Cowboys and Rangers

Before attending Thursday’s baseball game (Rangers vs. Pirates), Dustin and I toured Cowboys Stadium, which is conveniently located right next to the baseball park. We got to visit the field, cheerleaders’ locker room, regular locker room, press room, etc. – and we got to see the roof open up while we were there!



This place is HUGE and ridiculous, which is just what you’d expect, really. I’ve never been to a pro football game, so it was pretty cool to see everything – and I had Tony Romo and Jason Witten on my fantasy team last year, anyway, so we kinda had to go. ☺



After hobnobbing with the lockers of the rich and famous, we made our way to Rangers Stadium. We quickly discovered one of the weird quirks of this ballpark when Dustin bought a beer and then we tried to go up to our seats, only to be told that the bottom level and the 2nd floor operate with different liquor licenses, so you can’t take drinks between them. The only way to get up and down is to use large escalators that are being guarded by harassed workers trying to explain this bizarre policy to irate drink-holders. I think this system is stupid.


After killing time on the lower level so Dustin could have his beer, we headed up to our seats on the 2nd level (1st base side). No one was around; the place was deserted (it was maybe 30 minutes until the game started at this point, but still… not like our other experiences). The stadium feels almost small because the seats go right to the field, kind of intersecting the 1st base line. It would feel kind of nicely quaint if not for the HUGE, glaring advertisements in the outfield, which kind of kill the atmosphere a bit. Dustin gave it a “B.” I found the food options a bit lacking, although good quality, but the overall experience was a little "meh."


I should point out that the fans were lame. There were maybe 10,000 people there, and they were pretty dead – the “MAKE NOISE!!!” sign would come on, and there was no noticeable difference. Now, I’m not really a fan of the “MAKE NOISE!!!” sign, as I don’t like to be told what to do and I find it’s an excuse for small children to scream very, very shrilly, but still – if you won’t even cheer when blatantly instructed to? Weak.


The game itself was a good one. The Pirates scored 4 runs right off the bat, and it seemed like they’d win… until Texas came back and tied it later in the game. Before the bottom of the 9th, Dustin predicted that Vlad was going to win the game (we were cheering for him even though I wanted the Rangers to lose since they’re in 1st over the Angels). He was right! Add psychic to the list of his admirable qualities…