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 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
No comments:
Post a Comment