Getting to this late... I was at every home game from '79 through '83. In the Shea days tailgating was not as in vogue as it is now. I'm sure some people did, but our tailgate's back then were four guys, two aluminum lawn chairs a small grill, and hotdogs and even that was usually early in the year when the whether was warmer. Oh, and Budweisers. Actually, I remember dropping and breaking a bottle of Beck's once and feeling reeling bad about it since it was such a premium beer ; ) The game experience seemed better at Shea because in those days if you were there, you were into it. Not as many young kids, not as many women. Nothing to really see on the scoreboard, no one cared about Fantasy stats. The only distractions I remember were people being concerned about the US Open going on next door, and were listening to Tennis, get this.... On the radio! What's also VERY different then was that a lot of guys brought in fifths of liquor, so when the game was over and you left your seats, there were little brown bags with liquor bottles EVERYWHERE. The myth of drinking brandy "to keep warm" was still a thing back then. As much as we fondly remember Shea, it was bad when you had to take a leak. At halftime the line was incredibly long, so sometime you had to piss where you could. Combine that issue with all the cigars smoked in the stands, and it explains Shea's "aroma". The parking was rough if you didn't arrive early. I'd park in the marina - I think it was $5, but one time I recall having to park amidst the junkyards, and had real doubt whether the car was still going to be there after the game. My seats obviously were in the Loge section, but I'm sure even the Mezz and Upper Deckers got in and out easier then than now at MetLife which sucks big time in that regard. Shea seems great, but the first year at Giants Stadium felt like a relief to me because it was closer to home. The move to Giants Stadium also allowed us to add seats to our accounts, so more "Non-Jets-die hards" started going to the games. IMO this is what lead to the rowdy behavior, and the not so great reputation Jets fans have around the league that remains to this day.
I remember freezing my ass off at Shea with the wind blowing in off Flushing Bay. I also remember Todd throwing an interception in the end zone in the final seconds against the Bills in 81 losing the wildcard game. Lots of bad memories there. No more than at the Meadowlands though.
SHEA......caps intended. ed koch is the main reason the place wasn't redone to become more football friendly. also the change in mets ownership didn't help much either. corrupt bastards.
If you ever sat at Shea to watch the Jets in November or December you should get credit for time served.
Lmao..you could be right Have some images in mind eye of Fans breaking seats for souvenirs and press saying it was last
Thanks for update on Unishere Shea Stadium was home of the Mets..and yes they made the Playoffs 4 times and were World Champions twice But...I was never as enthused a Baseball Fan as Football...plus watching Football game in the middle of a Baseball Diamond felt a bit bush League So unfortunately even a game at MetLife was also Jet loss...FEH
Fuck the Mets and Shea Stadium: a reality check: https://www.jetsinsider.com/jets-night-at-shea-stadium-disappoints-youre-surprised/ As it enters its last few months, let’s not get too misty eyed over Shea, shall we? Loyal Jets fans believe that the Jets are second-class citizens in Giants Stadium, right? Believe that we are oppressed, playing in someone else’s stadium, right? Horrified at the red and blue seats, right? Trying to remember back to a time when we were happy in the borders of New York State, right? It’s all a load of crap. Shea Stadium was not only a dump, but it was the home of the New York Mets, not the New York Jets. The Mets and their ownership sh’t on the Jets far, far worse than the Giants ever have, but no, we have to sit here and listen to people, sniff, sniff, wish we were back in New York, there at Shea, with our beloved brother the Mets. Does anyone remember the orange and blue seats? The orange and blue panels on the facade? The Mets logo on the scoreboard? The dirt infield? The Montreal Expos pennant on the blue centerfield wall visible through the uprights?
My dad's partner had season tickets in the box seats on the first base line, which put you right behind the Jets bench. Which meant you couldn't see anything unless all the players sat down. Which, after heckling them for a couple of quarters, they'd finally do. Except for Carl Barzilauskus, the fat prick. throw in the howling wind and incessant nagging drizzle of freezing rain. Yeah, I much prefer watching the jets suck on TV
From around 1971 to 1976, the Jets would routinely open the season with four of five consecutive road games in order not to damage the Mets' pristene playing field at Shea. This would ensure the Jets would get off to a miserable start, which they were unable to recover from, and also ensure the fans would be cold and miserable when the Jets finally played their first home game. It is highly unlikely the league would permit any team to start the season with four or five consecutive road games, let alone allow them to do it for consecutive seasons. As for the Mets, they also pretty much sucked around this time period so their well preserved field didn't help their play much. As for the atmosphere of Giants Stadium, it was much better for Cosmos games than it was for Jet games.
Yeah, I remember all that. My seats were centerfield end zone for one year then home plate end zone for the rest of the seventies. Both were on wooden bleachers, green wooden bleachers at that. None of it bothered me because I was there. If you need to post someone else's opinion, you don't meet the qualifications of the OP here. Who knows if the guy who wrote that whine over ten years ago was ever even at Shea for a Jets game? Much of what he writes does not ring true with my memory. Yup, it was dusty early in the season until the infield got sodded over when the Mets were done and it was cold and windy later in the season - kind of like the conditions that fans all over the NFL learned to live with if not love.
I only went to a handful of games at Shea. We were on the waiting list for season tickets when the team was still at Shea. They called our number with the move to Giants Stadium. I was there from the Jets’s first game at old Giants stadium, until Kotite. I gave up my tickets right before Parcells came. I have attended only a handful of loose games at the new place. Of the 3, I much prefer the old Giants Stadium. The Jets were second class citizens at Shea. They always started the season on the road, the open end made the wind tricky, and they laid the football field out over the dirt of the base paths and pitching mound. Sight lines were for baseball. One reason Leon used for making the move was that the bathrooms at Shea were crowded and smelly. He was right. Also, the parking sucked. I was directed to park on a highway median on the way to the stadium a few times. Never tailgated there. Shea was honestly a dump. Not my favorite place. The old Giants Stadium was purpose built for football. By the time the Jets moved to Jersey, I did the same thing. Yes, it sucked to be the Giants’ tenants, but that only meant that everything was blue, with a few things covered by green bunting on game days. We always joked that we shouldn’t mess up the bathrooms, or Leon would move the team again. Once we learned the ropes, the roads in and out, and the parking were never a problem for us. We figured out a good system, and had some really great tailgate parties there. I don't like the new Metlife Stadium. I have only been to a few games in the non-PSL upper deck, but we were surrounded by fans of the visiting teams every time. I was at the Victor Cruz 99 yard touchdown game, at was in a sea of Giants fans. There were fights at old Giants Stadium, but seemed to be a lot more fights in the upper deck of Metlife. Nastier fights, too. I saw a male Jets fan cold cock a female Bills fan. Just wound up and punched her right in the face. She never saw it coming, and dropped like a sack of potatoes. The parking seems much worse at the new place, and much more expensive. I never got into the tailgating situation at the new place, but it seems much more difficult than the old Giants stadium. Crowd wise, I’d say Shea was probably the loudest, but old Giants Stadium rocked, when we had a reason to rock it. The new place can be loud at times, but it is nothing like the other two. I guess it would help if people were actually in their seats, instead of watching the games on TV inside the food courts.
I saw Zorn and Largent (and Krieg) beat us too many times to count and yes I saw these games in person as well
No comparison LIJF the old old place and Shea Stadium blew Met Life away in every single aspect.I am talking from the time that you parked your car to the entire experience and the site lines in Giant Stadium blew Met Life away = what a waste of money this new ware house was. Go fast forward through the "New Stadium tour thread" it is like a 1000 pages long and there is some excellent info in there. BTW as I stood next to Woody Johnson on the field in Met Life ( they were trying to sell me PSL and tickets ) he said to me with a big smile and looking around at the place " isn't this great " and I told him on that day that the upper levels of the stadium looked so far removed from the field and action = he did not care on that day and he does not care now. Go read that thread that I mentioned
