this was going to be a new experience for us. we have never had season tickets to anything. we have been to angels games before. we know some people who have season tickets, and when they can't go, sometimes they give us their tickets. and they have really, really good seats!! our seats are not "quite" that good... or even close. but we think they are going to be fine. they are on the top level just past third base, which is the side of the stadium we like. and after 2:00 p.m. they should be in the shade. at least, that is what they told rollie when he bought the tickets. i hope that is true, or i will probably not be going to many day games...
but this was not a day game. this was a friday night game (which meant fireworks at the end,) and the first game of the season (which meant a giant flag on the field, david cook singing the national anthem, and a military flyover. i took video of all of this, but it is too big to use... now i wish i had just taken photos.)
we were so excited.
we left an hour and a half early, and i didn't even complain. not once! traffic on the freeway wasn't bad, so it didn't take us long to get there. we have this cool parking pass that lets us into a special parking lot, but we weren't sure where it was. as it turned out, navigating the freeway traffic and finding the parking lot turned out to be the easy part...
the reserved parking lot was on the first base side of the stadium. which was a bit of an issue since our tickets were on the third base side. no problem, we thought, we will just drive around... that turned out to be impossible! there were sheriffs on horseback, little old guys in red vests and hats trying to direct traffic that didn't want to go where they wanted it to go (including us!)
and then... we ended up... in the tailgating section!!! i didn't even know there was a tailgating section, but let me tell you, those people just sort of took over their part of the parking lot! it was crowded with not just cars, but people as well... and those sheriffs on horseback. who, btw, were going the wrong direction!
it was a nightmare.
one of the parking attendants finally stopped us and asked if we were lost. "yes!" we said. he stopped traffic and let us go in through an exit. maybe he thought we were a traffic hazard, or maybe he just didn't want to see us go around one more time. either way, it got us out of the line of fire and into a safe place...
...but when you park on the third base side of the stadium and your tickets are in the top section on the first base side of the stadium, you have a loooong walk ahead of you. trust me. and so, walk we did... along with 44,106 other people...
we have decided that next time we will forgo any special treatment and park in the regular lot on the first base side of the stadium.
still, we got to our seats with plenty of time to spare. but that worked out great, because since this was the first game of the season, there were lots of preliminary festivities. (which i can't show you, because as i said, i took video instead of photos!! next time i will know better...) but i did get a few pictures. this is our new superstar player.
puhjoles chose not to hit a home run tonight. in fact, nobody was hitting much of anything. it was a slow game. at the seventh inning stretch, the score was still 0-0. i was beginning to doubt all the hype i had been hearing about our angels this year. so far, i wasn't seeing any of it...
and then, there was the seventh inning stretch. apparently david cook had left the building, because his was not the voice we heard. instead, a young teenaged girl (who was pretty good,) led the whole stadium in "God bless America," and then, "take me out to the ballgame," followed by the traditional "build me up, buttercup!" yes, it was quite an eclectic musical interlude...
and then... the rally monkey made his first appearance of the season.
the rally monkey comes out after the seventh inning stretch if the angels are behind. and that thing is magic! angels fans tend to be pretty laid back. as a whole, they don't really get on board with the whole "let's make some noise!" stuff. they will make a little noise. they will cheer and boo according to what is going on. but they are not the wild and crazy fans that some teams have...
...until the rally monkey comes out. then the crowd gets loud! (maybe it is because they have been drinking for two hours by then. i don't know, but i choose to think it is more about cheering their team on to victory!) people dance. people swing their rally monkeys around. people yell. it gets crazy...
and the team scores. not every single time, but often enough. they score. not only does the rally monkey inspire the angels to score, but he also strikes fear into the hearts of the opposing teams. he is a double threat. and tonight, he worked his magic, and we won.
not without incident though. i got beaned with a cell phone...
i was sitting in my seat, minding my own business, eating nachos (because really, i go to the games for the food, freebies, and fireworks,) when something whacked me on the head. at first, i thought it must be a stray ball, and i was wondering why it had struck my head instead of resting in rollie's hands! because surely if a stray ball had come near us, he would have caught it... or at least knocked me out of the way... or thrown himself over me to protect me! but there i was, with a knot on my noggin, and enough pain that i was seriously considering crying. and the ball was still on the field. don't ask me why someone's cell phone was flying through the air, or why it landed on MY head instead of the thousand other places it could have landed... i kept rubbing my head. i'm sure the people behind me thought i was a big whiny crybaby, but that thing felt like it had been dropped from outer space! i'm telling you, if i ever get hit with an actual stray ball, i will probably just die...
then again, maybe not. i was pretty darned brave when i broke my wrist! let's just hope we never have to find out...
but i survived. and the angels won. and since it was friday night, there were fireworks! i told rollie when he bought these tickets that i probably wouldn't go to all the games. i know there will be other people that he would like to take once in a while, and i am good with that--especially during those weeks when they play every single night of the week. "but," i said, "i want to go to the friday night games. all of them." why? because there are fireworks at the end on friday nights, and i looooove fireworks!!
...which seemed oddly safe after navigating the stadium concourse and parking lots!
one game down, eighty one to go...
:)
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1 comment:
Good job Julie. I nearly felt like I was there with you. I nearly heard the noise. I nearly felt the pain of the long walk. I said "nearly!"
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