Patriots vs. Giants (preseason)

I slept yet again on the bus ride through the Hudson and eastern most part of New Jersey.

I was in the stadium about 40 minutes before kickoff and watched some players warm up on the field, its very hard to identify them from the east end upperdeck. From the spirals above gate C, one can take in quite a clear view of the Manhattan skyline - this is true on the night's horizon as well.

The child who is playing the title role of the national tours "Annie" revival sang the national anthem. wow wee wow wow. She was extraordinarily good. And her hair was straight too. That crowd got jacked up for that performance. It was wonderful. And I really don't like the national anthem, but this area has a tremendous amount of talent in the pool to choose from in events such as these.

A Tom Brady-less Patriots offense marched down the field on strong running and nice execution by some dude named Cassel. And, despite having a FG-attempt blocked to finish their first drive, the Giants dominated much of the play. This makes them perfect (4-0) for the preseason.

Back-up running back Brandon Jacobs (27) did a great job carrying the load for extended service. The Giants look good like a professional football team functioning/operating on a high level should. I don't particularly like the Giants unless they play the Redskins, but I can recognize this.

In a particularly profitable portion (for me) of the 3rd quarter the best edition of the wave I have ever been a part of went down. There were lots of kids in the stadium and I suppose this drove it. In Giants Stadium the lower level can go faster (similar to the centrifugal principles seen in track events), but in the moments when the 2 large level coincided there was tremendous energy for being only 60% full by then and added an odd intensity to a preseason game devoid of any known quantity 1st stringers.

Back to the wave for a minute, there was seeming full participation, like this doesn't normally go on in major sports stadiums or something. It was just the wave, kept staring at it in disbelief cus I have been there for international soccer crowds and never seen a wave with this furor and passion. I actually started yelling "Best wave ever!"

Then on the bus ride home I couldn't sleep through the girl behind me recollect the recent minutiae of her not so ugly as betty devil may care about prada existence and turn down an "industry" VMA party (see and I thought this took away from the crowd, but this city is so big it had Agassi winning another epic on the other side of town) and wack silly story of some dude she flirted with too much. Finally she and the spineless hipster/scenster (probably not cool enough for either) dude she was sitting next to opted for a cheaper more laid back time playing beer pong. its amazing how loud and honest people are when the unplugg the head phones and talk thinking everybody has them in still. So loud. But, the guy next to me did listen to shakira, "hips dont lie".

this was a FOOTBALL game right?



dollar slice is unbeatable off that bus, don't go, I like the line being short. Seriously, I am not telling you where it is. Shame on the guy that told me.



ESPN REPORT

Giants vs. Jets (preseason)

I slept on the bus ride over, nestled in the front window seat directing behind the driver.

I worked the upper deck that filled slowly on into the second last moments of the 1st qtr. Sold pretzels, hot dogs, popcorn and cracker jacks. (about $575 in sales)

The Giants took about 7 plays -including a taunting penalty blessing from the Jets secondary after a stud hit on Plaxico Burrus- to score a touchdown and perhaps the only competitive scoring of note in the entire game.

The Jets will struggle to find points this season. I was afraid of this before the game began and nothing from scrimmage assuaged these fears. It is even stranger for these 2 teams to play and have the Jets be the home team in GIANTS Stadium.

On the bus ride home I sat next to an old fellow. One of the best conversations I have heard in all my time on this bus in the last year was had by he and I.

Suffice it to say he and I traded brief life stories and he confided in me that he has had season tickets the Jets since "before Namath took them to the Super Bowl" Yikes, it was still Johnson's War then!!! We agreed the jets are going to have a rough one this season. We would have hugged, but it turns out he goes for the Redskins in the NFC so no dice.

view means...
ESPN
JETS
GIANTS

...again the Jets hosted the Giants in Giants stadium. A building, both built for, and named after the visiting team.