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November 25, 2007
Niners 37, Cardinals 31.
My dad with Big Red, the Cardinals mascot
Don't get me wrong, I had a great time. The new stadium is aesthetically pleasing and extremely well-engineered. I was happy to learn that the chief architect was Peter Eisenman (I knew his son, Nick, in college).
I won't describe the action on the field, as I'm a poor sportswriter. The SF Chronicle did an accurate job of describing the goings-on.
My father's been a Cardinals season ticket holder almost as long as he's lived in the Valley of the Sun. They've had exactly one over .500 season since he's started attending. We once went to a Christmas game where they filmed several game scenes for "Jerry Maguire." The home team lost so poorly that night, the head coach was fired before we reached our car in the parking lot.
Still, there's a thriving community here. There were thousands of tailgate parties in the parking lot, and when we settled into our seat, it felt like a church social, with people asking after children, health problems, job situations, and how many pounds of turkey their neighbor had eaten in the last few days.
The game was quite the nail-biter, so losing in overtime due to a missed field goal hurt. I was a little impressed with the ballsy Niners fans who crowed over their win alone in a sea of dejected Cardinals, but when I saw the beefed-up law-enforcement presence, I realized why they were so mouthy.
"But hey, your guys won," said one neighboring fan, clapping me on the shoulder. He'd heard my dad mention that I was visiting from San Francisco.
"Eh," I said, shaking my head. "I always root for my dad's team when I come to the game with him."
An elderly fellow in a faded sweatshirt jabbed his finger at me and grinned. "You're a good son."
Posted by Your Protagonist at November 25, 2007 06:58 PM