I’ve been attending Philadelphia Eagles games since 2012 with a group of guys who share several season tickets. Initially, it didn’t seem like something I would enjoy—attending a football game. I never had much interest in football growing up or even up until that point. However, my friend Stan invited me to a couple of games, and it ultimately seemed like a good idea to join this tailgate crew as a weekend activity during the fall.

Over the last decade or so, I’ve attended the majority of home games at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia to watch the Eagles play. We usually arrive between three and four hours early so we can park in the lot and tailgate, which is a significant part of what we do when we attend the games. In fact, I would say my interest in this weekend activity is more about getting together with people I enjoy hanging out with than about the actual football, even though football is ostensibly the reason we gather.

Throughout the many years I’ve been attending games, there have only been a few instances of notably bad weather. When it has been bad, it’s been pretty severe, but for most games, the weather has been reasonably clear, albeit cold. For some reason, Philadelphia home games are often scheduled for late fall and winter, which doesn’t make much sense to me because it’s just cold in Philadelphia at that time of year. I’d prefer if we played teams like the Arizona Cardinals, Houston Texans, or Tampa Bay Buccaneers in December so we could potentially travel to a warmer location.

We’ve attended some games when temperatures ranged from 0 to 20 degrees Fahrenheit, and it’s been quite cold. I don’t recall how many layers of clothing I’ve had to wear to stay warm while sitting in our high seats in Section 241, but you do what you can to keep warm. There have even been occasions when there were tornado threats, and we had to stand in one of the hallways near the concessions instead of sitting in our seats for a while because they were worried about a tornado coming through the stadium—though it never did materialize.

There have also been games where torrential rain came down, making it impossible to stay dry. During some of these rainy games, we’ve decided to leave the field and head to a local bar where it’s drier and warmer. Those occasions have been nice too because, as I mentioned earlier, it’s mostly about camaraderie rather than physically attending the game. Although attending a game in person has a very different feel compared to watching it at a local bar or on TV at home without other people around. You definitely get a strong home team vibe at an Eagles game.

Having attended games in other locations as well, I can say that seeing Philly games at home definitely has a different atmosphere compared to other places with their teams. As people from the Philadelphia area, we have a strong connection with our local team and feel entitled to get upset when they perform poorly—which sadly happens often—especially when we’re mad at their coaching staff. Philadelphia fans are known for being very vocal about their disapproval of even minor details and will frequently boo during the game for small mistakes. Sometimes you can even hear it over TV broadcasts, which amuses me greatly—especially at away games where Philadelphia fans often saturate the stands due to our large following.

This year things are different. The guys I attend games with are all getting older and have different interests and availability now. For example, Stan is splitting his time between his home here and his second house in Tampa, so he’s not around for many games anymore. It’s similar for some of the other guys too; our tailgate crew has broken up a bit since we lost access to an RV that had technical issues—it fell apart while being driven home one season.

Tailgates aren’t what they used to be. It would be neat to revitalize them by bringing in some younger people who are really into the Eagles—not because I don’t like the older guys but because younger folks might bring more vitality to the game experience. Looking at this season’s schedule of eight home games, we’re only going to three and selling tickets for the rest. This makes me sad because we used to go to all the games and spend lots of time together.

It would be nice to bring in new blood and see if we can revive our season ticket experience. Alternatively, I could find a local place to watch the games and hang out with people who enjoy the Eagles—maybe build up a new local group that would save on parking fees, ticket prices, and driving time. But it definitely wouldn’t be the same as spending nearly ten years attending Eagles games in person and tailgating down at the sports arena area in Philly.