Are YOU ready for October?

I'm a monogomous hockey fan. No other sport woos me from the sweet, simple love of the NHL. Sure, I kind of pay attention to Steeler's football, and I like World Cup Soccer, but I'm not really a fan.

The Sabre's have the only spot in my heart reserved for professional sports.

But why hockey? I love hockey for a variety of reasons. First, the unbelievable, unforgettable, best announcer in all of sports: Rick Jeannerete. RJ is more than the voice of the Sabres, he's the voice of my childhood. I can't even remember how many snowy winter nights I spent pressing my ear to the fuzzy speakers of my parents cars, trying to listen to RJ on AM radio.

These are 10 of his best calls.



I love hockey because of how weird all of the players are. It's a niche sport, beloved only by Canadians, conspiracy theorists, and people who are intentionally weird. I think there is a high corellation between NHL fandom and Harry Potter fandom.

The players are strange, too. You can't tell me that Ilya Bryzgalov would get paid 6 million bucks a year in any other league.



But here's something weird: I am pretty sure the biggest reason I love hockey so much is because it has been so cruel to me as a fan. I was 15 in 1999 when the Sabres got absolutely shafted by the NHL in the Stanley Cup finals.



I mean look at that - they have the cup out on the ice before there's one minute of review. Ridiculous. Terrible. Tragic.

Then, in 2006, the Sabres lost to the freakin' Carolina Hurricane's because Jay McKee doesn't wash his shinguards. No Joke. The research triangle sun belt pretenders then won the Stanley cup, smoking the hapless Edmonton Oilers.

The next year, the Sabres were the best team in hockey by a long shot. They ran up the score on teams like crazy. Won the Presidents trophy - lost in the Eastern Conference finals for the second year in a row. Awful. heartbreaking.

I love hockey so much because it has teased me so awfully, and frequently. I really can't imagine what would happen in Buffalo if the Sabres manage to actually win a stanley cup someday: I think the whole place might burn to the ground.

I can't wait until October, for hockey season to begin, and for winter to really be on its way.