Memories

[Chef]

This past weekend, me and my dad took my 7-year old son to his first NFL game.

Made the 6-hour trek through the snow and ice to Arrowhead to see the Titans @ Chiefs.

The Jr. Chef has been marking the days off on his calendar in his room since before Thanksgiving.

He couldn't sleep the night before we left because he was so anxious.

As we were driving up, about every 20 miles, he would pull off his headphones to ask "Are we in Kansas City, yet?"

We get to KC, staying right across the street from Arrowhead, and they have the lights on cleaning the field from the snow, and that just gets him riled up for it even more.

We get to the stadium at about 10:15 for the Noon kick. My bro-in-law and crew are already tail-gating. We get inside, and our seats are 25 rows off the field, behind the goal-post.....****ing primo seats. From the second he gets inside the stadium, he is in an awe-inspiring stare.

It was ****ing cold at the game, half-empty stadium....We had the boy all bundled up as well as we could, (Gloves, blanket, stocking hat, ear-muffs, whole thing) got him a new Chiefs Stocking Hat, Tony Gonzalez Jersey.......the whole damn works.

He now has a Tony G. jersey hung up on his wall from his first NFL Game, right next to a John Buck jersey from his first MLB game, and a game-used MLB Ball from his first game.

This may not belong anywhere on this board, but I hear and see other people talking about their important memories, and I just wanted to take the time to share this one.

Thanks.

 

[spnited]

Nice work Chef.

 

[Songbird]

cool stuff, dad.

 

[mike311gd]

What they said. Great job.

 

[Sam Mills 51]

Well done, Chef.

One can't put a price on those sorts of memories.

 

[HandsomeHarley]

Pretty awesome. Kid will remember that forever.

 

[BYH]

Making your son's first NFL game one in which Herm Edwards is coaching? Isn't that a lot like losing your virginity to a 500-pound prostitute?

Good stuff, Chef. I still remember my dad teaching me to keep score at the first Double-A game I ever saw and the first big league homer I ever saw (Tom Brunansky).

And this is why the gentleman who was thinking of taking his daughter to Hannah Montana should do it if he can swing it. Someday, she'll outgrown Hannah Montana. And someday, your son will realize why his dad hates Herm Edwards. But those memories are priceless.

 

[imjustagirl2]

But, and not to take away from this thread...there's a big difference between 5 and 7.

Anyway...super cool, Chef. Sounds like the kid won't be the only one to remember the day forever.

 

[Write-brained]

But, and not to take away from this thread...there's a big difference between 5 and 7.

That's what I was thinking, too.

We've taken the kid to a couple of games at the Swamp but that was more for my wife than anything. In a couple of years, she'll really enjoy it - if we don't wear her out on football by then.

 

[PhantomPunch]

Great story, Chef. Your boy has a great dad and a fine grampa.

My dad didn't have a clue about the importance of that kind of thing, except for one time: We were in Florida on vacation, and he took my brother and I to a spring training game. Twins vs. Red Sox.

The great Harmon Killebrew hit one out. Rico Petrocelli hit one out, too. It was great to watch. Yaz was still nursing a hammie pull or something (or maybe a night on the town), but we did watch him run in the outfield.

Killebrew's shot went a mile up and a mile out. I'll never forget it.

I wish my dad woulda done it more often, and definitely more than once.

Make sure you keep giving your kids those thrills.

 

[Walter_Sobchak]

I live in one of the biggest cities in the country, am 25 years old, and have never been to an NFL game. Your son is a lucky guy, Chef.

 

[Norman Stansfield]

What kind of dad gets his son a JOHN BUCK jersey???

 

[Tom Petty]

What kind of dad gets his son a JOHN BUCK jersey???

you beat me by a few minutes.

 

[Tom Petty]

and please tell me you got your gates on. what is it, like four exits up the freeway?

 

[Guerrillascribe]

My hat's off to you, Chef, and I'll hoist a German beer in your honor.

Growing up, my dad and I were never able to attend an NFL game, but I do remember one memorable trip when we were stateside for a holiday visit. We woke up early on a Friday morning and drove from Ashland, Kentucky, to Canton, Ohio.

Pop took me to the Hall of Fame and I was just delirious with joy because when youy're 8-years-old and living where football is played with a round ball, seeing the Hall of Fame and all those teams you read about in Stars and Stripes just hammers you with happiness.

Some 30 years later, my dad has passed on and I've got my own son now, but that's one memory that remains burned into my brain. I hope to repeat it with my boy in a few years.

So, again, well done you, Chef!

 

[DanOregon]

My folks used to have season tickets to the Raiders and I remember what a treat it was to see the Raiders play the Cowboys on a special Saturday night game that was being broadcast by the Monday Night Football crew.

Fast forward 20-plus years. The Raiders move to L.A. then they move back. I ask my Dad if he'd been to a game since they were back. He said no. I took him for his birthday.

 

[Tom Petty]

did cooperstown with my dad on fathers day when i was 28. it was a good day.

 

[Chef]

What kind of dad gets his son a JOHN BUCK jersey???

Because we were lucky enough to get a tour through the dugout, Buck saw my kid and said, "Here ya go, buddy!"--Tossed him a ball.

Also got an autographed baseball card of his too. During the game, I went down to the Dugout Store, and got him a Replica Batting Helmet......well, now it has 14 (Buck's Number) on both sides.

Also, when Buck comes up to bat, they play one of the kid's fave songs. "Big John......Big Johnnnnnn........Big Bad John."

 

[Huggy]

Toronto Maple Leafs tickets are incredibly hard to get but two years ago around this time I got a call from a friend who knows a guy who has platinum season tickets. He said he had a pair for the Leafs-Boston game (last one before Christmas) and he said I could have them only if I promised to take my son who was nearly six at the time.

I hadn't been to a Leafs game in ages so I jumped at it but we didn't tell Huggy Jr. until the day of the game. He got all decked out in his Leafs stuff and when we got to the ACC he mentioned it looked just like the NHL video games he plays.

During warmup he was more interested in the food service menu tacked to the seat than what was going on but when the lights went out and the video board showed the Leafs leaving the room for game time he went nuts. The look on his face showed me that he finally realized the guys he saw out there were the guys he sees on TV every night.

He led several "Go Leafs Go" chants in our section (complete with somewhat misspelled homemade sign), got Wendel Clark (his mother's fave Leaf) to sign his program and gave Santa a high fave when he came by. And the Lafs won 2-1.

I have a contact with the Blue Jays who gets me tickets once in a while. Huggy Jr.'s first game was against Arizona on June 13, 2004 when Randy Johnson pitched the D-backs to a 5-3 win.

He's inherited his old man's love of baseball and jumps at the chance to go see the Jays and unlike a lot of kids his age he'll sit still through the whole game (provided he has his customary bag of popcorn and a bottle of water). He got his first game ball this summer when Scott Downs tossed him a ball Victor Martinez had jacked into the Jays' pen.

Good, good times.

 

[Dirk Legume]

Chef, that is absolutely awesome. A day to remember. At 7 I can remember going to see the Giants and Pirates at Candlestick in what was more than likely my mothers first MLB game. My father had died a few months earlier and she took my brother and I because we both loved baseball at the time. I remember her being amazed that as the night game at Candlestick wound down, we wanted ice cream.

"But it's so cold"

"Yeah mom but there's a guy who is selling them right by our seats"

It was a lot of fun, and I have obviously never forgotten. Nor will junior Chef.

Good job Dad.