Katie Goes to Training Camp (Finally!)

Sorry for the terrible delay in my posting. My sister's softball tournament in Rochester this past weekend went far better than anyone expected, as in, they won the whole thing! I was such a proud big sister, and I must say that she had a pretty impressive weekend. She hit in the tying RBI that brought one game to extra innings, and made several awesome plays in the outfield in the semis and the finals.

So, congratulations West Seneca Magic on a great season (and if you're browsing this Amy, I'm very proud of you...again...)

Between unpacking from the trip, packing for my next one (10 days in South Carolina starting next Thursday), and buying books for Canisius, I've had very little time to do anything.

Until now, that is, when I can present to you a photo recap of my Bills Training Camp Experience 2008.

First of all, someone should tell the Bills that those buses that they have to shuttle people to St. John Fisher are HOT and humid. My pulse was racing before I even got to meet Paul Pozluszny. Here, Amy and I sweat it out on the ride to campus:

Once we got there, we met up with my aunt, uncle, and three younger cousins to watch the practice. This, for me, meant watching for good-looking guys and scouting for my fantasy drafts.

I saw many things at camp that impressed me more that I expected. Some of these being:

• Poz's propensity to turn his very nice posterior to me whenever I had my camera ready. I was also very surprised by how much he really is ALL MUSCLE. I don't think there's an ounce of fat on his body:
  
• The fact that JP Losman still does exist! It was like seeing your ex-boyfriend, who took the breakup really badly, while you're busy gushing over your new guy (that would be you, Trent)


• How gorgeous Trent Edwards really is. I know he gained muscle weight in the offseason to help his game, but I think it's helping more than that...
  


• How nice Josh Reed is. My uncle has his jersey (I'm still not sure why), and Reed ran over to us when he saw it, taking time to talk to my uncle about the upcoming season and joke about how few people have his jersey.
  
• The fact that Jon Corto has such a good sense of humor. He's the safety from Orchard Park who spent last season on the practice squad. He's back again this year, and his family was at camp. When my cousin wished him good luck this season, his mom said "Let's just hope he makes it first!" He seemed to just be happy to have a chance to hang with the big boys of the NFL and to play at home. He was a big hit with the autograph-seekers, including one girl who had him call her friend, which he played along with shockingly well.


• Just how flustered I got when Poz was within inches of me. My hands were pretty much shaking when I handed him my jersey, and I've never gotten that jittery (and I've talked to Pommer, Goose, and Derek Roy before). All those nerves went away though, when we had what I now refer to as our "moment":

Me: Good luck this season; can't wait to see you out there.
Poz: (looks at me with his beautiful eyes) Thanks so much!

Now anyone who can speak "Poz" knows that what he was really saying was "You're Polish, you like football, and you read more books than I do. Will you marry me?" However, I was too blinded by his sheer manliness to actually accept his proposal. If you're reading this now, Poz, I accept!

Tomorrow, I hope to have the conclusion of my "100 Things" list ready to post. In the meantime, I'm off to read more of Twilight by Stephenie Meyer. Yes, it's "that vampire book. " If you haven't read it, go to your nearest library and get it - you'll be glad you did!

Football is Cool, Too

Hockey may be my true love, but football was my first love. I was born at the beginning of the "Glory Years" for the Bills to two season ticket holders, and I was watching games with my dad before I can really remember. I always say that I'm a Sabres fan by choice but a Bills fan by genetics.

I'm pretty excited for football season to start. I like going to training camp, which I'm doing sometime next week. I especially love watching all the players come in on the first day like college freshmen with their pillows and laundry baskets.

I have a lot of players that I really can't wait to see develop on this young Bills team - Donte Whitner, Lee Evans, Roscoe Parrish, and, of course, Trent Edwards. My favorite current Buffalo Bill, however, is Paul Posluszny.

I pick favorite football players like I do hockey players. They have to have that blue-collar mentality and hard-working edge that suits Buffalo perfectly. They have to show a burning desire to get better every game and an intense hatred for losing. Most importantly, though, they have to be good people when it's all said and done.

I feel like "Poz" exemplifies all those things (not to mention the fact that he is incredibly handsome). Then, in today's Buffalo News, I came across this article that further proves why Poz should be every thinking-girl's favorite Bill:

"Posluszny owns a computer but he doesn’t have a laptop, so he doesn’t have
that for a diversion at camp, either. He’s resorting to old-fashioned media to
get away from football; he’s reading a book.
'I’m in the middle of a pretty good book right now, ‘Guns, Germs and Steel.’ It’s about why certain cultures, particularly the Europeans, developed the way they did,' he said.
The book, by Jared Diamond, won a Pulitzer Prize in 1998. "

Poz carries his library in his laundry basket (Photo by James P. McCoy of TBN)

As an English major and part-time librarian, this made my day!

In Sabres news: beloved Amerks coach Randy Cunneyworth has been hired as an assistant coach for the Atlanta Thrashers. He'll be missed, but he has to take pride in knowing that he was the one who really crafted the minds and skills of many of the most important players on our team, especially that 2004-2005 Rochester "core." He should also be happy in that he will now be coaching my favorite non-Sabre NHL-er Colby Armstrong.

Finally, a very happy belated birthday to baby-Sabre and everyone's favorite Facebook friend, Nate Gerbe!