Thursday, December 31, 2009

FlyHyNY: Special team TDs under Mike Westhoff.

Mike Westhoff joined the New York Jets in 2001 as the Special Teams Coordinator.  Since then, 6 players have returned kickoffs for 12 touchdowns.  They are Chad Morton, Jonathan Carter, Jerricho CotcheryJustin MillerLeon Washington and Brad Smith.  Santana Mosshas returned punts for TDs, while four other Jets have blocked punts for TDs.


Check out the breakdown of Special Teams TDs after the jump.

Monday, December 21, 2009

FlyHyNY: You Foxed it all up.


I just feel like ranting about this.  My field is in media, and I work with aspiring reporters and broadcasters all the time.  I also pay a lot of attention to how games are televised and directed.
First of all, Fox still hasn't adapted the timeout bars.  If you don't know what that is, they're three little bars added to the scoring graphics to let you know how many timeouts are left for each team.  All the other networks have it.  But Fox does have a big dancing robot.  Yay.
Apart from the fact that the Jets lost, the entire broadcast was terrible.  The announcers kept getting cut off as they would go to commercial.  The plays they were talking about weren't getting shown.  The earliest example I can think of was a play in which the color commentator was praising Woodhead's block.  He kept talking about the block, and they kept showing the receiver's catch.
Other examples were the dumb penalties.  Thomas Jones got flagged, and we only saw like two seconds of it.  Alan Faneca's late flag seemed ticky tacky to me, but there was no discussion about it.  We only saw it once, and that was it.
Even the preseason game coverage with Greg Buttle and Ian Eagle is better than this.

Friday, December 11, 2009

Workin' Dem Corners

So, in order to drum up some business, the powers that be at work thought up this idea of printing out coupons.  I volunteered to stand outside Manhattan Mall and hand them out, and I was there a couple of times this week.  At first, it was a little awkward, just not knowing exactly where to stand and with the paper coupon being blown all about in the wind.  But I soon got the hang of it.

I decided to just stand by the wall at Bank of America and focus only on the people going southward.  That way I didn't have to keep turning.  And then I learned that some people do want to take what you're giving them.  With the wind blowing, I just made sure I handed off the paper right into their hands.  In about a half hour, the pile was gone.

There are millions of people in this city, and even though most wouldn't take, there are always others who will.  It was also nice just to stand there in a busy section, not hurrying to be anywhere in particular, and just look at the people as they come and go.  It was actually refreshing to look at people's faces, and a couple actually talked to me.

I'm not sure whether the coupons are working though.  So far, only one came back to our office.  Many of the people out there are tourists, and some don't speak (or read) English.  Others probably took a quick glance at the coupon and figured we where a video store.  And video stores are becoming obsolete.  So I don't know.

We had a meeting the other day, and we were asked to come up with ways to make money now.  And I was thinking, if we knew of a way to bring people in this instant, we would have done it already.  The only ways we know of - and are fairly certain about - require some groundwork.  But those suggestions are ignored because they wouldn't bring in clients right this instant.

I don't know.  I might not have a job in a few weeks.  I am currently applying at other places.  It's scary.

FlyHyNY: ...and the home of the... JETS!

The New York Jets won their game last week in Toronto against the Buffalo Bills.  We are still in the playoff hunt.  It's a slim chance, and we still have to win our last four games, starting with Tampa Bay on Sunday.

There was a lot of hoopla about Mark Sanchez not sliding to protect himself.  In order to stress the importance, the Jets had brought in Yankees manager Joe Girardi to help with some pointers.  During the game, however, with the first chance to show the world that he is learning, Mark opted to dive for the first down instead.  A few minutes later, he left the game with a knee injury and never came back.

There's some controversy about whether he did the right thing or not.  That he simply being competitive, because if he played it safe, they would have to punt the ball and give it to the other team.  But they had the lead and the defense was playing great.  If he didn't get hurt, he would have had more chances for touchdowns.

Back-up QB Kellen Clemens took over for him.  He showed extreme caution with the ball, and actually had a nice throw to Jerricho Cotchery for a first down.  Kellen took a couple of sacks and a fumble, but he didn't turn the ball over.

There's some controversy about Kellen's play also.  He looked pretty bad out there, and some fans would argue that he seemed lost and unprepared.  I thought that myself at first.  But I've changed my mind since then.  Firstly, Head Coach Rex Ryan gave Clemens a game ball after the game.  What is there to reward for his performance?  I think it was because Kellen ate the ball and swallowed his pride.  He took it for the team.  He looked bad out there, but he followed the directive of not turning the ball over.

Offensive Coordinator Brian Schottenheimer also affirmed that with the lead and the defense playing great, they decided to be conservative with the playcalling.  He also stated that Kellen is always prepared for each game.  And he explained that the one fumble had to do with the simple fact that his cadence is different than Mark's.  It's not an excuse, of course, but I do think that it wasn't totally Kellen's fault.

Anyways, I think Kellen will open up the eyes of Jets fans this coming Sunday and turn heads from other teams looking for a QB next year.

Meanwhile, Free Safety Kerry Rhodes might end up with another team next year.  He just doesn't seem to fit the Rex Ryan defense.  He was demoted a couple weeks ago.  But then he actually came up with two interceptions during the game.  Some would argue that he simply happened to be at the right place at the right time.  In the same game, his replacement Eric Smith played hard and hit hard.  It's fun watching him and Jim Leonhard out there.  They are a couple of tackling machines.  They personify "Mean Green."

Yesterday, Kerry had a little incident with Defensive Backs coach Dennis Thurman.  Some reports have him yelling at the coach, while Kerry says it was just a talk.  I don't know exactly what happened, but I'm inclined to think Kerry won't be back with the Jets next year.  He simply doesn't seem to be adjusting to his new defense and his new role.

I really like Eric Smith.  I think this will be like the same situation when Jonathan Vilma had a tough time adjusting to former HC Eric Mangini's defense.  Back-up David Harris stepped up and is playing great at linebacker.  Meanwhile, Vilma has been flourishing in his kind of system with the New Orleans Saints this year.  Hmm, maybe Kerry Rhodes will end up joining him there next year.

Okay, that's it for now.  Maybe I'll post something tomorrow.  Or maybe not.  We'll see.

'Til next time, FLY HIGH N.Y.!!! Let's go Jets!!!

Thursday, December 3, 2009

FlyHyNY

Fly high, N.Y.!!!

Okay, it's Thursday December 3, 2009, and tonight the Jets take on the Buffalo Bills at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. I'm confident that the Jets will win and finally be at .500 with a record of 6-6. The playoffs are a long-shot, but we're still in it.

This week people made a big deal about Joe Girardi coming in to teach Jets QB Mark Sanchez how to slide. The news stories I've read about it make it look like Mark is so clueless and the coaches are so inept that they have to bring an outside source in. Well, I'm sure there are plenty of people in the staff who can show the technique, but since the manager of the World Series champions was available and willing, what the heck, right? What's the big deal?

Also, part of the issue was that Mark will be wearing a knee brace in the game in his left leg and Girardi was helping him adjust to sliding with the right leg.  According to Girardi himself, it's not exactly easy.  And Girardi was only there for a few minutes.  It's not like he spent the whole day just teaching the guy how to slide.

For the second game in a row, Eric Smith will be starting at free safety instead of Kerry Rhodes.  Eric is a hard hitter, and it's fun watching him running him all over the field with strong safety Jim Leonhard.  Both those guys are tough tacklers (Smith led the team last week with 8).  As much as I like Kerry, and as much as I was excited by his two interceptions on Sunday, he really hasn't done much all season before that.  I like this formula of having Eric Smith starting and dealing the body blows, while Kerry Rhodes comes in on nickel and dime packages to provide the knockout punch.

I'm still trying to figure out the time zone thing on this blog, so whatever it says, it's actually 4pm now.  One hour left to go before quitting time.  I better start working.  :-)

'Til next time, FLY HIGH N.Y.!!! Let's go Jets!!!

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Hello.

I haven't written in this blog in months. I've been a little busy. Or sometimes I would have... um... that thing... uh... writer's block.

Well, I just spent the Thanksgiving holiday at home, four straight days with my family. I was playing with my son, and he crawled all the way from the living room to the kitchen, then to the bedroom, and turned purposely towards the bathroom. It was awesome! He is now 8 months old and has gone through so many changes.

And I thought, if I had written about him trying to sit up, attempting to hold his own bottle, or crawling backwards, I would have had an account of his experiences at that stage, as well as mine and my wife.

So I think I'm going to try this time to actually keep up with this blog.

I think my last entry was in September. Since then, my wife has earned her driver's license, and it's been a great relief for me. As for her, she is still adjusting to having to share the road with idiots, but overall, I think she enjoys being able to drive. The most important thing, though, is that she doesn't have to wait for me to pick them up, take them to the doctor's, or have to wait for me when there's an emergency.

As I have mentioned, my son can now hold his own bottle, sit up and balance himself, and crawl throughout the house. He can also raise himself up to a standing position, which really scared his teacher at the daycare yesterday because she didn't know this. I think they were decorating for Christmas, and I guess he was crawling on the floor. When she turned around, my son was on his feet, holding on the sides of the cribs, moving slowly sideways from one to the other. She was shocked. They said it was an advanced skill for his age.

At work, things are still slow. Certain truths were revealed to me about the company's financial state, and I must say, it's pretty scary. I don't know what I would do if we go out of business. We even considered printing out coupons and handing them out on street corners. We ended up just sending emails to our clients.

I ran into an old friend on the train one day. He works as an IT for the New York Times, and he sometimes deals with their job postings. He said he'll let me know if they have any openings. That would be nice. I hope I hear from him soon.

My grandfather died. I didn't have the resources to go back to the Philippines. Or to even send money and help with the funeral.

The Jets started off the season great, but now they barely have a chance to make the playoffs.

Manny Pacquiao won his bout against Cotto, and my neighbors across the street could be heard hooting that night. Woo, woo, woo!

El Fino called me a couple of times. He seems to always remember my birthday. I never answer my phone, especially if the caller is unknown. Other times, I just so rarely talk on the phone that I just forget about it until I have to leave home. He left me a voicemail and said that sometimes I should just take a chance and say hello. Good point.