I took my talents to Pittsburgh, PA this past weekend to support my Ravens, as they played their division rival. Being as though Pittsburgh is about a 4 hour drive from Baltimore, it was a no brainer that I had to make this trip. After all, it’s the playoffs. What better way to make my very first trip to the ‘Burgh a memorable one?

Before I start my review, let me warn all of my fellow Ravens fans and Steeler haters. This was probably one of my most pleasant experiences I’ve had thus far. Before heading up I-70 West, I was mentally prepared to deal with a bunch of idiots who would possibly throw things at me and yell vulgarities throughout my time there. It was nothing of the sort. The fans were respectable and even…………… wait for it………….. hospitable. Even with me donning a purple knitted hat and Ravens down coat, the most I got was  fun banter from the fans that sat around us. I was surprised and relieved all at once. So big shout out to the citizens of Pittsburgh for allowing my experience to be a great one.

First off, getting to the stadium was a task within itself. The walk to the stadium is dreadful. You can either walk across one the bridges or take the water taxi across the river to get to Heinz Feld. We opted to do the walk. One of the coldest walks I’ve ever taken in my life. In addition to it being winter, the cold flow of the river wind smacked us in the face as we walked across. Once we passed neighboring PNC Park, we had to walk parallel to the river, which was almost as bad as the bridge walk. Alas, after the long, cold walk, we finally arrive at the stadium, which has a capacity of 65,050.

There are a few things that stuck out to me about Heinz Field. Although it’s a fairly new stadium, its already outdated. The NFL prides itself on bringing you the ultimate Game Day experience. Surround sound and HD screens are what the NFL is all about. Those 2 things lacked big time at Heinz Field. The sound and music of the stadium came solely off the board located on the open part of the stadium, which has its back to the river. If you sat on the other end of the stadium (which I did) there were times that the sound muffled, because I was no where near the board. In addition to lack of surround sound, Heinz Field also lacks in giving fans a secondary option for visuals. This was the first stadium that I attended (so far) that had only one video screen to see the game on (which, coincidentally was with the only soundboard, near the open end of the stadium). So when teams moved to the opposite side, I had to look WAY over to the lone board to watch what was going on. Maybe I’m spoiled, but I assumed that all stadiums wanted to give fans more than one way to view the game if it became hard to view. Not so much at Heinz Field.

There is only one word to describe the atmosphere at Heinz Field- Incredible. From start to finish, the fans were into the game. And while I find those Terrible Towels pretty annoying to look at when they’re in other teams stadiums, I have to admit it was pretty cool to see a stadium full of people all wave their towels at once. You can tell that a lot of Steelers fans breed football. They are very knowledgeable of the game. They know more than just the players and history. They’re pretty good with the Xs and Os as well as the matchups the Steelers have to face. It’s very refreshing to hear detailed football knowledge from the fans.

When I went to Atlanta, I thought the Rise Up video with Samuel L. Jackson was awesome. But that video can’t hold a finger to the Renegade video that the Steelers play in their stadium. Using the song by the band Styx, this was by far one of the greatest stadium videos I have ever seen. The song starts off pretty soft, and it crescendos its way to a lively beat that gets you pumped up. The Steelers did an excellent job of choosing footage that go with the tempo of the song. By the time the song reaches its peak, the video becomes a collage of nasty hits that the Steelers have given to opposing players.

This video does the actual experience NO justice. The fans simply go CRAZY when this comes on, and I see why. I had chills run through me when I saw it, and if I were a neutral fan or a Steelers fan I probably would have went crazy. Instead I just stood there and took it all in.  Prior to the game, the Steelers fan behind me asked if I had ever seen it. I said no. He told me, “When it comes on, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about”. And he was right.

Another cool thing that I took notice to was the video board once the Steelers offense goes to the red zone.

There are 2 Heinz Ketchup bottles on each side of the video board, and every time the offense would reach the opponents’ 20-yard line or closer, the board showed the illusion of ketchup pouring into the screen, all the way to the top, while the sign, RED ZONE comes up. To most, it’s probably corny. But I’m big on details. I thought it was pretty cool.

After the game was over, I fully expected to get my windmill on, due to folks heckling us regarding the game. It was nothing of the sort. Folks came up to us and said, “Great game”. Once we found a place to eat near the stadium, other Steelers fans came in and discussed the game and where they thought we went wrong. I expected the worst, but in the end this was one of my most pleasant away game trips I’ve taken thus far.

Overall, my trip to Pittsburgh was a very good one, minus the loss . The stadium is fairly smaller than the other stadiums I’ve gone to, but the atmosphere and videos made the experience worth while. Definitely a trip I can see myself taking again.

I also made a video regarding my experience in Pittsburgh. If you missed it, check it out by clicking here.

In addition to being a football lover and an armchair QB, I like to attend games regularly. I’m on a quest to attend all 31 stadiums (Remember, the Jets and Giants share a home). I’ve recently started going on my Away Game Tour a few years ago, and I have to say I’ve enjoyed all of my experiences so far. This is the first of the many reviews of stadiums that I’ll give. Hopefully this will be helpful to all football fans in their future travels to support their favorite team on the road.

Last week, I travel to the ATL to watch my Ravens lose in the last seconds to the Atlanta Falcons. But my experience was a good one. With a capacity of 71, 228, the location is in downtown Atlanta, convenient to just about any place you want to get to. Midtown is only a few miles away. Tons of hotels, restaurants and the CNN Center are all in arms reach.

Most away fans flocked to two establishments in particular. Stats on Marietta St NW and TacoMac, right near the Dome. If you’re looking to meet up with your team’s fans, these two places seemed to be packed with the visiting fans. I went to both places for a pregame tailgate and I have to say, I was surprised by how many Ravens fans were there.

Buying tickets for the Falcons game were relatively easy. Stub Hub and Ticketmaster had an abundance of tickets that were not overpriced, and it made the trip very friendly for planning an away game trip. Once I got there, I also learned that fans could buy tickets on Groupon, the popular website that offers big discounts for services and events. The stadium was not fully sold out and if you have a strong fan base, it’s not a surprise to see just as many of your team’s fans in the stadium, as I saw last Thursday night. If I had to guess on how many Ravens fans were there, I’d say it was was about 1 Ravens fan to every 4 Falcons fans. The home team has to do better.

The Falcons have a slogan that has really stuck to the fans and the city. It’s a “Rise Up” Campaign, which features Samuel L. Jackson.

I thought it was pretty cool to have a Jackson as a part of it. It excites the fans and gets the stadium going. They play it pretty regularly but it wasn’t annoying, which is how I feel about the Miami Dolphins TD song (I’ll get to that in another review that I’ll write, later on). I actually enjoyed it when it came on. Kudos to the Falcons for picking such a catchy phrase that fans can enjoy and relate.

The musical selection was just okay…. not awful, but not great either. It had its good moments but there some selections that didn’t quite go with the atmosphere. Also, the PA announcer sounded like an announcer from a cheesy, run down strip club. Call me petty or anal, but it was weird. At times instead the offense being called out, I was looking around for Sexy Lola to take a stage.

One thing that I noticed and thought was bizarre, was the arrival time of the Falcons fans. The game was set to start at 8:20, but at game time only half of the stadium was full, mainly with Ravens fans. When I asked about the tardiness of fans, I was told that Atlanta has a tendency to be a “East Coast Hollywood” type of city, and they come fashionably late. The stadium didn’t become fully packed until nearly the end of the 1st quarter, with tons of seats still remaining empty throughout the game. Coming from a city with deep history roots and having a full house 20 mins before kickoff, this was baffling to me, to say the least.

Lastly, I’m not going to say that Falcons fans are fairweather, but I do have to question some folks fandom. When the Ravens scored the go-ahead TD with 1:05 remaining in the 4th quarter, tons of Falcons fans made their way to the exit. One could say that they were trying to beat the crowd and get to their cars, but I say otherwise. Some fans looked defeated and seemed to get out of dodge due to the score. Maybe they didn’t know what I do, that Matt Ryan is playing high quality football and that 1:05 is way too much time to give a good team like Atlanta, who had moved the ball against Baltimore all night. I’m not sure if those same fans ran back to their seats after the Roddy White TD, but I’d be willing to bet they did. C’mon man….. stick around. It’s the NFL. You never know what can happen!

Overall, my experience in Atlanta was a good one. My hotel was in walking distance of the stadium, so I didn’t have to deal with traffic. And for the most part, the fans were nice with the exception of a few (I had a man tell me he wanted to throw me over the balcony), but what fan base doesn’t have bad apples? I’d definitely go back, because of the convenience of purchasing tickets and the friendly cost of the trip.

The Atlanta Falcons and the Georgia Dome get a B- from me. ‘Til next time, Atlanta! It’s been real.