The text message arrived on the Friday night before the University of Louisville – Wake Forest football game, a friend of my son inquiring about the best way to get tickets. Eli, his 7-year-old son, was begging him to go to a UofL game.
“He just started watching football with me a couple of months ago,” said Andy Zehnder. “He didn’t know the rules or anything, but he got excited, making so much noise one night that he woke up his mom.”
The Zehnder family lives an hour-and-a-half up I-75 in Union, Ky., and Andy already had other plans for the day, like taking Eli to a swim meet in Lexington that afternoon. But he wanted to get Eli to a UofL football game. Extra tickets? Scalpers? Stub Hub?
Turns out my wife Barbara had a cold and wasn’t planning to go Saturday night. I had two extra tickets and was happy to make them available. Eli’s wish was going to come true.
The swim meet was running late and nothing was going right for the UofL football team and Eli was sleeping in the back when Andy finally found parking at a Floyd Street lot. UofL was losing fumbles, missing passes and taking sacks when they got to the seats midway through the second quarter.
Eli was an instant hit with surrounding fans on Row Z in Section 234. His smile was contagious, his questions about the game were genuine and he somehow knew Louisville was going to win that game.
It may have taken a while for UofL to get going, but not Eli. An elderly gentleman behind us had brought a cow bell, sharing it often with Eli. Every time the Cardinals did something positive, Eli was madly clanking the bell. The lady in front of him was high-fiving him every few seconds it seemed.
When UofL really got it going in the fourth quarter, Eli, with some help from his dad, was standing in his chair back or on the back of the seat in front of us. Eli with a permanent smile on his face, thrilled to be there, even happier that his football team was finally winning.
The last I saw of them, Andy and Eli were headed down the steps in the direction of the football field, hoping to high-five with UofL football players after the win.
So happy to have been a part of it, having had similar experiences with my son and a grandson at their first UofL football games. An unbelievable night of football, a first-time experience for little Eli, and some incredible bonding moments between a father and son.
You’re a good man, Charlie! It mirrors the experience we had a few weeks back when my beloved Sonja could not make the Duke game. Little Nick G….all of five years old…got to accompany his grandmother to the game and had the time of his life. It was his first Cardinal athletic experience and the aura of it all…from tailgating and the Card March…to the game itself and slapping hands with the players afterward was, in his words…”The best sports time I have ever had.”
Paulie
I had just as much fun as you guys did, thrilled to be a part of it. What a memory for everyone.
You’re welcome, Eli, and thanks for bringing the Cardinals good luck.
Charlie – I just wanted to say thanks to you for offering us your tickets and giving us the chance to sit with you. It was an unforgettable experience to take Eli to his first game and be so close to the field. He had an amazing time (as did I).
BTW – Eli hand wrote a thank you note last night – here’s the words from him (I can’t figure out how to post an image):
To Mr. Springer
Thank you for bringing us to the football game. Thanks for the cookies. The game was surprising. It was a really good football game.
Eli
Thanks again,
Andy Zehnder