We now have our Super Bowl matchup – Steelers vs. Cardinals. The Cardinals proved everybody wrong (including their parents and spouses) by making it to the big game. And can’t we just get it over with and make the day after the Super Bowl a national holiday, so we don’t have to go to work tired and hungover? We also have a new coach for the Jets. And NHL All-Star weekend is here, which we all know is a time for quiet reflection. The prize for this week’s Hot Stove Player (ok, Coach) of the Week is a brand-spanking-new president. When is Gary Bettman’s term over with, by the way?
Winner
Rex Ryan: The new coach of the Jets made a splash at his introductory press conference. He’s already proving to be the anti-Eric Mangini. There was some speculation around the Jets the last few years that Mangini was actually a robot, programmed by Bill Belichick. All that animosity and non-handshaking was just a way to throw us …
The Jets officially have a new coach and while his pedigree is fierce, he lacks chops when it comes to head coaching experience. Jets fans got what we wanted- a fire breathing quarterback killer who’s defense promises blitzes from any postition at any time. We can expect kitchen sinks, safes falling from the sky, cornerbacks hiding behind referees, and hopefully a tenacious ball hawking D. By all reports Rex Ryan is ecstatic about this opporunity and he floored the front office when he interviewed. Despite being in the AFC championship game, Ryan not only came in prepared- the man came in with a full on PowerPoint presentation. The next few weeks will be interesting for Rex, he’s got lots of stuff on his plate to deal with and some of it needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.
First of all, Rex will have to bring in a new Defensive Coordinator. Bob Sutton’s been as good as gone for months now and Ryan surely will be bringing …
Putting aside regular season records, what teams made the playoffs and the last quarter of the season, how can anybody justify Brett Favre going to the Pro Bowl in 2009?
You can make the case after the first half of the season that Favre could have been considered above Matt Cassel and Chad Pennington. However, being chosen in place of Philip Rivers at any point this season would have been a complete travesty.
Rivers’ numbers are even better the other two players who were chosen to represent the AFC in Peyton Manning and Jay Cutler. And instead Favre is chosen?
One can not argue with the selection process that the NFL has in place where the players, the fans and the coaches all count for 1/3 of the overall vote.
But what I can do is question, how does this happen? Credit is due where credit is due, but at the time when the Pro Bowl votes are calculated (around the last quarter of the season), Rivers, Pennington and Cassel in …
Mark Sanchez, a four year junior, declared for the 2009 NFL Draft yesterday. He and Georgia’s Matt Strafford are considered the top two QBS with Oklahoma’s Heisman winner Sam Bradford opting to return to Norman. USC finished 12-1 and number two in the college poll. The 6′3″ 225 pound QB had an outstanding Rose Bowl, completing 28-of -35 passes for 413 yards and 4 TDs. The Trojans easily won the game 38-24 victory over No. 6 Penn State. He became just the third QB in Rose …
The Patriots at 11-5 were barred from the playoffs in dramatic style and as I prepare to watch several species of birds try to take out the Pittsburgh Steelers I would like to revisit week 16 for one brief moment. As much as it sucked to lose to the Dolphins, I’m now taking pleasure in the way we brought New England down with us.
It reminded me of an action movie from the 80’s. You know, where the good guy wraps his arms and legs koala-style around the big bad monster. Face to face, human and demon (or Alien or monster or whatever), sweaty, huffing and puffing…that’s when our hero reveals the pin he’s already pulled from the grenade in his jacket. Finally, horror on the bad dudes face!
And from our hero (let’s call him Jericho)? Only these words uttered in a sand paper whisper, “I’ll see you in hell”
BOOM! The explosion sends debris everywhere- dirt clods, paper, filing cabinets (?), Alien guts… Our hero has sacrificed himself …
Could someone please explain to me why on Earth the Jets are so attached to Brian Schottenheimer? The offense stunk it up the final five games and the play calling was atrocious all season long.
I’ll never forget sitting in the freezing rain/hail storm watching the Jets take the field aganst the Denver Broncos. Nastiest conditions I’ve ever sat through, the hot chocolate was luke warm. Everything was frozen and slippery.
What did the Jets do on their first posession? Double reverse pitch to Cotchery who naturally fumbles the ball to the Broncos. That’s a tricky play indoors under the best of conditions but during a Biblical rainstorm it belongs in the playbook to be pulled out another day. I know that. You know that. How come the Offensive coordinator who’s getting paid boatloads of cash doesn’t know that?
That’s just one glaring example in a season where the awful playcalling was one of the few consistencies the Jets had to offer. The front …
Eric Mangini was introduced to the folks in Cleveland yesterday.
Well la-dee-F%$#kin-da.
The abused puppy syndrome has been rampant throughout Jets nation and I expected Mangini to deliver a body blow right away. Surely the first thing Mangini would do as head coach is have a sit down with Romeo Crennel. They’d reminisce about the good ol’ days in Boston when they used to win games and cheat in Super Bowls. Crennel already stated publicly that he’s up for remaining in Cleveland as the Defensive Coordinator so why wouldn’t he want to stay on with an old colleague? Mangini’s got to know that the Jets have an eye on Crennel to replace our lame duck defensive coordinator Bob Sutton because he’s a perfect fit to come in and patch up our 3-4 defense. It’s a personnel specific defense and if we went back to the 4-3 we’d have to some serious overhauling. Crennel’s one of the few 3-4 coaches out there and not only that, he knows how to …
Getting beaten up by a bunch of street punks wouldn’t have been anywhere near as painful as the last five weeks have been for Jets fans. The Football Gods just opened up their golden endzone, smiled upon the Jet faithful, and then poo-ed all over us. Wow that one sucked. I’m good at rationalizing but this was tough. I can’t help but wonder if Belichick’s karma contributed. The powers-that-be would rather see Manigini fired than a cheater coach his way through injuries galore and return to glory.
Eric Mangini had to go. The consistent problems we’ve had – an inability to adjust to other team’s game plans, the inability to win in the Pacific time zone, the inability to stop the pass (any pass), the reluctance to run the ball with the AFC’s leading rusher, stupid play calling, stupid time management, penalties penalties penalties – everything points to a coach who just isn’t getting the job done. We had Pennington, Belichick, and the rest of the East in …
Anxiety for Jets fans is running high these days. I spent half of my time behind the bar last night commiserating with customers hashing out our dire situation. Dire because history tells us the Jets are going to fold like a totem pole made of cards when the Jets face the Seahawks. In reality, the Jets are sitting pretty .
The abused puppy syndrome is running rampant throughout our ranks and causing us to lose focus on the real situation. Remember back when Favre first got here and we were all expecting him to get crushed between our patchwork line? We didn’t know if he’d make it through one game much less the whole season. The hope was a Wild Card birth: the Patriots looked untouchable, Thomas Jones looked suspect. Would Favre and Coles ever get along?
Now, here we are in December sitting in 1st place with two easy games ahead of us and everyone I talked to last night drank their half full beers and cowered from …
It’s only six days until Christmas. When I was a kid, my family would gather round the tree, wearing our matching sweaters, and sing Christmas carols every year. We would feel so jolly and Christmasy that we wouldn’t even hide my brother Tiny Greg’s crutches as a practical joke, which we would often do the rest of the year. The laughs that used to get, as we’d watch him crawl around the house in tears looking for them! And we’d really know it’s Christmas when my younger brother, little Zuzu (his real name was either Eric or Steve; we were never really sure which), would say, “Look Mommy, every time a bell rings, Daddy has another drink.” This week’s prize for the Hot Stove Player of the Week is a CD of all the Christmas classics my family would belt out together: “Santa Claus Is Not Coming to Town Because He Hates You,” “Whizzy, the Yellow-Snowed Snowman,” “Santa’s Not Wearing Pants Again,” “I Saw Mommy …
There I was, a grown ass man, on my knees two feet from the television. It’s been a long time since I’ve been in this position, maybe twenty years. It’s funny how desperation can drive a person all the way to the fetal position. Jets paraphernalia lay strewn about the room; anything I could throw had already been chucked in a violent manner. My Patriots fan roommate was already warming up his gloating voice. My girlfriend was wearing a Jets Santa hat to humor me. I’m not proud of this moment. I was on my knees and I wasn’t even alone.
Favre couldn’t complete a pass in the fourth quarter, we went 3 and out from our own f%#@ing endzone, our defense couldn’t tackle Lynch if world peace depended on it, and we were down by four. Dead in the water- that’s what I thought. An entire season of almost heart attacks, huge victories, pathetic defeats, and nonsensical coaching was about to come to an end. That’s when …
Here are the answers to yesterday’s quiz.
1. Leon Washington has four career kickoff return touchdowns and two receiving TD’s.
2. Kellen Clemens was selected in the second round of the 2006 draft by the Jets.
3. Eric Barton leads the team in tackles this season, with 95.
4. Jerricho Cotchery had 82 receptions in 2006 and 2007.
5. Laveranues Coles returned 11 kickoffs for 207 yards for the Jets in 2000.
6. Bubba Franks was picked by the Green bay Packers in the first round of the 2000 draft.
7. Jay Feely kicked for the Giants in 2005 and 2006.
8. Besides Brett …
