so very wrong. There were plans to have tailgating areas on BOTH sides of the Hudson(that would be NY & NJ incase you don`t know). Our options for pre-game festivities would have been numerous beyond thought. Manhattan would`ve been a mecca for Jets pre-game stuff, it would`ve been insane. Eventually as fans get to know others around them in the stadium, the tailgating would more than likely take place at the thousands of bars and restuarants the city has to offer. I tailgated for every damn Jets game I went to(minus a small handful of Monday Night games due to work and time restriction). The ONLY reason tailgating is such a big deal in NJ is because there ain`t Jack Shit to do otherwise. Redds? The GrasshopperII? LOL Please, those are the 2 closest pubs to that shithole in the meadowlands. Tailgating is great. I love to do it but sometimes it isn`t feasible and certainly isn`t cheaper than going to a pub and getting a few beers and something to eat. Even in NYC the cost to pregame in a pub would be cheaper than tailgating. Unless ofcourse one has a bad drinking problem. Then it would probably cost the same amount. I myself got tired of farting wet charcoal odors on Tuesday after a Sunday game. Tailgating is a lot of work. Usually 2 or 3 days prep depending on how fancy the food was. Plus all the crap one needs to make themselves comfortable during cold weather and those dreadful rainy November games. Variety is the spice of life. Constant tailgating over and over is not. It`s actually a part-time job imo.
Some people are easily fooled. There were no plans for anything. There may have been some very self serving remarks, but making any kind of plans at all would have been way premature. And unless somebody planned to get a drink by the bus station it would have cost a whole lot more to pregame in New York. It never cost me fifty bucks a head to eat steak in the parking lot either.
There were going to be designated areas for those who wanted to tailgate on BOTH sides of the Hudson. Similar to what Chicago has done. Ofcourse any/all premium parking spaces around the WSS would not have tailgating but those spaces, just like Metlife spaces, would`ve been too expensive anyway. I`m not sure if anyone would`ve taken their vehicles into Manhattan because they wanted to "tailgate" that badly. Then again, I`m sure grills would`ve been installed in areas for those who did want to do it. Thus one less thing to worry about for a tailgater. On the Jersey side it would`ve been much easier being more open space to play with. As far as cost goes you say? Unless you are serving chuck or London Broil or hot dogs, you ain`t gettin away cheap tailgating. You need to add in the cost for EVERYTHING one needs to tailgate. Cups, charcoal, ice, plates/napkins and all that other stuff. It is NOT as cheap tailgating as you would think. Bread, tinfoil, plastic wrap, baggies, etc...... This shit costed quite a bit. Then you need to add in the foods, be it whatever. Chicken, beef, pork, fish, salads, cheeses. Damn, the list can go on and on. Like I said, depending on how fancy one wants to get, tailgating isn`t always the cheapest way. I can go to the east side and get a burger(top notch too) along with fries and 2 pints for about $29(Smith & Wollensky Grill). The best thing about that too is, I don`t have cook it and I don`t have to clean up after it and I can actually have someone else bring it to me while I drink. Not sure how long you have been tailgating for, but I`ve done it for well over 30 years. It`s a friggin part-time job is what it turned out to be. The loading up of the vehicle, the setting up, the cleaning up, the loading up again after the game, then the unloading and cleaning when you got home. I loved doing it but I wished it wasn`t every friggin game. I would have welcomed the option to go to a pub for 4 of the games and tailgate for the other 4. And no, I wouldn`t just tailgate in Sept/Oct. either. I enjoy tailgating in cold weather. That isn`t aan issue at all. What is though, is no roof on the new craphole. I would love to tailgate in the elements, but I`d love to have some comfort afterwards when it`s time to go in to watch a game. Eh, I`ve cried about it too much already. Thats why I don`t go anymore. It just sucks now. Too expensive all around with no comfort. Keep it.
If you don't like to tailgate it doesn't matter to me (and I cooked ribs at the Yale Bowl at the Jets-Giants games). Just don't try to equate going crosstown to buy a restaurant hamburger with tailgating. And if you really believed there was a plan in place for supplying grills or tailgating across the river, I have sales rights to the new bridge that you could cross just before the kickoff. Contact me for a season ticket.
Are folks honestly arguing about tailgating versus not tailgating when we could have had a world class stadium that rivaled any other in the world? That was actually IN the greatest city in the world? You really give a crap about tailgating when we could have had that incredible venue? Wow. All I wanted was a stunning stadium for my Jets, didn't give a crap about the parking lot and where I was going to grill some stupid wings. _
The trade for Tim Tebow had me close, really close. The hiring of Idzik and last season brought me back from the brink though, because I just don't understand how a 21 year old kid can predict EXACTLY what was going to go down as a result of that trade yet an NFL franchise says yeah man, let's do it. I'm not saying Tannenbaum did nothing right in his tenure, but it seemed like the longer he was the GM, the less clarity he had when making decisions.
NYC as a destination is great for what it has that no one else has. Who cares if you are seeing football in midtown Manhattan, unless you live there and take your limo to the game? So, you get to see all the tall buildings around the stadium. That has nothing to do with football. Tailgating is part of the football tradition, whether you like it or not. The WSS was all about Woody catering to his crowd and the hell with regular season ticket holders. of course PSL's did a number on those same people, but as far as I am concerned, I saw no benefit in the WSS. I work in Midtown every goddamn day, and the idea of coming in here to watch a football game on a Sunday has no value whatsoever to me.
I hate tailgating, I only do it b/c I can't show up at 12:50, park and get into the Stadium in time for kickoff. if we got the NYC Stadium I would have taken the train, not had to worry about parking or eating bad food at 9/10/11AM in the morning.
As for the OP's question, which I have not yet answered... I used to be a big fan of the Yankees, the Knicks, even the Nets for a time. That I am none of those now has more to do with losing interest in the sports rather than the teams. But I did abruptly stop being a Yankee fan out of unhappiness with management. Still, that was a combination of factors. As for the Jets I still love the NFL as much as ever, although it has some issues. I am a fan of football first, the Jets second. But I definitely identify with the Jets. But... I used to like the Raiders as a second favorite team, until I felt that their ownership made them a laughingstock. Bill Callahan was a part of that, too. They were fun under Gruden, and then suddenly they were not. So it is possible to lose one's fan interest, at least for me. The Tebow trade followed by the Sanchez contract extension came close to pushing me out, but I reasoned it was an untenable situation, and I could outlast it. While I did not root against the team in hopes it would bottom out and then rise again, that was a silver lining of such a scenario, and is essentially what happened. The real problem for me remains Woody. I really hate to say it, and do not say it lightly, but I have this feeling, that logic does not counter, that they Jets will never win an SB as long as he is the owner. But I have remained a fan despite that feeling. Still, my fan support of the Jets was lowest in that Tebow off season since the second Kotite season. Maybe as low. Right now it is somewhat higher, mostly due to their adding Marty. I have faith in Marty, and not really in anyone else running the team. Oh I don't dislike Rex, he just seems in over his head as HC. Too many weak points. And he's not a fast learner, either. Idzik I give an incomplete, but at this rate he's heading for a D- on opening day. If the Jets changed their name and moved, that would probably put me over the top. Just one and not the other? I dunno. that about covers it.
I've been a season ticketholder since 2001 and I live in Northern Bergen County. And I worked in mid-town for 19 years. I would have given anything to have that WSS, it would have been an absolute mecca for football as well as a ton of other events. And I've tailgated since I've been going to games but I really don't care about it being "a part of football tradition". Btw, it has nothing to do with football, just as looking at tall buildings has nothingto do with football--it's a peripheral attraction just like walking around the streets of NYC. I grill 12 months out of the year in my back yard--I really don't NEED to grill in some wasteland of a parking lot. I like--but I don't NEED it. That stadium would have been beautiful. Not to mention a venue for other events, concerts, NCAA Tournament, Big East (or now ACC) Tourney, college football. I can't imagine how nice that would have been to leave the office at 5:30 and walk over to the WSS to see U2 or Syracuse-Duke or a Notre Dame football game on a Thursday night in September. We could have had a gorgeous stadium rivaling any in the world in the greatest city on the planet. Instead we got an incredibly ugly non-descript air-conditioner in a parking lot. But hey, we get to grill stupid wings, so we have that going for us. _
Would have been incredible. Can you imagine leaving the office and walking over to the stadium for Jets-Patriots on a Thursday night in September? _
I don't work in the City anymore but I'm a short train ride away. It would have been amazing, we would have consistently gotten Super Bowls, Final Fours, NCAA Regionals, etc...
First of all and most importantly the deal with the Giants should not have been the only alternative. What they ended up with had more to do with Woody mishandling the situation than that it in fact was his only alternative. It wasn't. And I don't give a crap what other events they could have had there. I also live in the burbs, and take the train every damn day. I would not want to take the train to a Jet game. But transportation aside, I go out to lunch every day in the city. What's the big thrill of going to some NYC venue that will charge you too much money compared to tailgating? Never saw the benefits of a WSS, and still don't.
I, for one, DO give a crap about other events and I see a ton of benefits of the WSS, and the loss of tailgating paled in comparison. _
This. I was a Niners fan until 2005, switched to the Jets primarily because I wanted to root for a New York team.
Jets winning the sb would make me stop turn on these web sites 100's of times a day. Nothing in sports could ever equal it again 46 years since my first sb I don't have enough time to wait for my third I have a beautiful wife. Three. Children Six grand children. Will spend more time and energy. Watching them grow Won't hAve to waste my time to see if BS Johnson. Will come to the jets I doubt if jets will ever win another SB Johnny Jet
