Monster Truck Jam Attendance and Review

My grandson had this intense desire to see one of these Monster Truck Jams that he has recently become VERY enamored by. He is 5 years old and has experienced a normal growth that a red-blooded All-American kid goes through on his way to school-age.

He went through Blue's Clues , Bob the Builder, Tom & Jerry and that quartet of singing Australians and now he is into construction machinery, Hot Wheels & Monster Truck Jams. My daughter managed to get 4 tickets to one in Jacksonville (an hour's drive and $100) not bad to be able to watch this event through his eyes.
The website sells you an experience like no other event does...for an example, they promise a meet and greet with the drivers and to be able to stand next to this giant machines with these monster tires, so it sounded like a great photo-op for the kid's album. This Didn't Happen due to (according to a surly women in an event vest) the times listed on the website were 5-7p.m. It was 5:30 and the trucks were fenced off, no access, too bad...not good PR since amazingly this stadium had SOLD OUT! 72,000 + families just like ours with the standard 4-8 year old in tow, clad in tees and caps holding the vehicles of their favorites were out of luck.

I suggest we put it behind us and find our seats, not bad seats at all for viewing the floor of the Gator Bowl all decked out with a sand oval and obstacles such as old school buses and early 1980 model cars that were painted completely in one color or another resembling Play-Doh figurines. The boys in the crowd are getting feverishly stoked as the clocked ticked down to Showtime! They have match racing first where individual trucks compete on the oval against each other as a clock measures the time they finish the race. There are penalties for going out of bounds, striking anything that is not on the course as well as all four tires have to touch the obstacle that they are jumping over. I'm not sure as to how much the children enjoy this part of the show due to the penalties and rules are not really relayed very well to the masses.

The engines are loud (bring earplugs!) and if you are in the middle of a row of seats, do NOT expect vendors to bring you any sort of snack or drink other than $5 bags of boiled peanuts and a $4 handful of cotton candy. After the races are run in a bracket fashion and GraveDigger wins as he almost always does unless he breaks down . (Herein lies one of the main problems that I see with Monster Jam as a sport) You get the FreeStyle portion of the show where each truck has 90 seconds to put on a "Daredevil Death-defying!!" performance to capture the excitement and support of the sold-out crowd. I really enjoyed this portion of talent as some of the drivers pushed their vehicles to perform wheelies or Slap-Wheelies as my Grandson calls them, spinning doughnuts, jumping over cars and crushing other cars as well as "getting Big Air!") when they jump over different size hills scattered around the track. There is always one BIG hill that not all trucks will attempt and some of the ones who do don't always land on all four wheels...the crowd loves this part, or basically anytime a vehicle comes apart and lands upside down on fire, massive exhortations ensue.

Another sticking point with me was that some drivers and their trucks really put on a great show of stunts and driving expertise for the adulation of the roaring crowd. They were rewarded with high scores as they should have been. The show eventually reaches the 2 MOST loved vehicles Maximum Destruction and the infamous Grave Digger, who each put on a very good exhibition, although not the best considering the trucks who went before them, yet Grave Digger was awarded the Trophy again, unjustly I might add. My grandson was disappointed since Max D pretty much went all out and destroyed the fiberglass body to please his many fans in attendance, but it was pre-ordained that the Green truck with the Grim Reaper painted on the side was the winner.
This is an area that the corporate part of Monster Jam should consider changing, it isn't the WWF as these drivers really do compete in their performances and on any given night they should be allowed to win a trophy or two, maybe they might pick up a few fans as well. I don't think that would hurt the business side (there ARE a couple of female drivers...an area that has never been tested to see if girls might have an interest should one of them score high.) I just feel that management should shoot a little higher in their money-making aspirations, after all, they ARE selling out NFL stadiums with a "Sport" that the entire family can enjoy.

Before i forget, one of the surprising little half time shows was a demolition derby where any vehicle can enter as long as they tow something behind them and it remains attached while they try to annihilate each other. The Fans were raucously involved in this performance and gave it a standing Ovation when it ended.
All in all, disappointments taken into account, this was an enjoyable time for everyone that could still be improved upon.