I drove down the turnpike and noticed Manhattan on my right and knew I was close. I reached the end of the New Jersey Turnpike and saw Giants Stadium directly in front of me. I was excited that I was finally there and ready to park and enter the stadium to watch the game.
Being from Kansas City, the first thing I observed was how the tailgating in the parking lot measured up to what I had experienced compared to the Arrowhead tailgating. Lots of grills and a couple of smokers on a trailer immediately caught my eye. The smell lacked some of the BBQ smell that you find at Arrowhead, but there was quite a bit more seafood on the grill then there is in KC. So a different smell, but still a very nice smell that would cause anyone to be instantly hungry. I noted that one tailgate had actually brought along a 6 foot Christmas tree and had decorated it with Giants ornaments and lights. They had actually brought along a generator solely to power the lights. Very cool stuff.
I went over to an older man leaning against a gate. I thought that he would be just as good as anyone to ask where the best place to look for tickets was in the area of the stadium. Very nice guy and he pointed me to an area just a few hundred feet from where I was standing. I walked over there and was instantly approached by a younger guy. Instantly, I recognized him as one of those people you despise and don’t want to buy tickets from even if he had the last tickets available for the game. I bartered with him a bit and finally just waved my hand and walked off after hearing his last offer.
I continued to walk down the sidewalk and a man my age asked me if I was looking for tickets. I said I was looking for one. He said that was exactly how many he had. I asked how much face value was and he said $70. I told him I would give him $100. He said OK and then said, "Listen, since you seem like a nice guy I’ll let you have it for $80. Only thing is that you’re forced to sit next to me."
I thanked him and said that would be just fine. I also told him I’d buy him a beer once we got inside. He went back to his tailgate as there was still 1 ½ hours until the game. I went inside to take in the stadium.
The stadium is nothing special, but the sight lines are very nice. I watched the sun set over the edge of the stadium. Also watched jet after jet fly over the stadium as Newark International Airport is not far away. Many of the lower deck fans had moved down to stand next to the railing to harass the Chiefs fans. They badgered the Chiefs from the time they came on the field until the time they left.
Roughly 30 minutes before kickoff, I went down to get two beers so when my friend showed up, the beer would be there for him. I went out of my way to buy Bud Light so he would be forced to drink a Missouri beer. As I was walking up the aisle, I noticed that he was up in the seats. He immediately noted the KC Chiefs stocking cap that I had put on that I wasn’t wearing when I bought the tickets. He thanked me for the beer and laughed at me, mentioning that he didn’t know I was rooting for the wrong side. Everyone around me immediately figured out that I was a true Chiefs fan from KC. Three people all mentioned that they had heard from different people that Arrowhead had the best tailgating in the NFL. I told them about the smell of BBQ before the game and they all agreed that they had to go sometime.
The announcer began speaking roughly 15 minutes before the game and I was immediately excited. Unknown to me, Bob Sheppard, the famed announcer for the Yankees for many years was also the announcer for the Giants. In addition, this game was his final regular season game announcing for the Giants. The crowd gave him a standing ovation and he waived to the crowd from the press box. It was a very exciting thing to see in person.
The national anthem was great. Nothing fancy by the singer and the crowd was very quiet. The crowd went crazy during the final line. You can see in the faces of the locals that the national anthem still means a lot to them still to this day. The starting lineups were different than I had seen before. The announcer asked the fans to welcome the Chiefs’ starting defense. The defense just ran on the field and no individuals were recognized. Boos cascaded down on them. On the other hand, the Giants’ starting offense was introduced player by player. It was very evident that Tiki Barber was the crowd favorite. He’s very workmanlike as a player and the NY fans love that.
My friend’s name was Brian. He was an investigator for a state district attorney in NJ. We noted the discussion in the program concerning the last meeting between the two teams. The teams had last played each other in September 2001, right after the 9/11 attacks. The article mentioned how classy the KC fans were and how supportive they were of the Giants when they came on the field. Brian said that he saw the second plane go into the World Trade Center. He said he had heard about the initial crash and had gone up to the top of his building in Newark to take a look. Only a few minutes after he reached the roof, they noticed a large plane flying very low not far from where they were. Everyone was surprised at how low the plane was flying. A few seconds before the collision, he said everyone knew what was going to happen. He switched the topic to my job after that and I didn’t stop him because it was obvious he didn’t want to discuss it anymore.
I had a great time watching the game. I mentioned to Brian that the NY fans seemed to be harder on their own team than the opponents. He agreed. The guys in front of me forced me to give them high-fives every time the Giants did something good. They would scowl at me until I did so and then would smile at me after I finally obliged their offer. I asked a lady next to me what the word GESH meant as a guy behind us kept calling the Chiefs that name. She said she imagined the last two letters stood for ‘shit head’ and that she didn’t want to know what the first two meant. I told her that if I ever got out of hand, she could go ahead and whack me. Moments later, the Chiefs intercepted a pass and I jumped up and pumped my fist in the air. I sat back down and immediately felt a whack on my leg. I looked over at her and she said, "You got out of hand".
Brian said he had to go to a Christmas party at 8:00. I looked at the stadium clock and it read 7:55. He said he’d be late, but he didn’t care. We each mentioned to each other how nice it was to meet and then he surprised me by giving me a hug. Great guy and very sincere. When the Giants scored a touchdown to put the game out of reach, I said I was leaving and everyone around me was very nice, shaking my hand or giving me a hug on the way out. It was great to meet all of them.
I headed back out to the parking lot. I ran to the car to try to beat the traffic. As I ran by two guys, one said, "Yeah, I’d run too after the way the Giants ran over your defense today."
I chuckled and headed out of the parking lot to go back to Baltimore. On the way out of town, I took a quick look towards Manhattan. I noticed that the Empire State Building was lit up in red and green lights for the Christmas season. It was a fitting end to the day.
