The Bills were playing the Tim Tebow led Denver Broncos at 1pm on Christmas Eve. Even though the miracle Broncos had been snuffed by the New England Patriots the week before, the consensus was that the hopeless and injured Bills would lose.

On top of that, the game would be blacked out in the Buffalo and Rochester areas because Ralph Wilson Stadium did not sell out. In some markets, an owner will buy out the remainder of the tickets to ensure a sold out game, but Bills owner Ralph Wilson (or whomever is acting on his behalf these days) did not. To add to that, the Bills had squandered a successful first half of the season to fall to a 5-9 record, with no chance of the playoffs in sight. Add to that the general pessimism surrounding the Bills’ brass after they signed shaky starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick to a long term contract but have yet to restructure key cog running back Fred Jackson’s deal (they have merely “assured” him of one, but haven’t inked anything official.)

Given all of that negativity, why would a social media manager ask such a question? You could expect at least eighty percent bitter responses. But the Bills’ asked, and here are some of the actual responses they received:

The Facebook comments section – several hundred deep – felt like a big group therapy session, or at least an extremely curmudgeonly family Christmas dinner. Surprisingly, the Bills pulled out the upset and used a strong day on defense to defeat the Broncos 40-14.

Was it harmless for the Bills to ask such a question via social media, or does it illustrate how out of touch they may be with their fan base?

I took the opportunity to ask them their thoughts about the Phillies starting pitcher that day, former Blue Jays ace Roy Halladay. I gestured around the park. “Do you think he’s going to get some boos?”

“Absolutely not!” exclaimed the woman. “Roy is still ours. Roy didn’t want to leave. It was our stupid owners who wouldn’t pay him what he’s worth.”

She leaned into me and took a quieter tone, as if what she was about to tell me would make her lose her seats. “Look at us. We’ve had these season tickets for how many years? A long time. Our fellow fans come to this stadium in droves, even if they’re losing. It might not sell out, but that’s because it’s enormous. But we’re still drawing a significant amount of people, and we all buy food and shirts…how could they not pay the one player we liked? They had the money.”

She stepped back, and her husband chimed in. “We applauded him for the minute we saw him yesterday, and we’re going to give him a standing ovation when he comes to the mound today,” he said decisively.

My new Mississauga friends were correct. When Halladay walked to the mound for the bottom of the first, the sold-out crowd (many of whom were wearing their old Halladay Blue Jays jerseys and shirts) rose and roared. It gave me such a shiver up my spine that I accidentally hit pause on my video camera, missing a few seconds of the action.

Halladay pitched a complete game, and the Phillies beat the Blue Jays 5-3 that day, though current Blue Jays star Jose Bautista hit a beautiful home run off of Halladay. I tried to take a photo of every Bautista at bat against Halladay, because if any future children I have are mega baseball fans, they are sure to treasure it. (And just you watch, if I ever have kids, they’ll hate sports. It would be my luck.)

After the game, the day’s starting pitcher for the Blue Jays, Carlos Villanueva ripped Toronto fans in comments to the media, saying:

“I know he did a lot for this team and this city but we have a new ace here and his name is Ricky Romero.”

Seeing Villanueva’s quote that night on TSN, I cringed. The Toronto fans had cheered for their own team too, giving Bautista a standing ovation for his home run. Who was Villanueva to tell fans who they should and shouldn’t cheer for? Was he just being a poor sport because his team lost? Or did he have a point and should have fans toned down their adoration?

This incident may have occurred a month ago today, but as long as there are trades and free agency in professional sports, it will still be relevant. When a beloved player leaves via trade or free agency, is it okay to still cheer for that player? Or do you have to pledge your allegiance to one or the other?

Then I started going to sports networking events, and confident me came back. At the first Boston Sports Blogapalooza last spring, I was tentative at first, but lost the trepidation within ten minutes. I felt like I knew what I was talking about, and I was interested in hearing from my fellow attendees.

Confidence reinstated post-Blogapalooza, I started to sign up for networking events in higher ed and in general social media. Things quickly returned to the status quo: my glass of generic white wine in hand, I would stand in the corner after ten minutes of being intimidated by the discussion and attitudes around me. Or I would try to pitch in, even if they didn’t need the help. (I became really adept at unofficially filling in at registration tables and “admiring” scenic views out windows.)

Going into the third edition of the Blogapalooza on Saturday, I didn’t have high hopes. I had signed up to present during a panel, and was excited to do that, but I was so beaten down from my introversion that I didn’t know if I could work a room. Within a minute of walking in, I recognized three people. I turned the corner, and ran into more. Then I started talking to new people. Introvert? What introvert? I didn’t stop talking for five hours. I gave my panel, I did interviews with The Pulse Network and Comcast SportsNet New England, and I bounced from group to group.

Afterwards, it hit me: I’m not really an introvert. I just have been trying to fit in places I might not fit in. I might not be cut out for higher ed, much like some of my higher ed colleagues aren’t cut out to be a sports writer. You do best at what you’re passionate about, and I am more convinced than ever that I’m passionate about sports media.

Just a week and a half prior, I had remarked to a higher ed colleague that I felt like I am at a crossroads in my career: am I in higher ed technology or am I in sports media/social media? I need to choose one to throw all of my effort behind so that I don’t stagnate in either. At the time, I was leaning towards higher ed, and was entertaining thoughts of dropping sports writing all together.

But why would I dump the one field that is obviously the field that I am most comfortable with? There is a reason I can work a room at an event like Blogapalooza, and that I struggle in higher education events, that I feel like I’m welcome at one and feel like an outsider at another.

In some respects, Saturday’s event kept my career debate alive. It at least gave me more initiative to find at least a happy medium. And for that, I have to thank Joe Gill and his team for putting the event together and being such strong advocates for building a bustling Boston sports blog community; Chris Villani, Ken Fang, Kevin Paul, Kisha T, Ryan Durling, Amy Blue, Mike Riley, the BC Interruption crew, and the Days of Y’Orr crew for being so friendly and fun every time I see them; Kathy McDonnell for being my fellow social media panelist and someone that always makes me laugh; and Butch Stearns and Jess Camerato for interviewing me and being able to pronounce my last name.

The TD Garden lit up with Bruins spirit. (Photo by me and my iPhone.)

The Boston Bruins are going to lose tonight because I am wearing pants.

Preposterous, you say. What does making a choice between a black skirt and black pants have to do with if the Bruins will tie up their Stanley Cup Finals series against the Vancouver Canucks this evening?

It doesn’t, of course. But the thought crossed my mind as I was running out the door to work this morning. Was I wearing skirts or dresses during games three and four? I know I was wearing pants on Friday, when they lost game five.

But what does the work apparel of a random university employee such as myself have to do with whether or not the Boston Bruins win a game? It doesn’t, but it doesn’t keep some of us from letting that thought enter our minds occasionally.

On Twitter, I’ve been watching the inner turmoil of one Bruins fan that didn’t want to touch up her Bruins colored nails because they had been painted as such since game three. There is another who has to wear the same Milan Lucic t-shirt every game.

The superstition goes beyond Bruins fans. I’ve written about my crazy Boston University hockey and general football superstitions before. Even recently, I was convinced that I couldn’t wear my hair up on a BU game day, because they would lose if I did. Even players have their own superstitions: they put their right skate on before their left, they always have to have yellow Gatorade before a game, they have to place their water bottle in a certain area.

So I ask all of you: what are your superstitions, either as a fan or an athlete? (That is, if you’re willing to tell!) Share them below, along with what team you do them for, or offer them on Twitter using the hashtag #sportssuper (Using the entire word superstition would cause us all to go over that precious 140 character limit.) I’ll post them later.

Uptown Sports has a small stable of NHL players it represents, including Mike Fisher, the husband of American Idol winner and country music sweetheart, Carrie Underwood.

Aside from the moral argument for gay marriage (because gay or straight, everyone deserves the right to have someone to argue with over what to have for dinner and putting your shoes in the boot tray), there are statistical and marketing reasons why those who don’t agree with gay marriage may want to keep their thoughts personal. From a statistical perspective, hockey businesses of any kind may need to stay away from an anti-gay marriage perspective.

Statistically, NHL fans are notable in two areas: the high number of them who are quite active online, and the number of them who have a college degree or higher. According to Sports Business Daily, in 2010, 14.9% of NHL fans admitted to spending 20 hours or more per week on the Internet, more than any other of the major North American sports. According to Experian Media in late 2009, NHL fans are more likely than non-NHL fans to earn a college degree or higher.

Additionally, both Sports Business Daily and Experian Media show a growth point within the 18-34 year old age range. 33.4% of NHL fans are within that age range.

So what do these numbers have to do with gay marriage? Because these growth points within NHL fan demographics (these points being those that the NHL has over its sports league peers) are also demographic strong holds within the gay marriage debate. According to the Pew Research Forum in 2010, 53% of 18-30 year olds support gay marriage. Also, 52% of college graduates and above support gay marriage.

Though statistics are difficult to come by, there are studies that suggest that those who don’t feel strongly on either side of the gay marriage debate are less likely to be online. Thus, if hockey fans are spend the most time online of all sports fans, they are the least likely among sports fans to be what the Pew Research Center calls a “tune-out,” someone who doesn’t have a feeling on the topic. Thus, hockey fans most likely have a strong feeling on the topic on either side of the debate.

So look where all of those statistics overlap? In the NHL, your key populations – the one those involved in the business operations side of hockey want to encourage – align with a segment of a population that will statistically most likely support gay marriage.

Thus, anyone who represents a player or a fan-oriented product is doing themselves a demographic disservice if they publicly promote an anti-gay marriage agenda. More so than in the other major North American sports, NHL fans will more likely fall in the pro-gay marriage camp, and paired with their high level of internet usage, are more apt to be active in sharing their views with others and adopting online activism.

———-

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention this anecdotal piece of evidence. The popularity of college hockey continues to grow year after year. With that growth, college hockey has become a gateway to NHL fandom within a population not exposed to the sport previously. Geographically, college hockey fandom continues to grow in New England, a region with great traditions in the sport, a recent history of national success…and one of the nation’s highest levels of support for gay marriage.

I had just two paragraphs left to write on Sunday night, but had a long week at work ahead of me, so decided to head to bed. I would polish the rest of it off on the train in the morning.

As I went to bed, President Obama announced that United States forces had killed Osama Bin Laden. No matter what you thought of the action, you had to acknowledge that it was a giant story, a monumental event, and one that deeply affected many people. It also changed a news cycle. Newspaper journalists and editors on Twitter were stating that they literally tearing up front pages of their Monday morning editions, moving other stories to other days or killing them all together.

It wasn’t just physical newspaper layouts that the event changed. It changed what an aware and smart online writer could post on Monday. I read a comment on Twitter that said, “If you’re Tweeting or posting about anything unrelated right now, you’ll come across looking stupid.”

To be honest, I’m an escapist. When big events happen, I internalize silently, and then look for something else to pay attention to. So as much as I was tempted to dive into the post I was working on, finish it off, and post it Monday or Tuesday morning, I knew two things:

1) No one would pay attention to it.

2) I could come across as being insensitive, since many equate escapism with insensitivity.

So, I put the blog post on hold. I’ll post it this week, barring unforeseen circumstances.

But it brought up a bigger issue that I think writers within this still-new sphere of independent sports writing might struggle with. How do you respond to world events – the Japan and Haiti earthquakes, the Bin Laden death – without appearing insensitive?

• Do you write about the intersection of the event and sports – like the perfect illustration of the power of smartphones and social media spreading important news last Sunday night during the New York Mets-Philadelphia Phillies game?
• Do you just go silent for a bit, because you know your readers may be focused elsewhere?
• Or do you go forward with what you planned to write and post, because it’s what keeps you grounded?

As a sports writer, is how you react to a major event much bigger than sports tied to how you view your writing? Do you write to express your own feelings, to tell a story, or as something fun? Do you write for other’s eyes, or just feel lucky that other’s may want to read at the end of the day? How you view the desired outcome of your writing will guide on how you handle writing and posting in the days following a giant world event.

However you decide to proceed is a personal choice, with no right or wrong answer. But in order to gain credibility as an independent sports writer, showing consideration of your reader’s attentions during an emotional time without being exploitative, is always the best direction.

I paused because I don’t believe that anyone is a blogger, especially here in April of 2011. We are all writers – even if you are on Blogspot writing grammatically incorrect ramblings about how much you hate the Montreal Canadiens, or on your own domain providing serious and detailed coverage of an emerging sport such as lacrosse. Everyone is writing. Why must we qualify the action by the medium in which it is taking place?

Writing independently of established media outlets and starting your own means to showcase your writing is nothing new. In the mid 1980s, my father and uncle saved money and created an independent music magazine called Rochester Rox. The first and only issue’s cover story was my Aunt Linda’s take on Bruce Springsteen’s influence on current rock music and his most recent concert in Rochester. Sure, she was a tad biased because I think she had a crush on him, but nevertheless. My father desired an outlet for his music writing, but couldn’t find one suitable. Faced with the same desire today, he would open a WordPress account and start writing within ten minutes. But back in 1985, he had to save up money, find a printing press and lay the whole thing out via an X-acto knife and our Sears electric typewriter.

Yes, Rochester Rox only lasted an issue. Dad and Uncle Rich were giving it away for free, and that lone House of Guitars (hop hop, hop hop – a joke all Rochestarians know well) ad didn’t pay all of their expenses. But would anyone describe what my father, uncle and aunt was doing was, “independent music magazining?” No. They were writing.

Thus why am I described as a blogger at times? Why does being a blogger have such a negative connotation? In 2003, just like my father 18 years before me, I sought a venue for my writing and none existed. Thus I started this sports blog. I always fancied myself a writer without a home, not a blogger. I wanted to use a blog – a website – to show what I could do, and hope that someone down the line would want to hire me to write.

Communication mediums have always changed over time. Cave paintings were replaced by books, which were supplemented with newspapers, which were supplemented by magazines, which were complimented with the radio, which evolved into television, all of which are currently being challenged by websites and social media. Blogs are a part of that evolution. But the blog is the noun, not the verb. Writing is writing, and while some writing still ends up on newsprint, other writing ends up online. Some of that online writing ends up on the sites of traditional media sources, while others end up on independent sites – many of which qualify as web logs, or blogs.

Like in any field, there are those who do their job well and those who do their job poorly. In any artistic pursuit, there are those who don’t get a point-of-view of the artist, or those who don’t agree with a style or presentation. Writing is no different. Some sports writers who use blogs as an outlet are awful. They spew rumors. They disparage other fans. They stalk athletes. In the case of Bleacher Report, they crassly build on a natural disaster to relate it to Japanese sports. Those are examples of bad writing. But bad sports writing isn’t limited to blogs. Look at the newspaper columnist who last week claimed the comatose San Francisco Giants fan who was brutally attacked by LA Dodgers fans “deserved it.” He is a writer, albeit a bad one. His medium was a newspaper, not a website. Bad writing, like good writing, can be found everywhere, and is not limited to the blog medium.

And some sports writers will choose to go about their craft in a different way than others. There are those among us who write game recaps and feature stories. There are others who tell personal stories about the sports they love. There are others who create humorous Photoshops to illustrate tall tales that are rooted in a factual basis. You don’t have to like the style they use, just, but you have to respect that they are creating. We are all writing. We all sought an independent outlet for writing. But unlike years past, there is a far easier way to find such an outlet.

I write because I couldn’t imagine my life without the written word. I write what I want to read myself. I write because I love it. If someone else is motivated to write, I can’t ever disparage them, even if I may personally disagree with their tone, methods or point of view. We share a commonality, no matter how grammatically incorrect or how strange that writing may be. No one gives anyone else a bad name as long as our desire to communicate via the written word is genuine.

Caffe Dello Sport is a Hanover Street cafe that mixes great Italian coffees with a great European soccer community. The cafe has a busy schedule of soccer viewings live from Europe, including games with Manchester United, Chelsea, and Real Madrid.

While I’m not the biggest fan of watching soccer, I am a big fan of watching soccer fans, who are prime examples of the intense sports fandom I’ve wondered and espoused about for years. Caffe Dello Sport combines good coffee with good people watching, and as this spring weather continues, I’ll be going there to get good and caffeinated.

Through my new partnership with group coupon site DealPop (I am one of their Boston writers – you can read my first piece for their blog here), I’m happy to offer you all an extra 20% off their current deal for Caffe Dello Sport. The deal, which gives you $14 of coffee and desserts (like gelato!) for only $7, expires on April 21st.  Use the code SGK_DELLO20 when buying the coupon to get your 20% discount.

I hope to see you joining me for an authentic cappuccino and coconut gelato at Caffe Dello Sport soon!

(Disclaimer: DealPop and I do have a business relationship, but I can pick and choose what deals I offer.)

It's a hockey gnome. (Photo: BC Athletics)

It’s a $29.00 Boston College hockey gnome.

I’m perplexed. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a hockey gnome for sale. Where are you to put this 10 inch tall gnome? Is it supposed to be a good luck charm? And $29 for a gnome? Is it just me, or does it seem a bit…pricey?

A quick Google search turns up a similar Cornell (who plays Yale in the ECAC championship game Saturday night) one, which is only $24.95, and half an inch shorter.

The Cornell hockey gnome

The BC gnome appears to be rolling his eyes at the silliness of it all, while the Cornell gnome looks at you head on, shaming you for purchasing a hockey gnome.

Have I been missing a whole line of college hockey paraphernalia all this time, or is this unique to BC and Cornell?

Given that this series is devoted to my mom, one of the most devoted Buffalo Bills fans I know, I figured I would begin with a look at the Bills’ St. Patrick’s Day offerings, first advertised Thursday via email.

The men's "Celtic Buffalo" shirt for 2011. Available for $25.

Perfect for spending March 17th sipping a Labatt Blue or Genny Cream Ale and enjoying a beef on weck, this hunter green shirt hits you over the head with shamrocks. It’s pretty clear cut – you’re a Bills fan and you’re Irish, or at least want to be. This shirt is just eh. I think it could sell, especially among die-hards, and it’s not horrible looking. But unlike most Bills wear, it’s not tugging at my heart strings, making me want to buy it before the team no longer exists.

The Bills' "Clover Frenzy" Women's St. Patrick's Day shirt. Available for $25.

While the men’s St. Patrick’s Day edition Bills shirt was mildly okay, the women’s edition is just plain horrendous. Entited ‘Clover Frenzy,” it took me way too long to realize the Bills type was to outline a clover.  Instead, I initially thought the following things:

1) The Ls looked to mimic two breasts.

2) The Ls looked like Buffalo drumstick wings gone bad, hense their green tinge.

3) The Ls looked like a heart, making this a Valentine’s Day shirt design they just repurposed.

If a woman has any semblance of a chest, then the Bills type is just going to look misshapen, and you will not be able to discern anything about the clover it is to outline. And if anyone attempts to figure out what it is supposed to resemble, the wearer is going to think they are staring at their chest. And depending on your thoughts on that matter, that may not be a desirable thing.

Alas, this shirt is just awful, and I bet even my St. Patrick’s Day and Buffalo Bills loving mother will not be persuaded to wear this one.

Both shirts are available at The Bills Store online. I wasn’t paid or sponsored for this post in anyway. If you have a St. Patrick’s Day sports shirt you want me to promote, send me an email and we’ll chat.