1/1. Projected departure time is moved up to between 7 and 7:30, rather than 8, because it seems weather conditions are a bit dicey. We make it out the door at about 7:46, according to the timestamp on lyev's first phone post.

LJ is wearing two pairs of pants, thermal underwear, shirt, two sweaters, Gary Roberts shirt, gloves, scarf, Penguins toque, winter coat, and battery-powered socks.

My full complement of layers: tights; silk undershirt and pants and glove liners; a pair of above-the-knee socks from Sock Dreams; a pair of leggings, brand name forgotten and no longer visible on the tag due to repeated washing, that one of my old roommates recommended as being very warm, and jeans. The silk layer is very thin. I've never actually worn them before today; I guess I was saving them for some time when I could expect to be very cold. I've heard good things about the insulating properties of silk. Today seems like a good day to give it a try.

For my upper torso I have the silk undershirt, a grey cotton/spandex mock turtleneck, a heavy black T-shirt, a loose black shirt, a dark grey actual turtleneck sweater, a fleecy pullover my mom gave me for Christmas, and a heavy Winter Classic hoodie with the Penguins logo on the front. I'm not wearing all of these layers at the moment.

Accessories and misc: the aforementioned silk glove liners, three scarves, two hats, two pairs of gloves, a pair of mittens, a stadium blanket. One hat, pair of gloves, and scarf were a set acquired from Target, because they were in the Penguins' colors. (The actual ones, not the retro ones.) Also, hand warmers. And camera. And bag to hold all this stuff.

I also have my contingency bag, because I don't trust what the weather might do. Among other things, it contains a Penn State t-shirt, OSU t-shirt, spare underwear and socks, and an OSU sweatshirt my mom gave me this Christmas. I figure that if I'm going to possibly be stranded in WNY by the weather, I might was well challenge their sports preferences as much as possible. ;) I also toss my regular coat in the back, and some beverages in the front. (Water, soda, Gatorade.) At the last minute, LJ remembers to grab the donuts I got from the kosher bakery. Which closed yesterday, dammit. (Though I think it may reopen in a few months, based on something I overheard one of the employees say yesterday.)

Anyway. At around 8:40 we make our first rest stop. Visibility and driving conditions are sort of dubious; everybody is driving very slowly and has their hazards on. We stop at a rest stop; the attendant tells us that there were 3-5 dozen Pens fans who came through yesterday. Once we got outside the city, practically every car obviously contains Penguins fans headed to Buffalo. LJ points out to me that the small stuffed Iceburgh that he gave me for Christmas has stowed away and is riding along, peering out the rear window. I joke that he's a stowaway.

At around 9:40 we hit another rest stop. I am feeling hungry, so I get a sandwich at the Subway even though it's a bit early. The woman behind the counter gives me probably the best ridiculously polite service I've ever had at a Subway. Or at any fast food restaurant.

Last rest stop at around 11:10, at Angola Parking lot and interior are filled with Pens fans. Amusingly, there is one fellow in a Sabres shirt. Exactly one. It has the logo that they used before the current Slug version. We stop to ask him when they used it - apparently, until '05 if I recall correctly.

On the way out we pass some more Pens fans (big surprise) - LJ asks them "What would Gary do?" and they cheer. I am amused. ("What would Gary Roberts do?" is a meme-thingy that so far as I know originated on the Pensblog. I don't actually follow the Pensblog very much because it sort of annoys me.)

We find a radio channel - AM 550 - doing pregame stuff. At one point, people yelling "Let's Go Pens" are audible at a bar one of the guys is broadcasting from. The radio guy tries to get the Sabres fans to drown them out and ... they can't. Also, some guy who I'm half convinced must have been a prank caller/smartass calls in to express his Sabres fandom, and to add that the only real team in Pittsburgh is "my Pirates." LJ and I look at eachother incredulously. Some other person on the radio show says he wants to see Laraque fight Andrew Peters.

Before very much longer, we're off the Throughway and in the driveway of LJ's labmate's parents. We chat a bit with her mom; she tells us the shortcut to the stadium. We spot a grey biplane overhead; it flies over the stadium several times.

We join the hordes of people we saw walking through the streets. Soon we're on the grounds and in a mad crush of people. LJ has put on his Laraque jersey, and three Sabres fans have applauded. If you like fighting in hockey, I guess all enforcers are appreciated, even if they play for the other team. ;) Some guy buttonholes LJ - "HEY! Pittsburgh! Where are you going?" and I start to wonder if there is going to be trouble here, but he just wants to tell LJ to eat some wings. LJ's like "Oh yeah, Anchor Bar" and the guy is like "No, Duff's! No one even goes to the Anchor Bar," which amuses me. (Buffalo wings were invented at the Anchor Bar. But some of the locals prefer Duff's.) LJ tells him "After the game, man, after the game" and we push through the crowd, looking for the gate closest to our seats. Wings Guy was pretty lit, just in case there was any question in your mind.

Once we get to our gate, there's a long wait. Everyone is being patted down, for all the good it'll do, and having their bags checked. The Buffalo fans are tolerable and not a hazard to personal safety. There are a few Pens fans around. One of them says something like "If you want to experience personal danger as a Pittsburgh fan, go to a Browns game," and we're all amused. As one of the other Pens fans said, there is no hatred between the Pens and the Sabres. One of the Slugs fans says "Mario s-" and then stops as realizes he can't bring himself to say "Mario sucks." One of the Pens fans retorts "Mario's a Hall of Famer?". More laughter.

Eventually the line starts moving. We get inside. LJ buys a program. I haven't decided if I want one yet. We take our seats. I start snarkily thinking that our section must be full of functional illiterates - lots of people who can't seem to find their seats even with the usher's help. Admittedly, the row numbers painted on the steps are pretty faded, but there are numbers on the aisle seats, and whatever happened to counting as you went up the section?

Some guy sings the Canadian anthem (English version). For some reason, Ronan Tynan sings "God Bless America." Is there something wrong with the American anthem? The rest of the crowd seems confused by this too.

The helicopter flyover was pretty spiffy.

Colby Armstrong scores 21 seconds in. I just barely miss getting a picture of this. But we and the 8 or so other Pens fans in our section are excited by this. I cheer for Army. Sabres fans sulk.

Around 10 minutes in, when there's a break, I decide I do want a program. Fortunately, there's an access to the area outside the stadium (but still on the grounds) just outside our section, and there are ladies selling programs there. I ask them to get me one that isn't wrinkly and snow-logged, and they blink at eachother and oblige. I hand them a couple extra bucks, because they went out of their way. I figure they can keep it for themselves or for the organization they're doing this for, whatever makes them happy.

I get back to my seat after the mostly fruitless attempt to find something to cover my program with, and LJ offers me a clean garbage bag. He brought along a bunch because a friend of his aunt's, who used to live in Buffalo, said that a lot of Bills fans take along a garbage bag to games, and use it to keep their legs warm. A lot of the natives wore their hunting camo - there were at least three in our section. And there was one guy in a Winnie the Pooh suit. Seriously! I was thinking (tongue-in-cheek), man, this fursuit thing has really gone too far. Sadly, I didn't get a picture of this person. Also, there were a bunch of people wearing those light brown suits that the guys who collect garbage wear when it's really cold outside.

As I get back the Pens are about to go on the power play; I missed a couple minutes, but the score hasn't changed.

Some guy started chanting "Pittsburgh sucks"; I yelled "That's why we're leading!"

First intermission: Kraig Nienhouse, an ex-Bruin, sang a song he wrote. The crowd didn't get into it very much. As far as I can tell it was about how great playing pro hockey is and how you have to give 110%. I was not listening much.

Second period: sometimes you can just tell that a team is going to score, that it's only a matter of time. That was how it was when the Sabres came out.

At some point I realized that because I wasn't paying attention, the garbage bag LJ gave me is letting in water. Oops. Program is slightly but not catastrophically wrinkly at the bottom.

Strangely, I thought the Penguins played well defensively for most of this period. (This is strange because the Penguins are sort of wobbly defensively.) Though this may have just been a side effect of being further from the rink than usual.

Second intermission: The Sam Roberts Band played. I was impressed with their ability to rock out (i.e., dance and sing) in the cold. But it was probably easier to be doing that than just sitting there.

A couple asked me to take a picture of them. Then the guy apologized, saying he wasn't thinking I'd have to take off my gloves; but I peeled off my right mitten to reveal ... yet another layer of gloves. He smiled.

Third period: you could tell the teams were getting a little tired. Also, by this point it was quite cold. There were dry powdery snow flurries coming down. Noticed some fans in a section a level below ours and one over waving Terrible Towels. Took pictures.

Some guy in our section was chanting "Pittsburgh sucks" most of the time. Annoying, but less so when your team doesn't actually suck. ;)

They played "Sweet Caroline" ... enh. They played "Livin' On A Prayer," which really got the crowd revved up. I sang along, because what the hell, that is a pretty decent song, at least in terms of nostalgia value. Even though it felt sort of like I was cooperating with the enemy.

Then they played "Cotton Eye Joe." LJ groaned about how we could never get away from that song, and I agreed. (They play it at the Mellon, but not as much this year as last year.) This song annoys me for a couple reasons. 1, they play a version by Rednex that is really annoying - it's a dance mix. 2, it kind of makes me wince, because some of possible implications are ... enh ... twitchy-making. Of course, maybe this song is a great hockey tradition that I'm totally ignorant of.

Period ends, still tied. I groan, because the Pens will be short-handed. I hope that they will be able to get it to a shootout, because I'm pretty sure the Pens can win in that phase.

OT: one eye on the game, one eye on the clock to see how much time is left on the power play. Much relief when it ends.

Period ends and they go to the shootout. The ice crew is shoveling one end ... then they stop, because both goalies have elected to defend the end we're closest to. I'm surprised that they don't bring the Zamboni out, because I thought that the rules require the dry cut. (I just checked, and according to the rule book, that doesn't have to happen. I heard on the recording of NBC's telecast that one of the Zambonis broke down because it was too cold (!), IIRC. Maybe that happened to both of them.)

Was nervous when Kotalik put one in and Christensen was stopped. But Letang continues to be money in the shootout, Conklin stopped the next two Sabres shooters, and Crosby, who isn't that great in the shootout IIRC (statistically), put one in too. The Pens fans in our section were jumping up and down and shouting.

After that we bailed out of the stadium. I sort of regret it now, because apparently they (a) set off fireworks and (b) had both teams get back on the ice to salute the fans. I'm sorry I missed that - I'm used to regular hockey games where once the game is over, that's pretty much it.

Once we got out of the stadium proper, it seemed much colder and windier. I commented that it was a once in a lifetime experience, and that I wasn't sure whether or not I wanted to add "I hope."

Some Sabres fans were grousing:

Sabres Fan 1: Sidney is a girl's name.
Sabres Fan 2: He is a girl.
Me: A girl just beat you in hockey!

LJ said he didn't get it, and I said that was because he was more mature than most sports fans, including me.

As we were walking, I observed to LJ that I could feel my feet, and they hurt. I was suddenly feeling really tired - adrenalin letdown, I guess. We stopped at a merchandise stand in the parking lot, because LJ wanted a t-shirt and had come up empty at the ones inside. This is where I learned that the people selling programs were doing it for some swim team (for 6% of the take), or at least this particular pair was. For all I knew not all the groups were selling them for this swim team. The swim team guys had bags, which made me sorta grumpy that the ladies I bought mine from didn't. But later on it occurred to me that they probably cadged them from the Winter Classic merch booth, which they were right next to.

We went back to LJ's labmate's parents' house. Her mom made us hot beverages and tossed our outer layers in the dryer. We talked for a while with her parents. Her dad dominated the conversation, talking about having played hockey on ponds and trapping mink and been in Viet Nam.

There was one amusing moment - well, first you have to know that LJ's labmate is named Nicole, but apparently her parents call her Nikki (which is what everyone calls me; I hate my legal first name). Her dad said "So you work with Nikki?" to LJ, and LJ said "No, Nikki is a college student." Her parents looked confused, and I pointed out that he meant their Nikki.

After a while, our stuff was dry, and we got dressed and got on the road. (Though we were wearing so many layers you could hardly tell we had taken anything off.) There was still some traffic, but there was less than there had been when we got back to their house.

We stopped at Angola again. The workers at the place where I grabbed a snack were talking about how they were going to run out of everything, and have to close early. All the employees looked rather shell-shocked. Being hit hard with fans traveling to and from the game, well, I'm not surprised.

After we left Angola, road conditions started to get bad. I reclined my seat and fell asleep, and sort of woke up when LJ said he was going to pull off at Harbor Creek and see if the motel had rooms left. They did, so we stopped there for the night. We watched a bit of a football game that was on, then slept.

The next morning, I realized that the deodorant I'd been sure I'd packed had been sitting in the snow all night. Oops. Guess it fell out of my bag.

We had an uneventful trip home. LJ went into work for a bit, and I slacked.

Post-Game Thoughts:

General thoughts on prep for this sort of event (i.e. one that requires being in cold temperatures for several hours) - the stuff with a + I did correctly, if somewhat inadvertently, and the - stuff I found out by goofing up. ;)

+ The silk insulator stuff worked really well. Glad I still had it. (It's been several years since I got it, and I never actually wore it. I even considered donating it to Goodwill a couple times, but figured I'd keep it just in case.)

+ It was good that I had some outer-layer stuff besides my Winter Classic hoodie. That way, after we were done with the game, I could change into something that didn't smell like smoke. The venue was non-smoking, but you could smoke on the grounds as long as you weren't actually in the stadium. I'm sorry, smokers, but I hate the way you make everything around you smell disgusting when you light up. :P

+ Ideally, for after the event, you should have a backup pair of socks, gloves, hat, whatever you need to be warm that stayed in your car and was not exposed to the elements.

+ Your contingency supplies should not only include these, basic toiletries, food, and medication, but stuff to entertain you in the event of a delay.

+ If it can't be washed easily, you probably shouldn't take it with you. (I saw two women carrying what looked like handmade quilts to use as stadium blankets. Crazy, IMO.)

+ Those handwarmer packets are great.

- But don't misplace part of your stash such that you're unable to find them when you arrive. (This was LJ, not me, for a change. It should be noted that I couldn't find my ski mask to take the night before, or my keys the morning of, and that I still can't find my keys.)

- If you stop somewhere for the night, or get home, the wet stuff should not be left in the car. Especially if it's leather. (Also, additional pairs of gloves/mittens may not slide over wet leather very well.)

- Thin knit gloves should not be used as outer layers. Actually, they should probably be generally avoided.

- The more layers which protect your feet, the better. I only had two (not including shoes), and more would have been better.

- If you're taking a bag, it should be a waterproof/water-resistant one. If it isn't, you should have plastic ziploc bags for things that might be damaged by water. The damage in stadiums is erratic, and it will always be at least a little bit wet under your seat if it's raining or snowing, or has done so recently. (In addition to the program issue, my moleskine got a bit wet around the edges. But I was able to dry it using the motel's radiator, and no ink ran.)

General thoughts: there were tons of people who couldn't stay in their seats. I eventually figured out what part of the problem was ... they had to leave to get beer. Is it not allowed at NFL venues to have beer-sellers going into the stands? Lame, if so. (Actually: it appears that there was a lawsuit after some drunk ------------ got in a crash going home from a football game, and paralyzed a two year old, and the resulting judgment led a lot of the concession companies to change their practices at football games. These changes included the elimination of beer vendors in the stands. Interestingly, the defendant in that suit, Aramark, is also in charge of concessions at the Mellon.)

Should they do this again? Definitely. Should they do it every year? I'm not so sure. There are too many variables, e.g. weather. Who knows if it would be profitable, or if people would get jaded, or if there are enough people who would want to attend outdoor games if they became a regular thing. Maybe every other year. There are only about 10 NHL cities that are consistently cold enough (by my count, anyway). There are more non-NHL cities that would love this sort of event, of course, but I haven't actually investigated to see if all of them have outdoor stadiums that are suitable.

ESPN showed highlights of the outdoor game where Adam Hall and Ryan Miller were teammates - the Cold War game. And the outdoor game that OSU played in last year. That was pretty nifty. I heard that some of their analysts were slagging it, but I haven't actually seen this myself.

Ryan Miller wore a Michigan State button or something on his helmet. That made me smile.

Apparently some Slug fans were calling this the "Ice Bowl" and the NHL sued them for it. (There's a link to this in the Deadspin recap. Warning, Deadspin is rarely ever SFW or in good taste.) I saw tons of people wearing hats that said "Ice Bowl." There were also people wearing OSU shirts, Penn State shirts, Steelers gear (fans of both hockey teams!), and weirdly, Florida Gators shirts. Oh, and people wearing buffalo masks and hats with buffalo horns. But I didn't see anyone wearing one of these Russian-esque Winter Classic hats.

The AM 550 post-game show was better than the Pens post-game show, I have to say - the Slugs show had tons of player interviews, and the Pens show is almost all call-in and analysis. Not that I object to the analysis, but when you have 3-4 fans calling in to ask the same question (in this case, what will happen to Conklin when Fleury gets healthy), it gets annoying. Conklin's been super, but he'll probably be sent down.

The insult commercial with Ryan Miller was mildly amusing, but when I found out that the other guy was bloody JS Aubin, well, it became hilarious. (Aubin was originally drafted by the Pens.)

It's always amusing to see Edso doing TV commentary for a Pens game. (He's the Pens coach who replaced Therrien last season.)

It was really gratifying that the Pens got this win without Roberts, Fleury, Eaton, and Talbot. Even if the Sabres have been struggling. The Pens won this game in a way the league would love to have scripted - with El Sid putting in the shootout-winning goal. Someone on the Slugs' post-game show referred to him as the best player in the league - maybe even Kotalik, I'm not sure - and I wonder sometimes if he is the best player in the league, yet. Probably the most valuable to his team, sure.

I think that's all I've got for now, until I get around to posting the photos. If I'm lying, I'll edit, or make another post. :)