MORE OF THE SAME

The Dome Crowd was really great again this past week vrs. the Bears. Not nearly as many no-shows as I was afraid there might be, but there were a lot of new faces in my section. As a result, the crowd got off to a slower start than the Giants game and there was not as many folks standing at the "appropriate" times. Nevertheless, it was a great effort. After the blown fumble call by the refs, the place went nuts. The PA system had its ups and downs. You could tell they were trying to cut off the sound as the Bears broke the huddle, but did not always quite get it shut off in time. Again the problem was with the commercials, when they run long, as they often do, that is where the noise violation problem starts as there is not enough time for Jim Holder to say anything and the music guy always insists on playing a few notes no matter  what. I won't bore everyone with more details as you have HEARD it all before (and if not, check the archives). I WAS quite disappointed the players and coaches did not come over to pay tribute to the fans as in Indy. I thought the Colts showed some real class on their final home game.

A GROWTH YEAR

The Dome crowd has really improved this year. As regular readers know, I have always thought the fans have been giving a good effort that was usually stymied by the Dome's PA system, commercials, accoustics etc. For the first time, however, the Fans were able to overcome such obsticals. It started with the  49er game and came to ultimate fruition in the last two games of the year. The prodding by the press and the Rams players/coaches no doubt helped but the key factor, IMHO, is the realization that, with sufficent voices, we can often ignore and even drown out the PA and Jumbotron. I hope somebody who actually pays for those Southwestern Bell and Dodge ads was at the last two games to see how they were ignored by the fans.

THE PLAYOFFS

What are the playoffs going to be like? If the regulars are there, the place will be crazy, unbelievable, ear-shattering. However, I have some concerns. I have already been getting offers to buy my playoff tickets. I don't intend to sell, but everyone has their price. I am affraid that corporate types, turning to the ticket broker market could entice many regular season ticket holders to sell out and we will find the real fans being replaced by "suits." Likewise, many of the PSLs already belong to big companies, law firms and the like. Now, I am not against this because, during the season, it is often the case that "regular folks" get these seats as perks and that is great as they might not otherwise ever be able to get to a game. For the playoffs however, you can bet the big wigs ( or the big wigs big wig client ) will be sitting in those seats, perhaps for the very first time. This could be a problem.

In any case, I expect a different mix of fans at the playoff games with more people there who actually enjoy seeing large multinational corporations advertise themselves to a captive audiance. The rest of us then will have to step it up a notch! Get to the Dome early! Traffic will be a mess. Scream and holler all the time, no matter what the PA system or the suit next to you is doing. BE THE HEARD!