NFL Hall of Fame Game - #HOF #Canton

No compensation was received for this post. A complimentary set of tickets was provided by Canton/Stark County Convention & Visitors’ Bureau to facilitate the sharing of our experience. All opinions expressed are my own or that of my family.

NFL/Hall of Fame Game ***Giants vs. Bills in 2014 NFL/Hall of Fame Game*** Unlike other NFL games, the NFL/Hall of Fame Game is played in a historic high school stadium. If you’ve never experienced seeing an NFL game up this close, you won’t want to miss out on getting your tickets for this year’s game. Watching an NFL game from the comfy confines of Fawcett Stadium (right), a 22,000-seat high school venue, is a must on any real football fan’s “bucket list.” There’s not a bad seat in the house!- See more here

HOF Game 08/03/14 (written by A Busy Dad of Two)

It was a beautiful night for a football game and my New York Giants had made their way out to Canton, OH for the annual NFL Hall of Fame game at Fawcett Stadium. Their opponent tonight: the Buffalo Bills. The game won't matter in the standings but for many of the 90+ players on each roster who are trying to make their respective teams, tonight could mean everything. For me it means a chance to see my favorite team without having to travel back to New Jersey and for my son (age 10) to attend his first NFL football game. Joining us at the game were my friend and his son - both Bills fans. How convenient.

We arrived at the Pro Football Hall of Fame complex about 90 minutes prior to kickoff and started to look for parking. Since Fawcett Stadium is a high school stadium, it's not very well equipped to handle a large number of vehicles and so, for what I would imagine is a once yearly occurrence, property owners nearby the stadium rent out their driveways and lawns for people to park at a cost of between $15 and $20 a spot. We parked and made our way into the stadium. Once inside we decided to take a walk around the stadium, check out the concessions and essentially see all that we could see. We snapped a few photos of the players warming up and then decided it might be a good idea to go find our seats. As we were walking back toward our section, it started to become very clear: the stadium was starting to really get crowded. We got to our section - #23, behind the near end zone - and took in the pregame warm ups.

Giants - pregame warm up

We were on the Giants side (cool), so we saw Eli Manning, Victor Cruz and others participate in their warm up drills and pre-game huddles. We even caught a glimpse of Al Michaels and Chris Collinsworth who were both on the field prior to kickoff. (They were on hand to call the game for NBC Sunday Night Football.)

View from the seats

Some of the inductee class on the sideline

About 10 minutes before kickoff we decided to head down from our seats to grab a drink. Getting back to our section proved to be a bit of a challenge. Originally built as high school stadium that sat 15,000, additional seating was added to expand the capacity to over 22,000. However, the concourse was not intended to handle crowds of that size. Due to the layout of the stadium, access to some of the sections are limited by several gates that create a small "chute" style walkway that can only handle one-way traffic. This means that people on either side of the chute must wait for those coming in the opposite direction to get through. It's akin to a one lane road with traffic being regulated by a traffic cop. It was frustrating to have to wait, but eventually we were able to make it back but to our seats. This one-lane traffic pattern continued throughout the evening, whenever we ventured from our seats. Despite the fact that Fawcett is an old stadium, you'd think this is something that they could come up with another solution for.

While we were waiting in line to return to our seats, several parachutists dropped in to Fawcett Stadium - a sight to behold. It looks so much easier on television but watching in person - the amazement factor goes up by a thousand percent. It was a very cool thing to see.

We ultimately did return to our seats in time for kickoff - the moment had arrived for my Giants to beat up on the Bills.

Just after kick-off

Some people told me that since Fawcett is a high school stadium there are really no bad seats in the entire place. Being seated in the end zone did have it challenges, it was a little difficult to judge depth on the field and often our view of the action was blocked at just the right angle by the goalpost crossbar. We did, however, get a great view of Corey Washington's 73 yard TD reception (which gave the Giants the lead and the win) but action near the other end zone was not the easiest to see.

Halftime Entertainment

Towards the end of the game we decided to make another brief trip to the concourse before heading back to our seats for the final two minutes of action. Unfortunately, as we were heading back, we found that the walkway back to our seats was completely blocked off. The reason, we were told, was because they needed to keep the section clear for when the players ran off the field. I understand why this has to happen but it didn't make me any less frustrated that we couldn't return to our seats for the end of the game. Essentially we missed the last 2-3 minutes because we were not permitted to return to our seats. However, this negative situation soon turned into a positive experience. Sure, we missed the end of the game, but now we're in a prime spot to see all the Giants leave the field. A few Giants came over and signed for some fans and Eli Manning ran over and tossed his wristbands to a young fan who was sporting a Manning jersey. After the team had left the field, former Giant and current analyst Carl Banks meandered over and signed for a few fans - including us! As an older Giant fan, I thought it was pretty cool to get #58's autograph. My son received a brief history lesson on Carl Banks during our exit from the stadium.

Carl Banks signing for fans

As we made our walk back to the car, we took the opportunity to review the evening's events. We all agreed that we had a fun time at the game. Even my son, who in the days prior to the event couldn't muster a ton of excitement about it, had a lot of fun. For me, it was about seeing the Giants. I don't get to New York often (if at all) and a chance to see the Giants play is hard to pass up.

This will forever be remembered by my son and me as a great father/son bonding experience and for that I'm thankful. And if the Giants win it all this year we can look back at this game and say that it all started in Canton, at the Hall of Fame game, with a victory over the Bills.

No compensation was received for this post. A complimentary set of tickets was provided by Canton/Stark County Convention & Visitors’ Bureau to facilitate the sharing of our experience. All opinions expressed are my own or that of my family.

Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival

As a kid, I can remember going to several types of festivals and community events with my family. Whether it was a local Oktoberfest, a Taste of Dayton, the Strawberry Festival or music festivals, they were always a good time. I don't remember many specifics, but I do remember seeing the Grass Roots at one event, have memories of dipping strawberries in chocolate, eating rib sandwiches, German food and can remember that spending time with my family was a great way to spend the day/night.

Over the next couple of weeks, there are two festivals (actually, they are both part of the greater Pro Football Hall of Fame Enshrinement Festival) coming to the Canton area.

The first starts this weekend - The Balloon Classic and the Jackson-Belden Food Fest.

I love hot air balloons. There is something so seemingly serene about hot air balloons. I love watching them as they gracefully float across the sky. I've always thought it would be cool to go on a hot air balloon, but with a spouse that is afraid of heights and doesn't like to fly, the experience wouldn't be the same romantic experience that I imagine. Frequently, during this festival, we have seen the balloons come near our house and there are some pretty neat looking balloons. On Friday evening, they have a Balloon Glow, where you can watch as the hot air balloons illuminate in rhythm with the music. This has to be a sight to see. Saturday night, they cap with Fireworks. If you are in the area, stop by to check out the balloons and the food from several food vendors. Unfortunately, this year, we have a weekend full of sports, so checking out the Balloon Glow is not an option.

Next weekend, there is a 2-mile/5-mile race and a community parade.

Then, in a week and a half, you can check out the Ribs Burnoff. Starting on Wednesday, August 1st and running through Friday, August 3rd, stop by for lunch or dinner (the festival runs from 11 am to 10:30 pm) and check out the food from 11 rib masters from across the country at the Stark County Fairgrounds. I am looking forward to checking out some of the ribs. My son has recently decided that he is a big fan of ribs. In addition to the barbeque, there will be several other food vendors (in case you aren't a fan of ribs).

There is fun for the whole family, with inflatable games, bounce houses, sand sculptors, balloon twisters and face painters. You even have a chance to see the float builders, located in Exhibition Hall, put the finishing touches on their floats for the Timken Grand Parade on Saturday.

Throughout the event, there will be musical entertainment, as well. During the day, there will be the day stage and then each night they have special show. My experience has been that you can see some really great shows at local festivals, fairs and events - and typically, they are a very reasonable price (sometimes as reasonable as free) compared to seeing acts at a larger venue. These types of shows can be a great way to introduce children to the 'art' of concerts. Music is something that brought my husband and I together, so it only seems right to share it with our children. My son has had the chance to see Weird Al in concert, but so far, the only act my daughter has seen in concert is the Imagination Movers.

Wednesday night, August 1st, it is the Gin Blossoms that take the stage. What amazes me is that the Gin Blossoms debut single, "Hey Jealousy" was released back in 1992 - that was 20 years ago! Realizations like that make me feel old. We are planning to take the kids to check out the Gin Blossoms - I am figuring this is very similar from a timing perspective to my parents taking me to see the Grass Roots, whose first songs would have been out about 20 years before I saw them. I know the kids have heard it in the car before, but just to be sure, I think we will have to listen to some of the music over the next couple of weeks.

Thursday night, it is country star Jason Michael Carroll. I'm not familiar with his music, but a quick sampling of music on Amazon, found some nice sounding songs.

On Friday, Saving Abel takes the stage. Saving Abel is a more recent group, with their debut single, Addicted, hitting the charts in 2008. Saving Abel is one of those groups who's music I know, but I don't know that it is them. I had to listen to Addicted to be sure I knew what song it was.

"All concerts will perform on the Emergency Medicine Physicians Stage at the Stark County Fairgrounds at approximately 8:30 p.m. Free standing room only will be permitted on the track but chairs or seating of any kind on the track is not permitted. Seats are available in the grandstands for affordable prices for you and your family! NEW in 2012: General Admission seating (bleachers) will be offered at $5 per ticket and Reserved Admission (seats with backs) will be offered at $9 per ticket! " You can get the full information on the shows and information on ordering your tickets on the Ribs Burnoff home page.

These and many other events lead to the Hall of Fame Game on Sunday, August 5th. I had the chance a few years ago to attend the Hall of Fame Game. I found it to be a great experience - there you are in a high school size stadium watching professional athletes play their sport. I went with my brother and we had a great time watching the Giants play in the game.

Local festivals and events are always a lot of fun. It is amazing to me how similar, and how different, the events can be even in different parts of the state. Do you go to local fairs and festivals?

No compensation was received for this post. All opinions expressed are my own or that of my family. We received a family four pack of general admission tickets for the Gin Blossoms in exchange for sharing about the upcoming events.