Battle of Ohio

Looks like a nice day for a Browns vs. Bengals game, doesn’t it? Here’s the forecast from weather.com.

And let me tell you, it felt every bit of -13 degrees. My feet were already numb when we got to our seats. Getting to our seats though, was another ordeal. We got to the parking lot at about 12:45 (for a 1:00 kick off) and walked through crazy crowds of people. Under the highway overpass there was a Bengal stuffed animal and a fake Chad Johnson swinging from the “gallows.” Dan was glad he didn’t wear any Bengals gear. Then, there was a bottleneck into the stadium and some loudmouths in the back were shouting “Hurry up, up there! We’re going to win!” In case you haven’t heard the Browns have the second worst record and the Bengals, the first, so the Dawg Pound was hopeful. Unfortunately, before we even got to our seats, the Bengals had intercepted and scored. Not good for the home team. Anyway, for some reason at Browns games they have two separate lines for security, one for men and one for women. It was so crowded and everyone was pushing and then we had to separate from Dan and Guido and I sort of felt like I was heading to a concentration camp. The women’s line was, of course, much shorter, so we got in first and waited. We didn’t get to our seats until about halfway through the first quarter.

When we did finally get to our seats (feet frozen), the seat Guido was in had a steady drip of water right onto his knee from the overhang. He went to ask security if there were any seats we could move to and they let us scoot up to the handicapped chairs, which was nice, but that area was a little windier (read: colder). With about 6 minutes left in the 2nd quarter, the heated women’s restroom was calling my name. You should have seen the number of girls huddled in there trying to warm up. It was hilarious. My mom hung out with me for awhile and then we decided halftime would be good enough for today. Dan has a cold, so we had some extra leverage. So, my mom went out and got the guys and we braved the blistering cold and wind back to the car. I think my itch to see a Browns football game has been forever scratched. Here we are bundled up in the handicapped chairs. For awhile all the mascots were behind us being followed by a camera crew. Maybe we were on tv, but at the time, I was too focused on my cold feet to turn around much.

I would’ve taken more pictures, like of the sign that said “Battle of Ohio,” or the mascots running around right behind us, or maybe even of the guy with the full dawg mask on right beside us, but in order to work the iPhone, you have take your gloves off. Sorry.

Stay tuned for a potential second post as I have been invited to the Menches Christmas party tonight. That’s where my mom works and where I worked (first as a busser, then as a waitress) in high school. Should be fun!