Are you a thrill seeker? I think I am. I’ve reached speeds on a snowboard so outrageous that if I were to have slipped and fallen, bones in my body would have broken like popsicle sticks. In physics, they call this terminal velocity. It was my perception, at those moments, that I could not possibly be going any faster. And perception is all that matters for now as I’m about to start talking about relative things like feelings and emotions. But getting back to snowboarding, think about the disconnect I must have had with the world around me to push myself to those speeds. I had no control of what the snow would be like in front of me. It’s ridiculous when you consider the danger I put myself in physically but I don’t regret it. I never actually injured myself while riding a snowboard (badly at least) but even if I had, I don’t think I would trade those memories or experiences or feelings or whatever you want to call them, for anything. I loved pushing myself to my emotional and physical extremes. I loved the rush I felt from reaching those speeds.
I wasn’t always this way. As a kid, until I was maybe like 13 or 14 years old, I was terrified of rollercoasters. Maybe you were too but even if you weren’t I think everyone can relate to the anxiety felt before and the thrill felt after riding a rollercoaster.
It’s just like being a fan of the Sabres.
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Imagine you’re me standing in line for a giant rollercoaster, wide-eyed, young, ignorant, watching carts zoom past and you wonder to yourself: how is it possible that people stay in their seats when they’re upside down? How does the cart stay on the track? Why doesn’t it fall off?
That’s just like the anxiety involved with following this year’s Sabres team. How did Mike Grier make such a difference? What was he saying in the dressing room? And how did Ryan Miller get so good? How is it that someone as young as Tyler Myers can be so good at playing defense in this league that’s filled with full-grown, experienced adults? None of it makes any sense.
Eventually someone convinces you that it’ll all be worth it. Still, as you’re first sitting down into the cart you’re thinking: I don’t know if this is going to hold me. I’m too big, too tall, and the bar is too small. Someone get me a bigger bar. By the way, I’d like another goal scorer please. If we don’t get another goal scorer I think I might just die.
Suddenly you’re moving, the season’s started and your palms start to sweat. You’re nervous but excited too. Then you hear the chain hook onto the cart: clack-clack-clack-clack-clack. You start to climb. Whoa, we’re getting pretty high. My heart’s racing. Look at the view. How much higher will we really get? We’re on top of the world! The Sabres are the best team ever!
Then everything gets quiet after the chain releases and you’re suddenly overtaken with a sinking feeling of dread. Maybe this was a mistake. I don’t want to fly out of this stupid, tiny cart and become seagull-lunch. We’re higher than I ever thought we’d be. I was tricked!
I think I’m experiencing that moment right now with the Sabres. I’m not bound to commit to this team like I am at the peak of a rollercoaster ride but I’m going through with it anyway; I’m in; I’m committed. I love the thrills too much.
I love the Sabres.
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The stretch-run is just around the corner and the playoffs after that. Everyone wants to talk about how lousy the Sabres have looked recently. I don’t disagree with those voices. They’ve won only three of their last twelve games and that’s just awful. Keep in mind though that the Sabres had the most points in the Eastern Conference before that stretch began.
I get that people are cautious but at least now there’s actually a ride. Create some distance between the Sabres and the Bills. Don’t let your opinion of the Bills poison that of the Sabres. The Bills are in repair. The Sabres are different even though they have, of course, missed the playoffs the last two seasons. Let’s move forward; they could be in a much worse position now. Say what you want about the two years prior to that, they certainly finished with a lot left to be desired and fans, myself included, walked away bitter, broken hearts in hand, but the ride – the ride was incredible. I wouldn’t trade it for anything and I don’t regret believing in them.
I know I’ll be there every game from here on out, holding onto the rollercoaster bar with white knuckles, heart racing, hoping I don’t fall out of the cart while it loops, rushes through tunnels, and past trees, lakes, and places I never expected it to go. I don’t know why Tyler Myers is so good or how it is that rollercoasters so infrequently end in the tragedy that riders like me so often irrationally expected but I don’t need to know those things. I just need to actually know that Myers is good and that rollercoasters do not end in death.
If you’re with me, strap yourselves in. The next few months will be awesome and agonizing and celebratory and exciting and devastating. Be prepared to deal with all of that in varying magnitudes. We saw what the view was like from at the top. Now what? Are you going to bail, save yourself the potential heart-ache because, as its most commonly justified, this team has flaws? Will you just start watching more Big East basketball? Or are you going to really commit, lay down a credit-card while telling the bartender, “open, I’ll be here for a freakin’ while,” and let the emotions of the ride wash over you?
WOOOO! This is such a good post Paul. I feel so much less depressed. Thanks!
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