Going to a CAPS game v a REDSKINS game - TONIGHT WAS TERRIBLE

[Club Seat Player]

It's nothing to do with night games, a division rival, or some other excuse folks want to concoct.

My 18 year old daughter was threatened twice by Redskins fans during a pre-season game because she attended with a family who supported an opponent.

The last afternoon game we attended as a family there were fights in the stands nearby and folks vomiting on themselves.

Classy?

Been reading these all day and a few points of clarification.

1. Im from Rockville and a lifelong Skins fan. Simply attending a Ravens game (when the Skins werent at home) doesnt make me a Ravens fan or lose my Redskins fandom.

2. Im a male - but the jokes are quite funny. I played college football. Im a big guy. I expected cussing and I never engaged anyone there. I never said sit down. I never said shut up.

3. My entire group was wearing REDSKINS jerseys.

4. I did text security and five people were removed. I was forced to leave at halftime because my fiance was threatened by the remaining two people in the group that was forced to leave.

5. I arrived on FEDEX property three hours before kickoff. I did not expect a space to be reserved for me. I expected 20-30 min to get settled into the space. We didnt move an inch for about an hour. Please...it was ridiculous.

6. Im not holier than thou nor religious or self-rightous but in summary....

You have no right to feel so entitled that being drunk, acting entitled and like idiots is supposed to reign over my right to peacefully enjoy a game without harrassment to me or my guests in my home stadium. I never directed anyone to do anything. I have no right to tell you what to do either. But when your actions infringe on my rights - that is where you have lost the high ground. I never told anyone to sit down or be quiet. I was polite and many of you are just flamers. If this had happened to your mother or sister or daughter, you wouldnt be laughing.

Thanks for letting me clarify.

[hail2skins]

I arrived on FEDEX property three hours before kickoff. I did not expect a space to be reserved for me. I expected 20-30 min to get settled into the space. We didnt move an inch for about an hour.

CSP, just out of curiousity........where exactly did the big (hour-long) bottleneck occur?

[BigMike21]

But what's going to happen is you won't go anymore and we will still be there having fun! HTTR!!!

[Hail_Skins]

best advice to you is "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em"!

[HouseBowlrz]

Second, while glancing through, I didn't notice this point. THIS SHOULD BE THE REDSKINS PARKING MANAGEMENT'S JOB to control tailgating in parking spots. Once spaces are needed, people should be forced to move their stuff to the front/backs of their cars while leaving room for traffic.

If I remember correctly, the changes from last year allowed for tailgaters (by their "definition") to occupy multiple spaces in the back sections of a parking lot until such a time when those spots were needed. Meanwhile, the front sections of a parking lot would be for the non-tailgaters (again, by their "definition").

How is tailgating "defined" ? It is taking up more than one parking space or otherwise impeding vehicle and/or pedestrian traffic. Given where I park and how I set up (in one space, not blocking anything), I am not "officially" tailgating. Yeah, right; anyone who has visited knows otherwise.

Back to the OP ... while he makes some good points regarding fan behavior, the issue of timing is definitely not one of them. This is my seventh year as a season ticket holder and it's no secret that you need to get there as close to when the lots open as possible, especially for the big games. When the word came out about the 1200 opening, our group already started planning especially when some folks couldn't get there that soon due to prior obligations that were made prior to the announcement.

Admittedly, I had two issues with regard to parking yesterday. First was getting to H-3: the left split at the top of the hill on Arena Drive was still closed off when they released us so we had to go through G-2 and under a rope; we've done that before.

The second is that, upon arrival, a car had parked front-in adjacent to the grass with no one around and was obviously there long ahead of us. It didn't affect my crew but another group was a bit miffed that whoever it was ... (the car was still there when we pulled out just after 0100) ... took a good parking space for tailgating on the grass instead of next row just a few feet away. But everyone made it work and all the groups appeared to be enjoying their parties. (I remember someone from the Eagles media did that in 2007 right in front of other people setting up - we were left shaking our heads on that one.)

We definitely liked the early opening and look forward to seeing if more changes are coming.

cheers

[Skin'Em84]

Right, so aside from the kids and old people, everyone (i.e., twenty-somethings) had a great time. LOL.

Basically yeah. There was this group of older gentlemen behind me, and in a fit of drunken urinating rage I punched all of them in the face.

[kubstix]

We need less Wine and Cheesers anyways. I never had a face of disgust like I had like last night with 2 minutes left and watched the wine and cheesers who contribute nothing for the game start leaving to "beat traffic".

[Brandon Lloyd Christmas]

We need less Wine and Cheesers anyways. I never had a face of disgust like I had like last night with 2 minutes left and watched the wine and cheesers who contribute nothing for the game start leaving to "beat traffic".

its unreal man. even at the bar i was watching at, people would just get up (these were people in their jerseys) and leave at random points. i mean seriously? opening night? dallas night? first game of the season and you just walk out in a crazy tight game? WTF is wrong with people?

[Enter Apotheosis]

I'll add. Yes, I come "late" to the game. I come "late" to many of the games. I have a 4 year old and one year old (and if I brought them and then complained about the behavior, everybody would tell me not to bring them), and live 2+ hours away with "normal" traffic, and my "normal" baby sitters for the games are my parents or in-laws, both of whom live 2+ hours away from me and still ~2 hours away from DC in "normal" traffic so I get to games based on when I can take my kids somewhere or somebody can get to me, and then I can get to the game.

So you'll have to excuse me if after having driven at least ~2 hours from PA, NJ, or the eastern shore of MD (and maybe having first made the trip 2+ hours from my house to somewhere I can leave my kids) I'd like not to have to drive around the parking lot looking for an "empty" space in a lot with a bunch of spaces without cars in them.

Everyone would like for there to be a nearby open space available for them when they arrive but that's just not realistic. That said, even if you're cutting it extremely close to kickoff finding a space isn't as big an ordeal as some people seem to suggest and it has gotten easier since Snyder revamped the whole parking procedure last season. Just have a little patience and don't get irritated by it just because your specific life situation isn't conducive to attending games.

[hail2skins]

Back to the OP ... while he makes some good points regarding fan behavior, the issue of timing is definitely not one of them. This is my seventh year as a season ticket holder and it's no secret that you need to get there as close to when the lots open as possible, especially for the big games.

HB, but how soon is soon enough? I don't have a lot of sympathy for folks who roll in 30 mins prior to gametime, but should people really be expected to arrive at the stadium 3-4 hours prior to gametime? The OP said he was at Exit 17 at 5:45, and for him to not be able to pull into a spot until 7:15.......something is messed up there. Maybe he was trying too hard to look for "too perfect" of a spot, I dunno......probably doubtful.

[HSW]

There are jerks everywhere. The more people you have the more jerks you have. I am sure that we have 20 page

posts about how people are jerks on the highway's, jerks at work, jerks at customer service, jerks at airlines, etc, etc, etc.

Get over it and have a good time.

[BigMike21]

its unreal man. even at the bar i was watching at, people would just get up (these were people in their jerseys) and leave at random points. i mean seriously? opening night? dallas night? first game of the season and you just walk out in a crazy tight game? WTF is wrong with people?

The only people I saw leave early were people with children who obviously had school today. I dunno....I was in a great section I think because I had a great experience. No Cowboy fans and the ones I did run into I had intelligent conversations with. I didn't see a single fight all 12 hours I was there.

[HOF44]

You weren't by chance driving a white Toyota Sequoia were you??

[clarkskin]

I don't know why so many of you are busting this guys balzz so hardcore. He's basically just asking people not to act like a-holes. Based on a lot of responses in this thread, seems like he has a lot of you pegged.

[pissondallas]

This guy went above and beyond them though. He was gone before the 3rd quarter....:helmet:

[Cataphract]

I was at the game last night. It was the best game I've been to since I was boring. I'm only 25 though.

Aside from the one guy a few rows behind me that wouldn't shut up and kept saying the same things every 15 seconds, it was awesome.

I had tickets in the Loge though.

[GrimReaper21]

You know what I hate? People who leave at halftime!

[LightningBuggs]

There's a huge fundamental flaw with that equation though. The people who are now in their 30's and mid-late 20's are the last generation of fans who will HONESTLY be able to say that they attended games as a kid and enjoyed a nice family-friendly atmosphere. Any sports marketing executive will tell you that the key to building a lifelong fanbase that generates residual income for decades upon decades is hooking those fans into the gameday environment at a very young and impressionable age. So when the current crop of 21-30 year-olds move on into their mid to late 30's and 40's, and the atmosphere at FedEx hasn't changed, who will go?

I grew up going to RFK, and can honestly say that I had such good times there that I spent all of my late teens and 20's swearing that if I EVER were lucky enough to be able to purchase season tickets, I would be a lifelong season ticket holder. It was those great memories as a kid that drove me to repeatedly attend games at FedEx throughout my 20's, and into my early 30's. Roundabout the time I was 27 or so, I started to notice the virtual gang-type atmosphere (Redskins fans sporting the Bloods, any other fans being the hypothetical Crips). I kept going, like beating my head into a brickwall. HORRENDOUS traffic, violent atmosphere, crappy team, jacked up vending and parking prices. I finally reasoned with myself to forget about those long-forgotten days of the past and accept the fact that going to Redskins games just wasn't an enjoyable experience anymore. So I stopped going. Approximately two years later, I got the notice that I was now eligible to purchase season tickets. Even though it's within my budget, I choose not to for the reasons mentioned above. The kids growing up today are being held away from FedEx much more than kids were when I grew up. So when these kids become twenty-somethings, what point of reference will they have to Redskins games when selecting a sports venue? Probably little to non-existent, and their loyalty won't be nearly as strong as mine was.

Those of you who nitpick one or two complaints the O.P. made (arriving late for ex.), are missing his larger point. The sum of the parts and net effect ALL of those negative experiences have on a fan is simply too much to bear. Please note the chronological nature of his tale; clearly used to take us along for the hellish ride he experienced, ALL things included. I noticed that noone contested his point about fights in the bathroom. Seriously, they happened every single game I went to, and they REALLY shouldn't.

Also, the point about the single guy aged 21-30 atmosphere should be amended to say "Single Guys 21-30 who don't plan on bringing a date are welcome." One game about 5-6 years ago, a fight broke out two rows behind us (b/t a Ravens fan and Redskins Fan, even though we were playing the Bears), and one of the guys was pushed forcefully into the back of my wife; so it's not just the kids we have to worry about here. What about senior citizens? How do those old bones feel when they get caught up in the middle of a fight?

"Deal with it, it's just the way it is" is absolutely the WRONG attitude to take.

Hail!

+1000, Great post.

[Ruff Stuff]

I must attend games in the "good" neighborhood because nobody in my section ever acted the way the OP described. Not even a profanity when Suisham missed the fg vs. the Saints.

I'm the kind of person that hates large crowds and I'm one of the first to think people are being obnoxious. The only time I have EVER seen anyone do anything truly obnoxious at the skins games I've been to was 8 and a pukes fan walked up to my dad and belched in his face (which helped instill my pure hatred of those dirty dallas dogs). But anyway, I just can't see some of the behavior your talking about happening at FedEx.

[HateYanksDukeCowboys]

Basically yeah. There was this group of older gentlemen behind me' date=' and in a fit of drunken urinating rage I punched all of them in the face.[/quote']

You won't be 25 forever. Think about it.

[HateYanksDukeCowboys]

+1000, Great post.

Thanks dude.

[vaskinfan]

I said this applies only if you fit the description. Believe me - it needs to be said. Its why FEDEX doesnt have true Redskins fans. Look at the Steeler game -- 35-40-50 percent Steelers? Tonight had 25-30% Cowboy fans....why did this happen? Because longtime Redskins fans from RFK got run out of the stadium by these practices....and the result in terms of visiting team jerseys speak for themselves.

I was there last night as well. I had no problem with anyone around me or in the parking lots - so it seems like you ran into some bad luck unfortunately. I do take exception to the 25-30% Cowboy number though. I thought there were much less Cowboy fans there than last year - I'd estimate between 10-15% at most.

[tshile]

Thanks dude.

in reply to your post, there's something you're missing...

it's not that we all feel like you should 'just deal with it', its that you're preaching to the wrong people on this one.

most of the people who come here and post, aren't the people being described. the people who do that stuff don't seem to be the type of peple who spend significant, if any, time on the internet actually educating themselves on the team, or the league.

so, you've basically come in here and said drunk *******s suck. yes. they do. now what do you want me (or us) to do about it? we're not the drunk *******s... and we agree with you. it's a football game. this isn't shocking news, especially when it's the open game, in prime time, against the cowboys.

the only thing you can do is do your best to report the people who do the ridiculous things. get them thrown out. the staff is very good about that, but they have to know something is going on before they can do something. to all of you complaining - did you report what you saw? if not, then you're not doing your part to try to make it better and probably don't have any right to complain.

the other point is that traffic/parking sucks. again, shocker. you're in the place rated the worst in the country for general traffic. just last week ESPN (or sports illustrated, can't remember) ranked all the sporting franchies (not just NFL) in terms of parking/trafic to the game, and Fedex came in as the #1 worst.

our response: arrive earlier.

we can't change the way the lots work. we can't make the staff more compentent. all we can say is that the way we avoid it is arriving earlier. the typical response: "i can't arrive earlier". well, then ok? sucks for you, i can't make the traffic better so thats that.

The only valid concern i've seen is the cussing, but you can't do a whole lot about that either. it's goign to happen. if you're worried about your kids, then you'll just have to evaluate their ability (or lack thereof) to be able to handle that. if they can't handle it, don't take them until they're old enough to be able to handle it. Although I would imagine that if you think they can handle staying up until well past midnight on a school night to watch a football game, they can probably handle someone using cusswords.

Don't get bitter because you don't like the responses. These aren't 'just deal with it' responses. They're responses on how you can have a better game day experience.

If you want nice people, and enjoyable environemnt for the kids, plenty of parking, less traffic, and the ability to show up whenever you want, then go to the zoo.

Not the Redskins vs Cowboys opening game in prime time. If that response bothers you, then maybe you should spend some time reevaluating what it is you think this sort of game is suppose to be.

[Roblowsta]

DUDE!! This is football. I won't get into what you sound like right now....but you seem awfully sensitive. You want to see football without cursing you might as well go to a pop warner game...and you might hear cursing then too. This is football not figure skating.

This was the season opener against the cowgirls..PRIMETIME! What did you expect? I saw a little scuffle in the bathroom, it was quite comical actually. Security was on top of it in no time and no one was hurt. Who was involved in the scuffle? Two 40-50 year old guys. I am in no way saying that it's OK to get into brawls at the games but with 90,000 fans it is inevitable.

Are you seriously complaining about flushing the toilets? Haaa Haaaa. I, for one, will never touch the flush valve on those urinals after 100s, maybe 1,000s of pissy hands have been all over them.

This was the best game that I've ever gone to at FedEx in terms of the overall atmosphere. There were lots of ‘girl fans there but the skins fans were hype and overpowered them. I had a ball. I will say that section 217 was great although there were a few skins fans that didn't stand or make any noise at any point during the game. That was my only pet peeve.

[rumplestilskin]

OP- You might be right about the degredation of society and all that but put your experience and your location in perspective. You were at a night game which was the first game of the season against the biggest rival of the franchise. Most likely people were letting loose and had few too many throughout the day/night. Maybe you should have done the same to make your experience more comfortable. I havn't been to Fedex but have rocked my Taylor Jersey at Invesco and Qwest Field (wildcard game) and never feared for my safety. When you go to those types of games all you can really control is yourself and how you take in the experience. If you let every bonehead get under your skin than you wont have fun. If you make the mistake of comparing how people act in a stadium as opposed to general everyday life your being too critical. Most of the idiots are good people but they just get a little carried away. As for not taking children or teenagers to a game thats a parental call but most kids and teenagers know more four letter words than us"adults".