Best: Noise, wind, empty seats and a "W''

It took one half of one quarter of one game for fans to christen New Meadowlands Stadium yesterday, booing loudly after a three-and-out by the Giants on a dreary afternoon in the Jersey swamps.

Not that there's necessarily anything wrong with that.

As guard Rich Seubert said later: "That's New York, right? They expect the best out of us, and when we don't give them our best, that's what happens. It motivates me to do better."

Eventually, the Giants did, beating the Panthers, 31-18, to open their new stadium and reversing the 41-9 loss to Carolina that ended their Giants Stadium era in December, and the fans responded in kind.

That bitter finish to the 2009 season made the opener pivotal in football terms, but in historical terms, Sunday will be recalled more as the debut of the nation's most expensive sports stadium, at more than $1.6 billion.

Lacrosse, soccer, music and preseason football had been played there since April, but this was what really counted: regular-season NFL football.

So how did it go?

Well, the home team won, which mattered most to the majority of those in attendance.

And according to coach Tom Coughlin, the fans helped make it happen. "I like the enthusiasm,'' he said, "and I hope it grows."

It did seem as if the acoustics in the new stadium made it noisier than the old one, and it also seemed as if the people in it were relatively more youthful and energetic.

For years, coaches and players have complained privately (and sometimes publicly) about having less of a home- field edge than many opponents do. That widely was believed to be a function of a relatively older crowd.

Some of those loyal patrons have been displaced by personal seat licenses and hugely more expensive tickets, allowing a different group of fans access after decades of season- ticket gridlock.

Then again, some displaced people were replaced by empty gray seats yesterday, with some areas of the mezzanine level devoid of fans. Five entire rows of one section below the press box were empty.

PSLs in those sections cost $7,500 or $12,500, with game tickets set at $400 and $500. Most seats were occupied in the Coaches Club, where PSLs cost $20,000 and game tickets $700.

The team announced 77,245 tickets sold in a stadium with a capacity of 82,500. It said the unsold seats were a combination of club seats, suites and areas that had been held in reserve under the Americans with Disabilities Act. None of those count in determining sellouts for the purpose of TV blackouts.

Understandably, there was some first-day confusion as fans learned new traffic patterns and found new parking lots, but overall, the operation seemed smooth, and eventually the mood turned festive even as a misty rain fell.

At halftime, the Giants showed highlights from each of the team's past homes. Hall of Fame linebacker Harry Carson addressed the fans, appearing on a stage with Frank Gifford, George Martin and Nick Baldino, a season-ticket holder since the 1940s.

The biggest question about the new building in football terms had been the wind. Coughlin said it was more a factor than it had been in preseason, and he said it was different from what it was like at Giants Stadium.

The trademark swirling still was there, but with more of a crosswind than one that came out of one end zone.

Coughlin discussed all that in the glassed-in news conference room inside the Coaches Club, dubbed "the fishbowl'' by football writers.

Some fans cheered his arrival and his opening statement but eventually settled down and just listened.

Rex Ryan gets his turn in the glass house tonight, which could make for an interesting scene if the Jets win.

And an even more interesting one if they lose.