Cold cuts, pasta salad, desserts and beverages.

12:15 PM… I am at the stadium; the Sabres will take the ice at 1:30 for practice. I will be posting photos and updates throughout the day.

Looks like things are in place for the tailgate party on Tuesday.

Where: Lot 5B. Pull into Drive 5 and take it to the road that separates lot 5B (Tundra) from Lot E (Camry). Hang a right and we’ll try to park as close to Abbott Road as possible. Twoeightnine whipped up a little BfloBlog / WNYMedia sign so keep your eyes open.

When: Whenever. But we’re going to shoot for 9:00.

Who: It’s the D-List of local bloggers and BfloBlog commenters. And you.

What: Definitely BYOB. If you want in on our grub, drop me a line. If you want my cell number, shoot me an e-mail.

Why: Do you really need to ask?

If you’re coming, feel free to leave a comment.

A half inch of ice is now down and the playing surface is painted white

Yesterday was the first day that the media could access Ralph Wilson Stadium to observe the progress on transforming a football stadium into a hockey venue.

The last scenes we saw were on television Sunday night, dramatic images of workers struggling to lay a tarp on the field in the teeth of horrific winds and precipitation which followed the Bills/Giants game that afternoon. But considering the crummy conditions that night and through Christmas, things are actually moving along quite well.

The National Hockey League has set up its operations in a trailer adjacent to the Bills Fieldhouse, and they are conducting daily briefings at 2PM in the press box, open to the media. This afternoon Dan Craig, NHL Facilities Operations Manager, and Don Renzulli, Senior VP for Events and Entertainment, made a presentation to outline the work that has been performed so far.

“We’ve compressed about 72 hours work into 48 hours” said Craig, who admitted that the weather was an impediment on Sunday night but the work that needed to get done got done. Craig bears a great deal of experience in managing and orchestrating an event of this magnitude, with the experience of running the outdoor games at Michigan State and at Edmonton.

NBC Sports today announced that Bob Costas will host NBC’s broadcast coverage of the NHL Winter Classic between the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins, the first U.S. outdoor game in NHL history. The game will be held New Year’s Day beginning at 1 p.m. ET from Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo, N.Y.

Costas has a history broadcasting hockey, serving as the play-by-play commentator for the Syracuse Blazers of the old Eastern Hockey League in 1973-74 and also occasionally filling in for the late, great Dan Kelly on KMOX’s St. Louis Blues radiocasts in the last 70s and early 80s.

The NHL Winter Classic features several of the game’s greatest young stars, including Penguins center Sidney Crosby and Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller. Attendance at the contest is expected to surpass the NHL single-game record, set Nov. 22, 2003 when the Montreal Canadiens and Edmonton Oilers drew 57,167 to The Heritage Classic at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, the only outdoor game in NHL history. Ralph Wilson Stadium capacity exceeds 73,000 and tickets to the game sold out within several hours of going on sale.