Yesterday was the best overall game day experience I've ever had at BOA

[PhillyB]

This game was actually less hype in the beginning than I expected. The energy in the crowd somehow just wasn't quite there. And that was a reflection of myself, too, I found, and as I thought about it I realized everybody was probably in shock. To that point the gravity of the situation hadn't quite registered. We were in the NFC Championship Game, but somehow it just felt like we happened to be watching a new football game really late in the season for some reason.

I wasn't until Teddy ran that ridiculous touchdown on the jet sweep that the crowd turned into a frenzied pit of hysteria, and it wasn't until Carson Palmer's first dumb fumble that the pit of hysteria became flecked with its own spittle in a bloodthirsty feeding frenzy that saw full-throated roaring approval eery time Palmer massively fuged up. And from that point the crowd was absolutely relentless.

Normally I sit in the southwest corner of the stadium, directly facing the ten yard line, with that pretty Charlotte skyline glowing in the background. This time we go the opposite corner, 521. My superstitions about sitting in a different section were quelled pretty quickly. And I also re-learned that there's not a bad seat in the house at BOA.

I saw two Cardinals fans. Seriously, two. I know there were more than that, but I saw two with my own eyes. They left in the third quarter, silently, shame creeping through the fading light in the back of their eyes, disappearing in the darkness of the night. It was poetry in visceral form and I smiled.

By midway the fourth quarter that Cardinals had been absolutely shithoused. It was over, they were dead. The crowd was raucous, partying. going absolutely bonkers. And then Luke snagged a pass and ran it for a touchdown. The stadium had a collective aneurysm. I have never seen so much unadulterated joy out of so many human beings in my entire life. It was unbelievable. For my part I riverdanced up and down the upper deck stairs with my dumbass friend. We were drunk, not on libations but on the worst throttling our team has ever delivered, in the biggest stage our city has ever seen.

The clock hit zero and the stadium erupted.

 

 

And yet after all that, the most special moment of the day was scooting down to the front railing and watching the NFC Championship trophy presentation. For the first time in my life I heard Jerry Richardson speak live. I heard Cam and Luke and TD and coach Rivera. It was a historic moment, something special, something transcendent, the biggest single moment in the history of this city since they revolted against the British 250 years ago.

Best season ever.

[UKPanther94]

5 minutes ago, PhillyB said:

It was a historic moment, something special, something transcendent, the biggest single moment in the history of this city since they revolted against the British 250 years ago.

 

We'll just sweep that one under the carpet.........

[Cat]

Ive been to a lot of games. Big games, playoff games etc. That was by far the best most fun I've ever had. 

Spent most of the whole 4th quarter dancing with my family and the new friends we made around us. What a time. 

 

Also Cam is fuging awesome, not just because he plays great but because he brings the fans in on the fun. Special

[Darth Biscuit]

I asked but never really got an answer on Twitter... the game last week seemed MUCH louder on TV than this week's game.

I'm assuming maybe Fox didn't have the same mic system setup or something?  I mean, I could hear the crowd, but it seemed very muted.  Everyone on twitter was saying how the stadium was literally rocking...  how loud was it? We literally couldn't tell on TV.

 

[SCPantherFan]

1 minute ago, Darth Biscuit said:

I asked but never really got an answer on Twitter... the game last week seemed MUCH louder on TV than this week's game.

I'm assuming maybe Fox didn't have the same mic system setup or something?  I mean, I could hear the crowd, but it seemed very muted.  Everyone on twitter was saying how the stadium was literally rocking...  how loud was it? We literally couldn't tell on TV.

 

It was rocking.  The stadium was shaking several times.  On the radio broadcast they even mention how the press box was shaking.

[Shufdog]

1 minute ago, Darth Biscuit said:

I asked but never really got an answer on Twitter... the game last week seemed MUCH louder on TV than this week's game.

I'm assuming maybe Fox didn't have the same mic system setup or something?  I mean, I could hear the crowd, but it seemed very muted.  Everyone on twitter was saying how the stadium was literally rocking...  how loud was it? We literally couldn't tell on TV.

 

I thought the same thing, it just didn't seem as loud on TV as it did last week. Plus it seemed like they didn't show as much of the post play and touchdown celebrations either. 

[Floppin]

I don't think anyone in section 133 ever sat down. Even the 80 yr old couple beside us never sat, they went as far as to lean against their seats a few times. On my other side was a father and teenage son, that kid had the time of his life. The row behind me consisted entirely of a Latin group of some sort that only spoke Spanish. Language barriers aside, we were all high fiving, hugging and dancing together.

The stadium was loud as poo, especially the second half.

 

[RoaringRiot]

No question. 

It was my second best in-person Panthers game experience (until Feb 7th). The first being the '03 playoff win in St Louis. 

[bleedsgreenandgold]

The only thing that was disappointing for me was the walk out, lots of people acting like they just left the golf tournament over at Quail Hollow. We just made the SB for the 2 time ever, let's act like it.

 

 

[blackcat]

This was the best game I've been to at BOA.  So much fun.

[PantherJD]

I definitely felt like the lead-up to the game was a bit muted as well.  I thought everyone in the stadium would be going bonkers well before the game started, but it felt like everyone was pacing themselves.  I do think a lot of it was shock and just trying to take in and relish the experience.  

I have to say that there wasn't one moment in this game where the entire crowd was as wild as Luke's pick 6 last week - the one last night was well after the game was decided - but I thought the crowd's intensity swelled as the game went on.  It definitely felt like a party from about halfway through the third quarter on, whereas last week the crowd seemed about as tight as the team did in the second half.

[SCP]

It was phenomenal. Pure joy.  Ass fuging kicking.

[PantherRN]

It was an awesome experience and I'm so glad I was there to watch it in person. I yelled on defense the entire game, even when the outcome wasn't in question. I felt the stadium rock several times.

My only disappointment were Panther fans leaving before the trophy presentation. What is the point of coming to the game if you are going to leave before we are crowned NFC Champions? I don't understand that mindset at all, we were witnessing history.

[LUUUUUKE]

I would however like to point out that blue neck gatrs (bandanas) need to be one  and done. Hardly nobody was waiving them at all. The white towels last week made the stadium seem more alive for sure.

im sure anybody that attended both games would agree