Saturday, we went to the first pre-season Cardinals game. Ours is a football house, at least in the fall, and though I wouldn’t say we’re Cardinals fans (our true loyalty is elsewhere), it is fun to go to the games and support the home team.
We got to our seats just after the opening ceremonies. The announcer made note of the temperature outside (105°), and the fact that it was nice and cool inside. We settled into the movie-theater-style seats with a sigh, thankful that we weren’t getting our butts branded by searing metal bleachers.
A couple of years ago, we had seats at Sun Devil stadium, where we learned just how aptly named it was. We sat in the end zone and suffered the full wrath of the sun. There were several games where we had to leave early to ward off heat stroke. We also happened to be in one of the rowdiest sections, surrounded by folks who spent the game screaming at the players (supportive in success, but vitriolic whenever things when badly. Being the Cardinals, you can imagine the general mood of the crowd around us). We were close enough to the field that when the game was at our end of the field, the players most certainly heard what these fans had to say; I can’t help but wonder how exactly it was helpful. At our first game, one of our neighbors pointed out a tall guy standing behind us, his arms crossed and his expression grim.
“See that guy?” the neighbor gestured, giving a wave to the fellow. “Last year, he got tasered like eight times.” As he spoke, security guards were approaching to confront the guy.
“Sir, you have to sit down.”
“Make me.”
They argued back and forth for a bit, but the crowd was clearly on the side of Standing Man. The security guards backed down, but they weren’t happy about it.
These days, our neighbors are an older couple from the Seattle area, and various others who are happy to simply enjoy the game, for the most part. Being indoors probably keeps tempers a lot cooler, too.
-o.o-
