Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a nice holiday.
I’m still catching up on last year and need to tell you about my New York Jets experience. Football? You may not know this but I am a huge football fan. I grew up at Army football games, and thanks to some nice gentleman sitting next to me who explained the entire game to me, I never looked back. I have to come clean before we talk about the New York Jets. I’m a Buffalo Bills fan (happened after spending 4 years of college in Buffalo.) So when I got invited to experience an NFL football game with the Jets and they were playing the Bills, well, I jumped on it. I am honored that the New York Jets invited me and shared their Green Room experience. Going to a football game will never be the same.
It all began with the invitation and a bottle of Jets Uncorked wine, two tickets to the game and a parking pass. I was so excited first for being invited and that they were playing the Bills and I didn’t have to go to Buffalo and freeze my you know what off. We couldn’t of asked for a better game day in November.
The Game Day Experience
Our day began on the field watching both teams practice. This was a first for me to experience this. What I loved best was watching the players take a moment from their warm-up and interact, take pictures and give autographs with the kids that were watching. There were some old-timers (for lack of a better word) like Nick Mangold that were wandering around the field and taking photo ops with everyone, us included. After the field we walked back to the locker room and got to watch as the players left the locker room and ran onto the field. What excitement!
The Green Room
That was just the beginning. Now we went to the Green Room an experience that has spoiled me. I don’t know if I can ever go back and sit in the nose bleed section again. The Green Room is a large lounge complete with full bar and of course the Jets Uncorked Championship Reserve and it opens out to a section of the stadium that has tables you can sit at outside and seats as well on the 30 yard line. The food and the beverages are all included in the cost of you ticket. Does an every day person like myself purchase a ticket to the Green Room. Not really, many of the tickets here are corporate or group event related (like 50th birthday etc.) There is a nice spread of food in the back of the room. Nice touches and thought go into it, like including Beef on Weck which is a Buffalo sandwich and a nice assortment of desserts.
The Jets wanted to make sure we experienced the new food that is available to everyone. I was so impressed as it’s not your typical ball game food I remember. It’s been a while since I’ve been to a professional ball game of any kind. We had Street Tacos, Korean BBQ Beef Sandwich, a sandwich called The Fat Rooster and dessert which was Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. Yeah, that’s a lot of food and it was good! Most impressing was the Fat Rooster, breaded chicken, pickles, coleslaw and a special sauce on a roll. It was delicious!
The Wine
I can’t forget about the wine. The Jets Uncorked Championship Reserve wine isn’t just a bottle of red wine. It was created by Joe Wagner (Caymus family and founder of Copper Cane Wine & Provisions) to honor the 50th Anniversary of the Jets 16-7 victory in Super Bowl III. The wine is a blend of Zinfandel, Merlot, Petite Sirah and Syrah with aromas of cherry, red fruit, tobacco, and baking spices. Soft but firm tannins, the wine drinks nicely.
