The Q-View

Game Day.

The ride to the stadium was surprisingly uneventful. I picked up Matt in Conshohocken, and we headed down the Blue Route. Mike was taking public transportation, Steve was doing the same, after driving from New York.

The last time the Eagles played in an NFC Championship Game, we only had two tickets. That was January 23, 2005. Steve was up in the rotation so he and I watched the Eagles beat the Falcons to advance to Super Bowl against New England. Because of heavy snow the day before the game, we headed to my mother’s to stay overnight. She lives an hour closer to the Linc. I didn’t want to be stranded in the country. Steve skipped his SAT’s that Saturday.

Now we have four tickets, the same two in the end zone from which we watched the Atlanta game and two upstairs. Much of the loyalty of the Philadelphia fan base has to do with fathers and sons/daughters bonding through the shared experience of Eagles and Phillies games. Having the four us attending this game was almost sacred.

Matt ceded the downstairs seat to Steve to not upset the Eagles juju (see Silver Linings Playbook). That turned out well for Matt and Mike though. A friend of Matt’s invited them into a luxury box, and they watched the game from there.

Despite an early traffic report that the Platt Bridge was jammed, we sailed across on the way to the NovaCare Lot, where I usually park, but we were turned away. We headed for the lot behind Citizens Bank Park, this week parking “strategically” for an easy out. Didn’t matter. We still got stuck after the game.

Which brings up another enduring memory from 2005. After that game, a frustrated pick-up truck driver opened a locked gate by driving through it. Several us happily followed.

Hundreds of tailgates were in progress in the “No Tailgating” lot. A small group of purple-clad Viking fans was in a lot that had not yet filled in.

Matt and I walked over to where Steve was tailgating with the same friends he had met up with last week. Matt and I had done the same thing the week before. Juju. There was a lot of positive energy in the lots. Walking through the lots before Giants or Redskins games or Dallas games that count (and we haven’t had one of those in two years) is more akin to pre-battle pep rallies.

I had on most of the same layers of clothes, including a white Dawkins jersey, that I had worn the week before even though it was 25 degrees warmer this week. Juju.

At about five, I went into the Linc to watch the New England-Jacksonville game on the monitors in the concourse. Everyone cheered for Jacksonville, but alas. After the Patriots took the late lead, I went to my seats. A few Vikings fans strolled unconfronted amidst the Eagles fans coming in. It is hard to hate Vikings fans. They really have never done anything to Philly.

Of course, posting a picture of a purple and gold clad Rocky statue while Vikings faithful did the skol cheer was not a wise idea. A news report from Minneapolis earlier in the week had postulated that Vikings fans were going to take over the stadium. Seriously? Not in Philly.

There are a couple of surefire ways to tell if a crowd is REALLY into a game: how soon the stadium fills and the singing of the national anthem. The seats were full 30 minutes before kickoff and it seemed like everyone sang “The Star-Spangled Banner”.

The Eagles were loose. Watching their pre-game, there was a lot of dancing to the music going on. At one point, it seemed like they were all dancing instead of warming up. I didn’t know if that was good or bad.

As the Vikings were heading back to their locker room, a confrontation broke out between a Viking and a couple of Eagles that had to be broken up by coaches and a ref. THAT was a good sign.

Most of the season ticket holders were there even though a killing could have been made in the secondary market. Seats in our section sold for around $1,000 apiece. The guy behind me was back. He had missed the second half last week because one of his friends was so drunk, he was afraid he was going to pass out and not wake up. The friend wasn’t there for this game.

That reminded me of the 2005 game also. A fan in the row in front of us slept through the entire playoff game. At least he could say he was there.

For the most part, at least in my limited observations, the crowd was soberer and more well-behaved than a lot of games. Maybe it was the Crisco Cops effect. Philly police, in anticipation of post-win celebrations, had coated strategic light poles in the city with Crisco to keep people from climbing them. And they let it be known that undercover cops would be roving through the parking lots and the stadium.

The guy behind me and I chatted about the Eagles chances. We both predicted low scoring games. Eagles 16-13 I said.

A couple of Viking fans were in the row behind us. My buddy chatted them up. After the Eagles fight song debuted for the night he told them, in a prescient observation, that the more they hear that song the worse it is for the Vikings.

The game started ominously with the Viking slicing through the Eagles defense on the first drive for a TD and the Eagles stopping themselves on offense. Doubt began to collectively creep into the Linc’s psyche. One moron a few seats down, a non-regular, even booed. Dude, this is a playoff game.

Then came the Pick Six. One benefit of the end zone seats is that see the width of the field and you can see horizontal plays develop. Watching the return unfold was a thing of beauty, one of the most dramatic plays I have seen in person. The crowd noise grew and grew the closer Patrick Robinson got to the end zone. Awesome!

As Nick Foles and the Eagles made unbelievable play after unbelievable play, the general attitude in the stands was “I don’t believe this” or “Wow!”

Can you all get off Nick Foles’ back now, experts?

As the thought that “We’re going to the Super Bowl, can you believe it?” sunk in, parents and kids hugged, strangers hugged, the family of five in front of us took group pictures.

Fans mocked the skol chant and then changed “skol” to “Foles”.

The “Hey, Hey Goodbye” song was resurrected by the section to our left.

The stadium stayed for the post-game trophy presentation, and then we happily joined the throngs heading out. Fireworks were going off in the parking lots. Eagles chants. Everyone was smiling. No one was berating Vikings fans, most of whom seemed to have made discreet exits. Steve and I passed a group of four uniformed Viking fans standing near CBP. A woman in the group grabbed my arm and said, “Hope you kill Brady.” Yes.

Steve and I talked about the 2005 game. Turns out, he did not remember that it was that game that put the Eagles into The Super Bowl. Kids.

Mike and Matt joined us at the car, and we rehashed the game for 20 minutes before Steve left to get a train back to his car and the rest of us headed for Conshohocken. It took as long to get out of the parking lot as it did to get the rest of the way home. Whatever.

They were happy. I was happy.

Fly Eagles Fly.