Drunksweet21

This past Sunday Morning at 6 am my Father Steve, Middle Brother Nick, and I hopped in the car and drove up to Cleveland to see the Chargers play the Browns for a 4 o'clock tilt. The last time I saw the Chargers in person was in 2006 in Baltimore. That was the game that the Chargers dominated for most of it but lost on a late Todd Heap TD. I had never seen the Chargers get a win in person having also seen them lose to the Jets in the playiffs in 2005 which I may never recover from. Seeing that the Browns fans are upset with management I figured we could get some decent tickets on Stub Hub and we did getting some tickets on the 10 yd line behind the Chargers bench for about 50 neach after taxes.

 We stopped at a Rest Stop in New Stanton, Pa and I came across a lot of Steelers fans heading to the game in Pittsburgh. I had a conversation with one guy who was traveling from New Jersey with his son to see his Steelers play...I don't think any of us were expecting that they were gonna watch the Steelers lose to the Raiders in a few hours, Any Given Sunday. We arrived in Cleveland a little before noon and went to a sports bar called Harry Buffalo outside of the Indians and Cavaliers Stadiums where w e met up with about 30 Chargers fans that had traveled to Cleveland from other parts of the midwest like Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Toronto. It was really cool for me to be surrounded by that many Chargers fans because I rarely run into any in Maryland. We wnjoyed some $3 32 oz beers and then headed to the Municipal Lot to tailgate.

 The Municipal lot was a real highlight for me because it was where the die hard Browns fans were. They had a bunch of buses and RVs with Browns helmets and dog ears on them. When we were walking through the lot to find the other Chargers fans we were peppered with chants of a-hole a-hole which I found amusing and not overly threatening. Luckily we didn't run across too many belligerent Browns fans and of course in this day and age most of them let me know that they needed Philip Rivers or LT to do good for their fantasy team. We had a great time tailgating with Chargers fans.

 We made our way into the Stadium a little before gametime and got to our seats. I've never been that close to the Chargers before and it was really awesome to see guys you watch on tv every week so up close. I was a little worried early when Brady Quinn marched right down the field for a TD. I think Brady is going to be a good QB in Cleveland when they get a better coach in there. The Chargers came back with the Tolbert TD which was right in front of me. The rest of the game was fun to watch especially getting to see LT score his 150th TD and pass Jim Brown for 8th all time in rushing yards. Antonio Gates owned the game really just catching jump balls in double coverage for his career high in receiving yards. The game got close at the end but it almost seemed like the Bolts were going through the motions when they were up 20.

 The next morning we went to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame before heading home. I highly reccomend going there if you've never been. Just an awesome awesome place. Cleveland is a cool city too. It seems to get a bad rap sometimes from some people but it's a good American city. Another place we stopped on the way home was Quaker Steak and Lube which is a chain in Western PA and Eastern OH mostly. They have awesome wings and the Man vs. Food guy went to a challenge there in Pittsburgh for their Atomic wings. All in all it was a great trip and I have now seen the Chargers win in person. I hope to make a trip to an away game again next year maybe Cincinnati or Indy.

I think the technology of today has its downfalls. The last time the Chargers were in the AFC Championship game I was 14 years old and living in a house without cable at the time I had few ways to follow the storylines and whatnot leading up to the game. I also was obligated to go to church every sunday as I had a job to watch the nursery school while church was in session. This meant that when I did finally get home to watch the game that it was in the second half already but luckily I got to see the Chargers comeback and win on Dennis Gibsons shining moment. I just remember thinking the Chargers would have to play really good to win.

Thirteen years later now and we finally get back to the AFC Championship game. I'm 27 now and I have way too much time and way too many sources to follow the storylines. I have the internet, ESPN, the NFL network, and Sirius NFL radio. I am addicted to the Chargers and this game. I can't read or watch or hear enough about this game. I am so sick of every other media person in the country writing a story about Philip Rivers or how much trash the Chargers talk. I am also sick of hearing "experts" talk about what a great chance San Diego has only to eventually say that there is no way they would pick the Chargers to win. I mean don't get me wrong, I think a serious amount of stuff is gonna have to fall our way for us to win but I do have hope. I think that I am gonna be so nervous and excited and worried by the time this game starts though that I just wish they were playing it right now. I literally cannot wait to see my Chargers playing for a shot at the Super Bowl, even against the worst of odds.