Close encounters. From the 40.
After receiving a taste of the Saints on Sunday I wasn’t sure how the team would represent, but over a dozen players were in attendance at Monday night’s 3rd annual Taste of the Giants, the last to be held at the old stadium. Players, among them Antonio Pierce and Dominik Hixon, received the benefit of a day off practice for showing up but the biggest winners were ShopRite Partners in Caring and the Giants Foundation who received the proceeds of the $250 – $400 ticket price and auction receipts.
Inside the stadium, tours ran every 15 minutes all night long.
And while that price may sound steep, a die hard Giants fan would have found silent auction offerings like paintings by Lynn Mara, autographed helmets and restaurant gift certificates a bargain. None greater than the live auction items however: Four VIP tickets and field passes for the December 6th Cowboys game went for just over $2000, four VIP tickets for a pre-season training session and dinner in the team dining room next summer went for just over $1000 and lunch for four with Antonio Pierce for less than that. The same two or three older gentlemen bid upward from $200 for each lot after being begged by the emcee to join in and compete making tall blondes pooling limited budgets weep and humbling husbands as glowering spouses clenched their purse-strings.
Blame the economy, but the emcee even joked about the resale value of lots on eBay which would have more than made up for the price of Monday’s admission, and that included food too. During the VIP hour former players Jessie Armstead and and Charles Way tackled shrimp while current team members Ramses Barden and Chase Blackburn spread around crabs in a seafood cook-off. After 7pm Blue Smoke ribs and Little Owl’s meatball sliders stood out among over a dozen dishes representing NYC restaurants. Only Carlo’s Bakery of Hoboken was left to rep New Jersey, catering dessert in the bar. There, players and fans forgot about Sunday’s loss, drank Giant-Tini’s (Ciroc Vodka, Welch’s Grape Juice, sour mix and triple sec) and lived vicariously through another team in another new stadium as the Yankees take the Angels into extra innings.
[...] Recapping Monday’s 3rd annual Taste of the Giants. [...]
[...] you’re only eligible if you follow along at @chilltownlunch. Prizes include a signed program from the Taste of the Giants autographed by the team and a new limited edition Stella Artois Chalice Glass designed by Tim [...]