Game 28

Indianapolis Colts (Lucas Oil Stadium) vs. Cleveland Browns
October 21, 2012

Incredible!  That is how I would describe Lucas Oil Stadium.  The facility is bigger, brighter and much nicer than you can imagine.  It certainly helped that it was a bright / sunny day with the roof and one end of the stadium open allowing for a lot of sunlight it.  No offense to Heinz Field, PNC Park, Fenway Park or any other stadium where I have toured, but this is by far my favorite place yet....I have not been to Dallas so my opinion may change once I see the Cowboys' stadium, but for now, this place ranks at the top.

 

My favorite feature is that the open end of the stadium frames downtown Indianapolis perfectly.  The picture above is from our seats, which allowed for this great view all day long.  You can also see the light coming in from the open roof.  What is also nice about this place is the large concourse areas that feel even bigger than they really are because of the large glass walls that allow so much light in.  The only downside with it being so bright is the fact that it was often a challenge to get good pictures with so many sunny spots and a lot of shadows.

I drove down to Indianapolis the night before the game and stayed at a hotel just one block away.  By staying so close, I was able to walk right up to the stadium and take a lot of pictures both the night before the game and early in the morning prior....more pictures can be found on my Facebook page.

On the morning of the game, I met up with some former co-workers from Louisville - Bill Dwyer (grill-master) and Cory Moran - to tailgate.  Word of caution....the hotel is certainly convenient when spending the night and finding a secure parking spot (hotel garage); however, getting out of the parking garage after the game was a long wait, which is something I did not think about at the time.

 

 

In the photo to the left (of which I am posing with some random Colts fanatic dressed in a full-body spandex blue and white tuxedo) you can kind of see how much light is let in from the large windows on the concourse areas.  Colts fans are like many other fans...passionate about their team; however, having just attended a division rivalry between the Eagles & Giants on a Sunday night, the level of excitement felt subdued here.  

In a year in which the Colts are rebuilding with a rookie QB (Andrew Luck), I think fans were just excited to be facing an opponent they had a chance to beat.  Let's face it, any team playing the Cleveland Browns, who always seem to be rebuilding, has a good chance to win.  Also, I know for a fact that fans were screaming during intense moments of the game, but for some reason, it just didn't seem very loud compared to a lot of other games.

 

As for the game itself (photo on the left is from our seats in the upper deck), the first half started out with some excitement with each team going on very long / time-consuming TD drives that resulted in a 14-6 half-time lead for the Colts.  Andrew Luck looked pretty well and scored both TDs on short runs.  It was also nice to get a look at Cleveland's rookie QB (Brandon Weeden) and rookie RB (Trent Richardson - although he was injured and played on a limited basis).  It is very likely that we will be watching these three rookies play for a long time. 

There certainly was some excitement toward the end of the game as the Browns made a few attempts at game-winning TD drives, but came up short in the end.  Sure the Colts won 17-13, but I would argue that the Browns lost this game because of a few poor plays, which seems to be the story of the Cleveland's history.  For starters, they missed an extra point early in the game which forced them to have to score a TD at the end of the game instead of having an option to kick a FG to tie.  Also, late in the game one of the Browns' receivers dropped a wide-open pass in the endzone, which was right in his hands.  Oh well, as a Steeler fan, I was happy to see the Browns lose.

 

Bottom-line:  A must-see venue.

After 28 games, the record of the home team is 17-11. 94 more games to go.  Currently I have no immediate plans for my next game, but am always open to options so please keep me in mind.  It will be nice if we finally get the NHL season started again.

Also, please visit my fundraising page as I continue to try and raise money for cancer research. I encourage you to donate. http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/christopher-apel/christopherapel

Game 27

Philadelphia Eagles (Lincoln Financial Field) vs. New York Giants
September 30, 2012

There is no better way to experience a great NFL rivalry than to go to Philadelphia for an Eagles / NY Giants game.  Add to the mix the fact that it was an 8:20 PM start; thus allowing fans to tailgate all day long, and you end up with a very rowdy crowd. 

I met up with some college buddies of mine Drew Blank (the only real Eagles fan in the group), Chris Petersen (former Eagle fan now converted to a Steeler fan and someone who has attended a number of games with me) and Aaron Depew (a true Steeler fan that settled for a McCoy jersey because he at least went to Pitt.  Aaron is also wearing a Steeler shirt underneath to show his true loyalty.  He has also attended a number of games with me).  Not pictured was Kevin Heaphy who joined us for pre-game festivities, but then left.  All of you know that I'm a Steeler fan, but don't judge me for wearing a Philadelpia Eagles jersey to the game.  It was for my own safety in this hostile environment.

I first have to recognize both Aaron and Chris for their dedication to making it to the game.  Both of them completed a half Ironman competition a few hours away that morning.  Nothing like skipping tailgating for 6 hours of hard-core exercise.  That probably made the ballpark food and beer taste that much better.  Congratulations guys!

We took a cab to the game and hung out at Infinity Live! for a few hours before the game.  This place is incredible and well worth the minimal cover charge.  Food, music, bars, enormous TVs, etc.  A great place to experience the excitement of the pregame crowd.  I highly recommend stopping in....oh, and a word of advice....keep the wristband on in case you want to go back after the game.  I learned the hard way and had to wait in line and pay the cover charge again. 

Lincoln Financial Field opened in 2003 and still feels like a new stadium.  It seems to offer a great selection of food and is designed well to accommodate large crowds at the concession stands.  It feels a lot like Heinz Field in Pittsburgh with the open end of the stadium.  It has to be rather convenient for fans to attend games because all four major sports are located basically in the same place with Citizens Bank Park (home of the Phillies) and Wells Fargo Center (home of the 76'ers and Flyers) nearby.  Our seats were in the upper deck; therefore, a very long walk, but even at the top, the view of the action was great and this is where you get to see the true / die-hard fans.



It was a rather low scoring / defensive game with Philly leading 13-10 at half time.  At half-time, they did a very nice tribute to retired Eagle veteran, Brian Dawkins who had his number retired by the team.

With less than 7 minutes to go in the game, the Giants took the lead and things didn't look good for the Eagles or their anxious fans.  However, Philly managed to move the ball all the way down to the Giants 4 yard-line but could not punch it in.  They settled for a field goal with just under 2 minutes left for a one point lead.  Now the excitement and nervousness could certainly be felt in the stadium as Eli Manning and the Giants made one last drive to win the game. 

With 15 seconds to go, the Giants lined up for a 54 yard game-winning field goal, which he missed.  The crowd went wild, until they realized that the Eagles' coach called time out to ice the kicker. 

To quote coach Andy Reid when asked later if he regretted calling time out, "When you're surrounding by 66,000 people that probably wanna rip your head off, yeah."

Vick is not a fan of the practice of icing the kicker.  "I don't believe in icing the kicker," he said. "You let him kick it and if it's in, it's in. You can't play games. I don't know where that started. We got to end that tradition."

Lucky for the Eagles and their fans, the 2nd attempt fell short for an Eagles victory (picture to the right is the 2nd attempt).  As bitter and drunk as the fans were, I certainly am glad the Eagles won or it would have been a very bitter crowd afterward.  I'm still not a fan of their fight song - Fly Eagles Fly.


, The weekend was not all football, hot dogs and beer.  I had time to kill on Sunday morning so I did manage to tour some of the historic areas of Philadelphia - Liberty Bell, Benjamin Franklin's grave, US Mint, Independence Hall, Betsy Ross' home, Alfreth's Alley, etc.

After 27 games, the record of the home team is 16-11. 95 more games to go.  Next stop - Indianapolis Colts in a few weeks.

Also, please visit my fundraising page as I continue to try and raise money for cancer research. I encourage you to donate. http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/christopher-apel/christopherapel