CASUAL OBSERVATIONS... ON TODAY’S BICYCLE RIDE

OBSERVATION NUMBER ONE: Even in lean economic times, thousands of regular folks love football enough to pay big bucks and go through transit hell to see their team play. (I’ve learned that as of eight o’clock tonight next week’s game has only 1186 tickets available from $80 to $550 each.)

The big Monday Night Football game between the San Diego Chargers and the Denver Broncos was to begin in an hour-and-a-half at Qualcomm Stadium after I got on the Green Line Trolley in Santee headed toward home in Mission Valley. The usual forty-minute ride stretched to an hour-and-a-half because football fans were taking what they thought would be the easy way to the game. By the time we got to the El Cajon Transit Center, all cars on the train were completely full; but at each new stop after El Cajon, scores of fans eager to get to the stadium tried to push their way into already packed trolley cars.

OBSERVATION NUMBER TWO: Grown-up football fans are willing to wear ridiculous costumes to express their loyalty to their team. With the cheap seats going for $80, it’s hard to forget that the NFL is BIG BUSINESS. I like football, but I’m not likely to wear a two-foot-long thunderbolt on my head in a crowded trolley car to say, “I love you, Chargers.” Actually, I’m not likely to wear a thunderbolt on my head in the privacy of my own home... even on Halloween.

OBSERVATION NUMBER THREE: Lots of fans are fat. This fact was impressed upon me quite literally as I struggled to find breathing space squeezed between a very fat man in a Bronco jersey and a three-hundred-pound Charger maiden carrying what could have been refreshments for her entire team. It’s surprising what an effective tool for survival a bicycle can be... especially on a crowded train. A subtle shake here and a little jerk there works wonders for clearing breathing-room space.