Yesterday, I went to the Tukee Bowl football game between Mountain Pointe and Desert Vista. I was expecting a raucous game between two bitter high school rivals that would be fun to watch.
But I didn’t even make it to halftime before I decided to leave. And it had nothing to do with the score of the game.
I went to the game with my dad and we got there about 45 minutes ahead of time, so we could find accessible seats. After we got our tickets, we made our way to the visitor’s bleachers on the west side of the field. This year’s game was at DV, so we of course were unfamiliar with the way their accessible seating was arranged.
Once my dad made it to the base of the bleachers, I rolled up the ramp to the seats. Basically, the bleachers had cut outs on the first row of seats where a wheelchair could sit. With this in mind, we went towards the 50 yard line to find open seats. We found an open section and waited for the game to begin.
And that’ when the shenanigans ensued…
As it got closer to kickoff, the bleachers became flooded with students, parents and other fans. It began to look like a sea of black as the Mountain Pointe fans adorned their black-colored apparel to support the “black out.” It quickly became apparent that it was going to be a little snug if we’re going to fit all the fans in the bleachers.
It soon got to the point where students were standing in front of railing at the bottom of the bleachers. And, of course, they stood right in front of me in my line of sight. So my dad and I spent the next quarter and a half telling kids to move.
Things finally came to a head in the second quarter.
After we finally managed to get a clear view, three boys came and stood right in front of us. My dad then tapped one on the shoulder and asked him to move. Two of the boys politely said sorry and moved out of the way, but one did not.
He simply stood there and continued watching the game. Believing he did hear the request, my dad taps him on the shoulder and asks him to move. The kid simply moves to the right, literally, a couple inches. I know right? My dad taps him again and tells him to move more. He then proceeds to move just a couple more inches.
Come on, really?
“You need to move out of the way so we can see!” Shouted my dad.
Finally, the kid then walks to the other side with his friends. But not without rolling his eyes and giving us a look of disgust. He actually had the gall to make us feel like we had nerve asking him to move. I guess in his world, they just put people in wheelchairs in rooms and never let them out.
I guess I should apologize for knocking him off his high horse (note my sarcasm). But after we got through all that, a horde of students came over and took over the railing. The crowd in front of me was now three deep and my view now was of the backs of the students who stood in front of me. At this point, we were tired of arguing with students, so my dad and I decided to leave.
It didn’t take us long to realize that getting kids to move out of the way while I rolled by, was just as hard a task. But after a few crushed toes and heels, they quickly got the picture.
So, to sum it up, the night was a fail on two fronts:
The accessible seating - It was horrible because you can’t see past the people in front of you and it needs to be redone.
The Mountain Pointe students – There are some rude and obnoxious kids who go to Mountain Pointe. And as an alumnus of MPHS, that’s a little disappointing.
But the night wasn’t a total loss. It ended in a 34-18 Mountain Pointe win.
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