Myself and Justin made out way with the hundreds of fans all donned in black and gold. I really like the buzz of Monday Night football. I spotted that someone sprays on logos and paint onto your face, so I got in the line to have my face done. Whilst in the line I made friends with two guys who were getting their faces done and they are Chelsea and Manchester Utd fans. They were really pumped for the game and although we had little to no tailgating to get us pumped these two guys more than made up for it with their electric energy.
I got my face painted and we headed into the stadium with about 1 minute before kick off. I there were thousands of yellow flag spinning around and the way the stadium is shaped means that on entrance I could see the whole field. It was mind blowing to hear the roar of the crowd. This really feels like a football city and Justin was getting pumped waving his yellow flag. As we entered we saw fireworks pump out from the stands just before kick off!
We made our way up the ramp towards our seats, when I noticed there were lots of people on the stairwells watching the action from there. I really wished I had my charge battery with me, because this place is a photographer paradise! We watched the first kick off and the kick returner from the Ravens took an almighty hit in the first play. We got to our seats behind the goa line, and we had a great view of the whole field, as well as the amazing scoreboard, with two red Heniz ketchup bottles beside the jumbotron. Behind that where they could have made more seats, was the beautiful view of the harbor and the city of Pittsburgh.
We sat by some really nice people who got really into the game. Justin wanted the Steelers to win by only 7 or less and with after the first quarter being 3-3, it looked like it was going to be a low scoring tight game.
Both teams could not move the ball and there was some clumsy penalties. Ben Roethlisberger did not look a QB with much experience, while Joe Flacco the rookie for the Ravens did not look much better. The crowd simmered down after the 1st quarter was so poor and some people moved to watch the game on the stairwells.
However the 2nd quarter picked up for the Ravens, as they lead 13-3 at half time. This was good for Justin and his picks, but he was not showing that in front of the Steelers fans.
There was not a particularly good half time show, it was a marching band going around. They were good, but compared to other half time shows, not great.
Still with my folks back home watching the game on SkySports and channel 5 I wanted them to see a good game, as it was 3 am back home! After the break It was a different Steelers team and they began moving the ball. The Steelers fans had woken up and began jumping on the floor. You could actually feel the floor shake I think the stand is made out of metal and didn't feel too safe!
I was looking out for Mendenhall after he bad mouthed the Ravens last week, and he had to come off with a hurt shoulder, so his trash talking didn't do him any favors! Holmes caught a pass from Roethlisberger and did a lot of duking to get into the endzone which sent the stadium into a frenzy!
Then when the steelers knocked Flacco down and he fumbled the Steelers D ran the ball in for a score it was now 17-13. Justin was told someone else had 10 picks this week, so he needed this win tonight to win, and if it came down to a tie break it was total points. He put down 36 total points, but he knew he had originally put down 39 but crossed it out. So he was doing quite well, if the score stayed like this he would surely win?
I then got talking to some guys next to me who told that just along the bench was a gentleman witha steelers super Bowl ring. I had to check this out. The gentleman did indeed have a Steelers Super Bowl ring on his finger and it was glorious, naturally he wouldn't let me try it on, haha. His name is Paul Malecki and he was the electrician for the Steelers for over 30 years, and now he is retired. He is sitting in the seat that isthe current electrician owns. He was a really nice man and told me about how it was working for the team and how he was the only staff to get a superbowl ring. There I was thinking I'll work in the concessions for the Bears to get my Super bowl ring, then again I could be waiting a while!
The game picked up again and I went back to my seat. Hine ward was wide open and it was realy cool for me to see him open before Big Ben, I screamed at Ben to throw it depp, he must have heard me and 65,000 fans as he flung it to Hines deep and the crowd went nuts.
Now that the Steelers were in the Red Zone, the two red Heinz bottles opend up either side of the Jumbotron and angled down. The whole screen filled up red which is sucha great idea. This is like the Theatre where performances ses everything creative to get the audience involved and improve their expereince. What a great idea!
With 5 minutes to go the Steelers were 20-13 up and naturally this was the perfect score for Justin, but the Ravens came dwn the field scoring a TD taking the game into overtime. With 2 minutes to go in the regular time we wnet downstairs and watched the game for a series of different places. Some people left but the majority stayed. We watched the final few minutes downstairs on the jumbotron before heading out to beat the traffic back to get at least half way to NYC.
We watched the over time kick from the steelers outside the stadium where they had a big TV. Witha combined score of 43, Justin got a message saying someone had 11 picks just like him and their tie breaker score was 38 instead of Justin's 34, he kicked himself for scrubbing out his original 39.
Still it was a great game and Justin drove the 200 miles half way to NYC before we found a Holiday Inn. In the morning Jstin got the official results of his picks and he had in fact won, which was good!
From now on I am going to be in with these guys and I will be doing my weekly picks with the spread!
Pre-game
The Monday night game takes me to Pittsburgh, where the steelers will be playing host to the Baltimore Ravens, both Superbowl winning teams in the last 10 years and both sit in the same divsion. This will be a big game for both teams, trying to muscle their way to the top of the AFC North division.
The Ravens always play great defense, but the Steelers have some great offensive weapons, and if Big Ben Roethlisberger fires on all cylinders the Ravens will struggle. Diviosnal rivalries often bring out the big players, and both teams will be expecting to get to the playoffs. The Ravens are a better team than their 5-11 record last year, but I see another home field win on my travels.
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