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Games Redskins Fans Play

November 22, 2008 12:35 am

TIMES CHANGE, and some- times when you look back you can't believe things really happened that way.

I was watching the Redskins-Cowboys game the other night by a roaring fire when I happened to recall the times when Fredericksburg motels would do a brisk business on Sundays when the Redskins were at home or their games didn't sell out.

Now just the fact that the Redskins didn't sell out tells you right away that this story goes back a long time.

Until 1973, all home games were blacked out (and no other NFL games could be shown) to make sure the stands were full. After that, all home games that weren't sold out 72 hours in advance were not televised within 75 miles of the stadium.

Thus, it was a major tragedy in the 1960s when the 'Skins were home and you didn't have a ticket or when there were empty seats in RFK Stadium after 1973.

Both meant that Washington's CBS affiliate couldn't carry the contest, and the folks who could get only Washington TV channels couldn't see the game.

Redskins fans back then were just as crazy as they are now, and some people just couldn't stand knowing that the Washington game was on television somewhere and they couldn't see it.

So several fans--and these were usually men--would get together, drive to Fredericksburg, get a motel room and watch the game.

But Fredericksburg was within the 75-mile blackout radius, you say.

Yes, but Fredericksburg got the Richmond TV stations and Richmond was outside the blackout radius, so they could show the games.

Of course, if you had a friend or relative in Fredericksburg who got the Richmond channels you might head there for a Sunday visit. Many distant cousins were reunited on blackout Sundays when Northern Virginia relatives--all football fans--came to call.

But if you didn't have a friend or a relative who got the Richmond TV stations, the most prudent thing to do was get together with several of your buddies and get a motel room in Fredericksburg.

It likely was a curious sight to some to see four or five men rent a room, disappear inside with snacks and drinks and then emerge after a three-hour afternoon stay.

And I'm sure there were any number of people in adjoining rooms who went to the front desk and complained, "What is going on with all that screaming in the next room?"

But what people thought didn't matter when fans considered the alternative--missing a Redskins game.

Fredericksburg motel owners had to love Redskins blackouts, and getting those rooms cleaned up for an early Sunday check-in had to be a high priority.

You could probably get a motel room back then for $30, so all each guy had to chip in was five or six bucks. It was cheaper than buying a ticket to the game and you didn't have to fight the traffic.

EASTERN SHUTTLE

Another "Did that really happen?" tale involves the old Eastern Airlines shuttle.

Younger readers won't even remember Eastern Airlines, which went out of business in 1991, but for several decades it was one of the major carriers in this country.

One of Eastern's biggest innovations was its shuttle flights between Washington National and New York and between New York and Boston.

These flights took off every hour from about 6 a.m. until 6 p.m. on weekdays in an effort to move business customers from one city to another in a hurry.

Know how you have to check in two hours ahead of time at airports these days? Well, there was none of that with the Eastern shuttle. This was a system built on simplicity and convenience.

You just walked up to the Eastern counter, wrote out your own boarding pass and got on the plane. It was as simple as that. In the beginning you didn't even need a boarding pass; you just walked onto the plane and found a seat. There were no assigned seats on the shuttle.

I don't remember how you paid for your ticket, but that was simple, too. And you could fly round trip from Washington to New York for under $100, I do remember that.

Still, it is not the cheap flights that stand out in my mind but the simplicity and speed that the shuttle offered. Imagine just writing out a boarding pass and walking onto the plane!

Times have changed. The days of simple check-ins are long gone and not likely to return.

And it is also unlikely that there will be empty seats at FedEx Field in the foreseeable future to force Redskins games to be blacked out.

But if blackouts resume, the Fredericksburg motels that can pick up the Richmond TV stations may once again do a brisk business on Sundays.

Redskins fans haven't changed. They've only gotten more rabid, and now there are more of them.

Donnie Johnston is a staff writer with The Free Lance-Star. E-mail him at
Email: djohnston@freelancestar.com.