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| NFL in London |
Back on Sunday October 4th, I finally got to see a NFL game in
London as the Jets played the Miami Dolphins who were the designated "home" team.
In November 2014, when I found out this was going to happen, I was
determined to be there & true to my word I was.
That
Sunday after getting a good night sleep, I got to enjoy a great breakfast at the
Grantly Hotel where I was staying. When I got done, I was refreshed & ready to
tackle the adventure of getting to Wembley Stadium on my own. My pal
Sean MacDonald wound up going to a
football match if you
will. As people here in the States say, he saw soccer. He also
went to see a
Rugby World Cup match between Italy & Ireland as well
that day. He decided to pass on the NFL game because he went to one last year
when he was here. He saw the Jacksonville Jaguars host the Dallas Cowboys. Like
myself, he prefers to see a variety of different sporting events.
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| Cam Harper & I on the Underground |
As
for me that day, I walked out of the hotel & I proceeded to head
over to the Shepherd's Bush Underground station. I took a train on the
Central line to Oxford Circus then I wound up taking the Metropolitan
line one stop to Baker Street where I picked up the Bakerloo line that
did eventually take me to Wembley Park which is the tube stop that's
within walking distance of
Wembley Stadium in the West suburbs. While I was waiting for the train at Baker Street I noticed a young man wearing a Jets
jersey. His name was Cam Harper. He assured me I was indeed going the
right way. Once we got on the train, he let me look at his phone so I could see what the baseball
scores were that I missed since I had a lot of trouble using my phone
due to the lack of WiFi while I was there. When I looked I almost got
sick to my stomach when I saw the Mets got no hit again. This time by
Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals in the second game of the doubleheader
they played on Saturday night. It was his second one of the season.
Ironically I wound up missing both of them. I did notice it was a cold
nasty windy day & night at Citi Field. In that regard, I was glad that I wasn't there. They wound playing a day
night doubleheader since the Friday night game when I left for London
got rained out. The weather that weekend was awful in NYC. After I
gathered myself from an emotional out burst of disbelief, Cam & I
spoke to each other the rest of the ride. He told me he adopted the Jets as his NFL team. We wound up exchanging contact
information. He told me he plans to visit the States for the first time
hopefully next year at some point with his friends. He said he's still
going to school. I wished him the best of luck. He said he hopes to work
to save up enough money to make the journey. I told him to let me know
if & when that happens. When we got off the train we said our
goodbyes. He told me he was meeting his girlfriend who was joining him
for the game.
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| People leaving the Tube |
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| Wembley Stadium |
I
proceeded to walk out of the station. When I did I could see Wembley
Stadium in the distance ahead. I purposely arrived early so I could take
in the pre game experience which consisted of interactive areas as well
as different food stands that were set up along the way. It made for a
festive atmosphere as I saw many different people wearing different NFL
jerseys as I made my way towards the Stadium. The most popular jerseys I
remember seeing were the Patriots, Colts & Packers among those of course
wearing the Jets & Dolphins. As I walked around the outside of the
Stadium, I saw a guy from London who was wearing a Jet jersey & a
Met hat. I stopped & I started a conversation with him. We both were
hoping for the best for our teams. I was upset about the way the Mets
finished the last week of the season. I'm an old school thinker. I
believe you always want to put yourself or your team in the best position
to succeed. By resting players & not wanting to risk getting
players hurt, I thought the Mets were foolish in their approach. In
retrospect, it turned out not to be a big deal. In that regard, I'm glad
I was wrong.
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| The Great British Hog Roast |
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| The Waffle House |
When I
finished walking to the other side of the Stadium, I decided to go
inside. That was the side where my seat was located. Unlike most venues
here in the States, you have to enter the gate that's written on your
ticket. As a result, your movement is restricted once you get in
the Stadium. Since my seat was located on the upper level, I wasn't able
to go downstairs to the lower level even to see what the seats or
concourses looked like. It is what it is. They do hold other football
matches there if you will. With that being said, it made more sense why
they do what they do. People in Europe are notorious for behaving unruly
so it forces them to limit people from straying too far during a match.
If not, all hell may break loose.
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| Ira & Linda Lieberfarb & I |
When
I finally made it to the upper level I proceeded to go to my seat to
see how the view was. When I got there, I saw my pal Ira Lieberfarb who was
there with his lovely wife, Linda. It should be noted that Ira has seen
all the Jets home & away games every year since 2006. That even
includes all the preseason games as well going to see them practice at
their training camp facility during the summer. Ira bleeds green through & through. In
addition, he's known for calling the local sports radio talk shows here
in NYC. He prefers to lay low but when he does call in to a show, he
goes by the name Ira from Staten Island. I always try my best to see him
when I'm at a game home or away. We've met up many times over the
years. He always sits quietly in his seat as he roots for his team. He doesn't want to draw attention to himself. For the most part, he's met many good people who have sat around him. In that regard, he's been very fortunate. Like
me, it was their first time in Europe. It was great to see them there.
As for getting tickets for the game, since we're Jet season ticket holders, we were able to secure them on a pre sale that
they gave us access to back in May. They bought a pair of tickets & I bought a single one for
myself. They didn't tell us the exact seat location at that time. They
just told us they were in the upper sideline behind the Jets bench. Ironically I
wound up sitting right on the 50 yard line in row 16 if you will. It was
really the second row that was right above the press box. It was a
perfect seat for my liking. Ira & Linda were just over my shoulder
in the row behind me & a few seats to my right. The best part was
that we were surrounded by a good number of Jet fans who either made the
journey across the Pond or people who like the gentleman who sat next
to me with his son who told me he was from England but he just moved
back there from Brooklyn, NY in June where he lived for seven years. It wound up
being an amazing experience. However since it was a so called Dolphin "home"
game they treated it as such by playing the Dolphin theme song & they
did other in house type promotions that were related to them. As a
result, Dolphin fans outnumbered us Jet fans.
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| Opening Kickoff |
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| Jets lead, 20-7 at halftime |
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| Jets win, 27-14 |
As
for the game we saw, the Jets got the ball first & in three plays
they found the end zone when quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick connected on a
bomb to wide receiver Brandon Marshall for 58 yards on the first play from scrimmage which set the Jets up to take an early 7-0
lead. It seemed too easy. The Jets continued to dominate as they lead,
20-7 at halftime. Thanks to a few pass interference calls against the
Jets on a drive in the second quarter, the Dolphins were able to break the shutout. In the second half, the
Jets did their best to blow the game but thankfully they didn't. Running back Chris Ivory finished the game with 166 yards on the ground as they wound up winning, 27-14. With the victory, Ira & I got to
see the Jets win a game in three different countries. We both saw them
win in Toronto back in December 2009 at the Rogers Centre.
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| People heading back to the Underground |
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| Eddie's Fish Bar & Best Turkish Kebab |
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| Haddock & Chips |
After
the game, I wound up taking the Underground back to Central London. I
decided to go to King's Cross/St. Pancras which is their main train
station for commuting before I returned to my hotel to call it a day. I
did so because I wanted to get familiar with that station since I told
Sean I would meet him there Monday night. By doing so, I was finally
able to get access to WiFi. With that being said, I spent a few hours
getting in contact with people who are near & dear to my heart.
After doing so, I went to eat dinner since I was starving. I found a restaurant a few blocks away called
Eddie's Fish Bar & Best Turkish Kebab. Since I was in the mood for fish & chips, it worked out perfectly for me. I
had a nice size piece of haddock. It actually tasted really good & I enjoyed it. When
I finished I proceeded to go back to my hotel. I found my way back
there without too much difficulty.
Stay tuned for a special post that will recap how I spent that Monday before I eventually met up with Sean again.
Thank you for reading & following along.
Yours truly,
Gary Herman
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