#3 of 31: New Meadowlands Stadium

December 5, 2010

GAMEDAY: NEW YORK GIANTS vs WASHINGTON REDSKINS

Up at Six AM...27° with wind and snow flurries...and the wind chill around 18°! We make some coffee, close up, unhook and head for the New Meadowlands Stadium. Arriving at 7:10 (just before dawn) makes us second in line to get into the parking lot. Confidence is high. (We had been able to buy a parking permit on line...but we had been told we might need to go to EBay or Craig's list to get one) A smiling security guard made a quick check of the camper interior before we were cleared to enter the lot.

The New York stadium parking lots are hugely staffed with very helpful security/information/traffic/parking guards on foot and in roving golf carts. Very different from the Buffalo and Cleveland Stadiums where someone took your parking fee and that was the last you saw of them. To get into the stadium itself there were separate security screens for men and women.

Once into our parking space, however, the freezing fun began. These Giant's tailgaters are some hearty fans. Layers? Think seven or eight layers of team shirts. They know how to build a really warm and blazing fire and they arrived with enough wood to keep them going for hours.

Breakfasts were being cooked everywhere. Eggs Benedict, steak and eggs, beautiful French toast... I only saw one guy cooking bacon. My personal favorite breakfast was oatmeal cookies and vodka.

One of the special things about tailgating is that the guys seem to do all of the cooking. Not just the cooking, but the prep work, packing and serving. It's a start. These guys have secret recipes, like John Bakalarczyk with his pork Bar-B-Q. John also served a great chicken dip, and here is the recipe from his website (bigbluetailgators.com):

Shaggy D's Buffalo Chicken Dip

Ingredients

• 4 Large Chicken Breast
  
• 16oz. Wish Bone Blue Cheese Dressing
• 16oz Hot Wing sauce
• 2 - 8oz. Packages of Philadelphia's Cream Cheese (block) – softened
• 4 cups Shredded Sharp Cheddar

Instructions

Boiled Chicken Breast until slightly overdone. Let Breast cool – shred chicken with a fork to small and very thin strips (this is the hardest part).

Mix together: Chicken, All of the blue cheese dressing, all of the cream cheese, 2 cups of the cheddar cheese, half of the wing sauce. Taste – if needed add more wing sauce – I used a little over ¾ of the jar.

Put mixture in a crock pot* set to low then add additional cheddar to the top. When the cheddar on the top is all melted you are ready to enjoy (about 1½ hours).

*This dish can also be baked in a 350° oven for 30 minutes or until top cheese is melted.

(Later, I did see two women tossing a salad. What's up with that?) Plenty of beer, but many of the very large bars were stocked with Macallan and Glenlivet single malt scotch, Jameson and Tullalmore Dew Irish Whiskey, bottle after bottle of Black Jack Daniels, and every size and flavor of Gray Goose Vodka imaginable. Very upscale. No beer bongs or jello shooters to be seen anywhere.

Breakfast really merged into brunch, but some guys actually cooked both breakfast and lunch...all between 8 and noon. We saw some of the largest t-bone steaks we have ever seen in our life at one "kitchen". The chef, dressed in shorts and flip-flops was also cooking racks of lamb. Shrimp cocktails were being served everywhere and there were a couple of guys who were steaming several dozen lobsters. Check out the food and decor: Partying in style.

The parking lots are a sea of blue and all fashion seemed to center around team Jerseys with #10, #56 and #89 being the most popular. Number #10, the cute quarterback, Eli Manning was the dominant choice. There were several #11s around. As a Redskins fan I never know his name was Phil, I always thought it was "Thathosehead Simms." There were a few charming hats, but we only saw one guy with team make-up. Yes, there were mink coats.

Several commercially painted fan vehicles dotted the parking lots, especially Lot L. Van modifications for grilling included a double barred slide-out in back and another had converted a handicap lift into a grilling platform.

A hearty lot these Giants tailgaters; loyal, adaptable and they know how to stay warm. There were heating towers, propane furnaces and blowers and bonfires. Hospitable and generous...we could have eaten and drunk ourselves into oblivion. Most interesting were the origin stories shared about becoming loyal Giants fans... coming to games with their parents, sitting in the stands in cold weather to support the team and the discovery of fan fashion... Big Blue Fans Are Hot When It Is Cold

We heard repeated concerns that some of the most loyal and lifetime fans were being priced out of being able to attend. Sunday's game really started us thinking about the meaning of fandom. What kind of a fan are you on Sundays? Expecting victory or gloomy and doomed? Do you have a special outfit you wear, place you sit? Food or beverage you consume? Is there a ritual you follow? What team do you love? How did you become a football fan?

Would love to hear your answers...and share them. Please send them along.

Final: Giants 31, Redskins 7