Hi All - I am back today from Atlanta and just read through the thread to see who made it to the game. So glad a lot of you did! Unlike all the folks outside of NE who say the game was boring, I was on the edge of my seat the entire time waiting for our O to get going and praying that our D would hold (so glad both came true!!). A summary of my weekend & tix:
Paid $2500 each for (at first) 3 seats together in Section 345, row 18 (upper corner EZ) through Tommy at Ticket Bash (it seems like a few of you went to him after I mentioned him here and he was great to work with). On the morning of the game I got a call from Tommy (my heart started pounding when I saw his name come up on my phone as my first thought was (having watched prices rise since about 5 minutes after I bought), "oh no, I'm screwed somehow on the tickets...") and he said that he had good news - that he was upgrading my seats to Section 310, which was on the 40 yard line (it was really the 25, but who's quibbling). He asked me to wait until about noon to pick them up (it was supposed to be an 11:00 a.m. pick up). When I went to this non-descript locked/security covered office suite, there were about a dozen other Pats fans there looking pretty mad. I heard some of them mumbling that they had been there for an hour, and others whispering into the phone, "they don't have the tickets yet..." Another oh-oh moment, but when I tell the guy I am there for Ticket Bash (not one of several other ticket brokers using the office) they usher me into the back room where two big accent-obviously-from-NYC guys give me my tickets, along with remarks such as, "Tommy really took care of you." Oh yeah he did, because my seats were awesome! Section 310, Row 13 (no where near the top), 11-13. We were on the Rams side, so there were more Rams fans there than elsewhere in the stadium, but it was still probably 70/30 Pats fans. Not sure what happened with my original seats (maybe they could sell them for more than I paid but couldn't sell the more expensive seats I ended up in? I'll never know but I'm glad how it worked out).
The fans were awesomely loud and proud. It was a home game for the Pats for sure, but with the added benefit that there was a roof over us so the screaming stayed directed at Jared Goff and company. It was incredibly loud on 1st & 2nd down for LA, and deafening on 3rd down, Every Single Time. I think the crowd was directly responsible for those delay of game calls. Mostly crickets when the Pats were on O unless people were chanting "Brad-y, Brad-y" or "Beat L-A, Beat L-A" or at the end of a Pats' great play (too few and far between!). I've read that the Rams didn't really prepare for noise and were hoping for a 50/50 crowd. If that's so, they didn't know what hit them! I sat next to a dad and son from Dallas (the dad was from CT originally and is a big Pats fan). When a bunch of Rams fans filled in around us, I told him, "we're going to have to be loud," and I swear I saw him looking at me during the Rams first drive, screaming my head off, and he started doing it too, LOL. We hugged at the end of the game. That one drive in the 4th quarter! Thank God!!!
The best of the rest: Arrived early Sat. & stayed in an Air BNB with my daughter & friends about 7 miles outside the city. Headed downtown & checked out Centennial Olympic Park and rode on the Skyview Atlanta ferris-wheel thingamabob (drinking champagne of course - I am of the wine and cheese pink-hat crowd
). Tried to go to 98.5 party at Hudson's (the one not as close to stadium) but line too long, so went to Fado Irish pub across the street (both were Pats fans gathering places). Fun but packed. Got talked into going to the NFL Night Before concert by my daughter to see Lil John, Cardi B and Bruno Mars (not a bad show, actually, but I couldn't understand a word Cardi B said, which is probably for the best - she had awesome dancers). Sunday after ticket pick up went to Hudson's near the stadium which was insanely/crushingly crowded with Pats fans (and dirty and rowdy as someone said above) & met my cousin from CA whose college roommate works for the NFL, so we went over to the NFL Experience to see him. We were early so my daughter got to throw footballs, etc. with no wait, which was nice! We also did not realize as somebody said above that once you went into the NFL Experience on game day you were "in" the stadium, so we were in our seats 2 hours before game time. I didn't mind as it gave us some time to check out the stadium, which is nice, but we all agreed that Vikings Stadium is a little nicer. Then the game. The game!! The Pats winning again!! The confetti!! Roger Goodell booed off the stage!!! Jules winning MVP which he absolutely deserved!! Afterwards we ate at a Mexican restaurant (Alta, I think?) that was on the way back to our car as two of my friends did not have tickets and watched the game at Hudson's (where they had beer spilled all over them when the Pats won - they said people were SO smashed at Hudson's where there were several open bar, free food watch parties going on). Alta was packed with Pats fans doing celebratory shots. We paid $25 for parking at a garage that was probably about a mile from the stadium. As we left the restaurant my friend recognized Chris Long walking by and got a pic with him. On Monday we went to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Museum (very nice and well worth a visit), CNN Headquarters (tour was terrible and not worth the $$) and Coca Cola World (tour was fun and worth it, especially the tasting room at the end where they let you taste sodas from all over the world). We landed today at 11:30 and tried to get over to City Hall for the parade, but only saw a few of the boats going by.
Phew! Thanks for all who read!
