Candlestick Park
Now Jill wanted to give you a full run down on the rules of american football this evening but I thought that might put you to sleep! Instead I’ll take you through our day out with the 49ers faithful at Candlestick Park.
We decided to head down early to the stadium as we had to pick our tickets up at the gate. After getting parked in one of the outer car parks we made our way towards to gate A as instructed. Now we arrived about 2.5hrs before kick off but the parks were packed with people, all congregating around their jeeps and cars having BBQ’s and hurling light hearted abuse at passing opposing fans.
We got to the ticket booth and asked for our tickets to find that ticketmaster had voided our purchase because it didn’t like our international credit card!! Thankfully they still had tickets for us which actually worked out cheaper. So it was on to security where Jill had her bag checked. Now Jill hadn’t been too sure if she would be bored or not watching the game so she had brought book with her just in case…..the security guard took one look at it and said ‘You’re not going to read that in here are you?’ he must not have fully understood her feelings on watching live sport because he still let her in!
So to game time. The teams had entered to lots of fireworks and a cheerleader guard of honor, then we all stood for the national anthem sung by some lassie from the navy. More fireworks to finish off the song as well as a fly past by two fighter jets over the stadium. The place shook like an earthquake had hit it when they came through!
The National Anthem
The game went along without us fully understanding all that was going on but I think we got the hang of it by the end. The play itself might stop a lot but there is always something else going on to keep you entertained. From cheerleaders to a steel band drumming away most of the game (who lead the chant ‘lets go niners’) and a mascot in a cowboy hat called Sourdough Sam running about the place, it was mad!
Eagles Touchdown
As for the score, well the 49ers led 26-17 early in the second half and looked like they might win but two late touchdowns saw them get beat 26-40 by the Philadelphia Eagles. So the home fans went away a bit dejected but we still had a great day!
So tomorrow its on to actually exploring the city and seeing what it has to offer. Stay tuned to find out happens….
Jonny
*Jill hasn’t spell checked this post as she is already asleep so if there are any mistakes forgive me!!
