SuperBowl Boulevard

from Feb 5, 2014
For the first time ever, this year's Super Bowl was held in a cold weather city in a stadium without a dome: it was in NEW YORK at MetLife Stadium!! Of course, we didn't go to the game but in the week leading up to the Super Bowl, there were a lot of events around NYC promoting the game. Most were private but the biggest event of all was Super Bowl Boulevard in Times Square. I had signed us up to get some free passes so on Wed. night (1/29), I met Jay and the kids and off we went.

It was freezing out but it was the first day of the event and I knew it would be our only shot to go.   The kids totally weren't feeling it until they saw some of the activities and then got excited.   The first thing they did was the Snowflake Toss where they threw footballs at hanging snowflakes.

After collecting their prize (a stressball shaped like a football helmet) we moved on the the next event, the obstacle course where the kids raced each other.   It was filled with tackling dummies, jumps, and things to run around.   The boys raced and had a blast but Dylan had a hard time because of all of his layers - his snowpants made it hard for him to lift his legs enough and he kept tripping over the jumps. (prize here was a football pencil/eraser)
Then it was our turn for the toboggan slide!   Even though we had collected tickets earlier for a 7pm spot, the line was so long that it took until almost 7:45 for our turn.   We kept as busy as possible but it got really cold and we all began to get impatient.

Just as our turn to walk to the top came, we saw a little commotion off to the side and we were told that we had to wait a bit more.   I was about to go crazy when Jay realized they were stopping the line because Damon Harrison aka Big Snacks, the NY Jets tackle was coming!  As he walked into the line, he did a double take when he saw all of the Jets gear we were sporting.   We told him that we were huge fans and we would love a picture and he said "sure, no problem....just let me hit the slide first".   We laughed but the kids were totally annoyed that we had to wait for him to come down while "everyone in the entire world is cutting us".    2 minutes later, he came down and we got our picture.
 Then, finally - it was our turn.   Jay waited at the bottom and I went with the boys.  They laughed the entire way up and were very impressed about being able to ride a slide in the middle of the city.

After the slide the kids were done - they were cold, tired, and hungry so we jumped on the subway and headed out to eat.   It was a fun experience but it definitely would have been better if it was warmer or if the Jets were in the Superbowl!

Note: The Seahawks played the Broncos in Super Bowl 48 and destroyed them, 43-8



Jets vs Raiders

For sure, yesterday was my favorite Jets game I have gone to this year - Ryan came with me and we had a great time!  

It was the coldest game so far this year but that didn't stop us - we each put on our long johns, pajama bottoms and pants (Ryan even wore snow pants) and I think we each had 6 top layers on top which Ryan though was hilarious.  

We took the bus to the game and after we arrived at the stadium, we started to walk through the parking lot and we passed The Aviators (the drummers for the Jets).  After watching them perform for a while, one of them was nice enough to let Ryan join in!

While we were on the bus to the stadium, Ryan said he was not sure going to the game was a good idea - he was worried about Dylan and Jay having more fun at home even though he was excited to go to the game.   That all changed though as soon as we got to the kids zone!   

The kids zone is open until a half hour before kick off and I had never been there before - I didn't even tell Ryan about it in advance just in case we got there too late.   As soon as he saw the bounce castles, he turned around, hugged me and said "Mommy, it was an AWESOME idea to come here today!" and I was so happy. There were two different bouncy castles but instead of being typical castles, they were set like football drills with tackling dummies, ladder climbs etc.   I think Ryan probably did each one at least 25 times and I have no idea how he was able to go so fast with all of his layers on!

He loved racing the other kids and was so excited when he beat this boy, who wasn't even paying attention which Ryan thought was so funny  ("Did you see I beat him by a lot?  He didn't even know when to start?")

We were even able to get some face painting - we both got a Jets Santa and Ryan got a Jets symbol on his other cheek. That didn't stop him from putting on eye black stickers later.

As the Kids Fest was closing down, we got ready to head in to the stadium but made one final stop to write a message on the Jets board. 

Ryan was very excited to hang out with Papa and Uncle Michael and did pretty good paying attention until about the 3rd quarter.   

For most of the 3rd quarter, he fooled around, ate and played the iPhone, but then it started to snow a bit and he got really excited, claiming "It is about to get ridiculous here!"

I think he thought that is was going to snow as much as it did at the Philadelphia/Detroit game that day

While it didn't snow that much, it was enough to cover the ground which made Ryan happy.  Ryan was definitely good luck because the Jets won 37-27.  On the way out, Ryan wanted his picture taken near the Jets helmet ice sculpture we saw being carved in the parking lot earlier, and was thrilled when we won some bobbleheads at a giveaway while exiting the stadium.  

He was so excited about the bobbleheads that he insisted we go in the snow right after the game to claim them from PC Richards and he gave all the guys in the family a bobblehead for Christmas.

I had such a great day hanging out with Ryan and I hope we will get to go to a lot more games together!! Next time, everyone will have to go!!

Sending some luck the Jets way against the Skins this weekend...

so here is a post about the cutest tailgaters ever (and no, I don't mean Jay and I not that any of you would be confused about that)!! For the one person that still looks at this blog, I hope this makes you smile today

Back in September, we took the boys to the Jets pre-season game against the Eagles - Ryan had been to Jets games before but not in the new stadium and it was Dylan's first game ever.  We got to the stadium about an hour before the game and the parking lot was not too crazy so we decided to have a football scrimmage.  Luckily Jay remembered to bring a football and the kids immediately started running around yelling "Throw to me!!!!"

We picked teams (Me and Dylan vs. Jay and Ryan) and huddled up to plan our strategies:

 

Dylan was a big fan of my strategy - Run fast and then turn around and I will throw you the ball.  I think Jay and Ryan had a bit more of a discussion about their strategy and I think the main debate was who would be the quarterback and who was going to go deep. 

This was not your typical two-hand touch game though: the boys were full-on tackling each other and I am pretty sure that both boys would have been ejected from the game for unsportsmanlike conduct if it was for real.   Dylan was more of a "pass interference" guy and would try to knock Ryan down before the pass.   Ryan on the other hand, was a face-mask, horse-collar, personal foul kind of guy.   The kids had a blast though, and neither one wanted to go in the game. 

 On a side note, Dylan is definitely the most athletic 2 year old I have ever seen.

 When we first got to the seats, Ryan was very cute trying to show Dylan everything "Dylan, look over here - this is a seat.  Look over there, those are the Jets - we like them."... 

They got up a few times to cheer and dance around and Ryan even led the section in a J-E-T-S cheer!

 The boys were great until about 5 minutes into the 3rd quarter and then they started getting restless so we headed out.   It was definitely a fun night, especially the pre-game football game - I am hoping there will be many more of those to come and if any one out there would like to join us for a pre-game scrimmage next year, we will have a team sign-up in the off-season.

Football Sundays

Everyone who knows us knows we are are Jets fans. Everyone who knows us also knows that we are busy every Sunday during football season - if we are not at the game, we are watching it at home.   And whether we are at the game, out doing something, or sitting at home, we all gear up for gameday!

While the boys both would prefer to watch something other than the game, they really started paying more attention during the playoffs, especially Dylan.  I am sure that it helps that we provide them with plenty of snacks to keep them occupied - Dylan's new favorite is my spinach artichoke dip.  (Ryan says it makes him vomit) They are becoming the ultimate fans, waving their foam fingers and rally towels with all of their energy and yelling whatever they can to cheer the Jets on

The Jets had a great run to the AFC Championship this year and we are all pretty bummed out it is over.  Hopefully next year the Jets finally make it back to the Superbowl - in the meantime, you can bet we will all be practicing our J-E-T-S, JETS JETS JETS cheer!!!



And it begins today......

the start of what hopefully will be THE year - the year the Jets finally claim the title of Superbowl Champions!!! In what Michael has called the longest offseason yet, there has been much anticipation of the 2010 season. With an amazing last season, a new stadium this year and a spot on the HBO show Hard Knocks, Jets fans are more pumped up and hopeful this year than ever before.

In honor of today's first preseason game between the Jets and Giants which will also be the first NFL game in the new stadium, I thought I would blog about our first visit to the stadium: Draft Day 2010 on April 22, 2010.

Dad got an invitation to come watch the draft at the Stadium and we all jumped at the opportunity to go watch the draft with other Jets fans in the new stadium and more importantly, to have the chance to check out our new seats and make sure our PSLs were worth it. It was also great to be in the New Meadowlands Arena and know we will never have to play in "Giants Stadium" again!!

The draft party was hosted by Marty Lyons and Bob Wischusen, the radio commentators for the New York Jets. They talked about the last season, what was expected of this season and discussed the possible draft picks for the Jets. Everyone assembled in the Great Hall but the radio show was on the loudspeakers around the stadium and big screens showed the draft live.

Even some current Jets were on hand to get the crowd excited:

D'Brickashaw Ferguson and Jerricho Cotchery

James Ihedigbo

and others including Tony Richardson and Nick Mangold. All fans n attendance were given Draft Day t-shirts which I attempted to get autographed by the players but after getting kicked a few times in line and being told by Nick Mangold "No touchy touchy" when I tapped him to get his attention, I decided to give up. Got a few though...

Since the Jets didn't pick until the 29th selection, we all took turns walking around checking out the field from the 50 yard line and even snuck around the stanchions to go sit in our seats. I was a little worried about the seats (that the field goal post would obstruct our view) but I have to say, they are amazing!!!

The picture quality on the big screens is amazing and it is great to finally be able to see them from our seats. The sound from the speakers was also terrific and very loud and I can only imagine how loud that place is going to be on game day - can't wait to hear it!!

After exploring the stadium and the concession stand, it was finally time for the Jets to pick. With the 29th pick of the draft:

In light of Darrell Revis' holdout, Kyle Wilson could end up being a great pick for the Jets. Who knows, by the end of the year, there may be a party to celebrate "Wilson Island".

It has been a few months since the draft, training camp is now over, and the time is here. Only a few hours until preseason kick-off and I feel thirsty already, lol