"Scrimmage" not worth the hassle

Adam7250 — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 16:26:39 -0000

I was at the Chiefs/Vikings practice last night and from a fan's perspective, this event is really more trouble than it's worth.

First, they advertise this as a scrimmage, which implies that it will be an 11 on 11 football game. In reality, although they do go 11 on 11 later in the practice, much of the event is normal drills that you would see in practice....just involving members of another team on the other side of the ball and a much more crowded environment.

Also, they announced that tickets would go on sale at 4 pm, implying that there were a limited number available. Judging from the crowd at Ramer Field, I doubt there was a finite number of tickets...they just kept selling them as long as people would buy (The tickets were the red "raffle" type that come in big rolls and can be purchased at Wal-Mart). It would make sense to sell tickets based upon how much room there was in the bleachers. There were way more people there than could possibly fit into the stands at UWRF. I got in fairly early but I'm sure there were plenty of people expecting to get an actual seat and watch a semi-football game who were disappointed to be standing behind the endzone trying to see.

Factoring in the $10 ticket, $5 parking fee and the amount of time it took to get out of the parking lot....I was hoping for something closer resembling a football game. I'm sure UWRF made a lot of money from both Chiefs and Vikings fans at this event and I'm all for that.....but I maintain that this could have been handled better.

Thoughts from River Falls..

Adam7250 — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 18:27:40 -0000

My wife and I are spending our vacation this summer in the Twin Cities area while we attend camp in River Falls. Yesterday we got our first taste at the 9 am practice and returned at 3:30 for the afternoon session.

The best part of attending camp for me is getting to be close enough to the team that I can hear the coaches coaching. During the morning practice, I was watching Chan Gailey work with his RBs and QBs on the mechanics of a middle screen play...RB selling the fake, pivoting at the right time to receive the ball and then turning upfield. I could hear every word Chan was saying and with a pair of binoculars, it was like standing right there in the midst as your favorite NFL team is being shaped and forged. What a great vacation!

We also got a kick out of watching and listening to Gun work with his linebackers. He's classic.

Today, we are just hoping for good weather for the Vikings scrimmage tonight.....Hopefully Branden Albert is drinking some Red Bulls or something since he'll be dealing with Jared Allen tonight!

SB Nation User Blog: Adam7250

"Scrimmage" not worth the hassle

Thoughts from River Falls..