Showing posts with label New Meadowlands Stadium. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Meadowlands Stadium. Show all posts
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Interview With Jets DE Mike DeVito
Aside from writing for NYAT I also have have a radio show on 89.5 FM WSOU. Today I had on Mike Devito to talk about the Jets and the NFL lockout, give it a listen...
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Dallas Too Cold? Let's Do New York!
The Super Bowl is on the line. The kicker stands ready to kick the field goal to either win the game or lose it. The crowd stands breathless, waiting to see if the Super Bowl will end 5-3 or 6-5. It's snowing again at New Meadowlands Stadium, more than a foot now, and the temperature has dipped below 15 degrees. The snap, spot, and the hold is botched in the snow, game over. While this is the NFL's worst nightmare it could very well be a reality since the 2014 Super Bowl will be played in East Rutherford New Jersey, in February, at night. Considering the Winter that the tri-state area has had this year, it is mind boggling to consider that a Super Bowl will be played here. Here's why this is a bad idea...
It Is Bone Chillingly Cold At New Meadowlands Stadium In February
The weather tonight at 6 p.m. at the home of Super Bowl 48 is a balmy 38 degrees, windchill 33, with a 90% chance of rain. Are you ready for some football!?!? While the organizers of Super Bowl 48 will tell fans to "Bring your coats" they are dreaming. Having been to dozens of Jets games in January they should be telling fans "Bring your under armour, turtleneck, long sleeve shirt, fleece jacket, winter coat, ski mask, winter hat, 2 pairs of gloves, long johns, sweatpants, winter pants, 2 pairs of wool socks, and winter boots. Considering what it costs to go to the Super Bowl it is ridiculous to pay that money and freeze, outside.
The Weather, And The Stadium Will Affect Play
Even if it doesn't snow the elements will still have a major role in the game. Just as the old stadium was New Meadowlands Stadium is a proverbial wind tunnel. At times kicking and punting can be downright impossible, I wouldn't feel confident in any kick over 45 yards. This isn't what the Super Bowl should be about. It should be two great teams, with an even playing field playing for the Lombardi trophy. Playing at New Meadowlands Stadium is advantageous to teams with strong running games, as throwing can be very difficult with the intense cold and wind. The team that wins the coin toss will have a huge advantage since they could possibly determine whether the kick to win the Super Bowl will be going into a 25 MPH wind, or against it. That's unfair.
The weather tonight at 6 p.m. at the home of Super Bowl 48 is a balmy 38 degrees, windchill 33, with a 90% chance of rain. Are you ready for some football!?!? While the organizers of Super Bowl 48 will tell fans to "Bring your coats" they are dreaming. Having been to dozens of Jets games in January they should be telling fans "Bring your under armour, turtleneck, long sleeve shirt, fleece jacket, winter coat, ski mask, winter hat, 2 pairs of gloves, long johns, sweatpants, winter pants, 2 pairs of wool socks, and winter boots. Considering what it costs to go to the Super Bowl it is ridiculous to pay that money and freeze, outside.
The Weather, And The Stadium Will Affect Play
Even if it doesn't snow the elements will still have a major role in the game. Just as the old stadium was New Meadowlands Stadium is a proverbial wind tunnel. At times kicking and punting can be downright impossible, I wouldn't feel confident in any kick over 45 yards. This isn't what the Super Bowl should be about. It should be two great teams, with an even playing field playing for the Lombardi trophy. Playing at New Meadowlands Stadium is advantageous to teams with strong running games, as throwing can be very difficult with the intense cold and wind. The team that wins the coin toss will have a huge advantage since they could possibly determine whether the kick to win the Super Bowl will be going into a 25 MPH wind, or against it. That's unfair.
Thursday, December 16, 2010
A Look at the Giants: Giants Tested By Injuries Headed Into Eagles Matchup
The Giants had Steve Smith back for one catch. That catch ended his season. Before the most important game of the season, the Giants learned they were going to have to go without Steve Smith, their top 3rd down possession receiver for not only the upcoming game against the Eagles, but for the entire year. So the Giants, who have also lost wide receivers Ramses Barden, Victor Cruz, and Domenik Hixon to injured reserve and have Mario Manningham questionable for Sunday with a hip flexor will once again have to dip into the well to find replacements.
It seems that's when the Giants perform best.
In 2007 the Giants lost Mathias Kiwanuka and Jeremy Shockey during the season and had Justin Tuck and Kevin Boss step up for them. This season they lost fullback Madison Hedgecock and had former tight end Bear Pascoe step into the role and perform brilliantly. They lost Kiwanuka again and Jason Pierre-Paul has emerged. When Smith and Manningham went down for a few weeks Derek Hagan came off his couch to play a huge role. Now they will have to find a way to adjust to the loss of Smith (and Clint Sintim who they also placed on injured reserve).
In 2008 the Giants lost Plaxico Burress and played the Eagles at home right after--but lost and never seemed to recover. The hope is that in 2010 they've learned from that and can find a way to win. The Giants still have two deep-play threats in Hakeem Nicks and Manningham and while winning that battle is what wins games, they will miss Smith as a third-down target. Hagan and Boss will certainly be looked at to help fill that role. You love to see a guy like Manningham playing through the pain and promising his teammates he'll be out there. That's what drives a team.
One huge positive for the Giants is that their patch-work offensive line is starting get healthy with Shaun O'Hara expected back soon. Although the backups played admirably, I think a rested veteran line down the stretch will be huge for the Giants--especially as they've just gotten then run game really going. On Monday night both Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw topped 100 yards for the first time since...2007 (sense the theme?).
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| Manning will be without Steve Smith the rest of the season (ESPN) |
It seems that's when the Giants perform best.
In 2007 the Giants lost Mathias Kiwanuka and Jeremy Shockey during the season and had Justin Tuck and Kevin Boss step up for them. This season they lost fullback Madison Hedgecock and had former tight end Bear Pascoe step into the role and perform brilliantly. They lost Kiwanuka again and Jason Pierre-Paul has emerged. When Smith and Manningham went down for a few weeks Derek Hagan came off his couch to play a huge role. Now they will have to find a way to adjust to the loss of Smith (and Clint Sintim who they also placed on injured reserve).
In 2008 the Giants lost Plaxico Burress and played the Eagles at home right after--but lost and never seemed to recover. The hope is that in 2010 they've learned from that and can find a way to win. The Giants still have two deep-play threats in Hakeem Nicks and Manningham and while winning that battle is what wins games, they will miss Smith as a third-down target. Hagan and Boss will certainly be looked at to help fill that role. You love to see a guy like Manningham playing through the pain and promising his teammates he'll be out there. That's what drives a team.
One huge positive for the Giants is that their patch-work offensive line is starting get healthy with Shaun O'Hara expected back soon. Although the backups played admirably, I think a rested veteran line down the stretch will be huge for the Giants--especially as they've just gotten then run game really going. On Monday night both Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw topped 100 yards for the first time since...2007 (sense the theme?).
Monday, November 15, 2010
A Look at the Giants: The Dreaded Coughlin Trap Game Bites the Giants...Again
Yesterday's Giants game had all the makings of a trap game: a bad team that just fired its coach, a Giants team with a few key injuries, no one giving the opposition a chance to win the game, and, most importantly, a big match-up coming up the next game that the Giants were looking forward to and maybe looking past their current game. Every year under Tom Coughlin the Giants seem to play one of these games. For a coach who is supposed to be a disciplinarian who keeps his troops focused, this seems like it never should happen. But yesterday afternoon, as the power went out at New Meadowlands Stadium, the power went out of the Giants. Let's take a look at the trap games losses throughout the years under Coughlin:
Nov 14, 2010 (Week 10): Dallas Cowboys at Giants. The Giants had spoiled the home opener of the Cowboys in their new stadium and then had walloped them a few weeks ago. You knew that the Cowboys were going to come in and play with a purpose (so you thought maybe the Cowboys would cover the 14-point spread). But a 13-point win marred by a ton of Giants mistakes and 3 key turnovers? Awful. The Giants had plenty of chances to get back in this game and instead gave up long 3rd down gains, had a huge touchdown pass to Hakeem Nicks overturned because of a penalty, threw a 101-yard Pick 6 after first down at the 1, and generally looked like, well, the Cowboys of the past few weeks (the Cowboys have the 4th-worst defense and point differential in the NFL). With the Eagles looming on the schedule, the Giants were definitely looking ahead to that game and totally underestimated their opponent. The Giants are now going from a possible 1st round bye to possibly having to fight for their playoff lives in a span of one week. Trap game, indeed.
Nov 26, 2009 (Week 12): Giants at Denver Broncos. The Broncos had lost 4 in a row and looked totally lost when the Giants came in town having just won a huge post-bye week game against the Falcons but had a quick turnaround to play a Thursday night game only 4 days later against the Broncos. With Dallas coming next, the Giants got caught looking ahead once again as they fell behind 16-0 and were unable to recover. The Giants committed three turnovers including a costly fumble by Eli Manning in the 4th Quarter to seal the deal for the Broncos. The Giants got killed on the ground game with Brandon Jacobs and Danny Ware sharing the rushing lead with only 27 yards. The Giants defense continued to get slaughtered as they would finish the season giving up the 3rd-most point in the NFL (26.7 per game). The Broncos finished the season 8-8 and the Giants missed a golden opportunity to win a game and have a chance at a playoff berth.
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| A big Eli Manning INT again led to a Giants "trap game" loss (Star-Ledger) |
Nov 14, 2010 (Week 10): Dallas Cowboys at Giants. The Giants had spoiled the home opener of the Cowboys in their new stadium and then had walloped them a few weeks ago. You knew that the Cowboys were going to come in and play with a purpose (so you thought maybe the Cowboys would cover the 14-point spread). But a 13-point win marred by a ton of Giants mistakes and 3 key turnovers? Awful. The Giants had plenty of chances to get back in this game and instead gave up long 3rd down gains, had a huge touchdown pass to Hakeem Nicks overturned because of a penalty, threw a 101-yard Pick 6 after first down at the 1, and generally looked like, well, the Cowboys of the past few weeks (the Cowboys have the 4th-worst defense and point differential in the NFL). With the Eagles looming on the schedule, the Giants were definitely looking ahead to that game and totally underestimated their opponent. The Giants are now going from a possible 1st round bye to possibly having to fight for their playoff lives in a span of one week. Trap game, indeed.
Nov 26, 2009 (Week 12): Giants at Denver Broncos. The Broncos had lost 4 in a row and looked totally lost when the Giants came in town having just won a huge post-bye week game against the Falcons but had a quick turnaround to play a Thursday night game only 4 days later against the Broncos. With Dallas coming next, the Giants got caught looking ahead once again as they fell behind 16-0 and were unable to recover. The Giants committed three turnovers including a costly fumble by Eli Manning in the 4th Quarter to seal the deal for the Broncos. The Giants got killed on the ground game with Brandon Jacobs and Danny Ware sharing the rushing lead with only 27 yards. The Giants defense continued to get slaughtered as they would finish the season giving up the 3rd-most point in the NFL (26.7 per game). The Broncos finished the season 8-8 and the Giants missed a golden opportunity to win a game and have a chance at a playoff berth.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
TiqIQ Giants Ticket Preview: Giants vs. Bears
Here at NYaT, we're always looking for smart partnerships to bring better coverage to you, the reader. During this football season we'll be working with TiqIQ to help you find great tickets on the secondary market to the New York Giants. They'll give you a breakdown of the prices per section for the Giants home games so you can make an informed decision when you go to get tickets.
TiqIQ's slogan is "Tickets Meet Intelligence" and if you're looking to procure tickets on the secondary market, you need a tool like this to make sure you're getting the most bang for your buck. River Ave Blues partnered with TiqIQ back in July to bring you the information you needed on Yankees tickets and now we're working to make sure you are up-to-date on tickets for Big Blue as they battle in their first season of New Meadowlands Stadium. Here's a preview of what this Sunday's big match-up between the Chicago Bears and New York Giants looks like:
TiqIQ's slogan is "Tickets Meet Intelligence" and if you're looking to procure tickets on the secondary market, you need a tool like this to make sure you're getting the most bang for your buck. River Ave Blues partnered with TiqIQ back in July to bring you the information you needed on Yankees tickets and now we're working to make sure you are up-to-date on tickets for Big Blue as they battle in their first season of New Meadowlands Stadium. Here's a preview of what this Sunday's big match-up between the Chicago Bears and New York Giants looks like:
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Super Bowl to Hit the Meadowlands
Quickly throwing up a post on this, because I'm sure most have heard already, but the New York/New Jersey group won the bid for the Super Bowl and so in 2014, they will be playing outdoors at the New Meadowlands Stadium. I have expressed to many friends that I am highly in favor of this move. After 16 weeks of playing in weather (plus a few rounds of playoffs) I always found it odd that the game that counted the most would be one where the National Football League would try to control the weather the most. I understood it from a financial perspective: no chance of snow delays for planes, sponsors get to do presentations outside, and, most importantly, there's the perception that there's more offense in cleaner weather.
Well I say throw it all out. There is no "slippery slope" of all games being moved to cold-weather areas (Bob Kraft already said this was a unique situation after 9/11 and the economic downturn in New York) and even if there was, why would that be so bad? The one time that New Orleans didn't host the Super Bowl, they made it--but imagine if they got to play that game in the Superdome? Why shouldn't every team that has a nice enough stadium get that chance?
And people tell me: "Andrew, but what if it snows?" Truthfully, I think it would be the highest rated Super Bowl ever. Who wouldn't turn in to see that game? And people who paid all that money for the seats will show up regardless as they do for every other game of the season. I think it'll make the game more genuine instead of one that the NFL tries to tweak. And imagine if the Jets or Giants make the playoffs in 2014 with a chance to make that Super Bowl? Imagine the pressure they'll have that year especially to do so. Amazing. I think it's a great idea and I'm excited it's coming. Honestly (and I'm not trying to sound biased since I'm from the area), I can't think of one good reason NOT to have approved it. Kudos to the NFL for doing something cool and smart.
And people tell me: "Andrew, but what if it snows?" Truthfully, I think it would be the highest rated Super Bowl ever. Who wouldn't turn in to see that game? And people who paid all that money for the seats will show up regardless as they do for every other game of the season. I think it'll make the game more genuine instead of one that the NFL tries to tweak. And imagine if the Jets or Giants make the playoffs in 2014 with a chance to make that Super Bowl? Imagine the pressure they'll have that year especially to do so. Amazing. I think it's a great idea and I'm excited it's coming. Honestly (and I'm not trying to sound biased since I'm from the area), I can't think of one good reason NOT to have approved it. Kudos to the NFL for doing something cool and smart.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Giants Stadium Deconstruction Update 5/10/10
There aren't any pictures that we can embed directly onto the blog, but here is a comprehensive slideshow of 1/2 of Giants Stadium as it currently stands, courtesy of www.northjersey.com.
Suffice it to say that I've had enough of our cherished stadiums (stadia?) being demolished over the past 18 months. It's too much all at once. Even though I am very excited to check out the NewGiants Meadowlands Stadium, I am sad to see the old one go. Why? Simply because I saw a ton of football games there over the years. Some clunkers, but mostly great contests. It's like a piece of my childhood is disappearing along with the old concrete structure. I know I'm not the only out there who feels this way.
Like I mentioned to Andrew last week, it is so important to document this process, as excruciating as it might be. Someday the next generation will ask what happened to these ballparks and arenas and stadiums, and it will be great to have these memories.
By the way, as sappy as NYaT might sound right now, once we get used to the gorgeous and lavish new facilities, I think we'll stop griping about the deconstruction of the old places quite so much...
Suffice it to say that I've had enough of our cherished stadiums (stadia?) being demolished over the past 18 months. It's too much all at once. Even though I am very excited to check out the New
Like I mentioned to Andrew last week, it is so important to document this process, as excruciating as it might be. Someday the next generation will ask what happened to these ballparks and arenas and stadiums, and it will be great to have these memories.
By the way, as sappy as NYaT might sound right now, once we get used to the gorgeous and lavish new facilities, I think we'll stop griping about the deconstruction of the old places quite so much...
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