Link: Why Cortland?
Needless to say, there were a few upset Jets fans and New Jersey residents when the Jets announced they weren’t going to be holding training camp in their brand new (and partially state-funded) training complex in Florham Park, NJ. A public New Jersey television station caught up with head coach Rex Ryan to ask why the first-year head coach decided to take the Green and White from the Garden State.
“We’re focusing on getting this team ready to roll and by the time we get through training camp, we’re putting ourself in a situation where we really have a football team,” said Ryan. “We’ve got guys who know each other, care about each other, and that’s what we’re trying to build.”
It’s nothing new and shocking, but still, it’s a good quick interview to check over. The part I found most interesting was that Ryan revealed Woody let him make the decision on where to hold camp and didn’t pressure him. It’s a good sign that he’s laying back and letting Ryan run the team as he sees fit. I mean, the Jets are still doing public practices in Jersey and at Hofstra, so it’s not like they’re hiding from the public.
Are you guys okay with the Jets holding camp in Cortland?
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I am from upstate about 4 hours from cortland though. So to me no big deal,however I see why some would be upset.
But,if this translates to wins I would not care if he takes them to Alaska next year.
absolutely!
Yes, I say go upstate NY. I live upstate, but I’m still like 3 1/2 hours away from Cortland :(
100% behind this decision if the Coach thinks it will make the team better
I just dont know why they didnt build dorms in the BRAND NEW STATE OF THE ART FACILITY they should be using.
Was it money?
They should definitely have places for the players to stay at the new facility, but with that said, if this translates into a winning than I’m all for it. If it wasn’t going to be at Hofstra, since I live on Long Island, it doesn’t matter to me whether it’s Jersey or upstate.
Why not?
I have no problem with this at all. One, I love that Rex was able to make the decision. Two, I agree with him that getting them team to go away from familiar surroundings is a good thing. It will allow them to only focus on football and to build up chemistry. I live in Queens and loved going to watch them at Hofstra a few times each summer, but if going upstate is for the good of the team, I’m all for it.
One thing I wondered is why the decision to not build dorms at the new facility before Ryan even got here? Anyone know?
hey if they play better on the field i don’t care where they practice
Another stupid decision by Woody taking his team away from its fan base. Particularly when it was always assumed that the JETS would hold training camp in FP. This will translate into fewer PSLs and fewer seats being sold in the new stadium. I just hope there are enough stupid fans who will pay the PSL fees so the JETS games are not blacked out in our local market.
If they are blacked out, I guess I will become an Eagles fan as at least they don’t have a dumb owner.
It wasn’t just about the dorms, in New Jersey you’re with your family and friends in Cortland it’s just you and your teammates that way, you can become closer. And it’s also bout the dorms, what kind of bonehead move was that, not making dorms, you already went all out wit hit, why not just go an extra mile.
I don’t have a problem with it. Especially since Rex is new and there are some new players on defense, building that chemistry is going to be key. The way you do that is getting the players away from the their families and having them room together in a dorm so they can get to know each other on a more personal level.
For what its worth, the NYC-Metro’ area does not have a monopoly on Jet Fans..I’ve lived up in the Adirondacks my entire life an dhav ebeen a fan since the NY Titan days..frankly, it’s nice to have the training camp ‘upstate’ even though its over 3 1/2 hours away for us, I plan to attend the camp for one day.. so you Metro guys.. give us upstaters a little break here.. you get the team in Joisy for the hwole season.. whats a few weeks of trainign camp. :)
I think it’s a good idea, build team chemistry/unity, get away from the limelight, let the players get to know one another. I see nothing wrong with the decision, obviously Rex sees some benefit.
They have plenty of property remaining at the Florham Park site that if they wanted to build dorms it would be no problem, and I don’t think money is an issue, if you spend $75 million to build a facility you don’t care about spending another $5 million to make it complete.
it just seeems to me if they were going tokeep it in ny they should of stayed at hofstra
I completely see the team-building potential inherent in a training camp away from players’ families and the comforts of living at home near NYC. I just wish they would have chosen Ithaca instead of Cortland. Ithaca would have been much more fan friendly for attractions, dining, and hotels. Cortland is a dump and didn’t even have a sufficient training facility until the Jets agreed to build one.
I love it! I used to drive 4 hours to see practice at Hofstra every summer. Now the Jets are coming up to me about 2 hrs. North/west of me. I have no problem with the Jets changing things up. It’s been 40 years of us being called the same old Jets. Now we are trying something different and it feels great. Go Jets!
From a financial perspective, it is actually a smart investment by Woody for a number of reasons. First, with the Bills dabbling north of the border, Bills fans have become disgruntled and if they ever do make the move, Woody would have planted the seeds proactively. Also, for many football fans in that area, they are smack in the middle of Buffalo, Patriots, Giants and Jets territory. It gives himm more leverage to expand the fan base and grow merchandising revenue. Let alone if Sanchez becomes King of NY and he ever wins a Super Bowl, he will have planted seeds in tons of young kids growing up all over NY State, instead of just Long Island and Jersey, the way a huge number of those fans in their mid-to late twenties are Bills fans for life becuase they grew up watching Jim Kelly and Bruce Smith. So, it is a good investment for Woody for a lot of reasons. Long term returns can be huge!!!!!!!!
I wish they would’ve played at Marist which is my school. It’s actually in the metro area (metro north) about an hour and a half from NYC, yet still north enough to be secluded. Our campus beats the crap out of Cortland’s we are a private school and just had new facilities built for our football team. It makes no sense why they aren’t going to Marist.
Brandon
It was probably a money type of issue
Brandon
A State University is probably a lot cheaper to use, than a private, woody already spent a lot on the Atlantic Health center only to find it’s no good for training camp, he’s not going all out just to get a better temporary facility.
I think it’s a terrible idea to hold training camp in Cortland. Good for the team, maybe, good for the fans, absolutely not. For New Jersey residents instead of being able to see the jets in training camp at any given time if it was in Florham now to see training camp you must book a hotel and make a vacation out of it. Mini-camp was nice but seriously they had no bleachers what so ever and there were only 2 afternoon practices and there will be only one day of practice at Hofstra, so they really aren’t meeting us halfway. I guess this is good for all of those die-hard Jet fans that live in Upstate New York (if there are any)
Wallace Wright 15
The Jets being a team with great Chemistry- good for fans
The Jets winning games because of that chemistry- good for fans
The Jets making it to finals- good for fans
The Jets staying out of trouble during training camp -good for fans
So what if we win the super bowl of this change, because of this place where they only have each other, where they rely on each other.
So if this helps make the players a real team, then believe me it’s good for fans too, so that way we won’t have gray hair at the end of the season.
I live 5 minutes from Hofstra so I’m against Cortland, Florham Park, and anywhere else that they want to practice.
is JESUS supposed to be selfish!?
I’m originally from upstate….way upstate, and I’ve been a Jets fan my entire life. last year I moved here, five minutes from Hofsta and got to go to watch practice regularly, it was a real treat even as an adult.
My point is that there’s kids up in Buffalo country that are Jets fans too. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for some of those kids. Besides, they’re not practicing out of state, it is still NY. It’s for one year, next year they’ll be back here again. I really can’t see that any of us have a reason to be upset with it, it’s going to mean a lot more to those kids upstate than it would to us and our kids seeing as how it’s a one time opportunity for them. We can catch them next year, just like last year. We should take the high road and just be happy for them.
This is really a non-issue to me, to put it in perspective, the Yanks spring training is in Tampa, and the Giants practice in Albany every year.
No one seems to have commented on the idea that training camp practices could be a lot more pleasant temperature-wise in Courtland than in July heat of the NY metropolitan area.
Training camp is supposed to be tough, but also a time to actually learn things. Easier when you don’t have to worry about heat stroke.
As a player’s coach, Rex is probably doing the players a favor by migrating north in the dog days of summer.
That’s why the racing season switches to Saratoga.
The guys who don’t like this decision seem selfish to me. If this is good for the team, you should be in favor of it. Who cares if it now takes you 3 or 4 hours to drive and see the team. As long as they are successful, you should be happy. Team success is first and foremost.
Some of you think this was another decision by Woody to screw over the fans. Not true, it was Rex’s decision to go to Cortland. The fanbase was not involved in the decision. Rex wanted to get the team away from their surroundings and build chemistry. I live in Queens and I love the decision by Rex.
Like the movie…Remember The Titans…this will only help build chemistry and focus.
I’m in Buffalo, where Gang Green is hated. So when I heard that beloved Jets were coming to Cortland, I am now altering my vacation plans to hit up training camp…Rex is trying to get some time away from the NYC Metro, and it’s going to work. Cortland is a top notch facility and the Jets fans are going to be all over the place!
Screw Cortland!
I’m fine with LI since there is histroy there, but they moved to NJ so that’s where it should stay!!
Again, another stupid move by the JETS owner.
I really feel sorry for Woody. He couldn’t afford a new stadium so he had us pay his rip-off PSL fees. Now he can’t afford bleacher seats for the JETS fans in FP. I guess we should pass the hat and take a collection to help him buy bleacher seats. Couldn’t they take their bleachers seats from Hofstra? Or couldn’t he afford the cost to move them??
Cortland is about 45 minutes from my house with no congested city traffic, toll bridges or tunnels. My grandson and I plan on sharing numerous trips this summer that no doubt will turn into fond green and white memories. Thank you coach Ryan.
Ed-
This decision had nothing to do with money. It wasn’t even Woody who made the call. Rex decided to go to Cortland to have the team together and build chemistry.
There ARE Jets fans upstate! And we are all thrilled to have a chance to see OUR team up close!
Jets Players and fellow fans be forewarned: I drive through that area regularly and that stretch of I-81 from Syracuse to Binghamton (Cortland is in between) has mile for mile more speed traps than any stretch of road I’ve ever driven on.
The State Troopers are downright predatory. You can COUNT on them to “kill the goose” and insure that both players and fans alike will never want to go through there again after this summer.
[...] Cortland, far from offended at being considered remote, is looking forward to an economic lift. The Jets blog has more on Why Cortland? [...]
JL, I also have driven down I-81 on regular occasion, and if you aren’t going 15 over the speed limit you should be fine. Speed limit in that area I believe is 65, so as long as you keep it under 75 you won’t have to worry about a ticket.
The real pain will be the construction at the Whitney Point exit (assuming you are taking 81 north from the Binghamton area) that won’t be finished until September.
The people against this move are just the metro area fans who have a false sense of NYC superiority to upstate NY and the rest of the state. Didn’t your parents ever teach you to share with the other kids? That’s all this is, you get to share your Jets with us upstate fans for a few weeks before they go back to Hofstra and then to Jersey.
MY KIDS GRADUATED FROM CORTLAND. WILL BE GOOD TO SEE WHAT THE CAMPUS LOOKS LIKE THESE DAYS.
COOL EVENINGS.