I spent most of Sunday hooting it up with a bunch of grown men who think every Sunday from September-December is Halloween.6:30 am A party of 7 brave men and women gathered got up at an ungodly hour to catch a Tour bus destined for Orchard Park NY. Approaching the bus I had no idea what the composition of fans on the bus so I was a little worried I'd be harassed for wearing the colours. I knew that the Raider Nation travelled in large numbers, but I was truly and pleasantly surprised by the composition of our bus, overwhelmingly Raiders fans.
7:45 am The bus loads up and begins rolling towards the "Hammer" to pick up Hamilton fans also headed to the game.
8:00 am The parking lots at Orchard Park, NY open up for tailgaters.
8:15 am Somewhere past Mississauga I crack my first beer of the day. I figured I didn't want the beer to get warm.
8:45 am
The bus stopped in Hamilton and I got off the bus to use the facilities at the Golden Griddle. I took a brief whiff of the smog filled air and thought hmmm, I better get used to this smell if I'm going to spend a day in Buffalo. I got back on the bus and noticed more Raiders fans get on the bus. Also getting on in Hamilton is a guy we'll call "Frosted Tips" that we had our first taste of the kind of beratement we might get as Raiders fans. Immediately upon getting on the bus, "Frosted Tips" began to question the sexuality of the Raiders fans and made frequent trips to the back of the bus to engage in some trash talking with the guys in the back.
9:15 am The bus makes it's 3rd stop at a strip mall in St.Catherine's. I finish my first beer and get off to use the Starbucks bathroom. I grab a quad americano, which I've pretty much become addicted to since earlier this spring. Frosted Tips has a buddy get on who happens to sit in the only remaining empty seat next to my buddy the other Raiders fan Hardy. This kind of sucks for Hardy as FT spends much of the trip out of his seat talking to his buddy Brucey sitting in the window seat. FT was already slurring his words and he was just starting to get on our nerves.
10:00 amI crack open my 2nd and last in drive beer. I didn't want it to get warm.
10:30 am We finally got to the Fort Erie bridge we saw a pretty long line of cars and buses waiting to cross. Leighann decided she needed to "break the seal". Apparently, there was a toll to pay to get to the back of the bus, one had to do a shot of "Captain Morgan's" rum before one could pass. This was not an issue for Leighann, she would have scored high on her pirate aptitude test taking alcohol from strangers, maye not the smartest idea but none of the guys in the back were named Janikowski so she was ok.
The lineup of cars moved slowly and we realized there were a ton of cars headed to the game, mostly Raiders fans. The realization we'd be stuck on the bridge for at least half an hour everybody who had been drinking since the bus hit Hamilton at 9 am had to use the bathroom: About 5 minutes in line we noticed a couple guys got out of their car and started running up the bridge with a case of beer in their hand not sure whatever happened to these guys.
11:00 am
When we got to the border of course the American border patrol man came aboard and pulled off all the non-Canadian or American born people and we sat and waited for 30 minutes while our Swedish and English Enemy combatants were grilled and anally probed. After giving a boost to the 2nd tour bus which had apparently broken down at the border we were finally across the border but our window of tailgating was rapidly disappearing.
11:30 am we drive through a long strip of abandoned buildings and so many above ground pools I thought we were in Quebec. As we get closer to Orchard park everything slowed right down. We approach the stadium and see residential homes and bars near the stadium packed with tailgaters.
12:00 pm
We finally arrive at our parking lot to the finger from angry Buffalo fans. Not quite sure whether that was because we were Canadian or because there were a lot of Raiders fans. Frosted tips has put in his matching Bills Helmet earrings. We notice some dude dressed up like the Ultimate Warrior in Bills colours, a tailgater runs up to the Warrior and requests a picture with him in a headlock. Looking around the lots near the Stadium were about 50/50 Raiders/Bills fans. My friend Hardy and I decide we need to seek out some bathrooms. There were porto-lets but the lineups were huge. In the distance we notice a wooded area so we figure avoid the line ups. While Hardy is doing his thing some Bills fan walks up and screams in his ear that the Raiders suck.
We find our way back to the Toursport tailgate and get some sausages an some more beers enjoy some cover band which really made me just think of Guitar Hero especially dude walking around with the wireless guitar encouraging people to play with his whammy bar.
12:45 pm We finish up our beers and decide to make our way towards the stadium. Now walking towards the stadium it's really kind of a dump. Garbage everywhere, beer bottles, coffee cups, vomit (one of the reasons they call it the "Ralph"), tons of really mean looking locals. Hardy got burned by the oldest trick in the book, the high five/ no I don't think so psyche. A lot of really angry people. We hear the National anthem play and the roar of the crowd.We move slowly but steadily through security who are pleasant enough no major hassles.
1:10 pm We finally get to our seats as we are walking up Hardy and I get berated by Bills fans and cheered by members of the Raider Nation. By the time we get to our seats it's already 3-0 Raiders. The crowd is probably about 20% Raiders fans mixed in with Bills fans, generally fairly pleasant, I think mostly because our section was mostly a Canadian tour group it wasn't so bad.
1:30 pm I get up to use the bathroom. The bathrooms are of course the old Maple Leaf Gardens style troughs. I was warned on the way up not to wash my hands because guys urinate in the sink, but it's one of those ones I had in my public school where you step on the pedal and water comes out so I don't actually need to touch the sink with my hands. On my way back to my seat I am told by a Bills fan at the end of my row he doesn't want to let me back in but he will his girlfriend pipes in with a yeah kind of like a "take that", I just kind of laugh it off.
1:45 pm At the end of the quarter we go down to grab some beers. Scrawny Bills fan purposely turns his shoulder into Hardy and says oops, he pretends to do the same to me and I inform him he's too small to be trying that kind of move it seems effective as he doesn't give me a hard time on the way back.
2:30 pm Half time with the score 9-7 for the Raiders as Ralph Wilson stumbles through an intro and the Bills unveil Bruce Smith's place in the ring of honour we grab our last beers of the day, the "Ralph" ends beer sales at the end of halftime. Unlike the ACC or the Rogers Centre there are just these tiny little 14 inch mounted colour tvs so can't really see what's going on when standing in line for beer.
3:15 pm Close game with the Raiders leading 16-7 at the start of the 4th quarter Hardy decides that little Andy is getting in his way and thinks it's funny to pour water on his head from his seat one row above. Andy flips out and knocks the bottle off to the side splashing water onto people 4 rows in front of us. The people in front of us think the asshole Raiders fans have purposely thrown water on them and glare at us for a long time. Eventually they sit down and focus on the game
3:45 pm The Raiders complete an 84 yard pass to make the score 23-14 with about six minutes remaining. Bills Fans begin leaving in droves trying to get a jump on traffic. I know better, the game is definitely not over and realize there's plenty of time for Buffalo to get 2 posessions unless the Raiders can grind out some first downs. The Bills score a touchdown and then the Raiders go 3 and out on some conservative play calling. The Bills get the ball back and drive and kick a field goal with no time remaining. I thoughy Lane Kiffin may have called a timeout to ice the kicker, but he did not. The Bills win and the Hill"Bill"ies are satisfied. The Raider Nation collectively sighs, "not again" and questions will Al Davis fire Lane Kiffin this week?
4:15pm we make our way through the parking lot where we get some comments, some middle aged jerkoff laughed at me and tried to walk right into me I kept my ground and just bounced off of him. All in all some really weak attempts at harassment and intimidation.
4:30 pm We gather outside the bus and have a few beers as people go to purchase merchandise from vendors. Small Andy decides he's now a Bills fan.
???? Sometime after dark we arrived back in Toronto and I arrive back in Toronto. The trip was a blast the Raider nation is pretty crazy. Bills fans, well I guess you can say they love their team, but these guys are very bitter about a lot of things so If you travel there beware if you don't have a small army with you things could get ugly.
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