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Details & Pictures from our trip to the Arizona Cardinals Vs Patriots game September 19, 2004........
Scroll Down For Trip Report & Pictures...
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| PatsFan UK - Steve & Tony at Sun Devil Stadium, Arizona |
NFL Regular Season 2004/05
New England Patriots at Arizona Cardinals
Sunday 19 September 2004
Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, AZ
Final 1
2 3 4 T
New England
7 7 3 6 23
Arizona
0 6 6 0 12
NE: T.Brady (15-26, 217), C.Dillon (32-158)
ARI: J.McCown (13-29, 160), F.Jones (4-43)
Attendance: 51557
Arizona Trip 16-24th September 2004
DAY 1 - Thu 16th
ARRIVAL PHOENIX
PatsFan UK - Steve Hawes traveled with his brother Tony Hawes via British Airways flight from London Heathrow to Phoenix
Arizona – 11hours travelling & around 5300 miles!
Arrived Phoenix PM – 8 hours behind UK time. Phoenix Temperature = 104F (Hot! & Sunny). Missed Diamondbacks baseball
match by 2 hours (they won!). Hotel "Travel Inn", East Van Buren St., Phoenix – not quite the same as the UK hotel chain,
very basic!
DAY 2 - Fri 17th
WNBA GAME
Jet Lag, awake at 1am! Went to ‘Downtown’ Phoenix via bus from hotel $1.25, downtown area very smart but smaller
than expected. Checked out Bank One Ballpark – Arizona Diamondbacks baseball – with an excellent guided tour of
the stadium. Went to see a movie in the afternoon, Cellular at the AMC 24 screen (!) cinema, lots of nachos & soda and
then Hooters for dinner, nice! In the evening saw WNBA match at America West Arena – Phoenix Mercury Vs Washington Mystics.
Arena about 3 quarters full, entertaining match with Washington winning 74-69. Back to hotel via bus.
Temperature = 103F (Still Hot & sunny!)
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| Steve & Tony In the Diamondbacks Dugout |
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| DBacks Trophy Case - Including 2001 World Series Trophy! |
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| Inside America West Arena In Phoenix |
DAY 3 – Sat 18th
ASU GAME
Travel via Cab to Tempe in the morning to Sun Devil Stadium ready, very early, for the ASU Sun Devils Vs Iowa Hawkeyes
football game. Collected tickets at the stadium & met Graham (Waspie) in the ASU team shop. Big guy, 6’5", &
very friendly. Found a bar across the road from the stadium for a couple of beers, then decided to walk to a local ‘Micro
Brewery’. After asking the locals for directions & quite a long hot walk we found the Four Peaks Brewery. Very nice
beer, food & waitresses! Several nice hours were spent drinking, eating & watching college football on their numerous
TV screens. During this time there was a large thunderstorm, bringing lots of rain (the first in Phoenix since July!). We
decided to book a cab, which did not turn up & instead walked to the stadium as the rain was beginning to ease for the
expected 7.15pm kick off.
We arrived at the stadium to find out that the game had been delayed by 45 minutes due to the weather. Approximately 71500
people in the stadium for a sell out match, the weather must have put off several ticket holders as the capacity is around
75000. A great, if damp, atmosphere including several thousand Iowa fans. The game itself was a bit of a shock as the unranked
Sun Devils defeated ranked Iowa 44-7. Iowa only scored in the last 18 seconds after ASU couldn’t run out the clock as
they had used up all their timeouts. ASU QB Andrew Walter looked a good NFL prospect breaking the record for TD passes on
the night, Walter was 31-43, 428yards, 66 career TD passes, a record previously held by Denver Bronco QB Jake Plummer (1993-96).
The ASU fans invaded the pitch at the final whistle & tried unsuccessfully to pull down the goalposts in celebration.
Booked a cab to for the return journey to Phoenix, which didn’t turn up (there’s a theme running here!), at around
1:30am we managed to ‘hail’ different cab company. Got back to the Hotel around 2am tired but happy with the day
as a whole.
Temperature = 101F (Hot & thunderstorms)
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| IOWA VS ASU |
DAY 4 – Sun 19th
PATRIOTS GAME
Traveled via Cab to Tempe in the morning to the North Car Park of Sun Devil Stadium arrived around 10am. As we entered
the parking lot our PatsFan UK T-shirts were spotted straight away by a very nice couple from Cape Cod, Mandy & Scott
Chandler. After a pleasant conversation & photographs with them we needed to find Graham. After mobile phone calls we
caught up with Graham in the car park & spent the morning ‘tailgating’, which was a new and pleasant experience
for us UK fans. As the car parks were full of mainly Pats fans, we struggled to find the Patriots Fan Club Of
Arizona’s vehicles. But, we met a many friendly fans that were very surprised to find fans over from the UK just to
watch this game.
Amongst the tailgaters we met a group of very hospitable guys from Boston who were enjoying themselves listening to ‘old
school punk’ & kept the flow of beer, muffins & ribs coming! As we were with these great guys Dave Charron from
the Arizona Pats Fan Club appeared giving out free inflatable hands and directed us to where the Fan Club was in the parking
lot. As it was getting close to kick off we hurried over to meet with the guys from the club, unfortunately we did not have
long enough with them. We did get to chat briefly to Mike Allen, Dave Charron & current Club President Ron Hosmer, all
nice guys who gave us a very warm welcome.
Made our way to the stadium to see the big match. Not as many spectators as the ASU match but with around half the attendance
being Patriots fans still a great atmosphere. We were seated in section 35, along with around 800 Pats Fans who arranged their
tickets through the Arizona Patriots Fan Club, towards the Southeast corner of the stadium. But, with still a very good view.
The game itself was not a classic, but the Patriots were always in control & never got into top gear. As normal they
did just enough regarding scoring to win the game. Excellent to see Brady, Bruschi, McGinnest, Vinnateri & the whole team
‘live’, even if Brady had an ‘off’ day, (15-26, 217yards). Great to actually see what Corey Dillon
was made of, (32, 158yards), & a big shame he did not get a touchdown, (even if he did have one called back due to horrible
yellow dusters on the field!).
Not sure how well thought out the Pat Tillman tribute was, as half of it was portrayed on the ‘Jumbotron’ &
‘starred’ the US President Bush, who was booed by most of the crowd (the current President is obviously popular!).
The retirement & presentation of his jersey / number to his family was very well done.
As was the huge jersey banner unveiled from the center of the stands. All spectators were presented with a commemorative
#40 pin, which was a nice touch; most fans from both teams were wearing them throughout the day.
One problem was the lack of stewarding in the stadium to direct you to your seats & to control trouble, as several
fights were seen in the south end zone seats towards the end of the game. Some Cardinals fans decided it was a good idea to
have a brawl with at Patriots fans & the stewards / Police did not intervene quickly enough. (Almost like being at a Soccer
match back in the UK!). But, a majority of the crowd was there for the football & to have a good time.
Final score: 23-12 Patriots Won & 17 in a row can’t be bad!
As Graham was in the end zone seating area, we didn’t manage to meet up after the game; (also he had an early flight
back to the UK on Monday). We decided to go back to the parking lot to see the Arizona Fan Club guys and hung out with them
for a while. Managed to catch a ‘Sun Shower’ whilst with them, i.e. raining & sunny at the same time, weird!
Too exhausted to make it to The Vine afterwards & eventually hailed a cab from Tempe back to the Hotel in Phoenix.
Overall an excellent experience, even if we realized that we didn’t take quite as many photographs as expected due
to being overwhelmed by the days events. When can we do it again??
Temperature = 91F (Hot-ish & Minor showers)
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| Patriots Vs Cardinals Game Action |
DAY 5 – Mon 20th
MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL
Caught a cab to Tempe & checked out the huge Arizona Mills Mall. Spent 6 hours spending $’s shopping including
Patriots items from the Sports shops there. Bumped into 2 Patriots fans, husband & wife from California, (Barry &
Denice Inciong from Orange County), in one sports shop. They had been to the game yesterday & were shopping for Patriots
stuff as well, killing time before their flight home. Very nice couple and spent a good 30 minutes talking Patriots with them.
Managed to find a sports bar in the Mall where we watched Monday Night Football with nice food & beer! For the record
Philadelphia Eagles beat the Minnesota Vikings 27-16.
After 9 & half hours in the Mall (!) we booked a cab, which took 45 minutes to arrive, (almost continuing the theme,
but at least it arrived!), back to the hotel.
Temperature = 93F (Hot-ish & Sunny – apparently!)
DAY 6 – Tue 21st
GRAND CANYON
Previously arranged day trip to the Canyon with Open Road Tours. Picked up from our hotel by their mini-bus at 6:40am (!).
Long, but interesting, journey to the Canyon via Sedona, (around 4 hours).
Took a helicopter trip over the Canyon on arrival as an optional extra. Neither of us had been in a helicopter before and
the experience was much smoother than anticipated, views of the Canyon were superb, highly recommended.
Afterwards we were picked up from Grand Canyon Airport & taken to the South Rim for additional Canyon views. Various
stops at viewpoints were taken and we didn’t see a view of the Canyon that was less than stunning. The weather was exceptionally
clear & sunny, approximate vision of 60 miles according to our guide. A brief tourist stop was taken on the return journey
to Phoenix via the Navajo Indian Reservation, mainly their large souvenir shop. Back at our hotel around 8pm, after another
long excellent day. The Grand Canyon is definitely well worth a visit & we highly recommend Open Road Tours.
Temperature = 90F Phoenix & 67F Grand Canyon (Hot-ish/Warm, Sunny & Clear).
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| Tony & Steve At The Grand Canyon |
DAY 7 – Wed 22nd
SCOTTSDALE
Booked a Cab to Scottsdale in the morning & headed to ‘Old Town’. This area of Scottsdale is basically
souvenir shops built in a ‘western’ style. Bought a few gifts for back home & then walked to Scottsdale Fashion
Center, as the local buses don’t seem to run during September. Fashion Center seemed to be the ‘in’ place
to shop as there are a large number of ‘designer’ shops & plenty of ‘designer’ women (!). Booked
a cab to take us back to Phoenix, which didn’t arrive (continuing the theme), so we managed to hail another cab company
after 45 minutes.
The evening was spent at a Bill Johnson’s Steakhouse on East Van Buren Street, recommended by every local we spoke
to on the trip, only a short walk away from our hotel. It proved a great recommendation & in the words of the locals "Good
eatin’!".
Temperature = 92F (Hot, Sunny & Clear)
DAY 8 – Thu 23rd
HOME BOUND
Decided to kill time by going back to ‘Downtown’ Phoenix via bus from hotel. Only had a few hours left so we
did some last minute shopping & watched some Baseball on TV in the pleasant atmosphere of Hooters (again!). Free shuttle
from our hotel to Phoenix Airport checked in for our evening / overnight British Airways flight.
Temperature = 94F (Hot, Sunny & Clear)
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| Downtown Phoenix |
Day 9 – Fri 24th
ARRIVAL UK
Arrived at London Heathrow after an 8hour 30minutes flight at around 4am Arizona time & 12noon London time, again travelling
approximately 5300 miles! Only a two-hour drive back to East Anglia & to get some rest!
Temperature = 65F (Not Hot!, but clear skies!)
Cast:
PatsFan UK - Steve Hawes & Tony Hawes.
UK Patriots – Graham Ward (Waspie)
New England Patriots Fan Club Of Arizona – Ron Hosmer, Mike Allen (NEM) & Dave Charron
Cape Cod Pats Fans – Mandy & Scott Chandler
Boston Pats Fans – Several Great Tailgaters
Patriots Fans – Cast of Thousands
Apologies if we have got mislaid anyone’s names or got them incorrect, it was a mind-blowing trip and we met loads
of new people!
Thank you to everyone we met, who were mostly very accommodating & friendly. Without whom the trip wouldn’t have
been so enjoyable.
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| PatsFan UK - With Mike From NEPFCA at Sun Devil Stadium |
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| Tony & Steve Tailgating In Arizona |
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| Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona |
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