Today I was able to score tickets to my first regular season Lions game at Ford Field. I was very excited to be able to go to this game even though Stafford was hurt. We arrived in the parking garage about one hour and fifteen minutes before the game. From there we had about a 10 to 15 minute walk to the stadium.
It was nice to arrive early and have time to check out the stadium. I love how open the stadium is when you first walk in.
As we walked around and checked out the cool things in the shops, I felt like we were lost. For a second I thought we were in a mall. The stadium was very nice and walking around the shops had a nice cozy feeling to them instead of being in an area with tons of people. It was nice how traffic flowed from one area to another and then you end up in a place that seemed like a food court.
After a little bit of sightseeing we decided to find our seats.
Here is the awesome view from our seats.
This Lions game started out like all the other games we have been accustomed to the last 2 years with the Lions. Coming off of a 48-3 stomping from Baltimore the week before I was not very impressed that we were stuck with Culpepper for the day. The only time he seems like he cares is when he thinks he is going to start and he gets benched. I can understand that competitive nature but when our number one starting quarterback is able to make the start, please do not go crying to the GM. If Culpepper would have shown us that passion on the field that would of been one thing. By half time, we decided to sneak out 3 minutes early to hit the concessions because it was 17-0 and the Lions were not the ones on top. This turned out to be a very smart idea because with the 2 minute warning we ended up first in line getting some nachos. Then back to our seats before even a minute was off the clock.
Now the whole first half every time Culpepper ran onto the field to start a possession, there were tons of boo birds in the crowd. The whole stadium was pretty quiet for the most part. The second half was a completely different story. As soon as Stanton took the field, the roars from the crowd were there with an overwhelming standing ovation. A lot of people would like to think that it was their booing that finally put Stanton into the game but it was simply the mere fact the Culpepper had played himself out of the game. You can call it jitters or just great defense but Stanton was not on the field long before he threw an interception that was so close to our end zone that the Cardinals started with the ball inside the Red Zone. This was kind of funny because with this being a game that was home and not sold out, the only time Lions fans watching at home could see the game was if they were watching the NFL's new channel, NFL RedZone. The NFL RedZone has helped us out during this blacked out season.
At this point it was 17-0 and Arizona was about to score again. If I was not such a loyal Lions fan, I probably would of joined the few fans that hit the road. This is when one of our rising stars brought some life back to our team, the fans and the franchise. Louis Delmas intercepted a Kurt Warner pass and ran back a 101 yard TD for the Lions. This was the first time we could sing the Lions fight song. Some fans even joked that everyone should sing because it was going to be their only chance today to sing it. A few minutes later the Lions defense forced the Cardinals into a 3 and out and the Lions quickly struck again. Maurice Morris scored on a 64 yard TD run. The next drive down Jason Hanson tied it up at 17 all. In the end, the game ended up being a close loss to Arizona 31-24 but it was nice to have it be an exciting game instead of just another old Lions game. They did pretty good for our starting quarterback, running back and tight end all being hurt. Games like this give us hope that we can turn this team around. We just need some more talented players on our team and need to weed out the teammates that do not want to be here.
Since we were in Detroit, we decided to take on one of our favorite shows challenges from Man Vs. Food. Adam Richman is slowly becoming a household name that can show us those great eats we might have missed. Our goal today was to test out Lafayette Coney Island and American Coney Island which just happen to be right next door to each other.
There is a rich history that these two restaurants have with each other that goes back to two brothers starting out together. They eventually have a splitting opinion between how to make their coney island special that not only has them making two kinds of chili but creating two different restaurants. These two restaurants have been on such shows as Hung on HBO and Man vs. Food on the Travel Channel. It leaves you with the lingering question of which one is really better? There are so many things that make the two restaurants and coneys' different from each other and positives and negatives to both restaurants.
If you are going to a Lions game or a Tigers game, you definitely cannot go wrong with these great places to eat. I would suggest for your first time that you check out both places and see for yourself which one you like the best.
