Bay Side
August 21st, 2007, 11:17:53 AM
http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/145406.html
He was very much a local celebrity, drawing a reaction at the gas station or the mall. He signed autographs, posed for pictures, even appeared in television commercials. Then, like a ghost, he vanished.
Ten years ago this month, the Earl of Bud told his fans goodbye with a farewell rug-cut in Dunn Tire Park. The popular dancing beer vendor, once entrenched in Buffalo’s sporting conscience, hung up his white tuxedo and essentially disappeared.
The Earl of Bud’s antics delighted crowds for nearly two decades. He had a gregarious personality and a booming voice, but mostly fans craned their necks to watch his rendition of Pee Wee Herman’s “Tequila” strut between innings at a Buffalo Bisons game or during a break in the Buffalo Sabres action.
“He was more popular than most of our players,” Buffalo Bisons General Manager Mike Buczkowski said. Yet after the Earl of Bud stopped dancing and pouring suds, he evaporated. Despite his fame, few knew the Earl of Bud’s real name or that he was a Buffalo firefighter who abruptly left the department under suspicious circumstances.
Tall tales sprouted. He supposedly stopped dancing because of a knee injury, but many suspected darker reasons. Some said he ventured to the Carolinas. There were rumors he was in prison, or dead.
Nobody seemed sure what happened. Employers, co-workers and friends — even relatives — were uncertain of his whereabouts.
“He went in and quit the ballpark and the arena all in one day,” said Tom Girot, the conspicuous beer vendor known as Conehead. “It was just amazing. One day the Earl of Bud is there, and the next day he’s gone. It was like he fell off the face of the earth.”
Suddenly, this spring, after years of pursuit, the ghost reappeared. The Sabres, having given up on locating him, had no clue he was coming. He emerged from a tunnel beneath the Harbour Club in HSBC Arena and was announced to an enraptured sellout crowd of 18,690 during Game Five of the Eastern Conference finals.
He was very much a local celebrity, drawing a reaction at the gas station or the mall. He signed autographs, posed for pictures, even appeared in television commercials. Then, like a ghost, he vanished.
Ten years ago this month, the Earl of Bud told his fans goodbye with a farewell rug-cut in Dunn Tire Park. The popular dancing beer vendor, once entrenched in Buffalo’s sporting conscience, hung up his white tuxedo and essentially disappeared.
The Earl of Bud’s antics delighted crowds for nearly two decades. He had a gregarious personality and a booming voice, but mostly fans craned their necks to watch his rendition of Pee Wee Herman’s “Tequila” strut between innings at a Buffalo Bisons game or during a break in the Buffalo Sabres action.
“He was more popular than most of our players,” Buffalo Bisons General Manager Mike Buczkowski said. Yet after the Earl of Bud stopped dancing and pouring suds, he evaporated. Despite his fame, few knew the Earl of Bud’s real name or that he was a Buffalo firefighter who abruptly left the department under suspicious circumstances.
Tall tales sprouted. He supposedly stopped dancing because of a knee injury, but many suspected darker reasons. Some said he ventured to the Carolinas. There were rumors he was in prison, or dead.
Nobody seemed sure what happened. Employers, co-workers and friends — even relatives — were uncertain of his whereabouts.
“He went in and quit the ballpark and the arena all in one day,” said Tom Girot, the conspicuous beer vendor known as Conehead. “It was just amazing. One day the Earl of Bud is there, and the next day he’s gone. It was like he fell off the face of the earth.”
Suddenly, this spring, after years of pursuit, the ghost reappeared. The Sabres, having given up on locating him, had no clue he was coming. He emerged from a tunnel beneath the Harbour Club in HSBC Arena and was announced to an enraptured sellout crowd of 18,690 during Game Five of the Eastern Conference finals.