Game 37 - Green Bay Packers

Green Bay Packers vs. Pittsburgh Steelers @ Lambeau Field (12/22/2013)

Well, if you are going to do Lambeau Field, you should do it right.  It all sounded like a great idea back in early fall when plans were made.  Waking up on game-day to a blizzard, 6-9 inches of snow expected, 30 mph winds and low 20 degrees made me think I was crazy.  However, I  learned that 20 articles of clothing is enough to keep me warm throughout most of the game.  The only thing that really got cold were my toes.  We got lucky because the wind was blowing in the other direction and was not really a factor.  The snow however never really stopped.  When you are there, it did not seem as bad as it appeared on TV, but gradually the field went from brown to white by the end of the game.  Because the field it heated, you can no longer call it the frozen tundra, but field was kind of a nasty looking brown. 

The one thing I will recommend is that if you go to a game at Lambeau in this kind of weather, a seat cushion is a must.  The aluminum benches are extremely cold and suck the heat right out of you....just ask the guys attending with me.  My Steeler seat came in handy.  Attending the game with me was my cousin Brian Apel, his college roommate and his brother.  All of us are Steeler fans, and like most games, Steeler fans travel well and there were plenty of terrible towels waiving.  Packer fans are some of the nicest fans I have encountered; as well as the most football-intelligent.  They treated us with mutual respect and were never really mean-spirited toward us at all.

Our seats were in the lower half of the upper deck, in the end-zone facing the scoreboard.  The view was very good, particularly since a good portion of the scoring happened right in front of us all day long.

This was a very important game for both teams who are fighting for their playoff lives.  In all honesty, I figured the Steelers would be eliminated by kickoff, but each of the teams they needed to lose in the early games did; thus keeping them in the hunt for a little longer.

The Packers were hit pretty hard by injuries in this game.  Not only was Rogers still out from his shoulder injury (a whole separate story / controversy in and of itself), but they lost RB Lacy and LB Matthews durng the game.  At half-time the Packers led 14-10, but the Steelers surged to a 10 point lead by the end of 3rd quarter thanks to 3 TDs, including an interception return.


The Steelers had a chance to break it wide-open in the 3rd quarter when they blocked a FG, but in the scramble, they were penalized for batting it out of bounds.  I still think the refs got this call wrong and they took forever to figure it out.

In the 4th quarter, the Packers roared back to tie the game at 31-31.  The crowd was alive with excitement and Steeler fans were nervous as a loss would ensure them a losing season.  With 3 minutes to go, the Packers started at their own 8-yard line with a chance to make a game-winning drive; however, Troy Polamalu forced a fumble deep in Packers' territory to give the Steelers a chance to seal the win.  On 4th down, the Steelers were about to kick the go-ahead FG, but a penalty on the Packers gave them an automatic 1st down.  A few plays later the Steelers scored a TD, but it left the Packers a lot of time. 

I disagreed with Tomlin's philosophy in this case and thought he should have knelt on the ball, run the clock down to a few seconds and kicked a game winning FG.  After a huge 66-yard kick off return, the Packers had plenty of time to mount a game-tying TD, but a costly penalty and poor clock management allowed the Steelers to sneak out a 38-31 win.  The Steelers are still alive for the playoffs...so are the Packers.

As for the venue itself, it is Lambeau Field....a must for any real football fan.  It's history allows you to overlook things like overly crowded concourses, extremely long restroom lines and a very small scoreboard.  I tend to like more modern venues, but recent improvements and pure nostalgia allow me to rank it near the top of my favorites.....it is the Fenway park of football.

This concludes the 4th year of my quest to hit all 122 professional team venues.  37 completed and nearly $4,000 raised for cancer research.  Please visit my fundraising page. I encourage you to donate. http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/christopher-apel/christopherapel

Games 34, 35 & 36

What do you get when you take a bunch of old college buddies, 4 rather bad football teams, 3 venues , 2 airports, 1 hockey game, 1 3-legged dog and 1 one-eyed dog?.....A great weekend!  How can you complain when most of us flew out of cold, ice and snow to palm trees and 80 degrees?

Game 34 - Jacksonville Jaguars vs. Houston Texans (12/5/2013) - EverBank Field, Jacksonville, FL

Attending the game:  Aaron Depew, Matt Boyle and me.  This was a rather exciting game given the fact these two teams had a combined record of 5-19.  Rumor was you could get tickets right before gametime for less than $10.  Oh well, we purchased our tickets months ago, the price was reasonable for lower level near the goal line. 

The "helmet catch"

Jaguars' fans were excited for a Thursday Night game.  A win over the Texans would mean their first home win in more than a year.  Jax jumped out to an early lead, scoring on some good passing (including a great catch down the middle that made ESPN Top 10) and a WR pass for a TD.  The Texan's brought in former starting QB, Matt Schaub, to help lead a comeback.  You could sense some nervousness in the crowd as the Texans closed to within 7 points, but a costly interception sealed the win for Jacksonville (27-20).  The Texans walked away with their 11th straight loss and are now in the lead for the #1 pick (so they've got that going for them).

A few interesting observations from the game itself:
1.  The Texans played a very sloppy game - committing 14 penalties for 177 yards (a franchise record). 
2.  Andre Johnson from the Texans catches everything.  He finished with 13 catches for 154 yards.
3.  Jacksonville Linebacker Paul Posluszny is a tackling machine.  It seemed like he was in on every play.  13 tackles and a forced fumble.
4.  The Texans fired their coach, Gary Kubiak, the next day.

People-watching at these games is great, particularly for us northerners who enjoyed the 60 degree Florida night in shorts and tee-shirts while the locals wore jeans and jackets.  EverBank Field is a pretty good venue.  Nothing particularly special about it, but you've got to love the warm weather venues with their large open air concourse areas that make them feel much bigger.  One small oddity to note was the "airport-like" concession stands where you walk by a bunch of coolers and pick out your food and drink.  I did enjoy the entrance of Jaxson, the mascot, as he slid on a wire from one side of the stadium to the other, then lowered himself down to the field (photo on left).  I like the new Jacksonville helmets as well - the two-toned looks gives a bit of an arena football feel, but they look pretty cool.

After spending the night in Jacksonville, we headed to Orlando to pick up our friend, Chris Petersen.  While on the way, we decided to stop into St. Augustine (founded in 1565) to tour this old small town and fort.  On Saturday morning, Chris Petersen and Aaron Depew ran a 1/2 marathon though Orlando before we headed to Tampa for more games.


Game 35 - Tampa Bay Lightning vs. Winnipeg Jets (12/7/2013) - Tampa Bay Times Forum, Tampa, FL

We picked up a few other buddies before attending the Lightning game on Saturday night.  Joining

the group were Joe Mertz and Scott Rowles.

The first observation about this game....the crowd was dead.  No matter how hard they tried to get them pumped up, they just didn't seem to care.  Once again we had good seats in the lower level behind the goalie.  It is a pretty good venue with plenty of room to move around on the lower deck; however, when I went to the upper deck, it is a bit crowded. 


The two best features of this facility are over the ice.  As seen on the left, they actually produce lightning.  There are two of these large "lightning rods" hanging from the roof in the facility that go off at the beginning of each period.  The other great feature is the scoreboard itself.  Incredible video screens on all four sides - one of the best I have seen yet.

One thing that was a little strange was when I walked into a men's restroom with no urinals.....before you even ask....yes, I was in the men's room.  This was a first.

As for the game itself, there was not much scoring, but there was a good deal of fighting.   I also saw a referee take a puck off the leg....I'm guessing that hurts.  The Jets ended up winning the game 2-1 in overtime.  In the games I have attended, this was the first loss by the home team in 9 games.



Game 35 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers vs. Buffalo Bills (12/8/2013) - Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, FL


Bye the way, nice shirt Joe!

Attending the game:  Matt Boyle, Aaron Depew, Joe Mertz, Chris Petersen and me.  This is a great venue.  Seriously, how can you go wrong with a stadium that has palm trees, pirate-dressed gate attendants and a pirate ship too.  In all the games I have been to, the pirate ship is the single best "extra" feature at a venue I have seen.  It is a cool addition to an already great place to watch football; however, if you sit close to it, a word of warning....it is loud!  They also offer free refills on soda and popcorn, which is a first for me at any venue.

The stadium is very easy to get to as it is kind of out in the way; therefore, very little congestion.  We took a 5-minute cab ride from our hotel.  The only downside that I discovered was trying to walk around the pirate ship.  It is a pinch point for the crowd and is extremely congested - taking way too long to walk from one side to the other before the game, at half-time or after the game - someone should look into solving that problem.  Again we had good seats in the lower level near the goal line.  The weather was in the mid-80s and I will not complain about the slight sunburn considering the next day it was 8 degrees when I landed in Milwaukee.

Like the Jacksonville / Texans game on Thursday, these two teams are near the bottom of the league with a combined record of 7-17.  However, by watching the Buccaneers on this particular day, you wouldn't know it.  They scored on the 2nd play of the game with an 80-yard TD run and never looked back.  This was the fastest scoring play in Tampa Bay history to start a game (just 18 seconds into the game).  Tampa Bay's defense dominated by forcing 5 turnovers and sacking the QB 7 times.  The Bills didn't help matters by committing 11 penalties.  Very sloppy.

The Buccaneers ended up winning 27-6 and may have just saved coach Schiano's job.....for now.

36 games now completed out of 122.   My record for the home teams is 24-12.  My next scheduled game is the Green Bay Packers vs. Pittsburgh Steeler (12/22/2013) in Green Bay - I'm guessing this game is not going to be in the mid-80s.

I want to send a special thank you to all the guys that attended the games with me:  Matt Boyle (thanks for setting up the hotels); Aaron Depew; Joe Mertz (thanks for the ride to Tampa); Chris Petersen; and Scott Rowles (thanks for a place to stay and the entertainment from a 3-legged dog and 1-eyed dog).

83 points scored in these game and another $83 for the Jimmy V Foundation for Cancer Research.  Please visit my fundraising page. I encourage you to donate. http://www.firstgiving.com/fundraiser/christopher-apel/christopherapel