Matty in Canton (updated)

[MTK]

Friday August 1st:

Our flight left a little late, we were supposed to take off at 10:30am but we didn't actually get off the ground until 11am. Not a big deal, I'm on vacation so I'm not stressing it. Quick flight, just over an hour in the air. No other Skins fans on the plane, I was sporting my Chris Cooley jersey and got several questions in the airport if I was from D.C., and a few comments from people who actually knew what was going on this weekend about the Hall of Fame.

We landed in Ohio just after 12pm. After a long walk through the terminal and some initial confusion where our shuttle was, we were on our way to the hotel. My initial impression of Cleveland... a lot of adult shops and strip clubs near the airport. A little seedy looking to say the least. At this point I'm just hoping our hotel is in a better section. The driver of the shuttle is very nice and welcomed us to Cleveland, said he's been driving a lot of Skins fans to the hotel today. He laughed that they can tolerate Skins fans, but not Steelers' fans.

After about a 15 minute drive we arrive at the Holiday Inn in South Independence Ohio. Looks pretty nice from the outside, I see a few people sporting Skins jerseys and hats already. We check in and drop off our bags and immediately call a cab to go to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. A very friendly cab driver gives us a nice briefing on the city of Cleveland on our 20 minute ride to the Hall. We drive by Jacobs Field, err I mean Progressive Park. Damn corporate sponsors. Really nice park from the outside, and it's located smack dab in downtown Cleveland. Very cool. Now it's about 1:30 and we're in downtown Cleveland and it looks dead. I've never seen a major city on a weekday look so empty. The driver tells us that's how it always is. It's just not your typical bustling city like New York. It's actually pretty nice too. Looks like they're doing a lot of work to improve it and build it up. I thought Cleveland would be dumpy but it's really not. I'm pleasantly surprised.

Now we're at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Great location right on Lake Erie, and the Brown's stadium is right next door. Two stadiums in downtown Cleveland. It looks pretty nice and it's pretty damn big too. On to the 'Rock Hall' as they call it for short around here.

They had Johnny Cash's tour bus sitting out front. Apparently you could take a tour of it but you have to go inside to buy tickets. We go inside and buy our tickets and start our tour of the Hall. A ton of cool Rock memorabilia, and plenty of Skins fans inside. A girl that worked there asked us what's up with all the Redskins fans. Another guy asks me the same question, I'm surprised that some people aren't aware of what's going on in Canton just an hour away from them. Oh well, not everyone is a big football fan I guess.

It's about 3pm and I'm literally feeling faint with hunger. We stop in the Rock Hall cafe and grab a quick snack and something to drink. Now I'm feeling much better and ready to move on. Now don't get me wrong the Rock Hall is very cool, but I was slightly disappointed. It just didn't meet my expectations. Coolest thing I saw? Lyric sheet written by Layne Staley of Alice in Chains for the song "Hate to Feel". The Seattle scene exhibit was my favorite.

It's now about 4pm and we go outside to catch a cab back to the hotel. It's pretty warm out and the wife and I are getting grouchy, lol. It takes a while for a cab to show but we're finally on our way back. We get back to the hotel and freshen up and head out for dinner. We have reservations at Shula's 2. Cool Don Shula and sports memorabilia on the walls. A nice menu too, I order up the Chimichurri Steak and the wife gets the Pretzel sandwich which is basically a cuban sandwich on a soft pretzel-like roll, it was very delicious. My steak is like butter, I'm impressed. We down a few Guinness's and wrap it up with the lava cake for desert. I'm stuffed like a pig but it feels good at the same time since I went most of the day without eating very much. We walk back to the hotel and now the place is crawling with Skins fans. Some people yell out 'MONK'! in the parking lot. Back to our room to freshen up and we head down to the hotel bar.

The hotel bar is quite the scene. A lot of older folks tearing it up on the dance floor. We wonder if they belong to some sort of dance group for seniors or something. It was like a meet market for seniors, a lot of skin that I wish I didn't see. Good for them though, life doesn't stop when you're older, right? We start talking to some Skins fans at the bar. We get chummy with a couple of guys from Maryland who have been getting their drink on since 1pm they tell us. They are clearly loaded but it's all good. I'm having trouble getting my beers down. The huge dinner is dragging me down big time. I'm regretting those last few bites of the lava cake now. I tell my wife we might have to retire early but I'm going to keep pushing through. I manage to choke down 4 Miller Lites and after a few hours the place is starting to get packed. We run into a few more friendly Skins fans, everyone is surprised that we're Skins fans from NY, lol. At about 11pm we go back to the room and pass out.

Saturday August 2nd:

As part of our package deal we get the breakfast buffet included. We head downstairs around 9:30am to chow down and drink plenty of coffee. Most of the restaurant is full of Skins fans, it's a cool sight to see. Right now I'm back in our room getting ready to head to Canton today. Our shuttle leaves at 12:30 and we'll have the afternoon to tour the Hall, the inductions start at 6pm. My major dilemna right now is what jersey to wear. I think I'm going with Riggins today. Time to hit the shower to get ready.

First stop today... the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In the hotel lobby waiting for our bus there's nothing but Skins fans. After the hour ride from Cleveland to Canton we pull up to the Hall and I'm just in awe to be at the mecca of Pro Football. I've always known I would visit here eventually and the fact that the day has finally arrived is truly special. Tons of Skins fans everywhere. Redskins fans really came out in full force, it was a magical weekend.

The Hall of Fame was packed needless to say. As we approach the room that holds all of the busts, we see Steve Mariucci duck out a side door to the NFL Network truck, not enough time to snap a picture though. A fan yells out 'Hey Mooch', he turns around and smiles and acknowledges the fan. We enter the bust room and it's very packed and hot with all of the body heat. I quickly find Joe Gibbs and take a picture and we decide to check back later when the crowd dies down.

Our first pass through the Hall is a quick one. I'm taking as many pictures as possible and not really stopping to check everything out in detail. Here are some highlights:

Thomas & Sanders

John Elway

Tomlinson

Pat Tillman Tribute

Dan Marino

Jurgensen & Taylor

Hey it's Raymond Berry!

Now it's time to eat. We head into the Fan Appreciation Tailgate where there's ribs, chicken, brisket, beans, coleslaw, plenty of beer and soda, and cookies and brownies for desert. We stuff ourselves and head into the stadium for the induction ceremony.

If you've never been to Fawcett Stadium let me tell you it's small. It holds about 22,000 from what I hear. But it's very well maintained and there's not a bad seat in the house. Here's a look from where we sat.

I was really surprised to see plenty of players mixed in with the crowd. We practically rubbed elbows with John Elway. Funny story about Elway. His wife kept getting her shoe caught in the floor that was layed down over the field. And here he is looking all Hollywood as he came on to the field. Wonder who he's talking to.

And sitting just a few rows ahead of us was Mark Moseley. He was great and was signing a ton of autographs and taking pics with people. I also spotted Joe Theismann, Charles Mann, Ken Harvey, and Doc Walker. And of course Chief Zee was in the house! I also spotted Adam Schefter, Kelli Johnson and NFL.com senior editor Vic Carruci. I saw Vic in the airport too heading home.

The ceremony itself was incredible. It was at least 95% Redskins fans, the stands were full with the burgundy and gold. Joe Gibbs received a huge ovation from the crowd, and any mention of a Cowboy brought a shower of boos, it was a lot of fun, the crowd was truly energized. Here are some pics:

Chris Berman kicking it off

Darrell Green coming up next!

Art Monk

The crowd went nuts for Monk, a 4 minute standing ovation, it was incredible!

Standing 'O' for Monk

The ceremony just flew by, I didn't want it to end. As we head out of the stadium I got a pic of the NFLN crew, here's Mooch and Fran Charles. And here's the ESPN crew from earlier in the day, Trey Wingo and Tom Jackson. And here's a shot from the field as we were walking out.

After the hour long bus ride back to the hotel we were beat. Got back around midnight and went to bed right away to get up and do it all over again on Sunday.

Sunday August 3rd:

Up early this morning, we're dragging a bit. Off to the Hall of Fame round table and luncheon. As we're eating all of the new inductees come through our room one by one, not a good photo op as the room is too dark. After a quick lunch we head over to the Canton Civic Center for the Gameday round table. It was a nice intimate setting where the enshrinees were given the chance to reminisce a bit about their careers and their path to the HOF. Fran Charles of the NFL Network hosted and did a nice job. Another bad photo op due to how dark the civic center was. My only complaint was the round table itself was a bit short, probably no more than 45 minutes of actual discussion with the enshrinees. The rest of the time was spent on the folks who organized the event introducing each other and patting themselves on the back. A necessary evil I guess.

After the round table we're back on the bus and heading back to the Hall. Today it's not quite as packed and we take a more thorough tour. At 5:00 it's time to grab dinner and today the menu consists of sausage w/peppers & onions, burgers, hot dogs, chips, beer & soda, and cookies and brownies again. I've gotta say the organizers of these Hall tailgate events did a great job at having everything well organized and plenty of food and drink on hand. It was a very smooth operation. Two thumbs up!

At 6:00 the gates open to the stadium and we head in to watch the pre-game warmups. Before the game on the screens they showed season highlights from the Colts and Skins. During the Redskins highlights when they touched on the Sean Taylor tragedy the majority of the players and coaches stopped and all watched along with us. It was a touching moment as I'm sure they still have Taylor close to their hearts and very much in their thoughts. I didn't take any pictures of that moment, it just didn't feel right. After the segment on Taylor was over they went back to work. Here are some pre-game pictures.

Walking into the stadium

The NBC truck

Dan Snyder

Cooley with Danny Smith

Campbell with Cooley just ahead of him

Fletcher

Snyder talking with Portis

Zorn coming to the field

Zorn talking with Ron Meeks

Brooks booting one away

Snyder laughing with Dungy

Rock

Pre-game ceremonies

Choppers buzz the stadium after the National Anthem

Redskins ready to come out of the tunnel

The Redskins are introduced

Campbell warms up

Todd Collins warms up

Scoreboard

Kickoff!

Skins first huddle

1st play of the Zorn era

Zorn talking with JC after the TD pass

Skins up 7-0!

The Red Snapper

Skins on D

Skins 2nd possession

Zorn talking with Collins before he went in, Jason Taylor looks on to the right with Smoot and Springs

Fat smelly dude who sat in front of us. I hate to be mean but man this guy had serious issues with hygiene. Thank god there was a nice breeze. As soon as some people in our row left we moved over. This guy had a pack of hot dogs on his neck and he was sweating the whole night even though it wasn't very warm. He stunk like a dumpster. I think most of us sitting in our section were holding our breaths the entire game.

Second string offensive line waiting to go in. Chad Reinhart is a hoss!

Taylor, Portis, and Fletcher

The bench

Todd Collins at work

Sellers and Samuels joking around

Colt Brennan in the game

Celebrating Colt's first TD pass

Tie game!

Rabach standing on the bench to get a better view

Skins now up by 7

Cooley!

View from our walk out, just before the Richardson INT for a TD

Me in front of the HOF sign

One last shot of the Hall on our way to the bus

All in all an incredible weekend! It went by so fast, I can't believe it's over. I haven't even been able to digest it all yet. I think as the week goes on I'll continue to edit this post to add more details so stay tuned.

Oh well, time to pack up the laptop and head down to the hotel lobby to catch our shuttle to the airport. Thanks to all the Redskins fans who showed up in full force and represented big time! Our tour guide said he's never seen such a loyal fan base and he's done sports trips with Yankees, Red Sox, and Patriots fans and he said they don't touch us.

HTTR!

[DarkKnight]

The Talk through is fine Matty, but really, take pictures and post them.........visuals work better for me?......but by all means continue...

[Lady Brave]

Tell Art and Darrell I said hello.

[JWsleep]

Represent! Wish I could be there with ya Matty.

Keep up the posting when you can.

[12thMan]

Good job, Matty. Have a brew for me!

[WaldSkins]

Im watching the pre ceremony specials on the NFL network. There are a ton of Redskins fans there, mostly wearing Taylor and DG jerseys.

[mooby]

Great blog Matty, I enjoyed it. I wish I was there too, it sounds like an incredible experience. I'm watching the pre-induction ceremony thingy on NFLN and you can tell the place is practically flooded with Skins fans.

[WaldSkins]

There are tons around the NFLN set yelling at Irvin and chanting Dallas sucks

[over the mountain]

man you're a lucky fan today! watching the ceremony right now and it truly is a redskins HOF class. marriucci commenting that 95% of the fans are skins, the OOOO's in the anthem, michael irvin getting booed, the mention of danny white getting sacked receives loud cheers, damn i could go on.

keep up the good work representing the skins faithful

[MTK]

I'm not going to have time to post anything today so I'll have to wrap everything up tomorrow but let me just say that yesterday was incredible. Redskins fans have taken over Canton!

When the crowd broke out in a chant of "It's about time" for Monk I had goosebumps!

[MTK]

Originally Posted by DarkKnight

The Talk through is fine Matty, but really, take pictures and post them.........visuals work better for me?......but by all means continue...

there's pics in my write up, just click on the links

[Skinny Tee]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

there's pics in my write up, just click on the links

Thanks for the pics. I kinda wish I had gone because it would have been a perfect time to see Canton for the first time.

Must have been a great Redskin day.

[saden1]

Seeing all the Burgundy and Gold in the stands makes me proud to be a Redskins fan.

Hail!

[12thMan]

The power went out here in D.C. right before Art went on stage! So I got to see if for the for the first time today on NFL Network. What a standing ovation they gave Monk. Unbelievable. I've never seen anything like that towards an NFL player.

And to think Chris Carter was crying because he wasn't a first ballot. After seeing how Monk was recieved, I'm sure Carter now realizes what he was up against.

[onlydarksets]

I saw Monk and Green at the parade on Saturday morning. I gave a big "About time, Art!" shout-out. The game was awesome - we had 3rd row 30 yard line seats. Of course, I forgot my camera, but I snapped a couple of pix on the phone.

Did anyone else go to the roundtable? We had to leave early, because my kids were acting up (I dragged them to about 10 hours of HOF activities, so I can't blame them too much). Sounds like we didn't miss much.