Week 2: New England v. Jets

The time of this game was changed about 2 weeks ago to accomodate a larger TV audience at the 415pm sunday time slot. This allowed for some devine, if ever shrinking, sunshine to illuminate the north side of the field in the most perfect way. I am deeply sorrow for not carrying a camera this week i cussed under my breath. it just came out when I walked around the halls on the first level and saw that field glow that way, with the best team of this decade so far on it, and I knew I didnt have my camera. dah _____.

I will miss the weather from this day dispite my decreasingly intense diaphoresis
(buckets)

I did not sleep on the bus ride over. I sat in the front left seat just behind the driver next to a fellow who can really only be acuratly recounted in this report as your regular old coot. Yeah, seriously. He had is head band and head phones on already and I was wondering if he would actually talk to anyone all day.

I sold candy on the top level and rode the frieght elevator on the north end of the stadium twice up and down with the middle trips coming just before halftime. My timing and execution (big up the seth on this) of the tray's refill was remarkably efficient and i only took about 7 minutes to get back in the flow. Jets fans didnt steal form me as i suspect someone in the Giants crowd did last week, but they also do not tip as much. still, a good day for me personally, financially.

Fireman Ed was a big part of that turnaround the Jets had just to be in the game. He was up leading chants at the earliest stages of the comeback, in the middle of the 3rd quarter, down by 24 and 17. Some dude had him on his shoulders up and down the aile bordering their section. Screaming...

J! E! T! S! - JETS! JETS!! JETS!!! JETS!!!!

Know that in the section coming just below this paragraph fireman ED was near the point of seizure.

with between 4 and 5 minutes left on the game clock near the end of the 4th quarter a timeout was called and I had a decision to make. For real this time....I thought about leaving with about 7:15 to play with the Pats in a 3rd and 5, but not seriously, the Jest had the momentum and would surely tie this up and put it into overtime. Brady to Caldwell, 6 yds. Again at 6 minutes even I looked at the clock while waiting for change, and the liberty fighters in a 3rd and 5, but kept climmbing the stairs cus the crowd was in it and so were the Jets

I chose to call it a day with New England at a 3rd and 7 after the JETS called a timeout with 4:08 to go.

I didnt know it was Troy Brown until later, but I figured some guy that 12 threw to just got a first down 8 yards by the lack of crowd noise. Game over basically. I was down the hall, pressing the buttion for the freight elevator. Tom Brady runs a game in a way that keeps/puts his team in the position to win the game play after play, and you can bank on it. I did today.

as sorry as i am for not capturing the picture i tried to describe the beautiful scene of late afternoon football in the first paragraph, i am just as regretful to report the circumstances

this picture is old I actually took it last week knowing that this day would come where I would wait 2 hours after the games ends to catch the bus back to 42nd street/Port Authority. Missed the first 40 game minutes of Redskins v. Cowboys. This is very boring even on a nice night.

Week 1: Indianapolis v. Giants

I did not sleep on the ride over to the game. There was an exciting buzz on the bus of Giants fans listening to the radio pregame, listening to the Dallas/Jacksonville, or checking cell phones and Trios to find stats, scores and reports from the first full day of NFL '06. I was excited as well, but more anxious over the Dallas game which had taken a turn for the worse since I had left the house.

They handed out little American flags at the game as people walked in and this guy was on the Jumbotron all night shaking peoples' hands. The timing of 3 black hawk helicopters to the last line of the national anthem was impeccable and so low that all 3 made me wince when passing on account of their proximity to NBC's field camera zip line strung up at the top of the stadium.

I sold Candy (starburst, skittles, sweedish fish, twix, reese's cup, snickers, sour patch straws, kit kat, twizzlers, as well as both peanut and regular m&ms) and a heavy old bag of peanuts that people seemed far less interested in than usual on this night.

It is hard in an NFL game that is well attended to make it around the stadium's upper deck, with product in tow in less time that it takes to play the game. This assumes you hawk as I do and trudge up the narrow staircases to the top, as I do. That takes time.

When paused at the top of the East end of the stadium late in the 1st quarter Dallas Clark caught a long pass from Peyton Manning to silence the crowd. A patron looked at me smiling, forcing me to admit, "I got mixed feelings on this one, 44's on my fantasy team." this explanation seemed to suffice and I moved along as he shuffled into his seat.

Sometimes people drink to many $7 plastic bottles of domestic beer. I firmly believe this people are wack when repeatedly resorting to this behavior.

I left this one with the game still slightly in doubt. I headed for the bus back to NY after the 2-minute warning and with the Colts up 25-21. The game ended that way, and I missed little of consequence. the picture you see is from just before the Colts kicked through the final 3 points of the game.

Game info:
ESPN drive chart
AP story from si.com

Eagles @ Jets (preseason)

Yet, again I slept on the way to game.

I sold hot dogs and cracker jacks all night. both all the time and only.
about $500 in gross and $15 in tips.

Some dudes (other vendors) get territorial and be like, "what are you doing to me?!" calling from behind.

"I got this my man", but I just stare at the replay board for a minute and go down a couple of rows. Its all good he can have it tonight. I will leave at halftime.

Not bad since it felt like an early November rainstorm as the beginnings of Ernesto (why he's gotta be Hispanic, its so bad i mean "panic" is in the name); thusly, the stadium was roughly 30% full and sales were not shabby given that all combined with a second straight night of visiting marquee QB not in the lineup.

(Yet no-one says McNabb-less Eagles...?)

The Eagles, advanced primarily under the .25-backing of Jay Feeley, led 17-0 at halftime. But, Brad Smith (remember the athletic quarterback from Missouri that was so good the last few years) led some 4th quarter comeback I missed completely and learned about only when sitting down to do this blog you have read.

The bus ride home was revealing only in the level of hopelessness. Giants fans don't feel the need to talk about a meaningless preseason game 'cus they are riding so high, the Jets fans talk of superfluous things on account of a strong desire to avoid talking. Upon, further reflection, much of the bus that was real J!E!T!S!-fandom was simply quiet and trying to focus on their busy life in New York City.

Yeah man I will leave at halftime be outta the monsoon, miss catching cold or flu or whatever your feeble immune system will leave plaguing you as you nurse that ankle/wrist/tailbone you slip on the skinny wet cement on and be fine for a soccer game on Wednesday.

CBS' sportsline wire account