@Ford Field

Yesterday I got to finally spend my September birthday present. Dorene had gotten me tickets to see the Arizona Cardinals v. Detroit Lions at Ford Field. I'm a big Cardinals fan and I took along our pastor, who is a huge, huge Lions fan. Since we had to skip church to go to the game, I assumed God would favor the Cardinals, because the Lions have had such a lousy team lately.

It had been 20 years since I went to an NFL game, as I was a season ticket holder of the Cardinals for their first two seasons in Arizona. They played at the stadium of Arizona State University. Lately, teams have been building these football palaces, and Ford Field is no exception. It is in downtown Detroit, which is not the scary looking place I thought it might be. It is right next to Comerica Park, where the Tigers play. Parking is scattered about in downtown lots. The farther away you park, the cheaper it is. We parked about 6 blocks away, which wasn't too bad.

The picture above was taken just before kick-off from where our seats were at, and as you can see, not exactly a full house (and they were advertising cheap tickets for the season close in January). But the stadium is gorgeous. It's essentially a mall with a football field in the middle. Concession stands or shops every 5 feet, with all kinds of different food items. Very clean and well maintained and light years ahead of the college stadium the Cardinals used to play in (although they have their own football palace now). Ford Field seats a lot, but it seemed to me every seat was a good one, even if you were all the way at the top.

As for the game, the Cardinals took a 17-0 lead in the first half and it looked like a blowout. The Cardinals were getting ready to score again in the 3rd quarter when Kurt Warner pulled his move from the Super Bowl. At the Lions 10 yard line, he through a pass that was intercepted on the goal line, and the defender . . .yes, he ran it all the way back for a touchdown. Yikes, suddenly we have a game. The Lions got the ball back quickly and on their first play from scrimmage, the running back goes 64 yards for another touchdown. I had commented to Pastor Greg that I didn't want to see a blowout, but now I was having second thoughts. The Lions ultimately tied the score, but then with just a couple minutes remaining, Warner engineered a perfect drive capped off by Boldin scoring the winning touchdown. The other picture above is me after the game in hostile territory celebrating the Cardinals win (and they clinched their division and are headed to the playoffs).

The Lions have a fight song. Every time they score, a guy comes out and leads the crowd. I wasn't sure if it was cool or cheesy. The lyrics go something like this:

Forward down the field, a charging team that will not yield;
And when the blue and silver wave, stand and cheer the brave,
RAH! RAH! RAH!
Go hard win the game, with honor you will keep your fame;
Down the field and gain, a Lions victory.

Maybe if they are winning, it would be cool, but when your record is 2-28 over the last two years, it seemed cheesy. The fans are getting a little disgruntled. In fact, on the way out, some fans were selling their version of the Steelers' "Terrible Towel." This one was called the "We are Terrible" Towel. Ouch!

But anyway, had a great time. If you've never been to an NFL game, I highly recommend it. A much different experience than watching it on t.v. My only complaint is every time I see a game live, they keep taking away that yellow line so I don't know where the first down is at.