The Qwest for Great Football

As a sports fan, there are experiences that amaze you. You always hold dear to your heart the plays, players and games that make pushing through the mundane moments in sports worth watching. I’ll never forget being 9 and 10 years old when the Blue Jays won back-to-back World Series titles (you must have been mad then America. Your trophy, in our country— not once, but twice. It’s a shame it won’t be back for so long), I’ll never forget what I was doing when Michael Jordan came out of retirement (playing roller hockey in my basement), and later when he pushed off (maybe) on Byron Russell to win the ‘98 title. Or how I felt when Mike Tyson bit off Holyfield’s ear; I could go on a long time.

While I will never forget watching some of the biggest moments in sports on television, I’ll also never forget the feeling experiencing the events live. In the Toronto Raptors inaugural season I sat in the second row when they played the Orlando Magic. Shaq and Penny and even Nick Anderson! Shaq was even wearing his hypnosis shoes. I was all of 12-years-old, but still remember that feeling of awe and inspiration.

I still see Vince Carter in my mind, only instead of the visions I have where I’m strangling him, this time he’s soaring through the air, crushing a dunk in traffic on several L.A. Clippers while I watched with my friends, a mere 6 rows away.

I’ll never forget my first Toronto Maple Leafs game; I could feel a palpable anticipation and intensity in the air that I’ve never seen rivaled since. And when, after an overtime game winning goal, 20,000 people screamed louder and made more noise than I’ve ever heard in my life.

Then there was this summer, when because of an opportunity to go into the broadcast booth for a Blue Jays game, my friend Dave and I went on the field for batting practice and sat behind home plate while the Jays played the Twins. Torii Hunter hit a mammoth home-run into the second deck, which was an incredible experience from that vantage point.

After last Sunday, I’ll add the NFL to my list.

That’s because on Sunday, I went to a Seattle Seahawks vs Cincinnati Bengals game at Qwest Field. It was my first NFL game, though not my first professional football game (thank-you CFL), and I was blown away. In a shocking twist, the NFL is immeasurably more impressive than the CFL (who knew?).

Driving down, we were talking about how football players are often quoted as saying they don’t (or can’t) get out of bed on Monday’s, because they absorb so much punishment on Sunday. I remember thinking, “why would put themselves through all that?”

Then I witnessed the player intros. I was ready to tackle the guy next to me in the Shaun Alexander jersey. I was instantly taken in by the whole process. Which brings me here; to the good, the bad and the ugly of my NFL inauguration.

THE GOOD

Qwest Field: Of course, we’re bombarded with the stats— 26 opponent false starts last season at home—and we are forever told of how loud it is at Qwest Field. They say it so often that I start thinking it can’t possibly be true. Turns out it is freaking insanely loud. I can only describe it as a drone, and that’s from the nosebleeds, so I can’t even imagine what it was like down on the field.

The reason it’s so loud is because they really pump that 12th man stuff. The fans buy 12th man jerseys, and there’s a banner, and it’s a flawless PR move because every one of those fans honestly believes they are making a difference on D for the Seahawks. And when you add the filtered crowd noise into the mix, it’s a riotous hum the opposing team faces on offense.

Also, from where we were sitting, Qwest Field looks like a giant ship. Add that bit of entertainment itself to the fact that there is a great view of downtown Seattle, Safeco Field and the water, and you have a very pleasant aesthetic for a football game.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on who you ask), 85% of the people in the stadium are far too intoxicated to notice the view. We arrived at our seats about 15 minutes before player introductions, and a few minutes later a guy walked into the row in front of us, already drunk and spilling beer on himself as he walked. There were a few Bengals fans about 12 rows up, and in a display of awkwardly-poor sportsmanship, drunk man would just turn and point up at the Bengals fans after plays. No yelling, no expression, just turning and pointing. Maybe the strangest feeling I’ve ever had in sports.

Kylah Switches Teams: My girlfriend got us these tickets through someone she knew, and even went so far as to borrow a Seahawks jersey from a friend of hers. There is nothing wrong with this, in and of itself, but about halfway through the game she mentioned she was becoming partial to the Bengals. Confused, I asked her what prompted the switch, and she responded that ‘they rush really hard at the Seahawks.’

There had been a kickoff and so I was confused why she felt the Seahawks didn’t ‘rush’ on their kickoffs. “Well, the Seahawks kind of blend into the field, I can’t really tell what they’re doing.” It’s not that are seats were that bad, she just can’t see very far. The Bengals are bright (and according to her, ‘tough looking’) and so in the third quarter she just changed who she was cheering for. Just like that. While I found this hilarious, and certainly ironic, I was adamant that she not mention this any louder, as the hundreds of Seahawks fans in our section might not have found it as amusing.

Good Seats: Football is the one game where you can sit up high and it doesn’t detract from your enjoyment of the game. Most of the time you’re up high, you’re just glad to be in the building, but with football, you can watch the play unfold before your eyes. It’s kind of like Madden, from a slightly different angle. My buddy Mark sat down in the second row for the season opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, seats he scored out of dumb luck, and said that some elements were good (size of players, speed of the game) and others were not (can’t see play unfolding, lots of chaos). All things considered being in the nosebleeds at an NFL game is probably the best place to be. It’s still loud, because all the games are sold out, so it’s not like you’re in the nosebleeds all by yourself. Also, if you wanted to watch a specific player, you can, which leads me too…

Ocho Cinco: We hear all the hype and the criticisms, we see all the touchdown celebrations, and it’s all over-blown. But I was still excited to watch Chad Johnson on a down-by-down basis. Turns out he is incredible, far better than I would have thought. On top of that, I heard on the Jim Rome show the other day that Chad’s a legitimately good guy (this was proven by a caller who said Ocho Cinco tipped him $100 on a $100 tab).

I was watching Johnson one-on-one against Marcus Trufant, and I was simply blown away. Carson Palmer used Ocho and T.J. Houshmandzadeh (who caught a 35-yard TD on a 3rd and long to shut the crowd up) almost exclusively, and it was easy to see why. Housh was an absolute dynamo out there, and when Palmer wanted to throw to Johnson he didn’t even bother to look at anyone else. He sat in the pocket until Chad had run his route and then hit him in the numbers. Of all the potentially exciting players in the game (Shaun Alexander was a dud, Rudi Johnson had a few good runs, Deion Branch had a 42-yard TD that was nice), these three Bengals stood out head and shoulders above the rest.

THE BAD

Concessions: I heard a rumor that in a certain part of the stadium you could get fish and chips and delicious pizza, but in all the concessions I saw it was a sausage with no condiments, or a tiny bacon cheeseburger. Although I saw a fellow with what might have been chili, and another guy with what could have been poutine. There’s no way to know for sure. Also, I understand Budweiser is a big company, I just don’t understand how Americans drink so much of it. Bud and Bud Light are too of the weakest beers I have ever encountered in my life. In Canada, our water has more punch than these beers. Seattle is close enough to Canada to get some good beer. Think it over Seattle.

Not Child Friendly: Mark my words I will never take a child to an NFL game. Anytime you attend a professional sporting event you expect some profanities and your respectable amount of alcohol abuse. After all, sports is all about men blowing off some steam. But this was crazy. I don’t think there was a minute that went by where I didn’t witness some sort of cursing or someone falling down intoxicated (maybe Canadian beer is a bad suggestion).

To make matters worse, two women in Bengals garb were sitting a few rows up from us with signs that said something about how their husbands were in Iraq, and I thought about how tough that must be for a while. And then about 6 men from my section began showering them with profanities and throwing food at them. Yes, grown men, throwing food at women and cursing at them. It was a sad day for sports, for men and for pistachios.

I understand being competitive; I have had nicknames like ‘captain intensity and all business’ and when I was 13 I beat up a kid in Laser tag because he was being cheap. So I get wanting to win and having some pride. But I don’t know what possesses a grown man to curse at a woman and throw food at her. Really brave guys, really brave. At least those girls had the guts to wear their Bengals gear into the stadium. Football isn’t about what’s wrong with society; it’s about grown men and freak athletes bashing the crap out of each other for a little thing I like to call respect. At least I think that’s what it’s about. Let’s not lose sight of that.

THE UGLY

The Border: I live about 15 minutes from the American border, and it’s usually less than a 2 hour drive to Seattle. We left at 7:00 am, arrived in our seats at 12:45, and then didn’t get home to Canada until 11:00 pm at night. With the rise of the Canadian dollar, more and more Canadians are going shopping in your fine country. This is all well and good, except when I am trying to go to America for football. Two and three hour waits are far too long. I thought are countries were friends? Then again America, you don’t call, you don’t write, what am I supposed to make of this?

THE VERDICT

The two teams didn’t quite have the offensive shoot-out everyone expected, but the game was close throughout and the home team pulled it out in the end. I have to say that I now have a newfound respect for the NFL. I always respected it in the obvious way, that is to say that I knew they were talented and all that, but now I see it in a whole new light. From the player intros to the game-winning TD with 1:00 remaining in the 4th quarter, the NFL is truly a spectacle, and a great show to take in. Just don’t take your children. Or send your wife.