Jewish fans jolt Jets, NFL BY Gary Myers DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER Thursday, April 16th 2009, 1:01 AM The Jets called the NFL office Wednesday to complain about their first two home games of the 2009 season being scheduled for Rosh Hashanah and then hours before the start of Yom Kippur, the two holiest holidays in the Jewish calendar. "The Jets are hearing from their fans," said Howard Katz, the NFL's senior VP of broadcasting, who oversees the creation of the schedule. "There was miscommunication between the Jets and the NFL office, for which I take full responsibility. All we can continue to do is look and see if there is a solution to this." The Giants requested the NFL put them on the road Sept. 20 and Sept. 27, the second and third weeks of the season. Apparently, the Jets also requested not to play at home on those days, but the message did not get through, Katz said. As a result, unless the league does some juggling, Jets ticket holders who observe the holidays will not be able to attend 25% of the team's home games. New York has the largest Jewish community in the country. Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, is observed this year from sundown on Friday, Sept. 18 until sundown on Sunday, Sept. 20. The Jets are scheduled to play the Patriots at 1 p.m. on Sept. 20 in their home opener. Because of construction of the new stadium at the Meadowlands and the lack of parking, the league is precluded from scheduling any Monday or Thursday night games. An exception was made last year for the Giants' Thursday opener against the Redskins. Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement, officially begins at sundown on Sunday, Sept. 27. The Giants are playing in Tampa at 1p.m. and the Jets are home against the Titans at 4:15 p.m. The logical solution would have been to put the Jets in the early game and the Giants in the late afternoon game, giving Jets fans time to get home before the start of Yom Kippur. Gratuitous Link
I'm Italian and I'm not happy about the Jets playing the Dolfags at 8:30 at night on Columbus Day...sorry but if the Jets play on Christmas, I wouldn't complain and I'm Catholic....
I agree with everything you said. The issue that I see is that the request never made it to the people who made the schedule.
Wow do catholics call and complain when games fall on Christmas. I just heard about this on 660 I'm sorry but I don't see the problem.
Unreal...I should probably write to the heads at Augusta, because I'm Catholic and really didn't like to have to watch the Masters on Easter!!! If you can't make it, DON'T GO!! Don't blame the Jets for your religious beliefs and committments now.
Prob 2 people complained. I hope they can still fill the stadium. If really have to watch the on your dvr. I have done it a couple times becuase of weddings
I should write the Jets about being a religious Jets fan, and complain about the fact that they have failed to bring us a Super Bowl for 40 years now. I wonder what they will do to correct that???
leave it to the Jews to complain about something like this. and incase you were wondering, i am jewish myself.
They probably constitute around 10% of the fanbase. Why aren't the other 90% bitching about all of their most sacred days and observances?
Listening to Carton ramble on, I started getting annoyed. He brought up the fact that his concern was not for Orthodox Jews but for the rest of the jewish community who ONLY GO TO TEMPLE on those two days....PLEASE... If they don't go to temple all year, it's really not that important to them in the first place. We Catholics have a similar scenario with the "A&P" Catholics--they only go to church on Ash Wednesday and Palm Sunday (maybe Easter and Christmas), either for appearances or to appease their families. I understand the sensitivity for those people who feel they can't go to the game on the high Jewish holidays, and it might be cool if the Jets tried to move the game to eariler, like 11am (Hawaii time!), but if you don't feel you can go, you don't go. However, I do think Christmas is different because of the number of people that observe it. The U.S. is a nation of tolerance to all religions--that's what makes it great--but at the same time, Christmas is a national holiday that is celebrated throughout the country and I don't think the NFL should schedule any games for December 24th or 25th. But they're a monolith and they'll do whatever the hell they want anyway. All we can do is choose not to participate.
I am going to sue the Jets for not changing the uniforms to pirate uniforms to honor the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
This is silly. I'm actually grateful because it means I have an excuse not to go to services (and a pretty good last meal at the tailgate before having to fast for a day).
I'm going to sue for using the name Jet when we have nothing do with being an airplane. Its false advertising I tell you.
Two Jewish guys are walking down the street. They're both down on their luck and haven't been doing well lately and are lamenting to one another about their current financial situations. As they pass by the front of a church, they notice a large sign on the front lawn that reads, "CONVERT TO CHRISTIANITY TODAY AND RECIEVE $300 CASH!" The one guy looks at the other one and says, "What do you think?" His friend replies by saying, "Well, what do we have to lose? I'm going inside to find out what the story is." So the one guy decides to wait on the front steps while his friend goes in to find out what's going on. After about 30 minutes, his friend finally comes out of the church, so the guy on the steps says to him, "Well, how did you make out? Did you get the money?" And his friend says, "Is that all you Jews worry about is money?"
