Chick at her first Chargers Game

Last night, I decided to check out my new football team, the san diego (super) chargers, and headed down to Qualcomm stadium, along with 74,000 other people. Unfortunately, my new stadium has only 10,000 or so parking spots, and crappy public transport, so to say that getting in and out was a complete clusterfuck is a bit of an understatement.
But we persevered, made a few questionable u turns, and last minute merges, and found a nice little neighborhood about a mile away from the stadium, with a guy just leaving his spot. (thank you again, parking karma.) It was an easy stroll downhill to the game, and we chatted with a nice gentleman out on probation and his lovely girlfriend, but this left us with a nice refreshing uphill walk (steep climb) after the game. I am happy to report that we survived. And didn’t have to pay for parking, and actually ended up being closer to the freeway than those stuck in hopeless gridlock in the "premium" lots after the game. so i'm not bitching.
But next time, I will be taking the trolley, and leaving plenty of time for tailgating.

It was a total mob scene at the gates, but while waiting, we got to see those super loud supersonic looking air force fighter jets cruise over the parking lot and then the stadium, and I got excited like a 5 year old. I think I even clapped and said "yay" as i jumped up and down. And then karma showed up again, and let all the chicks go to the shorter frisk-you-and-pretend-to-check-your-purse line.

We made it to our seats just in time for kickoff. They happened to be playing the NY Jets, one of my old favorite teams. My loyalties were torn throughout the whole game and I found myself secretly cheering for both teams, and when my neighbors questioned me, i stuck with the political answer of "I just want to see a good game where both teams play well, and the quarterbacks get sacked a lot." And we got just that. A whole bunch of touchdowns, interceptions, long runs, and my favorite part, the post sack and post touchdown dances. we have some promising dancers in sd and I look forward to their upcoming performances.
But honestly, other than LT, I don’t think I can name 5 players yet. I learned that our QB is Philip Rivers and we have 2 guys named antonio (LT= LaDanian Tomlinson…that was an easy one, half the stadium was wearing his jersey, and he's the only one ever on the news. Lawrence Taylor LT, as it turns out, has *not* made a comeback in San Diego)
I bought a program on the way out, and will have to study it before my next game to avoid embarrassment as I try to sound like I have a clue while tailgating with potential suitors.

but cut me some slack, this was my first trip to the stadium , and anyone who has attended sporting events with me knows, it's really all about locating the best nearby food stands with the shortest lines. so I did a recon half lap and missed a good part of the 3rd qtr while searching for pizza. but I found it, and the good news is that it was well worth the walk, and was probably the best $6 slice I've had in awhile. ( Though tempted, I decided not to spring for the $40 pie.) Unlike our baseball stadium, the football one is not so new. Very giants stadium like, big and made of concrete, and nothing fancy as far as concessions go. I did find a grill that made some tasty looking sandwiches, but the cheese fry hunt was a complete failure. beer still costs $8-9 so it's not just a ny thing, and the pretzels were warmish but not stale or hard.

back at our seats, they had concession guys walking around selling snacks, but I noticed the absence of the 'beer here" guys yelling at the crowd. i will have to investigate this further. but the other good news- you don’t have to leave your seat to get your churros fix taken care of. I was so full by the time I saw them and the last one I ate years ago was like a dripping grease stick, so my stomach went into minor spasms as the guy approached my section. but I have to expand my horizons and will give them a try next time. Can you dip them in anything? Like cheese? Or fudge? Or a handful of paper towels?

I was also happy to find that the chargers crowd is a lot louder and more into their team than the fan-like people who attend padres games. petco park sounded like the library compared to the echoing roar of the stadium last night. It was the only time since I've moved out here that it actually felt like ny energy for a bit. the chargers won, 40 something to 20 something. You can check espn if you want the real game stats. It was cool to see Brett Favre playing in Jets uniform, and hope he stays awhile before retiring again.

I have to say, my favorite part of the whole night…after the chargers get a touchdown…fireworks!!! They scared me at first,when they shot out of the endzone score board near us, I almost hit the deck to avoid the gunfire, but by the 3rd time, I was ready for them! I had no idea i'd see fireworks when i got up this morning...I thought I'd have to wait until next 4th of july. life is great sometimes...I will definitely be returning again this season. By trolley.

(photo way up top is an actual TD in progress, with the guy in the bottom right just crossing the goal line....above is steve with his my name is earl facial hair. and the bottom one is a random couple that was taking awhile, so i just included them, and their attempted self portrait.)