A Mysterious Light

Last night was one of my favorite days of the year -- Star Wars Night at the ballpark! My Buffalo Bisons have been doing this for the past seven years and each year it gets better and better. It actually started out as one of several "movie" nights that the team hosted and the popularity has increased exponentially and the last two years (possibly more) have sold out before game day!

I went a couple times with my mom and the last three years I've gone with friends. The gates always open early because the North Ridge Star Wars fan club are there in character. There is an assortment of original trilogy, prequel trilogy and expanded universe characters as well as characters unique to this chapter of the fan club. They will pose for pictures and last year I got a great picture with me and my friend's daughter hanging out with Chewbacca and R2D2. Unfortunately, the lines were SO LONG this year that we didn't get any character pictures. Moving through the concourse was extremely difficult because of the sheer number of people milling about.

The players wear special Star Wars jerseys each year that are then autographed and raffled off for charity; this year it was the American Heart Association (can't remember if that's what it always is, or if it changes). Starting in the fifth inning and continuing every half inning, a special Star Wars movie unfolds on the big screen scoreboard. It takes place at the ballpark and includes the Bisons mascots, etc. The story concludes after the game is over... on the field with an epic lightsaber battle!

There are always other fun little touches that go on throughout the game:

The grounds crew usually has some fun on the field:

One of the characters throws out the first pitch:

Instead of showing each player's picture on the scoreboard, a villain is shown for the opposing team and one of the heroes is shown for the Bisons. The box score will also show the opposing team as "Sith":

Darth Vader will lead everyone in singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame":

There are also lightsabers for sale during the game and once the game is over, the lights get turned out and everyone waves their lightsabers around. After the on-field battle, there is a fireworks display.

I wasn't able to get a good picture, but the moon was out through most of the game and it looked an awful lot like the Death Star! Unfortunately, the Force was not strong with our team last night as we lost to the Sith. But it was an amazing time and I can't wait to go back next year!

The Best There Ever Was

In case you didn't know it, I am a self-proclaimed entertainment junkie. I love movies, music, sports, television, books and, of course, celebrities. When you can take two of those things and combine them together, it makes it even better.

For the past eight years, Buffalo has been home to the Buffalo Niagara Film Festival (BNFF). I've always been intrigued by it, but never actually attended. That all changed this year when the event organizers announced that they would be premiering a documentary entitled "The Natural: The Best There Ever Was".

I adore sports movies. All of them. And "The Natural" holds a very special place in my heart, since it was filmed in Buffalo! That's right... Robert Redford, Kim Basinger, Barbara Hershey... all came to Buffalo over thirty years ago to film this gem of a movie. Buffalo was chosen as the location for the film because of our architecture and the fact that we had an actual baseball field for them to use.

The documentary was directed by Bill Cowell, who founded the BNFF. It's a celebration of the filming of the movie. He interviewed a lot of major players from the movie including the actors I mentioned above as well as director Barry Levinson, producer Mark Johnson, and cinematographer Caleb Deschanel. Randy Newman scored the movie and he was interviewed as well. In addition, several of the local Buffalonians who appeared as extras in the movie were interviewed for the documentary.

It was incredible hearing these famous people talking about how wonderful Buffalo was to them and how much they enjoyed their time here. The movie was filmed during a time when chicken wings were not yet popular, and most the actors commented on trying them here for the first time!

In attendance at the premier and also debuting his directorial debut at the festival was Barry Kivel, who played Pat McGee in the movie. He has been in a lot of TV shows including Scrubs, Murphy Brown, and Judging Amy as well as parts in Crocodile Dundee and One Fine Day. Barry was awarded a star on the Buffalo Walk of Fame.

This was an awesome way to spend a Friday evening and I will definitely attend the festival again in the future!

Second Choices

Most of us would never want to be someone's second choice. And honestly, I think most of us prefer not to have to "settle" for our second choice. There are plenty of words of wisdom floating around Pinterest extolling these very notions.

Many moons ago, I lived in a small town in Pennsylvania. I hated it with a bloody passion. We moved there in March of my sophomore year of high school, which in and of itself was traumatic. I'm the first to admit that I didn't exactly give it a chance, but it just wasn't for me.

When we moved there I was a huge Chicago Cubs fan, courtesy of my all-time favorite athlete, Ryne Sandberg. I used to be able to watch this glorious second-baseman play rather frequently, because we were lucky enough to get WGN on our TV. Then we moved to Pennsylvania. Our town didn't even have cable when we first moved there, although it did pop up fairly soon thereafter. Unfortunately, WGN was not an option. I had two choices: I could watch the Pittsburgh Pirates on the local station, or I could watch the Atlanta Braves on TBS. I hated all things PA, so the clear winner was the Braves. At that time, they were the "Never-Say-Die Atlanta Braves". And by "never say die", what they really meant was "never win a game".

Sometimes though, finishing in last place can be a blessing. And sometimes, not getting what you want is the greatest thing in the world. The last place Braves had the first pick in the 1990 amateur draft. They had been seriously considering drafting pitcher Todd Van Poppel, but he told them he wouldn't sign with the team if picked. The Braves second choice was Larry Wayne Jones. And the rest, as they say, is history.

It would be several years before Chipper Jones would step up to the plate as an Atlanta Brave. And it would take nineteen years for him to step away. My sister and I share a Chipper passion that is at the forefront of so many memories of the last twenty years. One time, we went to a Pirates game at Three Rivers Stadium because the Braves were playing. She went armed with a sign that said "CHIPPER MVP". During a pitching change, she held up the sign and yelled "Hey Chipper!" He looked up, read the sign, and tipped his hat to her. She gave him a huge grin and a thumbs up, and he returned the gesture. We didn't stop talking about it for the entire 90 minute car ride home.

Last year I had to watch Chipper retire. And I had to watch the last game of his career get mucked up by the lousy officiating. Tonight, I watched the Atlanta Braves retire his jersey.

Echoing the sentiments of every Braves fan in the country, Chipper Jones thanked Todd Van Poppel when he made his speech tonight.

Here's to second choices!

They Go Together...

Like rama lama lama ka dinga da dinga dong

Yeah. I totally just copied and pasted that, because I had no idea what the actual verse was. So hopefully the Google search was accurate. But if not, you get the picture.

Macaroni and cheese
Peanut butter and jelly
Peanut butter and chocolate
Peanut butter and just about anything!

I love it when two things I love combine together to create one amazing thing. Like baseball and Star Wars! You weren't expecting that, were ya?? Saturday night was the annual Star Wars Night at Coca-Cola Field and I'm happy to say that I was part of the sold-out crowd who had a great time enjoying all the festivities!

Unfortunately, my camera battery died and all I have to show are some less-than-stellar cell phone pictures that aren't even worth sharing. But the Buffalo Bisons always do an amazing job with this event. Costumed characters are walking around throughout the game, happy to pose for pictures. Darth Vader, surrounded by his entourage, throws out the first pitch. When players come up to bat, the standard headshot of each player is replaced by a "good guy" from Star Wars. When the visiting team is batting, their faces are replaced by Darth Vader, Jabba the Hutt, Darth Maul, Boba Fett... so cool.

Each year, the Bisons players wear a specially-designed Star Wars jersey. After the game, the jerseys are signed by the respective players and some lucky fans get to take home an amazing keepsake. I bought a ticket (the proceeds benefit the American Heart Association) but didn't win. Boo. The Force was not with me.

The Bisons staff put a lot of work into a very creative six-part mini-movie revolving around SW and the ball club. During innings, a new episode is shown and at the end of the game the whole thing is concluded live on the infield, complete with an intense lightsaber battle. Finally, the lights are turned off and everyone turns on their own lightsabers. The evening ends with a fireworks display.

Are You Ready for Some Football??

I woke up cranky this morning. Mainly, because I woke up at 6:30 and tried desperately to go back to sleep. Because I was tired. I'm pretty sure I should have just crawled out of bed at 6:30 and I would have been happier. And a lot less achy.

And then I went outside.

Oh, happy day!! It was sooo nice and cool out. And it wasn't raining. I've been waiting MONTHS for a day like this! I just want to drag my TV outside and cheer on my boys in the nice weather.

Of course, that isn't going to happen. I'm going to stay inside and watch the game. By myself. Blah. While I make these to take to work:

Source: crazyforcrust.com via Sue on Pinterest

I saw another verion of this that doesn't used boxed brownies, but I figured this would be an easy thing to whip together between commercials. I love Oreo truffles, but think they're a PITA to make so I usually rely on someone else making them. These look brilliant.

I'm very excited for this season. (Not that I've ever been UN-excited!) The problem is that right now I'm so focused on baseball and The Retirement of Chipper Jones that I have a hard time concentrating on both. Last year, my Braves blew a huge lead in the standings and I'm hoping to see them still playing next month. A World Series ring would be the perfect ending to a brilliant career.

Wait.

I was supposed to be talking about football. See what happens??

I guess I'll just leave it at GO BILLS!!!! A friend posted an adorable picture of his baby girl wearing a full size Ryan Fitzpatrick jersey. Love it. Start 'em young, I say! Watching by myself will be so weird. So hopefully I'll have lots to cheer about!