Monthly Archives: December 2004
The game didn't go well for the Jets,
and with more attempts than usual for Pennington, it is easy to see
why. When he is forced to throw more than 30 times, it is rarely a good
thing.
WEEK 16 TARGETS:
————–
…………….Targ..Rec…YD..TD
Chrebet, W………8….4….51…0
Cotchery, J……..1….1….18…0
Jordan, L……….3….3….16…0
Martin, C……….7….5….44…0
McCareins, J…….7….5….76…0
Moss, S…………7….2….32…1
Sowell, J……….3….2….15…0
2004 TARGETS:
————–
…………….Targ..Rec…YD..TD
Askew, B………..2….2….12…0
Baker, C……….26…17…171…3
Becht, A……….26…12….86…1
Buckley, T………1….0…..0…0
Carter, J………16…10…173…1
Chrebet, W……..51…29…379…1
Cotchery, J……..5….4….45…0
Jordan, L………15…14…111…0
Martin, C………47…39…223…2
McCareins, J……82…50…710…4
Moss, S………..71…41…810…5
Sowell, J………55…43…329…1
The team's two leaders, Chad Pennington and Curtis Martin apparently addressed the team
yesterday to give the players a dose of reality and send a shock to the
system. After such a tough divisional loss, this is good to see. Just
days ago, we were getting reports about a disconsolate Chad after the home loss to the Patriots.
With the Jets hopes hanging on a win, or a win from Indy and/or
Pittsburgh (who have already locked their respective seeds and their
game is pretty much meaningless) the postseason still seems like it is
miles away. I hope this little wake up call works, check (of all
people) LaMont Jordan's reaction, it was dare I say, positive:
“The
difference between today and all the other meetings was that you could
kind of feel the aura,” Jordan said. “Put it this way, there was a very
positive aura that came off that meeting, some positive energy in that
meeting.”
Ken Berger of Newsday ponders whether Paul Hackett will be asked back
next season, which leads me to the question, who or what type of system
works most effectively with the players in this offense?
If you assume that LaMont Jordan, Wayne Chrebet and Anthony Becht
will not be back next year. With a 32 year old Running Back as their
best offensive player, don't look for them to install a Pittsburgh
style offense. I think the Jets will look to draft a Tight End that can
catch and block, but beyond that, what would work better than the
system that the Jets have?
Vertical Downfield? Chad's arm.
West Coast? Jets already have that.
Within reason, what do you think the best next step would be for the Jets by next September?
Interesting Theory:
Newsday's Mark LaMonica writes on the Newsday blog that he thinks Jake Plummer will be the reason the Jets make the playoffs, not for his exploits, but for his antics.
After
this Sunday's debacle, as tempted as I am to write a short piece and
then just say “that's my story and I'm sticking to it”, I will fulfill
my responsibility and report fully on the weekend's game. Suffice to
say, this was not a lot of fun. Here are my thoughts:
- Having said I am going to report fully on the game, I can't
comment on the first half of the first quarter, because the Colts game
went into OT, so in the UK we had to watch that. I think I would prefer
for the Jets to play the Colts, to be honest. - As coverage
begins, the Jets are in full-blown “Hackett-mode” and the defense is in
“bend but not break mode”. It looks like we are “playing to [remain
competitive in] the game”. - At this point, my mate's dog, who
was peacefully sleeping off his Christmas dinner, farts loudly, waking
himself up and startling himself. He spends the next 30 seconds chasing
his arse around the room. This doesn't have much to do with the game,
but is undoubtedly the highlight of the first half. - Ironically,
having just said that my last comment has little to do with the game,
the Jets offense seems to resemble exactly what I have just seen. They
chase their arse all over the field for the whole first half and make
about as much progress as my mate's dog. - Defensively, the Jets
don't look as strong as in previous weeks. Daniel Graham catches a TD
pass to give the Pats a 10-0 lead. Funny how tight ends seem to do so
well against the Jets defense…Becht and Baker never seem to have much
success in practice. Yes, that's not because of the defense, it's
because they suck. “It's over”, I tell my mate “we won't score 10
playing like this.” - Just like the Patriots and Steelers game,
we are getting no luck. Every fumble bounces away – D-Rob in particular
boots a “little roller” Kaz Matsui style straight back to the Patsies.
I start to wonder if any of the Jets could make a recovery from a
headache. - How on earth is Chad supposed to get into any kind of
rhythm when he only gets to pass on obvious passing downs? Dropping
back ten yards and dumping to a back right in front of you might
doesn't count because he needs to throw downfield to get into any kind
of rhythm. In the first half, the Jets get down to the Pats' 40 a few
times but then go even further into their shell than before. - Lose
the shades, Hackett, you look stupid. The only excuse for a pair like
that is if you're blind (although based on the first half
play-calling…) - Chad gave all his team-mates suits for
Christmas? Unfortunately, Anthony Becht gave everyone a set of his
hands. Moss, Sowell and Chebet are all guilty in the first half. - Vinatieri
puts New England up 13-0 with his second field goal. It's starting to
get on my nerves how long it takes him to kick off. The ball falls
over. He talks to the official. The ball falls over again. His
team-mate holds the ball. I think the Superbowl kick-off routine was
quicker than this…including the pre-game show. Anyway, this kickoff
leads to a classic “Keystone Jets” moment where several players manage
to fumble the ball back to the Patriots, but fortunately Vinatieri
misses a last second chance for 16-0. Half time 13-0 Patriots and not a
whole lot of fun so far. - At half time, Herm Edwards says we
need to run more. Great. On our first play of the second half, it's a
run up the middle. No gain. I guess that would have been the last thing
they were expecting? - Early in the second half, Vinatieri gets another chance at 16-0 and makes it.
- Soon
the lead swells to 23-0 and suddenly the Jets go into no-huddle.
Presumably, Hackett (now sans shades) is no longer calling the plays.
It shows. The Jets show a tantalising glimpse of what they are capable
of. Pennington goes 7-9 with great passes to Moss, McCareins and
Chrebet and eventually Moss makes a leaping catch and bulls his way in
to at least get New York on the scoreboard. A great (albeit
meaningless) drive. - Two scores down, the Jets have a couple
more chances at getting within 8, but they punt on 4th and 2 at the
Patriots 35 (???), Penny throws another pick, Moss has another key drop
leading to a fourth down failure and finally Pennington fumbles the
ball away. - All-in-all, a pretty frustrating day. I'm sure Penny
will get a lot of heat from the media, but my main gripe with the game
was how Paul Hackett called it. Too predictable, too conservative, too
frustrating to watch. Hopefully, Jordan, Moss, et al will speak out
again this week and we'll come back out of our shell for the Rams game.
I think we'll need to win it to make the playoffs too (and the Rams
also need it) because I don't think the Big-Ben-less Steelers will beat
the Bills and I'm not overly confident that the Colts will beat Denver
either. Sunday should be tense!
Here is a good, in depth piece about Curtis Martin and his story in today's Boston Globe.
Merry Christmas!
Newsday's Johnette Howard (who?!) wanted to pile on good old “Mad Chad”, but like a bone-jarring hit five yeards out of bounds, this one is getting penalized.
Howard's problem is twofold. First, this piece is about four days
too late, and second, like Tom Smykowski's “Jump to Conclusions Matt”
the premise is a horrible, horrible idea. Mixing Chad's outburst with
Ricky Williams newfound nirvana breeds bad comedy.
Generally, I like to highlight the good stories… like John Clayton's First and Ten,
which notes the Pats-Jets game as first. But on occasion, (suprisingly
with more frequency recently) I like to bring you the refuse that I
accidentally snag from the depths. Enjoy.
Time
for presents! Rather than sugarplums, it sounds like Luis Vuitton and
custom tailored suits are dancing in offensive linemen's heads.
Newsday reports that Chad is buying his guys suits while Curtis is showering them with accessories that Jersey girls would “die fo-wah.”
Here is what is on my Christmas List:
- A win on the 26th.
- A power ranking in the top 5.
- Some Rod Tidwell “love” for the Jets.
- Some NY Jets press corp good will.
- An iPod Mini
- The return of the “buy the world a Coke” commercial.
- World Peace
What's on your list? Use the comments to let us (and Santa) know!
Cannizarro writes a good article about Shaun Ellis and how the Jets are looking forward to this weekend:
“It's time for us to stand up,” Jason Ferguson said
yesterday. “You can't keep letting your big brother keep beating you
around. They've got three straight wins on us and we need to stand up
and stop that.“The other thing is, they're an elite team. We need to prove to
everyone we can be an elite team so we can make a move in the playoffs.”
Need a diversion from all this media crap? How about another caption/quote contest? This one might be too easy…
The rules: Add your quote (or caption) to this picture by clicking
the comments link below. Add as many as you like, best one wins. All
entries to be due by kickoff for the Pats-Jets game on 12/26/04.
The
New York Sports Media, still sulking from Chad's attack is still
writing about it, but now we are bringing in knowledgable sources, like
Boomer, who by the way, every NY paper quotes today… what did he do,
have a press conference of his own?
Rich Cimini writes a piece of crap
today about the Jets, employing Boomer Esiason to help justify his side
of argument, with no dissenting opinions (actually this is quite
popular in all of today's New York rags). It makes a lot of good
points, then I read this part towards the bottom of the article. This
is what reading this part of Cimini's article sounds like:
“Waaaaaaa, I write about football for a living…. waaaaaaaa!!!!”
Talk
about having no appreciation for your work, the grass is always greener
I guess… I am sure Mr. Cimini has it so rough, try working in any
type of service or manual labor industry, then talk to me about
“priveleges.”
Not just a job …
Pennington is right. It is a “privilege” to cover the Jets.It was a privilege to get accosted in the locker room in 1993 by a couple of 300-pound pinheads, Jeff Criswell and Dave Cadigan.
It was a privilege to get cursed out by Bill Parcells for reporting
(accurately) that the club was subject to an NFL fine because he
refused to let the media in the locker room after a game in 1998.It was a privilege to almost get run over by Mo Lewis' Hummer
because he didn't feel like stopping to answer a question – or at least
give a polite “no comment.”It was a privilege to be treated like a barnyard animal in January,
2000, told to wait outside for several hours in sub-freezing
temperatures while a bunch of stuffed-shirt lawyers met inside a posh
Manhattan office building to resolve Bill Belichick's contract mess.It was a privilege to get blown off by Keyshawn Johnson after
waiting five hours in a parking lot for him to return from an MRI exam
on an injured knee.It was a privilege to speak with Bruce Coslet via conference call
in 1990 because he didn't have the decency to make the 30-second walk
from his office to the press room, where he could meet us face to face.Ah, privileges.
me�di�um ( P ) Pronunciation Key (md-m)
n. pl. me�di�a (-d-) or me�di�ums
- Something, such as an intermediate course of action, that
occupies a position or represents a condition midway between extremes. - An intervening substance through which something else is transmitted or carried on.
An agency by which something is accomplished, conveyed, or
transferred: The train was the usual medium of transportation in those
days. - A means of mass communication, such as newpapers, magazines, radio, or television.
media (used with a sing. or pl. verb) The group of journalists and
others who constitute the communications industry and profession.
I
guess it all depends on your definition of the media. By what you can
read above, the media is just an intermediary, an abstraction layer to
take information collected and give it to a larger audience.
Unfortunately,
the New York sports media thinks it is more than just a repeater to a
wide audience. The problem is now this: the source (Pennington) and the
fans (audience) are in agreement, and the media (papers, ESPN, etc.)
thinks it is best to ask all the questions and tell the audience what
they ought to think. This is just another case of the media further
illegitimizing themself from their audience, think Dan Rather with the
Air National Guard story…
The truth is, in whatever manner it
takes form, whether it is facts, bias or opinion, it is all a
go-between and this story with Pennington and his having fun with the
media is proving it out. True, Chad played poorly in the loss to the
Steelers, and looking back at his statement last week about “not having
to defend himself” he seemed like he had an axe to grind going into the
Seahawks game. But watching SportsCenter last night after the Dolphins
ass-whomping of the Pats, ESPN went into painstaking detail the way
this story was playing out.
Steve Berthiume had his panties in
a bunch, while Salisbury was exhorting Chad. In Chad's initial
statement on Sunday, at the very end, you can see he tries very hard
to not crack a smile when he says “that's my story and I'm stickin' to
it.” Either he was just having fun, or (more likely) delighting in
teaching the media a lesson… regardless, it is his decision and he
doesn't owe the media anything.
While they have an urgent need
to report information and we the audience would like to learn more
about what he has or doesn't have to say, it is still the media's role
to ask questions and relay the information they collect to the masses,
not to blast him for taking a break. Chad turned the tables and the
reporters were not appreciative of this in the least. The
media is like the guy you know who makes fun of everyone all the time,
and then when a shot comes his way, he gets all pissy. To quote Droz from PCU, “don't be that guy.”
Watch the reactions on stations like ESPN, note that all the
players and ex-players will likely side with Chad, while the
pencilnecks who never played (like me) will likely want to make this
into more of a story. The media had better wake up soon, and realize
that Chad is right, their job is a privelege. While the media have a
right to report and print whatever they like, unfortunately the media
is so consumed with itself, it confuses it's rights with priveleges.
Hell,
read the paper during international trade negotiations or peace
settlements, and you will see reports about the fact that there is
nothing to report, or that people involved declined to comment.
Somehow, New York's sports media didn't get that memo, and they want
all the answers, all the time, right now. The beat writers in New York
have seemingly elevated to blood-vendetta level an innocuous statement.
One of the best statements I have ever heard about the motivation of people is this:
“FOLLOW THE MONEY”
The reporters have been
miffed, smell the blood and can see the dollar signs associated with
these potshots and they will stop at nothing until they break Chad, or
feel they have vanquished him by watching him lose this weekend and
then writing columns saying “I told you so, he should have focused on
the Patriots.” All the while selling some more fishraps on the way.
Not
to get all psychological, this is in many ways congruent to the Ricky
Williams thing. When he left, it caused people to question their own
core values (how important is football?) or discount his message
because he was a looney. The same is true with Chad's message. For
people whose job it is to question, I am amazed at the reporters'
inability to question themselves.
