Heather's Trip to FedEx Field

Oh man, the Redskins - Bengals game Friday night was so cool. Photos are here.

First off, Washington Redskins fans are really nice people. I, in fact, had no abuse heaped upon me for being in their stadium for the game. Actually, I had one guy chat with me for about 15 minutes on the shuttle bus over to the stadium about how the Bengals are really getting better. He knew the history of the team much better than I did. I only know things back to the mid-80s. So, he was very cool.

Second of all, the seats were awesome, we were 14 rows up from the end zone. I love being that close to the action, even if it means we can't get a great depth perception view of the plays.

My loving wife joined me for the game, and while she wore no official Bengals paraphernalia, she did wear a shirt with Tigger on it. That's close enough, I suppose. I ended up wearing my Jeff Blake jersey because my Boomer Esiason jersey is huge. Seriously. It looks like a night-gown when I wear it because it's normal NFL player size. And if you've ever met me or seen photos of me, you know I am not at all close to being NFL player size.

Anyway, we almost paid more to get to FedEx Field than for the tickets themselves. They don't make it easy. We had to drive to a Metro stop, pay for parking, pay for a Metro ticket, and then pay for the shuttle bus that took us from the Metro stop to the stadium. Sheesh.

I spent most of my time on the way to the stadium looking for other stray Bengals fans. I saw two on the bus, and we smiled big for each other. As we walked into the stadium and toward our I seats, I saw several more. Yes, we were there. Not many of us, but we were there. I loved the greetings we'd give each other. Either a firm fist to the sky, or a quick "Who Dey!" or just an "Alright, go Bengals!" It was a nice camaraderie.

The game itself was awesome overall because we won. Dissecting the actual game was less than awesome because we did not play that great. Granted, it's preseason, so we were throwing 2nd, 3rd, and 4th string guys into the game. But still, we didn't play that great. Yet we won because the Redskins played worse than we did.

The final score was 24 to 17. Whenever we scored I would stand up and scream, and then second guess the score because the stadium was incredibly quiet. I guess the 25 Bengals fans in attendance were easily drowned out by the enormity of the stadium. In any case, I was not an obnoxious out-of-town fan, nor was I surrounded by an jerkish Redskins fans. That was nice.

There was another Bengals fan close to us, though, who was an ass. I probably should have anticipated it because he was wearing orange and black striped Zooba pants. You know what I'm talking about, those puffy Hammer pants from the 80s. Yeah, those.

Anyway, he started the game quietly enough, but once we started scoring and playing better, he started taunting the Redskins fans around him. Okay, folks, there are numerous reasons this should not have happened, but here's the biggest one pertaining to Cincy fans.

1- Bengals fans have NO reason to talk trash. I am a Bengals fan and believe this. Come on. We're now holding the record for most consecutive seasons without making the playoffs. Sure, we had the 80s, but then we have 14 years of pain and nothingness. We might be on the up and up now, but one can't just ignore the last 14 years of crappy football we've played.

The other reason to not do this is because this isn't good sportmanship. I am fine with good-natured ribbing of other fans as long as they're playing along right back, but cruelly taunting fans is not a good idea.

To their credit, the Redskins fans did not beat him into a pulp, or really even get mad at him. Most smiled and argued back. Only one guy went nuts and started screaming. He rightly argued - or rather, YELLED, - back, "Oh yeah? When was the last time the Bengals made the playoffs? WHEN?!?!" He just kept screaming that over and over again as his friends tried to keep him in his seat. I thought he might leap the five rows down and tackle Mr. Obnoxious Zooba.

In any case, the game was really fun and we won. We won. Sure it's the pre-season, but I'll take a Bengals win whenever I can get it. I think we might even make the playoffs this year.

Also, go check out the photos of the game. If you can name the one piece of memorabilia I photographed that should not exist, you'll win a prize. Amber and Eric are exempt from this competition because I talked to them both about it before I made the purchase. Sorry, guys, but I have to be fair.

Who Dey!