Giants Stadium To Host Super Bowl Party in New Jersey

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Giants Stadium to host Super Bowl celebration in N.J. after NYC parade

by Mark Mueller/The Star-Ledger Monday February 04, 2008, 4:59 PM

New Jersey will welcome home the Super Bowl champion New York Giants with a celebration at Giants Stadium on Tuesday after the victory parade in New York City.

The free event will begin at 4 p.m. Tuesday at the stadium in the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, said John Samerjan, a spokesman for the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority. Stadium gates C and D will open to the public at 3 p.m., he said.

"It was obviously one of the great victories in maybe sports history, much less Super Bowl history," Samerjan said of the Giants' 17-14 triumph over the Patriots Sunday night. "They will be making their last stop at the stadium for this year tomorrow afternoon and we wanted to give the fans an opportunity to greet them in their home."

Giants players, coaches and team officials will be present for the New Jersey celebration, which follows the 11 a.m. parade in New York.

Stadium lots will be open if fans want to tailgate and fans will not be charged for parking, he said. People will be allowed to bring in cameras and video cameras and signs and banners. Large bags and backpacks are not allowed inside the stadium.

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Giants arrive safely in Newark
NY Giants back in New Jersey after Super Bowl win

by The Star-Ledger Continuous News Desk Monday February 04, 2008, 7:01 PM

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Photo by John O'Boyle/The Star-Ledger
Touchdown!

The Super Bowl champion New York Giants have landed at Newark Liberty International Airport tonight, back home from Arizona and their improbable 17-14 upset of the New England Patriots.

The Giants' jet - complete with team flags decorating the cockpit - landed just before 7 p.m. at the airport, where five silver charter buses waited along with State Police and Port Authority police escorts. A small group of family members and airport employees crowded on the tarmac, some clutching cameras, signs and balloons.

Wearing their Super Bowl championship baseball caps, the players left the plane through front and back gateways and quickly made their way to the buses. A small contingent of fans and airport workers watched from above through the glass windows of Terminal A, straining for a glimpse of the victors.

"We thought there'd be a lot of people," said Doug Piccirilli, 53, of Nutley, who stood at the windows with his 16-year-old daughter Dana and a handful of other fans. "I'm just mad I forgot my binoculars."

From the airport, the team was scheduled to drive back to Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, where a celebration is planned for Tuesday but no formal event is happening tonight. Still, a dedicated band of about 80 fans - some wrapped in Giants blankets and clutching cups of hot chocolate - turned out to await the players' arrival, and more people continued to arrive this evening.

"I'm glowing. I'm glowing," said Justin Chernick, 33, a construction worker from Lodi wearing a No. 72 jersey and waiting outside the stadium. "It's beautiful. This is what life's about."

There will be plenty of opportunity for fans to catch a glimpse of their Big Blue heroes on Tuesday, with a ticker-tape victory parade and City Hall ceremony scheduled in Manhattan, followed by a homecoming celebration at Giants Stadium.