Football at the Ashe Center
When I heard that the Richmond Revolution was going to playing indoor football at the Arthur Ashe Center this season, I was a bit perplexed. This was football with kicking and passing and the Arthur Ashe Center is a decent facility but it seems a bit small. Needless to say, after Saturday night’s first game, […]
When I heard that the Richmond Revolution was going to playing indoor football at the Arthur Ashe Center this season, I was a bit perplexed. This was football with kicking and passing and the Arthur Ashe Center is a decent facility but it seems a bit small. Needless to say, after Saturday night’s first game, I can the location isn’t the only thing that seemed interesting.
There was a buzz swarming the place as I hit the parking area. There were actually people tailgating. It was no Blacksburg on a Saturday afternoon, but there were grills, tables, chairs and beer in the parking lot. People were excited to see this game.
I walked into the arena only to be greeted by some dude dressed as Patrick Henry. As interesting as that was, it was the setup that amazed me. On each side, there were two sets of old school bleachers and in the middle was this 50 yard football field. That was normal. However, as I gazed above, I saw that my suspicions were correct. The majority of the field had plenty of head room, but the end zones had a lower ceiling. There was no way that kicking would be easy and sure enough 10 minutes later the team was practicing its placekicking. Almost every time, the ball would hit the ceiling.
The game itself was a hoot. One minute you had fabulous plays being made on the field. Other moments, there were technical difficulties with the music. There were a ton of penalties. There were some tough hits. There were sideline fans that were rudely greeted by players flying over the wall. There were taunts being thrown around by the opposition towards the fans. It was far from being a polished product, but that was so great about it. It felt like it related well to the people watching it. It felt like it was fun and exciting, and remained I think a truly Richmond product.
Overall, it’s hard to complain. It’s a Richmond event that costs $10 to get in. They serve beer. There are 3000+ packed in there. There are players are accessible and sign autographs post game. It’s very worth checking out, one might have a really good time.
Oh yeah, one more thing. The Revs won the game 30-24.
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