Every time I have written in support of whichever team is playing the New England Patriots, the outcome has been a New England win. That must be why the Patriots are undefeated.
How about the NFL's decision to broadcast the final game of the Giants' season. When I was a kid, one of the treats of the end of the football season was Saturday games. No college football, only pro games on Saturday. Much ill has been made of the NFL Network, and knowing the NFL, the network's decision to keep competitive games toward the end of the season within their clutches will stay in place next year. But apparently John Kerry threatened to have Senate hearings to discuss the matter of the network's existence, so now the game will be seen by all this Saturday. Kerry's constituents will have a chance to see the game after all. Hearings called off. False alarm. Who better to extort the billion dollar league than the Federal Government?
Man, I hope the Giants win.
Jumat, 28 Desember 2007
Minggu, 23 Desember 2007
Head Games
This morning, George Vescey - a writer predisposed to speak poorly of football, I think - made reference to a report in yesterday's paper about the Jets and head injuries. His usual blarney about "Why are we trying to make athletes into role models" interested me less than the fact that he seemed to suggest that the Jets were hiding something.
Which is a little bit of a surprise. We know they're not hiding a secret for sustained winning. It's about injuries, and while the normally suspicious New York media already has had a special ax to grind with the almost morbidly silent Eric Mangini, apparently the matter is more serious than any of that. We know that the Jets organization does not allow players to talk about their own injuries to the media. Specifically, however, there are serious concerns about the way that the Jets handle matters of concussive injury.
Certainly in the NFL the problem is not the Jets' alone, yet the Jets' insistence on silence is complicated by the presence of their own physician. New York Times writer Alan Schwarz said that Elliot Pellman, who oversees much of the team's health, has been a supportive of a less careful approach to concussion injuries within the team and around the NFL. Schwarz writes that "Dr. Pellman, until recently, led the National Football League’s commission on concussions, and he has been criticized by many medical experts for playing down the effects of concussions and for clearing players to return to the field too soon." The fact that Pellman is the primary consultant to a team with a history of losing receivers with Hall of Fame caliber, such as Al Toon and Wayne Chrebet, should give any Jets fan a lot of concern. Each of them retired because of compounded concussion injuries.
The article mentions the extraordinary losses Wayne Chrebet has felt to his ability to remember things. His permanent losses to his long-term and short-term memory since he left the Jets in 2005 have had a tremendous effect on his overall sense of well-being. Presently, Laveranues Coles has been affected by concussive injury, and while he has been sitting out the rest of this season for such injury, Schwarz reminds us that this was not the case late last year when, even after Coles suffered a serious concussion, the Jets still used him as a decoy against the Raiders as they tried to acquire a playoff spot. Crippling injuries are as common to football as they are in Rollerball, but the loss of one's mind in football is slightly different. As Schwarz points out, Pellman's lax attitude toward concussions - and Mangini's imposition of player silence on injuries - are characteristic of the entire NFL's (and the Players' Association's) attitude toward this same issue, even when generations of retired players are experiencing the same kind of long-term effects as those felt by Wayne Chrebet.
The whole matter makes me ill when I consider that the New York Jets were once always at the forefront of treating football injury. James Nicholas, the longtime Jets physician, was a revolutionary in the field of sports medicine. For better and for worse, he prolonged Joe Namath's career and was a highly responsive medical person on the sidelines. It was also the Jets' treatment of Dennis Byrd immediately after his injury against the Chiefs in 1992 that enabled Byrd to eventually walk on his own power. This kind of successful intervention also engendered advanced developments in treating on-field paralysis such that Kevin Everett is able to walk today to the Bills' game against the Giants.
Which is a little bit of a surprise. We know they're not hiding a secret for sustained winning. It's about injuries, and while the normally suspicious New York media already has had a special ax to grind with the almost morbidly silent Eric Mangini, apparently the matter is more serious than any of that. We know that the Jets organization does not allow players to talk about their own injuries to the media. Specifically, however, there are serious concerns about the way that the Jets handle matters of concussive injury.
Certainly in the NFL the problem is not the Jets' alone, yet the Jets' insistence on silence is complicated by the presence of their own physician. New York Times writer Alan Schwarz said that Elliot Pellman, who oversees much of the team's health, has been a supportive of a less careful approach to concussion injuries within the team and around the NFL. Schwarz writes that "Dr. Pellman, until recently, led the National Football League’s commission on concussions, and he has been criticized by many medical experts for playing down the effects of concussions and for clearing players to return to the field too soon." The fact that Pellman is the primary consultant to a team with a history of losing receivers with Hall of Fame caliber, such as Al Toon and Wayne Chrebet, should give any Jets fan a lot of concern. Each of them retired because of compounded concussion injuries.
The article mentions the extraordinary losses Wayne Chrebet has felt to his ability to remember things. His permanent losses to his long-term and short-term memory since he left the Jets in 2005 have had a tremendous effect on his overall sense of well-being. Presently, Laveranues Coles has been affected by concussive injury, and while he has been sitting out the rest of this season for such injury, Schwarz reminds us that this was not the case late last year when, even after Coles suffered a serious concussion, the Jets still used him as a decoy against the Raiders as they tried to acquire a playoff spot. Crippling injuries are as common to football as they are in Rollerball, but the loss of one's mind in football is slightly different. As Schwarz points out, Pellman's lax attitude toward concussions - and Mangini's imposition of player silence on injuries - are characteristic of the entire NFL's (and the Players' Association's) attitude toward this same issue, even when generations of retired players are experiencing the same kind of long-term effects as those felt by Wayne Chrebet.
The whole matter makes me ill when I consider that the New York Jets were once always at the forefront of treating football injury. James Nicholas, the longtime Jets physician, was a revolutionary in the field of sports medicine. For better and for worse, he prolonged Joe Namath's career and was a highly responsive medical person on the sidelines. It was also the Jets' treatment of Dennis Byrd immediately after his injury against the Chiefs in 1992 that enabled Byrd to eventually walk on his own power. This kind of successful intervention also engendered advanced developments in treating on-field paralysis such that Kevin Everett is able to walk today to the Bills' game against the Giants.
Senin, 17 Desember 2007
A Farewell to Arms
We know Chad Pennington became a backup quarterback and remained thus (despite having a better QB rating than his younger colleague) until Kellen Clemens became injured in last week's game. We know that one way or the other, it makes no real difference. I want a new set of options for arms.Tis the season for giving. I give you the best reassurances I can offer:
- The New York Jets lost 20-10, not by an atrocious total, and it would have been 13-10 had Kellen Clemens not thrown an injury-rendering pass to the Patriots for an easy touchdown. Again - none of these are in any order.
- Yes, the New England Patriots have San Francisco's draft pick next year, but the Jets have never done anything so worthwhile with the draft such that we need to bemoan this cosmic injustice. The Jets may yet finish with the same record as the Niners, and maybe they will steal the Patriots' pick, and not the other way round.
- The Jets did not lose to Miami, nor did they give up the Buccaneers' first kickoff return for a touchdown. They were also not victims of the New York Mets' first no-hitter. Thank goodness.- Thomas Jones will gain 1,000 yards before the end of this season. Jerricho Cotchery will as well. You will find their names on lists.
- Joe Namath finally received his Bachelor's Degree from the University of Alabama this past week.
- David Harris deserves consideration for Rookie of the Year. Stop laughing. 
- The New York (football) Titans' uniforms are spectacular reminders that the New York Jets' green and white remains one of the classiest in the game. I can't believe I just said that, but I did. I mean, can you possibly take the Vikings' monochrome home uniforms seriously? Holy God. They look like something Mummenshauntz would wear (below).
- Kerry Rhodes remains tied with six other players for seventh place in the NFL with five interceptions. Number one draft choice Revis has four. Who says the draft doesn't (kind of) work?
- We are not in last place, nor will we by the end of the season.
-
In a year when Devin Hester is described as a human miracle, Leon Washington - who did not get into the Pro Bowl (no Jet did) - may tie a record for kickoff returns in one season. He is the Jets MVP, justifiably. As you can see, he thanks the Man Upstairs. It will suffice for me to thank you, Leon. 
That's ten. So even in the season of tremendous disappointment, there is reason to be thankful. If I tried hard enough, I could think of one more, but to be honest, it would be too much of a stretch. There are other struggles with which I must contend before the holiday comes. I'm hoping that someday I'll find the Joe Namath sideline parka with the #12 on the front that I should have bought on sale years ago. No luck on Ebay. I might blow $125 on a NFL Throwbacks Namath jersey, which isn't so bad when I consider that the new couch we tried to have delivered to our apartment just barely did not fit into out unit, and we were forced to give it away, in this case to a local women's shelter. It's a tax write-off. It's been just exactly that kind of football season.
Sabtu, 15 Desember 2007
Let It Snow
The hopes of geriatric Dolphins and anyone else who loves the game of football rest on the Jets' ground game (smile quietly to yourself) and a wealth of snow to prevent Randy Moss from catching ridiculously open touchdown passes. That being said, is there really any reason why I should invest actual hope? No.
My sense of outrage over being hoodwinked and bamboozled by the cheating Patriots has long since passed. This entire football season has been a remarkable contrast to our last, with few surprises, few sublime moments. The Patriots are also 9-0 with heavy snowfall on the ground. My experience as a high school teacher leads me to believe that when you hope a lot for snow, you rarely get enough to close school.
The alternative to these basic realities are too awesome to contemplate, a little to much for a week of hell for my heart to entertain. No thank you. Just Endeavor To Score.
My sense of outrage over being hoodwinked and bamboozled by the cheating Patriots has long since passed. This entire football season has been a remarkable contrast to our last, with few surprises, few sublime moments. The Patriots are also 9-0 with heavy snowfall on the ground. My experience as a high school teacher leads me to believe that when you hope a lot for snow, you rarely get enough to close school.
The alternative to these basic realities are too awesome to contemplate, a little to much for a week of hell for my heart to entertain. No thank you. Just Endeavor To Score.
Jumat, 07 Desember 2007
Of Prospects Drear
So, we are very nearly there. When I envisioned the season at the start, I thought that this week's game against Cleveland would be a win. That's what this season has been all about. Now with prospects drear, one cannot help but want them to be the team to beat New England, to show that they still have life in them. But in the meantime, the only real business is that of rue, of feeling cheated and bleak.
Ah, what to do, what to do. The quandary of a nearly competent team at 3-9. One could spend some time on the bright spots - David Harris, Darrelle Revis (a draft pick, no less!) and Kerry Rhodes. The latter two have made some significant mistakes, but they have done enough to make a bad team look a little better - and on defense, no less. Our time spent with Kellen Clemens has been middling. We all know it. We can't expect too much from him, not just because he's new, but because he's probably not capable of living up to the awesome potential set aside for NFL quarterbacks. Sort of like Chad Pennington.
And Thomas Jones. Remember how upset we all were that received the "lower leg injury?" "There goes the season?" Now, just end the season. I appreciated that Jones said the score one way or another didn't matter and that he was and is a team player, but I suppose he has to say that. The bright spots continue, though, and on offense no less: Leon Washington, Brad Smith. There have been too many injuries. And there are the usual excuses found among teams that are fair to middling to poor. Middling: Kansas City. Poor: Atlanta, St. Louis, Oakland. Other: Miami. The cameo appearance of Ricky Williams against Pittsburgh two Monday Nights ago reminds me that however epic seems the scope of the Jets' failure this year, it cannot compete with the broad misfortunes of other fans.
Tom Rock made a good point a few weeks ago when he said that Giants fans are suffering more now, and I agree wholeheartedly, even if there is less evidence to show for that than before. Even the way the Giants win, as they did against the Bears last week, only serves to show how hard they have to work to get there. The Giants will not go far in the playoffs. What possible chance against New England or the Colts? This is Tom Coughlin's last year. Like other New York teams, they look like a team that's still hoping that no one notices how scared they are to win outright. Like the Knicks, the Jets find losing just part of ordinary life.
There is dignity in that - at least right now, at 3-9. At 4-9 there will be some pressure to make something of the season. At 3-10 we will be able to pack it all away for good, holding out faint hope that the Patriots will finally get an unlucky call against an inordinately lucky Jets team. Unlikely, more like, just as it is unlikely that our permanence at third place out of four will yield something in the draft, especially since the draft yields nothing for no one anymore anyway. Bring on the playoffs. Someone, for the love of God, beat New England. Get well, Brett Favre. Do I sound like a Jets fan? Just end the season.
Ah, what to do, what to do. The quandary of a nearly competent team at 3-9. One could spend some time on the bright spots - David Harris, Darrelle Revis (a draft pick, no less!) and Kerry Rhodes. The latter two have made some significant mistakes, but they have done enough to make a bad team look a little better - and on defense, no less. Our time spent with Kellen Clemens has been middling. We all know it. We can't expect too much from him, not just because he's new, but because he's probably not capable of living up to the awesome potential set aside for NFL quarterbacks. Sort of like Chad Pennington.
And Thomas Jones. Remember how upset we all were that received the "lower leg injury?" "There goes the season?" Now, just end the season. I appreciated that Jones said the score one way or another didn't matter and that he was and is a team player, but I suppose he has to say that. The bright spots continue, though, and on offense no less: Leon Washington, Brad Smith. There have been too many injuries. And there are the usual excuses found among teams that are fair to middling to poor. Middling: Kansas City. Poor: Atlanta, St. Louis, Oakland. Other: Miami. The cameo appearance of Ricky Williams against Pittsburgh two Monday Nights ago reminds me that however epic seems the scope of the Jets' failure this year, it cannot compete with the broad misfortunes of other fans.
Tom Rock made a good point a few weeks ago when he said that Giants fans are suffering more now, and I agree wholeheartedly, even if there is less evidence to show for that than before. Even the way the Giants win, as they did against the Bears last week, only serves to show how hard they have to work to get there. The Giants will not go far in the playoffs. What possible chance against New England or the Colts? This is Tom Coughlin's last year. Like other New York teams, they look like a team that's still hoping that no one notices how scared they are to win outright. Like the Knicks, the Jets find losing just part of ordinary life.
There is dignity in that - at least right now, at 3-9. At 4-9 there will be some pressure to make something of the season. At 3-10 we will be able to pack it all away for good, holding out faint hope that the Patriots will finally get an unlucky call against an inordinately lucky Jets team. Unlikely, more like, just as it is unlikely that our permanence at third place out of four will yield something in the draft, especially since the draft yields nothing for no one anymore anyway. Bring on the playoffs. Someone, for the love of God, beat New England. Get well, Brett Favre. Do I sound like a Jets fan? Just end the season.
Senin, 03 Desember 2007
...or Not
The other alternative is to enjoy the pictures of the Titans of New York, hoopling up the largest margin of victory over the Dolphins this year. Ah well. I hope that it is at least understood that my primary concern is with the Patriots, whom I loathe beyond all human understanding. So, Monday Night...(sigh)...go, Baltimore Col- uh, Ravens. I mean Ravens. Go Ravens.
The funny part is that now everybody says Miami deserves to go winless. Word is that if you give up 40 points to the Jets, you deserve to go 0-16. Well, maybe so.
Minggu, 02 Desember 2007
Of Flesh and Fish
I'm not alone in thinking this one of the less gratifying football seasons in years. It began with Michael Vick, I think; it continued with the bleakly efficient but shady Patriots living well beyond even the best expectations for their season; it has gruesomely continued with Sean Taylor's untimely death at his Miami home. Even if you're not a Jets fan, it seems like professional football only heightens America's compulsion to cannibalize itself.
One of the other disarming oddities of the year has been the failure of the Miami Dolphins. I'm aware of how many games they've lost only by a mere three points (including a loss to the Jets), but the point is that of all the seasons to lose every game, regardless of how many points decide it, they have managed it in a season when the Patriots might break the 1972 Dolphins' unbeaten record. The Jets might seem lackluster bystanders in all of this, except for the fact that they are playing the Fish this week.
It feels wrong to feel any real compassion for the Dolphins. They made a mockery of the Jets in the 1970's. They left the tarp off the field before the Mud Bowl in January 1983. They jump-started the Jets' famous collapse in 1994 with Dan Marino's Fake Spike. This is a franchise that has a richer playoff and championship experience than the Jets have had (that could describe a lot of teams) but Miami has also found the Jets to be an enormous challenge year by year, and it's always been fun to watch them struggle against us. And when things go wrong for the Jets, as they have this season, beating Miami has always been an oddly satisfying consolation.
So two cheers for the Dolphins. I feel confident that the Jets will stumble, and if they do, it will be an oddly satisfying moment. The Jets have also taken their pound of flesh of Fish. They registered a winning streak against them from 1978-81 even when the Dolphins did better overall. Indeed the Dolphins have often been nettled by the Jets the way that Tom was by Jerry. Throughout, beating them has always made me feel better about being a Jets fan. No matter what, our friends in the Sunshine State have always had to take their friends in the north seriously - especially when too many of those Floridians were transplanted New Yorkers who became Dolphin fans. At least a win against them could make you feel better about the lost season.
When Jerry noticed that the local neighborhood dog had gotten the best of Tom, he went out of his way to thwart the bully canine so that Tom could go back to tormenting him. Why not allow them to avoid the shame of being winless during the Patriots' perfect season by playing Jerry to their Tom? After all, we aren't going anywhere this year. Dolphins fans will always be grateful to us for that.
One of the other disarming oddities of the year has been the failure of the Miami Dolphins. I'm aware of how many games they've lost only by a mere three points (including a loss to the Jets), but the point is that of all the seasons to lose every game, regardless of how many points decide it, they have managed it in a season when the Patriots might break the 1972 Dolphins' unbeaten record. The Jets might seem lackluster bystanders in all of this, except for the fact that they are playing the Fish this week. 
It feels wrong to feel any real compassion for the Dolphins. They made a mockery of the Jets in the 1970's. They left the tarp off the field before the Mud Bowl in January 1983. They jump-started the Jets' famous collapse in 1994 with Dan Marino's Fake Spike. This is a franchise that has a richer playoff and championship experience than the Jets have had (that could describe a lot of teams) but Miami has also found the Jets to be an enormous challenge year by year, and it's always been fun to watch them struggle against us. And when things go wrong for the Jets, as they have this season, beating Miami has always been an oddly satisfying consolation. 
So two cheers for the Dolphins. I feel confident that the Jets will stumble, and if they do, it will be an oddly satisfying moment. The Jets have also taken their pound of flesh of Fish. They registered a winning streak against them from 1978-81 even when the Dolphins did better overall. Indeed the Dolphins have often been nettled by the Jets the way that Tom was by Jerry. Throughout, beating them has always made me feel better about being a Jets fan. No matter what, our friends in the Sunshine State have always had to take their friends in the north seriously - especially when too many of those Floridians were transplanted New Yorkers who became Dolphin fans. At least a win against them could make you feel better about the lost season. 
When Jerry noticed that the local neighborhood dog had gotten the best of Tom, he went out of his way to thwart the bully canine so that Tom could go back to tormenting him. Why not allow them to avoid the shame of being winless during the Patriots' perfect season by playing Jerry to their Tom? After all, we aren't going anywhere this year. Dolphins fans will always be grateful to us for that.
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