London 5
It’s been a strange year for the NFL. The whole lockout put this year’s game at Wembley in jeopardy but after some tough negations everything came together for the fifth International Series, with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers returning for a second time. This time to take on the Chicago Bears.
Getting to London has become a smooth affair and with the continued works on numerous Tube lines there is the fun of finding news ways to get from Kings Cross onto the Bakerloo line though, perhaps going all the way down to Elephant & Castle isn’t the best of them.
As interest in the NFL International Series grows, so too do the events that make up the weekend. Although I’d missed the Friday night, the Fan Rally in Trafalgar Square on Saturday afternoon proved to be a little bit of a let down. Last year’s mix of football related entertainment and interviews was fun, this year there were more musical interludes. The rather long winded “Maverick Sabre” looked more like he was putting everyone to sleep while the day’s MC, Nat Coombes, had quite a scary obsession with the Bucs cheerleaders.
Sunday finally arrived and with it, the game. Rather than hang around Wembley on Sunday morning I had a chance to take a long peaceful stroll along the Embankment and enjoy the peace of the Thames and take a closer look at the marvellous architecture of Charing Cross Station.
Back at Wembley and the annual tailgate affair loomed large. Since moving location and allowing everyone in it’s become a crowded affair. At least this year the fake pitch was a little more visible even if the entertainment was lacking again. With the absence of clock changes and the game starting at 6pm I had wondered how best to fill the near 6 hours of Tailgate. The prospect of having to listen to “Beardyman” repeatedly was frightening. I need not have worried. The queue for the NFL exhibit (with VLT and associated rings) took a mere 2 hours to get through. If I hadn’t seen the Vince Lombardi trophy before then it would have been 2 hours well spent. Making the Tailgate exhibitions a little more effective may turn out to be a three pipe problem for the organisers.
It’s the game itself we all come for, everything else is really just a bonus. The Bears and the Bucs have their ups and downs but both teams were coming to London on the back of good wins. The Goo Goo Dolls did their thing, we were treated to an exceptional rendition of the Star Spangled Banner from Noah Stewart (and it’s still impossible not to look up to the heavens on hearing the final line), and the game itself nearly turned into a crazy Bears blowout until the Bucs offense decided to give us a final thrilling quarter. This will be one to watch again on Gamepass (thank goodness there are ways around the ridiculous blackout system).
It’s been quite an unseasonally warm October in England, which also improved the weekend and I have to thank the NFL for sorting the schedule so that the Eagles have their bye this week.
