As you probably already know, I went to New York Jets training camp last weekend. I had a terrific time—saw a lot of football, got to hang with some great people (including one night when Jets coach Rex Ryan walked past me in Hairy Tony’s bar!), and just generally got to enjoy myself without having to worry about chasing after kids or my wife.
As such, I thought I’d share
My Five Favorite Images from My Mancation to Cortland, New York
You can visit my Flickr photo stream to see bigger and better versions of these and other images from the trip …
1. 
Every day at the beginning of practice, the players line up and stretch. There’s just something about the symmetry that appeals to me.
2.
Yes, it’s a flower. My wife laughed when she saw it—”Oooh, nice ‘mancation’ photo!” Hey, I took this photo because the vibrant color reminded me of the royal purple robes of an ancient warrior as he was preparing to lay waste to …. a … uh …
Okay, I took this photo the color is real pretty. Ugh.
3.
This bench was in Sparta Cemetery in Ossining, New York, the new final resting place of the Old Leather Man, which I wrote about a bit last Friday.
4.
As we were driving through the nearby town of Homer (d’oh!), my buddy Brian spotted this cool roadside gallery—we immediately stopped and jumped out with our cameras. Turns out that it’s called Frog Pond Farm Folk Art. I took a bunch of pics here, but I liked this one, mostly because of the subject matter. We were laughing as we were taking pics—you know, because nothing says MANcation than two artsy guys stopping at a charming road side folk art shop to take pictures of whimsical sculptures.
“B-b-but the frog is riding a motorcycle—through FIRE! That’s manly, right?”
Sure. You know, other than it actually being a moped …
5.
This may be my favorite picture from the trip—New York Jets all-pro center Nick Mangold as he was coming off the field. Brian liked this one a lot—he said it reminded him of one of those old sculptures where a saint is looking down with a beatific smile …
Personally, when I see Mangold, I always think I wouldn’t be surprised if he raised his helmet and it turned to a hammer and lightning started striking all around us.
You know, because THAT’S manly.
Did you see Tebow returning kicks? That would be a highlight.
I saw him running fake punts—and then I saw the pics of him running through the rain with no shirt on. Apparently, it was “divine.”
The Mangold one is the best … beatific! That’s the word!!!