Travel/Tickets: USA versus Brazil in East Rutherford, NJ (8/10/2010)

I only escaped that hellhole by literally crawling under a barricade. An absolute nightmare that could've gotten really ugly and dangerous. No help from the massive steward staff whatsoever.

That whole stadium is a bit of a mess. It's impossible to walk around the concourse without constantly changing levels, every hall is a dead end.

 

Damn right. What a disgrace. You cannot urge people to take public transportation and then be utterly unprepared to handle the crowds. This was worse than taking the bus from the old Giants Stadium; at least I didn't feel in danger of being crushed then.

Is planning this stuff really so f'ing difficult, or is it just that morons are doing it?

 

i guess there was a bigger travesty than the performance on the field.... BUt i gotta hand it to the USSF, though.... I would have never expected 77K+ for this match, not with the lack of well known Brazilian stars....ala Luis Falbiano, Kak (though injured) Maicon, etc.... If they (USSF) by any chance paid the Brazil FA less as a result (a big IF) kudos for making tons of money, particularly in this crap economy.....

 

Exactly. My complaint is not so much about how long it took (which was pathetic), but more so from a safety standpoint. Had i had my kids with me, i would not have stood in that "pen". I would have taken only a nudge from someone in the back to cause a stampede of sorts. Now i know what cow going to slaughter feels like.

 

The issue was the lack of opening all the cars on the train and making everyone fill up one and then opening the next. It didn't make sense as to why this was the idea when you (NJ Transit) know two things, 1) New Yorkers are impatient and as such are not going to like being shoved into a car 2) That all the cars themselves were single level meaning that they do not have the most economical capacity compared to a Double-Deck train with the same amount attached.

As for the lengh of the trip I got the 10:00 train and (I hate leaving the stadium early but had to for a personal reason) was waiting for the 10:23 train to Penn however due to the bridge being up the train came late. Honestly this is not NJ Transit's fault but rather the Federal Government's for not building a tunnel or high bridge over the Passaic but a draw bridge. (Amtrak controls the tracks here and construction) What I laugh at is the irony in that this rarely happens but this time it did.

 

After that train ride I am convinced that NJ Transit are f'n morons. Look at everything that happened on my trip:

1. Huge crush of people in Secaucus going to the game. I was originally stuck in the middle between the doors and couldn't fit in the cattle car. One hour before game time and they were running trains 15 minutes apart.

2. After waiting 15 (well, more like 20) mins for the next train right where the door would stop, the train pulls in. We all wait like morons for 5 minutes when all the doors open EXCEPT the one right in front of me. I barely make it in the train.

3. A huge sweaty mob of people (not an organized line like the old NJT buses) trying to make it on the train, once again I stop in front of one of the doors and wait for it to open, and AGAIN it doesn't open. F'n morons.

4. The train stops dead because they are inspecting the bridge. Sure, schedule an inspection on a track that is only used during game days AND do it in the two hour window that the trains are running. Morons.

It took me two hours to get home (UWS) from the stadium. Eff it, I'm going back to the bus.

 

New Giants Stadium = HORRIBLE design.
Security = shocked..... no issues at all.

 

I've been to two games at Giants Stadium. Italy v Bulgaria in 1994 and the game where Cletus put on a tour de force show over a holiday weekend when my kid was playing in a tournament in NJ. I have to say, as I entered the New Meadowlands Stadium I was thinking, "how is this different than Giants Stadium?" Apparently because they couldn't get agreement (blue or red is Giants and green is Jets) they opted for a bland color scheme on the seats. Battleship gray and lighter gray seats in a mottled pattern. I guess the difference is more luxury boxes. Meh. And for fans in the New York SMSA, if you're lucky you'll get qualifiers vs. Grenada, Barbados, and maybe T&T. Otherwise, forget about it in the Meadowlands. There will NEVER be games against Mexico, Jamaica, El Salvador or Guatemala in that stadium except in cases where (as in the Brazil game) the USSF is only in it for the money.

In contrast, I went to the Red Bulls game the next night. What a gem of a stadium that place is. Compact, vertical, not a bad seat in the house. Covered with a roof (and for $1.6 billion you couldn't get a roof in the Meadowlands!!???). Hands down, Red Bull Arena is the finest soccer stadium in the USA (and yes, I have been to Carson, CA). The path from NYC and a walk to Newark for trains to NJ, not only is the stadium a gem, it's got a low carbon footprint to boot!

 

1: Could easily be alleviated with the use of Bi-Level (Double Deck) cars. However with the capacity given this was over capacity and expected. The same thing happens with Devil games.

2. You think you might not make the train but as someone with railroading in the roots conductor's will wait until dispatch forces them to go. Trust me you think you won't make a train but the conductor knows your there.

3. See my point on the way NJT handled this; if anything this was the dumbest idea they had.

4. From the inside on this they did this due to wanting to see the foundation with fully loaded and sometimes super-loaded capacity. If this was during NFL game day this doesn't happen. Welcome to being a guinea pig.

And koko I believe like Allianza its only the outside of the stadium that gets lit up different colors during game day not the seats. I don't know why its 1.6 unless the luxary seats are out of this world. As to the quib about the qualifyers; yes those would go to RBA unless its either A) money grab game or B) a game against a country like Canada, Costa Rica, or Honduras. Let's be real here; the US is becoming a soccer loving nation but we only care about the "big teams" internationally. Our CONCACAF brothers are solid but not the big names like Argentina or even Portugal.

 

huge money maker..but security needs to be addressed for USSF events.... I mean something happens, they are liable as well....plus people who don't feel everything was done to make them feel safe, may not return another time.....Those "morans" at USSF ought to know better......