12/29 – A storm went across the Eastern Seaboard before the Green & White’s most recent home game, but that didn’t stop many of the Jets faithful.
Season ticket holder Haydon Bluth, for example, travels from Arlington, Va. — a four-hour drive — for each and every Jets home game to watch his favorite team battle.
“I get up on Sunday about three or four in the morning to go to home games now,” Bluth told newyorkjets.com. “I’ve been doing this drive for 10 years.”
The snow on Dec. 20 had stopped and the sun came out, but the temperature was still in the mid-20s with a 15-degree wind chill in North Jersey.
“I was up at three o clock in the morning shoveling snow,” he said. “It was a little chilly out there. Your feet were in the snow so it was a little chilly.”
But for a moment the Jets raised the Meadowlands temperature. Rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez hit receiver Braylon Edwards for a 65-yard touchdown late in the first quarter.
“It warmed up when Sanchez threw the touchdown,” he said. “It was a good crowd. The people that showed up made the noise that they were supposed to. It’s tough to sit outside in that temperature for three hours but you bundle up, you put a couple of extra layers on and you do it."
Despite having to put on layers, Bluth makes sure he’s laced in green and white on the top layer in support of the home team.
“I wear a Jets facemask, T-shirt, long-sleeve shirt, fleece, Jet hat, Jet gloves and blanket,” he said.
This week the Jets prepare to play their final home game at the old Meadowlands stadium before looking ahead to the 2010 season and playing in the New Meadowlands Stadium.
Bluth has memories of some great moments on the old turf. He recalls 2002 when, led by Chad Pennington in his first season as starting quarterback, the Jets beat the Packers, 42-17, to improve their record to 9-7 and win the AFC East title.
“That was a big win,” he said. “We got the help from New England to beat Miami to get us to the playoffs.”
The following week the Jets beat Tony Dungy and Peyton Manning’s Colts in the AFC Wild Card Game, 41-0.
That was their first home playoff game since 1998, four years earlier. The Green & White in the AFC Divisional Game beat the Jaguars, 34-24, highlighted by Curtis Martin’s 182 total yards and two TDs.
But it was the final-regular season game two weeks before that Bluth was impressed by, when the Jets set the club record for victories with 12 by beating the division-rival Patriots, 31-10.
“Anytime you get a New York crowd that has a chance for a playoff spot, they show up and do their thing,” he said. “Those are the best games in New York sports, when teams have a chance to clinch a playoff spot in front of the crowd.”
How fitting that in the last regular-season game played by the Green & White at the Meadowlands, they have that similar situation. With a win over the Bengals, the Jets will vault themselves into a playoff spot.
“Jets fans are a raucous crowd,” Bluth said. “People like me will be banging on our seats for a few hours, making noise — anything you can think of.”
Things are only going to get better from here. With a new stadium, the Jets look to make their mark on the new facility. As one who’s toured the new stadium, the Marlboro, N.J., native likes what he's seen.
“It’s a state-of-the-art facility,” he said. “I think fans are going to be extremely impressed with what they get, not only from a point-of-view standpoint from the seats but also from the overall experience that they will get from the game.”
He likes a certain feature — scores and player stats from around the league will be posted continuously on the videoboards for the fans.
“The total NFL experience will be enhanced with the opportunity to get more interaction with not only the game in front of you but with the games across the country. It’s just something else that will get fans out of their homes and into the seats.”
And to keep that homefield advantage, that’s where the Jets need them to be.
