Articles from the Buffalo News on the Bandits for anyone who is interested.

INDOOR LACROSSE
Game day
By TOM BORRELLI
News Sports Reporter
5/7/2006 Bandits fans can catch "Orange Fever" Saturday prior to the final. A pregame party featuring live local music, food and drink specials, hair and face painting, as well as appearances by the Bandettes and Bandits mascot Rax, begins at 3:30 outside HSBC Arena in the Plaza area located near Perry and Illinois streets. All are invited and encouraged to wear orange.
Championship tickets are $37 for 200 club level and 100 preferred, $29 for 100 level II and $27 for 100 level III. They are available on line at tickets.com, at all tickets.com outlets in Tops Markets, and can be charged by phone at (888) 223-6000.

e-mail: tborrelli@buffnews.com




INDOOR LACROSSE
In Bandit Land, are you experienced?


Atmosphere, energy make HSBC Arena a unique venue for fans young and old

By TOM BORRELLI
News Sports Reporter
5/7/2006 It's not only the players and coaches who turn HSBC Arena into Bandit Land.
It's also the energy in the building, the public address announcer, the music, the chants, the dancers and the fans.
Buffalo Bandits director of lacrosse operations Dave Zygaj is hopeful his team can sell the joint out - all 18,690 seats - for the first time in nine years for Saturday's 6 p.m. National Lacrosse League Champion's Cup against the Colorado Mammoth. So far, more than 12,000 tickets have been snapped up.
The most recent standing room only throng occurred when the Bandits last played a home championship game - on April 12, 1997 against the Rochester Knighthawks. After several years of declining attendance, fan support has rebounded nicely. This season's average home crowd of 12,163 was the highest since 1998 and it marked the third straight year attendance has improved.
Zygaj says it's because a Bandits contest is not just a game, it's an experience.
"It provides entertainment for sports fans and non-sports fans," said Zygaj. "It's the whole environment. I love hockey, I grew up playing it, but I've fallen in love with this game too."
So have most of the folks who come through the turnstiles. Since the team sold about 4,700 season tickets this season, nearly two-thirds of every home crowd was a walk-up or single-game sale.


INDOOR LACROSSE
The stands
By TOM BORRELLI
News Sports Reporter
5/7/2006 When things are going well for the Bandits, the place is loud.
"The fans in Buffalo are just so interactive," said NLL commissioner Jim Jennings, who will present the Champion's Cup to Saturday's winner. "That's the difference between Buffalo and most of the rest of the cities in the league. And that's what makes it so enjoyable."
Jennings' home is decorated with bandannas and other Bandits memorabilia, courtesy of son J.T., 11, and daughter Caitlin, 10, after visits to Buffalo.
The fan who wears a giant "Potato Head" is a regular. So is a mysterious patron known only as "The Bandit."
"I've never even seen his face because he wears a big bandanna and sunglasses," said Bandits game production director Marty McCreary. "When we put the camera on him, he goes wild."
An average home game means about 70 bushy orange wigs are sold at the concession stands, a tribute to fan favorite Mark Steenhuis, who has bushy blond hair and wears bright orange lacrosse shoes. A group of fans wears orange togas, others wear cowboy hats.
"The reason Bandit Land is what it is is because the guys establish a tone and the rest of the fans just go with it," McCreary said. "It's kind of hard not to get swept up in it."
Lancaster's Dave Nitchke is a 65-year-old season-ticket holder in Section 103. The test engineer and his wife Judith have been going to Bandits games since the team came to town in 1992.
"The sport is great and it's economical," said Nitchke, who says he's never forgiven the home team for letting Jim Veltman get away to the Toronto Rock after the last championship season of 1996. "You get to see eight home games and it doesn't cost an arm and a leg like the Sabres. I couldn't afford to go to Sabres games. But for $200, the wife and I can get out of the house eight times a year."


INDOOR LACROSSE
The voice and songs
By TOM BORRELLI
News Sports Reporter
5/7/2006 The man who supplies the juice to Bandits fans is public address announcer Chris Swenson.
"There aren't as many restrictions as the NBA and NHL so that allows us to just run with it," said McCreary, referring to the music that blares during play, plus Swenson's ongoing commentary that often deflates the opponent as much as it inflates the crowd.
When Steenhuis scores, Swenson asks the crowd, "Whose house?" They respond, "Steen [it's pronounced Stain] house."
When goalie Steve Dietrich makes a save Swenson inquires, "What's he got?" The crowd bellows, "Nothing!"
John Tavares, the top scorer in NLL history, is serenaded by "Johnny Who?" from Swenson. "Tavares," yells the crowd.
"Chris' lines are being copied all around the league," said McCreary. "And that's the highest form of flattery."
There's also a song for every situation.
"Start Me Up" by the Rolling Stones sometimes ushers in the opening faceoff.
If a game seems headed to overtime, it's time for "You Shook Me All Night Long" by AC/DC.
When Steenhuis scores a goal, you hear "Brick House" by the Commodores.
Cory Bomberry, who possesses one of the hardest shots in the league, is honored with "You Dropped A Bomb On Me," from The Gap Band.
As for Tavares, it's "My Hero" by the Foo Fighters.
"The demographic spans young and old," Zygaj said.

INDOOR LACROSSE
The Bandettes and Brigade
By TOM BORRELLI
News Sports Reporter
5/7/2006 The Bandits practice once a week during the season. That's nothing compared to the Bandettes, who hold three-hour practices twice a week plus an hour-long workout on game days.
"If they miss a practice the week of a game, they get benched," said Erin Jackson, who is co-manager of the Bandettes along with Julie Fanutti. "If they're late to practice on game day, they're benched."
More than 40 women, who must be 18 or older, tried out for a dozen Bandettes spots. Jackson said the tryout talent was so good the roster expanded to 14.
The Bandettes not only perform dance routines during games, they attend team functions and hold autograph sessions on the 100 level before games. They hosted Cheer for a Cure, which included 80 schools' cheerleading squads to benefit juvenile diabetes, and their popularity has led to the establishment of the Junior Bandettes, a 26-member squad made up of 7- to 17-year-olds who get to dance with the Bandettes at halftime and during pregame at one contest each season.
And some people aren't satisfied with just going to the home games.
The 150 or so members of the Bandits Brigade, the team's fan club, travel to Rochester, Toronto and Philadelphia. They even went to Calgary two years ago for the championship game. They've partnered with the Bandits to raise money for the Variety Club and are always looking for new members.

For those of you who had Fun last night With (e:jenks) I'm glad you had a great time. To bad I missed another bar party. I guess I really need to get a cell phone with the web and get a pre paid plan. If I would have had that I could have found out that there was a change in plans. I wound up having A good time at a verry packed Cozumel. I watched the Sabres game there and had some drinks. Oh there where some amazingly stunning women there. Of course being shyish I couldn't come up with anything to say to start a conversation. There was this one tall girl with a Turgeon Jersy on who was nice and she had a friend with her who wasn't half bad either. I did walk around and see if any one I knew was there. Granted I got there a little later then I wanted but oh well. I didn't wind up seeing anyone I knew at all. I found the past place to see the game is inside as opposed to the place with the big screen. Yes the screens are smaller but since they are elevated you can see the entire picture as opposed to looking between heads. I think I need to start taking pictures of chicks at bars and events and posting them hear for everyones pleasure, sounds like a good idea to me, doubt I will do it.

This Morning I was going to go to the bank but figured out my time and wound up going to see Mi:III or mision imposible 3. It was verry good and had lots of action and good twists and turns, I thought it was verry good. There is a chance that I may go and see it again. I just got to the bank before it closed. I wanted to go picture taking today but the sun is strange it is overcast then sunny the next minute I would prefer that it was sunny. I need to look up if any good movies are on tonight. It is weird how I feal like doing something but have no idea what.

First of all Happy Birthday (e:jenks). Hope everyone has a good weekend and 5th of may. If that means going to Cozumel or watching the sabres. Time to go shower change and go to Cozumel to watch the game celebrate and celebrate Alex's 30th birthday.

Update I must remember the camara and take some pics of the peeps if I can find them I heard they have a new building. Hopefully they will come out good and will get posted well time for fun hopefully i'll see some of you there.

Went to John's Italian (however it is spelled) Village on grant with my sis's roomate and some people she knows and had a good time here are a few pictures of the sournings. i'm used to eating by myself but eating as a group is cool and is fun also.







on a side note hopefull I will see some of you peeps out on friday. I have no Idea what (e:Jenks) is doing in terms of time and place. A buddy of mine left his card with his # in my mail box so I had better call him in a few minutes and find out what is going on.

As of the News I have been toying around with the custom themes and mine is kinda funky but I like it I need more purple. I wonder if there is a way to see what others themes look like. Oh in case I don't see ya this weekend Happy Birthday Jenks.

I love this weather we are having. But it creates a great war within ones self. Do I go check my (e:mail) and Post and go to a few websites or do I go find something to do on elmwood like take a walk. Iknow if I go out in that weather then I will fall behind on other stuff I do on line. Right now it looks like there are at least 3 concerts I want to go to. Edge Fest was just announced it is on a Monday June 26 or is that 27 I know it is a monday. They got wise and are going to trash LaSalle Park, Lots of Bands that I don't know but 30 seconds to mars will be there from what I understand. Seether is going to the Erie County fair with Shinedown and another band. Alexisonfire I saw once and they where verry good I belive they play the same night as the bandits in the championship. There are going to be lots of great concerts this spring and summer and I'm sure there will be more annouced. I belive chevelle is opening up for Nickle Back that might be interesting. But often with so much stuff going on diuring the summer you sometimes get conflicts and I'm allready conflicted by the weather. I gotta bail and hope the sabres can win as I tape House (part 1 part 2 is on wendsday). Hope everyone gets to enjoy the weather it sure can change quickly here.

Not sure why they didn't give any of the pornograffic sites that use webcams for sex but this has a lot of web cam sites it was in todays link section of the buffalo news i know some one was looking for web cam site. I know i have been to one of these sites but a lot of them I have never heard off.

COVER STORY
Computer with a view

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Web cams offer a window on our world

By KELLY BOQUARD
SPECIAL TO THE NEWS
5/1/2006


Photo illustration by BILL WIPPERT/Buffalo News
Carrie Bracco checks out views of Niagara Falls on local Web cams.



Robert Kirkham/Buffalo News
"At first we were worried about what someone might do on camera," muses Grant Hamilton, publisher of the East Aurora Advertiser, as he adjusts the Web cam in the second-story window of his newspaper office on Main Street om East Aurora.

We look for them on the TV news and we listen to them on the radio: Local weather updates, traffic reports, skiing conditions, etc. But with advances in today's Internet technology, access to this information doesn't have to be limited to the airwaves.
Local Web cams make it easy to monitor what's going on - down the street or across the world - live 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from the comfort of your computer.

For those who don't know what a Web cam is, it's a digital camera attached to a computer and connected to the Internet. The device allows Web site visitors to view images that are streaming on the camera live, at any time.

Have you ever wondered how congested traffic is on the Peace Bridge, or on the commute downtown?

By visiting www.peacebridge.com/webcam.php, viewers can see a live video shot of cars crossing the bridge westbound into Canada. At www.surfbuffalo.com/webcams.html, Web surfers can get up-to-date traffic images of the Skyway and the 190.

The site also allows visitors to check out ski conditions at Holiday Valley and Peek 'n' Peak. Not to mention a live visual images of Lafayette Square and even a local bird feeder.

Want to see what's happening on Elmwood Avenue?


Visit www.buffalowebcam.com/live_webcams and take a look at Pano's Restaurant, Saigon Cafe or Cole's Restaurant and Bar. There's even a live camera inside Half and Half Clothing Co., located at 1088 Elmwood Ave., which shows an overview of the store . . . shoppers included.

To see Buffalo's first and longest running < Web cam go to www.buffalocam.com/index.html. Depending on which direction the Web cam is pointed, it shows an overview of City Hall, Niagara Square or the McKinley Monument.

Web cams have come a long way since their roots in 1991. The first Web cam ever used was at Cambridge University. A camera was directed at a coffee pot in the computer science room to monitor activity 24 hours a day.

They have been used not only in public places, but in private locations as well. New cams have been added to instant messaging servers such as America Online (AOL) or Yahoo to allow users to look at the person they are sending messages to.

These cams can also be helpful for video conferencing. In this era of corporate penny-pinching, Web-cam technology allows meetings to be held with more ease and convenience and no travel expenses.

Andy Parker, a meteorologist with WGRZ-TV Channel 2, says that looking at Web cams allows him to go beyond the numbers and get a feel for weather conditions at remote locations.

"In the '90s, the ability to see a live picture from a location with just a mouse click was fascinating. It was a challenge to develop the technology needed to create a network of weather cameras, both locally and throughout the country, that would allow anyone in the world to experience that place from their PC," Parker said.

"Going forward, I look for Web-cam content to expand into people-oriented mobile devices like cell phones and Wi-Fi cameras," he added.

Grant Hamilton, owner of the East Aurora Advertiser, has had a live Web cam running for almost seven years in the window of his weekly newspaper office on Main Street in East Aurora. It updates every minute. He uses it to check the weather and to bring people to the Web site, www.eastaurorany.com. "Former residents love it," Hamilton said. "Local residents have been known to line up in front of the camera and hold up a happy birthday sign so a friend abroad could see their friends back home."

"We've seen a number of folks standing by the Web cam and being photographed in front of our building."

For Hamilton, having a Web cam isn't just a business tool. It can also be used for fun, but it brings with it some concerns.

"At first, we were worried about what someone might do on camera," he said, "Otherwise, the only other negative is the "big brother factor' of people on camera without knowing it."

For Western New Yorkers, worldwide Web cams can be just as fun and helpful as local ones. For those trying to get a New York City feel, live cams of Times Square can be seen at
www.earthcam.com/usa/newyork/timessquare, or watch the flow of water over Niagara Falls at www.niagarafallslive.com or travel through cyberspace to Paris to see the Eiffel Tower live at www.abcparislive.com.

If sight-seeing isn't your cup of tea, other sites offer live animal coverage. Look at cheetahs, flamingos, elephants, ferrets and more at nationalzoo.si.edu/Animals/WebCams.

Or look at live fish tanks at wp.netscape.com/fishcam/fishcam.html and the Piranha tank from Nashville, Tenn., at www.piranhapictures.com/livepiranhacam.html.

For a different spin, some sites offer a you-control-it cam. Www.clickiton.com/webcam takes one step further by giving users access to interact with a Web cam instead of just watching it. This cam is a view of a home with various lights in it. By using X10 Home Automation modules and a broadband connection, the creator allows visitors to turn the different lights in the room on or off or switch on a Coors beer sign.

Under the FAQ's section of his Web page, the creator of the "clickiton" site says that the reason he created an interactive site is because "most of the Web cams you see are of a tree at night, someone watching television or working on their computer. Not a lot of fun. I thought there must be something more you can do. I thought it would be fun to put together a site with a Web cam that would be fun to look at as well as be interactive."

For another great "you-control-it" site, go to www.engr.cornell.edu/explore/quad-cam.cfm. The live cam is set up at the Cornell University engineering quad in Ithaca. Users can move the camera around, zoom in or out, and change the lighting. A visitor can also take a snapshot of whatever they have chosen to look at. The camera also has "presets" which allow users to choose from a menu to view different buildings on campus or take in the scenic seasonal panorama of Cayuga Lake.

To get a look at some popular worldwide Web cams, www.Earthcam.com, a Web cam server, has listed their top 25 most popular cameras for 2005. These cams are the ones that get the most hits from Internet users.

Check out www.earthcam.com/top25/2005/index.php to get a view of Honolulu, Spain, Sweden, Germany, Egypt and more. The world awaits at the click of a mouse.

Before the Bandits game I took some pictures of downtown Buffalo. The Bandits wound up winning 15 to 10 the game was closer then the score reflects. Steve "Chuger" Dietriech made some amazing saves and towards the end of the game the Knighthawks pulled there goalie a few times. It was such a fun game and verry intense. The Bandits Play for the Championship or Sat. May 13 @6pm . That game will be on ESPN2 broadcast live from what I understand. I have seen a few games on TV and they don't seem as fast and they are not as exciting. But I have gone to lots of games before I watched them on TV. I find the oposite true of hockey it looks faster on TV to me. But that being said I would watch it on TV before I went to any games. In any event here are a bunch of pictures of buffalo and the bandits.

The reason I say the Bandits Need ourHelp is for two Reasons. First of all it will be a tough game for them. Secondly Rochester being close often has a lot of Nnighthawks Fans there. Granted we can't play the game for them but we can chear them on and atleast give them support. For those who like indoor lacrosse this is an important game. I know for some people it isn't there thing but I had to at least let people know about it.

Not sure which picture search egine of Yahoo or Google is better. A couple times they have given much differant results. Google had this one site when I looked up stripers that had male stripers and women in a public strip club grabing there dick wich wasn't what I was looking for but was interesting. I have also looked up Jackdaw not knowing it was a bird also besides a band and got all kinds of pictures that happens often. Most of these pics are from Yahoo and Google search however a few of them are from Miami-ink.com they are the work of Kat. Her portrait work is so amazing. Hope some of you enjoy these it wasn't a real extensive search.