As It Happens5:01Buffalo Bills fans work hard — and play hard — while shovelling snow at stadium
Buffalo football fans found innovative ways to have fun and blow off steam while shovelling out their team’s home stadium during a snowstorm this weekend.
The Buffalo Bills asked folks to come to the Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y., over the weekend and Monday morning to clear the snow ahead of a wild-card playoff game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Hundreds answered the call, including Buffalo resident Eric Shields, who shot a viral video Saturday of one rambunctious Bills fan sliding down a snow chute topless.
“The guy was like, ‘Oh, I’m going to go.’ And then another guy’s like, ‘Oh, take your shirt off!’ And he’s like, ‘Alright,’ and took his shirt off,'” Shields told As It Happens host Nil Köksal.
“I had to get it on film.”
Buffalonians dig deep to watch Bills in wild card game against Pittsburgh Steelers
Die-hard fans answered the call to dig out the stands in Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y., from under more than 45 centimetres of snow. They were offered $20 per hour, and some took their time while others turned it into a party.
As extreme winter weather ripped through parts of the U.S. over the weekend, the Bills and the stadium’s janitorial company, Jani-King, issued several statements asking fans to come help clear the stadium.
“I woke up in the morning, I chugged down a Monster energy drink, and I was ready for the day,” Shields said.
Those bold enough to brave the cold were paid $20 US an hour, plus free hot food, for their labour.
“We had chicken fingers,” Shields said. “They’re relatively expensive at the game. So I mean, that’s a perk if you get them for free.”
Eric Shields may be a New England Patriots fan, but he was still game to help clear the Buffalo Bills’ home stadium of snow. ‘The Bills are definitely, I guess you could say, my secondary team,’ he said. (Submitted by Eric Shields)
While most of the shovellers were part of the team fan base, known as the Bills Mafia, Shields stood out in his New England Patriots mask.
“I was going to wear a jersey, but I didn’t want to ruin it,” he said.
The Bills fans gave him a gentle ribbing, he says, but as a lifelong Patriots fan and Buffalo resident, he’s used to it.
“It’s all for fun,” he said. “I love my city regardless of what team I like.”
People shovelled and shovelled over the weekend, but the snow kept coming. (Jeffrey T. Barnes/The Associated Press)
The workers, along with stadium crews, worked all throughout Saturday and Sunday to clear the more than 60 centimetres of snow that fell over the weekend. Nevertheless, the game, originally scheduled for Sunday, was postponed until Monday because of the weather.
“We would shovel by sections, and by the time we got to the next section, we would look over at the section that we had just shovelled, and it was already covered,” Shields said. “So, I mean, all of our work was for nought, but it’s better than letting it sit here and pile up.”
On Monday morning, the team once again called on fans to clear the way. Brandon Brummert woke up at 4 a.m. and made the 144-kilometre drive from Rochester, N.Y., to help shovel.
“It’s beautiful out now. Thank God the wind’s not kicking. If the wind was kicking in, it would be brutal right now with blowing snow,” Brummert said Monday morning.
A worker helps remove snow from Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y., on Sunday. (Jeffrey T. Barnes/The Associated Press)
The field was cleared by game time, but the majority of the seats were still blanketed in snow when the gates opened.
Undeterred, fans borrowed shovels from guest services and used their hands or pieces of cardboard to clear their seats.
Those who couldn’t dig out a spot either sat in the snow, or simply stood.
The fans also tossed snow into the air like confetti to celebrate Buffalo’s game-opening touchdown.
Fans celebrate a touchdown by the Buffalo Bills against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the first quarter. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
It’s long been a tradition for Buffalo residents and Bills fans to help clear snow for the team during the winter.
Shields remembers doing it before when he was a teenager. Bob Isaacs, 62, says this year was his fourth time taking part in the stadium shovel.
“You’re a Bills fan,” Isaacs said. “It’s all part of the deal.”
Fans take their seats in the snow before the game on Monday. (Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
