He Knew He Was Right

As I noted back in September, I look forward to autumn big time. I look forward to this season, and the promise of what follows, with skiing a huge part of that. Skiing requires snow, and so the first snowfall is something I await rather eagerly each year. It doesn't need to be a blizzard, no, just some flakes, flurries, and really just a little white on the grass will do. And, to make me really happy, let there be some white upon the trees, especially those bearing leaves that have changed colors. It's called "snowliage" by some, a term I would like to see in the dictionary one day. Snow + fall foliage = snowliage. Simple and beautiful. Most years I actually don't get to see any snowliage, as, despite my Hudson Valley locale, the first snow usually doesn't strike until the trees are bare. That was not the case last month. It was Thursday, October 27 when some snow started to fall. The trees in my yard were well past peak at that point, but there were stil...

Without knowing all of the specifics of the sale of the Houston Astros, I really like the idea of their moving to the American League West in 2013. This will mean that all six divisions have the same number of teams. It is rather ludicrous to have four teams fighting for one division while six fight for another. Now it will be five teams fighting for a division all around. So sensible. Geographically, I suppose the Astros are farther "west" than any AL Central team, so I don't see any need for jockeying baseball teams beyond the straight move from NL Central to AL West. Clean and simple. In football, however, I'd like to neaten things up a bit. First, a move that struck me while attending those games two weeks ago: swap the Bills and Ravens. Buffalo travels over 300 miles to every one of its division road games. Now, that's a hop, skip and jump for western teams, but, in the interest of strengthening regional rivalries, why not swap Baltimore and Buffalo? La...

So here I am at Heinz Field! That's right, baby, HKHWR has done it: The knucklehead, no, the magnificent bastard, has made the 209-mile trip from one gridiron to another, Buffalo to Pittsburgh, and is now watching a Steelers game. Two games in one day. Fantastic. The ride was surprisingly easy as the traffic stars completely aligned. The black team-neutral NFL gear blends well, and I am totally rooting for the Black and Gold. I may be rooting against the Ravens, who I watched have their way against the Rams six weeks ago, and, worse, who beat my Giants in the Super Bowl, but I kind of like the Steelers. Hell, they were my favorite team when I was 6. I didn't realize that I bled blue until I was 7... I guess I could note for symmetry with my post this afternoon that attendance here means I've now seen the four AFC North teams play a home game, so I'm getting there. I'm a hair over two thirds of the way done: 21 teams and counting. Ok, I've got to get re...

So here I am at Ralph Wilson Stadium. I circled this weekend on the schedule when the lockout ended. Given that I have been to over half of the NFL stadiums it does somewhat surprise me that it has taken so long to watch a game here, in my home state. I nearly did way back in 1991 when this see-them-all endeavor was in its infancy, but decided to drive home from a weekend in the area rather than stay out an extra day. Not many opportunities to see a game here came up after that. But, then again, many other games were attended because of the way they lined up with, say, business travel. For better or worse, business travel has never led me west of the Hudson in my Empire State. I'm here now, though, for the intrastate rivalry. The AFC East becomes the first division where I have seen all four teams. It was rather docile in New England, more rambunctious in Miami, and, well, of course the crowd is always into Jets games. I'm curious as to what I'll see here, but I know...