Category: Upstate New York (Page 2 of 2)

A Fellow Western New Yorker Weighs In (A Sorta, Kinda, In A Way Guest Post)

15 November, 2008 / Kat

I am always surprised at the reaction my now-year-old post, Obviously, Massachusetts Schools Neglect to Teach Geography of Areas outside of New England (or No, Western New Yorkers are not Yankees Fans.), still gets. The most viewed and most commented post ever on this blog, the discussion it’s encouraged is great!

Jon emailed me earlier this week with a comment too lengthy to be posted as a comment, and I thought it was cool enough to be my first sorta, kinda in a way guest post ever. I’ll also link to this in the comments section of the original post as well.

Thanks, Jon for such a well thought out response to the article, and for another view into being a Western New York sports fan. The comment, which includes one of the best descriptions of why Western New Yorkers tend to flock to Boston, after the jump. Continue reading

They Hate Me: Western NY’s Toxic Back and Forth Relationship with Basketball

31 October, 2008 / Kat

Pravin commented earlier this week on my treatise on New York State sports fandom with a great question on basketball in Western New York:

And where does basketball fit into all of this? Is there a particular team that people in Western New York prefer to root for? I’d imagine that the Knicks–not even factoring in their past seven seasons of futility–represent everything that upstaters hate about downstate. There is the connection between the old Buffalo Braves and L.A. Clippers, but not even the most ardent fan of the A.B.A. would retain that kind of loyalty.

Now, I have been in quite a few relationships in my day, including some of those of the on-and-off, back and forth, toxic variety. (Who hasn’t in their day? The degrees of severity vary, but everyone’s had at least one.) But none come close to the toxic back and forth relationship that professional basketball has had with my home region of Western New York. Professional basketball took Western New York and toyed with its emotions – “You want an NBA Championship? Here you go. Oh, wait – you aren’t “big enough” to support professional sports! Sorry, let’s move the team away.” – until a whole generation and their children decided enough was enough, and ceased following the NBA all together.

“Being a Jets Fan in Binghamton Sucks” and Other Search Engine Fun

27 October, 2008 / Kat

Let’s ignore the Buffalo Bills lost to the freakin’ Dolphins today, shall we? I was having a glorious sports weekend, which included the FWSNBN becoming the star of the season thus far for the Boston University men’s hockey team, and then – bam, the Bills had to go lose. Unacceptable, Mr. Edwards, just unacceptable. I will not be buying your jersey t-shirt anytime soon.

Or maybe I will.

So in an effort to ignore the silly annoying Bills (really guys, you had to go lose to the Dolphins?!), I will devote this evening’s post to the amusing search engine phrases that my blog comes up as referencing. The best, of course, being from two weeks ago:

“Being a Jets Fan in Binghamton Sucks.” Continue reading

Dear Mr. Favre: We Also Like Cheese, Beer and Lots o’ Snow (with random thoughts at the end)

20 July, 2008 / Kat

Dear Mr. Favre:

I understand you currently have a tad bit of drama in your life. A few months back, you thought it best to retire from the sport you loved, because everyone was chomping at the bit for you to. All of us football fans had been anticipating your retirement for the last eight years, as all of your contemporaries hung up the cleats. But over those years, you still had the skills and desire to play, and fortunately, weren’t racked by debilitating concussions or other injuries that have forced some quarterbacks out too soon (gratuitous Steve Young reference of the post.) So you stayed in the NFL, losing some of your effectiveness as a quarterback and as a leader in the locker room (your teammates grew up watching you play – you’re from a completely different generation as yours) but still leading the Green Bay Packers to respectable seasons.

Obviously, Massachusetts Schools Neglect to Teach Geography of Areas outside of New England (or No, Western New Yorkers are not Yankees Fans.)

5 November, 2007 / Kat

MEMORANDUM

TO: The Collective Population of New England (especially the Citizens of Massachusetts)

FROM: A Disgruntled Western New Yorker Turned Bostonian

RE: Geography of New York State and the Sports Fandom it Dictates

DATE: November 2, 2007

I feel it prudent at this time to provide you with a refresher geography lesson of New York State (or for those of you who did not pay attention in social studies, a first lesson.) This lesson was spurred on by the absolutely drunk (and I believe underage) Bruins fan and native New Englander who sat in front of me during Thursday evening’s Bruins-Sabres game. This fan proceeded to taunt all the Sabres fans (of which there were many, including myself) by telling us that the “Yankees suck,” and that A-Rod does several unrepeatable acts of a sexual nature. He then decided to mention that “Look, who won the World Series this year – the Red Sox, not your stupid (insert-bad-word-here) Yankees.” Continue reading