Wednesday, October 06, 2004

Notes on Monday Night Football

*It’s good to have friends. A friend from Rice, who is interning with the Ravens, gave Jeff and I free tickets to Monday night’s game against the Chiefs. Not only did we get front row seats in the club section, but we also got into the pre-game Backyard Bash where we received free food and drink courtesy of Ruth’s Chris. Pretty nice deal.

*It’s amazing how many “macho men” will don purple if it’s for football. Purple, a color most manly men tend to spurn, is worn proudly by tens of thousands of male Ravens fans. As long as it’s in jersey form, color is apparently not an issue. I wonder how pink would go over.

*Apparently Under Armor is based in Baltimore. Every time there was a break in the game (which there were a lot of thanks to TV timeouts), an Under Armor ad came up on the board. The guys behind us apparently were big Under Armor fans, because throughout the game, they never stopped yelling the slogan: “Who will protect this house? I will! I will!”

*I didn’t know that “I’m Proud to Be an American” had gained national anthem status, but apparently it has. When it was played over the stadium’s loudspeakers, everyone stood, removed their hats, and sang loudly. This was then followed by something I am told was the national anthem, but Dru Hill’s version of it did not resemble any song I had ever heard before.

*Who knew that pro football teams had marching bands? I sure didn’t, until the Ravens’ band took the field before the game. They were about as cool as the Rice MOB, which means they weren’t really very cool at all. Now band geekiness isn’t just reserved for high school and college, but can be carried on throughout your life.

*I’m surprised that I didn’t see one single Janet Jackson moment throughout the whole game. The Ravens’ cheerleaders must tape their boobs into their tops, because the tops are so tiny and the boobs so big that with all the bouncing around they do, it’s inevitable that they’re going to pop out.

*I like football the best when there are lots of long throws and runs. Both the Ravens and the Chiefs mainly played small ball on Monday, which isn’t nearly as exciting. The game was still fun, and the three and a half hours passed quickly (I never once checked to see what time it was), but the game would have been better with a few more long bombs.

*NFL games are a lot of fun. I’m glad I got to go and see all the craziness and excitement that is professional football. Everyone should check out the spectacle at least once.

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