In case you ever wondered whether you could make a sporting trip out of any trip, well…it is certain that you can. We went deep into the South of Texas to visit my grandfather in Mission, Texas. The closest large city is McAllen, Texas, and it is minutes from two border towns in Mexico – Progresso and Reynosa.

Andrew had to do a bit of searching to find a game to hit while in Texas, but of course, he came up fruitful. I wrongly assumed it might be some minor league baseball but in a twist, he found an Arena Football Team (minor league), called the Rio Grande Valley Dorados.

Now, I will not make any claims that this was the height of his sporting portfolio. This is a “minor league” game in Arena Football which is already minor league. And, it was in the Dodge Arena. It is possible that the expression, “get the (blank) out of Dodge,” was in reference to people trying to leave a game in this stadium. But, it’s something.

I decided to skip the game but Andrew mentioned that I missed one of the best promotions in professional football. When the hometown Rio Grande Valley Dorados scored a safety, the team offered dollar beers for ten minutes. This caused a mass rush to the concessions…people running down the aisles to get first dibs at the cheapo beer. Very cool promotion. There is real incentive to root for the home team to score.

Other than this highlight, there is not much to say about minor league, second class football. Except for the fact that the kick-offs were sponsored by the local bail bondsman. Talk about a rough crowd.