Atlanta (NFL) 2019

Team:      Atlanta Falcons

Year:       2019

Game:     Rams 37 Falcons 10

Rating:    8
Cost Index:  Low

Stadium: Mercedes Benz Stadium

If you want to make it part of a larger trip:  Georgia, Clemson, Alabama, Auburn, Georgia State, Mississippi State
Don't Miss:   Atlanta as an experience

Avoid:  The Falcons, they are trash

Attendees:  Bones

Summary: I had an extra day in Atlanta and decided to check out the Mercedes-Benz stadium.  Wanted to scout it out for a future SEC Championship game.

Pre-game: It was a 1PM game, so not a lot going on beforehand.  

Game Experience:  Nothing to write home about.  The Falcons are horrible this year, the fans support them but the Rams kicked their ass. I think at one point the score was 27-3

Post Game:  Nothing to speak of, this was a relatively unimportant game

Stadium: Mercedes Benz Stadium.   The butt hole sitting on top of the stadium was open. Not sure if that's a metaphor for the Falcons at this point.  It's a modern stadium, I can't tell if it's loud or not but most of the indoor stadiums are.  Concourses were the best I've ever seen, they had TVs everywhere. The game was so shitty I spent most of the second quarter watching other NFL games, they had a bank of TVs that were tuned to the other 1PM games. Every shitty NFL team should have this feature.

Overall:  It was a very nice (My Mother's voice) NFL game.  I had a very nice time.  Place would be bonkers for a UGA SEC Championship game.  I hope to see it someday.

Game Summary: The Rams kicked the shit out of the Falcons. Dan Quinn needs to go.

Alabama (SEC) 2019

College:   University of Alabama

Year:       2019

Game:     Alabama 35 Tennessee 13

Rating:    8
Cost Index:  High

Stadium: Bryant-Denny Stadium

If you want to make it part of a larger trip:  Birmingham, UAB, Auburn, Atlanta, Mississippi State
Don't Miss:   The City of Birmingham

Avoid:  The city of tuscaloosa

Attendees:  Bones, Polychronopolis

Summary:  I went to Tuscaloosa for an Iron Bowl several years back and my impression of the city was that it lacked character and the people were dolts.  This trip re-enforced all of those thoughts.  Credit where credit is due, Alabama's campus is beautiful.  Though I would say it lacking something, but that's open to interpretation.  Tuscaloosa the town is one giant development money grab, the bars aren't very interesting. The people aren't very interesting.  There are more man titties per capita than anywhere else I've ever been.

I can't sit here and say I'll never go back because Alabama is so central to college football and the atmosphere in Bryant-Denny is awesome.

Birmingham, on the other hand, was a lot more interesting and had a lot more going on.  That is where I would recommend anyone stay if attending an Alabama game. 

Pre-game:  We had a great day and a half in Birmingham.  We got in there on Friday early afternoon and had a few beers at Good People brewing, beers were spot on. It's right across the street from Regions field which is the new stadium they built for the Birmingham Barons.

That night we went to Post Office Pies for pizza, it was good but not great.  Ended up at Avalon brewing and hung out with some of the locals. People were really friendly and we had a good time shooting the shit with them.  We got a lot of great information on what to see and do while we were there.

Next day we got up and went to the "Original Pancake House" up in five points on recommendations from the concierge at our hotel.  It was pretty good, one of those spots that has been around forever.  If I had to do it over again I would stay in that area.

After that we made a stop at the 16th Street Baptist Church.  Birmingham would be worth a trip just for the Civil Rights history that is there.  We didn't have time to go through the Civil Rights museum but we did spend some time in Kelly-Ingram Park.

Before we left for Alabama we stopped by Rickwood Field, which is a historic baseball field. Really excellent, not many places like that left.  We also spent an hour at Sloss Furnace historic site,which is a partially restored Steel site.  Well worth the 90 minute tour.

https://www.slossfurnaces.com/

There was a haunted house set up in the Furnace.  Looked funny to see in daylight hours. 

Game Experience:  Alabama is one of those places I want to hate but, like Ohio State, it's too good not to be respected. It was the first game with the LED lights, they are a huge upgrade.  Every stadium will have them in three years.   

I got my seats through Tennessee, they were shitty.  At halftime we went down to the lower bowl looking for something. We found that Alabama is one of those places that let the fans hang around field level.  That was exponentially better than sitting in the nosebleeds. We couldn't see the game but we could see what goes on in the bench area, the cheer leaders and all of the other operations.  

Speaking of cheerleaders...Tennessee had the Tua Tagliavoa of cheer leaders. One of those women that is so beautiful she makes all of the other beautiful women around her seem ordinary...so they probably all hate her.  I was trying not to be too creepy when I took the pics below.

Tennessee was surprising competitive, they might be turning it around down there.  Both my brother and i noticed that UT could hold own on both sides of the line, which kept them in the game.  Tennessee is one of my favorite teams and one of the best places to go see a game so I"m hoping they turn it around and compete in the SEC east. 

Post Game:  Got the hell out of Tuscaloosa. Slept in our car on the way back to Atlanta. 

Stadium: Bryant-Denny. One of the best atmospheres but I will say this...there are quite a few bad seats in there.  More than most stadiums. 

Overall:  It's too important of a place to swear off of. Hopefully, in my lifetime, Alabama will suck so I can see them lose at Bryant-Denny. For now...maybe see Tennessee there every fourth year?  It's always the third Saturday in October, which is a nice time to be there.  I would stay in Birmingham and dip in and out
of there for the game.

Game Summary: https://www.espn.com/college-football/game?gameId=401110824

Navy (AAC) 2019

College:   United States Naval Academy

Year:       2019

Game:     Navy 34 Air Force 25

Rating:    9
Cost Index:  Low

Stadium:  Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium

If you want to make it part of a larger trip:  University of Maryland

Accommodations:  I stayed at a friends house for this trip but there aren't a lot of hotels right in Annapolis. If you were to stay in Annaopolis for a game vs. Air Force I expect it would be very expensive.  Not sure how it would be for other games.  Annapolis is one of America's most beautiful small cities so it might be worth it. 

Pre-game: I flew in the morning of the game. I was able to get there early and had some time to explore downtown Annapolis along with a bit of the Navy campus.  Navy campus is meticulously kept, as one would expect.  Much more accessible compared to Air Force, you have to pass security to get in but they allow you to walk around. I didn't have as much time as I would have liked but I did get to see the tomb of John Paul Jones...and I learned something as up until my visit to Navy I thought John Paul Jones was the bassist for Led Zeppelin. Turns out that is only the second most famous John Paul Jones. 

Game Experience:  Service Academies were made for football pre-game festivities.  They had a flyover with F-16 I believe, though I'm not sure.  The best part of pre-game were the "Leap Frogs" which I believe are a Navy Seal outfit that parachutes into the stadium from about five thousand feet up. 

The game itself started sloppy. Navy was the better team most of the day but couldn't quite put Air Force away. Air Force took the lead late, Navy drove down and scored with 23 seconds left to win (they also scored on the last play so the final score is deceiving).

https://leapfrogs.navy/

Stadium:  Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium  Stadium was redone maybe 10 years ago.  One of the end zones has various memorials to famous Navy battles.  I spent some time reading through most of them, it's worth your time to check those out. 

Overall:  9  Would recommend to anyone who actually likes the game of football and the pageantry associated with the military. 

Game Recap:  https://www.espn.com/college-football/game?gameId=401117516