Jets grounded in Baltimore

Photos from Day 3...

Daly's & D.C.

Photos from Day #2...

Rutgers 37, Pittsburgh 29

Event #1 of the weekend is in the books...a 37-29 win by Rutgers over Pittsburgh.

Weekend weather outlook

Friday, Sept. 30 - Piscataway, NJ

Day: Mostly sunny, with a high around 67. West wind between 3 and 5 mph.

Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 47.

Saturday, Oct. 1 - Washington, DC & Baltimore, MD

Day (Washington): Sunny, with a high around 75.

Night (Baltimore): Clear, with a low around 62.

Sunday, Oct. 2 - Baltimore, MD

Day: Mostly sunny, with a high around 81.

Night: Mostly clear, with a low near 62.

Injury Report

NY JETS
-----------------------------
QB Chad Pennington (shoulder) and QB Jay Fiedler (shoulder) will miss Sunday's game against Baltimore.

BACHELOR PARTY
-----------------------------
BM Brian Kelley (toe, head) is probable; GRM Cliff Olsen (Phils-Nats time change, lack of Jets QBs) is irritable.

Practically everything you need to know!

Just wanted to get a more robust way of getting information to you guys and since I am an avid blogger, I figured I should do it this way...yeah, I know...I don't know why it took me this long to realize it either.

Anyway, what follows is a list of the main events of the weekend, the costs (which you should have already received via e-mail) and the names of those I have as attending -- or planning to attend -- those events.

Pittsburgh @ Rutgers, Fri., 9/30, 8 p.m.: Chris Corrente, Dan Gregory, Brian Kelley, Kenny Kingswell, Kirk Malajian, Jon Miller, Mike Miller, Paul Pieri, John Sellinger...$12

Phillies @ Nationals, Sat., 10/1, 4:10 p.m. (NOTE TIME CHANGE): Chris Corrente, Mike Fries, Dan Gregory, Brian Kelley, Kenny Kingswell, Jon Miller, Mike Miller, Paul Pieri, John Sellinger, Harry Smith, Jim Tighe...$19

Transportation (van rental) between NJ & Baltimore, MD/Washington, DC: Chris Corrente, Brian Kelley, Kenny Kingswell, Jon Miller, Mike Miller, John Sellinger, Harry Smith, Jim Tighe...$45

Hotel - Residence Inn by Marriott - Inner Harbor, Baltimore, MD: Chris Corrente, Dan Gregory, Brian Kelley, Kenny Kingswell, Jon Miller, Mike Miller, Paul Pieri, Harry Smith, Jim Tighe...$65*

NY Jets @ Ravens, Sun., 10/2, 4 p.m.: Chris Corrente, Brian Kelley, Kenny Kingswell, Jon Miller, Mike Miller, Harry Smith, Jim Tighe...$113*

*-payment for the Jets-Ravens game and the hotel should be made to James A. Tighe.

Here is a more detailed breakdown of the weekend...

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 30
Cliff and I have discussed the possibility of a pre-game feeding at a pizza place in Somerset(?) prior to the Rutgers game. That will probably be from around 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. Also, since you are all friends of Cliff, I was assuming you knew this...but we will be taking what I call "the walk" from Cliff's NJ house to Rutgers Stadium for the game. It isn't that bad a walk, though...it also brings luck...and strong winds that will either lead to Scarlet victory or symbolize how much the team blows.

5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Steve's Pizza
900 Easton Ave
Somerset, NJ 08873
Meet 'n Eat at Steve's Pizza. This is a place right around the corner, basically, from Cliff's dad's house.

Directions

From the North...take southbound Route 1, Route 27 or NJ Turnpike to Route 18 North. Follow directions below...

From the South...take northbound Route 1 or Garden State Parkway to Route 18 North. Follow directions below...

...continue on Route 18 North to last exit before crossing river and entering Rutgers' Busch/Livingston campuses. At end of exit ramp, turn right onto George Street. At traffic light, make left onto Landing Lane. Continue on Landing Lane to traffic light. Make right at light onto Easton Ave. Continue on Easton Ave. for about a mile...make left at light onto Foxwood Drive. There is an entrance to the shopping center where Steve's is located about 1/10th of a mile on your right.

7 p.m. - 7:40 p.m.
We will leave Steve's, but this is where things get a bit weird...although it makes complete sense in the world of Cliff. We will take a few cars and park them in a part of Cliff's neighborhood closer to Franklin Blvd. From there, we will walk the mile or so to Rutgers Stadium.

8 p.m. - 11:30 p.m.
Pittsburgh at Rutgers
Rutgers Stadium
Piscataway, NJ
We will watch supposed NCAA football action in prime time as ESPN2 -- for some inexplicable reason -- televises a game between Pittsburgh (0-3) and Rutgers (2-1). Let's hope for some wind...it worked like a charm a couple of years ago against Syracuse!

Post-game activity?
Not sure what we are going to do here. We'll play it by ear. Since we have to get a relatively early start Saturday morning, I'm not sure if we will do much in this time slot.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1
Contrary to what I said in the last e-mail, I would like to propose a slight change of plans for Saturday, 10/1. Instead of my having to drive the rental van up to Cliff's house in Somerset to pick up the Central NJ contingent, I think it would be best if that group could meet up with everybody at Trenton-Mercer Airport in Ewing, NJ (right off I-95 South in Mercer County) at 10:15 a.m. There are three reasons for this: 1) Parking is free, secure and plentiful; 2) it is "equidistantly" located for both the Central NJ and PA contingents to meet; and 3) that is the airport from which I am renting the van. If we do it this way, we can all just get in the van and head to Rider, where we will meet up with Dan and Paul for an 11 a.m. brunch at "legendary" Daly Dining Hall. Let me know if there are problems with that by using the comment link at the end of this post.

Directions to Trenton-Mercer Airport
From Central NJ, take Route 1 South to I-95 South (Pennsylvania). Take I-95 South to Exit 2 (Bear Tavern Rd) and follow signs to airport...From PA, take I-95 North into NJ and get off at Exit 2 (Bear Tavern Rd), following signs for the airport.

10:30AM MEET AT TRENTON-MERCER AIRPORT
11:00AM ARRIVE RIDER / BRUNCH
11:45AM LEAVE RIDER
3:00PM ARRIVE @ RFK STADIUM
4:10PM GAME STARTS
7:10PM GAME ENDS / POST-GAME @ Coyote Ugly Saloon
8:45PM LEAVE FOR BALTIMORE
9:30PM ARRIVE @ HOTEL - CHECK-IN / RELAX / CHANGE / DRESS
11:00PM LATE NIGHT SPOTS (see below)

POSSIBLE LATE NIGHT SPOTS - SATURDAY

POWER PLANT LIVE ½ mile walk from our hotel Contains numerous bars (McFaddens, Howl at The Moon, & others)

BALTIMORE ST ¼ mile walk from hotel numerous bars on 400 Block of Blatimore St.

Cliff's Bachelor Party Calendar (view online or download to an iCal-standard application)

Directions from Rider to RFK Stadium

We'll be taking I-95 South to the I-495 Beltway. We want to take I-495 in the direction of College Park, Greenbelt and/or FedEx Field. While that appears to be East on a map, I don't know how they designate I-495 going that way. Based on what I read today, however, it appears we want to get on the inner loop of I-495, which -- if you are looking at a map of the Beltway -- would be the clockwise rotation. This part of the Beltway should also be considered I-95 so we should see signs indicating that.

Anyway, we want to take I-495 to the exit for Maryland Route 295 South (Baltimore-Washington Parkway). Take MD-295 South all the way down to E. Capitol Street. Exit at E. Capitol Street and head for D.C. Upon exiting, RFK Stadium will be directly in front of us across the Anacostia River.

I was told by somebody with the Nationals that parking for an oversized vehicle, such as the van we willl have, can be found in Parking Lot #3, which can be seen in the map below:

WEST

EAST

To add a sense of realism, here is the same area as viewed on Google Maps. The parking lot is pretty much right where that pinpoint is.

NORTH

SOUTH