Tailgating, traffic jams, potato soup and frozen Penguins
DAN MEYER Political Columnist
Some random thoughts and firsthand observations on the "Winter Classic" outdoor hockey extravaganza (aka the Ice Bowl) held on New Year's Day in Orchard Park between the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins.

I was there, sitting (actually mostly standing) up in Section 314 in Row 21 in the general vicinity of Seat 13. Here's what I saw before, during and after the big game:

• Tailgating may not be defined as a "sport," but it definitely can be classified as Buffalo sports fans' favorite pastime. The thousands of rabid fans who jammed into the parking lots as early as 7 a.m. didn't seem to mind the snow, wind and other miserable weather conditions because they were solely focused on nibbling on nachos and sucking down suds. What an incredible atmosphere to experience if you're a fan of the Sabres, the game of hockey and Western New York.

• Just like at the pregame parking lot parties for Buffalo Bills games when people toss around the pigskin and run in between parked vehicles, there were more than a few folks playing street hockey prior to the Sabres-Pens game. Everything from one-on-one action to a huge five-on-five affair that had a quintet of Pittsburgh fans wearing Penguins' jerseys taking on four Sabres-clad guys and one gal with a Jim Kelly football jersey (at least she had the right idea.)

• According to friends who are in the know, the new stadium food items were well received by those who tried them. While I personally passed on trying both the potato soup and the chili, one fan of all things deep fried and battered stated that the soup was a "refreshing alternative to the steamed hot dogs," while another friend described the chili as "tremendously tasty."

• One thing I could have done without was the postgame traffic jams. While I know from past experiences in leaving the parking lot from a Bills game that vehicles can get backed up a bit, both Abbott Road and Southwestern Boulevard appeared to be abnormally tied up with traffic for quite some time.

I'm not sure if it was a lack of folks monitoring the roadways or just a lot of cold and wet people very anxious to get home, but the backups bordered on ridiculous when you're still trying to pull out of one of the secondary parking lots nearly two hours after Sidney Crosby won the game with his heart-breaking, jaw-dropping and game-winning goal on Ryan Miller in the shootout.

• Speaking of being cold, our contingent from Hamburg was not. In fact, we were quite comfortable because we actually overdressed for the occasion.

For the record, yours truly wore boots, long underwear, two pairs of socks, two pairs of sweatpants and snowmobile pants on the bottom, and then three shirts, a jacket and a hockey jersey up top, along with two pairs of gloves, a winter hat and a "neck gator." That kept me nice and toasty from the time I jumped in the car at around 9:45 a.m. until I arrived back home around 7 p.m.

• For those keeping score at home, the average beer went for $8.50 while a cup of hot cocoa ran you $3.50.

• My favorite "blasts from the past" hockey jerseys spotted in and around the stadium throughout the day that featured former Sabres players included Paul Cyr, John Tucker, Dave Andreychuk, Clint Malarchuk and a truly unique shirt that had the words "The French Connection" on the back along with the jersey number of Gil Perreault, while Rick Martin and Rene Robert's digits were located on the sleeves.

• There were also plenty of Penguins jerseys floating around Ralph Wilson Stadium, including numerous Mario Lemieux shirts as well as jerseys featuring the likes of Tom Barrasso, Jim Paek, Troy Loney, Bob Errey and Ron Francis.

• I still haven't seen a replay of the game, but a co-worker did tape NBC's coverage, so I'm looking forward to hearing the reference to the movie "Slap Shot" by Bob Costas.

• You really can't tailgate without the proper music. Still ranking high on my list of top tailgating tunes is Queen's "We Will Rock You," Guns N' Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle" and "Thunderstruck" by AC/DC.

(Daniel Meyer is a columnist for the Weekly Independent Newspapers of Western New York. Opinions expressed here are those of the author.)