Hope and I went to our first NFL game last night: Broncos vs. Giants. While I’m not a fully converted Broncos fan (too much sand left between my toes), I’m definitely NOT a New York Giants fan. The atmosphere (sans the drunk guy directly behind Hope) was fun and exciting. We were blessed to have been given free seats by a lady in our church. And they were great seats, too.
The atmosphere is definitely different than that of a professional baseball game. Baseball fans are a bit more subdued, perhaps because they pay less money on average to see a single game than football fans do. If you’re going to plunk down over $100 a ticket, you might as well as paint your face and wear a horse on your head (or tape them to your shoulders as the “Bronconator” did). Baseball fans have eighty-one games to make a fool of themselves. Football fans may have a dozen or so a year, depending on if your team makes the playoffs.
Hope’s favorite part was when the opposing quarterback, in this case Eli Manning, would throw an incomplete pass. The announcer would say, “The pass by Eli Manning was incomplete.” Only the fans would cheer “IN-COM-PLETE.” After the first time, Hope joined in with every dropped pass. Thanks to Eli Manning’s poor performance, we had many opportunities to enjoy it.
Apart from the three or four near-fights that almost happened but thankfully didn’t, we had a great time. (One of the fights nearly broke out in the bathroom while two guys were waiting in line for a urinal. It continued even after they “occupied” their urinal and I was in the middle spot. Thankfully I hadn’t drank that much coffee.)
To see a few pictures from the night, click here.