It is written that "the best-laid plans of mice and men often go astray." Such was the case for us yesterday.
MSUCE22 and I arrived in Starkville at about 2:30, and finally found a free parking spot off campus at about 2:50. Walked to campus and hit the B&N Bookstore first, but was overwhelmed both by the pricing and the crowds. We got out of there quick.
After visiting a few tailgates, the MSU fanfair, and the State Fountain to cool off and get ice cream, we were ready to enter the stadium at about 5:00pm. Of course, there was a huge crowd waiting to enter the southeast gates, so between the wait to get in, and walking up the ramps to the skydeck, we probably got to our seats about 20 minutes before kickoff. We got settled in, I pointed out the Gigantotron, and we enjoyed the pre-game videos and stuff. I could tell he was already tired of the walking, the sun, and getting a little freaked out by the noise.
I got my ear mufflers out of the bag and let him put them on; that seemed to work for a while. Once the game started, I tried to point out what was going on, but quickly realized that football had never held his attention on TV, and he couldn't follow the game very well. I got out a National Geographic kids magazine for him to read, and that worked for a few minutes.
We sat through the first 2 series of each team in the first quarter. After the 1st touchdown, he was really not liking all the noise, and he said the ear mufflers were starting to hurt his head, so I thought we'd go in the concession area under the sky deck for a few minutes. So we find a table in there, and he tells me he thinks he gave me "the wrong answer" when I asked him if he wanted to come with me to the game... He said it's really loud and he just wants to go home.
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After I get over the initial shock, I told him we could stay in there for a few minutes, and then he could put the earmuffs back on and we'd watch till half time. He REALLY didn't want to go back into the stadium, and he was tired and miserable. I remembered the wise words in this thread, and after dealing with my own internal frustration, and texting Mrs. MSUCE99, I decided we'd pack it up.
Caught the elevator down (thankfully) at about the end of the 1st quarter, and I was able to listen to Jack call the game (radio earbud in one ear) as we walked out. We walked back to the truck and left Starkville just before halftime. He fell asleep around Louisville, and I got to listen to the game and the postgame show the whole ride home.
Anyone who knows me knows that I NEVER leave games early, not even the Troy State debacle. To leave a football game 5 minutes into the 1st quarter is unheard of. Esp. since we don't have cable at my house, and I usually don't make it up to more than 1 game a year. But as much as I wanted to see the MSU offense (which almost sounds like an oxymoron), I just kept thinking, "If he's miserable, he'll end up hating it if I keep him here." So as objectionable as it was to me, and not knowing when the next time I would be in Starkville for another game was, we left. We actually spent less time in the stands than we spent in line to enter the stadium.
I think he really felt bad, because he knows how much I like football, and he didn't want to make me leave, but the reality was that he was not having any fun and it would make no sense to hold him hostage there for my own benefit. There will be other games, but my kids are growing up so fast that I don't know how much longer he'll want to spend an afternoon with me before I become uncool in his eyes. Sucks I missed probably the best game we've played in a decade or more, but maybe I'll catch the highlights on TV or something.
