Part II

Now it's time for a little snack before the pre-game show, so off I go for the goodies. When I get back with the food, Art was chatting with two guys sitting behind us. They were admiring his helmet and one of them had mentioned that Ronde Barber, Defensive Back for the Tampa Bay Bucaneers was sitting a few seats away from us. His twin brother, Tiki, is a Running Back with the New York Giants, and maybe with a little persuasion, he may autograph the helmet. So, encouraged by the guys to at least try, when I get back, Art wants me to run back out to find a marker pen. 15 minutes and five foodstands later, I have the marker. But guess who gets to ask this poor man, who, by every body language nuance, did not want to be bothered, for his autograph? That's right, Me! By now I have had enough and the start of the game is still thirty minutes away. But a smile goes a long way, and reluctantly, Ronde signed and Art had a true treasure.

As the stands start to fill up, the atmosphere began to change, suddenly charged with excitment. Fans were cheering on their favorite players and we cheered along with the New York crowd because the Ravens beat our Oakland Raiders in the playoffs. But by the time the pre-game show had finished and the players were introduced, every person in that stadium, all 71,000+ in attendance, had the same thought in mind, to witness two of the best teams on the field of battle and to the victor go the spoils.

Art managed to capture the image of the B-2 as it flew by and most of the festivies on the field including the kickoff. I managed to yell myself hoarse during the entire game and nearly deafened Art in the process. Our hopes for a Giant victory however seem to grow dim when by halftime the score was Baltimore 10, Giants 0. But as luck would have it, during half-time I saw my favorite chef from the Food Network, Emmerel LaGasse, standing right in front of me. That's when I played fan and had Art ask him if I could have a picture taken with him. Now I have my prize and it's time to head back to our seats.

Now through most of the third quarter, the score remained the same until an intercepted pass to Wide Receiver, Amani Toomer by Defensive Back Duane Sparks was run 49 yards to put the score at 17-0, Baltimore. The Giants did score one touchdown on a 97 yard kickoff return by Wide Receiver, Ron Dixon. But when the Ravens scored a touchdown from an 87 yard kickoff return the next play, it was time to think about beating the crowd out of the stadium. The Ravens led 24-7 thoughout the fourth quarter, when the Giants allowed their 5th interception of the game. We collect our things and hike the two miles back to the car. But with the final score of 34-7, the Baltimore Ravens win SuperBowl XXXV, and we get to take some great memories home with us.

-- Ramona Bell    

Return to Part I