I miss Giants Stadium

I too like the new stadium as I am now a season ticket holder. The old stadium was nice but as long as I can see the NY Giants play in a live setting, it does not matter what the stadium looks like.

One of my favorite Giants memories is watching the Giants crush the Steelers on a Saturday in 1985 as we decorated our Christmas tree. It was the game when Joe Morris lost his shoe on a long TD run, his sock flapping behind him for the last 20 yards or so.

In comment 11936561 cjac said:

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that likes MetLife Stadium?

I like it. Sightlines are just as good. Getting in and out is easier (mezzanine), concession and bathroom lines are smaller. Food options are better. Legacy Club is awesome! Overall is much cleaner.

The old stadium had alot of nostalgia and I have many great memories from it, but it was a dump.

I'm actually looking to pick up another PSL. My family has 5 people now and I'd like to have a ticket for when my daughter gets older.

I am in the corner of end zone as well, in the 200's. Once the offense crosses the 50 I am whatching on the screens. I cannot see the plays as well. I find myself watching those screens more than the field therefore why do I need to be there when I can watch at home. Maybe I am getting older but like a poster said above, sold the PSL and goes to a couple of games a year may be in my future.

but I do like the new stadium as well.

More bathrooms and bigger, better choice of food, great scoreboards..........and getting in and out of the stadium is much easier.

However, I see the point that all of those things could have probably been included in a second refurbish of Giants Stadium.

In comment 11936402 Sean said:

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That year there was 3 straight Saturday games to end the year

when college football was over. To hell with the Thursday games.

2007 week 17 vs New England was a Saturday night game

for Giants Stadium that some here do. As an adult with my understanding of geography in place this obviously doesn't bother me at all, but as a kid I always found the whole "playing in New Jersey" thing off-putting. As a kid, New Jersey might as well have been Ohio. So I never was able to love it as a kid. Not to mention, in my youth, I only got a chance to go to maybe 3 or 4 games where as I probably went to about 30-40 games at the old Yankee Stadium.

Maybe that's why the generic MetLife Stadium doesn't bother me as much as some. I agree that they screwed the pooch, but for me, the bar was set pretty low. I definitely understand why so many loved Giants Stadium. For me, it was just the place my favorite team played.

Functionally it's as good as any place I've ever been. Ingress/egress, no lines for food or the bathroom, sightlines are fine, etc. I always thought the complaints were overblown after going there for a Giants game a couple years ago and the Jets-Lions game a few weeks back.

But last month I was in Seattle and got to check out an MLS game at the Seahawks' place, and I was reminded of what some architectural ambition could accomplish. Wow. MetLife had all the charm of a dead whore after being in that place.

I still think the biggest letdown of MetLife is the lit up exterior. When it was initially described I anticipated Allianz Arena in Munich. What we got was something quite short of that.





I'll also add that there is something to be said for a stadium located in a downtown. Yeah the parking lot tailgate experience is reduced, but accessibility, experiences around the stadium, and the view of the skyline add to what is already a fantastic stadium in Seattle. I do wonder if maybe both the Giants and Jets would have been better off splitting up a stadium in Manhattan.

works for me. Don't have to cross bridges, tunnels, train tracks or subways to get there. Except for the Rangers ECF game in May, I cannot remember the last time I went to New York for a game. 2011?

I hate to sound smug Long Beach, but NJ is not fucking Ohio. I drove through Ohio 3 times...eh.

them to play here. The traffic is already a nightmare - Manhattan?! They'd play all of two games before someone would want to blow the stadium up and start from scratch.

The location wasn't the issue, it was the obvious downgrade in viewing experience (from just about every vantage point, further away and higher up) and the lack of anything special/unique to the stadium. Giants Stadium wasn't much - it was a giant gray blob in the Meadowlands. MetLife isn't much more. With the cost of entry to these events having gone so far up over the past two decades, and with the great work done on some of these other stadiums, you figured that the guys who designed it would have something more impressive in mind that a giant tuna can replacement for the original.

I just want the fucking spirals back. Bring the spirals the fuck back. Build some...I don't care...

the exiting and entering is definitely not worse. I think it's a little better but maybe I am just getting their earlier and leaving later. I tailgate for every game that I attend now due to having the pkn pass. I used to rough it a lot more back in the day. We'd park far away and scalp tix...then finish off our road dogs and head on in. Not anymore. Now I cook and hang out for 3 hrs before the game and even hang out after. So there is no traffic. I also sit lower tier and from what I can gather it's a much longer and shitter walk if you sit upstairs. Plus the seats are definitely further back so that sucks too.

For me the overall experience isn't the same as the old house but it's still a Giants game. I just really want the fucking spirals back. Why did they fuck with the spirals. Bring back the fucking spirals.

Blaring music between plays, Constant standing by fans(not talking about for key plays, raucous fans, PA urgings to get louder, etc, is awful FOR ME..

I guess I was spoiled growing up in an era where the only music played was by the halftime band..

The comfortable home experience rocks...

In comment 11936730 jcn56 said:

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them to play here. The traffic is already a nightmare - Manhattan?! They'd play all of two games before someone would want to blow the stadium up and start from scratch. The location wasn't the issue, it was the obvious downgrade in viewing experience (from just about every vantage point, further away and higher up) and the lack of anything special/unique to the stadium. Giants Stadium wasn't much - it was a giant gray blob in the Meadowlands. MetLife isn't much more. With the cost of entry to these events having gone so far up over the past two decades, and with the great work done on some of these other stadiums, you figured that the guys who designed it would have something more impressive in mind that a giant tuna can replacement for the original.

Large stadiums have been constructed successfully in large cities elsewhere in the world. London has 5 that seat over 35,000 and another 6 between 10,000 and 30,000. Madrid has one that seats 81,000 and another 55,000 that are 4 or 5 miles apart. The key obviously is that the spectators would have to use transit to get there.

A West Side Stadium was planned for the Jets, built over the LIRR railyard. It just never materialized and MetLife is what happened instead.

In comment 11936755 Big Blue '56 said:

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Blaring music between plays, Constant standing by fans(not talking about for key plays, raucous fans, PA urgings to get louder, etc, is awful FOR ME.. I guess I was spoiled growing up in an era where the only music played was by the halftime band.. The comfortable home experience rocks...

Agree with all of this. Much of what makes the stadium experience worse now isn't unique to MetLife.

but I think one thing that can't be disputed is that the in-game experience for EVERYONE in the upper deck is inferior compared to the old stadium in terms of view and access/egress.

to know what John Mara thinks when he walks into Cowboy stadium. That stadium absolutely blows away Metlife and Jerry paid less money! I'm sure the people in the club sections would disagree but anyone who sat in the upper deck in the old Giants stadium knows the experience in the new stadium is significantly worse. Views, access, even the bathrooms didn't improve. Just mind boggling how they could spend all that money and not improve the experience for the majority of their customers.

I waited 24 years to get season tickets, Got them in 2001. I bought the PSL in the upper deck of the new stadium. I lasted 1 season.

I had been sitting with the same "family" in section 313 (Irwin, Gary, Robert, Cary, Paul, etc) for 20 years, having inherited the seats from my father who had tix back to the Polo Grounds.

I found out my seats in the new stadium were moved from half way up the upper deck, on the 15, sunny side (great seats, sight lines, etc) to the corner of the end zone and much further away in the new stadium.

When I asked why I wasn't given similar seats I was told it was to accommodate the need for fans in the lower sections who wanted to move upstairs to avoid the expensive PSL; nice. I was offered two $7,500.00 PSL's which I politely declined.

I truly miss the experience of going to games, the excitement in the parking lot, the tunnel to the stadium, the crisp fall afternoons, planes flying by as the National Anthem was sung and all the great games from 1992-2010.

But, I am so glad I didn't cave in to the Mara/Tisch greed. I happily watch from home, with all of the benefits that come with that experience; I also have saved a ton of $.

Wellington Mara would never have done the same to his fans....

This may have something to do with the fact that I attended perhaps 3 games at the old stadium and am now a season ticketholder in the current one.

I am in section 348. Is it a little too far for my preference? Of course it is. However, I have no problem seeing the action on the field and determing if a sideline catch was completed or not, the amount of yards run, etc.

I also do not understand the gripes about exiting the stadium. I arrive at the earliest possible time to start tailgating, so there is no traffic and it takes me 35 minutes. After the game? It takes me maybe 15 minutes to walk to the car and 1 hour to get home. I would expect much worse, actually.

I also don't understand the complaints about the concessions. No matter what the concessions offered, I would not be willing to pay for it at the price points offered (although I will grab a beer during the September/October games if it is hot out).

In comment 11936771 Mendenhall said:

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to know what John Mara thinks when he walks into Cowboy stadium. That stadium absolutely blows away Metlife and Jerry paid less money! I'm sure the people in the club sections would disagree but anyone who sat in the upper deck in the old Giants stadium knows the experience in the new stadium is significantly worse. Views, access, even the bathrooms didn't improve. Just mind boggling how they could spend all that money and not improve the experience for the majority of their customers. I waited 24 years to get season tickets, Got them in 2001. I bought the PSL in the upper deck of the new stadium. I lasted 1 season.

He's probably thinking 'too bad we couldn't build a stadium in buttfuck like Jerry did'.

I think a lot of it for me as others has noted too is we could have and should have done so much for in building a stadium overall.

The travel patterns are weak and they could have made it more interesting to travel about the stadium and take other attractions in if they choose too.

Having poor site lines from either level is shocking. Once you get beyond row ten in the upper deck its gets far away, real fast, glad my seats are not up there.

I think they have attempted to do more, with the bathroom situation, food, and fan support etc. But the realization of knowing we are stuck in this bland bowl and sharing with the Jests

"Bring the spirals the fuck back".
I do agree with this statement.

as to why I like the new stadium better, is that I have season tickets. I was still 25 years away in the old stadium, and I know tickets were not supposed to be willed but everyone passed them on to their kids. It wasnt hard to do especially if a child had the same name.

Here are other factors

I am in the lower corner to right of the Pepsi gate, i'm in and out of the stadium in a minute.

The bathrooms are exponentially better than it was in the old staduim

The concessions are better

Security is better (nothing to do with Stadium design but for whatever reason, its better)

Younger crowd (Still some "down in front" folks but in general a lot of grumpy old men are not there anymore)

They improved the exits in the parking lot.

Here is the worst thing about the new stadium

The Drumline

In Giants Stadium, the escalator design was perfect. One to each level. Entry right before the game on the escalators at Metlife is, continues to be, and apparently always will be, utter shit.

Two, the spirals obviously go hand in hand with the escalator design. It worked. Why change it?

The food is better, the bathrooms are better, and the extra big screens are a welcome addition at Metlife, but on the whole, after seeing what GB and Chicago did, Giants Stadium should have just been renovated. Even if that meant no super bowl.

In comment 11936560 HelmetCatch said:

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I also liked the old place better...but the game day experience as a whole has gone downhill... It's a lot easier and cheaper to stay home. I'll still go to a game or so each year for the tailgate which is always enjoyable...

Helmet- where did you sell them? Stubhub, Ebay, PSL Xchg?

In comment 11936755 Big Blue '56 said:

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Blaring music between plays, Constant standing by fans(not talking about for key plays, raucous fans, PA urgings to get louder, etc, is awful FOR ME.. I guess I was spoiled growing up in an era where the only music played was by the halftime band.. The comfortable home experience rocks...

Yes. But I also like jogging without headphones on. Something about the sounds of nature...

In comment 11937476 RinR said:

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In comment 11936560 HelmetCatch said: Quote: I also liked the old place better...but the game day experience as a whole has gone downhill... It's a lot easier and cheaper to stay home. I'll still go to a game or so each year for the tailgate which is always enjoyable... Helmet- where did you sell them? Stubhub, Ebay, PSL Xchg?

I sold them in a private deal. It was someone who I used to let go down to some of the games. The PSLs were orig. 4K a piece. I sold them for 3.5K each. He'll also let me pick a game or two a year at face if I want. I was happy with the deal...He also paid the $200.00 transfer...

Everything that was right about Giants Stadium was omitted from MetLife. POS!

1) Go Terps - I think that is what everyone anticipated. I think it is pathetic that with the price tag of the stadium, they are changing colored shields on lights outside, instead of just changing a computer program controlling LED lights outside.

2) I'm sorry, but I didn't find the new stadium more efficient at all. It is more of a pain in the ass to get to the upper deck and around it. I don't find the food choices significantly better, which is probably also why the lines aren't huge.

3) The view in the new stadium is worse, and not just in the upper deck.

4) This stadium is a generic sack of shit.

In comment 11937490 Stan from LA said:

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In comment 11936755 Big Blue '56 said: Quote: Blaring music between plays, Constant standing by fans(not talking about for key plays, raucous fans, PA urgings to get louder, etc, is awful FOR ME.. I guess I was spoiled growing up in an era where the only music played was by the halftime band.. The comfortable home experience rocks... Yes. But I also like jogging without headphones on. Something about the sounds of nature...

Peyton, a small example of what I dislike about going to ANY stadium:

"..I have no problem with our fans, our fans are great. I’ve got a problem with our scoreboard operator. I’ve got to have a little talk with him,” Manning said, his tone very serious. “I’m not sure what he’s doing. He’s playing music and showing our players dancing and getting the crowd fired up when we have the ball. I don’t think we should be doing that. I don’t think we should be showing their quarterback on the sideline. I thought it was disrespectful.”

It makes getting to and from the stadium very difficult, as even mass transit gets bogged down on gameday. A stadium over the railyards would look amazing, but logistics would be torture. Ultimately, the land is much more valuable developed for multiple parcels and hundreds of buildings and sold to a sea of bidders, rather than a stadium that's infrequently used.

MetLife has zero character, but I felt the sightlines, concessions, ingress/egress etc were quite good in the lower bowl.

The problem is the upper deck, and that's where most fans of regular means wind up. It's way too far from the field, unlike the old stadium. The experience up there flat out blows.