Don't forget to refresh your memory on Part 1 and Part 2
The stadium emptied pretty quickly, mostly due to the blow out score of the Ravens beating the Eagles 37-7. As soon as the sectioned emptied that I was working at, we immediately began the next assignment which was combing every seat in every section for valuables. This sounds like a hefty task, especially in a huge stadium like M&T Bank Stadium, but it was over in about 4 or 5 minutes. The only valuables we found in our section was a seat cushion and a blanket. I was amazed at the amount of ticket stubs that are left (I'm sure many of you can peg me as the type that holds onto every ticket from every game I go to). There were also a ton of Raven's Team Photos that were being given out at the beginning of the game.
We were then told to report to another section for debriefing. At the time we got to that section, it was about maybe 10 minutes since the game was over and there were only four sections in the entire stadium that had people in it, and they were the four locations for debriefing. Seeing a stadium is a weird moment. People in a stadium make them seem so much smaller than they actually are. If I had a camera on me, I would have taken a picture. Anyway, down on the field, the crew just finished removing all of the sideline equipment. So in roughly ten minutes, the field was empty as well.
For us, we got our time cards signed and were sent down to the bellows of the stadium again to return all of the clothes we had to borrow and to turn in our time cards, so we can eventually get paid. And just like that, 25 minutes after game time, we were out of the stadium and back on road back to College Park.
Overall, I was very surprised how fast the Stadium gets set up in the morning, and how fast it gets taken down at night. Working Security (Part 2) was by far the most revealing portion of the day as I had no previous training for what I was doing.
In Part 4, I will be discussing a completely different side of sports. The side we all hate. It was also the hardest thing I have ever done related to sports (and I have taught kids at camps for over 8 years), I am, of course, talking about being the official, the umpire, the referee, the man in blue, the man in black and white stripes.
