5 days: Chili time

Going to a Tiger game isn't just a three hour expedition, it's an all day event...or it should be.  Detroit has done its darnedest to clean up the area surrounding Comerica and Ford to make going to a sporting event an all day family fun adventure.  You should take advantage and use it as an excuse to have a little fun and turn a baseball game into an all day party.

I believe there are two fields of thought for the pre-game snack and drink.  There is the HockeyTown crowd and the Cheli's Chili Bar crowd.  I'm proud to be a full fledged member of the Cheli's crowd.  I've honestly never had the chili, but that's not what the spirit of Cheli's is really about anyway.  It's about cramming as many people into the bar area downstairs until they open up the roof and allow everyone to spread out.  I've been in HockeyTown too.  It's nice, but there are many advantages to Cheli's, including charm and 5 flights of stairs.  Trust me, your going to want to burn as many calories as possible to fit the deep fried food and beer into your system.

One of the first times I went up to the roof, they were serving a Kalamazoo favorite, Bell's Oberon, straight from the keg.  It was glorious.  Oberon is meant to be enjoyed outside, why do you think they release it as a summer beer?  It's flavor is magnified proportionally to the amount of sunlight and the degrees Fahrenheit (no Celsius here, that's for Canadians). 

In fact, on that fateful first trip to Cheli's, the soon-to-be Mr. Tigress and I were sharing a picnic table with a couple east-side-of-the-staters and mentioned that we were from Oberon country.  They ended up buying us a piece of home in the form of a delicious wheat beer with an orange slice kicker.  Thanks friends!  This also proves that everyone at the Tiger games is friends...unless of course you are wearing the opposing team's shirt, or a Yankee hat.  You people aren't welcome.

Another time at Cheli's, we saw the man himself walking around in shorts and flip flops.  It was one of those moments where the entire rooftop did a collective head turn and just gawked at him until he left.  How could you not?  I don't even like hockey, but I know he was a pretty bad ass player.  Hockey players in general have the appearance of an old catcher-mitt like face and several fake teeth.  They also tend to be older because they can play longer than other athletes.  Hockey is also a goofy game because there is no real height advantage, probably why there's so many Canadian players.  The Internet claims that Cheli is 5' 11'', but I think that is a gross exaggeration.  I'd say he's 5'9'' if he's wearing his skates. 

Cheli's is also the best place to get a pre-game drink because of it's proximity to the stadium.  On days with free give-aways, you can easily scope out the line and know when to go down so that you can snag your free swag (stuff we all get). 

The real charm of Cheli's comes from the church behind it though.  As illustrated below, the 'o' is missing out of the "Methodist", creating the feel that you are in the "Central United Meth District."  Now that sounds like a fun place to party!  Also in the picture below, you can see the Tigress family!  I'm in the green and Sister Tigress is in the orange.

So plan on getting to the games at least 2 hours before the gates open for some pre-game fun.  Now, if only Cheli's would get on board and open up the roof several hours before game time.  Maybe if all of us get together and write strongly worded letters, we can make the dream happen.

5 more days...