First NFL Game

I love dating a Ravens fan :-D

Friday I get a text message from J, asking if I had any plans on Sunday night. I didn't so he told me to make sure the calendar was clear because he had two tickets to watch the Ravens play the Colts. I had never been to an NFL game live, so this was an exciting experience.

We drove up to North Linthicum and caught the light rail into Baltimore. Got off at the stadium and walked around watching the tailgaters as they were out there with their vehicles done up, the grills were cooking, and the beer was flowing. We walked around some of the vendors that were out there as well. J bought a knit cap since it was a cold enough night (39 F) that wearing a hat was going to be a good idea. I looked around at some of the replica jerseys, but the vendors wanted way more than what I could pay at Modell's, so I think I gotta go to Mo's.

At first we hung out at the Dunkin Donuts lot. It's off to the southwest side of parking, and there's the donuts there, but we went there for the $2 24-oz cans of beer. Eventually J called one of his buddies and they were over at another lot tailgating, so we headed that way. Met a few of his friends, they were talking about how they were heading to watch Baltimore play Miami next weekend, including J, those lucky bastards.

Eventually we headed into the stadium. The tickets that J got were club level seats so there was a nice set of inside bars, concession stands, and bathrooms that we got to hang out at before the game started. Eventually we went to our seats, great view of the 50 yard line, you did not need binoculars to see the action. I got some pictures of the pre-show before the game started to show where we were at.

So if you followed the game, you know it did not go well for the Ravens. Eventually it started to rain, and so we went in and watched the game for a while inside, then went under one of the covered areas and continued to watch the game until about halftime. By then it was Colts 44, Ravens 7, so it wasn't even worth considering staying for the game. Like most of the fans, we headed outta there. Got back to J's car, listened to the game on the way back down towards DC, and got back to my apartment.

Even though the Ravens basically got their ass kicked, it was still great to be able to go to the game. I had fantasized for years about being able to go to a Ravens game, and it finally got to happen, thanks to J (and his mom :-) ). I would totally do that again in a heartbeat. We have been joking that maybe next time we want to see the game but can't get in, we'll fork over the $35 and just park and tailgate, since someone will probably be down there that will be tuned in to the game. I think that would be a lot of fun. It gives me incentive to look for a camping stove now ;-)