My Day With 67,000 Friends

Sunday Morning. I wake up before the sunrise, feed the cats and dog and grab a diet Pepsi. I go outside and sit on my front step. The chill in the air is refreshing. I can see my breath as the sun begins to dance above the horizon. The shafts of newborn sunlight feel good on my face. The foliage is beginning to turn those beautiful shades of oranges, reds, and browns which only Autumn can bring. My Halloween decorations adorn the yard. Hay bales, corn stalks, pumpkins, skeletons, tombstones...... Does it get much better than this?
I drink in the majesty of the moment.
After awhile I get up and go inside. My son is coming down the stairs. His hair is disheveled, and he's wiping the sleep from his eyes.
"Daddy! Tell me a scary story."

"What kind of story Little Dude?"

"A Wolfman story."

"You got it little Dude" He snuggles up next to me on the couch and the story begins. "Once upon a time in a town called................" The story is only 5 minutes long or so, and I make it up as I go along. You can watch his imagination working as I weave the scary/silly tale. Man! Just when I thought it couldn't get much better and stuff.

I go up and take a quick shower, and dress. Jeans, a black t shirt and an Eagles jersey. Number 36 - Westbrook. I reach into my jeans pocket for the 100th time. Oh good - I didn't lose them........
2 Tickets to the Eagles Game vs. the Washington Redskins. 1:00 game, perfect weather, and 2 club box seats.
Willie Wonka's golden tickets have nothing on these!
Around 10:00 am I kiss my son, climb in the car and wave to him. It's a necessity. Every time I go anywhere he stands in the exact same spot in the front door and we wave to one another and scream "I LOVE YOU" in unison. I know, I know - I'm a weenie, but I wouldn't change it if I could.
I pull up to the Mickey D's drive through and order an Egg McMuffin. I do so love those. I only have maybe 3 a year, for special occasions. Oh trust me this is a special occasion allright! So I head towards the hallowed palace if light and knowledge named Lincoln Financial Field. I'm talking to my main squeeze on the ride, trying to make her a part of it. I get to the Hallowed ground, and figure out where my parking lot is. As it turns out it is right outside of the stadioum. Literally 25 yards away from the door. Man! I owe my boss BIG TIME. The tail gaiting is awesome.
The smell of a dozen different types of BBQ's. Pork, chicken, beef, burgers, dogs, chilis, stews. Oh man, the smell of actual charcoal briquettes. Amazing! 100's of people throwing footballs, and playing Washers. Washers is the poor mans version of horse shoes. You have 2 large tin cans, and throw silver dollar sized washers and try to get them in the cans. Same rules as horseshoes. I LOVE Washers! People hanging out on lawnchairs drinking libations of their choice. Philly cops are very cool. If you have a bottle or can, your gonna get in trouble. If you use a plastic cup, they tend to look the other way. Get out of line, or sloppy, well then the story changes. I LOVE Philadelphia. As I walk through the lot, smelling the smells, watching the event in the parking lot unfold, I tune into 1,000 different conversations. I hear 1,000 different radios playing everything you can imagine. Everyone is smiling and having fun. I get involved in 1,000 E-A-G-L-E-S EAGLES cheers. An AMAZING amount of very fine ladies there as well. Thank goodness I have sunglasses on! I get to Broad Street and see my Buddy. He's the one I'm taking to the game.
"What's up Brother?" I say as I give him a guy hug.

"Like the haircut Lombozo!" The last time he saw me I had long hair in a ponytail. Now it's so short that Bald People laugh at me.

It's so good to see him. It's been a couple years. He's as down to earth as it gets. He's covered in tattoos, and looks scary as heck. He's a good Family man, has a great job, and is as honest and respectable as anyone I know. He came with his friends. They have a converted RV. It's painted in the glorious Eagles colors. Inside is a beermeister, a larger flat screen, oven, stove, latrine - everything you need to tailgate. I went over and met all of his crew. At least 30 of them. I mingled and did my thing. I was talking to a new friend when my Buddy came up, handed me a beer and a cigar. The only thing which would make this better is if my son was here with me. Other than that simply perfect.
Beautiful weather, Eagles Game, Beer, Cigar, a pretty woman checking me out and flirting with me, good friends.

OK time to go to the Stadium. We head over, get searched and enter the stadium. We find our box. OMG! The seats are amazing! Stunning! My Buddy and I looked at each otherwith our jaws hanging open. YEAH!

We stand as an amazing rendition of the Star Spangled Banner was sung. Man. Once again I'm glad I'm wearing sunglasses. I tend to get misty when I hear that song. They introduce the Redskins. I love Philadelphia! Everytime a Washington player was announced 67,000 voices scream "SUCKS!"

Then the Eagles turn. White smoke spews from the lockeroom hallway. The players are announced and run out and appear through the smoke. The crowd is deafening. The fireworks are booming from atop the stadium. I'm high fiving people I've never met, and probably will never see again. Electric doesn't begin to describe this. Men, women, children, elderly, white black, asian...... We were all friends for those couple of hours. Directly behind me is a Dad with his 7 year old son. It is his son's first game. I wish that was me!
The game starts out great for the Eagles. Ever see 67,000 people all standing and screaming as loud as they can? It was great! Unfortunately, the game ended in disaster for them. The Redskins wanted it more, and beat us fair and square.

I stop at a store in the stadium on the way out nd get my son a Number 10 Jackson jersey. They are impossible to find, and I got the last one, and it was his size!

On the ride home, I was smiling to myself. The game was lost, but the day was GREAT.