I Do Stuff…

Gallery of the blizzard.

Long before the Skins season began, Nancy and I got tickets to two games.  Nancy picked the Bronco’s game which turned out fantastic.  We arrived with plenty of time to tailgate and the weather was perfect all afternoon.  It was a rather warm winter day.  I wanted to see a division game and the obvious choice, Cowboys was taken so I picked the Giants.  Without looking at the date it turned out to be a Monday Night game.  I was so looking forward to it, even being a night game on a work night.

I couldn’t wait to leave work early and cook some good food in the freezing cold.  The weather had other plans by game night for the entire Washington area.  Mother nature on Saturday blanketed the area in an average 20+ inches of snow.  Approximately 25 million pounds of snowed had to removed from the stadium alone.  The entire region was trapped in a day long blizzard that was just crazy.  For nearly 24 hours, it snowed constantly and was great.

Come game day the parking lots where nearly cleared, but not completely.  In fact two whole lots where never plowed and those ticket holds were funneled into other lots.  This caused a huge backup of traffic.  Matt and I got off the beltway around 7pm.  This was nearly 1:30 hours before kick off and a time I thought was sufficient to make it into the stadium.  Parking proved to be a nightmare taking nearly 2 hours before we parked the truck.  When we arrived at our seats it was almost the end of the 2nd quarter and we where loosing badly.  Listening on the radio didn’t prepare for what we saw.

I took the half time to use the restroom and grab another beer.  By the time I got back to my seat the 3rd quarter had already begun.  In short work the Giants scored another touchdown.  At one point Campbell was well into his own end zone and decides to throw an interception that was promptly returned for 6 points.  Did I mention this was the first down of the possession.  I turned to Matt just to make sure I saw what I did.  Things never got any better, even though we scored 12 points in the quarter, we were to far behind.

this game was horrible

What the little hope I had left for a victory faded quickly in the 4th quarter with another Giants touchdown.  Matt and I left.  All night the stadium was pretty empty.  With each score by the Giants, more and more people walked out on the team.  It was just not worth it watching the abysmal game any longer.  Not when the lots would be a mess, taking hours to get back to the highway.  By the time we left it was mostly New York fans left, a lot in fact.

Fortunately in short order we arrived back to my truck and took a back exit out of the parking lot.  This saved us a ton of time when you consider how far back in the lot we actually where.  The road back to the highway was long but free of traffic.  Once on the beltway there was an accident that slowed our progress even further.  I was so upset at the game, I just wanted to get home and sleep.

Late in the evening I finally did make it home.  Miserable, I went straight to bed.  I couldn’t believe I spent all that money and time going to the game.  It was not the weather or the cold that pissed me off so much, I was able to deal with mother nature.  It was the lack of parking guidance and delays getting into the stadium that flipped me over the edge.  Being such a blow out didn’t help the situation any.

I am not sure if I will be buying tickets for next years games after this experience.  I have seen several games of many years and never have they been as bad as this.  If I get tickets for next season it wont be early.  I would rather just buy tickets from a scalper closer to game day so I can make sure things turn out.  It is just not worth it when I can watch it from the comfort of my couch.  Lets hope during the off season the team can get their act together and perform better next year.

Photo Gallery

My birthday weekend was great.  It started with dinner Saturday night with my Dad, Pat, Nancy and Jeremy at Coastal Flats.  I love this place.  It is a part of Great American chain of restaurants and the location at the Fairfax Government Center is perfect.  After dinner you can get some desserts, grab a cup of coffee or see a movie at the theatre.  There is just so much to do there, plus they have an REI!

On Sunday Nancy and I had tickets Skins vs. Broncos game up at FedEx Field.  I was looking forward to getting up there early and doing some tailgating.  I managed to score a green parking pass at a good price on eBay and spent all Saturday afternoon preparing food for the festivities.  Nancy and I got a late start to the field, but made it to the stadium in about an hour.  The green lot we parked in was pretty empty when wee arrived so we took a spot close to the exit.  The weather Sunday afternoon was going to be perfect as well.  The sun was shinning, the skies where blue and the temp didn’t get much above 70.  For a mid-November afternoon you couldn’t beat it.

scoring drive

Minutes after arriving I fired up the grill to get cooking.  We spread out some chairs and cracked open our first beer.  I packed the cooler with four 6-packs and I was not looking forward to lugging that crap back home with me.  We spend the next several hours enjoying the weather and eating a ton of food.  Fortunately we parked near a porto john so trips to the bathroom were painless.  I know it sounds weird, but I love talking to people in line waiting for the bathroom.  Usually at events like this people are drunk and very friendly.  On one of my excursions to the restroom I meet these two ladies from Maryland.  One just moved to the area and the other was a lifer like myself.  Add alcohol and people just start spilling their guts to complete strangers.

We started to loose track of time as the afternoon went on.  We got so engrossed with food, drinking beer and talking we almost forgot about the game.  My sister Tracy and her husband Bobby were at the game and we were suppose to meet them for a little tailgating in the Platinum lot before the game, but that didn’t happen.  He called back saying he and Tracy were going in but he had club level seats if we wanted them, hell yeah hook it up.  We had lower level already, but I would much rather be on the club level.  After Nancy and I quickly cleaned up we headed off to the box office to get our tickets.

packed lounge

After fighting long lines getting into the stadium, by the time we reached our seats it was just in time to watch the Broncos score their first touchdown.  I hadn’t even sat down yet and things were not looking good, a mere 3 minutes into the game and we already were behind.  As the first quarter went on things didn’t look so good, Denver score another touchdown and all we managed to come back with was a single touchdown.  But it was a touchdown and not a field goal at least.  By the end of the first half we closed the gap to only three points.  Things were actually looking good, however we were coming close to our average per game score of 17 and that wouldn’t be enough to win this one.

During halftime we took the time to walk around, hit the head, and for me grab another beer.  We also stopped by the cigar lounge to see who was working, but talked with some random drunk people that were pretty cool.  After the short break it was back to the seats for another half of smash mouth football.

The second half was definitely better than the first.  We managed to score another 13 points in the fourth quarter while the Bronco couldn’t put any more points on the board.  Final score was 27 to 17.  With about 2:30 minutes left in the game Denver tried to make another drive but failed near the goal and suddenly it was our position.  With that Nancy and I headed back to the truck for a little more tailgating.  I had plenty of food and even though we were near an exit, we were in no hurry to head home.  The lot around us emptied rather quickly, but I fired up the grill once again and put on some burgers that were oh so delicious.  Top that off with a victory beer and I was feeling good.

good times

After the game Bobby and Tracy came over to hanged out for a while which was really cool.  We couldn’t believe we won the game, and by such a large margin at that.  As the sun set was snapped a last photo, said goodbye and headed our separate ways.  It took Nancy and I several hours to get home because of traffic across the bridge, but that didn’t matter.  We had good tunes on the radio and the Skins won so we were in high spirits.

I have a set of tickets for the Skins game against the Giants on Monday just before Christmas.  I am sorta looking forward to it.  I think it will be  hard game that we will probably loose, but it should still be a lot of fun.  I can’t wait to tailgate again and freeze my ass off during a crisp winter night.  Lets hope the Skins can give me an early Christmas presents and deliver a victory against one of our division rivals on December 21st.

Photo Gallery

When I went to the Nats vs. Red Sox a week ago a good friend of mine, Rob, wanted to come along.  But with the game sold out it was impossible to get three tickets next to each other.  Instead we decided to catch another game.  He had never been to the stadium and wanted to see a game, just like me he is not a big baseball fan, but it’s good to say you did it at least once.

The best day for everyone was a Sunday afternoon game on the 5th of July against the Braves.  If Will and Saundra were able to make it for the fourth, I thought this would have been a great way to end their trip to DC.  But after getting all interested parties together, it would be my Dad, Nancy, Rob and myself going to the game.  We of course followed the same plan as with the Sox game: meet at my Dad’s house, drive to Pentagon City Mall, and Metro to the stadium.

Me, Nancy and my Dad

When we arrived because Rob had never been to the stadium we walked around some so he could get a good look at the stadium.  We also got food and beer, what would a ball game be without beer?  Our seats for this game were right behind the visitor dugout.  These seats were covered so when I checked the weather early in the week there was a possibility of rain, but we would have been protected.  The weather could not have been more perfect game day.  It was in the mid-70’s I believe with near zero humidity.  Clouds hung in the sky most of the day, but rain was never a threat.  For being the dog days of summer the weather sure was not playing along.

The crowd for the game was much thinner.  I should not have seen a sold out game vs. the Red Sox first.  There might have been 15,000 people that day and that is probably just because it was a Sunday game after the 4th of July.  Everyone is already in the city for the fireworks so why not catch a game.  Even with the low turn out the crowds was pretty good.  Again there were a lot of Braves fans in the stadium, this time we Nat fans were not outnumbered 4 or 5 to one.

your OUT!

This was the third in a series with Atlanta, tied at 1-1 with the Nats winning the game on Saturday they were heading into game three with the pendulum swinging toward their side.  Right from the start the Nats quickly took the lead and by the third inning were up 3-0.  The Braves struck back and took a nibble out of that lead in the third with one run scored.  By the ninth inning, with the game all but won, the score was 5-1.  We were still staying till the final pitch was thrown and the game was officially over.  But the Braves had a little life left in them and scored two in the finally inning.  It looked like we had a game on our hand and extra inning was a possibility.  But with some great pitching the Nats won the game 5-3.  My Dad’s win streak was still holding with a win every time he sees a game.

Once the game was over we decided to hang out and let the crowds die down before fighting the crowds on Metro.  This time the staff was more vigorous in getting the people out of the seats.  With fewer fans in the stadium it was much easier to clear out.  Getting kicked out was not a problem, we decided to take the hint and hit the Capitol City Brewery in Shirlington again for some victory drinks.  We ponied up to the bar and ordered a round while we savored our teams victory.  I couldn’t wait to get to work on Monday and nag John about the Nats victory.  He is a huge Braves fan and the lowly Nats won two in the series.

crazy shot

After the first round of drinks it was getting pretty late and we needed to head back to my Dad’s house.  My Dad was grilling flank steak and Rob was staying for dinner.  With such nice weather we decided to eat out on the deck.  But before we left Shirlington we stopped by the Best Buns Bread Co. to get some bread for dinner.  While there I also picked up some lemon squares for desert, everything looked so good.  When we did get back to his house we started cooking and had some great wine to go with dinner.  We sat outside for several hours enjoying dinner and just talking.

It was a great idea Rob had to see a game at the ball park and Sunday was the perfect day to do it.  A lazy Sunday afternoon at the ball park, drinks after, and a good home cooked meal on the deck, life is perfect.  I can’t wait to do it again.

July 5, 2009

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Atlanta	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2		3	9	1
Washington	1	2	0	0	0	1	0	1	X		5	14	0

Photo Gallery

Through a series of events I owed my dad a nice dinner out.  Not to one of our usual meeting spots: Fireside Grill, Hard Times, or Lucky’s Sports Bar.  I owed him something like Morton’s or Ruth Chris, a nice place.  So what I decided to do instead was take him to see the Nationals play and buy him a hot dog for dinner.  When I told him of my plan I started it off by saying I would buy him a hot dog.  I could hear it in his voice he was a little disappointed, he was hoping for something more.  Once that settled in I told him the hot dogs would be at Nationals Park for a ball game.

Now, what game to see?  I checked the schedule real quick and was not impressed with the home games I saw for June.  Unfortunately the Nationals have some crappy teams in their division and I didn’t want to see any of them.  However late in the month I saw a ray of hope, the Nats would be playing the Red Sox.  Official tickets were sold out so I had to use a ticket broker to find a pair in the outfield.  Later while at the game I found out it was an inter-league game and the Nats don’t play the Sox often at all.

view from our seats

We were going to see the last in a three game series.  The first two were looses for the Nats, in fact the first game was a complete blow out with the Nats loosing 3 to 11, 6 of those runs coming in the eight inning alone.  The Wednesday game was still a lose, but not nearly such a beat down, loosing 4-6.  My Dad and I were not holding out much hope for a win, but we had luck on our side.  Even with the worse record in baseball the last game my Dad went to, the Nats ended up winning.  We where hoping his luck would hold and we could get a little revenge.

We meet early at my Dad’s house and drove up to Pentagon City to catch the Metro to the stadium.  If you are going to see the Nats play, Metro is the only way to travel.  Yeah you can park on site, but it’s $40 and in my opinion a rip off.  The Metro was packed with fans making their way to the stadium.  Tuesdays game was record attendance, then Wednesday broke that record.  Thursdays was sold out and would be close to a record, if not breaking the record.

We had time to kill before the first pitch so we walked around the stadium and got some food.  I was very impressed with the new stadium.  If it right on the water and the whole area around the stadium is being revitalized.  Currently things have slowed down because of the financial crisis, but all that will turn around soon and the place will be hopping.  After I bought my Dad hot dogs, and fulfilling my obligation for dinner, we took our seats in anticipation of the game.  I was shorta shocked by the number of Red Sox fans in our section, and in the stadium period.  When the Nats were introduced I heard more boos then cheers.  When the Sox took the field I could have swarn we were in Boston by how loud things got.

savoring the victory

When the game finally started I was excited for the team, I had a feeling.  We were surrounded by Red Sox fan, clearly out numbered.  Our only compatriots where a group of six right in front of us, a great group of drunks.  Not sure why but during the first inning things were looking really good for the Nats.  They scored 4 runs immediately, everyone was getting a hit and getting on base.  Only downer of the whole inning was I believe they left the bases loaded, but with 4 runs scored it was alright.  This certainly had a psychological effect for both teams.  The Nats were flying high on cloud nine and the Sox tried for the rest of the game to climb out of the hole they found themselves in.

With the four runs in the first scored the crowd was also knocked out of the game.  It was a shame that more Nat fans didn’t show up, the stadium was unusually quite for most of the game.  It was not till the sixth inning that the Sox fans had something to cheer with, they scored their first run.  But in the botton of the sixth we scored two more, way to steal their thunder guys!

It was at this time that I went for my last beer and meet a lovely lady in line.  After we confirmed from others around us, Michal Jackson was in deed dead.  With that downer we changed the subject, back to the Sox.  I told her I was amazed by the number of Sox fans in the stadium, she was not at all surprised.  She was from Boston but had been living here for several years.  She said it is so difficult to get tickets to Fenway that fans travel to see them play.  It is actually cheaper to travel than get home tickets, shocked the hell out of me.

When I returned to my seat we had put another two runs on the board.  Now the score was 9 to 1 and needless to say I was feeling pretty confident about our win.  Not so confident as to walk out screaming at the Sox fans saying they suck or anything, but darn close.  As the game went on they had a ray of hope in the 9th inning.  One  guy got on base and another player hit a home run.   Just like that life was breathed into this dying team.  What fans still remained were getting all excited, they thought maybe, just maybe their beloved Sox could pull a ninth inning come from behind victory.  But thanks to some great closing piching, finally, the Nats were able to pull out a win with the final score 9-3.

and another score

My Dad and I stuck around for a while, waiting for the other fans to leave before we started to make our way home.  It was just after 10pm when the game ended and we were not quite ready to leave yet.  We wanted to revel in the victory just a little longer.  Eventually security came along and forced us out of our seats.  “You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here.”  So we shuffled along with the rest of the fans, out the stadium and onto Metro.  Within minutes we were back at the car in Pentagon City, still not wanting to head home.

To celebrate a little more we headed to Shirlington and the Capitol City Brewery for a victory beer and wings.  Since it was after 10pm, it was happy hour all over again.  We walked out of there for less then $12 bucks, with tip!  What a great way to end the perfect day.  Long live my Dad’s streak of Nat victories.

June 25, 2009

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Boston	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	2		3	8	2
Washington	4	0	1	0	0	2	2	0	X		9	11	1

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So it was my birthday the other day and my kick ass girlfriend got me tickets for the Skins vs. Cowboys at FedEx Field.  I was floored when I saw the tickets, this is the game of all games.  What made the tickets that much better was the parking pass she got me too!  The first game I saw this season was Skins vs. Cardinals, I had tickets and no parking pass.  This turned into a cluster fuck before and after the game.  The cash lot is $40 and it takes forever to ride the bus to the stadium.  You have to fight the same traffic as everyone else getting into the stadium.  Getting out is more of the same.  As for walking, bring your hiking boots you will need them.  So when I got tickets to the Skins vs. Steelers for a Monday night game with no parking pass…….I skipped the game.

So having that parking pass and the ability to tailgate I was ecstatic.  I have wanted to tailgate all season long and I always find it to be one of the most enjoyable parts of going to see the Skins play.  If I just wanted to watch the game I can do that from the comfort of my home.  Where there are no lines to the bathroom, beers are endless, and nobody wants to pick a fight.  I took Jeremy with me to the game and we left my house at about 3:30 to get to the stadium.  Surprisingly enough there was no traffic getting to Landover.  Not crossing the bridge or near the stadium.

Jeremy and I tailgating

When we arrived at about 4:30 the lots were still pretty empty.  I guess the 40 degree weather and constant 15mpg wind was enough to keep most people away, at least for tailgating.  So with the ability to pick just about any space we wanted we parked near the front of the orange lot that was closest to the exit.  Here we setup camp.  Well I put the tailgate down and turned on my Colman stove.  We had some pre-game food and tried to stay warm.  My body was pretty warm, it was my hands that were freezing.  Having no gloves will do that.

So after a few hours in the parking lots both Jeremy and I gave up.  It was too cold to be outside any longer and since we had club level tickets it was worth it to go inside.  We headed in and decided to take up residency at Club Macanudo.  It is an indoor smoke lounge with giant leather chairs and tvs all over the place.  What a better place to chill while we waited for the start of the game.  Here I ran into Frank from General Cigars and also Gary, my boss.  If you want to meet some cool, and sometimes powerful people, the cigar lounge at FedEx Field is a good place to start.

By the time we finished smoking it was almost time for kick off at 8:15.  So we headed to our seats to watch the spectacle that is the National Football League.  The game started off rather well for us.  The Skins were able to hold the Cowboys off and score a few points themselves.  The problem was the Skins could not put enough points on the board.  At one point the kicker missed a 37 yard field goal by being 5 yards short.  It was heart breaking.  The skins would march down the field and couldn’t score any points.  The only bright spot was that the defense was holding the Cowboys at bay.

great seats!

By the end of the first half the Skins were up 10-7.  We were going to start with the ball and the crowd was psyched.  Even with the extreme cold and wind blowing the crowd stuck around.  We won the first meeting down in Dallas and we had the lead going into the second half so things looked good.  Unfortunately things bogged down.  Nobody scored in the third quarter.  The skins started to look worse.  They were getting fewer and fewer yards each time they had the ball and the Cowboys were getting more and more yards per possession.  They changed their play book and it was working.

So when the fourth quarter came and it was still 10-7 things didn’t look to good for the Skins.  As the last quarter went on things started to look worse.  The Skins just couldn’t get any where and the line couldn’t hold back the Cowboys.  So our only hope of winning was to hold onto the lead we built early in the game.  Unfortunately this didn’t happen and with only a few minutes left on the clock the Cowboys scored the touch down they needed to take the lead.

The Skins tried hard to get that lead back but stick a fork in the Skins, they are done.  With just under two minutes left on the clock and the Cowboys getting the first down they needed to successfully kill the clock to zero Jeremy and I walked out.  The stadium was dead, the life completely sucked out of of everyone.  I couldn’t believe we lost, and to the Cowboys of all teams.  Jeremy and I hung our heads and walked back to my truck.

I guess the only good part about the game was getting out of the stadium.  Usually traffic is so bad it is not worth it to leave when you get to your car.  It is better to fire up the grill and have some more food and another beer.  This time getting home was like arriving, took just an hour.  I was home and in my bed by 12:30.  I could start to forget about that crappy game.

The tickets from Nancy was a great surprise and the best gift I got from any body.  To bad the Skins had to loose.  Thanks again Nancy for this wonderful gift.