FanHouse in the Stands: A Car Wreck of a Game, Cheerleaders Wear 'Liberty White'

This season, FanHouse writers take their cameras to NFL stadiums to document what happens when you stop being polite and start getting real. Or something. We've cleverly titled it "FanHouse in the Stands."

As I mentioned before, I am one of those people who wears a ton a fan gear to NFL games. It's not everybody's deal, but I have a lot of fun with my way to support the team. However, wearing elaborate game attire has its perils.

Like for instance, what happens if you get in a car wreck after the game?

Not only did I see my favo team get destroyed, but my car got rear-ended in stop-and-go traffic by another car who got rear-ended by another car. This mashed up picture is of the second car.

Fortunately none of us were hurt, my car didn't seem to have bad damage (waiting for an estimate), and everybody was cool about pulling off the freeway and exchanging insurance info. But you know, you really don't want to be standing on the side of the road waiting for the police to arrive dressed like this ....

I was the stone cold sober designated driver, but really, this is not the outfit you want to be wearing in case they decide to give you field sobriety tests.

One reason why the Texans encourage tailgating before and after games is to reduce the amount of traffic going in and out of the stadium because then people don't arrive or leave all at the same time. Even with that, the traffic after games can be heavy. I've seen a number of post-game wrecks but have never been involved in one.

There's a children's book called It Could Have Been Worse. In the book, all sorts of bad things happen to a mouse but, really, really bad things could have happened instead. I'm not sure that this is an uplifting message to kids.

Be thankful for garbage because it could have been way more sucky? Be fearful of all the bad stuff that can happen to you in life? I don't know. What I do know is that even on a day of awful football where my car got crunched and I had to stand by the side of the road dressed like a big goofball supportive fan, I am truly thankful that no one got hurt.

'Liberty White' After Labor Day

The Texans marketing people have themes for all their games. This game was the "Salute to the Military Game" and the players wore white jerseys and pants, and the team asked everybody to wear "Liberty White." (Insert easy "Surrender White" joke here). Hence my outfit, that I must say looks much more dementedly nifty in person than in the picture because you can see all the details on the front and back.

In any event, the Texans cheerleaders deck out for the themes as well. A few weeks ago they wore their Hispanic Heritage attire that looked to some like french maid outfits. This week they wore their all white outfits. Here's some up close video of the cheerleader's dance in the fourth quarter (from about the same vantage point as this earlier video).



Stands pretty empty by the end of the game, though I am guessing most of you weren't looking at that. The cheerleaders were the MVP of the game. They have to smile no matter how bad the game is. That takes some doing. It was Cheerleader Sonya's birthday and the fans in the Bull Pen sang her a happy birthday song.

Thanksgiving Comes Early...But Not to the Texans

The Texans have only one home game in November, so tailgaters had to choose between celebrating Tailgate Thanksgiving for the Ravens game, or wait until the early December Monday night game. Figuring the Ravens are a bird, they went for the turkey.

I guess turkey was appropriate given the manner that the Texans lost.

The Lone Spot Tailgaters celebrated early with two fried turkeys with all the fixings. My buddy Stemp brought his home brewed pumpkin beer. It sounds festive or disgusting depending on the adventurousness of your taste buds, but I had a little and it was delicious. They also made some lobster-stuffed jalapenos that were mouth blisteringly wonderful.

One of the cooks, Josh, is modeling his Texans chef hat whilst pointing to a sign that made me laugh.

Previously at FanHouse:
FanHouse in the Stands: Crazy Close Video of Texans Cheerleaders from The Bull Pen
FanHouse in the Stands: Weird Things You See Tailgating
FanHouse in the Stands: Dolphins at Texans, Complete With French Maid Outfits
FanHouse in the Stands: Colts at Texans, A Great Tailgate, Not So Great Game
FanHouse in the Stands: NFL Game Attire: What Not to Wear