I don't think I can pick just 1.
I've been to 2 NFC Championship Games... 79 in Tampon and 01 vs Philly in The STL.
The 79 Championship in Tampon is a memory I'll always keep near the front of my mind. My Grandfather surprised me with tickets at the last minute. My parents and I were back here on The Mainland so it was a miracle that it even worked out. The game was a defensive slugfest... but our victory allowed us to get into our 1st Super Bowl. That was the beginning of my hate for Tampon btw.
The 01 Championship was in The STL. My aunt worked for TWA for like 100 years so she lived in St Charles at the time. One of her best friends was the interior design artist for Georgia of all things. I usually won't type that name out... but I didn't want to confuse anyone by just typing
That woman.... but that's the only name I prefer to use for her. Anyway... because of that I was able to score some high quality seats. I'll post a pick of my stub in a few since I have it right here in my work office. I was able to tailgate with a group of diehard season ticket holders because of my aunt's friend too... she and her husband were among those diehards. I've never been in a stadium that was THAT LOUD. At one point, I was screaming as loud as I possibly could and I couldn't hear myself at all. It was insanity and obviously that win propelled us into another Super Bowl. Experiencing that at our home stadium was very special.
The 1st time I ever got to meet anyone from ROD in person was at a regular season game in Tampon. That was a very cool experience for sure. I setup a nice tailgate for that one and was able to meet a bunch of members. Way more than I expected. Some actually came down from The STL. One of those guys went by the name Sum1BetterThanU if you remember him. It's a real shame that we lost his fandom with the move. Others that I met there are still great members today. One in particular is
@Ramhusker ... and we've met up for a number of games since. Meeting people from here in person is quite the experience. I recommend doing it if you ever get the chance. It can be completely fascinating and awesome.
There was a game down in Miami that my wife and I were able to meet
@-X- . We tailgated together and it was great getting to spend some in person time with him. It's so different when you're able to communicate with people you've talked to through this sight for years... when you get to meet and speak to them face to face. Our Rams lost the game, but I had a great time anyway.
There was another game in Tampon where I did another tailgate for us ROD freaks. The turnout was way more than the 1st one and I got to meet a bunch more members who are still here posting away. We won that game at the last second because Tampon fucked up and got a penalty that resulted in a 10 second runoff that made the clock go to zero and insured our win. Good times walking back to the car after that one. LOL
I don't want to leave any names out from ROD that I've had the pleasure of meeting at these games. There have been so many.
@RamFan503 ,
@RhodyRams ,
@Dog , Craig from the Keys (I can't remember your ROD name right now lol),
@Mackeyser , and even some members who have been banned now. I can't remember all the names now... but I remember how much fun I had spending time together celebrating our beloved Rams.
Then of course The Thordaddy Game. That one was incredibly special because of so much. Getting to meet Rich's family and thank them for allowing him to spend time with me posting here. I wish I was able to meet him in person too... but man, being there was so heart warming. I got to meet a bunch of members from The STL of course. That was great. Some of those guys don't post here anymore and I really miss that. Guys like Code Monkey and RamzFanz come to mind right away. Then, there were members from all over the planet really that came... it was a blast. That was the 1st time that I met my partner here at ROD
@CGI_Ram in person. I also got to spend time with so many more.... even
@VegasRam and
@RamFan503 's Dad and sons. There were so many more that I can't name em all. Getting out on the field after the game was great... and so were the pics. I even got a pic with
@Memento out on the field.
Plus... we beat the shecocks on opening day!
Another game that is burned into my memory was the Monday Night game down in Tampon when we were still the GSOT with Warner. For a long time... the media referred to this game as the greatest Monday Night Football game ever played. It was a fucking battle back and forth throughout the entire game. Hell, I had to have security help me get to my seats because there were Tampon fans refusing to allow me to come down the aisle that my seats were in. There was actually an old grandmother type lady screaming vulgarities at me that would embarrass a drill sergeant. She was also threatening to fight me if I tried to sit in my seats. That was the reason I had to get security to help me. If I hadn't, I would have been thrown out before kickoff (which was exactly what the Tampon faithful were trying to accomplish). I was there with a girlfriend and there were 2 non Ram Fan friends of mine sitting near by me... they were all terrified LOL. It was like a real war zone. I didn't get intimidated by any of it though. As the game progressed... there were moments where I was the only person jumping to my feet amongst this sold out mob of Tampon fans.... they were all seated and completely silent... I was screaming at the top of my lungs "1st DOWN" and making the 1st Down signal with my arm. After doing things like this several different times... my 2 friends informed me that they were leaving the game and heading over to Mons Venus. They thought they were going to get their asses kicked because of me and they weren't even sitting in my same row. The game like I said was back and forth with the leads and it came down to the very end. Our Rams somehow did not win... but being there in that environment during such an exciting game was very electric. I proudly stayed to the bitter end of that one. Years later, when I had Warren Sapp out fishing, he shared his thoughts with me on how tough that game was and also said it was one that he'll never forget. After the game... my girlfriend and I met up with my friends at Mons Venus... so the insanity didn't end when the clock hit zero. Sometimes... even in a loss, you can reflect back and still cherish the moment. It's so much more than just the actual game.
I also went to our most recent Super Bowl in ATL. Took my wife and my oldest son
@Ramrasta . The whole weekend was an experience that I'm very thankful to have been a part of. It's definitely not just the game on Super Bowl weekend. Again... got to meet up with some of my old pals from here there like
@Ramhusker and
@Dog . I also got to meet and spend time with ROD members for the 1st time in person like
@SWAdude ,
@LARams_1963 , and others. Again... I'm typing this on the fly and can't remember all the names, but I remember enjoying every minute. Husker and my family got into this pregame Ram party that was very insane... we got to meet lots of player's family members and even celebrities. Not to mention free cocktails and food that was very good. We all know the outcome didn't go our way... but I didn't let that take away from our experience. In fact... on Sunday morning when we were driving to the stadium... I told my wife and son that we needed to remember to enjoy the experience even if the game didn't go our way. My wife was so geeked up on our way to the game on Sunday that she was actually crying even before I said that.
Guys... honestly I have great memories from all of the Ram games I've been lucky enough to attend in person. When I was younger... I don't think I took the time to really enjoy the whole experience... I was only looking for the win. It wasn't until I got older that I realized what a treat it is to attend a game. And some of them... even the losses will be great memories forever!
