After a few months “vacation” I hope you guys are excited for the start of the football season. It’s been a busy off-season for me, namely working hard to get healthy and preparing for what I hope to be a great 2009 season.

This past weekend we opened up the pre-season in New Orleans. My buddy, Corey Vavala, lives down there and he picked up my brother and I and gave us the insider’s tour of New Orleans. We drove down Bourbon Street and could see all the people getting cranked up for the first Saints home game (we also saw this lady who dresses her dog exactly like her… I gave her a high five because she was wearing Bengals colors). After Bourbon Street we drove through the French Quarter and you could just feel the history and tradition in the air. As we approached the bridge heading into the lower 9th Ward, Corey prepped us for the range of emotions we were expected to feel. The sadness was almost immediate as we saw about 15 standing houses in a place where there were previously thousands. Brad Pitt and Oprah are trying to do a lot to restore New Orleans but there is still so far to go. The mass amount of destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina definitely stung both Jordan and I with an array of emotions. Hearing it was one thing… but seeing it was something else.

After our tour we decided to get some good old Cajun cooking and headed to a place called Palace Cafe. The food was amazing. Everything from the fried alligator to the crab claws, the gumbo, the cheesecake… it was phenomenal. I’ve now crowned New Orleans as my favorite city to eat and want suggestions for my next time back there! Anyone?

I finally checked out of Georgetown College (where our training camp is and where they were filming Hard Knocks for HBO) and got to see my wife and kids for the first time in 2.5 weeks. In case you didn’t know, my wife and I had newborns earlier this year (a boy and a girl) and they’ve been quite a handful. As first time parents, we’ve definitely had our work cut out for us. I encourage any and all advice from those of you out there that have twins! Without question, they’re tougher than anything I’ve ever experienced in football (and a lot more rewarding)! I swear, in the two and a half weeks I was away, they grew and changed so much. They were a lot less excited to see me as I was to see them!

I’d also like to point out how wonderful Delta has been for us as new parents. My wife had to travel alone with both babies and Delta was unbelievably helpful not only letting parents with kids board early but also helping my wife get situated with the two kids. It’s something that I truly appreciated when I was in training camp and she called so impressed with the service. Then again, since they’ve been so wonderful in the past when we traveled with our Rottweiler, Homer, I wasn’t expecting anything less.

Keep on the lookout for more blogs from me throughout the year. I hope you are all well out there and make sure to send me questions!

Who Dey!

Carson Palmer
Quarterback
Cincinnati Bengals

Hey guys,

I’m sorry it’s been a few weeks since I last blogged, but hey – I’ve been busy! I’m finally feeling pretty settled in with the Mets and NYC. Right after I was traded we went on the road for two weeks. When we got “home” (I’ll admit it felt a little weird at first calling that first time back to New York a “home stand”) we stayed for a week and then headed out west to play the Padres and the Diamondbacks. For that week in between I found myself overwhelmed with not just baseball, but adjusting to a new city.

My wife Catie actually had to carry most of the load when it came to finding a place to live, packing up our stuff (which included our dogs), etc. We were lucky to have our family come up to help us get settled. Both Catie’s parents and my parents headed north and they helped us accomplish a ton. We ended up finding a place to live that’s just outside the city. I’m still a country boy at heart, and not to mention we had to find a place where our three dogs would have room to roam, so a place in the heart of the city wasn’t at the top of my list for now.

Luckily I have found some time to enjoy myself off the field since I’ve been here. Every time Catie and I visited New York in the past, we always dined at our favorite restaurant Tao. Now that we’ll be here for the next few months I’m sure we’ll be frequent diners there.

For the most part, baseball has been the only thing on my mind, but I did have an opportunity to play golf a couple weeks ago with David Wright. It’s been good to have a change of scenery. I’m really enjoying my teammates, and although I don’t get to play with my best buddy Brian McCann anymore, Wright and Murph and the rest of the guys have been great to me. Jerry and Omar have been nothing but welcoming and I really enjoy working with them every day. And not to mention…the fans and media have been fantastic!

Adding to my list of things I enjoy about New York…Citi Field. If you haven’t had a chance to go yet I would strongly suggest it. It’s a beautiful stadium and if you’re really lucky you can hit the Delta Sky360 Club and Lounge. Probably the most famous part of the stadium so far is the homerun apple in centerfield. It’s been the topic of discussion on SportsCenter a couple of times because of its minor malfunctions, but nonetheless we all love it. It’s reserved solely for a homerun hit by a Mets player.

Feel free to send me suggestions for places to go and things to do in my new city. Looking forward to calling this home… for seven months out of the year at least.

Take care and I’ll check back in soon.

Jeff
New York Mets

Under the rules of our Delta’s Jeter/Wright Batting Challenge, the player who ends the season with the highest batting average (based on a minimum 400 at bats) wins $100,000 for his charity. Delta is the official airline sponsor of both New York ballclubs.

Learn more about Derek Jeter’s Turn 2 Foundation and David Wright’s David Wright Foundation at our previous post here.

Who’s charity will you be cheering for post-All Star break?

Annika
NYC Promotional Marketing