FlyHyNY: Why the Jets lost.

There are some superstitious fans out there who think their game day behavior somehow affects the team's success.  They think that in order for the team to win, they need to wear a certain jersey, or watch the game at a certain place, or not shave, or not shower, or not change their underwear.  Or whatever else they may believe.

I don't really buy into this.  I used to get overhyped on gameday and put on my Jets jersey and shirt and hat and green pants while I watched the game.  I used to even dress up my baby boy in his Jets onesie.  But I haven't done it since last year.  They lost too many games then, which was seven.  So that's around seven times I sat there in my living room wondering why I'm putting all this effort into representing a bunch of losers.  Of course, the next day I always wore my Jets jacket to work. 

Years ago, I would tape the games because I worked on some Sundays.  But it felt like everytime I did that, they would lose.  So I stopped taping.  I felt like it was worth it for me to miss the game entirely if that meant that they would win.  It was a sacrifice.  Well, it didn't always work.

There were some big games that I wish I could have recorded for posterity.  There was the Monday Night Miracle in 2001, and then there was the great win against the Packers in 2002 where the Jets clinched a playoff spot.  I wish I could watch those games again.

The ensuing years were not always good for Gang Green.  I ended up taping the games every week.  I kept the few times they would win.  I taped over the rest of the games when they lost.

Last year, I was cautiously optimistic.  It was nice to watch the team perform very well.  They won two playoff games and I just sat back and enjoyed it.  They were leading in the AFC Championship Game at halftime, and when they ended up losing, I was able to accept it right away.

This year felt different.  I really thought they were going to win it all.  After beating the Colts and the Patriots, they were back in the AFC Championship Game.  This time I really thought they would do it.  I gave my son a bath early in the evening because I didn't think there would be time after the game.  I thought I would be glued to the television as the team was awarded the Lamar Hunt Trophy.

I also set aside two tapes for the game, because I wanted to record the award presentation and all the post-game celebration.  The tapes already had some of my kid's TV shows recorded on it, but I didn't mind because I had two, and that would be more than plenty.  I hadn't done this in the previous weeks.  But that is not why they lost.

Earlier in the day, I took a walk to the liquor store and bought some beer.  My wife also asked for some Doritos and soda.  I picked a box of twelve Coronas, a bottle of Sprite, but they didn't have Doritos.  So I took a couple of Lays' salt and vinegar chips.  The total was about $22, and I gave the cashier my Jets credit card.  She looked at it and said, "Oh no."  Apparently, they only took cash.

I put the card away and took out the twenty in my wallet.  I asked them to subtract the chips.  When I got home I explained to my wife that I didn't have enough money and they didn't have Doritos anyway.  She was disappointed.  I guess I should have gotten her those chips anyway.  Maybe I should have put back the box of Coronas and got a six-pack instead.  But that is not why they lost.

The total was $19.25.  I put back the change in my pocket and felt another quarter in there.  So I actually had a dollar.  I could have bought the chips with that.  But that is not why they lost.

The next day, my son had a very high fever.  I had a cough and a headache.  Apparently, beer is not good for you if you have a developing bacterial infection.  Our car got a flat tire, and it hasn't stopped snowing.

The Jets lost because usually when I go to a store or a deli, I buy a lotto ticket for the hell of it.  Now I don't even know if that place sold the lotto, but if I had asked, their answer would have been yes.  The Jets would have won the game.  A couple of days later I would have won the lotto.  And a couple of weeks later my family and I would have been on a plane to Dallas to watch the Super Bowl.   That is why the Jets lost.

And I could have bought my wife a lifetime supply of Doritos.

FlyHyNY: David Harris Appreciation Day.

Today is New York Jets ILB David Harris' birthday.  Now, I don't generally make a big deal of these things, but as we all know, the Hitman is one of the most underrated linebackers in the league.  The team MVP stays quiet and doesn't seek out attention.  He is also about to become a free agent.

We are about to face the Pittsburgh for a chance to play in the Super Bowl.  The Steelers have won two of those with the help of former Jets draft pick LB James Farrior.  Gang Green let Farrior go after one of his best seasons, and his replacement couldn't live up to his predecessor.  I remember 2003 as a year in which the Jets couldn't stop a nosebleed and opponents ran all over them.

In addition, just last year LB Jonathan Vilma played one of his best games in the Saints' Super Bowl win.  It was bittersweet to watch another former Jets draft pick at linebacker shine somewhere else.
So what I'm saying is, I would really hate to lose David Harris.  I hope we win the Super Bowl this year, and I hope we win some more with his help in the future.  (Wow, what a shockingly brash and bold thing for a fan to hope for!) 

But anyways, I wanted to put up this post to give Hitman some love.  Even though he didn't win the popularity contest which is the Pro Bowl, most Jets fans know that he plays at an All-Pro caliber and we hope GM Mike Tannenbaum makes sure that we keep him for many years to come.

FlyHyNY: Losing TJ and Signing LT.

It's too bad RB Thomas Jones is no longer a Jet. I don't like all this hoopla about RB LaDainian Tomlinson. Yes, he was a great running back, but he's not the same anymore. Regardless of the O-line, Jones has consistently rushed for over a thousand yards the past few years, while Tomlinson has been in decline. Jones has played under four different quarterbacks with the Jets (Mark Sanchez, Brett Favre, Kellen Clemens, Chad Pennington) and has been steady. If you add his years with the Chicago Bears, that's two more QBs in Kyle Orton and Rex Grossman. For these many years, Thomas Jones has been carrying the offense steadily.

So why wouldn't the Jets want to keep Jones? Yes, he caused a bit of a stir last year when he demanded a new contract, but he showed up to training camp and had a great season. He also ended up with the best season of his career. Apparently, however, the team wasn't impressed and actually demoted him late in the season in favor of Shonn Greene. They also rested Jones during post-season practices. In their AFC Championship Game loss, Greene went down to injury, and Jones couldn't get the yardage.

The team doesn't think TJ should be the starter, but Jones still thinks he's a premier back and should get paid for it. This is the main disagreement. The team want's him to be the third running back and wants to pay him accordingly. They offered TJ a pay cut, but he wouldn't take it. He ended up being released. He was due to make around $5 million this year if he stayed with the Jets, but he ended up signing with Kansas City for $5 million also - but over two years. Why would he take such a deal? Because the Jets wouldn't match it.

Now the team brings in LaDainian Tomlinson. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer knows him well. He is also reportedly resigned to the idea of being the third down back. There are reports that they think Tomlinson "still has burst." I haven't watched too much film on LaDainian recently so I can't agree or disagree. I just hope the Jets have done their homework, because they seem to be going all out to sign this guy. I wouldn't mind having Tomlinson on the team, but I don't think he should have gotten paid more than Thomas Jones wanted.

Would the team actually bring in a high profile guy like Tomlinson to sell jerseys and PSLs? I understand they would like to do so, but for exclusively this reason? I highly doubt it.

I don't see why they couldn't have kept Jones and give some sort of incentive laden contract. If he ends up getting more touches than Shonn Greene, or if he goes over a thousand again, then he gets a certain amount of dollars. You know. Something. Anything. Maybe it was offered and rejected. Maybe it was never offered in the first place. It's a shame it didn't work out.

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 Cotchery, Justin Miller, Leon 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.

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.

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!!!

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!!!

FlyHyNY: You Foxed it up.

Was anyone else disappointed in how Fox covered this game?

I'm not talking about the commentators, because I think they did a decent job.  I liked Brian Billick, especially since he has some insight on Rex Ryan.

But as far as the graphics and the replays, it was just full of glitches.  There was something odd that happened with the clock early in the game.  And their replays just weren't smooth, like the guys in the truck weren't always ready with it.  Also, I don't know if it was just my TV, but there were a bunch of times when the screen went black for a few seconds.

Also, the new thing that CBS and NBC have are those timeout bars.  I can't believe Fox still hasn't caught up with that and added it with their graphics.