Could I borrow your binoculars?
I went with my father to the Patriots pre-season game against the Saints on Thursday. The stadium was big and beautiful, kind of like my biceps. We walked up about 14 ramps, and, after fighting traffic, parking lots and hunger, finally made it to our seats with 12 minutes to go in the third quarter.
By the time we got there, all the starters had been taken out and they were playing the 3rd string. At one point, I was excited to see veteran running-back Fred Taylor carrying the ball. However, we eventually realized that it was actually a different running back named Chris Taylor. Chris… Fred… what’s the difference anyway?
At one point, I spotted Reggie Bush on the sidelines. I could tell it was him, because I could make out the number 25 on his shirt. I was about a mile away from him, so that was pretty good. I also saw Coach Bill, Randy Moss and my friend Tom Brady. They weren’t playing, of course, but they did look nice on the sidelines.
Even as we were getting to the stadium, people were leaving. By the time we got there, the place was about 35% full. Toward the end of the fourth quarter, that number dropped to about 10%. One thing that struck me about the game was how quiet it was. There wasn’t a lot of the extra-curricular stuff that goes on at sporting events during timeouts, like contests or shooting T-shirts into the crowd. The place was pretty much dead.
But dead was just what I needed. After all the work it took to get there, I didn’t need any more stimulation. Seeing the stadium and Reggie and Coach Bill and Tom was enough. It was also good to be with my Dad.
Not even the cheerleaders were into this game
