New Meadowlands Stadium open for business Saturday

I spent a couple of hours Thursday on a media tour of New Meadowlands Stadium, led by its amiable CEO, Mark Lamping.

Here is a story I wrote for the newspaper about it.

Not sure what else to say. It's new. It's nice. It's big.

There was nothing wrong with Giants Stadium, but this place obviously is more modern and shiny. Well, as shiny as a place with 82,500 gray seats can be.

I heartily endorse it. As long as I don't have to buy a PSL to help pay for it.

At the end of the tour, NMS officials were kind enough to have visiting journalists sample some of the food offerings.

I ate a pulled pork sandwich and a steak sandwich, both of which were messy but mighty tasty.

Then again, as every sportswriter knows, free food always tastes better than the alternative.

Lamping said he expects the stadium to get a naming rights sponsor eventually, but he doesn't know when.

He also refused to get cocky about the stadium's bid for the 2014 Super Bowl, which will be voted upon by owners next month.

"I don't think that's a slam dunk at all," he said when a reporter suggested the New York / New Jersey bid is a done deal.

Which it is.