NFL Road Trip

[rubecube]

Don't know if this belongs here or the other sports forum...

Anyways, I'm thinking of doing a road trip to the states to catch an NFL game this year. Just wondering if anybody else has done this and what stadiums/cities/fans are good places to go. I'm an Eagles fan and I've been to the Vet but not to the Linc. That being said, I don't want to go to Philly to catch a game...probably go some place warm.

So here are the games I'm thinking of going to...

Sept. 10 @ Houston
Sept. 24 @ SF
Oct. 15 @ New Orleans (Reggie Bush!)
Oct. 22@ Tampa

The only thing really holding me back is the drinking age. I'm not 21 and I don't know if I could enjoy a full NFL experience withouth a can of American swamp water in my hand.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

hey rube,
Myself, StoneCole, and 4 other buddies did an NFL trip this season that included three NLF games (Bengals @ Steelers, Sehawks @ Eagles on MNF, and Raiders @ Jets), and three Flames away games (obviously vs Penguins, Flyers, and Devils).

Anyway, a couple of things I'd suggest.
1) Try to go somewhere where you can catch 2 games. I'd suggest finding out what the MNF schedule is and then try to catch two games in the vecinity, that's what we did going to games in Pitt on Sunday and Philly on Monday.

2) Get your tickets early. If you can get them from the actual ticket office then you're set, but otherwise you're gonna have to use a scalper and it's gonna cost you. We kinda got screwed because the Eagles Seahawks game was after TO and McNabb were out so we could have got tickets on game day for almost face, but we had already paid tripple months previous, but I think that's a bit of an anomoly.

3) Look online for big tailgate parties. We got hooked up with one in Philly and for 20 or 30 bucks we got all we could eat/drink and live music for several hours before the game.

That's my two cents. Enjoy.

[ken0042]

I've been to Seattle twice for games; once at Husky Stadium in 2001 and then Seahawk Stadium in 2002. Whatever it's called now; Seahawk Stadium is sweet. It's do-able for a long weekend as the drive is only about 14 hours.

Regarding the beer; when we went to Husky Stadium because it was on campus it was a dry event. It really took something away from the experience. I tried to grab an O'dools, but it just wasn't the same. The only good part was I came back with a clear plastic cup of O'dools and said to the rest of the guys "OK, I found where they are selling beer." Then I turned the cup so you could read the O'Dools label.

My one buddy said "OK, somebody hold him so I can hit him."

[StoneCole]

Just like BBS said, you should look at the schedule. Last year the stars alligned perfectly to provide the most amazing sports road-trip ever seen...the kind of trip that comes along only once every 8 Billion years. It looked like this:

Saturday: Flames @ Penguins
Sunday: Bengals @ Steelers
Monday Night: Seahawks @ Eagles
Tuesday: Flames @ Flyers
Wednesday: Flames @ Devils
Thursday: Atlantic City, NJ
Saturday: New York, NY (Oilers @ Islanders)
Sunday: Raiders @ Jets

My best advice is to look at the schedule and find a Sunday / Monday Night Combo that is geographically close together.

[StoneCole]

Here are some options, I'm going to throw in a college game (Saturday) too, to make this a full USA football experience.

Week 2:

Saturday: Clemson @ Florida State
drive ~ 7 hours south
Sunday: Buffalo @ Miami
drive ~ 5.5 hours back north
Monday: Pittsburgh @ Jacksonville

Week 3:

Saturday: Iowa State @ Texas
drive ~ 3 hours
Sunday: Washington @ Houston
drive ~ 6 hours
Monday: Atlanta @ New Orleans

Week 4:

Saturday: Northwestern @ Penn State
drive ~ 4.5 hours
Sunday: Indianapolis @ NY Jets
drive ~ 2 hours
Monday: Green Bay @ Philadelphia

Week 7:

Saturday: Colorado @ Oklahoma
drive ~ 7 hours
Sunday: Jacksonville @ Houston
drive ~ 4.5 hours
Monday: NY Giants @ Dallas

Week 8:

Saturday: Illinois @ Wisconsin
drive ~ 2.5 hours
Sunday: Arizona @ Green Bay
drive ~ 5 hours
Monday: New England @ Minnesota

Week 10:

Saturday: Georgia @ Auburn
drive ~ 2.5 hours
Sunday: Cleveland @ Atlanta
drive ~ 4 hours
Monday: Tampa Bay @ Carolina
*Bonus: Can see UTEP at UAB on Friday night (~ 2 hours b/w Birmingham and Auburn)

Week 11:

Saturday: Western Michigan @ Florida State or Western Carolina @ Floriday (neither tickle my fancy, Western Carolina isn't even Div. 1A)
drive ~ 4 hours
Sunday: Washington @ Tampa Bay
drive ~ 3.5 hours
Monday: NY Giants @ Jacksonville

Week 13:

Saturday: Louisville @ Pittsburgh
Sunday: Tampa Bay @ Pittsburgh
drive ~ 5 hours
Monday: Carolina @ Philadelphia

My advice: Go with the week 10 trip as it provides the best combo of warm weather, good games, low travel.

Of course if I was planning a trip I would wait for the NHL sched too

I recently had family move down to Houston, so I may go for a Texans game, plus I want badly to see a Texas A & M game (fans stand all game, wear purple, the tradition of the 12th man).

[rubecube]

Alright thanks for the info guys. Also just found this for anyone who's interested http://www.roadtrips.com/football-tr...=GoogleAdwords

Looks like a pretty good deal.

[Eddie Bronze]

I have some friends who went as a group to do the NFL road trip, this year will be their third. Two years ago they went to Denver and last year to Kansas City and they said they had a blast in both cities and met a lot of great people tailgating at the games. I'm sure they would recommend either of those cities and they'd be quick to tell you if you think we have a Sea (or C) of Red, you'd soon find out it pales in comparison to the one they have in KC. Unfortunately I was going to go with them this year until they chose Tennessee.

[Ranchlander]

It would be really cool to go to the October NO game. It wouldn't be boiling hot at that time of year, and it would be cool to see Reggie Bush and how the city is progressing. Also, the Eagles had an amazing draft this year, and by late october alot of their rookies will actually be making an impact, which should make the chances of them losing alot smaller.

[To_be_Quite_Honest]

I went to the Thanksgiving Day Game in Dallas, in 04 vs my team the Bears.

That was thursday... golfed at a resort halfway (5 hour drive) to Houston on Friday, and Saturday, drove to Houston Sat Night, caught the Rockets vs Nuggets at the Toyota Centre (one of those 'great' new shopping mall buildings) stayed at the Holiday Inn accross the street, ate at Clyde Drexler's Rib Shack nearby and by fluke caught the Reverand Horton Heat at a club a block away also (Minute Maid park was about 6 blocks away)

then sunday, drove accross town, saw the texans play the titans.

All in all a bang on trip as far as planning in advance, getting the tickets way in advance, i got my Texans tickets off ebay in early august from a season ticket holder who had thanksgiving weekend plans.

Going from Dallas to Houston was cool too cause it was one of the leagues oldest buildings and one of the newest. The Houston reliant stadium shares the parking lot with the old 'House of Pain' and is used for high school functions as well as the evacuee site from the hurricanes last year. It looks like you could take the old astrodome and place it completely and close the roof, inside Reliant Stadium.

Good luck on deciding on your trip.

If Houston doesn't play at home the sunday after the Thanksgiving day game this year (or watch what NewOrleans is doing the following sunday , its only 6 hours from Dallas) I would vote for you to try a Tampa/Dolphins twin bill. That Tampa Bay Stadium looks like the best in North America.

[Robbob]

Gone on a few trips (SF vs Carolina in SF, Det vs Minny in Min, and Det vs Seattle in Seattle). I was told that the first game it ever rained at the new Seattle stadium was the one I attended (which I thought was kind of odd being on the coast). Its a great experience, even being a Lions fan the oposing fans were alright. Getting tickets early is a big key. I got great tickets by buying them early (5th row on the 30yard line behind the Lions bench).

If a game is sold out try calling the team directly. I heard on the Fan960 a guy went to a SD game and called the team saying he was coming from out of the country and they helped him because teams set aside tickets for stuff.

[Pagal4321]

I am REALLY tempted to head to Seattle in September to catch my Vikings play the Seahawks. Need to try and save money and also hoping that Alberta Tours will still offer their Seahawks Shuttle.