And another thing - You know how the gates have corporate sponsorship now? Imagine if they tried that then with the ramps? LOL. OK, be creative. Who sponsors ramp D? Hooters?
First off, bite me. "you don't meet the qualifications of the OP here." Secondly, blow me. The guy's take was spot on and hardly a 'whine' (more on that later). What he writes does not jibe with your memory? Who are you, Bill Shea? Well here's reality: the Jets did not call the shots and had little to say when it came to the stadium where they played their home games, courtesy of the darling NY Mets. The Jets had to play all their games on the road until the Metsies were done for the season and in 1973 THE JETS WERE FORCED TO OPEN THEIR SEASON PLAYING SIX STRAIGHT GAMES ON THE ROAD. Show me one other example in the last 50 years where that was the case (and don't go 'Ralebird' on me and try to claim the NYG at the Yale Bowl as an example). Further, the early-season road warrior b.s. meant that more home games at "beautiful Shea" were pushed back into November/December--more road games to start the season = competitive disadvantage. And another thing: the scumbag Mets even denied the Jets parking revenues from JET home games. Revenues that could've helped the Jets' competitive standing by helping to facilitate player moves not to mention affecting the price of tickets, merchandise, concessions or any number of consumer items sold so as to make up for the revenue they weren't getting. Want some more reality? The darling NY Mets actually fought the Jets in court--it's a fact. . Met motherless cocksucker M. Donald Grant refused the Jets access until the Jets won. The State Supreme Court Justice Harold Baer said to the Mets' lawyers point-blank: "If you don't agree to this...you're going to be sorry." The Mets' lawyers promptly shit their pants... Kind of says it all. You moved from centerfield seats to endzone behind home plate. Well then maybe your "closed end of the stadium" endzone memory will recall a Jet fan referred to those to the left of the goalpost net as 'Spiderman' ...... he was a 6'5" (slightly shorter) version of Harold Carmichael who would sometimes swoop around and snatch pre-game footballs (off long FG attempts that veered off-center and hit towards the edge of the screen, i.e. to the kicker's left) and present them to those around him (i.e. esp. if there were any kids in tow). Jog anyone's memory? Me, went home with one of Spidey's specials...
I guess I'm an old timer. We had season tickets at Shea for 8 years, from 1971 to 1979. As I lived on the island, it was very convenient. We loved Shea!! Best time ever. Didn't compare with the old Meadowlands or the new place. When they moved to jersey they offered us comparable seats to the ones that we had at Shea. Wasn't even close. Shea was small and pretty cozy, except when the wind blew. Spent many a cold ass day sitting two rows from the top freezing our butts off. But the crowds were great, never saw any fights, even when the Boston fans showed up. My uncle had season seats in the Mezzanine behind home plate.Always went down to sit with him after the half. Crazy fans every week. Saw Joe Willie and was there when OJ broke the yardage record.
Well, Joe, you can start by biting your own damned self. Twice. Then blow yourself. Twice. Now that we have the pleasantries out of the way, let's take a look at what the OP asked for: "I never went to a Jets game at Shea stadium but compared to the old meadowlands which one was better overall including tailgating and crowd atmosphere?" I guess you could have posted your reminiscence of "Spiderman," which is what the guy was looking for, but instead posted someone else's complaints about the politics involved in the Jets sharing the stadium with the Mets, who were the primary tenants. This appears to be very important to you as you have seen fit to repeat your ranting here again but that is not at all responsive to the fan experience question asked by the OP. I'm well aware of the schedule in 1973, it put me in that place for a bunch of very cold games that year. Yeah, the cold was a pain in the ass, the politics not so much. Now pay attention here, Joe. Everything that you complain about was printed in the lease that the Jets organization agreed to beforehand. "Kind of says it all." Who the hell are you (or your pal whose rant you borrowed) to second guess them? This might be a perfect opportunity for you to start a thread about the politics of playing in a shared stadium; you might even get your lil' buddy to ghost write it for you. On a final note, NO, I don't recall your pal, Spidey. Perhaps his arrival on the scene did not correspond with my tenure. I do remember however that at least once a year some lunatic would leap from the mezzanine level onto the slanted baseball backstop net to retrieve a football that landed there before it had a chance to roll back down and off the front of it. The thing is, none of those guys ever contemplated how they were going to get the ball and get off the net before the long arm of the law made its own grab. Have a wonderful day; keep it classy.
Pretty sure Shea is the only stadium in the history of sports where a Pats fans was killed by a flying lawnmower.
I did see some breast one time. It was quite funny. The whole thing was harmless and entertaining but of course once the media got wind of it they made it into something horrible and the yellow jackets were everywhere. Nothing lasts forever
Awesome post and on point. Remember the band shell in the open end of the end zone with 10 piece band? Classic. God those were great times. Why do I have great memories when the team sucked and the place was a dump? Because it was 100% Jet fans. No “ I like both teams” or visiting fans coming late and leave early or taking there date to the game and not watching the field. You know how there are clusters of hard core fans at the games now? You can tell by looking at them. Well back then the whole place was filled with them. That’s why and that’s what’s lost forever
Never saw any fights at Shea? Ha that’s funny. It was more like a rock concert then a sporting event. Lots of fights every week. It was wild.
No fucking way. I've read about it and it sounds like it was obviously a disaster in the making from the start.
Was that a Pats game? For some reason I keep thinking that was a Monday night game in 1979 against the Vikings, but I do remember that flying lawnmower. I was a kid during the Shea days, but great times and Giants Stadium was fine as well. I do not like MetLife at all. Their was nothing wrong with Giants Stadium except it didn't have what owners want....more luxury boxes, restaurants, bars, shops etc etc etc.
I remember it well, but I also just looked it up. It was December 9, 1979, against the Pats. The 40th anniversary is coming up fast.
No the Monday night game which was the first one ever played in New York had a different halftime show. It was a fight that broke out under the big scoreboard at halftime that was still going on in the middle of the fourth quarter.
I don't remember that one, but it may have been the start of the Jet fans' tradition of Monday Night Footbrawl. I was at the Pumpkin Game against the Bills at Giants Stadium, which featured fight after fight in the stands, people setting fires in the stands, and the simulated gang bang of a blowup doll. That game was the beginning of limitations on the sale of beer in the Stadium. I also think Nuu Faaola was badly injured that night. Maybe not. I just wanted to say Nuu Faaola. As people say on this site, this is why Jets fans can't have nice things.
They gave out Jets painters caps (look it up, they were popular items at the time) sponsored by Campbell's Soup. Well, even if painter's caps were a popular fashion item at the time, a green Jets cap emblazoned with a red and white Cambpell's Soup logo on the side was damned ugly. So, 70,000 fans with ugly hats + lopsided score + night game drink = serious mischief. Had it not been a flimsy painters cap, they would have just been thrown on the field. Since they could not be thrown they were burned. Unfortunately, in the stands.
