Question for the guys who were at the game

[SeniorFlaJet]

last nite...

I know there wasn't a large crowd but how was the parking situation if you

had a pass or if you came by the satellite bus>>>

Also was there any picketing?

[jetophile]

Honestly I think last night was a bad litmus test. I'm thinking the rain kept half the folks who would have gone at home. I got stuck leaving later than planned and missed KO. I have a parking pass, and breezed right in. Got to my seat about three minutes into the First Q. Again, I don't think last night's game is a real indicator.

I went mostly as the tailgate guinea pig on a scoping expedition. Our usual space was in one of the now closed Yellow Lots. I'll see how it goes next week, but I do plan on leaving extra early on Sept. 9th for sure.

I didn't see any picketing, except that a guy two rows down from me had a stuffed beanie dog on his head the whole game. I don't even know if Atlanta was booed coming out of the tunnel, but I was thinking they would be. Better to ask TaborJet. He was in his seat early enough based on the pics he took.

[124]

Atlanta was boo'd coming out.

Parking was fine as there were not too many people there as you could probably tell by looking at the seats when you were able to watch the game.

I personally really do not believe that parking will be an issue, unless you are one of those people who generally shows up at 11am for a 1pm game or 2pm for a 4pm game. Last year I showed up for 1pm games anywhere between 8:30-10. This year it will be 8:30-9:30, just in case.

[Maxman]

I have decided to give my parking pass to someone in need. I will take the shuttle.

It really seems like the right thing to do.

[nj meadowlands]

They tried to get us for SIXTY-FIVE bucks on top of the parking pass for the winnebago... we fought and won it. Total crap.

[DefenseWinsChampionships]

I have decided to give my parking pass to someone in need. I will take the shuttle.

It really seems like the right thing to do.

Hey good idea, may help you lose some pounds big guy, lol jk with ya... But on a serious note Max... I been waiting all day for you to hook me up on my sig... Cmon man! Thnx!

[Maxman]

Hey good idea, may help you lose some pounds big guy, lol jk with ya... But on a serious note Max... I been waiting all day for you to hook me up on my sig... Cmon man! Thnx!

I could do it now, but I opt for sleep. Sorry, lol.

[SeniorFlaJet]

Atlanta was boo'd coming out.

Parking was fine as there were not too many people there as you could probably tell by looking at the seats when you were able to watch the game.

I personally really do not believe that parking will be an issue, unless you are one of those people who generally shows up at 11am for a 1pm game or 2pm for a 4pm game. Last year I showed up for 1pm games anywhere between 8:30-10. This year it will be 8:30-9:30, just in case.

All teams are booed coming out usually so it was business as usual.

How parking will be a problem on opening day is that guys who by instinct

go to their usual places will find them gone or someone else is in it. Not every season

ticket holder is up to speed on the situation as we intelligent souls. LOL

As far as the picketing goes no one has mentioned it so i gather there wasn't any.

Actually I kind of knew there wouldn't be because a few weeks ago someone from

an organization involved in these matters called me knowing I had season tickets

and would I get involved. I told him that if they were planning anything it would

be a little difficult because for this year you just can't drive into the Giant Stadium

parking lot without a parking pass and you can't take the satellite busses without

a ticket to the game. I think that was enough to cancel any thoughts they may

have had.

[NIGHT STALKER]

Parking will be problem at Jets, Giants games

(Original publication: August 11, 2007)

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Every pro sports team in New York City and New Jersey not owned by Jim Dolan's Cablevision empire is getting a new arena or stadium.

Wherever you go, whether it be to Newark, where the Devils' new arena is supposedly going to be ready to open after a prolonged road trip to start the 2007-08 season, or to Shea or Yankee stadiums, or right here in the Meadowlands sports complex, you see the construction - the cranes, the girders and steel structures.

In the cases of the Yankees, Mets, Giants and Jets, the new stadia are being built right in the shadow of the current place.

And for the Mets, Giants and Jets, those new buildings sit right in the old buildings' parking lots.

Which makes things kind of interesting.

Football season arrived last night, when the Jets played the first of too many exhibition games, against the Michael Vick-less Atlanta Falcons - the Giants open their preseason tonight - and that meant the first experience of the parking nightmare that will last at least until the new co-occupied stadium is baptized in 2010.

Let's just say it isn't Xanadu - although a shopping mall of that exact name is also being built in the Meadowlands, further complicating the parking problem.

Remember when Woody Johnson (and Mayor Bloomberg and his cronies) wanted to move the Jets to Manhattan's West Side? One of the big complaints of Jets fans was that they wouldn't be allowed or able to tailgate at the new proposed stadium.

Well, for thousands who are being parked-and-shuttled to and from Lyndhurst, N.J., tailgating is not going to be an option in 2007, 2008 and 2009. Which, as one press box fellow told me last night, means that each three-and-out by either the Green Gang or the G-Men is probably going to be met with more venom than usual ... if that's possible.

The Jets estimate that some 5,000 spaces were eliminated by the construction of the new as yet unnamed (name to be sold at a later date) stadium. So do the multiplication, figuring that most football fans carpool. You come up with a pretty good number of fans of each team affected.

So last night in the rain cars were being turned away, directed to Lyndhurst (directions available on newyorkjets.com), and shuttled back to the stadium for a game that doesn't even count, for a game in which most of the starters were going to play a quarter.

According to Jets spokesperson Marissa Shorenstein, season-ticket holders were sent letters notifying them of the option to purchase - for $25 a game, according to the Bergen Record - parking permits, which would allow them to park a car at Giants Stadium on game days. Some fans chose not to purchase those permits, and those, along with single-game ticket holders, would have to use the satellite parking. Where, again, there is no tailgating.

In other words, for some, no reason to breathe on home game days.

Well, last night it wasn't a big issue, because when the game began only about one in 10 seats was filled, and at peak, maybe one in five. I had a hard time finding people in the stands who had parked off-site, and found one guy from Rye who paid a security person $20 and was let into the permit lot.

So sparse was the crowd that there was only one visible anti-Vick sign: "Who let the dogs fight? Vick, Vick, Vick."

The Jets' concerns are minor compared to those of the Falcons. Vick is prohibited from being present during training camp and the preseason. Well, what if he's found not guilty, at least of the major charges against him? Does the NFL reinstate him? If so, how can he be expected to help after missing so much time?

The Jets' main concern last night was simple: To have Chad Pennington leave the game on his feet, unhurt. Mission accomplished.

More than a year removed from his shoulder woes, and with a new running back (Thomas Jones) to help him to more effectively use his bread-and-butter, the play-action pass, this could be a bigger year for Pennington than last year. The record shows that when he's healthy, the Jets win. But he has to stay healthy, and there is no sense in taking risks with him in Game 1 of the too long preseason.

So he played slightly less than a quarter, didn't throw a pass.

The Jets know that there is upside to be had after Eric Mangini's excellent rookie season. Jones is a huge upgrade as Curtis Martin's replacement. Leon Washington, last year's feature back by default, was terrific in various roles in the first exhibition game.

But there are issues. Jonathan Vilma struggled with the switch to Mangini's 3-4 defense, but should be better with a year of that scheme under his belt. The offensive line is rebuilt, and that's always a question mark.

The Jets still must deal with the messy Pete Kendall situation. I'm always against contract renegotiations, but Kendall has claimed that his was promised. If so, I understand his bad feelings.

And maybe the Jets are mishandling this in terms of how Kendall is being treated - placed in the rookie dorms initially, no longer starting, playing lots of late minutes in a preseason game. On the other hand, maybe the Jets are doing the right thing by holding on to him. If they have an injury, then there's a seasoned, proven veteran to plug in. If another team has an injury, perhaps the Jets can move Kendall and get something valuable in return.

Mangini is still too Belichickian. He thinks he's running the CIA. Late in the week, Mangini wouldn't announce the order of his quarterback rotation.

Wonder if it's OK to tell you that Kellen Clemens replaced Pennington late in the first quarter last night.

[SeniorFlaJet]

A guy giving a security guard a few bucks to get into the lot? Shocked, shocked I say.

[124]

A guy giving a security guard a few bucks to get into the lot? Shocked, shocked I say.

Doesn't surprise me at all. These guys can't make that much.

[4HCrew]

The parking is going to be a problem..upon arriving at the stadium there was a moron aruging with the guard because he did not have a pass. Of he course he blocked up a lane, I could not imagine the problem when there are thousands of cars coming in, especially when there will be no where to turn around.