It was a far less boisterous flight home. Dublin’s newest stag and hen haven sees the party begin in the skies with Aer Lingus’ newest transatlantic destination of Las Vegas having launched last month. The entertainment capital of the world likely faced a spent force of Irish ravers from my flight there. Having touched down some ten exhausting loutish hours and countless mini alcohol bottles later, a lot of them had ran their race before they even got to the start-line.
For me however, I had seen this roulette wheel before and with ten days ahead the last place I needed to drop my guard was on the plane over. Vegas will always eat you up eventually, all you can do is try and postpone it.
With an action-packed schedule, I wanted my time in Vegas seeing the Raiders to just be a part of the trip rather than the purpose. To that end, I made my week packed with “side activities” such as the Las Vegas Grand Prix, U2’s spectacular immersive show at the sphere and lunch with Gordon Ramsay!
10 days in Vegas is like sensory overload. The noise, the lights, the people, the smells and the sounds all come at you constantly. When you face it head-on it's like facing into a fire. Seems mad to say, but going to some NFL games was actually somewhat of a sensory reprieve!
Out of the two games the Chargers in SoFi stadium was definitely the best. That’s the most incredible stadium I’ve been to and I’ve been to a few. The gigantic TV that blasts out the game in the centre of the stadium is like an Imax experience within the game. The pictures and in particular the sound from it, is spellbinding. I loved it. I got a great deal on the ticket (mind you it was the guts of $500) but for a seat on the 50 yard line halfway up and your own separate lounge with complimentary everything, it wasn’t half bad. They retail at about 3x that usually. It was actually a pretty full stadium so it wasn’t like I was the only one there. Waiting until the day of the game to buy the ticket really paid off.
The Raiders game could have been better if I was sat somewhere else. I had to leave the game in the third quarter as the crowd around me was doing my head in. The Broncos fans were prickly and confrontational. The fan sat next to me didn’t know whether to look at the game, fix her hair, go on her phone, look behind her, or a contestant combination of all four over and over again and just made sitting next to her painfully annoying. She literally couldn’t sit still and then to make matters worse would scream at the top of her lungs suddenly every now and again, a lot of the time without any real reason to. My point is not to whine about her but to explain how the fans we are sat next to can have such a catastrophic influence on how we enjoy the game that a bad one can actually go a considerable way to ruining it. I found the crowd as a whole that day pretty childish and irritating. I ended up sitting at the bar for most of the second half to get away from it which is a very poor reflection on what should be an enjoyable and fun game-day experience.
Vegas can be like that. Very loud. Very in your face. People screaming songs into microphones who can’t sing while simultaneously demanding money for it at the same time. That’s Vegas and that was very much my Raiders in Vegas experience. At one point a guy incensed with a Raiders jersey on started yelling at the crowd how they should act on specific downs. Ironic coming from a guy who supports a team that wasn’t even in this city four years ago. Tourist town brings tourist fans. Lambasting them for how they enjoy themselves is not for anyone to dictate. I felt a dislike for both teams leaving the game.
Overall, I had an incredible time in Las Vegas. It’s the most amazing place on earth for entertainment and left having thoroughly enjoyed the highs and lifetime memories that it brought. It’s a roller coaster of a city. I can see why an NFL team had to be moved there. In many ways, there’s no city in America like it.
I wasn’t expecting Sofi to be as comprehensively better than Allegiant as it was but I really don’t think there was any comparison. Allegiant is a fantastic stadium but SoFi is just better. I can’t imagine there is a better stadium on earth. The fan experience was far better too. They were able to jibe on each other in a much more enjoyable way than the game the previous day. It was more banter, less fight-picking. Made for a much more comfortable atmosphere.
Ultimately, the Chargers and the Raiders are two teams new to their neighbourhoods and it shows. Yes they have fans but how pure can they be when their team’s in a brand new city? The positive aspect is I can’t see how either of them will ever move again. For both, this is their forever-homes. If I ever get back to either in years to come, I’ll be there to see a much more settled hometown crowd. It’s the least both these two teams deserve with what they’ve gone through.
So that's it for this trip. Twenty teams down, twelve to go. It's taken a lot longer than I thought, but that doesn't bother me. The fact I've gotten this far makes me very proud. I never wanted to rush it, but I always wanted to do it and I'm excited I still have plenty of trips to go.
After a great week at the F1 in Vegas, it was west coast bound for the 2023 edition of Irish NFL fan in America. Two interesting cities, I enjoyed them both, but definitely preferred Denver. Broncos country, unsurprisingly, has first rate fans. The city itself is cool, very manageable and with a very safe feel to it. Something Seattle really lacked.
Seattle is very much like other big U.S. cities. A lot of huge office buildings like Wells Fargo, sky scraping into the air. And then, just around the corner from it, there’s a handful of people sleeping rough on the streets. If you’re not in a suit, you’re in a sleeping bag. That’s how I interpret places like Seattle. High living or low dwelling. High rises and homeless.
Did I like Seattle? Not really. It had a bit of late autumn foliage and water as you came into the city but it just seemed like when you got there it was another tired, slightly boring, big American city. For instance, try and get a burger in downtown Seattle at nine o'clock in the evening. Your only option is a hatch window at McDonald’s surrounded by people begging you for your money. I feel genuinely sorry for them. I feel appalled by the environment. It made me very uncomfortable. It’s not nice and it’s a huge social problem America is facing and I’m glad it’s not up to me to solve it. But as a tourist, sights like this make these places unappealing and unattractive. The very opposite of what tourism should be.
I took a spin out to Ballard one of the days and that certainly had more of a friendly, welcoming feel to it. Maybe the secret is getting out of the city and into the suburbs. But the city is where the games are. The city is where the team is. It’s the city that ultimately defines the team.
The home of grunge music, hearing Nirvana’s smells like teen spirit blasted out as the Seahawks took to the field was definitely a goosebumps moment. It was probably the highlight of my time in Seattle. The game itself was one sided with the Seahawks finding themselves on the wrong side of a 13-31 deficit come end of regulation. Christian McCaffrey told my eyes in person what they already knew in that he is very much the MVP of the NFL. On a balmy thanksgiving night,The 49ers dominated their west coast rivals to take a stronghold of the NFC west and put themselves right back in position for a run at this year’s Super Bowl in Las Vegas.
The Seahawks, well they seemed to annoy a quickly restless crowd. I left thinking head coach Pete Carroll must surely be feeling a lot of pressure despite a long and successful career in Seattle. Although there was a strong away support for the opposition, it seemed the most driving factor from the stands was that of annoyance from the home fans at their own team.
I must admit I left Seattle thinking “are these trips really worth it?” They’re so expensive and arduous to get to, why not just watch the games at home on TV? Thankfully Denver made it all seem worthwhile again.
Denver Colorado, with the Rockys twinkling at you in the background, is a very fun city. Lots of bars and restaurants. Lots of fun and craic to be had. And a very manageable, clean, comfortable, safe city. Exactly what I’m looking for when I’ve come so far, spent plenty of money and worked so hard all year for. A city to enjoy.
Meeting Martin Silke was a real special moment. Now living in Denver, I’ve made so many poker pals over the years that you really could bump into them anywhere in the world, as I did with Martin in Denver. A city I’d go back to, I’d recommend Denver to anyone who’s looking to go to a big U.S. city that’s slightly off the beaten track in terms of its notoriety and popularity. It was brilliant. I loved it.
The game itself was fun too. Mind you it got bitterly cold in the second half when the sun went in behind the stands. Nice to see the former Seahawk Russell Wilson catch some fire on the day for the Broncos. Having seen both his former and present team in such quick succession, I think he may have made the right decision leaving Seattle on a lot of fronts.
I liked the galloping horses visuals they used on the screen for first downs and the crowd interaction in general. Broncos country is definitely a fun place to be on a Sunday afternoon.
So that’s it for another year. Nice to have another two teams off the list and to be just over half way. I’d like to do more than two teams next year as I really didn’t intend spending so much of my life doing these! I actually thought I’d have the whole lot done in four years, how wrong I was! If I could get it finished in the next four years that would be a good achievement. I’ll aim for that.
I would like to see another dome game soon. The one in New Orleans I saw a few years back is still ringing around in my head so maybe the Cardinals or the Falcons next year. I wouldn’t mind going somewhere warm too after almost getting frostbite on this trip.
Wherever is is I end up, I'm looking forward to trip number 11 already.
It’s been almost three years but finally last week I got back in the US, back in the US, back in the US of A for some NFL action.
And what a great trip it was too. Not only did I get to see two more NFL cities but also a great college game, my first ever baseball game and a visit to a former US president’s library and museum as well.
The trip started off in Austin, Texas. A city on the rise, both Tesla and Apple have set up multi-billion dollar facilities in Austin this past year alone. It has no shortage of culture either and lives by its slogan “keep Austin weird.” It’s also one of the music capitals of the world, thanks to its festivals such as the music TV show Austin city limits. It’s also considered one of the great food cities of America too with food trucks all over the city serving up things like BBQ, Tex-Mex and tacos.
But it was sport I was there for and what a game it was last Saturday between Alabama and Texas. I think I’m still coming down from both the heat and the atmosphere. A sweltering day in downtown Austin this was one hell of a contest. Alabama, the number one ranked team in the country, really struggled to get on top of a resilient Texas team despite being a strong 20 point favourites on the road. Save for a late Alabama field goal to win the game 20-19, this game really should have went the way of the home side. With not an empty seat in the house or many voices left after the game, this truly was a thunderbolt of a college football experience. Air-con never felt so soothing when we finally got out of the midday heat!
I say we because it was in fact a tandem for this trip with my old poker buddy and now Texas native Gordon Hanlon showing me around for the majority of the trip. An excellent cinematographer, Gordon kept me in check that I was here not only to enjoy the trip but also to document it too! He done a great job of cameraman throughout the journey.
Following an afternoon/evening in downtown Austin checking out sixth street, rainy street and some local BBQ, the trip moved apace to Dallas the following day for some NFL week one action between the Dallas Cowboys and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
I wasn’t expecting to see Tom Brady again, especially after he retried this summer! But see him again I did and he looked as imperious as ever as he led his travelling Buccaneers to a very resolute albeit largely uneventful 19-3 road win. The cowboys stadium was a wonderful place to watch a game almost like an IMAX cinema of an experience. Perfect wifi, unlimited concourse, perfectly air conditioned throughout, this was a very different experience to the previous day’s game. But well worth it and a fabulously perfect environment to watch the game. It was just a shame the home team were really never in it.
Getting to visit the Cowboys practice facility, the George Bush presidential museum and a Rangers baseball game over the next few days was a lovely end to my stay in Texas. Not as hectic as hurried as the game days, it was a welcome change of gear to the trip.
The ham and cheese toasties in the Dallas arts district were a far cry from the toasties myself and Gordon would have grew up on in the Jackers all those years ago, that’s for sure. And don’t get me started on the pineapple cider!
After that it was onwards to Kansas City and my last stop of the trip. This was quite a different city than both Austin and Dallas. Having gone from skyscrapers galore this was very much a city on the ground, with little to be daunted by. It also had that Midwest charm. I felt very much at home in Kansas City. It felt like a place that you wouldn’t be long getting to know both the town and the people. A very manageable city with a chilled out nature to it.
And the best part about it is the wonderful team this city now boasts. The Chiefs have been the stars of the NFL show for what seems like the past four or so years since Patrick Mahomes became their starting quarterback. They’re the most electric team in football and Arrowhead stadium certainly reflected that. One of the best overall game days I’ve had, the Chiefs experience really didn’t disappoint. With the exception of Buffalo, I think this was one of the best NFL atmospheres I’ve seen. I suppose it does help when you’ve a team that’s on fire like this one.
The game itself was good too and certainly hard fought. The Chargers were worthy of their place in it and took the game to the Chiefs throughout before finally succumbing to a 27-24 loss. I left thinking this is a match up we could see again in the AFC playoffs.
So overall a very enjoyable trip back to the home of American football and another two teams off my NFL list. I’m not sure if I’ll get to any more this season but like I said in my last blog before the pandemic I’m in no rush. I’ll let them come to me as the opportunity allows it. Goodness knows these last few years have proved that.
If New York City is built up Los Angeles is built down. With no discernible city centre, LA is a vast sprawling city of neighbourhoods.
The second largest city in America, LA is famous for many places including Hollywood, Santa Monica and Venice Beach.
But if you had to live somewhere let me recommend Beverly Hills. The average house price there is around $4 million.
That’s where you want to be.
But I’d imagine no matter where you lived in LA you’d still have a lot going on in your ‘hood. It’s no wonder too many of the NFL’s franchises all wanted to up and move to this city all at once.
Either way it was a welcome break from rainy Dublin weather as temperatures soared in the city for most of our trip.
I say ‘our’ because I had company for the first time on one of my trips. This time I was joined by my brother Graham as well as Stockport’s finest poker player of them all Mike Hill who both had to shadow me for five days listening to bad jokes, drinking bad Guinness and getting woke up before sunlight to go to Subway for a bad breakfast.
It wasn’t all bad though as we did get to see some big time sports while we were there.
As temporary domiciles go, the Rams have found an excellent holiday home in the L.A. Memorial Coliseum. The atmosphere last Sunday night was tremendous for a team that only four short years ago was in St. Louis and who in nine months times will be playing nine miles up the road in Inglewood. The team itself was competitive, just like they have been throughout their return to the city of angels. Spurred on by a vocal home crowd the Rams found their way to a 17-7 win over a now downtrodden Bears outfit who will be wondering where it’s all gone wrong this season. The win pretty much ends all hopes for the Bears returning to the postseason this year and whilst the Rams’ playoff hopes also appear slim, it’s not over for them just yet.
We also got to see some big time NBA and none come bigger in the world of basketball than Lebron James. We saw his Lakers struggle to a 99-97 win over a much inferior Sacramento Kings side who led for most of the way at the Staples Center. It was a rough night for favourite backers on the spread who had a saver on the overs, that's for sure!
We also took in some big time comedy and getting to see Anthony Jeselnik live was a real thrill. Star of several Netflix stand-up shows, his headline performance at the Comedy Store last week capped off a fun night at the iconic Hollywood venue.
There was comedy on the streets too. In fact, almost everywhere we went we saw the same street comic selling jokes for a dollar (and two dollars if you laugh). We saw him at the basketball, we saw him at the NFL, we even saw him one morning on the sidewalks of Beverly Hills. If it’s perseverance you want instilled in your kids, bring them to downtown L.A. and follow this guy arounfd for a day. His work ethic is as good as I’ve ever seen.
I also got treated to a chef's table experience up in the sky at 71 above for my birthday. It was a wonderful experience and really gave you an impression of just how big and sprawling a city Los Angeles really is.
My last trip of 2019 was a strange one in many ways. It was my first time having company. It was my first time seeing only one game. It was my first time taking in an NBA game. My first time to LA. It was also my first time thinking maybe I’ve seen too much of America too quickly.
I’ve been to 15 teams in the league now and they’re starting to blur into one.
I absolutely intend on getting to all 32 teams eventually but there’s no point racing through them either.
The way I see it, you might as well take in and savour the views along the way.
With that said, next year I intend on doing much less and taking it slowly from there on in. I just don’t want this experience to be over too quickly.
Five days in the Midwest of America last weekend to see the Minnesota Vikings and the Green Bay Packers means that after only six weeks of the NFL season I’ve already completed three of my trips.
There was plenty of green pastures and water on display as I landed into Minneapolis airport so startling in fact I almost thought I was landing back in Ireland!
The home of all things purple including rain, people eaters, artists who were formally known even when they were alive and of course the nation’s first purple coloured NFL team, the Minnesota Vikings.
In fact it was the colour purple that I cited after a little hesitation as my reason for liking the team when asked in the airport by a US immigrations police officer why I was going to Minneapolis to see the Vikings.
What else could I say, Kirk Cousins?
In fact, it’s quite hard to nail down what it is that gives the Vikings’ their identity. You certainly couldn’t say Brett Farve without causing a twin cities bar fight. Or how they almost made it to the Super Bowl in their home stadium 21 months ago. Nobody wants to be remembered for their sloppy seconds or what they could have done. They want to be known for something that’s interesting to them and for me it’s their colour. Purple.
One team who did make that Super Bowl almost two years ago were the eventual winners, the Philadelphia Eagles, who would be retuning to the place of their greatest triumph for the first time since becoming World Champions back in 2018.
But there would be no hero’s welcome whatsoever as this too was the same team that had destroyed Minnesota’s dreams of a home field Super Bowl, which is something which wouldn’t be quickly forgotten in any city, even if it was called New England.
The Vikings were on a revenge mission last weekend and they got it too mainly thanks to the hands of Stefon Diggs who ripped the Eagles pass defence apart catching for 167 yards and three touchdowns in a 38-20 win for the vengeful Vikings.
Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins who wasn’t part of the organisation during the heartbreak of 2018 wasn’t short of a reconnaissance mission himself having come in for criticism from within his own locker room in recent weeks but he too had a terrific game.
I think my biggest lasting memory from my trip to Minneapolis though will be the new friends that I found there. Mandi Peterson. Nick Reget. Bobby Boettcher and his soon to be wife Jackie, they even invited me to their wedding! You were great hosts during my time there. Showing me around. Feeding me. Intoxicating me. It was fun. I’ll see you all again. I’m sure of it.
But after a few short days it was quickly on to another Midwestern team and a franchise so storied you wouldn’t have to explain to anyone why you were going to see them.
A team that has never played in the international series because to take them out of America would be akin to taking an original copy of the first superman out of its wrapper.
A team that transcends not just American football but American sports as a whole. The only place in the world you can go with a lump of plastic cheese on your head and blend in.
Green Bay Wisconsin was a magical place to be. If there was an American footballing Mecca, this would be it. The stadium looms large as you fly in. It’s like the city has been built around it and in many ways it probably is. It’s a special place and I left the stadium feeling honoured to have been there.
The town of Green Bay is probably exactly as you would expect. Big vast open spaces. Casual roads the size of motorways just in case. No car park that could need 20 spaces doesn’t have less than 50. The phrase “well, space is of a premium” has never been said in this town.
With the exception of New Era Field and the Oakland Coliseum, Lambeau Field was the first stadium I’ve been to that didn’t seem fresh out of the box. Clearly there was history here. Events have happened here. You could see it in the wooden bleachers. You could hear it when you took a listen to any of the many old timers who were dotted around the stadium. You could breath it in through the chilly Wisconsin October air. This was real football country.
I took my seat right at the front of the end zone in anticipation for some exciting happenings and witnessed the most unanticipated of “Lambeau leap’s” when ESPN’s Adam Schefter took it upon himself to launch himself into a crowd stood next to me during his pregame show.
And what followed was a strange game too. The Detroit Lions are probably the worst team in the NFC North but my goodness gracious me are they a good team. I thought that on the night they were actually the better team. The Packers exercised as good a use of clock management as you will likely see all season with a game-winning drive that even saw Jamaal Williams take a clever backside at the end of it instead of waltzing into the end zone just to keep that game clock ticking and leave no time left for the Lions.
The whole idea of allowing teams to score and players sitting down just outside the end zone is something I’m surprised we don’t see a lot more of in the NFL. So often that last possession ends up being the one that wins the game I’m surprised more teams don’t try and exploit it. Both teams certainly tried to on Monday Night.
Back at the hotel a group of people in the lobby asked me why I had came from Ireland to see the Packers. In truth there were lots of reasons but I’d no hesitation on my answer this time.
“Aaron Rodgers.”
In the same way Michael Schumacher drove for Ferrari it seems only fitting that Aaron Rodgers would throw the ball for the Packers.
It was a hell of a quick turnaround as I boarded my flight to Florida last week for my second NFL trip of the year.
Hot September weather, poker and American football was on the menu for my week in the sunshine state and I got a lot of it in equal measures during my stay.
I also got to witness first career wins for two NFL quarterbacks and at 23 and 22 respectfully, I may have even witnessed the birth of a future star.
I started off in Jacksonville for a Thursday night football game between the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Tennessee Titans, two decent NFL teams both of which have strong playoff aspirations this season.
It was a fun atmosphere outside the stadium and the people of Jacksonville in general were very friendly. It’s amazing they even have a team really as the city itself is rather small, especially compared to some of the others I’ve been to.
Also, tickets for the game were going for as little as $30 in the week leading up to it. (For context, the cheapest ticket for the Patriots Steelers game on week one that I went to was nearly $700).
But in fairness to the Jacksonville Jaguars they are a pretty good football team and played well in what was a comfortable 20-7 win despite having to start their backup quarterback Gardner Minshew. But it was Minshew himself who was the star of the show and gained all the plaudits on a day he said “he’ll never forget”. His first win in the league.
The following day I played some poker in Jacksonville at the Bestbet poker room. Keeping up with the theme of the city this was a nice, friendly place and with over 20 tables running on a Friday afternoon, the action was very good too.
I would have liked to have gone back on Saturday but alas it was an Uber to Gainesville, Florida the birthplace of the greatest musician of all time Tom Petty and also the home of the University of Florida and with it their football team, the Florida Gators.
This was a very different college game than the one I saw in Boston. This had all the looks and feels of an NFL game and if anything an even more partisan crowd. At half time, one man who I spoke to was so impressed that I had come to see his Gators play he insisted on buying me two beers or as he put it “one for each hand.”
I know it’s not exactly a Maserati or the keys to a mansion but for some reason that simple gesture really meant a lot to me. It made me feel welcome.
The game itself was as memorable for the crowd’s rendition of Tom Petty’s “Won’t back down” as it was for anything that happened on the turf itself.
It would be another Floridian victory over a Tennessee team, a second in three days, as the Gators would go on to win 34-3 against the Volunteers. It would also be another home victory for the teams I’ve seen this year with Boston College, the New England Patriots, the New Orleans Saints, the Jacksonville Jaguars and now the Florida Gators all winning while I was there maybe I was a becoming somewhat of a lucky Oman for the home crowds?
After a night in Gainesville it was a bus to Tampa on Sunday as the Buccaneers played host to the Giants, my third football game in four days!
Unperturbed, I was looking forward in particular to seeing the first start of a much talked about new NFL quarterback, the sixth overall pick in this year’s draft and now a player who the Giants were benching their former two time winning Super Bowl quarterback Eli Manning for, Daniel Jones.
I had a feeling there would be a story in this game, and there certainly was.
The first key action of the game was the injury to Saquon Barkley in the second quarter. The second overall pick in last year’s draft, Barkley has already established himself to be the most valuable player in the Giants locker room as well as perhaps, the best running back in the league. An incredible achievement in what is only his sophomore year in the pros.
This basically meant if the Giants were going to win this game it would have to be though the hands of their first-time starter, Daniel Jones.
Trailing 28-10 at half time it really looked as though there would be no fairytale for Daniel Jones with the Giants and if anything it was turning into a bit of a nightmare.
And then the second half happened.
First snap Jones to Evan Engram. Touchdown. 75 yards.
The Giants were back in it.
The strangest thing about this game was the crowd. At an estimate I’d say it was 65:35 but not in favour of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers but in favour of the visiting New York Giants.
There were more Giants fans at this game then there was when I went to see the Giants play at home last December.
Clearly a lot of folk had moved/retired down to Florida but stayed loyal to their football team and it was in clear evidence last Sunday. It was strange.
Then Jones threw another touchdown. 25-28. Two minutes to go Jones runs it in for a touchdown himself. Giants now lead 32-31. One minute to go and the Buccaneers drive the ball into Giants territory to set up a 34 yard field goal to win it. The kick is no good and the crowd goes wild, Giants win 32-31. All the players hug Daniel Jones and with it embraced his first win in the NFL.
My record of home team wins was over but with the celebrations that ensued in the stadium it was hard to see how the home team had lost. It was bizarre.
For my final two days in Florida it was more poker this time at the Seminole Hard Rock in Tampa. Again plenty of action and many tables going early in the afternoon but a far less friendlier room than the Bestbet in Jacksonville. It was a little too dark, it was a little too hostile, the staff were a little too snappy, I wouldn’t be rushing back.
At one point I had a guy proposition me while we were playing.
“Hey you wanna bet a hundred dollars I can’t do 25 push ups before the next hand?”
Now call me suspicious, but I can’t help feel that if someone offers you a very specific proposition bet out of nowhere at a poker table that you may not be getting the best of it.
I refused to take it and with it came the jeers from the rest of the table. It was clear who was away from home this time.
On Wednesday I got to the airport six and a half hours early for my flight home.
We could leave our belongings on the bus if we liked but we had to stay in the same seats for the duration of the tour.
“I love history. Love history”
She was from Denver Colorado. She was 85 years old. She spoke but she couldn’t hear. She smiled a lot. I can’t remember her name.
There’s very little you can do when you’re sat next to someone and they’re 85 and they’re smiling a lot and they keep talking over the tour guide.
You could say “can you please stop talking, you’re ruining the tour” but you’d have to yell for her to hear you which might seem rude to her but not as rude as it would seem to everyone else on the bus who are completely unaware of the context.
30 something year old rude unshaven Irish guy’s over here wearing American football team’s hoodies and he’s not even from here and he’s screaming at our sweet old ladies.
You could marry a mute. That way you'd be guaranteed to sit beside someone who didn’t talk over the tour guide.
You could say “I thought you said you loved history? Why are you constantly talking over the tour guide who’s painstakingly fine tuned every single syllable that comes out of his mouth to ensure it’s either very informative, very witty, very comforting or at least a halfway attempt at being somewhat funny?”
But that might too make me seem like the one who was unhinged.
I remember what my Dad used to say about Americans when he’d see them in Ireland.
"They’re big. They’re loud. And they’re over here.”
I was over there now.
I’d just have to grin and bear it.
Boston is a fantastic city. With rent starting at $3000 per month for a studio apartment it would probably want to be. In the Back Bay Area of Boston a pair of parking spaces in an alleyway sold for $560,000 alone.
As you leave the city big bright stunningly beautiful homes vibrantly line the streets of the suburbs.
Steeped in history, Boston is as famous for its past as its present with the American revolution, “taxation without representation” and of course the Boston tea party.
Boston has the oldest baseball stadium in America, Fenway Park. The ballpark which at times has been considered both economically unviable and structurally unsound has survived since 1912 and as such has became the only stadium in America to have played host to all the stars of baseball including Willie Mays, Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams and Babe Ruth.
Ruth, an American sporting icon was unquestionably talented but his playboy lifestyle would often see him missing practice and turn up for games hungover where he would scoff two hotdogs from the concession stand, down a cup of Coca Cola and take to the ballpark for an attempt to hit home runs. This was considered indisciplined by the coaching staff who traded him to the New York Yankees in what would be the worst decision the team would ever make. The Red Sox would then go 74 years before winning another World Series after that.
Boston is also the home (or sort of the home) to a little known NFL team called the New England Patriots. The team, which has lacked success particularly in recent times, has suffered in the hands of clueless owners, inept coaching staff and a quarterback who has held the team back ever since they foolishly drafted him during the sixth round back in the year 2000.
Oh no wait they’re actually the complete opposite of all those things.
Walking up to Gillette stadium was actually quite a surreal moment for me as it’s a vision which has become so familiar, not from having been there physically but from having seen it so many times on the TV in my bedroom on Sunday nights as year after year the Patriots would make a run at the playoffs that would more often than not end up in a Super Bowl appearance if not a win itself.
And guess what? It looks like this year is going to be absolutely no different!
The Patriots destroyed the Steelers 33-3 in what was as dominating a performance both offensively and defensively as I’ve seen against what was a far from mediocre Pittsburgh team. Tom Brady moved the ball at will while his fellow Super Bowl winning counterpart Ben Roethlisberger couldn’t even find the end zone, a first in 26 games.
It’s going to be hard to see who’ll stop the Patriots this year. I saw a funny tweet after the game that said “man I can’t stand the Patriots” and it certainly has that "here we go again" feel to it. They are getting perilously close to overkill.
Getting out of the stadium that night was a bit of a disaster and after following most of the crowd for about a mile and a half I can still see a finger pointing way into the distance of where I had just came from and hearing “Boston’s that way.” Three hours and a $150 Uber later I finally got back my hotel.
I was thankful when I got to New Orleans the next day that it wasn’t going to be the same scenario.
The Super Dome is right bang hard in the middle of the city. I was able to walk to it in 15 minutes from my hotel. I could even drink a beer along the way.
19.07 9th September 2019.
New Orleans Super Dome, Louisiana.
The stadium is booming. I wish every game was in a dome. The sound rebounds and reverberates and the echo creates the most fabulous din. Although it didn’t matter where it was, this game was going to be noisy. It was noisy in the stands it was noisy at the gates it was noisy at the concession stands and noisy at the bars. A lot of the crowd came dressed in black and white as a form of protest to a controversial refereeing decision which probably cost the team a place in last year;s Super Bowl. The “zebras” were in full voice anytime a decision went against their beloved Saints.
And there were some controversial decisions too, and once again a lot of them seemed to go against the Saints. Save for a last gasp field goal to win it this could have been yet another high profile game lost by New Orleans at the hands of the refs. Words like “conspiracy” were being said more and more as the game went on and it probably doesn’t help matters when the league office is issuing the team apologies over what has gone on by the “zebras” on the pitch. But this team will march on and who knows I may well have seen both of this year’s Super Bowl teams last weekend.
A special mention to New Orleans Saints running back come wide receiver Alvin Kamara who was the best player I’ve seen so far on my trips. He seemed to find yards where other players wouldn’t. He seemed to do well every time he touched the ball. He just seems like a very special player to the naked eye. Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson also looked good in what was my second time seeing him.
21.08 10th September 2019
Court tavern sandwich’s, Bourbon Street, New Orleans.
“So what’s a po boy?”
“A po boy is basically French bread. If I was to put you in between French bread you’d be a po boy.”
“I’m a po boy?”
“If you were between French bread. Yes, you’d be a po boy.”
Turns out I’m a po boy. Better than being a po girl I suppose.
New Orleans is almost exactly as you’d expect it to be. So much so that I kept thinking of this video as I was walking along.
Loud music. Alcohol everywhere. Dingy. Neon lights. Great food. Think downtown Vegas mixed with temple bar. Think jazz instead of trad. Think warm weather instead of cold. But think the same craic as you’d find at home.
11.27 11th September 2019
Just outside Louis Armstrong airport, New Orleans.
Uber driver Mike.
"So when do you think you’ll be back?”
A simple question but yet a very sobering one. The truth is I might never be back. Just like all the places I’ve been to so far on this tour many of them I probably will never be back to. That’s not to say that I won’t or I couldn’t it’s just that for most of them I could well never be back.
"You know what, I don’t know.”
My last day in the United States would turn out to be my penultimate one. After my flight from New Orleans back to Boston I missed my connecting fight back home. I was worried when the guy at the Aer Lingus desk already knew my name.
20.07 11th September 2019.
Boston Logan International Airport.
"Gary?”
“Yep.”
“Yeah, you’ve missed your flight, you’re going to have to go out to the main hallway and speak to the ticket desk about what to do next.”
20.15 11th September 2019.
Boston Logan international airport (Aer Lingus ticket desk).
“Gary?”
“Yep” (still haven’t introduced myself to anyone)
“So. You’re going to have to go to Bradley.”
And that’s a sentence I’ll never forget. The next flight from Boston was full. Turns out the next flight after that from Boston was full too and guess what? Yep you’ve guessed it the next one was full too. I was going to have to go to Bradley. See Bradley’s not a person. Bradley’s an airport.
An airport in Hartford, Connecticut in fact.
And that night I’d be staying at the humble adobe of 34 Old County Road, Windsor Locks, Connecticut. The econo lodge motorway hotel. Or as the yanks call it “a motel.”
It had a swimming pool but it was “out of season.” It had a lobby but it was “under construction.” And it had a coffee machine but it was “out of order.” I was given room 234 and I think if you were given it the day the twin towers got hit you’d probably be looking at the same door, the same tv, the same bathroom and maybe even the same bed. It wasn’t all bad. There was a Dunkin’ (donuts) a quarter mile up the road. It was a place nobody wants to stay in. A place for those in transit. A place that at $69 a night there could be no love lost. It’s only amenities being that it’s close to the airport, what was it’s name again?
I arrived five hours early to the airport for my flight the next day.
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