Saints @ Rams: View from Section 110
Observations in bullet point format:
I have to confess, I thought the Edward Jones Dome was an inflatable temporary bubble that seated about 20K. Which makes no sense, you can't have an NFL franchise with that seating. But that's what it looked like from afar. Now that I can see it up close, it's quite a nice facility, brick facade, huge, seats 67K I think.
Huge number of Who Dats everywhere: Hotel, bars, and at the dome, always in jerseys and strutting like they're undefeated.
Rams fans are still pretty proud, win-loss record notwithstanding. They get loud when Drew comes up under center and they cheer really loud when a Ram does something good, which happened a lot today.
Steven Jackson is pretty good and that #11 Gibson kid is good too, had a better day than WR Donnie Avery. Bulger... well, you saw it. Fans are still behind him. In fact, I don't think they booed a Rams player all day.
No peanuts in the shell sold or allowed to be carried in. Projectiles?
No Gift Shop. Merchandise kiosks scattered throughout the concourse.
$8 beers in a paper cup (a Budweiser shop of course). Saw a guy in my row order 4 and pay with two twenties, told the vendor to keep the change. I don't see that often.
Saints played down to the Rams, for sure. I perspired every time I saw Gay and Torrence at the corners. At least that's what I thought I saw.
The Porter injury was scary. My first thought was "Holy crap he's injury prone." That may not be fair, but that's me. Second thought was "Maybe it's just a sprain." He really pretzeled trying to cover that juke and then ran after the play. But it did not look good at all.
Kept waiting for the Saints to take off. Roby's Kickoff return TD to open the 3rd quarter seemed to be the start of it. I said "OK, here's your second half." Didn't really happen.
Saints got stuffed on that 4th and 2 late. Rams fans LOVED it.
When the Saints scored 4 minutes into the final quarter, the local fans started spilling out for the exits. Lost some respect for them right then. Your terrible team is still in it, where are you going???
Saints cut it a little too close for my comfort, but I never doubted that they'd win. Until the final Rams drive. Then I started having bad thoughts. Long time Saints fan, old habits die hard, you ALL know what I'm talkin' 'bout.
Here's some photos. Sorry for the lack of field action, I was in row GG or something. 9-0, baby.
Edward Jones Dome pregame, from our hotel window.Dome foyer. Busch!
Concourse, all nice. Proud of their history. More history on the concourse. Oh hell, even more history inside on the ceiling. That's #75 Deacon Jones on the old school flag, on the right. Look at those old championships on the left! Damn right Dick Vermeil is in the Ring of Honor. Note the Saints banner hanging on the right. Who dat? Coin toss. Karney is on the right, I think. He and Drew exchanged pleasantries. Lining up before the play where Gay gave up that TD on the fade route. Right in front of me. GAAA!!!! Lining up for the 2 point conversion attempt. After the Gay play. GAAAAA!! It's over, we're all relieved. Don't know who these girls are but I think they jinxed us.Had a good time, a lot friendlier than Buffalo, that's for sure.
This FanPost was written by a reader and member of Canal Street Chronicles. It does not necessarily reflect the views of CSC and its staff or editors.
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I wondered if you had gone to this game.
Thanks for the pics and highlights. It was a tough game to watch. I hope it was more enjoyable for you actually being there.
Forget the nickel and dime, you'd better bring a half- dollar to deal with this team.--Tony Moss, NFL editor
Thanks, started out a little slow but got better!
I felt guilty about wondering why I wasn’t having THAT great of a time in the first half. Wore the wrong contacts so I couldn’t see very well, seats were not as good as I thought they would be, the EJ dome is a nice facility and I had Saints fans sitting around me, but still… it is NOT the Superdome. Sharper was out, but Usama seemed to play pretty well, didn’t he? I seemed to me that the Rams were playing hard for an upset and the Saints didn’t get up for the game at all. Dangerous. One pass away (to Gay’s side of the field) from losing it. Hope the Saints are getting a good ass chewing over this.
Yep, I thought Usama did a good job.
In fact, I voted for him for MVP. “Dangerous” really sums it up. I hope the boys pull it together for the weeks to come. I don’t care about a “perfect” season, but I want that Super Bowl!
Forget the nickel and dime, you'd better bring a half- dollar to deal with this team.--Tony Moss, NFL editor
by SaintsFan-KS on Nov 15, 2009 8:26 PM CST up reply actions
EXACTLY!!!
The Patriots “perfect” season didn’t do them much good when they lost the Superbowl to the Giants, did it?
I’d really like to get off this perfect season crap; too distracting!
Fat, dumb, and happy. Hell, two out of three ain't bad!
by Just 'Nother Day on Nov 15, 2009 8:47 PM CST up reply actions
good post
what did rams fans think of that game? did they see it as them giving us their best game b/c we went in undefeated? Or are they saying the saints are “who we thought they were”?
i just can’t figure out how we can play down to such a bad team, even with the injuries we have on defense.
Fans still love their Rams
Overheard one young fan say “Those Saints are overrated.” They’re acting like they’re a .500 team. Didn’t hear a single unfavorable comment about the Rams players or their record. They’re looking forward to the future, I guess.
Side note, the recession has not hit Saint Louis, not by what I saw. Noticed only one closed store in the entire town and suburbs and that was down in LaClede’s Landing (St. Louis pale imitation of the French Quarter) and it looked like it’d been closed for quite a while.
Big series of articles in the paper about InBev buying out Anheiser-Busch and then laying off 1100 of the 6000 workers. Big deal. That city is doing very well, as far as I could tell.
I’ve been to St. Louis for a game twice; once in 2000 (Aaron Brooks’s starting debut), then again in 2005. Had a blast both times. Standing outside of the facility, one would never think it’s as spacious as it is inside. It doesn’t really appear to be that much bigger than a basketball arena. The seating levels are all directly above one another, not diagonally staggered, which is odd for a football stadium. There’s also no much of an arch to the roof; just metal rafters running straight across. You can actually make out people’s faces in the stands across from you. Quite different from what I’m used to here. Far more intimate, for lack of a masculine word. I personally like it better than the Superdome, though Reliant Stadium has both beat (by far), in terms of plushness and amenities.
"I was not on the boat in question." -Darren Sharper
I agree, CP - When I was there in 2004,
our nosebleed section seats seemed much closer to the field than in any other stadium I’ve been to…
"In the end, the bread was in the pudding." -- Bobby McCray
You lucky man, Mr Johnson.
I wish I could follow the Saints a couple of time a year when they’re on the road but I’ll settle for the NFC final January 24th in the Dome if I can get my hand on a pair of ticket. I already wrote to a Saints ticket representative and she replied by asking me if I was a season ticket holder. Sure Mrs.Hadley, I fly down from Montreal 8 times a year and check in at The St-James!!!!
Not sure if there is even a tiny chance I’ll be able to pull it off but since it’s something I want pretty bad, I"ll surely look every way I can to make it happen. And hearing my friend on the phone 2 hours ago when he just got back from seeing the Colts in Indy got me even more hyped to make it happen! I know it sounds like I’m daydreaming but, who knows, maybe somebody has a tip I could use…
No peanuts in the shell sold or allowed to be carried in. Projectiles?
Ha ha!
Still cautiously optimistic.
Thanks, Stu, for posting this
I enjoyed reading/seeing it, and appreciate your commentary…
"In the end, the bread was in the pudding." -- Bobby McCray

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