Bad jerseys and sports costumes at the Buffalo Turkey Trot

Yesterday was Buffalo’s 117th annual Turkey Trot five mile run and it’s customary for people to dress up in costumes like it’s Halloween. Naturally I was on alert for any random jersey and sports themed costumes. As usual sports nation did not disappoint as there was plenty of goodness for me to capture.

Say hello to the Buffalo Hockey Guys who gave homage to Slapshot and looked dope in their Sabres getup’s. Despite the fact that the NHL is locked out sports fans in Buffalo were in midseason form as I saw almost as many hockey jerseys as anything else. I’m guessing that is more of a statement of the disappointment with the Bills than it is their love of Gary Bettman.

This Gabe Northern Bills jersey is fantastic not just because it made me think of Quilted Northern toilet paper but also because Northern was an average at best player. He was never a star in Buffalo, only lasted four seasons, and there aren’t a ton of good reasons why you’d buy his jersey considering he was on the same team as Bruce Smith and Chris Spielman.

The award for best costume most certainly goes to these four guys who were decked out in full Buffalo Bills pads, helmets, and jerseys.

Bills fans still love to relive the glory days of Thurman Thomas, Andre Reed, and Jim Kelly and I don’t blame them. Ryan Fitzpatrick has been nothing short of awful since signing a 6 year, $54 million contract last year, Stevie Johnson is no Andre Reed, and there’s been too many injuries and inconsistency with CJ Spiller and Fred Jackson. At least these costumes will never go out of style, will always get them dap, and will remind them of a time when the Bills were always perennial playoff contenders.

Gilbert Perreault was the freaking man in Buffalo. This Hall of Fame center iceman was the first player ever drafted by the Sabres, holds the Sabres record for most points in a game (7), scored the teams first power play goal and hat trick, and his number 11 jersey is retired. That’s baller.

This Jim Kelly Miami Hurricanes jersey is as rare as seeing Bigfoot or a good game by a Kansas City Chiefs quarterback. To put Jim Kelly’s college career into perspective I decided to compare his stats to two other well known Miami alum’s, Gino Torretta and Ken Dorsey. Here’s how they all stack up:

Jim Kelly – 5228 yards passing, 32 TD’s, 28 INT’s.
Gino Torretta – 7690 yards passing, 47 TD’s, 24 INT’s.
Ken Dorsey – 9565 yards passing, 86 TD’s, 28 INT’s.

What this teaches you kids is that you can’t always tell a story on stats alone. Otherwise Ken Dorsey would be a Hall of Fame NFL quarterback.

Barry Sanders jerseys are like ranch dressing. Regardless of where you are at it’s always good. There are some things in sports in which it would be very hard to change my opinion. Convincing me that someone other than Barry Sanders is the greatest running back ever is one of them.

Here is a modern day Bills fan rocking a CJ Spiller jersey and a flag that is one proud ass dude. I’m all for double dorking, I’m a Steelers fan and can be as obnoxious as they come. However, a jersey + backpack + flag + blue shorts combo is taking things to Defcon levels. I’m pretty sure this Bills fan believes that he can help Ryan Fitzpatrick throw less interceptions by rooting harder and wearing more Bills gear.

Drew Stafford is a second line winger for the Sabres that has his own Youtube series named “Fu Man Drew”. Here is a video where he gives he gives some workout tips while wearing rollerblades. I guess that is reason enough to buy his jersey.

Nothing like wearing the jersey of a traded player to a post race afterparty. Paul Gaustad, who is a gritty third/fourth line player that fans absolutely love, was traded to the Nashville Predators last year. That makes rocking his jersey during the NHL lockout look ultra lame. To help make up for this here’s a video of Gaustad fighting my least favorite player in hockey, Scott Hartnell.