Same here I love the idea. Now, about the new Namath movie. That's the first time I've ever heard of that. What do you know about it? For ex: When is it going to be released? etc...
If I don’t retire as a sports fan – I’m going to make a few trips up to Shea this summer. I’ve got a buddy who is a Yankee fan and we’re going to try to hit a few weekends where we can touchdown on a Thursday night, and catch a few Mets / Yankees games throughout the weekend. It’s amazing when you think about the history the are just going to take a wrecking ball to in a year or so between Shea / Yankees stadiums.
It would be great to see a last game of some sorts played at Big Shea. That new Namath movie sounds pretty cool. Maybe they will do a movie about Chrebet like they did about Vince Papale of the Eagles. Same kind of story.
I was at the OJ Game - my mom didn't drive in the snow so dad took me to see that memorable - in a bad way - history making game. Cold and snowy - but fun because of the record. Yes the stadium was half empty - but the hot chocolate was great! gg
Anyone know the relationship between Woody and the Wilpons? Even if you got the Jets to want to do this, you'd need the ok from the Mets and Wilpon right?
You were there too, GG? I remember it vaguely, only because of the weather and the OJ thing (going over 2,000 yards) and we weren't under cover. I do remember we lost too. Other than that, Shea is one big blur of terrible seats and constantly lousy weather. We got wet early, because it was raining (or sleeting). So now you're soaking wet, then the temps dropped, then the snow started... then it changed over to rain again. Unbelievable. When I got home and took off my shoes, my socks were actually wet! OJ had a fantastic O-line and he also had a FB (can't remember his name) that made a lot of holes for him. Not taking anything away from OJ in his prime though, the dude could run and take advantage of the holes they plowed for him... something we need today. Baltimore Colts fans usually had a HUGE presence at their away (Shea) games too. They'd come up by the busload from Baltimore. I remember the white jackets with the big blue horseshoe on them... or maybe it was the other way around... but those fans were real diehards. Hey, I'm not saying it wasn't fun. We would have gone to hell itself to see a Jets game because everyone was hoping for a repeat of SB III. Little did we know how many years it would be (we still don't know).... SIGH.....
The best game I ever saw @ Shea was in Dec 68 when we beat Oakland to move onto the SB. We won the AFL Championship that wonderful day then 2 weeks later we dumped the Colts in SB3. Probably the all time best stretch of FB for a NYJ fan
The pre season games ARE sold out because us season tix holders are forced to buy the xhibition game tix as well. Also how would you handle the M/lands which holds 80,000 fans vs Shea which held 60,000 at a max?
Sounds like fun, Champ. I wish I could have been there, but couldn't make that game because I was in the Army at the time and stationed at Ft. Bragg, NC with the 82nd Airborne. In early December of '68 I got my orders for Vietnam, so they gave me a 30 day leave. I was home in Linden, NJ for the holidays before departing for 'Nam in January, and at least I got to see the SB with my family... then I left for 'Nam out of Newark Airport about 3 days after the SB. So, those were great memories of the Jets for me to take with me overseas, but most of my Shea memories were from when I got home. I picked up where I left off and started going to the games with a couple of local Jersey guys. But again... those games involved all day Sunday, between the commute and the inconvenience and all. When my kids came along they took precidence and I stopped going, but I still watched on TV and suffered through all those horrible years of the '70s. Finally got my tickets in 1985 when the Jets moved to the Meadowlands (probably at the expense of some Long Island guy coughing them up) and been going ever since. My kids and family have had great memories of many, many Jets games played at Giants Stadium. Both my son and daughter are die-hard Jets fans still and we still go to games together once in a while. Giants Stadium is another world though, compared to the old Shea trip... like night and day.
Well I had season tix since 65 so I was regular @ Shea. My son 1st game was in the late 70s. For sure Shea was pig sty back then espeically in the UD where there were not enough mans bathrooms so the walls & sinks became good targets for the urine. Hess (hooray) finally solved that problem by paying for porta potties to stop the urniating against the walls
LOL... I suppose I could be talked into going to a "throwback" game at Shea before they demolish it. Maybe a preseason Colts game would be fun. But they'd have to let me urinate on a wall or two before they blow the place up.
I still cannot figure out why Woody didn't try for a stadium north of Central Park. That area is open for redevelopment and would have had easy access to I95 and all of the boroughs. The Jets could have had a distinctive stadium that fit in with an urban renewal theme, like Baltimore's Inner Harbor, and they'd have watched the neighborhood slowly gentrify around them until they were king of quite a nice neighborhood. They'd have been within a mile or two of their ancestral home in the Polo Grounds. There were so many positives there and yet we wound up in a swamp that likely will be under water in three decades. It just makes no sense.
Yes, the preseason games are sold-out, and as of last year, the parking for the preseason will also be sold-out; however, how many people actually attend the preseason games. I don't know the figures, but I've been to a few and it's less than half full, which means 30,000 thousand or so fewer patrons to buy souvenirs, food, etc. A last hurrah at Shea I believe would be filled to capacity, and the Jets could make some more money to buy free agents with the extra folks in the stands. PLUS, commerative T-shirts and other items could be created for the occasion increasing the haul.
& what happens if all 80,000 seat holders show up. How do you shoe horn them into a 60,000 seat stadium?
My very first Jet game was the playoff game between the Jets and Buffalo. I also have the memory of Todd being intercepted in the endzone to end the comeback for the Jets.:sad: As for the Jets playing at Shea there are two obstacles 1)NY Mets have Shea locked up and would not want the turf damaged by a fotball game 2)The lower stands at Shea were on wheels to allow for moving them for football games. Now that time has passed on the stands can no longer be moved.
The third and biggest obstacle is the one that Champ mentions... it just won't hold all of us. I even thought of something like, maybe, the Jets including an option checkoff box on the slip that you return with your check in April, indicating you would prefer such a game and if you would indeed want a guaranteed seat if such a game could be arranged. But then you've got the problem of those who don't want it or don't care and then they'd want the Jets to deduct the cost of that game from their bill. Of course, the Jets could then hope to sell the remaining tickets to the outside public, but given the expense prices they charge for the preseason games (with no discount, mind you), it's probably unfeasable that any of that would work. No Jets fan is going to give the Jets' F/O anywhere near the going price for the preseason games that they can easily get by ramrodding the cost of same down our throats by including it in their ticket "package."
When the Season Tix invoices, come this year, as in the past you would check the box if you wanted the pre season. In this instance you would check the box if you wanted the game at Shea. I can guarantee that not all ticket holders would get them. They would sell the reaming tickets thru ticketmaster or something. I am all for nostalgia, but I really do not need to see a Jets Game at Shea again, especially a pre season game. Right off the bat there would be three tickets available.
