Buccaneer Game (Part 2)

The NFL season came to an end this past Sunday and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers finished the year with a 3-13 record.

Despite the losing season, Dennis, Mark, and myself braved the elements (40 degrees and windy) to attend the final game. Marbert (our other tailgate attendee from the previous game) was unable to attend. He was reportedly in mourning over the loss of his Fantasy Football playoff game.

On the morning of the game we still had no tickets. But I was able to find some via Craigs List. I found a guy who lived in Brandon who had a couple tickets ($30.00 each) and we met at a Chick Fil-A. At this time, we didn't think Dennis was attending.

I called Mark with the good news. I also told him to dress warm since the weather was going to be nasty (COLD).

The three of us met at our work location at 10:00 AM before heading out to the stadium. Dennis decided to try and get a ticket, so we all drove over in his truck. His truck carried precious cargo (the grill). We were crossing our fingers that the grill would work this time. Especially since Mark did not pre-cook his famous Jamaican chicken.

At this time, Dennis and Mark realized that they did not have their favorite refreshment (and stores don't sell it on Sunday's until noon). But, we had plenty of water.

After arriving at the parking lot, we set up and attempted to light the grill. After a few tense moments, we had ignition.

As the chicken was cooking, we had a visit from a ticket scalper. His ticket was very expensive (over $300.00). I tried to bribe him with chicken. He accepted a plate and promised to get us a cheap ticket. Alas, he did not return. That was ok, we had plenty of food and we figured there would be a lot of tickets available.

The chicken was good (a little spicy for me). We had some laughs and then started to work on getting Dennis a ticket. We tried to call a few people on Craigs List. I found one lady who was willing to drive to the stadium, but Dennis decided to get one at the stadium entrance.

An hour before the game, we walked to the stadium and within 5 minutes, Dennis had a ticket. With the Buc's losing record and the cold weather, many people were not attending.

After entering the stadium, we checked out our seats and decided to stand by the Pirate Ship. The seats were way up high and exposed to the winds.

We watched the first half from the end zone section. During that time, we were scouting out some seats to try to relocate to (closer to the field). Mark and I learned from last time that the ticket people only check ticket stubs for the first half of the game. Dennis spotted some good seats and he made his way past the ticket taker and to the seats located right behind the Buc's bench.

Mark and I were not as brave, but we eventually joined him. We watched the rest of the game from great seats. We actually saw one of the funniest plays of the NFL season. It was right in front of us. An official kept getting in the way of a player trying to tackle the quarterback. So, the defensive player just shoves the official out of the way. Everyone in the stands could not stop laughing. It made the whole day (the Buc's did not do anything to make it fun).

The Buc's lost again (and we were cold, especially Mark). But, it was a fun way to spend the day.

We talked about doing it again next year. Stay tuned for future tailgate adventures.