The Away Game

It is no secret to those who are close to me what a giant St. Louis Rams fan I am.  I'm not just a fan, during football season I can be a little obsessive.  I have Directv's Sunday Ticket so I can watch every game, I yell at the T.V., I swear, I have cried, and every now and then I get to celebrate a win.  I get the question a lot "Why are you a Rams fan? You live in CA." Yeah duh I know.  You want to know how it came about? Fine, here is the story for the millionth time.  During the Rams/Titans Superbowl my family and I were at a Superbowl party.  One of the traditions is a betting pool.  I had some money with me and wanted to play.  My mom told me no, that gambling was bad and I should hold on to my money (I was 11).  I insisted, of course, and my mom finally caved and said "Fine, but you're going to lose all of your money."  Well I didn't, in fact I won the entire pool because the Rams won the Superbowl that year.  Ever since then they became my team.  Call me a bandwagon jumper if you want, but I have stuck by them ever since and, well, they don't have much of a bandwagon anymore.

I am now 29 years old and as much of a football fan as I am, I had never been to an NFL game.  It was announced earlier this year that he Rams were going to play the Chargers in San Diego and of course I HAD TO GO.  I was graciously gifted a pair of tickets by my father and had been counting down the days until November 23rd.  The closer it got the more excited I became.  This was on my bucket list after all.

Finally the day came, Sunday November 23, 2014.  I was like a kid on Christmas the closer we got to the stadium.  Before we got off the trolley my husband pulled me aside and pleaded with me to behave myself.  I am known to have a mouth on me, especially when it comes to football.  I don't do well being teased about my team "sucking" and I really hate getting shit over being a Rams fan, the last 10 years haven't been easy.  I understood his concerns, but I already knew I was going to have to keep my mouth shut.  I was in another teams territory and knew if I ran my mouth it would be a fight I would lose.  I went into that stadium with respect for the Chargers and their fans, I was in their home.

There is currently some speculation over whether or not the Rams are going to come back home to LA.  Many fans became fans while they were in Los Angeles, and are hoping they come back.  That being said there were a massive amount of Rams fans in attendance (20,000+ of the 60,000 there).  The stadium was beautiful, and so much smaller than I thought it would be.  It looks so intimidating on T.V. but they really aren't as massive as they look, still exciting though. I was hoping I would be close to some other fans, but of course I was surrounded by Chargers fans.  Fine I thought, as long as I keep to myself I'll be fine.  I even took a nice picture of a Chargers couple with the field in the background for them.

The game got off to a great start for me, I mean the Rams.  The Chargers fans around me weren't happy about it either.  I was cheering when it was warranted but still keeping to myself.  I wasn't rubbing anything in their faces (even though I wanted to).  Things were pretty good up until the half, but the longer the game goes on the more people drink.  My husband and I only had one beer each (because we a re cheap and they were $9 a piece).  The second half kicked off and things were definitely going in favor of the Chargers.  For some reason a guy sitting in the row below me decided to start trying to get a rise out of me (we can call him V30 Row 10 seat 13 or V301013 for short?).

The Chargers scored a touchdown and V301013 put his hand in my face like he wanted a high five, I sarcastically smiled and tried to ignore him.  Then the Chargers did something else cheer worthy and he did it again.  This time I gave him the cut it out sign, and said "stop".  This angered him.  "Oh I cant cheer for my team huh? You want to talk shit all game but I cant cheer?"  I looked at him pretty puzzled and said "Dude I haven't talked any shit, and I don't care if you cheer just don't put your hand in my face." "Fuck you and your shitty ass team" he said.  OK, this is where it took a lot for me to keep my mouth shut.  My husband looked over at me in fear, because he could see how pissed I was.  As much as I wanted to launch into him, I took the always unfulfilling high road and ignored him.  That pissed him off even more.  For the next 10-15 minutes 40-50 something year old V301013 was turned around still talking shit, and I was silently (but shaking) watching the game.  Finally neither my husband or myself could take it anymore and my husband said "Dude why are you still talking shit to my wife? We are all here to watch the game, so turn around and watch the damn game!"

After the loss

V301013 was satisfied he had gotten a reaction and continued being a giant douche.  He slowly started getting the rest of the section to turn on us as well, even though we hadn't said anything else.  About 4 rows were yelling obscenities at us, telling us to leave, and doing everything short of becoming physical with us.  I'm sure their intention was to get one of us to snap, but it didn't happen.  With a few minutes left in the game we went to a different part of the stadium and watched the Rams receive a heartbreaking loss.  It was an incredibly close game though, but I have to say it doesn't help when the refs are up your teams ass and call back a few touchdowns.

With all of that being said, there is something I would like to add for anyone that wants to antagonize a visiting teams fans.  Listen those who come into your stadium know its your home.  They know you are going to defend your team and your turf.  However what you need to realize is that these people are also SUPPORTING your team.  The buy tickets to YOUR stadium, the pay to park at YOUR stadium, the buy food from YOUR stadium, they buy $13 burgers from YOUR stadium, they spend $9 for a beer at YOUR stadium, which in the end means THEY help pay for YOUR stadium and YOUR players salaries.  I'm sure that some fans get rowdy and cocky and talk shit, and to those fans have at em.  Defend your turf, but to those who are keeping to themselves and cheering on their team leave them alone.  Let them enjoy themselves.  Don't be V301013.  If you must tease, do it in a fun manner, make it fun for everyone.  Don't be a douche, again just don't be V301013.

Overall even with Mr. V301013 trying to ruin my experience, I had the absolute time of my life.  It was one of the best days of my life being able to be there.  I am so thankful for being able to experience it and will never forget a second of it.  I hope the Rams come home to Los Angeles so I can see more games, but even if that was the only one I ever see I'll still be happy. 

GO RAMS

Oh and screw you Section V30 Row 10 Seat 13