BlackMetalNinja
09-15-2008, 09:21 PM
I'll make this short and sweet before I get to the pictures. For my thoughts on the game itself, read my report card for this week on the main page of the site...
As far as seeing a game in Jacksonville, some general thoughts/observations:
By far the hottest game I've ever attended, of any type I think. It was mid 90s, humid as hell, and the sun was relentless. I can't imagine how those guys on the field felt. I drank 3 liters of water during the game and I'm currently a nice shade of lobster.
We arrived at the stadium at about 8:45-9am and the only parking lot that had much of anybody in it was the one reserved by the Jacksonville Bills Backers. I head read on bb.com that Lot V would be their spot, so we decided to park across from them in a garage and wander over. Shortly after we arrived the lot started to fill up rapidly. I'd say at max before we headed into the game there were 500+ Bills fans milling around in the rather small lot. Very impressive indeed. Props to the Jacksonville Bills Backers for organizing a great time too. They had a ton of food prepared, raffles, etc. and everybody seemed to really enjoy themselves.
We met a few random Bills fans throughout the tailgate from all over the place and they were all quite nice and easy to get along with. One couple had flown in from NYC the day before at the last minute to attend the game. Others had driven from all over the SE to get there. The man, the myth, the legend, Pinto Ron was in attendance as well, though the pinto itself didn't make it.
Heading into the stadium, it was nonstop "Let's go Buffalo" chants and the Jags fans just kind of stared in amazement. Very few talked trash, but those that did were quickly greeted with comments like "if it weren't for us, you'd be blacked out". Overall though, I have to say the Jags fans were very polite and good spirited for the most part and I saw no real trouble of any sort.
The stadium itself was pretty nice, but it was truly sad to see 15 sections tarped off. On top of that, there were thousands of empty seats all game long. The emptiest sections actually seemed to be the lower level, midfield seats, which boggled my mind. There couldn't have been more than 45,000-50,000 people there.
The worst of all though had to be when the Bills scored with 4:00 left and fans started pouring out of the stadium... 4 minutes left, down by 1, and they just left like it was a foregone conclusion. Now, as a Bills fan, I knew that it was anything but, they just didn't seem to care though.
Anyways, on to the pictures!
http://sports.webshots.com/album/567023434EsFwBL
Full album there, but I'll post some of the better shots in this thread.
As far as seeing a game in Jacksonville, some general thoughts/observations:
By far the hottest game I've ever attended, of any type I think. It was mid 90s, humid as hell, and the sun was relentless. I can't imagine how those guys on the field felt. I drank 3 liters of water during the game and I'm currently a nice shade of lobster.
We arrived at the stadium at about 8:45-9am and the only parking lot that had much of anybody in it was the one reserved by the Jacksonville Bills Backers. I head read on bb.com that Lot V would be their spot, so we decided to park across from them in a garage and wander over. Shortly after we arrived the lot started to fill up rapidly. I'd say at max before we headed into the game there were 500+ Bills fans milling around in the rather small lot. Very impressive indeed. Props to the Jacksonville Bills Backers for organizing a great time too. They had a ton of food prepared, raffles, etc. and everybody seemed to really enjoy themselves.
We met a few random Bills fans throughout the tailgate from all over the place and they were all quite nice and easy to get along with. One couple had flown in from NYC the day before at the last minute to attend the game. Others had driven from all over the SE to get there. The man, the myth, the legend, Pinto Ron was in attendance as well, though the pinto itself didn't make it.
Heading into the stadium, it was nonstop "Let's go Buffalo" chants and the Jags fans just kind of stared in amazement. Very few talked trash, but those that did were quickly greeted with comments like "if it weren't for us, you'd be blacked out". Overall though, I have to say the Jags fans were very polite and good spirited for the most part and I saw no real trouble of any sort.
The stadium itself was pretty nice, but it was truly sad to see 15 sections tarped off. On top of that, there were thousands of empty seats all game long. The emptiest sections actually seemed to be the lower level, midfield seats, which boggled my mind. There couldn't have been more than 45,000-50,000 people there.
The worst of all though had to be when the Bills scored with 4:00 left and fans started pouring out of the stadium... 4 minutes left, down by 1, and they just left like it was a foregone conclusion. Now, as a Bills fan, I knew that it was anything but, they just didn't seem to care though.
Anyways, on to the pictures!
http://sports.webshots.com/album/567023434EsFwBL
Full album there, but I'll post some of the better shots in this thread.