When the Rochester Americans posted on their Facebook page asking for reasons why people should be selected to get their season tickets delivered I jokingly responded, “Easy answer.. it’s a Friday.. Ted Black likes beer.. my fridge is stocked with Genny Light, a Rochester beer.” I didn’t expect to get a call or even expect him to be the one delivering my tickets but it was (easy article giving them praise?).
I’m a season ticket holder and as a customer I had no hesitation taking advantage of this perk! Rob Kopacz (Vice President of Business Operations) was also with Ted Black, was an honor to have a casual conversation with both of them.  When they arrived I offered them a cold Genny Light as promised and we talked for a short time.
(Genny is not a sponsor in any way, I just love the beer.. Genny you can call me, I’m open to ideas!)
Reading the Tweets from the @Sabresdotcom, @Amerkshockey and @kevinodandc as these deliveries were made it’s hard not to get a sense of excitement for the start of the Amerks season a week from tomorrow in Hamilton. The front office, coaching staff and players were out in the community delivering tickets and helping to generate that enthusiasm.
An Amerks fan named Eric Bourgeois had his tickets delivered by a group of players, Zack Kassian being one of them. Eric had asked Kassian to start a line brawl on the first shift to build some immediate excitement and Kassian replied, “I’m trying not to get suspended this year.”
Back to my visit..
One of the things Ted mentioned was that he picked up a bunch of Rochester Americans jerseys and will be bringing them to Germany to hand out to soldiers during a visit. He said that even if they don’t know who the Amerks are it’s the crest on the front of the jersey that is symbolic.
Over the summer many people will probably remember the discussion that started about the Sabres patch being put on Amerks jerseys, he said one of things I wrote along with the survey results influenced the decision to back off of it. Even though people seemed split down the middle there were other things to be concerned about than upsetting fans. It’ll be revisited again next season. If there’s something you don’t like, speak up!
We also talked about how I got started with this site, blogging in general and about how the Buffalo Sabres have become more open to those of us not considered part of a TV network or major newspaper. The truth is we (bloggers) can generate as much news about the teams as anyone else so they’re smart to pay attention. It’s paying off too, look how much more praise this new ownership has received from everyone with their openness.
It’s great to know that he reads all of these sites (us non mainstream news outlets) often and stays informed. So far things are pretty good, now to just hope that the players on the ice follow the same lead. Top notch organization run by first class individuals.
There was some other small talk but those are the only exciting things worth writing about.
The downside to him stopping by was that it delayed the completion of a few other articles I had planned to post today. Oh and he didn’t take his shoes off when he walked into my place. No respect (obviously I’m not being serious)!!!!
Attached is the picture of the two of us taken by Rob Kopacz with Ted’s iPhone.. now you know what I look like, say hi if you see me around!
