18 replies to this topic

[neverenough]

Hey guys, I would like to hear a little bit about where you watch the games?  I think every person needs that one special place where you just kind of tune out the world.  I would love being at the FN center during game time, but that's not the case since I live out west.  I attended the Sabres/Leafs and Bills/Steelers games back in 2010.  I was there when Steve Johnson dropped the ball in the endzone for the win and the leafs' fans were silenced at HSBC with a 3 to 1 win for the good guys.  Anyhow for me, I have a big basement that I like to call the buffalo cave.  It is decked out with Sabres and Bills stuff and of course a bar to have a few cocktails at game time.  Living in Oregon, I also have some Oregon state Beavers and Ducks memorabilia sprinkled in. So where do you go for game time?

Edited by neverenough, 28 January 2013 - 01:16 AM.

[Robviously]

neverenough, on 28 January 2013 - 01:02 AM, said:

Hey guys, I would like to hear a little bit about where you watch the games?  I think every person needs that one special place where you just kind of tune out the world.  I would love being at the FN center during game time, but that's not the case since I live out west.  I attended the Sabres/Leafs and Bills/Steelers games back in 2010.  I was there when Steve Johnson dropped the ball in the endzone for the win and the leafs' fans were silenced at HSBC with a 3 to 1 win for the good guys.  Anyhow for me, I have a big basement that I like to call the buffalo cave.  It is decked out with Sabres and Bills stuff and of course a bar to have a few cocktails at game time.  Living in Oregon, I also have some Oregon state Beavers and Ducks memorabilia sprinkled in. So where do you go for game time?

I live in a ~650 sq.ft. apartment in Chicago, so if I'm not in my kitchen or bathroom, I'm in the only other room in my apartment and that's where I watch the games.  I have NHL Gamecenter and a Roku box, so I can put the game on TV and then work on my laptop (or, more likely, just screw around on my laptop) while it's on.  It's a pretty decent setup and while my apartment basically sucks, I'm on the 35th floor and have a view of the water so there's that.

I'm jealous of your cave though.  I'm looking forward to getting a house sometime in the next few years so that I can have something similar.  I need a place to put all my Sabres, Bills, and Angels stuff.  (I have a ridiculous amount of Los Angeles Angels stuff because my uncle works for the team and mails me everything.)

[R_dudly]

Center Ice with a very small finished basement with the only large HD TV in the house. One small loveseat, table, a full bathroom and easy access to the extra fridge via the integral garage. Oh and a small walk in pantry where Dad keeps a couple bottles of medicine (1 bourbon, 1 scotch) for sippin if beer is not my fancy that night. No computer though which is why I seldom post during games.

[Doohickie]

At this point, the family room is mine.  There are a couple of sofas, a 20" CRT low def TV, my computer, my bicycles and tools.  So I can either hang out online while watching the game, or work on my bikes while watching or whatever.

[Peppy22]

my "cave" is my bed, cause I am usually in there when the sabres play haha at least in the regular season.

during the playoffs I am very superstitious which includes not sitting during the game or intermission.

Edited by Peppy22, 28 January 2013 - 01:17 PM.

[I am Marcellus]

I have a limestone cave beneath Lower Falls at Letchworth park.  I've patched in cable from a freshman dorm at Geneseo, down the laundry vent, through the sewer grate, and up the river.  It cost me nearly $10,000 just to run the cable.

Best part is, of course, that the wife has to repel Upper and Middle Falls, taking up most of the first and second periods.

[neverenough]

R_dudly, on 28 January 2013 - 11:47 AM, said:

Center Ice with a very small finished basement with the only large HD TV in the house. One small loveseat, table, a full bathroom and easy access to the extra fridge via the integral garage. Oh and a small walk in pantry where Dad keeps a couple bottles of medicine (1 bourbon, 1 scotch) for sippin if beer is not my fancy that night. No computer though which is why I seldom post during games.

The bathroom in my cave was taken down to make room for the built in bar. It was like that when we bought the house so now i have to walk upstairs. I'm thinking about putting a urinal in the garage tho, i'm sure my wife would love that.  Looking forward to hearing from many more of you.  Go Sabres!

[PromoTheRobot]

PTR

[Eleven]

Props for all the vinyl, but a Jennifer Lopez poster?

[BuffaloSoldier2010]

Eleven, on 28 January 2013 - 04:59 PM, said:

Props for all the vinyl, but a Jennifer Lopez poster?

The couch in the picture and the poster are one in the same...

[MattPie]

Eleven, on 28 January 2013 - 04:59 PM, said:

Props for all the vinyl, but a Jennifer Lopez poster?

It's all the Jennifer Lopez album variations (UK release, Japanese, etc) on that vinyl.

[Claude_Verret]

I have probably posted these pics of my cave before, but I wanted to add a few comments about caves in general.  When I decided to build a cave, I was torn between converting my third floor walk up attic space or building a separate structure in my backyard.  I'm very happy that I chose the separate structure route.  I have a few friends with caves in basements, bonus rooms and attics, but ultimately these places do not serve as the serene sanctuaries that they hoped they would be.  When I'm within earshot of my wife, she is often going to find something to chirp at me about that I have no interest in listening to when the game is on.  From what I understand this is fairly standard wife behavior.  The separate man cave structure solves this problem for me most of the time, if the weather is bad or it's cold outside there is no way that she is coming out there to bother me.

The outdoor TV is a 42" vizio lcd.  The inside TV is a 50" Panasonic plasma with SVS 5.1 surround sound speakers through an Onkyo home theater receiver.  The outdoor speakers are from Axiom, if you are in the market for outdoor speakers I highly recommend looking at the Axioms.

edit:  The other reason why this is more man cave like and not all that wife friendly is that mother nature provides the rest room facilities.



 man cave inside5.jpg   135.5K   49 downloads

 MC_2.jpg   118.78K   51 downloads

Edited by Claude_Verret, 29 January 2013 - 02:43 PM.

[MattPie]

Standard living room with 52" Sony LCD, no particular paraphernalia. I had a small fridge and decent liquor selection in the living room up until a few months ago. Moved the bar onto the kitchen counter and the beer into the main fridge. This spring I'm going to clean up the garage and reinstate the beer fridge out there.

[PromoTheRobot]

Eleven, on 28 January 2013 - 04:59 PM, said:

Props for all the vinyl, but a Jennifer Lopez poster?

MattPie, on 28 January 2013 - 05:10 PM, said:

It's all the Jennifer Lopez album variations (UK release, Japanese, etc) on that vinyl.

Hey that J-Lo award is autographed!  Nothing wrong with that.  My room has a very retro vibe with the vinyl and lava lamp, even an analog TV.   It's all music-related stuff on the left wall and all sports-related on the right wall.  Like my autographed Hasek jersey?

PTR

Edited by PromoTheRobot, 29 January 2013 - 01:52 PM.

[Chris_in_UT]

Yuri Olesha, on 28 January 2013 - 03:39 PM, said:

I have a limestone cave beneath Lower Falls at Letchworth park. I've patched in cable from a freshman dorm at Geneseo, down the laundry vent, through the sewer grate, and up the river. It cost me nearly $10,000 just to run the cable. Best part is, of course, that the wife has to repel Upper and Middle Falls, taking up most of the first and second periods.

Easily one of the best posts ever. Thanks for the visual of a screaming, nagging woman rapeling down two waterfalls, only to hassle her husband about not taking out the trash or some such. Pure gold, right there.

As for my "cave," it's in the middle of an overhaul. Wife said that if we're going to have a Super Bowl party, the family room ("cave") is going to be completely gutted. And it was. Ripped out the drop ceiling, hung sheet rock, taped, mudded, sanded, mudded again, feathered, texturized, and now we're going to paint it all tonight. Walls had that 70s paneling, which was no longer a viable option (not that it ever was ...). Of course, we found all the termite damage that the previous owners, a) didn't disclose and home inspection didn't catch, b) flat out hid. I hate them. Seriously. Anyway, ripped out the offending panels and framework, re-framed, re-sheetrocked, and fixed all the glue spots. That's ready to paint as well.

It's not specifically *my* cave, so the wife had a lot of say (read: all) in what color carpet we're getting, wall colors, etc. She even wanted to do away with the bar. Frankly, I'm okay with that. It wasn't really a bar; it had become more of a storage space for everything else under the sun. In the end, we (read: she) decided it was clutter and was expendable. However, she also signed off on a new gas oven and fridge for downstairs. That's right--fully functional kitchen in the "cave."

I'm not at all displeased with what we'll have going on down there. Before we mudded, we cut holes and wired Ethernet jacks all around the room. 58" Samsung plasma directly jacked into an Ethernet port I just installed. Less cable-y mess. Also threw in coax ports around the room, and wired the walls and ceiling for eventual 7.1 sound. The side speakers will be built into the ceiling, but angled such that they're still usable and discernable channels. X-Box 360 Kinect, Wii (upgrading to Wii-U in a few months), Apple TV box.

[biodork]

Nice. Mine is just my living room, but I've got a decent array of Sabres paraphernalia and a little goat head Sabres neon that I light for games.  Very easy access to the kitchen and no one to bother me since I live alone.

[Corp000085]

My old man cave was converted to my sons bedroom. It has a Thomas the train and lightning McQueen decor. I have one tv in the house, downstairs in the living room.  I loved my man cave, but I traded up 3 years ago

[Bmwolf21]

Corp000085, on 29 January 2013 - 08:55 PM, said:

My old man cave was converted to my sons bedroom. It has a Thomas the train and lightning McQueen decor. I have one tv in the house, downstairs in the living room.  I loved my man cave, but I traded up 3 years ago

Sounds like me.  It was never really set up as a man cave, but the basement was supposed to be my cave.  Instead it has turned into a family room that my kid dominates. We play mini hockey and football and have a blast.  Wouldn't trade it at all.

[Claude_Verret]

Corp000085, on 29 January 2013 - 08:55 PM, said:

My old man cave was converted to my sons bedroom. It has a Thomas the train and lightning McQueen decor. I have one tv in the house, downstairs in the living room.  I loved my man cave, but I traded up 3 years ago

Bmwolf21, on 29 January 2013 - 09:46 PM, said:

Sounds like me.  It was never really set up as a man cave, but the basement was supposed to be my cave.  Instead it has turned into a family room that my kid dominates. We play mini hockey and football and have a blast.  Wouldn't trade it at all.

Yes indeed, my cave was my bonus room before I built the one in my backyard.  Now that room is filled with transformers, skylanders and barbie dolls for my kids.  

I also turn the actual cave into a kid cave now and then to roast marshmallows and watch movies with my kids out there.  When they are teenagers having that thing is definitely going to be a problem.