Upstate

At the end of the first period at the Canes vs. Buffalo game when I first unveiled this sign, I was immediately accosted by a Buffalo fan. Her first question had to do with the BUFFALO MAKES YOU JERKY sign. She said she didn't get it. I said it's a pun on Buffalo (the meat). "But Buffalo is not known for making jerky," she said. No, but it IS known for jerky fans.

She insisted she was not trying to be mean, but also Buffalo is not "Upstate." I told her I was aware that some people didn't consider it Upstate, but some people do. No, she said, "I'm from Buffalo, and nobody considers it Upstate, so your sign doesn't work because we're not Upstate." I said some people do consider it Upstate, and the fact that it offends people from "Western New York" to be called Upstate just makes the sign just that much more effective.

She kept telling me she wasn't trying to be mean, and I thought, no, it just comes naturally to your kind.

Canes beat Buffalo 6-3 that night at home and then beat them 3-1 the following night, in, you know, Upstate.