Anything to Watch a Game
May 10, 2011 - Arena Football League (AFL)
Utah Blaze News Release
During the spring and summer months, Blaze fan Brett Smith always has plans on the weekends. They usually consist of one of two things: Utah Blaze games, or camping.
When the Blaze play at home, you can find Smith in the "Fire Pit," the section right behind the end zone. When the Blaze are on the road, Smith and some friends head out to the open woods to enjoy weekend getaways in the wilderness.
"We've always done one or the other," Smith said. "It just depends on the team's traveling schedule."
About three weeks ago, on the shores of Yuba Lake, Smith and his friends found a way to do both.
Smith's group of camping friends includes his wife Lori, cousins KC and Dani Seeley, and Paul Thornton. On Saturday, April 23, they decided to try and listen to Blaze game versus the Arizona Rattlers on 1280 The Zone, but they were in too remote of a location to receive a radio signal.
Smith decided to pull out his smart phone and see if he could stream the game from the internet, using AFL LIVE, Nifty TV's website. He was thrilled to find that it was a success, but he soon found that the screen was too small for the other four campers to watch as well.
So he connected his phone to his laptop, and the campers were able to huddle around the computer screen to watch. Then it started to rain. After putting a towel over the already difficult to see computer screen, it made the game virtually impossible to watch.
"Things kept coming up to make it more difficult," Smith said. But the group of faithful fans was not to be deterred.
Smith remembered an old projector he had stored in his RV in hopes that on one of their camping trips they could watch a movie. During halftime he set up the projector to his laptop, which was still using the phone's internet connection, and aimed the projector at the side of the Seeley's RV.
"We were able to watch the whole second half on a picture that was about four feet wide."
As Smith and his friends watched the game, the weather turned cold, and many of the other camping parties at the park began to leave.
"It was probably good that they left because there is are quiet hours at the park after 10:00. We got a little rowdy watching the game towards the end."
On the final play of regulation, with the Blaze down by eight, QB Tommy Grady hit WR Aaron Boone for a 10-yard, touchdown pass, putting the Blaze a two-point conversion away from overtime. On the conversion attempt, Grady hit Boone again, tying the game with no time remaining on the clock.
"When you get five people like us, who are pretty dedicated to the sport and to the team, moments like that get us excited. We were definitely loud."
In overtime, the Rattlers forced Grady into an interception and then scored on their next drive as the Blaze fell victim on the road. The disheartened campers headed back to their RVs to get some sleep before they left the next morning.
When Smith woke up, the heat in their RV had turned off because he had used the outlet to keep his laptop battery alive the night before. When he tried to leave, he found that his RV was stuck in the mud due to the rain from the night before. Was watching the game worth it'
"Yeah, it was definitely worth it," Smith said. "I thought it was great, the only thing that would have made it better was if Utah would have won."
As the Blaze hit the road again this weekend and head to Atlanta to face the Georgia Force, Smith and his camping mates are already planning how to watch the game from their RV this week.
"We're trying to come up with some other ideas how to set it up. I bought a cable that will connect my laptop to our television, so we'll probably use that."
Now that Smith realizes he doesn't have to choose between camping and watching the games, he is excited to support the Blaze every week.
"I don't know why we didn't think of this before. Now we get to do both."
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