NFL sunday

This weekend was busy with a 6am work shift on the back of about four hours sleep but on Sunday I finally got to attend my first NFL game. Heather's cousin plays for the San Diego Chargers and ever since he signed on at the beginning of this season I had scouted the fixture list and marked down the 23rd in my diary as they came to town (actually 18 miles away in New Jersey) to play the New York Jets.

We managed to get three tickets and invited one of our friends (that has a car!) while her husband and two of their friends came along after picking up tickets online. Normally the games are hard to get tickets for but as the Jets are doing so poorly and it's the end of (their) season they got some online the day before. So at halftime we switched seats to sit all together too.

Three tickets and wristbands to get into the family meet and greet the players tent afterwards.

It was also my first time on a yellow schoolbus as we didn't buy a prepaid parking permit to park in the stadium grounds and so followed the non-permit signs to a couple of miles away and got the shuttle (school)bus there. Got to see all the Jets fans tailgating in the car park with their BBQ's and drinking away.
If you look closely in this picture you can see some have just laid the BBQ coals directly onto the pavement.

Walking to the stadium there was already a sense of a more loud, had a drink type fan than I've experienced at the baseball or other sports I've been to here.

The heavily sponsored Metlife stadium, we entered through the Pepsi gate.
I am still just awaiting delivery of my winter clothes so this was the warmest clothing I could muster, combined with my handwarmers and hat it was just enough although I did need the blanket our friends took as once the sun went down it got really cold just like Pittodrie, ha ha.
Luckily the game wasn't Saturday as that was the coldest day since I've been here as the winds were strong and really cut right through you, much more than back home.

Sunny but cold

Unfortunately we just got in as the game kicked off and before we found our way up to our seats the Chargers returned a punt to score in the opening minutes! I just got over to the back of the first level of seating to see the big-screen replay and them kick the extra point.

View from the posh seats

View from our (free!) seats

You get a good view from anywhere though, we were higher up but you could see more of the player movement etc although the Jets in particular were really really poor. It was funny listening to the fans moan as they got called for a couple of penalties and especially the really stupid one for a player not signalling to fair catch a punt correctly, a rare in-game penalty that the fans were laughing in disbelief. The other crowd spectacle was listening the them chant "ass..hole, ass..hole......" to some guy who was escorted from the crowd by security for upsetting the fans around him in some way.
There still was very little bad language compared to football back home, amazing considering they are downing beer from glass bottles too!

Heather's cousin 88 in action

The ladies arrive at halftime with my food

Wishing I had a heated seat like the players

Action shot

Ffffffreeeeezing at the end

The 'luxury' post-game tent

Dante Rosario and Heather with our gift of some baby clothes for their recent new born. There were about 40-odd people, friends and family, waiting in the tent for a handful of players to see them while they're in NY. A couple of players came in wearing sweatpants and hoody, the rest were dressed as above or jeans and jumper but one guy was so funny as he was in a suit, diamond stud earings and a full length fur coat, apparently made from chinchilla fur..... as he stood eating the same battered chicken and fries we had at halftime.