Special Delivery

The last time I checked, the Summer Olympics were still going on…and yet…football is literally just around the corner.

The Titans scrimmaged the Atlanta Falcons earlier this week and they’ll play their first exhibition game this weekend. All of those factors were telling me that it was about time for me to get one of my favorite pieces of late-summer mail.

Late last week, the season tickets arrived.

It’s always an exciting day when our Tennessee Titans season tickets arrive.

In fact, when these tickets arrived, the mail carrier brought them to the door. A fellow Titans ticker holder, he explained to Lisa “I know what’s in this package!”

We’ve had Titans tickets since the year after they were in the Super Bowl. I had been a fan before the Music City Miracle but after that magical post-season run, I was a certified fanatic. I wanted to do something to show my support. And, quite frankly, with all due respect to the UT Vols, as much as I love them, it is much more affordable to get NFL season tickets than college football tickets.

That fact has always struck me as being incongruous.

In any case, I’ve had lots of fun attending Titans tickets over the past decade+. Some highlights:

• The Titans 34-31 overtime playoff win over Pittsburgh in 2003. I can’t remember when I’ve ever been that cold!
• Holly and I watching the Titans beat Green Bay 19-16 in overtime 4 years ago on a balmy November day
• Seeing my childhood favorite team, the Oakland Raiders, as well as some other national notables like the 49ers and Cowboys

But, honestly, the whole act of getting the season ticket package each year – and meticulously going through it – is another true highlight. There is usually some sort of gift item included (this year it was a Titans deck of cards. In past years, they’ve included car flags or license plate frames).

It’s fun, too, to see the actual page of tickets. And each year, we’ve come up with some way to do a photo to commemorate the arrival of the ticket package (last year, for example, I photographed them with Roger.).

Each year, Holly picks a game to see (she’s tentatively planning to see the Titans take on New England in Week One) and Paul gets a game, too (He’s planning to see the Bears in November). Ed and I, also, plan to go to the Detroit game in late September.

I am cautiously optimistic about the Titans’ chances for the upcoming season. But, then again, this is that special time of year when all fans are optimistic and all 32 NFL teams are still undefeated.

JG 

(Source: titansonline.com)

Originally posted 8/9/2012