Are you ready for some football?
The game of football in America has now become a "political football." (pun intended) I respect the rights of players to protest police brutality by taking a knee during the national anthem, but I am not boycotting the game because of the hot political mess. I was not watching the game before the protests. I never have had more than a superficial interest in the game. I do like to go to Superbowl parties though for the fellowship with friends and family.
Preparations are ongoing for Sunday.
Budweiser beer was represented
I mentioned in a previous post that I am not a big sports fan. I am not against sports, . . I am just not a fan. It never captured my interest when I was younger, and I find the whole experience somewhat nerve wracking. I sit on the edge of my seat hoping that someone will throw or run with a ball down a field without getting hurt. That's not a lot of fun for me.
Walking to the inside of the stadium.
I do like basketball during the playoff season when the championship is about to be determined. I still don't like the long tense game where you holler and scream for your team hoping that in the last few seconds a basket will be made. I just like to support the winning team. I am what you would call less than a fair weather fan.
There was a row of fencing with the images of the Superbowl rings from all of the previous games.
Kansas City almost made it again this year.
My children participated in Karate as a sport. I felt that it would help them to defend themselves and that it would also be useful in physical fitness.
I was surprised at how many times San Francisco had won a Superbowl.
I mentioned this background about myself and my feelings toward the game because I have relatives and friends who are football enthusiasts who asked me to use my new camera to take pictures of the NFL experience since they couldn't travel to the Superbowl and I could. I was happy to oblige because I need experience using my camera and my costs would be very low. I only wanted to "experience" the free stuff but document the environment and the "happenings" for the true sports fans.
I have several friends from New York so I captured one of their rings.
First of all, I had no idea how much walking would be involved! Don't get me wrong, I am not against walking or physical fitness, but walking miles to get around a huge stadium was unexpected.
I was on a jazz cruise when the Atlanta Falcons narrowly missed winning this game. The cruise line showed the game in a large theater on the ship so that the participants wouldn't miss anything.
I was pleasantly surprised at the huge level of security and security measures being used to protect the public. There were policemen everywhere in tactical gear, with police dogs, metal detectors, physical barriers, and a gazillion volunteers every few feet. The people around me from the volunteers to the sports fans were all so happy to be there. This was truly a really big deal for them. They were all decked out in their favorite team's apparel ready to show their support.
I don't know if little league teams get a discount or if they were just having a group experience. The tickets were $40 for adults yesterday if you wanted to enter the NFL experience.
I went into the NFL shop to see if there was anything in there that I could afford. They had everything that you can possibly imagine for adults and children. Hats, scarves, caps, pendants, lanyards, etc. Nothing was inexpensive so I didn't buy anything in the shops.
The stadium is right in the CNN center. If I hadn't walked so much, I would have checked it out, but I was exhausted. Due to security measures, you entered on one side of the stadium and had to exit on the other side and walk all the way around to get back to your original entrance. A mile and a half walk, not including the walk all around the stadium property. 😅
This picture of the Georgia peach sculpture was interesting to me as a photographer. I took several photos from different perspectives.
This picture is from a short distance away.
This photo emphasizes the building in the center of the peach.
This photo emphasizes the building even more with the peach as a frame.
I took this shot because people were screaming and looking in that direction. I thought that a celebrity was nearby or a football player. I think that the guy in the orange hat was the person that the people were screaming about, but I am not a fan girl so I did not recognize him.
I gave these guys a little bit of money while they were playing and they raised their drum sticks in the air and shouted, "Yay! We just got paid!" They did that every time somebody put money in their bucket.
There was free entertainment in the park with crowds of people around enjoying the music. There were also a few street musicians entertaining the throngs of people hoping for a few dollars in their donation buckets. I stopped to listen to a drum beating group, a saxophonist and a guitar player. I also ran across some animal rights lovers protesting fur and a street preacher with a microphone.
I like this shot with the ferris wheel in the picture from Centennial park which is where some of the musical artists were performing.
This photo was taken through a chain link fence. I included the fence in the picture on purpose to provide a frame.
This is the same picture without the fence frame.
If you are a football fan, enjoy the pictures. If you are not a football fan then enjoy the pictures from a photographers point of view.
One of my favorite channels for news.
I did my best to make you feel like you were a part of the free experience. All of these photos are original and mine and were shot with my Canon 80D. They can be shared with others as long as you give me credit (