Sabres Fan Documentary

Sabres fans, let me ask you four simple questions:

1. Are you a Sabres fan? (Yes, you are. If you’re reading this blog you’re either a Sabres fan, or my mother.)

2. Are you super awesome? (Yes! You are!)

3. Are you incredibly attractive and/or hilarious? (Duh. Of course you are.)

4. Do you want to be a STAR OF STAGE AND SCREEN? (Of COURSE you do! You were BORN to be a star!)

Well, get this: There is a woman making a documentary about Sabres fans.

I KNOW. A movie, about us.

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A few weeks ago I was contacted by a woman named Mary Wall. Mary is a native of Buffalo, but now she lives out in California and she works on the television show “The Office”. Mary is making a documentary about Sabres fans, and she’s looking for cast members. From what I’ve gathered from our email correspondences, it sounds to me like Mary is actually making a movie about Buffalo, and she is using Sabres fandom as an illustrator of our basic character as a region.

Longtime readers of this blog will understand why this caught my attention. I believe strongly that there is a connection between the character of the people of Buffalo and our relationship to our often woebegone sports franchises. I became a Sabres fan out of a desire to become closer to this city, and it worked like a charm. I became a Sabres fan, and almost like magic, I became a Buffalonian. If I wanted to tell the story of this region, one of the first places I’d start is HSBC Arena. The connection between the Sabres and the city is what this blog is all about. The Willful Caboose is me, talking about my life here in Buffalo, and using my Sabres fandom as the stage.

Basically, I think Mary is onto something with her movie. She’s speaking my language here.

Now, to be clear, I’ve never met Mary Wall. In our emails she seems nice and intelligent, and I love the basic premise of her project, but having never met her, I can’t exactly vouch for her on a personal level. What I can say is that she does not seem insane or crazy in any way (other than the whole “move to Buffalo from LA and spend the winter following hockey fans around in the snow.” I think you can argue that’s a little wonky. But other than that, she seems totally normal and cool). All I’m saying right now is that I think this is a neat idea, and I’d love to see Mary succeed with this documentary.

And that’s where you guys come in.

Mary needs people to be IN the movie. Some of the questions that I asked at the beginning of this post may have been a little misleading. Mary is looking for all types of people. Young, old, cool, nerdy, hot, less-hot, life long fans, and newbies. Basically, if you love the Sabres, then Mary wants to hear your story. From what I gather, a key element of the casting process is getting a variety of different people, so please, spread the word. The Sabres touch our lives in a million different ways. If you know someone with a unique Sabres story, encourage them to get in touch with Mary.

Here is how Mary describes who she is looking for:

We are currently casting for Sabres fans. It doesn’t matter if you were born a fan or became one later in life; whether you were born in Buffalo or adopted the city as your home. If the Sabres’ ups and downs are your ups and downs, we want to hear your story. We want to hear from season ticket holders and people who listen to the radio while dreaming of seeing a game live. We want people who have woven the Sabres into their lives: when your child was born during the playoffs, when you served in Iraq, when you got over your first heartbreak (you know you fantasized about Ray beating him), when you beat cancer – whatever your Sabres story is, we want to hear it.

Mary will be in Buffalo this week holding open casting calls at the following locations. All the casting calls are 5-8pm.

Wednesday 8/17/11 – Spot Coffee

765 Elmwood Ave

Buffalo, NY 14222

Thursday 8/18/11 – Audubon Library

(Community Meeting Room)

350 John James Audubon Pkwy

Amherst, NY 14228

Friday 8/19/11 – The Comfort Zone Cafe

17 Main St

Hamburg, NY 14075

Walk-ins are welcome, but you can also e-mail bflosabresdoc@gmail.com to set up an appointment, ask questions, or share stories.

If you want to read a little more about the project and who Mary’s looking for, here’s a link to the Facebook page.

So, go to a casting call. Talk to Mary, ask her questions, and tell her your story. The casting interviews will be low-key and not filmed. There’s really nothing to lose here, and to me this seems like something worth checking out. I think this sounds like a wonderful project, and I hope you do too.