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Sometimes there comes a week in your life as a sports fan that just makes it all OK; all the years of suffering, the wailing, the nashing of teeth. The past week was one of those for me, and my core group of Washington Redskin fans.
THE CALL...
To fully explain how all of this happened, I need to take you back to late June. I was in Virginia Beach, enjoying an absolutely glorious vacation with my family. My girls were having a blast GETTING blasted by the waves, and my ex and I were connecting on a level that we hadn't known recently.
On the next to last day of our trip, I left the beach a little early, to go up and get ready to go out for a nice dinner that evening. Lynn and the girls went to the hotel pool for snacks and to hang out until it was their turn to "hit the showers."
I grabbed my cell phone out of the safe in the room, and checked to see if I had any messages. Yep. One. I checked it, and was absolutely blown away by what I heard.
"Jason, this is Megan, calling you on behalf of the National Football League. I wanted to let you know that you've been chosen as a finalist for the NFL Fan Flag Challenge. If you're still interested, I need you to return this call by 5pm. Thanks."
Clock check -- 4:17. Sweet. I called Megan back, and told her that I was definitely interested, obviously.
"Check your email, I need to get a little bit more information from you," she said.
At this point, I was thrilled just to be a finalist. Little did I know that I would open the email to find, "Congratulations! Provided you meet the eligibility requirements, you are the grand prize winner in the NFL Fan Flag Challenge for the Washington Redskins!" The information she needed consisted of waivers and affidavits, which I immediately completed.
After what seemed like an eternity of waiting (actually about a month) I received final confirmation that I was going to New York City, and taking my best friend Derek (BGO's SilentThreat) to present my flag, and participate in NFL Kickoff/Back to Football festivities. It was going to be a whirlwind, and I was going to do my damndest to soak it all in.
THE TRIP...
Last Tuesday, we boarded a plane at Dulles, bound for NYC. The flight was nice, and so was the conversation...alternating between "hey, check out that cool cloud formation" and "OMFG, I can't believe this is happening."
We touched down at Laguardia a short time later, and decended the escalator to the car pick up area. Sure enough, just as I had envisioned it, waiting there was a tall man in a crisp black suit, holding a sign with my name on it.
He saw Derek and I in our Redskins gear, and walked toward us. "Jason?" he asked. "Yes sir." "Allow me to take you to your car."
He took our bags, and escorted us to a loaded Yukon Denali, burgundy, with the NFL shield on the side, and tan leather interior. Close enough to burgundy and gold.
Our driver whisked us away, faux celebrities that we were to the Marriott Marquis -- Times Square, and we went to check in.
"Mr. Fornwalt, I have you on the 45th floor? Is that going to be too high?"
"No! That's perfect!"
And in my head it was. Little did my terrified-of-heights ass realize that the elevators were glass, and you could see ALL the damned way down as you hurtled nearly 500 feet in the air! I kept myself basically pressed against the door, and didn't get comfortable enough to look down until our last day there.
We entered our room, and were treated to an amazing view of Times Square. Though I was a a little uncomfortable (read: scared ****less) approaching the window at first, I got used to it, and really appreciated the amazing view.
PEZ AND HULY...
As it turns out, I wasn't the only Skins fan in my group in NYC. The lovely and talented "Huly" was also in town. She won the Fan Photo contest for the Redskins. (And seeing her all dolled up in brand-new Nike NFL gear, and made up like a super model, it was easy to understand why. She's a beautiful girl -- inside and out -- to start with, but they turned her into runway material.)
Pez was there too. But he's not nearly as attractive.
What are the odds? What are the FREAKING odds? Who gets to spend three days in NYC on the NFL's dime, AND get to enjoy it with good friends who are also getting the VIP treatment? I can honestly say that the privilege of being up there with Derek, and Pez and Huly meant as much to me as the trip itself. You will not find better Skins fans, nor people, anywhere.
Huly had her photo shoot, and after party on Tuesday, so we didn't get to spend a lot of time with them then. But Wednesday would be a day I won't forget as long as I live.
THE ROYAL TREATMENT, NFL STYLE...
Wednesday began with breakfast at the hotel, courtesy of the NFL, with the other Flag winners. It was nice to have a chance to meet some outstanding fans of the other teams, and to get to see the flags they had designed. It was a great experience. Even the Eagles fan was a pretty cool guy.
After breakfast, we walked from the hotel to the NFL offices. We got a pretty good dousing of rain along the way, which was the ONLY part of the trip that wasn't absolutely perfect.
At NFL HQ, we were treated to lunch, followed by a question-and-answer session with the commissioner, legendary hall of famer Gale Sayers, 2012 inductee Willie Roaf, and Chad Pennington.
After the Q&A, all four gentlemen stayed for pictures and autogrpahs. Chad really seemed to like hearing "Go Herd!" and Gale was everything I'd hoped he would be. It was a pseudo-religious experience getting to meet him. He was the one non-Redskin I had been dying to meet. And the football I took with me came home with his, Roaf's, and Jack Youngblood's autographs. Not a bad haul at all.
THE CEREMONY...
That evening, we were given VIP access to the Kickoff Concert, free food and an open bar, and the chance to hob-nob with some of the NFL legends. In addition to the guys I mentioned previously, I got to meet Roger Craig, Dermonnti Dawson, Antonio Pierce, Brian Dawkins, Steve Tasker, Keith Bulluck, Alge Crumpler, James Lofton, and my guy...Mr. Pat Fischer.
Pat was the Redskins representative for the flag ceremony -- which occurred between the performances of Mariah Carey and Gwen Stefani. He was a trip! He's a ball of wise-cracking energy, and just a gem of a human being. He gets so excited when someone actually knows who he is. These days, Redskin fans seem to want to meet Green, Monk, Manley, Theismann; the "younger" generation. I think Pat feels a little forgotten, so I really tried to talk about HIS glory days. He loved it, and was more than happy to oblige.
The ceremony was...interesting. lol. The legends didn't attend the rehearsal, so it was up to us to "coach" them. And while I loved Pat, and my time with him, he doesn't take direction all that well. lol. But we made it work, and he absolutely ate up the experience; almost as much as I did.
VIPs, BABY...
Immediately after the concert, the flag winners and their guests boarded a bus for the trip to MetLife Stadium, and the Giants-Cowboys game. When we pulled out, the bus started backing down the street. I'm thinking, "What the hell is this guy doing? There's NO WAY we're going to be able BACK this bus out, into the heart of Times Square."
Oh contraire.
As we reach the intersection, I noticed that an NYPD van, lights flashing had BLOCKED OFF Times Square so that OUR bus could get out and get us to the game. That's how we VIPs roll....apparently. lol.
THE GAME...
I expected to be disappointed, simply because I "had" to watch the Cowboys and Giants. But I ended up more disappointed in the Giants' "faithful."
First of all, the Giants pump crowd noise while the opposing offense is in the huddle!! They play music, accompanied by a graphic of a player shouting "Get up!" or "Go Big Blue." During those segments, the crowd noise is defeaning. But as soon as the music drops out, the crowd noise does too. Unequivocally, the crowd noise is pumped. Sickening.
When the Giants fell behind 17-10, in the THIRD quarter, Giants fans made a bee-line for the exits. And later, when it was 24-10, still with about 8 minutes left, we had a hard time getting out of the building because of all the Giants fans leaving. The Giants fans were a colossal disappointment. Like "kick them out of the NFCBeast" level disappointment.
I will say, though, that aside from a few cat-calls, we were treated well, and had no real problems with the fans of either team.
POSTGAME...
We arrived back at our hotel at about 1am. The plan was to go out and have as many $9 beers as we could stomach paying for. But instead, two buses pulled up, and they started unloading huge coolers from them.
Turns out, they were full of leftover beer from the viewing party at Rock Center. We happily helped unload the coolers, and spent the early morning hours drinking FREE beer, and hanging out with some other great fans.
I didn't realize just how many free frosties I'd had until the next morning, when it was time to leave for the airport. I was HURTING. The overwhelming nature of the week, the beer, the city, all of it combined to give me a royal (crimson) headache. But then, a hangover is your first clue that you've had a slamming good time. And we sure as hell did. Simply amazing.
*
Sorry for the length, guys. And thanks for indulging me. Hope you enjoyed my tl;dr. lol.
And to my friends TLC, MIA, skinslove, and Ben who have continued the strong performance of my Skins-fan-friends this week, go get 'em! And as always...Hail to OUR Washington Redskins.
HH
THE CALL...
To fully explain how all of this happened, I need to take you back to late June. I was in Virginia Beach, enjoying an absolutely glorious vacation with my family. My girls were having a blast GETTING blasted by the waves, and my ex and I were connecting on a level that we hadn't known recently.
On the next to last day of our trip, I left the beach a little early, to go up and get ready to go out for a nice dinner that evening. Lynn and the girls went to the hotel pool for snacks and to hang out until it was their turn to "hit the showers."
I grabbed my cell phone out of the safe in the room, and checked to see if I had any messages. Yep. One. I checked it, and was absolutely blown away by what I heard.
"Jason, this is Megan, calling you on behalf of the National Football League. I wanted to let you know that you've been chosen as a finalist for the NFL Fan Flag Challenge. If you're still interested, I need you to return this call by 5pm. Thanks."
Clock check -- 4:17. Sweet. I called Megan back, and told her that I was definitely interested, obviously.
"Check your email, I need to get a little bit more information from you," she said.
At this point, I was thrilled just to be a finalist. Little did I know that I would open the email to find, "Congratulations! Provided you meet the eligibility requirements, you are the grand prize winner in the NFL Fan Flag Challenge for the Washington Redskins!" The information she needed consisted of waivers and affidavits, which I immediately completed.
After what seemed like an eternity of waiting (actually about a month) I received final confirmation that I was going to New York City, and taking my best friend Derek (BGO's SilentThreat) to present my flag, and participate in NFL Kickoff/Back to Football festivities. It was going to be a whirlwind, and I was going to do my damndest to soak it all in.
THE TRIP...
Last Tuesday, we boarded a plane at Dulles, bound for NYC. The flight was nice, and so was the conversation...alternating between "hey, check out that cool cloud formation" and "OMFG, I can't believe this is happening."
We touched down at Laguardia a short time later, and decended the escalator to the car pick up area. Sure enough, just as I had envisioned it, waiting there was a tall man in a crisp black suit, holding a sign with my name on it.
He saw Derek and I in our Redskins gear, and walked toward us. "Jason?" he asked. "Yes sir." "Allow me to take you to your car."
He took our bags, and escorted us to a loaded Yukon Denali, burgundy, with the NFL shield on the side, and tan leather interior. Close enough to burgundy and gold.
Our driver whisked us away, faux celebrities that we were to the Marriott Marquis -- Times Square, and we went to check in.
"Mr. Fornwalt, I have you on the 45th floor? Is that going to be too high?"
"No! That's perfect!"
And in my head it was. Little did my terrified-of-heights ass realize that the elevators were glass, and you could see ALL the damned way down as you hurtled nearly 500 feet in the air! I kept myself basically pressed against the door, and didn't get comfortable enough to look down until our last day there.
We entered our room, and were treated to an amazing view of Times Square. Though I was a a little uncomfortable (read: scared ****less) approaching the window at first, I got used to it, and really appreciated the amazing view.
PEZ AND HULY...
As it turns out, I wasn't the only Skins fan in my group in NYC. The lovely and talented "Huly" was also in town. She won the Fan Photo contest for the Redskins. (And seeing her all dolled up in brand-new Nike NFL gear, and made up like a super model, it was easy to understand why. She's a beautiful girl -- inside and out -- to start with, but they turned her into runway material.)
Pez was there too. But he's not nearly as attractive.
What are the odds? What are the FREAKING odds? Who gets to spend three days in NYC on the NFL's dime, AND get to enjoy it with good friends who are also getting the VIP treatment? I can honestly say that the privilege of being up there with Derek, and Pez and Huly meant as much to me as the trip itself. You will not find better Skins fans, nor people, anywhere.
Huly had her photo shoot, and after party on Tuesday, so we didn't get to spend a lot of time with them then. But Wednesday would be a day I won't forget as long as I live.
THE ROYAL TREATMENT, NFL STYLE...
Wednesday began with breakfast at the hotel, courtesy of the NFL, with the other Flag winners. It was nice to have a chance to meet some outstanding fans of the other teams, and to get to see the flags they had designed. It was a great experience. Even the Eagles fan was a pretty cool guy.
After breakfast, we walked from the hotel to the NFL offices. We got a pretty good dousing of rain along the way, which was the ONLY part of the trip that wasn't absolutely perfect.
At NFL HQ, we were treated to lunch, followed by a question-and-answer session with the commissioner, legendary hall of famer Gale Sayers, 2012 inductee Willie Roaf, and Chad Pennington.
After the Q&A, all four gentlemen stayed for pictures and autogrpahs. Chad really seemed to like hearing "Go Herd!" and Gale was everything I'd hoped he would be. It was a pseudo-religious experience getting to meet him. He was the one non-Redskin I had been dying to meet. And the football I took with me came home with his, Roaf's, and Jack Youngblood's autographs. Not a bad haul at all.
THE CEREMONY...
That evening, we were given VIP access to the Kickoff Concert, free food and an open bar, and the chance to hob-nob with some of the NFL legends. In addition to the guys I mentioned previously, I got to meet Roger Craig, Dermonnti Dawson, Antonio Pierce, Brian Dawkins, Steve Tasker, Keith Bulluck, Alge Crumpler, James Lofton, and my guy...Mr. Pat Fischer.
Pat was the Redskins representative for the flag ceremony -- which occurred between the performances of Mariah Carey and Gwen Stefani. He was a trip! He's a ball of wise-cracking energy, and just a gem of a human being. He gets so excited when someone actually knows who he is. These days, Redskin fans seem to want to meet Green, Monk, Manley, Theismann; the "younger" generation. I think Pat feels a little forgotten, so I really tried to talk about HIS glory days. He loved it, and was more than happy to oblige.
The ceremony was...interesting. lol. The legends didn't attend the rehearsal, so it was up to us to "coach" them. And while I loved Pat, and my time with him, he doesn't take direction all that well. lol. But we made it work, and he absolutely ate up the experience; almost as much as I did.
VIPs, BABY...
Immediately after the concert, the flag winners and their guests boarded a bus for the trip to MetLife Stadium, and the Giants-Cowboys game. When we pulled out, the bus started backing down the street. I'm thinking, "What the hell is this guy doing? There's NO WAY we're going to be able BACK this bus out, into the heart of Times Square."
Oh contraire.
As we reach the intersection, I noticed that an NYPD van, lights flashing had BLOCKED OFF Times Square so that OUR bus could get out and get us to the game. That's how we VIPs roll....apparently. lol.
THE GAME...
I expected to be disappointed, simply because I "had" to watch the Cowboys and Giants. But I ended up more disappointed in the Giants' "faithful."
First of all, the Giants pump crowd noise while the opposing offense is in the huddle!! They play music, accompanied by a graphic of a player shouting "Get up!" or "Go Big Blue." During those segments, the crowd noise is defeaning. But as soon as the music drops out, the crowd noise does too. Unequivocally, the crowd noise is pumped. Sickening.
When the Giants fell behind 17-10, in the THIRD quarter, Giants fans made a bee-line for the exits. And later, when it was 24-10, still with about 8 minutes left, we had a hard time getting out of the building because of all the Giants fans leaving. The Giants fans were a colossal disappointment. Like "kick them out of the NFCBeast" level disappointment.
I will say, though, that aside from a few cat-calls, we were treated well, and had no real problems with the fans of either team.
POSTGAME...
We arrived back at our hotel at about 1am. The plan was to go out and have as many $9 beers as we could stomach paying for. But instead, two buses pulled up, and they started unloading huge coolers from them.
Turns out, they were full of leftover beer from the viewing party at Rock Center. We happily helped unload the coolers, and spent the early morning hours drinking FREE beer, and hanging out with some other great fans.
I didn't realize just how many free frosties I'd had until the next morning, when it was time to leave for the airport. I was HURTING. The overwhelming nature of the week, the beer, the city, all of it combined to give me a royal (crimson) headache. But then, a hangover is your first clue that you've had a slamming good time. And we sure as hell did. Simply amazing.
*
Sorry for the length, guys. And thanks for indulging me. Hope you enjoyed my tl;dr. lol.
And to my friends TLC, MIA, skinslove, and Ben who have continued the strong performance of my Skins-fan-friends this week, go get 'em! And as always...Hail to OUR Washington Redskins.
HH
