Cleveland (NFL) 2016

Team: The Cleveland Browns

Year:   2016

Game: New England Patriots  33  Cleveland Browns 13

Rating: 8.5
Cost Index:  Low
Tickets:  Easy

Stadium:  First Energy

The first (at least my first) FAMILY football trip.  We had all available Uncles and Cousins meet in Cleveland for Tom Brady's big return (at least that's how it worked out).    Cleveland is a decent town. They are in the process of redeveloping a lot of the city.  The effort is there.  I don't know if it will ever be Minneapolis or Chicago..or even Pittsburgh but the point is that it's improving.  There are certainly far worse places to spend a weekend.

We rented a house in the Ohio City neighborhood (note to retard family members: if you can commit to going on the trip longer than 3 weeks beforehand there is a lot better inventory available with respect to accommodations).  Ohio City is where Great Lakes brew pub is located, along with a bunch of other bars and restaurants.  It's a bit of an older crowd, great alternative to downtown. 

The game itself resembled Varsity scrimmaging JV. It lacked the typical intensity of an NFL game. Cleveland literally had to play a perfect game just to stay in it.  Once their QB got hurt on the backward pass that ended up being a safety the game was effectively over.

The best part of the game, easily, is the stadium.  First Energy field is almost perfect, especially considering it was built almost 20 years ago.  It's right on the Lake next to the Rock & Roll HOF.  Stadium has a modern feel but it's not so fancy that it doesn't provide a home field advantage.  You know when you walk into a house and it just feels like they people who built it knew what they were doing?  That's what this place feels like.  

The only regret is that there was no Dawg Pound to speak of, as there were a lot of Patriots fans there.  I would 100% go back to a game there.  The next time the Patriots are scheduled to make a road trip is in 2022 so I have some time to plan it.

We actually sat in the luxury box, which is definitely fun once in a while.  It had been a long time since I've seen the inside of one of those.  Food was actually very good, better than I would have expected.  Our group drank most of the beer. We had the place to ourselves by the end of the third quarter.  

If you want to make it part of a larger trip:  Ohio State, Toledo, Buffalo, Detroit, University of Michigan, Michigan State, Bowling Green, Miami of Ohio, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati 
Don't Miss:  Great Lakes Brewpub, First Energy Field, Ohio City, Tremont, Downtown

Avoid:  The rest of Cleveland

Attendees:  Bones, Polychronopolous, Billy Batts, Spider, Moose

Game Recap:  http://www.espn.com/nfl/matchup?gameId=400874519

Washington State (PAC 12) 2016

College: Washington State University 

Year:   2016

Game: Washington State Oregon

Rating: 7.5
Cost Index:  Very High
Tickets:  Easy

Stadium:  Martin Stadium

This was the back end of a double dip.  The day after the Washington game we got up and drove the five hours or so to Pullman to see Washington State host Oregon.  Don't get me wrong, Washington State was an interesting place and the game was decent but the highlight of the day, at least for me, was the drive out there.  Washington is a completely different state east of the Cascades.  I would try to describe it but I can't.  I don't think pictures even do it justice.

The area is called the Palouse (there are a couple of pictures below).  I recommend it to anyone who enjoys driving through scenic areas. Pullman itself is a little different because you drive three hours through the Palouse terrain and then you happen upon a Pennsylvania Steel town in the middle of it all.

Let's get the game out of the way:  Oh, how far the mighty have fallen.  Oregon is not even good. Their offense is average and their defense, particularly their run defense, is horrible.  If I were those guys I would be hoping Chip Kelly loses 12 games this year and next and wants to come back. 

Martin Stadium is often on the "worst stadiums" list.  That is bullshit, people put it on there because it's not huge and it's not modern. That's precisely why I like it. Washington State's campus is on a steep hill (really fucking steep, worse than Washington).  It's a very small campus in a very small town.  The stadium is one of those that's jammed into the middle of campus with buildings on top of it (similar to Cincinnati and Nebraska) but it fits in well. It works.  

I will say the atmosphere was very average.  In the downtown area you could barely tell there was a game going on, let alone one of their bigger games of the year.  There was no real tail gate to speak of, what they do there is open up a large field house to the public and sell beer out of it which was much needed.  I assume they do this because the weather is unpredictable out there, whatever the reason I wish more schools would have something like this for the casual fans.

I put the cost index high for this one because you cannot get a hotel in that area.  At least it was very difficult for us, so much so we camped near Lewiston (30 miles south).

Let's give props here to one of the unique and interesting traditions in college football:  The University of Idaho's campus is 8 miles from Pullman. Back in the day when these two squads got together the fans of the losing team would walk from where ever the game was played to the other campus.  

If you want to make it part of a larger trip:  Idaho, Central Washington
Don't Miss:  

Avoid:  Hotels

Attendees:  Bones, Polychronopolous

Game Recap:  http://www.espn.com/college-football/game?gameId=400869129

Washington (PAC 12) 2016

College: University of Washington 

Year:   2016

Game: Washington 44 Stanford 6

Rating: 9.5
Cost Index:  High
Tickets:  Easy

Stadium:  Husky Stadium

When you get it right, you get it right.  UW has the entire concept of a public University in an urban setting executed at an elite level.  The campus is elite. The stadium is elite. The area surrounding the stadium is elite.  The practice facility is elite. The team is approaching elite status.  My brother and I are both huge Chris Peterson fans so we've been waiting for the team to get good enough to justify a trip out there. It was an easy choice this year with UW playing a primetime game on a Friday and Washington State with a solid opponent on a Saturday.

Let's start with the tail gate, or should I say sail gate.  It's on par with the Volunteer Navy (though I would give UT the slight edge because of scale).  There are lots on either side of the stadium and both were well heeled.  

The game itself was an ass kicking from the get go, but that made the whole experience more fun.  They had not had a game like this in Montlake for 20+ years so there was a lot of pent up celebration waiting to happen.  The crowd was really loud, in fact I've never been anywhere that loud in relation to where we were sitting (high up, but on the 50). If I could do it over again I would have bought tickets in the lower bowl (had the opportunity) 

Husky stadium is very unique in design.  It looks very much like the Braga soccer stadium in Portugal.  

Before the game we went to Big Time brewing for some beer and pizzia. After the game we went to the Blue Moon Bar for some drinks and some pretty decent cover bands.  Couldn't really ask for a better time.

The day before we biked around Seattle, stopped at Freemont brewing.  Plenty of good beer to be had in that city. 

The campus is perfect.  The buildings are both beautiful and majestic.  It's like walking around a real life version of Westeros. 

If you want to make it part of a larger trip:  You are pretty isolated here, Washington State was doable but it was a lot of driving.
Don't Miss:  Seattle Beer, Husky Stadium, UW Campus

Avoid:  Seattle Traffic

Attendees:  Bones, Polychronopolous

Game Recap:  http://www.espn.com/college-football/game?gameId=400869124

 Soundgarden Park