...because I used to say, "I've only been to an NFL pre-season game." That's changed.
We found out during our three hour-long get-everybody-ready-for-Christmas-music church choir rehearsal on Saturday that our friends the Fishers couldn't use their tickets to the Titans/Jaguars game today, so we got to go! This is, of course, quite a feat for us on a Sunday, considering the fact that we're usually required up at the churchhouse from 8:30-11:30 and 4:00-7:00 on Sundays.
This made an impact on our regularly-scheduled Saturday afternoon plans: the Christmas dry run. We're having all the Wattses, a couple of Waggeners and a couple of Cooks to our house for Christmas dinner this year, and we've never done the whole nine yards here at our house. We pretty much threw the whole meal, including a fifteen pound turkey, for ourselves and Lydia's parents on Saturday night. However, we had to fit in fleshing out our "fit the Titans in between church commitments" supplies also. The pre-pre-Christmas dinner was a complete success, even switching corn casserole recipes in mid-stream. (We ended up with two casseroles, one of which is now secured in the freezer in case of potluck emergency.) After the meal, despite our tryptophan-induced state, we assembled our packs for the marathon Sunday.
Sunday morning we hauled all of our gear to church and did the normal Sunday morning things. Immediately after the service, we changed and walked to the stadium. The fun part about this (and the reason for my reconaissance Saturday afternoon) was that it was drizzling the whole walk. Saturday's trip was a Target run to get some supplemental rain gear. This is our favorite weather to be out and about in - NOT. It annoys Lydia and makes my glasses spot up so that I can't see where I'm going.
Despite the drizzle, it wasn't too cold, and we did make it to our seats. They were in the third deck, but the view was nothing short of incredible. You could see the whole field and watch plays develop even better than seeing it on television. I know lots of people say this about lots of venues, but there really isn't a bad seat in the Coliseum. Lunch consisted of nachos and too-long-in-the-steamer soggy hamburgers, but it really tasted good after the walk, and in the surrounding of a "real" NFL game.
The game was kind of a washout - neither team really got a lot going. That was okay with us. We were having fun watching all the pageantry and the people around us. About two rows in front of us (and thankfully) a few seats to the right, there was this guy there with his son and grandson, all in Titans jerseys. Either the grandfather had had too much to drink, or too little, because whatever amount he was drinking wasn't mellowing him out. Every defensive play, he would stand up, cup his hands around his face and scream at the top of his lungs, encouraging the Titans. It got so that Lydia and I felt completely un-compelled to yell anything because there was no way we could measure up to this guy. Four whole quarters, and he never let up. I'm amazed that he still had a voice toward the end of the game... I bet he doesn't now!
The action finally started picking up on Jacksonville's last drive when they were pushing back towards the Titan end zone, just a touchdown short of tieing it up and a two-point conversion away from winning. Tennessee seemed to have stopped them several times along the drive, but they got all the way down to the two yard line. Tennessee stopped them on the first three downs, and then Jacksonville overthrew the receiver in the end zone on fourth down. End of story! Titans win!
We walked back to church and completed our Sunday night duties. It was a really fun time for both of us, but we're zonked! I think we'll both call in sick tomorrow and just rest.
Unfortunately, that's not how it works. :^)
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