Are You Ready for Some (Pre-Season) Football?

Last Friday night I got to experience my very first NFL game, thanks to Andy, who had to host his company's suite. Andy justifiably likes to mock me because I get, well, shall we say, all entitled-feeling when it comes to attending events. Which is his fault, really, after all of his radio years when we never had to pay for tickets to concerts or games. It's easy to get used to the VIP treatment, so our pre-game conversation went a little something like this:
ANDY: So, would you want to go to the Colts game Friday night?
ME: Suite tickets, right?
ANDY: Yes, I have to host.
ME: Well, we'll get special parking, won't we?
ANDY: Yes, Princess McSelfishpants.
ME: I'm in. They'd better have brie.

Pre-game traffic was bad, but we finally arrived at the parking lot next to Lucas Oil stadium. I had never been this close to it before--holy crap, that's a big building. I may have some issues with how it was paid for and how it is run, but, I'll admit, the sheer size plus the cool retractable roof was pretty impressive.

The game was a pre-season one, meaning that the big-name players would play only a little or not at all. Which didn't affect me, really, since between you and me, I don't like football. I can count the number of NFL players I recognize on one hand. The only Colt I know is Peyton Manning, thanks to his appearance in every commercial I see on TV. The Colts players, to me, are either "Peyton Manning" or "not Peyton Manning." Peyton played a total of six plays, and got sacked on three of them. All the "not Peyton Manning" players didn't fare much better...the Colts lost.

But despite the poor playing and my dislike of the sport, I had a fabulous time. The suite was fantastic, I pigged out on nachos, and I got the feeling that a regular-season, packed-stadium game would be incredibly fun to attend. I even told Andy, "Yeah, I think I would be excited to go to another football game," to which he probably thought, "Who are you and what have you done with my wife?"

The highlight of the night was after the game, when we ran into this dude in the parking lot. Even more impressive than the spikes jutting out of his shoulder pads is the fact that EVEN HIS TONGUE IS BLUE. That's some dedication right there, people.