I’m not very smart, but I’m smart enough to keep friends around who have a tendency to get free luxury box tickets to football games. I went down to Landover, MD on Thursday night to see the Redskins and the Bears.
If you have never been in a luxury box for a game, let me tell you, it’s phenomenal. Free food and drinks? Don’t mind if I do! So, I enjoyed my little two-day road trip so much, I thought I’d do a “What I liked and didn’t like” column. So let’s take a look:
What I liked:
-My friend Andy who scored the tickets.
-I liked the two bartenders at the Ruby Tuesdays where we killed time before heading over to FedEx Field. Jay and Carlos know their football and especially their Redskins. To give Eagles fans a perspective, they are sick of Joe Gibbs down there. They are getting agitated with Jason Campbell’s penchant for the worst-possible-time interceptions. They think Gregg Williams is too stale. When I told them that Eagles fans were ready to run Donovan McNabb out of town, their eyes got like plates and they said, “I’ll take ‘em!!”
-I got to sit and talk football with the Hogs. You know, the guys in the dresses that wear pig noses at all the Redskins game? They came in and hung out at the booth. And anyone that knows me knows that of course I forced myself into a conversation with them.
-Here’s some good news for Eagles fans, I got some insider info from a couple of sources close to the Redskins. I won’t mention who, obviously, but they did say that offensive coordinator Al Saunders wants Gibbs to get his hands out of the offense completely. The feeling I got from several of the people associated with the team is that they think Gibbs just can’t get it done offensively anymore. I think it’s great to see a division rival having internal issues. Hopefully, it will boil over and make a big mess in Landover.
-I liked watching Devin Hester live. He is something else. I really hope he doesn’t turn into the latest flameout of kick returners. Kick returners (besides the rare Brian Mitchell) tend to dominate for small periods of time. Dante Hall was the “Human Joystick” one minute and an afterthought the next. Remember how dominant Tyrone Hughes was for the Saints for a couple of years? Michael “The Beer Man” Lewis?
-If you haven’t been to FedEx field, you should try to get down there. Beautiful stadium. Especially when you are….you know….in the luxury boxes.
-Bernard Berrian made two sensational catches during the game. It just makes you wonder why he stinks so much of the rest of the time. He’s a nice player, but won’t ever be great.
-Another source close to the team told me about Brandon Lloyd when I asked what his deal was. They made a face and I said, “he’s kind of a punk that thinks he’s great and doesn’t work very hard?” They said, “Uh, yeah pretty much.” That might explain why a guy with his hands can’t get on the field.
…and not so much:
-Are you serious with the tolls? I must have hit five tolls on the way down and they bang you on the way back too. C’mon now.
-The middle-aged man sitting next to me was nice enough. He was telling his wife that they probably won’t kick the ball near this guy. Then I see him flip through a program and he says to his wife, “Devin Hester.” This is what bugs me about luxury boxes. They are so great that you don’t have to care a lick about football to go hang out there. I understand the average fan maybe not knowing Peanut Tillman, Rashied Davis or Olin Kreutz. But Devin Hester?
-The Bears couldn’t even run a play without committing a procedure penalty of some sort there at the end. The stadium wasn’t even close to full, so don’t tell me you couldn’t hear the count. That’s just terrible.
-I didn’t like the fact that I was telling anyone in that booth who would listen (and that’s probably a small number of people) that Todd Collins stinks, only to have him play very sharp football. After each completion, people turned and stared at me like, “boy, you are stupid.”
-Brian Griese is garbage. How did the Eagles lose to that bum?
-I didn’t like the traffic around the stadium. Unless you live in the Los Angeles or New York City area, you might not know what I’m talking about. Sure, you can find traffic a lot of places, but this was something else. We were about eight miles from the stadium. Cab ride was $80. C’mon now.
-I didn’t like the Quality Inn where we stayed (that’s right, Quality Inn. That’s how I roll). Here’s a travel tip: When you spend $85 on a hotel room, you tend to get an $85 hotel room. I understand we weren’t at the Waldorf, but no heat? C’mon now.
micahw@feverpitchmedia.com
