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Sports will always be something I follow and love forever especially the big three: baseball, football, and basketball. It's always entertaining watching a game on television whether it's with a group of friends, family, or by yourself. Whenever you watch a game on television, sometimes you wonder what it feels like to actually be in a stadium or an arena and be a part of the atmosphere.
Of course, being a baseball fan for the longest time, I've been able to see a total of 16 games, 1 while Qualcomm Stadium was still Jack Murphy Stadium, 13 in Qualcomm Stadium, and 2 at Petco Park. I've had seats from field level all the way up to nosebleed seats, from different views of the stadium. Just being at the ballpark, watching the game with friends and family and being a part of the crowd in cheering the home team is always fun. Baseball tickets are relatively cheaper than basketball and football tickets and there are many games that take place at home so that's why I've been able to see as many games already. I haven't been to a baseball game in 3 years so I'm hoping to break that drought next season.
Football is another sport that I follow a lot. I've been cheering for the Chargers for awhile now and it's always exciting watching a football game on television because there's so much action. I've always wondered how the atmosphere would be like if I ever attended a game. I actually never thought that I would ever go to a football game in my life just because the tickets cost way more than baseball and there's only 8 games at home during the regular season and they sell out fast. Who would of knew, that I would be invited to go a football game for the first time in my life. Something that I didn't even expect to happen in my life.
Before the season started, I planned on buying some tickets to catch a football game this season. The way the Chargers played last season, I knew I would have a very hard time in getting tickets because season ticket holders always get first dibbs. The Chargers v.s. the Colts on November 11 was the game I wanted to go to and I already knew that I wouldn't even have a chance to get those tickets just because it's a Sunday night game, which usually means it's a national broadcasted game, plus, Peyton Manning having a chance to come into town and play against LT and the Chargers is a much awaited game. Little did I know, tickets sold out in 4 hours on some random day during the summer I didn't even know about and I was shut out from being to able to attend not only that game, but any other game.
Three days before the game last week, one of my friends from school hit me up. He told me that one of his friends was trying to sell his Chargers v.s Texans tickets because he was put on duty. He asked me if I was willing to pay $80 dollars for a ticket. I told him that I would check with my parents to see if it was okay to go. With a test on Tuesday, and not even touching my science book to study, I was hesistant at first. Also, I didn't even feel like spending $80 to watch a game. But than I started to think, this might be the only chance I get in my life where I could actually watch a game. I've never been to a football game before and I always wondered how it would be but than again, would I really want to skip studying and waste $80 dollars for a game. Another reason I wanted to go to the game was because the tickets that my friend's fried had were season tickets and the seats were assigned on plaza level. Not view level or what they call nosebleed seats, they were plaza level seats.
The next day, I thought hard about going to the game and I decided that I wouldn't even ask my parents if I could go and that I would just tell my friend to go with somebody else. So I texted my friend, telling him to go with someone else or at least sell them. I got no reply back so I thought that he already sold the tickets. I spent the whole Saturday working on my blog and putting off studying for the next day. I went to sleep around 5 in the morning, tired as hell.
Around 10 on Sunday morning, my friend called me and woke me up. He asked me if I wanted to go to the game. I told him to just go with someone else because I was gonna be busy that day. He then told me that the price for the tickets dropped to $50. Not $80 anymore, but $50. Tickets for plaza level seats would probably be around $150 or more because those are really good seats besides field level, which are the best seats. Ain't no way that I was gonna deny going to the game so I asked my mom and she said it was okay. Finally, I was going to my first ever football game, especially at a price that was affordable.
I met up with my friend and we headed down to Qualcomm Stadium. We were a little late for the game so we didn't get to see the Governator and the firefighters in the opening show. The parking lot was closed and so we had to park all the way in the Mission Valley Costco and Ikea location. Got damn, that was one long walk and my legs are still sore to this day. We walked through the parking lot and you could already hear loud booming cheers flowing out the stadium. We went inside, and the Chargers already scored a touchdown and the whole place went bananas. Just the atmosphere itself was amazing. The whole place was packed, even people had to line up in lines just to use the restrooms. Everytime the Chargers made a big play, the whole place would erupt and stand on their feet and go wild. It was amazing how the place just was. Even the Charger Girls were looking real nice in their Halloween costumes. My friend and I were close to the action and the seats we had were hella good.
After the game was done, everyone outside the stadium was honking their horns, yelling out stuff, and just representing the Chargers to the fullest. People were still tailgating and hanging around while a grip of people were stuck in traffic. It was just a regular season game and the atmosphre was just crazy. I thought to myself, how would the atmosphere be during the playoffs and the Super Bowl, probably undescribable. Coming off a week with lost hope and despair, the Chargers played a great game and the fans showed a lot of pride. Ending the day, I thought to myself, I just went to a football game for the first time. Hopefully it's not the last. After checking off football and baseball, a basketball game at the Staples Center to watch the Lakers would complete the sweep. Let's try to do that soon.
Walking towards Qualcomm Stadium
Jumbotron
Endzone tagged San Diego
Chargers on defense
Posted up getting fried
Charger Wall
You already know
During Halftime
Packed Son
In action
Can you spot the overweight Rey Mysterio?
Attendence Numbers
The Stadium behind me
Move out the way!
Traffic Jam
Tworkin' It
Hands Up
After routine
Note: The last three pics were professionally taken
After almost four years ago to this week, San Diego had recorded the then largest brush fire in California history. I can still vividly recall all the things that happened during that week. During that time, I was still a junior in high school. I spent the weekend in San Diego instead of going north to where I usually stayed for the weekends. I remember my parents along with my youngest brother coming down to visit my brothers, uncle, and auntie at the house to make sure we were alright.
One day I really remember was the second day of the fires. My youngest brother stayed with us at the house. My uncle was left to watch us and we spent most of the day watching the news. I still remember how gray it was, how the sun was blood red, ash flying everywhere, and the smell of smoke just sifting through the air. I sat through most of the morning playing "Blitz" on the Nintendo 64. After that, my brothers and uncle watched "Matrix Reloaded." We then began watching the news and my older brother decided to turn on the air conditioner to help prevent the inside of the house from smelling like smoke. It was actually the first time we turned on the air conditioner in the house since 1999-2000. I could just remember how frantic everything was, viewing the news. I still remember, my brothers, uncle, and I had to buy some water at the water store in Ralphs. During that time of the fires, the employees that worked for Ralphs were on strike because of bad benefits. My youngest brother took pics of the strikers, all of them holding signs, wearing their masks and goggles. I wondered why they would still be on strike during a time where fires where going on and everything crazy was happening. My youngest brother had to leave later on that night with my parents and I worried about them because they had to use the I-15 freeway to get home and the fires were close to that freeway. At night, my brothers and I watched the news and I remember when they reported that school would be cancelled for the week. Just everything that happened during that week, I still remember.
Now in October 2007, the Southern California wildfires have much exceeded the Cedar fires in 2003 as the most devastating fire disaster in California history. This time, I didn't spend any time in San Diego, where the wildfires there were proclaimed as the worst out of all fires this season. Fortunately, my parents, younger brother, and I were up north safe away from fires, but I still had my thoughts for my close family, friends, and everyone else that were affected by the wildfires in someway. Hearing about the fires in Southern San Diego gave me a nervous feeling because my family that lives over there and most of my friends live around the same area where the Harris fire was supposedly moving towards to. I heard my family there was packing up, just in case they had to evacuate. Most of my friends packed their things just in case. One of my best friends actually had to evacuate his house because he lives in Bonita, but thankfully, his house wasn't harmed. Watching the news all week, it was really sad to see how many people had to evacuate and how many homes and damages took to place all over Southern California. It was good to heard and see how many people united and helped out one another during a time of tragedy. Firefighters battling fires without sufficient rest and risking lives, volunteers that helped out, and charities and donations were able to show how people can be united during a time of need and despair. I'll still continue to pray for everyone that has been severely affected by the wildfires and let's just continue the support for one another. It's unfortunate that these things happen to the best of us, but we must continue to support and pray for the many people that have been affected by these unfortunate events.
October 23, 2007
View of Poomacha Fire from Temecula going south
View of Rice Canyon Fire from Temecula going south
View of Santiago Fire from Temecula going north
October 24, 2007
Smoke beginning to set in
Smoke covering the sun
Moving smoke
October 25, 2007
Rise of the blood sun
When times hit a rough point, we have to hope for the best and continue to pray to make things better. I've been thinking alot lately, and it's gotten to a point where I'm starting to feel sympathy and nervousness. When you hear something unexpectedly, it becomes a surprise especially when it's something you don't want to hear or to sad to think about. It's really hard to stray away from thoughts that you don't want to think about but just keep running through your mind. Right now, we've been praying to God and hoping that He is listening to our prayers and may act upon them. All we could do is hope and pray and to continue to support and show our love. I'm still praying for the best situation to come about. Please God look down on us and listen...
Throughout much of my life, I've never been a fan of politics. You could ask me all these questions about the government, laws, or whatever about politics and I would just give you a cold stare, just because I didn't really know or care that much about politics. I've always thought I was too dumb to understand politics and that it was too complicated. Hell, I didn't even hear the words conservative or liberal until senior year in high school where we took a government class.
So pretty much, I've been clueless about politics for the longest time. Not until now, I've been gaining an interest in the subject. You already know I'm taking a political science class and for the most part, I was just gonna take the class to fulfill my nursing pre-requisites. If it wasn't a requirement, I probably wouldn't have taken the class at all. But since the school semester has started, I'm starting to gain more knowledge about political terms, situations going on around the country, and especially the middle eastern conflict. The middle eastern conflict has been a situation that I've been clueless about especially. After reading the history of the Israel-Palestine conflict through a packet my teacher gave us, I never knew how much vulnerability the Palestinians had towards the Isralies. Isralie soldiers forcing Palestinians out of their property, killing innocent people to create a homogenity state through ethnic cleansing, and trying to gain the lands of the Palestinian people were things I was able to pick up from reading the packet. Shout out to Yul for filling in some blanks I had about the conflict.
I've been able to pick up some knowledge with the California political history. If I recall and hopefully not mistaken, California has been a Democratic state for much of its history. California was able to gain some sort of democracy in its earliest years through overtaking the political machine of the railroad system, which caused unfairness with the people and the people of higher power. Much of Northern California and Los Angeles are primarily Demorcratic cities while the rest of Southern California including Riverside and San Diego are Republican. I've been taking baby steps in trying to understand our political system.
Hopefully through the end of the class, I'll be able to sink in as much information I need about politics to gain more further interest. I probably won't even be able to pick my side of whether being a Republican, Democratic, conservative, or liberal would be right for me just because some ideas I believe are correct with one side, but I also agree with some ideas on the other side are right. I'll just try to continue learn more about politics. I never really knew that I would start gaining interest in a subject that I always thought was boring. Well, I was wrong about politics being boring and like I said, I'm taking baby steps in trying to learn more about politics as a whole.
