Ram-a-lam-a-ding-dong

I got an unexpected surprise (which, I guess, is the definition of a surprise....it's unexpected) yesterday afternoon in my lab, when one of the psych grad students here at Wash U brought his baby into our lab, which was very nice since I hadn't seen him yet. He smiled at me. Very cute. Anyway, he also asked me (the grad student, not the baby) what I was doing that night, and of course I hesitated because who knows what he could want from me. But then he showed me a ticket to the St. Louis Rams game for that night. Sure, I was free. I called the ladyfriend and told her not to wait up, then I was off to the Edward Jones Dome (named after a financial planning company or something) to see some football.

I had only been to one professional football game in my life. That was in San Diego, where I saw the Chargers play the Raiders. There was a brawl. It was really sunny. I don't remember who won. What do you want? I was 10!

So there was no brawl in this one. It was just preseason, and the first preseason game, at that. But it was against da Bears, who may or may not be a rival of da Rams, I can't tell. I got me a nice big beer, found my seat which was up a few levels but about even with one of the endzones, so that was nice. I was sitting next to a family, who left part way through the third quarter. I thought it was an ok game, although the Bears committed more penalties than I think I've ever seen in one game. It was unreal.

St. Louis led most of the game, but Chicago got a late touchdown and tied it. So the game went into overtime. Sweet. Hey, at $7 per beer, you need to take what you can get. Unfortunately, overtime only lasted 17 seconds. Chicago got the kickoff, ran it almost all the way back, then immediately kicked a field goal. Ah well, nice while it lasted.

Next weekend I visit another St. Louis sports venue: Busch Stadium, home of the Cardinals. I'm feeling more like a local everyday.