate some weight limit rules on the side roads, I’m confident that I’ll be able to finish strong. A few hours of tired legs is nothing compared to the abuse patients go through during chemotherapy. If I can fundraise some money that helps minimize someone else’s suffering, it’s totally worth the numb ass I’ll get in return.

This year, it’s a little more personal. My friend’s wife, Anna, was recently diagnosed with a non-Hodgkin lymphoma. It’s really terrible timing. They recently had their second child, and this also comes on the heels of the fact that she is married to Ed, who is kind of an asshole. (My kind of asshole, but still, an asshole. :p ) As she’s starting her treatment, she’s decide to blog about what she’s going through, which is a very brave thing to do. You should read it, even if you’re an asshole like Ed. Her page is here : Puck’s Lighthouse .

So all that being said, I’ll now whore myself out for donations. I’d very much appriciate anything you could spare, even if it’s just $1. The money goes to support wonderful cancer research, and as an added bonus, you can pick on a fat guy riding a bike over 40 miles. That’s gotta be worth at LEAST $1.75 for the humor factor alone. My donation page is here, and I thank everyone in advance. (Unless you DON’T donate, because as my friend Kevin would say, that means you’re pro-cancer. And we will find you. )

NINJA EDIT: I’m riding with my friend Danielle this year. She is NOT fat, therefore I will have to try and break the laws of physics and attempt to keep up with her. I predict it will be a shitshow for my hamstrings.

Another link to my donation page. If you prefer the long version. : http://RideForRoswell2012.kintera.org/beechsack

Thanks for reading.

The first thing I’d like to tackle is a little privacy around my pool. It’s a good sized inground (about 15′ x 30′), but it sits right in the middle of the yard. There is a standard chain link fence that surrounds it on 3 sides. The 4th is a area that will be tackled later on, maybe this year.

Here’s a couple quick pics of what I’m looking at.

What I’m thinking would work well is some hedges along the outside of the fence that I’d let grow until they reached the top of said fence, then keeping them trimmed there. Something low maintenance and hardy would be nice; I don’t exactly have a green thumb.

So what say you? Any ideas for types of plants I should look at?

I’ve gotten mixed up with Mike Harrington of The Buffalo News before. We’ve had a couple interesting back and forths, but over time they started to get heated. Instead of continuing down that path, I chose to simply unfollow Mr. Harrington and not bother to engage him any further.

However, tonight he made a comment that was re-tweeted, and appeared in my timeline. I couldn’t believe what I was reading.

Great atmosphere in FNC tonight. #Sabres play helps. So does crowd for Bronze game. Less of the wine-and-cheese brigade.

— Mike Harrington (@BNHarrington) March 14, 2012

My first thought was that this was simply a joke, but the more I considered it, the more my opinion changed. Crowd noise in the First Niagara Center has been a topic for a couple years now, and I felt that this was a serious comment. As I considered it more, it struck me what he was really saying; People buying tickets to these silver and gold games are the REASON the building is so quiet. The REAL fans that get loud are the blue collar guys who can only afford the cheap games.

There are many reasons why crowd noise in the building is below what it probably should be. (Play on the ice being the most prominent one.) The income levels of the attendees is CERTAINLY not a consideration. Anyone who has ever been to a game has certainly seen a factory working sitting quietly, or a guy in a suit getting rowdy. Some people like to get loud, others don’t. It’s a massive insult to the fans to insinuate that lower income folks attending the cheaper games are somehow BETTER.

Although I knew it was a bad idea, I engaged Mr. Harrington. I tried to lay off the snark, knowing the reaction I’d get.

@BNHarrington I think it’s only fair to say to you directly that I think your ‘wine and cheese’ comment was classless. Income levels of

— Tom Beecher (@Beechsack) March 15, 2012

@BNHarrington the attendees don’t have a think to do with the noise in there. I’m sure you’re call me stupid for disagreeing, but so be it.

— Tom Beecher (@Beechsack) March 15, 2012

His response was, predictable.

@Beechsack whatever, dude. You’ve never heard that term before, you’ve obviously never read a paper in places like NYC or LA.

— Mike Harrington (@BNHarrington) March 15, 2012

This response is common from Mr. Harrington. He generally falls back on ‘Well papers in larger cities do it’, which is the functional equivalent of ‘Bobby peed his pants, so I did too!’. He completely ignored my point, and further proceeded to accuse me of simply trying to start a fight, which wasn’t true. Unfortunately, such reactions are far too common from Mike. A cursory glance at his Twitter feed shows just how often he resorts to insults and name calling.

@mikedavis21 it’s twitter. it’s called observation. What’s your problem? — Mike Harrington (@BNHarrington) March 14, 2012

@MichaelRSlater you’re a student there, do a little research on the athletic history of the school before making crazy statements. — Mike Harrington (@BNHarrington) March 14, 2012

@peteprohaska Disagree, fine. Throw out massive profanity and think that’s OK? Grow up. Like to see how you do in the workplace.

— Mike Harrington (@BNHarrington) March 13, 2012

@beaglerun2 you should read my feed some day and see the rudeness i get before you cast stones. I’m far more patient that most would be.

— Mike Harrington (@BNHarrington) March 13, 2012

This is just in the last couple days. To be fair, I intentionally left out responses that people took a clear shot at him first. In my view, Mike should do what most other prominent journalists do when someone fires a stupid tweet in their direction; IGNORE IT. I do understand the desire to fire back at someone when they take a shot, I’ve done so myself. Not something I’m proud of.

As consumers of sports media in this town, why do we deal with this? Why is it that I can have a substantive, intelligent discussion with someone I’ve never met about the merits of the Trico building without the conversation degenerating into insults, yet our sports media can’t seem to handle any questioning comment without taking a shot. It happens in our newspaper, it happens on our radio. Our media figures in town seem to have a holier than thou attitude that their journalism or communications degrees which taught them how to do their jobs also impart guru status on any topic of conversation. Criticism of any kind is NEVER tolerated!!

Shouldn’t we demand better?

On to the game! Lots of pomp and circumstance. The new intro video was very good, although if you saw the one that Adler Mannheim played you’d notice a distinct similarity. They also did a great job with the building. Lots of little things that just make the place feel more like OUR place, not just the place we go to watch hockey.

Not the most terrible game I’ve ever watched, but certainly not the best. Although they generally skated well, they seemed to be out of sync, and in that cutsie mode most of the night. Not grinding out for dirty goals like they did in Europe, but trying for  the highlight reel stuff to put on a show for the home crowd. News flash to the Sabres : We like dirty goals just as much as we like pretty ones. Just make the horn go off and we’ll be happy.

Pommers said it best in the post game ; you don’t give up two shorties in a game and expect to win. Were it not for a post and great save on Staal, the eldest product of the magical Thunder Bay vagina, it would have been FOUR. Special teams were so good in Fun Time Euro Land, but atrocious last night. That needs to get cleaned up.

Couple folks were moaning about Erhoff, but I thought he was better than advertised. His shot is stupid fast coming off his stick. Might not be Chara speeds, but the release is fast, and it just seems to get to the good areas quickly. His defensive play wasn’t bad either, even on the odd man rushes. His only job there is to take away the passes, which he did. Carolina just made some great plays.

Speaking of defense, the pairing of Sekera and Gragnani needs to go away. While the offense they generate is good, they’re doing it AT THE SAME TIME. That can’t happen. You don’t want guys like Roy and Leino having to constantly cycle back and cover the wall because Gragnani is putzing around below the dots. That happened more times than I can count last night. There’s a major difference when these two come low. Myers , Erhoff, and Leopold will get low to make a play, but spin out and hustle back when they can to get back into positon. Sekera and Gragnani stay in the corners so long you wonder if someone is giving away free shots. I want Leino in the corner fighting for those pucks, not having to stand on the half wall to cover up once Carolina recovers the puck.

I almost expected them to be a little flat last night. 6 days between game action is hard on any team, Euro trip or no Euro trip. Now they have another game in, and the coaching staff has things they can yell about. Trust me when I say that’s a GOOD thing. They get back on the road now, and into the normal regular season mode of games every couple days. That should be quite helpful getting past that kerfuffle last night.

Either way, hockey is back!

The Internet Makes You Stupid

Of course, this isn’t true. The internet doesn’t MAKE you stupid, it just exposes you when you ARE stupid. Anyone who interacts with others knows how true that is.

This morning, I saw another such example. It’s almost not even funny, because it’s so sad. The Buffalo News, ran a story about the possible effects HSBC’s retail branch sale might affect their interest in naming rights on the arena downtown. A relevant topic, and it did a good job explaining what could happen, while making sure to point out that HSBC has made public comment that it’s not planning on taking their name off the building anytime soon.

Then…the comments start…and the stupid happens. We have this little gem from Ms. Elisabeth Brauza of Cheektowaga.

Given that HSBC is abandoning Buffalo and their stake here, I don’t think their name belongs on our arena any longer. I, too, believe a change to a “less corporate” name is called for.

This struck me as odd in many ways. HSBC isn’t ‘abandoning Buffalo’. They’re only selling their retail banking business. They still have a huge presence in the area in non-retail businesses, and have no plans to shut any of that down.

I thought about this, and decided that maybe I was being too harsh. Maybe Ms. Brauza didn’t know that HSBC wasn’t leaving town. Then, I scrolled back up the page…

HSBC is showing no signs of wanting to give up its naming rights at the downtown arena and went out of its way to suggest otherwise.

“These things always have value,” bank spokesman Neil Brazil said Tuesday, “and we do have a good relationship with the Sabres.”

Zimbalist said it’s possible HSBC, given its continued corporate and commercial presence here, might consider the naming rights valuable enough to retain, especially if the price is right.

There we have not one, but two separate references to HSBC not planning on skipping town, right on the same page. You have to get by these words in order to even place comments!!

It was revolutionary for The Buffalo News to make people register and use their real names when commenting on stories. Maybe they could jump further ahead of the curve and devise a way to make people READ the stories they talk about.

We can only hope.

So what did they actually change?

For starters, the Ralph is going full non-smoking. No more designated smoking area with a re-entry gate. They’re not the first team to institute such a policy; a quick check shows that plenty of other NFL teams, and lots of college teams, have the same policy. Of course, this brought out the Rampaging Indignant Smoker’s Alliance folks who vowed to cancel their season tickets and never attend a Bills game gain. I’d guess that most of these folks also promised never to patronize bars or restaurants again after New York State passed the current smoking bans, but I’m sure they still do.

Listen, I’m not a smoker, so I’m not really affected. I get that it’s an addiction, and it’s something you HAVE to do. (Unless you nut up and decide to quit.) However, your complaints are silly. You’ve watched the last 10 years of Buffalo Bulls football and THIS is going to get you to cancel your seats? I think your priorities are a little out of whack.

The second major change has the tailgating crowd raging like there is no tomorrow. Instead of opening at 8am, the team run lots will delay opening until……

9 am.

OH THE HUMANITY!!!

I’m sorry, but nothing can convince me that this will be the ‘end to tailgating’ like some are suggesting. It’s a freaking HOUR. This is not a big deal. If you can’t get to your spot, set up, cook, eat/drink, tear down, and get to your seats in 4 hours, you’re doing it wrong. Four hours is a TON of time. Before you start in the comments, I was a season ticket holder for 5 years. Gave them up because the team sucked. I’ve still been to at least one game every year for 15 years running. I know the tailgating scene pretty well, and nothing you say can convince me that the extra hour is going to ruin your gameday experience.

Jeremy White from WGR was railing about how badly it’s going to cause traffic snarls. Really? Traffic down there sucks already. It’s not going to get appreciably worse. The people who are married to starting at 8am are still going to start at 8am. They’ll just move to one of the private ‘lots’ in the area. Of course, White ignores the last part of the release, where the Bills say that they’s working with law enforcement to improve traffic patterns down there anyways. That does kinda blow a large hole in White’s argument that he conveniently ignores.

The four hours of tailgating is plenty of time for anyone, if you’re hosting your own, or attending someone else’s. The amount of rage this is generating is quite comical.

Look at the upside. At least you can still smoke out there.

The Sabres scored 18 goals against the Flyers. While those 1-0 shutouts were great stuff, they kept the goal totals down a bit. Since $2 a goal is only $36, I’ll be donating the $50 minimum instead.

Did YOU make a pledge? If not, it’s not to late. You can donate to my ride here , or find another rider here .

A new challenge is coming soon for Round 2. Stay tuned!!

That being said, I wrote you off for dead in December. I thought there was no way you’d even have a sniff of 8th. The numbers didn’t add up. I couldn’t imagine that a team that was playing that poorly in all phases of the game could win at least 2 out of 3 for months straight, especially in the age of the 3 point game.

You proved me wrong. You proved that even knowledgeable fans (of which I humbly consider myself to be) don’t know as much as they think they know.

Thank you, Buffalo Sabres.

Thank you for reminding us that you’re not out until the standings say you’re out. Thank you for ending yet another Maple Leaf Race for 9th. Thank you for reminding us that the coach and GM just might have a clue what they’re doing. Thank you to the Hockey Gods for sending us Mr. Pegula. Thank you for giving the fans something to hold onto for the last couple months. Thank you for re-igniting the fire and passion this town has for you.

You may win this series against the Flyers. You may lose. But, this season, you gave all of us one very special gift.

Hope.

For the first time that I can remember, most Buffalo sports fans have hope. Instead of holding our breath waiting for the other shoe to drop, and the magical ride to be over, we’re looking forward. For once, we finally believe that you’re going to do it. It might not be this year, might not be next, but it WILL happen.

Thank you, Buffalo Sabres. We’re with you until the end. Whenever that is.

(And so ends all rational thoughts for the season. Time to take my patchy ass playoff beard and go effin nuts!!!)

For every goal that the Buffalo Sabres score during their first round matchup against the Philadelphia Flyers, I pledge to donate $2 to the Ride for Roswell to support cancer research. No matter how many they score, I’ll donate at least $50.

I challenge YOU to do the same. Pledge $1. Pledge $0.50. Doesn’t have to be a ton, but I challenge you to do it ANYWAYS. Roswell Park is a phenomenal institution. They do a lot of great things for a lot of good people, and deserve our support.

If you’d like to donate to my Ride, you can do that here. I’ll be doing the 44 mile route with a great group of Roswell employees. As an added incentive (or bribe if you like), I’ll match the first $250 in donations that I receive with a donation to the Buffalo Sabres Foundation. Everybody wins!!

If you’d like to donate to someone else, you can search for other riders or teams here.

Support Roswell and the Sabres at the SAME TIME!!! LETS GO BUFFALO!!!

What does this number mean? Game number 82 at home. Win and you’re in. Playoff destiny in your own hands. This is the situation that hockey fans DREAM about. Well, a lot of fans anyways.

Apparently not in the Carolinas.

17,805.

Everything on the line. After a furious charge, your team is on the cusp of making it into the Stanley Cup Playoffs. All they need to do is win 1 game. In their own barn.

17,805.

Didn’t. Sell. Out. The. Building.

17,805.

I don’t ever want hear another word from you Hurricanes fans how you have a good fanbase. Don’t tell me again how you guys ‘go when it matters’. Nothing could matter more than this. The biggest game of your season. You failed.

Give up your arguments. Your market sucks. Props to the dedicated fans down there, but stop defending the rest of the ‘Caniacs’.