I must say the Redskins went all out with this affair. The grounds were in great shape, it was clean and the employees were all happy and upbeat. With the limited number of people at the park it was quite enjoyable. I would never at any other time make it out Six Flags but did so today because of the special circumstance and also not having the general public in attendance.
I saw a few Redskins players who were taking in the rides and foods with their families but it was a little difficult for some other more high profile players. I saw Clinton Portis and gave him the good ole "what's up CP" with the fist in the air. He was cool and shot back a "peace" sign. That is at most my only type of interactions with the players since I'm not into the autographs and picture taking. But on the other hand most of the fans in attendance are quite the opposite. As I turned around after seeing Portis because I discovered I was headed in the wrong direction I came upon a giant mob of people. In my mind I new it had to be a player that was swarmed. I was correct and it was Portis, now this guy had about 50 people requesting pics and autographs. As I walked past and headed to my destination, the team provided free food, drinks and ice cream. The team gets major cool points for actually feeding a person meals that would cost about 10 bucks or more. So I ate a cheeseburger that was brought in from the Sunshine Service station(best burger in world)...thanks Mark. I was seated with a few friends who were waiting for us to arrive and they were with the Hoggettes and Chief Zee. So we woofed our food and grabbed some ice cream. We are now headed to the train that will take us around to another side of the park. So we get on the train and the Hoggettes and Chief Zee begin to break out the Redskins fight song..."Hail To the Redskins". It was a nice train ride. We pulled up to the station and disembarked. As I'm walking down the stairs I see a mob of people...so like the last time I assumeed a player, and low and behold it was Clinton Portis from the time I last saw him until now it was probably almost an hour and that man continued to sign every autograph and take every picture. I felt a bit sad for the guy having to sign so much...but it shows tremendous character on his part to not deny a single person. It turns out he was signing for about 2 hours and had it not been for security who had to escort him to a team function on the grounds that guy probably would have signed for everyone. Much props to you CP!
While in the park I heard some grumblings on how one player(high paid) in particular wouldn't sign anything for adults but would do so for the kids. The particular person that grumbled had 3 footballs, 2 jerseys and 2 hats so I would have imagined the player saw all that he had and refused to sign the items...who knows what was headed to e-bay or some other auction place. I don't think the event was called Fan appreciation so to be able to any autographs at all should be a bonus because I don't believe that the players are obligated to give an autograph at a fans request. I might be in the minority but the players should have a life and be able to enjoy themselves like the rest of us.
The Washington Redskins did a great thing that night and I applaud them for their work. Hopefully events like these could be common place because in these lean economic times people need all the incentives and perks possible. I hope I get lucky on the next go-around because I will never attend Six Flags unless it is an event like I attended last night.
No comments:
Post a Comment