Rocktober came to a close with a week-long trip to Miami with Mrs. Beav. Before we left, however, I moseyed out to the Carrier Dome to catch the Syracuse Orange take on the Akron Zips. So with the Orange desperately needing a win to stay in bowl contention, I made it a point to get out and support the team. Plus I'd never seen the Akron Zips in person, so it was an opportunity to kill 2 birds with 1 stone. With a 3:30 kickoff and 4.5 hour post-game drive and a flight to Miami lurking the next morning, there wasn't a lot of room for tailgating before or after catching the Syracuse game. So my brother, father, and I kept it simple before kickoff and nursed a couple of beers throughout the game en route to an Orange victory. The Zips started the game off with a scare, however, converting a Syracuse turnover into a touchdown on their second drive. The Orange used a healthy dose of running back Delone Carter and a strong defensive effort (Akron gained 0 yards on the ground) led by LB Derrell Smith to secure the 28-14 win. It wasn't the prettiest of performances by the Orange, but it sure beats losing and at this point SU will take 'em any way they can get 'em. Bienvenido A Miami After the game I drove home, got a quick sleep, and was at the airport at 6 the next morning to go to Miami. Mrs. Beav and I touched down in "the city where the heat is on all night on the beach till the break of dawn" at about 11AM and made our way to Landshark Stadium for the 4:15 Dolphins vs Saints game. It was my better half's first NFL game, and it was my first trip to Landshark Stadium. Needless to say, we had a lot of rookie observations that stuck out. First, the tailgate scene was like none other I've ever encountered. Not necessarily better, just unique. Having grown up in the Northeast I am used to chilly October football games, not sweat-your-bag-off humidity and lathering up with sunscreen. Seeing as how we had just traveled from shitty weather back home and now everybody was scantily clad, I was not about to complain. And speaking of scantily clad, there was an abundance of fake breasts gracing the premises, and few of their owners- if any- were shy about showing off these assets. Miami is a flashy city for sure. Moving into the game, we got to our seats just before kickoff as the Mrs. was feeling the South Florida heat already and was a bit woozy. After some hydrating she settled in for the rest of the game and was fine...As long as the dbags who sat behind us took a break from commentating play-by-play, which was pretty much never. It felt like we were watching a game with narrators, only the narrators had a tendency to argue with each other and borrow sayings from NFL Films clips like "You gotta bring it every Sunday baby!!" and "Welcome to the NFL!!" It was pure cheez, and purely annoying. The Dolphins opened the game on a roll, opening up a 21 point lead in the 2nd quarter, only to squander it in the second half by abandoning their strength as a running team in favor of 3-and-out pass-filled drives. This allowed the Saints to get back in the game, and eventually squish the fish at home by 12. Turn up the Heat By Wednesday, I had my fill of sitting around not catching live games. So we loaded up the family truckster and were off to the Miami Heat season opener. The New York Knicks happened to be in town, and the local papers penned this as one of their more fierce rivalries. Personally, I can't say as I knew this but then again I am not the most avid NBA fan on the planet by any means. Also coinciding with opening night was the jersey retirement ceremony for Tim Hardaway, highlighted by a long-winded speech by former coach and current GM Pat Riley. The Heat boss took the liberty of comparing Hardaway to legend Magic Johnson, which made the speech a little more amusing. One aspect of the Heat fanbase that was refreshing was that it was a very international and ethnic group of fans. The Heat game day team does an excellent job of marketing their product to this audience, using multiple languages to interpret bigger moments in the game. By the end of the night the Heat had asserted themselves as the superior team, burying the run-and-gun Knicks. One more for the road A couple of days and a killer sunburn later we found ourselves back on the live action circuit. This time we paid a trip to FIU Stadium, home of the Florida International Golden Panthers. The Panthers played host to the University of Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns, and all 150 of their fans. It was the final game of our trip. If you're like me and you've never been to South Florida this time of year but you're headed for a visit, let me say this: be prepared to sweat. The temperatures have not yet reached that cool/comfortable zone which visitors from colder climates covet. As a result you end up sweating your nuts off if you do anything in the sun. That said, kickoff was at high noon at FIU stadium during our visit. Apparently the university generally holds its games at night as a relief from the heat, but since it was Halloween they opted to go with the early kickoff. And in making this decision they may have chased away the fans who belonged in the other 19,000 seats of the 20,000 seat venue. But I digress. We were there to watch a football game and, god willing, we'd do it. Sure, maybe we hoped for a blowout so we could escape the heat with a clean conscience, but that doesn't mean we gave up. Ultimately, we found seats in the sliver of stadium that had shade and watched most of the game under cover. The first half was slow, and the game was quite sluggish until the 4th quarter. With less than two minutes to go, a 4 point lead and a first and goal inside the 5, the Ragin' Cajuns needed a TD to seal the game. Guess what? They didn't get one. The FIU defense held tight and forced a field goal, putting their offense on the field only needing a touchdown to tie. The Panthers' offense did just that, driving the distance and scoring on a fourth and goal pass with less than 20 seconds remaining. OT Did I mention something about rooting for a blowout earlier? Well it must have been wishful thinking, because the game we were treated to went to overtime. FIU took their possession and converted a field goal. ULL got the ball, drove inside the 10, had a penalty go against them and settled for the field goal attempt. One last time, FIU's defense saved the day and blocked the field goal to preserve the win. Afterwards we got the f-outta Dodge, as they say. That wraps up a pretty wild Rocktober's worth of live games. Hope you enjoyed getting some takes from the various atmospheres we visited. Up next is likely a trip to Northeastern or Bryant this weekend. We'll see. We may even wind up getting some Bruins or Celtics takes in before then. Either way we will keep you posted. Be good. BeavMonday, November 9, 2009
On to Florida
Rocktober came to a close with a week-long trip to Miami with Mrs. Beav. Before we left, however, I moseyed out to the Carrier Dome to catch the Syracuse Orange take on the Akron Zips. So with the Orange desperately needing a win to stay in bowl contention, I made it a point to get out and support the team. Plus I'd never seen the Akron Zips in person, so it was an opportunity to kill 2 birds with 1 stone. With a 3:30 kickoff and 4.5 hour post-game drive and a flight to Miami lurking the next morning, there wasn't a lot of room for tailgating before or after catching the Syracuse game. So my brother, father, and I kept it simple before kickoff and nursed a couple of beers throughout the game en route to an Orange victory. The Zips started the game off with a scare, however, converting a Syracuse turnover into a touchdown on their second drive. The Orange used a healthy dose of running back Delone Carter and a strong defensive effort (Akron gained 0 yards on the ground) led by LB Derrell Smith to secure the 28-14 win. It wasn't the prettiest of performances by the Orange, but it sure beats losing and at this point SU will take 'em any way they can get 'em. Bienvenido A Miami After the game I drove home, got a quick sleep, and was at the airport at 6 the next morning to go to Miami. Mrs. Beav and I touched down in "the city where the heat is on all night on the beach till the break of dawn" at about 11AM and made our way to Landshark Stadium for the 4:15 Dolphins vs Saints game. It was my better half's first NFL game, and it was my first trip to Landshark Stadium. Needless to say, we had a lot of rookie observations that stuck out. First, the tailgate scene was like none other I've ever encountered. Not necessarily better, just unique. Having grown up in the Northeast I am used to chilly October football games, not sweat-your-bag-off humidity and lathering up with sunscreen. Seeing as how we had just traveled from shitty weather back home and now everybody was scantily clad, I was not about to complain. And speaking of scantily clad, there was an abundance of fake breasts gracing the premises, and few of their owners- if any- were shy about showing off these assets. Miami is a flashy city for sure. Moving into the game, we got to our seats just before kickoff as the Mrs. was feeling the South Florida heat already and was a bit woozy. After some hydrating she settled in for the rest of the game and was fine...As long as the dbags who sat behind us took a break from commentating play-by-play, which was pretty much never. It felt like we were watching a game with narrators, only the narrators had a tendency to argue with each other and borrow sayings from NFL Films clips like "You gotta bring it every Sunday baby!!" and "Welcome to the NFL!!" It was pure cheez, and purely annoying. The Dolphins opened the game on a roll, opening up a 21 point lead in the 2nd quarter, only to squander it in the second half by abandoning their strength as a running team in favor of 3-and-out pass-filled drives. This allowed the Saints to get back in the game, and eventually squish the fish at home by 12. Turn up the Heat By Wednesday, I had my fill of sitting around not catching live games. So we loaded up the family truckster and were off to the Miami Heat season opener. The New York Knicks happened to be in town, and the local papers penned this as one of their more fierce rivalries. Personally, I can't say as I knew this but then again I am not the most avid NBA fan on the planet by any means. Also coinciding with opening night was the jersey retirement ceremony for Tim Hardaway, highlighted by a long-winded speech by former coach and current GM Pat Riley. The Heat boss took the liberty of comparing Hardaway to legend Magic Johnson, which made the speech a little more amusing. One aspect of the Heat fanbase that was refreshing was that it was a very international and ethnic group of fans. The Heat game day team does an excellent job of marketing their product to this audience, using multiple languages to interpret bigger moments in the game. By the end of the night the Heat had asserted themselves as the superior team, burying the run-and-gun Knicks. One more for the road A couple of days and a killer sunburn later we found ourselves back on the live action circuit. This time we paid a trip to FIU Stadium, home of the Florida International Golden Panthers. The Panthers played host to the University of Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns, and all 150 of their fans. It was the final game of our trip. If you're like me and you've never been to South Florida this time of year but you're headed for a visit, let me say this: be prepared to sweat. The temperatures have not yet reached that cool/comfortable zone which visitors from colder climates covet. As a result you end up sweating your nuts off if you do anything in the sun. That said, kickoff was at high noon at FIU stadium during our visit. Apparently the university generally holds its games at night as a relief from the heat, but since it was Halloween they opted to go with the early kickoff. And in making this decision they may have chased away the fans who belonged in the other 19,000 seats of the 20,000 seat venue. But I digress. We were there to watch a football game and, god willing, we'd do it. Sure, maybe we hoped for a blowout so we could escape the heat with a clean conscience, but that doesn't mean we gave up. Ultimately, we found seats in the sliver of stadium that had shade and watched most of the game under cover. The first half was slow, and the game was quite sluggish until the 4th quarter. With less than two minutes to go, a 4 point lead and a first and goal inside the 5, the Ragin' Cajuns needed a TD to seal the game. Guess what? They didn't get one. The FIU defense held tight and forced a field goal, putting their offense on the field only needing a touchdown to tie. The Panthers' offense did just that, driving the distance and scoring on a fourth and goal pass with less than 20 seconds remaining. OT Did I mention something about rooting for a blowout earlier? Well it must have been wishful thinking, because the game we were treated to went to overtime. FIU took their possession and converted a field goal. ULL got the ball, drove inside the 10, had a penalty go against them and settled for the field goal attempt. One last time, FIU's defense saved the day and blocked the field goal to preserve the win. Afterwards we got the f-outta Dodge, as they say. That wraps up a pretty wild Rocktober's worth of live games. Hope you enjoyed getting some takes from the various atmospheres we visited. Up next is likely a trip to Northeastern or Bryant this weekend. We'll see. We may even wind up getting some Bruins or Celtics takes in before then. Either way we will keep you posted. Be good. Beav
Double Down on Brown
As I mentioned before, Rocktober was a great month for the Beav. In between road trips to Ohio and Florida, I was able to squeeze in some Ivy League action in Providence in the form of Princeton @ Brown. Points are awarded if you already picked up on the fact that this was my second viewing of the Brown Bears this year. Heading into the match up, both teams were winless in my experiences seeing them live (Brown 0-2, Princeton 0-1). So by the end of the afternoon something would have to give and one team's winless streak would come to an end.
More on the game in a minute. First, let me set the stage for you should you ever find yourself in Providence on game day. Saturday morning Mrs. Beav and I awoke in Newport, RI, the morning after our friends' wedding. Upon departure from the hotel, we caught our breakfast at the Coddington Brewery in Middletown, RI en route to the game. Coddington Brewery is a brewpub that serves their own hand-crafted beers, made on site. They also serve a clam chowder that was loaded with dill, which almost made it unbearable. Nonetheless, it is worth a visit to check out their atmosphere...Just stay away from the chowder.
With fuel in our stomachs we hit the road for Providence, arriving slightly late for kickoff (the brewpub didn't open till 11 so we were held up). Tailgating had been wrapped up by the time we got to the stadium, however it did not appear to be a raging tailgate scene to begin with.
Once inside, we found ourselves seated on the visiting sideline, which turned out to be a game-breaker since we were out of the wind and could basically sit wherever we wanted to amongst the Tiger faithful. I would highly advise sitting on the visiting team's sideline if you attend a game at Brown Stadium, as you are much closer to the action and can hear most of the sounds of the game because of the proximity to the field.
Princeton took a game effort into the second half, when eventually Brown pulled away and asserted themselves as expected. The Bears played a better game all day, but suffered from penalties, inopportune turnovers (is there such a thing as an opportune turnover for an offense??), and stalled drives, which kept the Tigers in the game. Alas, the hometown Bears took home the victory, notching their first win in the games I've seen them play live.
As far as an overall game day experience, you are probably not going to find a crazy scene at Brown Stadium if you go. You will, however, find a stadium nestled in amongst the neighborhood streets of Providence that hosts a high caliber of football with a chance to be close to the action. All things considered, its a great place to take a kid to a game. But if you're looking for something rowdy or you need more than the bare bones of a college football game to keep your interest, Brown Stadium probably isn't your bag, baby.
Beav
More on the game in a minute. First, let me set the stage for you should you ever find yourself in Providence on game day. Saturday morning Mrs. Beav and I awoke in Newport, RI, the morning after our friends' wedding. Upon departure from the hotel, we caught our breakfast at the Coddington Brewery in Middletown, RI en route to the game. Coddington Brewery is a brewpub that serves their own hand-crafted beers, made on site. They also serve a clam chowder that was loaded with dill, which almost made it unbearable. Nonetheless, it is worth a visit to check out their atmosphere...Just stay away from the chowder.
With fuel in our stomachs we hit the road for Providence, arriving slightly late for kickoff (the brewpub didn't open till 11 so we were held up). Tailgating had been wrapped up by the time we got to the stadium, however it did not appear to be a raging tailgate scene to begin with.
Once inside, we found ourselves seated on the visiting sideline, which turned out to be a game-breaker since we were out of the wind and could basically sit wherever we wanted to amongst the Tiger faithful. I would highly advise sitting on the visiting team's sideline if you attend a game at Brown Stadium, as you are much closer to the action and can hear most of the sounds of the game because of the proximity to the field.
Princeton took a game effort into the second half, when eventually Brown pulled away and asserted themselves as expected. The Bears played a better game all day, but suffered from penalties, inopportune turnovers (is there such a thing as an opportune turnover for an offense??), and stalled drives, which kept the Tigers in the game. Alas, the hometown Bears took home the victory, notching their first win in the games I've seen them play live.
As far as an overall game day experience, you are probably not going to find a crazy scene at Brown Stadium if you go. You will, however, find a stadium nestled in amongst the neighborhood streets of Providence that hosts a high caliber of football with a chance to be close to the action. All things considered, its a great place to take a kid to a game. But if you're looking for something rowdy or you need more than the bare bones of a college football game to keep your interest, Brown Stadium probably isn't your bag, baby.
Beav
Road Trip: Ohio
A few weeks back I was able to make a road trip to Cleveland and Columbus for a few days. Since I was there mid-week there were no opportunities to catch live college football so I had to improvise. While in Columbus, I scored some Blue Jackets tickets for their game against the Calgary Flames at Nationwide Arena. It ended up being a great time, and Nationwide Arena is a great venue. If you ever find yourself in the Columbus area and the Jackets are in town do yourself a favor and take in a game. And if you're looking for company call my cousin Ed- he lives nearby and he and his son are big hockey fans. Back to the scene. Nationwide Arena is located in the Arena District of Columbus, which is a downtown area containing bars and restaurants that are walking distance to the arena. I was impressed with the pre-game vibe outside the arena, as I saw many more fans than anticipated who were geared up for the Jackets' second home game of the season. Following last year's first-ever playoff appearance for Columbus, fans' energy levels were high all night. Their expectations for another winning season and trip to the playoffs were a popular topic of conversation throughout the arena. As the game began, Mrs. Beav and I were pleasantly surprised to find out that the club seats we were given were in the front row and, as a fan, the best NHL seats I've ever had. The Flames jumped out to a 1-0 lead, but as the game progressed a resilient Jackets offense peppered the Flames D and came away with a pair of back-to-back goals that led to a Columbus victory. After the game I was able to slide into the local Gordon-Biersch for a pint of their Octoberfest- a nice way to celebrate the hometown victory. The following day I took a drive past Ohio Stadium, home of the Buckeyes, and was impressed with the sheer size of the facility. The arching gates make "The Horseshoe" a must-see if you're in town, gameday or not.Tuesday, November 3, 2009
A tale of thanks-giving
With Thanksgiving season just around the corner here's a little story I'd like to share with you about a recent game I attended. It took place about a month ago when I paid a visit to Chestnut Hill to watch Boston College take on visiting Florida State.
(Note: the decision to attend this game was purely based on having a free ticket. I had decided ahead of time that there was no way for me to enjoy this contest as BC is the #1 team on my shit list and Florida State is #3. And in case you're wondering, Virginia Tech is #2.)
Let me get this out of the way up front: As an anti-BC guy, any trip to "The Heights" is likely to piss me off. Whether it is their completely pussified "tailgating" scene, the perception among BC fans that their gameday environment is in line with the rest of the college football world, or simply that the stadium generally lacks enthusiasm for the majority of their season, I usually find myself annoyed from the get-go when I attend BC games. Knowing this, I did my best to arrive with a positive attitude and make the most of it after we opted for the BC game over the Holy Cross @ Northeastern game earlier in the day due to the previously-mentioned free tickets we scored (in hindsight this was a great call as Holy Cross bitchslapped the Huskies all day).
Upon arriving at the game, my friends and I witnessed a BC campus cop doing his best Paul Blart impression as he enforced campus law regarding ticket sales. Apparently it was a slow day because Officer Blart felt the need to ID my friend and grill him about the ticket he ultimately gave away for a game that had already kicked off... Look, I know everybody's got a job to do and Blart was just doing his, but come on man. The kid wasn't harassing walk-up customers, the game had already started, and he certainly wasn't going to be able to sell it for anything close to face value since it wasn't a packed house. Cut him some slack, Jack.
After the run-in with Johnny "Law," we found our seats and settled in for a 1st half that was dominated by BC. Then, with less than a minute remaining in the half and FSU driving, the skies opened up with a hard rain. This wasn't out of the blue, mind you, so people at the game were already dressed in their foul weather gear. But that didn't stop the hordes of fans who rushed for cover despite FSU's gameplan being on life support, desperately trying to eke out whatever sort of momentum they could. Now freeze the game. FSU is pulling out all the stops, trying to get some points- any points- before the half because they've shown no signs of life and have played like shit thus far, resulting in a 21-3 deficit. They complete a couple of passes and for once there is a belief that the Seminoles might do something offensively. All the BC defense wants is a stop, and they've got both time and mother nature on their side. So what do the BC "faithful" do? They crank up the noise and make a tough situation for the Noles even tougher, right?? Wrong. They run for the hills because of the rain and their defense ends up letting FSU march down the field and squeeze out a field goal before the half. That, my friends is the BC fan base in a nutshell. And don't think they didn't go unheckled by yours truly. Did the Beav hit home when he hurled various insults at the retreating fans? Probably not. But it felt good to get it all off my chest, nonetheless.
The second half produced a comeback from FSU, all the way back to tie the game, and finally BC took the lead with minutes to go and held on for the win. After the game we caught some great heckling courtesy of one FSU fan to another on the train when a drunk FSU coed was in tears over someone being mean to her at the game. With the girl's friends all huddled around her telling her that said mean person was an asshole, the real hero of the day showed up in the form of a 40-something unfunny but unrelenting FSU heckler. This guy rode the group of girls about crying the entire 15 minutes or so we were all crammed together on the train.
The moral of this Thanksgiving tale is that if you are offered a free ticket to a game you should probably go even if it is shitty weather and you hate both teams playing because, who knows, you could run into some people (see Paul Blart, the literally fair weathered halftime fans, & losing fans in tears bickering with each other) who help you realize that its good to stop and give thanks once in a while that you're not part of their fan base. And even if your team is having a losing season and your nemesis is bowl-bound, it still feels pretty damn good. The Beav is living proof.
Happy early Thanksgiving.
Beav
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
