It’s been a while since we last wrote this segment on the Blog. This past week I met up with Bassett at the TJB Tweetup, and got to meet a ton of great Jets fans! I also got to finally meet Bent, the man the myth, the legend from across the pond.
Bassett had asked me to get this segment back up and running and I’m thrilled to do it. I’ve been busy hanging out on twitter talking with some great Jets fans and also working on a site called Jets Twit (http://www.jetstwit.com/), articles that feature the Jets players activity on social media.
I’ll stop my shameless plug and step off the soapbox, but I would love to hear your feedback on this segment and the content. Please feel free to comment in this story OR catch me on twitter, @e_man. ANY feedback is appreciated!
Kerry Rhodes held his charity events earlier in the week. Many Jets players showed their support and were sending tweets during the event.
Players were tweeting about their “vacation” and the plans they had for the bye week. Jay, Nick and Woody were touring the USS New York, while Kerry, Braylon, and David were flying out of the state.
Although the Jets have lost Jenkins, the arrival of Calvin (after his first game) has been a major factor in the recent success of the Jets pass rush. The team is also employing interesting and varied third down tactics that have seen up to six OLB/DL on the field at the same time, as they employed a few times against the Dolphins (for Wildcat purposes? we’ll see) last week, which seemed to be a new wrinkle.
Although Pace struggled in a three point role in Arizona, he’s still a capable enough guy to play with his hand down if he needs to, but he’s best used off the edge standing up … it’s where he’s most effective. Counterpart Bryan Thomas is a decent lineman in coverage, and while Pace needed a jumpstart after his first game, Ryan and Pettine moved some things around for Pace and it’s made a difference. The staff allowed Pace to swap some with Bryan Thomas to the weak side (where the Tight End isn’t) and there’s been a noticeable uptick in the outside pressure to the quarterback … just think about Pace working on the Right Tackle in the Oakland game on the first play from scrimmage.
If you were to assign a percentage of how likely it is for the Jets to make the playoffs at this point, where would you go? ESPN and Accuscore took the bye week as a chance to play out the scenario, and we’re got the answer and our reaction after the jump …
Since we’re talking about MMA, we had to somehow work the best/worst movie of all-time into the posts today …. Bloodsport of course!! Here’s an awesome 10 minute video with the best scenes of Bloodsport. Although I’m not sure I agree, because there wasn’t enough of Stereotypical Hotheaded Bumbling G-Man character, as played by Forest Whittaker.
So we don’t know anything about MMA, but some of you asked about it, so here’s a shot at it, with our old friend from FanHouse, Michael David Smith who knows it well.
BB: Who’s the Next Big Thing in MMA?
MDS: The next big thing is a 22-year old UFC fighter named Jon Jones. He’s 9-0 and an incredibly good athlete from an incredibly athletic family — his brother, Arthur, is a defensive tackle from Syracuse who will be a 2010 first-round draft pick.
BB: What’s your opinion of the Machidas Decision? Fair? Not?
MDS: I had Shogun beating Machida 48-47, but it was a close enough fight that I certainly wouldn’t call it a robbery and I was surprised by how many people did. Judging in MMA is fairly subjective, and close fights can go either way.
BB: Although it’s growing quickly, what will it take for MMA to go “mainstream?”
MDS: MMA needs one major star to become “mainstream” someone who’s an American, who’s articulate, whose fighting style is exciting and attractive to casual fans. MMA has a long way to go before it becomes mainstream, but it’ll get there.
