In The Bud Zone At The Bills-Steelers Game

A friend and I were graciously given passes for "The Bud Zone" in Windows restaurant at Toronto's Rogers Centre for the pre-season NFL game between the Buffalo Bills and Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday.

Doors opened at 5:30 and by the time we arrived at 6:15, all the tables overlooking the field had been taken. Oh well, there was free food to be had, so I made a glutton of myself at a series of buffet tables serving roast beef, fried chicken legs, huge sandwiches, potato salad and pasta salad. We were given two beer tickets, and I acquired a third. Unfortunately, though entirely logically, Budweiser was the only brand available. I went against my normal grain and didn't mock it too much because the three women we ate dinner with at a standing table worked for the company's ad agency and said they'd try to find us some seats — which they didn't.

I was invited to have my picture taken with some of the "Bud Girls." No thanks.

We found a place to stand where we could watch the game. A guy beside me looked like Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger, but I knew it wasn't because he was drinking bottled water and wasn't surrounded by either the "Bud Girls" or the "Hooters Girls" who were also on hand. I later found out that the Kroeger-alike was from the House Of Lancaster strip club, which seemed appropriate.

Even though this was ostensibly a home game for the Buffalo team, I saw more people wearing Steelers jerseys than Bills apparel on the walk to the stadium, and the cheering seemed to be pretty well-balanced for both squads once the game started. The announced attendance was around 48,000, which seemed high from scanning all the empty seats, and I question how many of those filled seats were fully paid for.

If any of you are actually interested in the game, here's a brief synopsis:

When the Bills' starting offensive players were on the field for the first quarter-and-a-bit, they looked surprisingly good. Quarterback Trent Edwards looked composed and threw two touchdown passes to underrated tight end Robert Royal. The Bills' first round draft pick, cornerback Leodis McKelvin, looked weak on many defensive plays. But he made up for it by returning a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. The Bills were leading 24-21 with seconds left to play when the Steelers' fourth-string quarterback threw a bomb into the end zone. The receiver got both hands on the ball, but couldn't corral it, leaving the Bills with the victory.