JETS PSL Plan Announced

We've all been waiting for the announcement of the Jets Personal Seat License (PSL) plan for the new stadium. Well, today the plan was finally announced. At first glance it was a big high five to Jets owner Woody Johnson for not assigning a PSL fee to upper tier seats.

Read the fine print, however, to find that seats in the new stadium will be assigned on a seniority basis, and the upper level "free" seats are up for grabs by anyone with longer tenure. Read on to find that the equity in prime season seats owned can no longer be sold, because season seat transfers are now restricted to immediate family members. The good news, though, is an exorbitant amount can now buy you a seat actually on the field, behind the home bench.

Hopefully, we're safe in our season seats, since the PSL is just high enough to deter trading up (or shall I say trading down to the field). We'll just have to wait and see.

A New Girl In Town

What is all the controversy regarding Michelle Obama? At the Democratic National Convention, she was the epitome of eloquence and confidence, a welcome a change from the nervous, sometimes simplistic speeches of the current First Lady (who, frankly, bores me to tears after a minute).

Yes, Mrs. Obama is opinionated, but then again, degrees from Princeton and Harvard and a career in corporate law entitle one to an opinion. I, for one, agree with Mrs. Obama - we haven't had a lot to feel proud about lately and I'm ready for change and a feeling national pride once again. So let's stop all the criticism. You go girl!

Varsity Red

Go Highlanders! This morning the GLHS varsity cheerleading squad was announced. Despite it being Chrissy's third year on the squad, we still had butterflies remembering sophomore year tryouts, when political correctness triumphed over talent, and she was passed over varsity for a girl twice her weight and half the tumbling skills. She ended the season with a letter, anyway, having earned it as an varsity alternate, but the lesson was never forgotten.

The list was posted at 10:00 am and by 10:01 we received a text informing us she had made the squad. Speaking of cheerleading, we can't wait for the 3rd season of our favorite reality show, Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders: Making The Team. Now that's one squad that will never relinquish beauty and talent for PC.

2008 Tailgate Kickoff

For Saturday's exhibition game against Washington, Con and I arrived about two hours pre-game, and with temperatures in the mid 80's, it was more like a beach than a tailgate, with many of the ladies in bathing suit tops and shorts. Con directed us to lot 5A and selected a perfect spot that shaded us from the sun. We fired up the grill (with a little hesitation on my part, as I had assembled it myself the previous night) and enjoyed our first tailgate of the season.

We were surprised that about a third of the stadium was empty for Favre’s first game in a Jets’ uniform. OK, so maybe it was pre-season, but shame on all the season ticket holders who expect him to lead the team to a division championship and but were noticeably absent at his debut.

Fight to the Death

I arrived home today to find Chrissy hard at work cleaning out our old aquarium, so after she had finished we drove to the pet store to buy some fish.

We spent a long time choosing from the many species of beautiful fish on display. After a while, we came upon a shelf with about 30 individual cups each containing a lone fish. Chrissy reached to the very back of the shelf and pulled out a small, red Betta fish, obviously on its last leg of life and instantly decided that our mission was to rescue this fish. These are fighting fish, Jack warned us, but we thought nothing of it and selected a matching blue fish as a companion.

At home, we put both fish into the aquarium, fed them and settled back to enjoy their beauty. Before long, a deadly fight ensued, causing us to hastily Google the species. Apparently, these fish, nicknamed "Siamese fighting fish" continue attacking each other, often resulting in the loser's death. We quickly separated them and vowed to never again to ignore the advice of six year old.

Sandy Hook

Con and I took the afternoon off work and headed to the Jersey Shore for the weekend. We stayed at Grace and Phil's condo in Highlands, and went to our favorite beach, Sandy Hook. The 7 mile peninsular of natural beach is owned by the federal government and consists of public beaches (including Gunnison Beach, the state's only nude beach), fishing areas, a windsurfing beach and at the north end, the now-defunct Fort Hancock and the country's oldest light house. We love Sandy Hook for it's beautiful, natural, boardwalk-free beaches, and biking trails.

Afterwards, we relaxed with a drink at The Sea Gulls Nest, an open air restaurant 25 feet above the ground with 360 degree panoramic views. Every summer eve, the owner and founder, Ed Segall, plays the national anthem as the sun sets across the bay and the ocean darkens in the east.

Later that night we dined at Off the Hook, a local restaurant with excellent fresh seafood.

B-R-E-T Bret, Bret, Bret

The Jets' acquisition of superstar Brett Favre was met with mixed reactions with fans feeling extremely bullish about the team's 2008 season, and at the same time knowing that this optimism may be nothing more than a short term plan aimed to "distract from the certain discontent and anguish about the Jets’ misplaced loyalty that will attend their personal seat licenses plan", as the NYT Times recently commented.

Con and I hope that Jets owner Woody Johnson will be kinder to season ticket holders than did the Giants in their recently released PSL plan. Otherwise, next fall, we'll be trading in our season seats on the 30 yard line for our wide screen TV on Sunday afternoons.

These moves will certainly make for an interesting season opener, though, as displaced Jets quarterback Chad Pennington faces his former team mates in the opening game against the Miami Dolphins.

New Home for the Jets

Today, I was driving to work and noticed a brand new building on the site of the old Exxon plant in Florham Park.

A huge sign announced the new home of the New York Jets 27-acre headquarters and training facility. The 120,000 square foot training center, featuring feature state-of-the-art training and medical facilities, three natural grass fields, one field with artificial turf, one full-sized indoor field, and a teaching and learning center, is slated for completion this fall.

I wonder if Florence and Hamilton Twombly (as in Flor-Ham Park) had this in mind when they sold a portion of their estate to Esso in 1957 to build a research campus!

With a brand new stadium in East Rutherford, NJ and new headquarters in Florham Park, NJ - will the team finally change it's name to "The Jersey Jets"?

Mountain Creek Water Park

Con and I enjoyed Mountain Creek this winter, so we decided to check out their summer waterpark, a safe, family friendly park (or not)! We arrived about 11 am, and after a long wait to purchase tickets, headed to the wave pool to cool off. The pool was well guarded and life jackets readily available, however crowded conditions caused both good and bad swimmers to be dashed against each other when the waves began.

We decided to stop for a quick lunch, but the line at both (self serve) restaurants was almost an hour. We settled for hot dogs on the run and proceeded to the kids section of the park, restricted to those under 48 inches tall. Jack's first ride was a two slide ride supervised by one teenage lifeguard. The guard monitored one slide and the other was complete mayhem. At one point, Jack and the other little ones almost fell onto the cement below after a group of adolescents (over the height restriction), shoved them aside at the top of the slide.

These same adolescents later terrorized the kids on the Lazy River ride, ambushing them half way around the river and stealing their tubes. Despite repeated complaints to life guards, this behaviour persisted so we called it a day after a couple of hours at the park. Needless to say, we'll be sticking with the "mountain" and from now on, not the "creek".

Memories of Action Park

Our trip to Mountain Creek brought back memories of my teenage summers when the park (then Action Park) was nicknamed "Traction Park" for its thrilling but extremely dangerous rides. The most notorious, the "Alpine Slide", involved riding the ski lift up the mountain and racing scooters down a concrete bobsled track. There were no helmets in those days, and the only deterrent to high speed derailment and skinned limbs was a teenage guard, who rarely paid attention. The park also had grass skiing, "Motor World" with go carts and motorized boats, and awesome water slides.

The Cannonball slide descended into a pitch black tube and emerged out the middle of a cliff dropping riders into an icy cold pond. The Loop, a vertical 360, required the proper combination of speed and weight otherwise riders stuck in the middle of the loop, necessitating the construction of an escape hatch. There was also a slide with a 90 degree vertical drop and a safety net to stop riders from falling face forward to the ground. The fearful could stand on the bridge half way and watch the riders come down. The Tidal Wave Pool, nicknamed "the Grave Pool", was known for its huge waves that could easily send an expert swimmer into a drowning panic. My favorite was the Tarzan Swing, a spectator spot where we judged our boyfriends' strengths and physiques.

Action Park closed in the mid-90s after many injuries but its memories live on in all of us who came of age in the 80's.