Its the first prime-time game of the season for the Eagles. If you’ve read any of my past blogs or forum posts, you’d know that I hate prime-time games. 1:00 games are ideal, I can deal with 4:00 games, but an evening game is a royal pain in the ass. Enough of the bitching though, we have a tailgate to enjoy no matter what time the game starts.
I thought the tailgating crowd would be on fire since this was the first Eagles home game after the Philadelphia Phillies won the World Series. Nothing could be further from the truth. It was a very calm, almost apathetic crowd in the parking lots. Was everyone still drunk off the first championship the city has seen in 25 years? It appears so. Or maybe everyone else shares my disdain for the later games and the regular crews didn’t show today.
It didn’t stop us though. We had some eating and drinking to do, and dammit, we were going to do it well. The first thing off the grill this week was a fresh Philly soft pretzel warmed just enough to make the outside hard and the inside soft and warm. Ok, I’ll admit that the last sentence sounded pretty gay. It was a damn good appetizer though, and one that hopefully makes a repeat appearance.
The main feature of the day were sausage scallopini sandwiches. Excellent stuff! We simply warmed the entire tin on the grill then spooned out the goodness onto short rolls. This was one of my favorite dishes this tailgate season. Other fare included bacon cheeseburgers, a few big turkey legs, chicken cutlet slathered in the sauce and some bite-sized kielbasa. It sounds like too much food, but hell, we were there for 6+ hours before the game started, something had to go with the beer.
Speaking of beer, this photo says it all… I’ve said in the past that we usually have something for everyone at our tailgates. Can it be any more true than this?
I’d like to announce my MVP for this week, and it’s someone who didn’t even attend the party… my wife. So I’m sitting there within the last two hours before the game when I hear a guy in the next party over mention that he forgot his ticket. Before I could complete the thought “What an asshole!” I realized I was in the same boat. The rookie mistakes of rookie mistakes was made. I pulled a Bo. I guess every now and then a seasoned vet like myself is subject to a brain fart. I blame it on the late game. Soon after realizing my idiocy, I got on the phone with the wifey and I had the ticket in-hand within 20 minutes courtesy of her and friend. What a gal! And to think, she had a ticket to this game but I made her give it up due to her being with child. Thanks again, babe.
It’s time to head into the game and the subdued crowd is starting to get fired up, mostly over the visiting Giants fans entering the stadium as well. We welcome them with friendly cries of “asshole” repeated over and over again. The Philly crowd stays fired up as World Champs Pat Burrell and Cole Hamels are the honorary captains for the coin-toss and the passion is elevated after a quick turnover and score by the home team. Then it pretty much went downhill from there as the Giants ran all over the Birds and handed them their third division loss of the year (out of three.) Hey, at least we all learned that you can cross the line of scrimmage and still legally pass the ball… but only if you are a mentally challenged quarterback.
So, why did I not allow my wife to attend the game? Think about it. The Philly-New York games can get pretty hairy as it is. Add to that the visiting New York trash mouthing off about their Superbowl victory. There was some jawing during the game amongst fans, but nothing really escalated into anything physical… until both fanbases were mixed in the exit stairs with no where else to go. I don’t need to get into any details, but there were some ass kickings handed out. I certainly don’t condone this behavior… against any other team’s fans.
No after-party today since its too damn late to wait for the coals to get ready. We share a few pieces of pumpkin pie, but that is it. Time to head home. It was nice to be at a cold football game for the first time this season. I came back sun burnt and slightly dehydrated from all the previous games so far.
Next home game on the schedule… Thanksgiving evening against the Arizona Cardinals. Another prime-time game that most fans will miss due to it being on the NFL network. I’ll need a few pages to cover that feast, so stay tuned!
