Welcome into the BSC
What’s up everyone? I have to say, typing stuff out rather than just speaking it into a mic is a very unusual experience for me. For the last 11 months we’ve been completely focused on the podcasting world and now we’re expanding into creating a brand and a having a dedicated website which is not something I would have seen coming when we first started this little idea in December of 2020. Before I jump into the first of what is hopefully many different types of articles, I wanted to thank everyone who helped us get here. First, my wife Brooke who has put up with me and my podcasting obsessed brain for the last year plus. I love you. Next, both of my cohosts, Pat and Phil. Between the recording, the editing, the research and all the other behind the scenes work, there’s no other pair of guys I’d rather be partnering up with through this. And lastly, the listeners. This isn’t our job. We don’t get paid to do any of this. We do it for the love of it and we love hearing responses from all of you out there no matter if you have listened to one show or every single one. Having anyone give it any kind of attention is incredible to us. So, thank you to all of you. It means more than you will ever know.
Alright enough of the sappy stuff. Having a dedicated website for the Buffalo Sports Collective is going to open so many more lanes! Now, we are not writers. None of us went to school for that. So, if you see something that is usually written a certain way and its different here, that’s probably why. We only record and produce shows 2 times a week so in those other 5 days, we are left waiting until that next recording day. Having another avenue to get content out there will help fill that void for us and hopefully for you since this stuff is also for your enjoyment.
Now, a little about me if you missed my bio on the website or if you are just new to the show. I figured it’s nice getting to know a little bit about the people you are listening to each week. Hi, I’m PK. I’m the guy you first hear when the episodes start. I’ll be 30 in May and have been a Buffalo Sports fan and an overall sports junkie since I could walk. I am recently married (9-2021) to my beautiful wife. We have 2 rescue dogs, Molly and Maggie, as well as the occasional foster dog that comes through the house (currently Sven, our 33 pound, 5-month-old Lab mix). I was a Volleyball and Basketball player throughout High School. I am the same height now as I was then, so my career came to a halt when I went to college. Add in the fact that others had more skill than I did, and I didn’t stand a chance. I played Soccer through the summer with my friends and continued that into once-a-week action in the co-ed leagues over at Sportsplex. You can ask Phil, I’m a decent goalie, but you can tell which one of us has training and which one just throws himself in front of the ball. I also dabbled in some baseball for a few years and even played a season with Producer Pat once I was able to convince him to play.
The Buffalo Sabres were my first love. I can remember putting on my goalie gear and roller blades in my parents’ basement and watching the games on television each night and then copying the moves Dominik Hasek would do. I would play hockey in the driveway and smash my neighbor’s window so often that by the 3rd or 4th time we just bought him replacement glass, so we were covered for a few more games. Not sure what would go through my head that would lead me to do this, but when my dad would get home from work, I’d always convince him to take some slap shots on me while I had just leg pads, a baseball mitt and a goalie stick. That left a couple scars.
Then the Bills came into my life. The Doug Flutie’s, Drew Bledsoe’s, JP Losman’s and Ryan Fitzpatrick’s were my first QBs until our savior Josh Allen arrived. (Yes, I wanted Rosen in the draft. I love being proven wrong each Sunday). I remember playing 2 v 2 football in the street with my brother and neighbors. Using the telephone poles as endzone markers. When it was just my brother and I, we’d line up right in front of one another and you’d have 4 downs to get the football from one end of the back yard to the other. Can’t tell you how many passing attempts I made that got picked off. I remember watching Andy Dalton throw that TD pass to Tyler Boyd on 4th and 12 to break the drought. Following that a couple years later with the 100-yard pick 6 by Taron Johnson. If my vertical when I jumped up off the coach that night was measured, I’d be on the fast track to a high jump Olympic spot. Brooke learned very early on that I’ve got passion for these teams. I think she also realized my love for football early in the relationship when I would watch the games on Monday Night Football just because I had a player playing in the game on my Fantasy football team. She tells me all the time that the results don’t change just because I’m watching it. I know they don’t, but for you fantasy football players out there, you know what I’m talking about.
The Buffalo Bandits are as Buffalo as Buffalo can get. I’ve had seasons for 7 years now? I’ve lost count. I have tried explaining Banditland to people that have never been and it’s tough. I end up saying something along the lines of it’s an experience that once you get the taste you are hooked. We have gone from Producer Pat, me and another buddy having tickets, to expanding that to a group of 7 people and likely 2-3 more next season. We are creating our own little section party up in our last row of the 100s. I’m that guy that spends the day after the game updating spreadsheets and calculating numbers for the next episode. Heck, I just spent ½ the day Sunday gathering stats for all current and past bandits for both future articles and future episodes.
Lastly, the Bisons. Growing up as them being the affiliate of Cleveland, and my dad being a huge fan of them, we went to some games, and I remember him telling me which player to watch for and which ones would be up in the big leagues soon. Now I catch myself doing the same thing. I have a habit of when we are at the games keeping closer eyes on guys that will be the next generation of big-league talent. I try and make it a habit of making it up to Toronto at least once a year to catch a game and watch former Bisons in action.
While I can say I am a fan of all 4 of these teams, I know the line between being a homer and being objective. I will never defend these teams against any and all criticism. Heck, I have been known to go on my rants about some of the ineptitude that these teams show at time. Most recently the Sabres for example. If there’s an issue or a problem, I will not shy away from saying it like it is. I can’t turn a blind eye to something that needs to have the light shined on it. But, again, I know the line between being critical and personal. There will never be a time where you should send players messages about their performance or how what they did hurt your fantasy teams. This is something I will always stand behind. Show your frustration like we do and get mad on your podcast.
And now for what you can expect from me and these articles. Nothing is changing for us with the Monday/Friday shows. You’ll still be getting Phil and myself twice a week. These articles will be an add on to our regular content. There will be no planned schedule for when these articles will drop. Like I said to start this off, we all have full times jobs as well as family and friends that we want to see. But when we have some time, feel inspired or want to deep dive into something, you can expect to see an article to drop. I’ve already got some ideas planned for things I want to talk to you all about. There will be the occasional ranting articles or opinion based reads, but for the majority of my own articles, I want to find not only topics that I’m interested in, but ones you all are interested in as well. I will also be deep diving into things that might not have gotten the attention they deserve. My goal is not just to write something to write it. I need to write and spend the time doing so for a reason. Otherwise, what’s the point? So, my promise to you all is you won’t be getting half effort articles. When one of mine drops you’ll know that it’s something that I’m genuinely interested in or have some real thoughts on.
We promised in our final show in 2021 that we had big plans to move forward into the New Year and this is just the first of them. So now the call is out to all of you. If you have something you want Phil or me to look more into, something you love hearing about more than anything else, or anything about the core 4 Buffalo Sports teams in our area, let us know! Our podcasts are between 40-60 minutes so there’s only so much time to cover all the Buffalo sports so these articles will be our way of spending more time on individual topics. I am so excited to start yet another new journey with this podcast with all of you! Again, thank you for all of the continued support you have showed us so far. We are just getting started here.
If you have anything for us, our contact info is on the website, but I’ll throw it here too because the more you see it the more you’ll remember it. At least that’s what my Earth Science teach told me in 1st grade.
Email: Buffalosportscollective@gmail.com
Facebook: @BuffaloSportsCollective
Instagram: @BuffaloSportsCollective
Twitter: @BuffaloSportsCo