and now for something completely OT: football

[3-LockBox]

I went to my first NFL game yesterday. I won't go into detail as to how it came about, but I got the opportunity see the Seahawks -v- Giants game in Seattle, where the expectation for anyone attending Seahawks' home games is that you must stand and scream at the top of your lungs whenever the visiting team is on offense. I was always a diehard NFL fan to begin with, but I was still just blown away with the whole process. I can barely talk now and my ears rang all night.

I know there are a few NewYorkers here, but this isn't to rub it in or anything ;)

One of the louder events I've ever attended and that includes heavy metal concerts indoors (this is an outdoor stadium). There were old people, young people, all screaming in unison, even during pre-game warm-ups. When the Giants players came out and stretched an hour before kick-off, they were inundated with boos from a stadium already 2/3 full.

Anyone else here attend NFL games?

[GMichael]

I made the mistake of going to a NY Giant vs NY Jet pre-season game. At most any other game you have a home team that has most of the crowd behind them. At this game there were two equal sized groups at each other's throats. It was not pretty.

[bobsticks]

I went to a few Colts games last year and the year before. Not so sure about this year.
Really, it has nothing to do with the team, which I'm sure will be competetive until the annual playoff implosion, but the city itself. It take sme nearly two hours to get home and I live less than four miles from the RCA Dome...

[Troy]

Being a SF area guy I've been to many 49er games over the years. I try to go to at least one game a year. During the 80s Superbowel years the tix were hard to get and the stadium rocked like a mo-fo. It was crazy. Fun, but crazy. When the home team is on top of the league, the games are a circus.

Now that the team sucks I find I can get tix to games easy (I went to 3 games last year) and half the crowd is rooting for the other team. The stadium is only half full so you can wander to some good seats, but the vibe is totally different.

I've been to the Raider / 49er preseason games and yeah, like GMichael says, at these crosstown rival games the crowd is UGLY. Night game too, so everybody was loaded. Never seen so many fights in the stands until that game.

For whatever reason I've never been to a Raider home game. I guess it has something to do with hating the Raiders . . .