The Minnesota MNF game 10/15/79 was a big deal since they had not hosted a home MNF game before. Plus the team was starting to show signs of life under Walt Michaels. This was the first home game in a long time that had buzz, and of course everyone who showed up had even more buzz. Lots of drunks, lots of fights. During the first half an idiot crawled out onto the top of the home plate netting/screen from the first row of the Loge Section and began bouncing up and down as if it were a trampoline. The crowd loved it! Everyone went crazy. But the idiot stayed there too long, and just at the moment where you thought "OK man that's enough" someone threw a bottle at him from the Mezzanine. That was it - a literal barrage of debris then rained down on the poor bastard who had to lie face down covering the back of his head with his hands to protect himself. I must say, it was epic.
I never got to go. But my dad did in the 70s. He echoed most of the comments here… damn cold, lots of people huddled under blankets drinking flasks to stay warm. i did go for a bunch of baseball games in the 80s.
Yes! I was there with my wife and friends. The Clash and Buster Poindexter (David Johansen) were the opening acts. 50,000 (give or take) singing "Behind Blue Eyes" was a moment to live for.
No, Heidi game was in the regular season, at Oakland, and was on TV, as were all road games, but NO home games.
Jets fumble the opening kickoff and Bills ran it in for TD, what a kick in the gonads. Got worse, I think Jets were down maybe 24 points and made a comeback. Had the ball at Buffalo's 10 yard line with time running out, and Todd threw an INT to Simpson, wham another kick in the gonads.
You just brought back another shitty Jets memory, the fact that they fired Walt Michaels, who IMO was one of the best coaches they have had.
My Dad's company had season tickets at Shea... in the mezzanine around the 10yd line, on the 1st base side. My main memories of Shea, were from the 60s,& early 70s, so it was pretty new then. I remember my hands getting full of wet putty behind the seats, in cracks in the concrete. Always loved the night games, the cigarette smoke hovering over the stadium. So many games there was a light drizzle, & windy... I called it Jets weather... still do. Everyone had a flask, or a thermos... spirits or chicken soup. There was the little Jetmobile - - probably a golf cart with a jet-shaped outer frame that would roll around the sidelines/endzone, when the Jets scored. And of course, as a budding adolescent, the Jets-Set Majorettes always got my attention. I ended up keeping the season tickets, until the 2nd season in NJ. It just wasn't the same atmosphere.
They were awesome!! I went to a bunch of games in 1981 and 1982. It helps when they win which they did a lot of those years. Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk
yeah i referenced that game because it was of course the last playoff game there and the atmosphere and anticipation even from TV was insane.
A flying lawnmower? How did one perform that stunt? I'm curious. Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk
From your lips to Gods ears. I'm from Jersey and I can't stand sharing a stadium with the Giants. Maybe one day before I die they will move back to Flushing where they belong. Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk
That sure did suck!!! Especially when I was at the game a week before against the Packers and we dominated that game. Sent from my SM-S908U using Tapatalk
I was there. I was 12 at the time. That was my first "kick to the nuts" moment with this team. There have been many more since.
The best thing about Shea Stadium is that every person who made the effort to get his or her butt in the seat cared about the game. No sirens on 3rd down (except actual emergency vehicles), no distractions on the scoreboard. No mass infiltration of giddy opposing teams fans If you were in the stadium you were there to watch football. You left your seat to use the restroom or find a place to pee. Concessions stands were visited sparingly. I’d get through a game with $2 - for my game day copy of “Pro” magazine. One more thing. It was easier to get in and out of than MetLife, as hard as that is to believe. Some of that is due to current security procedures, but Shea had better escalators and ramps. Oh, and no color coded parking passes. You either risked getting towed, or you paid ; )
Saw the same people, in the same seats every week. Loud and passionate. Cold and windy in the winter months, a real home field advantage. Just seemed so much more “football like” at Shea.
I was a kid at the time but what my dad would do is park a few blocks from Shea and then we would take the train to the stadium. Leaving the same way obviously and where he parked it was about a block or two from the GCP. Easy ride back to NJ.
A simpler world back then. Today all stadiums do the same nonsense - the sirens, the stereo sound effects, traveling fans from out of town…..etc
