I’m sure that I don’t need to tell you how happy I was to check out of my haunted hotel on Wednesday afternoon. Not that anything really happened after the first night, but I was still too creeped out to sleep with the lights off, and shower with the curtain closed. Anyway, after I checked out, I met up with a friend to hit Qdoba for a pregame meal Coach Bylsma style.
For those of you not from Pens town, or, at least, not familiar with Coach Bylsma’s game day superstition, here’s a recap. Apparently, Coach has to have a Qdoba burrito before every game. Legend has it that the Penguins started winning after he started eating there. Coach claims that he’s not superstitious, and that he just has a “routine.” Seems pretty intense for a simple routine if you ask me. Not only does he get the same thing every game day, he is also particular about the Qdoba staff member who prepares his food. Apparently, he gets quite upset if his burrito goddess isn’t at work on game day. He also gets the burritos made to take to road games, and sometimes even has his vice coaches (I call them vice coaches) eat there as well. Coach is so hardcore about his “routine” that he is even trying to have a Qdoba franchise put in at the Penguins new rink! Does this still seem like a simple routine to you?
Anyway, I had this genius idea that, in the interest of the Coyotes, I would stand in the doorway of the restaurant and block Coach Bylsma’s path. “No burrito for you today, sir!” Unfortunately, we had just missed him by ten or fifteen minutes and he got his burrito to go – SAD! I ordered the pulled pork burrito and it was both huge and delicious – I know, it was carbs central on this trip! I theorize that my burrito ingestion is likely what gave the Coyotes the leg up against the Pens that night, and led them to their shutout victory over the Stanley Cup champions. Not only did I have the burrito, but Coach’s burrito diva herself gave it to me on the house! Now if that’s not unstoppable game day voodoo, I don’t know what is! You’re welcome, Phoenix! By the way, I saw the footage of the game, and I looked damn good eating those cheese fries!
After the game, I drove like mad to get to Buffalo in a decent amount of time. I made it in three hours, including the half hour I was in traffic trying to get out of Mellon Arena. While I was driving like a crazy person on a mission, I, for the first time in my life, really understood the value of my XM satellite radio. The smell of my hotel room in Buffalo reminded me of my mystical six game road trip last season, when I left my sanity at Logan International and became a Coyotes fan. Last season, Buffalo was the second of the Coyotes back to back games at the beginning of their five game eastern kick. At that point I was under a lot of pressure, and already completely stressed about my decisions. This time Buffalo was also the second game of the double header, and my feelings were all too familiar. I was hitting road blocks on this trip, and I was starting to believe that maybe I had made a mistake somewhere along the way. That night I went to bed wondering what was going on with this mystery man I was supposed to meet, but the good news was that I was able to sleep with the lights off.
Apparently, the ORGANIC goods fell out of my top at the game LOL!
