PART I - METS, JETS BUT NO SHUGGIE IN THE BIG APPLE!

Saturday 15 Oct

Although the Cheddarhead tour would not begin in earnest until the Monday, Preston was in New York, New York for a couple days before and soaked up the best sport the Big Apple could offer!

Saturday night meant game 4 of the NLCS at Shea Stadium! With the Mets down to the Braves 3-0 in the best of seven series it was a must win game. After scalping a $50 ticket at face value, it was time to witness to another Miracle Mets performance. Trailing 2-1 in the 8^th John Olerud hit a 2 run single off the hated Braves closer John Rocker (who had to dodge much flying debris on his sprint from the bullpen) to give them a 3-2 lead which they closed out. The Mets fans still believed!

Who's that #7 playing for the Colts? None other than ex Rhein Fire kicker Danny Kight who had just been signed to handle the kickoff duties during the week!

Let's hope it's the start of a long and fruitful NFL career!

Danny runs up to make the opening kickoff. It wasn't a touchback, but it was OK!

Talk about 50 yard line seats! 2^nd row right behind the Jets bench for face value plus the guy's parking (he had a spare). Ray Lucas (under center) made his first NFL start and played well in the 1^st half taking the Jets out to a 13-0 lead. J-E-T-S Jets Jets Jets indeed!

Being this close to the bench you can hear the Big Tuna yelling at his players. Sadly another Cheddar favourite because of his inept play, Rick Mirer (#3, far right), didn't get to show his stuff this Sunday. It wouldn't haven't mattered as Lucas did his best Mirer performance late in the 4^th quarter. With the score 13-13 the Jets had a 1^st and Goal at the 2 and less than 5 minutes to play, Lucas under threw Keyshawn Johnson in the end zone, amd Jeff Burris picked it off returning it too near midfield. From there Peyton Manning drove the Colts into field goal range where Mike Vanderjagt (not Danny alas) slotted the winner in the closing seconds.

Then it was back into New York, to the ESPN sportsbar for a great night of sports. Ever tried watching 3 NFL games and 2 baseball games at the same time? Most of the attention was focused on the Miracle Mets who beat the Braves 4-3 in the 15^th inning of a rain drenched Shea Stadium to take the NLCS back to Atlanta. Let's go Mets!

And then it was time for the real Cheddarhead tour to begin with the arrival of Shuggie (left) in the big city! Also touching down was the man known as "Blinky" who accompanies us on our US tours and is constantly hassled for camera duties. It was mighty cold day in NY, and it would be an even colder night!

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