NFL EXTREME 2016 !

AusRam · Jan 23, 2017

I'd been to LA a number of times, but usually as a hop off point to somewhere else, so it was good to check out some sights. La Brea Tar Pits was cool - I'd wanted to go there since I was a little kid, and the Santa Monica Pier area wasn't too bad. Venice beach was just as you expect from seeing it on the TV. Lots of street buskers and cheap t-shirts! Checked out a couple of card shops, but they weren't too good.

AusRam · Feb 8, 2017

Need to get this going again - we're not done yet by a longshot !

For something totally different we decided to go to the LA Auto Show, as again, it was just up the road a bit and we thought it'd be interesting. We were going to go the Friday night, but changed it to Saturday morning because we were pretty beat. Then too late, we find out that Eric Dickerson was making an appearance the Friday night ! GRRRR! Oh well, couldn't be helped, but I would have loved to have met one of my NFL heroes.
The show was pretty good, lots of new stuff and a couple of halls of specc'ed up Rods and the like, in the end a pretty good way to spend a few hours. Of course being Hollywood's home town and all, there was even a "Rogue One" display with costumes and models from the movie.

Rusty Nail · Feb 9, 2017

AusRam said:
Next morning it was off to Vegas! As always, Vegas is a bit of fun if you can put up with all glitzy crap that goes along with it....LOL! Can't tell you too much of course, as we all know "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas"
We stayed in the Luxor Pyramid which wasn't too bad, my first time staying in a big casino on the strip. There's a pretty good restaurant downstairs for a decent breakfast which is handy. Went out to Hoover Dam for a looksee. Bit of an NFL connection there with a pretty impressive bridge named after Pat Tillman of the Cardinals, the Safety who left the team to join the Army after 9/11 and was eventually killed in Aghanistan.

Got those same Hoover pics from our trip and walk across the bridge!!

AusRam · Feb 9, 2017

Next stop, a stadium tour of the L.A. Coliseum, while only a temporary and past home for the Rams, there's a lot of history to this place and our tour guide "Mr Coliseum" made it all very entertaining. Well worth doing if you're in the area. It's an impressive place, but it's also really starting to show its age these days. Oh and check out the difference between the home team locker room (we weren't allowed in because all the gear was out for the game) and the visitors locker room. The sportsmanship starts long before the actual game starts!

AusRam · Feb 9, 2017

Then to fill out the day, it was off to The Rosebowl for the USC Trojans at the UCLA Bruins. Always a big game, but the Bruins weren't having the best of seasons, so it was expected to be a bit one sided. While it wasn't a total grubbing to watch, the Trojans won easily 36 - 14. A good night followed by a bit of an adventure to get back to our car which will no doubt take on legendary status as time goes on! Oh and this game gave me another chance to hone my cheerleader photography skills just that little bit more!

AusRam · Feb 14, 2017

And then it was Grudge Match Gameday! The Dolphins were coming to visit the Rams. The game also took on a little historical significance as Coach Fisher had caved to pressure and #1 Pick Jared Goff had been named starter. He wasn't going to get it all his own way though, as L.A. had one more surprise in store. While the morning was a little overcast, right before game time the heavens opened and it rained on and off for pretty much the whole game. As we all know, it never rains in L.A. so hardly anyone in the crowd was prepared for it, including us! The Coliseum isn't exactly the best of venues for poor weather either! Thankfully the Rams have All Weather Cheerleaders! :lol:

Goff didn't play all that badly for a first start, I definitely saw some good things. And it was all looking good as the Rams were leading 10-0 with literally a couple of minutes left to play. Sadly though, we found a way to lose in those final minutes, and the Dolphins took away the victory 14-10. So my mate has bragging rights again...

AusRam · Feb 15, 2017

Then it was a walk back up the road that night to the Staples Center for the Chicago Bulls at the L.A. Lakers. My buddy and I aren't huge NBA fans, so our seats were up in the Gods. But at least we had row 1, and there wasn't much of a barrier in front of us either - not a row for people with vertigo ! I only took my small camera to this too, so photo's aren't too great. Wasn't a bad game, and the final score was Bulls 118 Lakers 110. I suppose the Laker Girls count as Cheerleaders ? They certainly keep fit running on and off the court all the time !

AusRam · Feb 15, 2017

So, you'd think we'd be heading home now that we were in LA, but no, not us. It wouldn't be EXTREME if we did that! So early the next Morning, we hit the road. We had 6 days to cross the country, with a stopover on the way. Because you see, it was Thanksgiving week and that meant the Redskins were visiting the Cowboys on the Thursday. So we racked up the driving miles, made a stopover in Tombstone for a bit of a Old Wild West experience, called in at White Sands and Roswell and eventually got to Dallas (Arlington) on the Wednesday afternoon. Thursday we walked down to Jerry's house for the big game. Pretty good party atmosphere around the Stadium and the Mega Screens need to be seen to be believed. They're so mesmerizing though, you kind of forget the actual game is being played below! Big halftime show with Eric Church and at this point of the season, Dak and Zeke were all the buzz and they didn't disappoint. And of course, being Dallas, there were Cheerleaders aplenty! Final score, Cowboys 31 Redskins 26.

AusRam · Feb 16, 2017

Next day we headed off East again, final destination Fort Lauderdale. Arrived the Saturday and the the next day was our final Gameday. Perfect Florida day and the Dolphins were hosting the Niners. The Dolphins do their Gamedays very well, lots of stuff for fans to do around the Stadium. Game was fairly close with Miami winning 31 - 24.

AusRam · Feb 16, 2017

Too many Cheerleaders????

Tazhawk · Feb 16, 2017

Mate, your photography is top-class! Thanks for sharing your trip with us :thumbsup:

AusRam · Feb 17, 2017

Well, things were whinding down now, but we still had a couple of days left to prepare for the journey home. The Monday after the game we headed up to the Kennedy Space Center. I'd been there many years ago and it's changed a lot. A bit touristy, but some things are done quite well, especially the Space Shuttle Atlantis display.

AusRam · Feb 17, 2017

And all too soon, the last day of the trip rolled around. We did a little shopping around Fort Lauderdale and we managed to get to do a tour of Hard Rock Stadium, the recently renovated home of the Dolphins. They'd only just started doing tours and weren't really advertising it, but we managed to get one organised.

We had a bit of a running joke all trip that the Cheerleaders should give the Stadium tours, so imagine our surprise when we rock up and our personal tour guide is the lovely Kasey who had only just retired as a cheerleader a year or so ago and now worked in the Dolphins front office! It was pretty interesting to see all the areas of the facility reserved for the high rollers that you wouldn't normally get to. And they'd totally ripped up the field we'd seen the game played on already!

And so NFL EXTREME 2016 came to an end. My advice to anyone contemplating a US Sports trip, either big or small, is to give it a go, things that seem daunting in the planning usually work out okay in the end. We had a total ball, probably spent way too much money, but we're already talking about NFL EXTREME 2020....maybe, we'll see...