Monthly Archives: May 2006
Ken Berger (and the rest of the beaters) reports this morning that Mr. Pennington is participating in this week's passing OTAs (I thought they were this weekend).
Pennington participated in 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills, taking snaps in live competition for the first time since his right shoulder was repaired for the second time in eight months on Oct. 6. It is not known how Pennington fared in the workouts; reporters are not permitted to watch any portion of the voluntary passing camp at Hofstra this week.
Berger also states that the Jets have signed another WR and CB in the process and cut Kliff Kingsbury to boot.
Ray Mickens has returned to the Jets, after a season with the Browns. Although not the springiest of chickens, Mickens will add depth to the nickel package for the Jets and situationally as a corner. Bob Bullock makes a great point on his blog yesterday stating:
Mickens can still help out the Gang Green secondary, where Andre Dyson, Justin Miller and David Barrett figure to battle for the starting jobs at cornerback. Derrick Strait is currently the only other cornerback with experience.
To make room, the Jets cut James Taylor. So the Jets corner situation can be broken down like this:
- One young/raw potential star (J. Miller)
- Many young/raw warm bodies (D. Coleman, D. Johnson, W. Dada)
- Experienced player with starter upside (A. Dyson)
- ‘Rollercoaster’ type veteran (D. Barrett)
- Younger ‘type-cast’ nickel player who might not make it to or out of camp (D. Strait)
- ‘Crafty’ veteran (R. Mickens)
To continue on, it was clear that you wanted to see Curtis as the All-Time Jets Running Back, and you made the right choice. Certainly there were players that had a spark, but over time, Curtis has proved out to be the best back out there… add to that the fact that he had been romantically linked to Toni Braxton, and there you go.
I know that there are plenty of options here, but I hope that I have provided a good enough sample. Some guys I have left off (like Rob Moore, Lav Coles & Santana Moss) just due to their not playing for the Jets for long enough. Certainly Meshawn doesn't fit that category either, but he was a #1 pick and I wanted to see what you would do with that. As far as Rich Caster, he was a player who led the Jets in receiving 4 times during the 70s and was a 3 time Pro-Bowler to boot.
Found a clip of the NFL Network taking a look around the AFC East after the draft. Problem is, the analysis is done by Sterling Sharpe. All the same, it does give a sense as to some of the changes in the division.
Not a lot going on leading up to passing camp this weekend, but we will try to keep you entertained. Look for some Audibles, All-Time Jet voting, some opinion pieces, Bent's final NFLEL wrapup and some more film.
- Boomer will have an interview on MSG with Chad Pennington Wednesday at 10:30PM. Check out part of the interview.
- Woody Johnson sat down with SNY for an interview, and the Jets' site is carrying part of the discussion.
- Charles Missant gives his thoughts on his diary leading up to last weekend's World Bowl.
- The Jets' site runs a story on making big catches, which is of course featured by Wayne Chrebet.
- Vinnie Iyer, an editor for the Sporting News addresses the Jets switch to the 3-4 and asks some good questions. It does also bear to state that Iyer thought the Jets and Vikings were going to SuperBowl XL, too…
- Riffing off of Iyer, Bob Bullock over at Jetstream considers the Jets' possible switch to the 3-4 as well.
- Leon Washington talks about his trip to LA with other rookies an NFLPA symposium.
- Quincy Carter has been cut by the Montreal Als, and calls it “a joke.”
- Not sure what this means, but two of the councilman for the new home of the Jets, Florham Park, have resigned within the past month.
- The Jets have invited, at no cost, a Madison New Jersey HS football team to attend Mangini's upcoming camp.
- The Florham Park Paper (most likely a weekly) reported a few days ago on the Jets Fest held on 5/17 in Florham Park.
Well it's back to Europe, for another installment of the web's exclusive NFL Europe Recap by a Brit who loves the Jets, Mets, Celtics and Tottenham Hotspur (they had a decent showing this year in the Premiere, no?) Anyway, somethimes I like to post an initial picture that has something to do with Europe and today, I wanted to show you the biergarten that singlehandedly made me realize as a younger man that yes, in fact you CAN drink beer like soda. Thank you, Augustiner Keller's!!! Enough of that, on to Bent's report!
In this week's “thrilling” Euro Action, the Frankfurt Galaxy booked their place in the World Bowl with a tense 14-13 win over the Berlin Thunder. Jets C Charles Missant, G Isaac Snell and DB James Taylor will face off against fellow Jets G Michael King and T Marko Cavka of the Amsterdam Admirals in next week's non-event. Sorry, I mean big event…*big* event.
With the Rhein Fire defeating Kliff Kingsbury and the Centurions 21-10 in a must-win game to stay in contention for a World Bowl berth, the Galaxy had to win to make it to the big game and just about managed to pull it out.
In the weekend's other game, neither team had much to play for but the Admirals warmed up for next week by losing 34-21 to the Hamburg Sea Devils.
Perhaps this week's big news is the Missant was benched in favour (sic) of Jason Nerys for the first time this season. However, I suspect this is a non-story as Missant and Nerys are good buddies and Missant's play has been solid of late. The two have been sharing time at the center position all year and I expect Nerys getting the start was a reward for his hard work this season from the coaching staff or perhaps Missant himself. Perhaps we will find out in this week's instalment of Missant's diary, which is now being linked to the Jets official site.
With Missant and Snell coming off the bench, the pattern continued for the Galaxy running game, as they ground out another 195 yards on 43 carries, led by Roger Robinson (Arizona) as ever, with 32 carries for 133 yards. After Berlin missed a potential go ahead field goal with 4:31 to go, Frankfurt's running game was able to run out all but 26 seconds of the clock to preserve the win. They also did not concede a sack, which is an improvement on the last three weeks. 2 short TD runs by Butchie Wallace (FA) either side of half time were enough to erase a 13-0 deficit.
Little John Flowers, the former Jet and current free agent, paced the Berlin attack with 61 yards rushing. Taylor registered a pass defensed (on a key 3rd and 11 from the Galaxy 29 late in the third) and also downed a punt but did not record a tackle.
In the Amsterdam versus Hamburg game, King started and Cavka came off the bench, as has been the pattern all year of the Admirals. Jets WR Jovan Witherspoon came off the bench for the Sea Devils.
Hamburg returned an interception and a fumble for scores to make the difference in the game. Larry Croom (Philadelphia – I think…can't be bothered to look it up) scored two TDs for the Admirals, who picked up a total of 102 yards on the ground and the line gave up 2 sacks. Cavka was called for one false start.
Witherspoon caught two passes for 14 yards for the Sea Devils. He also downed a punt and there were two other passes thrown his way that fell incomplete. I will reiterate my scouting report on Witherspoon – he has impressive size but just doesn't look interested. The Jets kept him on the practice squad most of last year, so they must have felt he had some potential.
In the Rhein game, Kingsbury got the start and split time at QB with Shane Boyd (Cleveland). He finished up with stats of 7-13-44 yds and has been pretty much underwhelming all spring. He also rushed for one yard on one carry, but did lead the Centurions only touchdown drive of the day. He did have a fumble, but managed to recover and throw an incompletion (making use of the relaxed intentional grounding rules they have here to protect QBs).
Rhein's Fredrick Jackson (Buffalo) rushed for 154 yards (including an 80 yard touchdown) to lead the Fire to the win. Two third quarter TDs in the space of three minutes overturned a 10-7 deficit, but sadly for the Fire, it was not to be.
Coming up…the big game this weekend pits the mighty Amsterdam Admirals against the “if they're mighty so are we” Frankfurt Galaxy. We at thejetsblog.com will be here with comprehensive in depth coverage. The chatroom will be open all weekend and there will be player profiles and a live running-diary of the days events. OK, perhaps not…there will probably be a post up here on about Wednesday, to tell you who won and how many holding penalties Marko Cavka had. Until then…
I love using video clips, so I will try to incorporate something regularly on Fridays. If you happen to find anything good, let me know at thejetsblog@gmail.com, as I will be glad to share.
I thought some footage of Patrick Ramsey would be worth watching (with Foo Fighters overlaid audio). Certainly it isn't a full sample, but from getting a little better a look at him, it seems that he likes to slide around in the pocket, plays well on rollouts and has some snap on those passes. All that with NFL seasoning for a sixth round pick? I'll take it.
Here are some links to articles that might be of interest:
- Jeb Bush denies interest in presiding over the NFL, stating that timing isn't right (as if that means anything). Think we fans might have dodged a bullet there, but what worries me more is that the NFL sought him out… Now I am pretty conservative (more Libertarian than Republican, though) but I just don't see this being a good fit.
- D'Brickashaw Ferguson works hard to perfect his game, like really REALLY hard. Thanks to AP for the tip.
- Ben Graham updates his NFLPA journal and looks forward to staying with the Jets.
As quickly as 'Aka Mania!' has come to thejetsblog.com, it has been put on a shelf just as fast. Apparently, Jason Akermanis of the AFL's Brisbane Lions has stated that he would not attend the camp the Jets invited him to this summer, as it comes during the middle of his team's season.
That being said, it doesn't mean that the Jets have ruled out AFL players that might be able to help set the right environment for Mangini & Co.
Akermanis is not the only Australian generating interest among the Jets' ranks.Graham confirmed the club was also interested in other sportsmen including a Commonwealth Games track and field star.
“I don't want to talk about it too much but there are definitely players in the AFL and in rugby,” he said.
Rugby & AFL is a little broad, but a list of Track & Field winners from the 2006 Commonwealth Games give some leads, like Patrick Johnson. An aged short distance runner, but a guy who doesn't seem to have that entitlement thing that Graham mentioned, heck according to his bio, he was born “on a speed boat enroute to Cairns Base Hospital, Cairns.”
A short distance runner born on a speed boat? I like it…
Ahh springtime. The warmer days, plants turning green, and delighting in misery of owning the crosstown rivals. Sure Bent and I can see eye-to-eye when it comes to football, but we sometimes disagree, most notably in our baseball allegiances. I, an avid Pinstriper, while he, a Mets Maniac. A few days a year, we set aside the niceties and get down to rooting for our teams … may the best team win!
(Note: We both were unable to watch Game 1. Check out our comments from Game 2 here.)
Top of the first
- Jon Miller starts the telecast by seeing if Joe Morgan is paying attention. Miller tells us the viewers that the pitching for the New York Mets are all banged up. With Sturtze, Pavano and Chacon on the DL, I think he meant the Yankees.
- Another game, another delayed start, at least according to the pitcher. Glavine is staring daggers at Peter Gammons, as he waxes poetic about this game. Johnny Damon gets a broken bat base hit and steals second.
- Jeter grounds out and Giambi strikes out swinging… how is Giambi leading the league in OBP?
- The “ever clutch” A-Rod walks, and Cano grounds out… Yanks leave two on base.
Bottom of the first
- After last night, I blame myself for the Mets loss, because I never should have mentioned a certain closer in the bottom of the eighth. I have learned my lesson and will never mention the guy again. That’s bad karma.
- After Glavine made hard work of the first, the Mets kindly give him about three minutes to recover as they go down in order. At least Reyes took some pitches before he struck out. Lo Duca and Beltran are unable to get it out of the infield and we head to the top of the second.
Top of the second
- Bernie Baby! The jazz flutist doubles to start off the inning. 3 guys on base already against a resurgent Glavine? I'll take it!
- Melky Cabrera does all that I can expect of such a young player by moving Bernie to third with a ground out.
ESPN cuts to show Aaron Small wearing his jacket while getting warmed up… First off, I hate those jackets, especially the Yankees ones but to actually see people wearing them hurts my eyes.
- I have quickly noticed that Kelly Stinnett is good at striking out. So far this season, Stinnett is flirting with striking out during 50% of his plate appearances. It could be an interesting year for the Yanks! Stinnett must love looking a strikes because he just struck out looking. Not suprisingly, Small strikes out on three pitches and the yanks leave Bernie on base… ugh.
Bottom of the second
Delgado slugs a huge foul before striking out and Wright lines out to first. Looks like stand-in pitcher Aaron “Biggie” Small is going to make it a long night for the Mets.
- Small looks a bit like John Cena, the perfect follow-up to last night’s starter Mike Mussina. To continue the pattern, I’d like to see them start Xena: Warrior Princess on Monday and Alexis Dziena from “Invasion” on Tuesday. (For those who haven’t noticed, I often mention hot actresses here in the hope that Bassett will add their picture to the post! – all part of the service).
- The slump-mired Cliff Floyd slugs what should be a 450 foot home run to right field. Unfortunately, in the Shea Stadium winds, it dies and hits the wall. He legs out a triple, but is stranded at third when X-Nad grounds out on a nice play by Robinson Crusoe at second base.
Top of the third
- I can hear the first audible 'Yankees suck' chants floating around Shea as the inning begins. I must say, Cano's play to get out of the second inning was awesome.
- Johnny Damon grounds out on a play where I get to see how Reyes has one hell of an arm. Point made.
- Jeter goes back to the plate, while Jeter is up, I notice he is getting a lot of boos from the fans. I have to grin a little as I can't think of a player on the Mets at this point that would receive the same vitriolic treatment. Though I readily admit that might change in a few years. In the meantime, Jeter gets a base hit.
Giambi shows off his OPS skills (I wish I had skills) by getting a first pitch base hit.
- Jon Miller reminds me that A-Rod isn't a clutch player. Thanks for the update, guy. Next time I will look for your reminder that fire is hot.
- In better news, I am told that Sheff might be back as soon as next weekend… good! Sadly, the Yanks actually could use his bat.
- Cano hits into a forceplay out to end the inning.
Bottom of the third
I missed most of this inning in the toilet. Must have been that Indian food I ate earlier this evening. That’s bad korma.
- Apparently Kaz fouled out, Glavine (a tough out these days) hit a dribbler back to the mound and Reyes grounded out to Jeter. Reyes, the catalyst, is 0-2 – not a good sign.
Top of the fourth
- Bernie makes it to 2nd on a gaffe play where the 1B, 2B & C all didn't get to an inflield popup. This is why Yankees fans love Bernie. For instance, had that play happened to Manny, he would have been adjusting his weird skull cap while sitting in the dugout before he realized what happened.
- Melky grounds out… here come the dregs of the lineup (as if we weren't already there..)
- Stinnett for once doesn't kill the momentum and takes a walk.
- I am probably being a jackass, but what is it with Gammons lately? I have yet to hear him get through an interview without tripping over his words…
- Small makes a perfect bunt to get Williams and Stinnett over by putting the bunt down the 3rd base line. So help me though, if Joe Morgan says “put the barrell out front and catch it” one more time…
- Damon gets hit on second pitch of his at bat. Bases loaded for Jeter!!!
- Jeter puts a tough one past Wright… Bernie scores easily, while Stinnett is looking behind himself to see what happens … jerkass … that's what they pay Larry Bowa for.
- Giambi walks… what is going on with Glavine? It's clear he is just having a bad outing .. A-Rod hits it hard, but ends the inning with a fly to the outfield. More men left on base…
Bottom of the fourth
- Man, that sucked!
- A good at bat by Lo Duca culminates in an opposite field single. Beltran also singles and the Mets are in business.
- Delgado launches an absolute no-doubter (even with the wind) and – just like that – it’s 3-2 Mets.
- Wright launches an absolute no-doubter (even with the wind) and – just like that – it’s 4-2 Mets. Gotta love that cut and paste function. 2 huge back-to-back shots.
- Mr. Met is dancing around and even Small seems to think it’s funny. He regroups to retire Floyd and (after Nady singles) induces a double play to retire the side, but the Mets have the lead.
Top of the fifth
- Remember that scene in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom where Mola Ram rips that dude's heart out? Yeah.
- Reyes turns a SICK double play for the Mets.
Bottom of the fifth
- After Glavine is retired again, Reyes reaches on a broken bat single and then steals second, although he was seemingly out.
- Slow motion replay. Yep, definitely out.
- Super slow mo. Ah, the tag somehow missed him. Who’d be an umpire?
- After a Lo Duca walk, Small leaves to be replaced by Mike Myers [insert requisite Austin Powers/Wayne’s World joke here].
- Myers has an underhand delivery a bit like skimming stones. Gotta love the underhand delivery, but nobody does it better than Jennie Finch. Did you hear that, Bassett…JENNIE FINCH (preferably in a pair of shorts or a tight sweater).
- Beltran beats out a double play ball and then steals second, but with a chance to drive in two, Delgado comes up empty.
Top of the sixth
- Hey! What do you know! Stinnett goes down on strikes… Reese comes in to hit for Myers… someone very audibly yells “Oh S#!t!!!!” while I get to see the replay…
- Damon squirts a hit into left… Cliff Floyd almost gets to the ball in time, and might have injured himself during the play as he winces when he gets up.
- Jeter's “clutch karma” comes around to bite him and he grounds into a double play.
Bottom of the sixth
Wright is KO’d by new pitcher Colter Bean (is that not like a running back being called Muff or a kicker being named Shank?).
- Aaron Small removes hat. He looks nothing like John Cena after all. I apologise. Lucy Lawless is scratched from tomorrow’s line-up card.
- Floyd flies out and then we are treated to an eponymous beanball. Matsui is retired for the final out and that’s that. Still 4-2.
Top of the seventh
- I am starting to get stir crazy. The thought of losing this series after all the stuff that I wrote about how I hate the Mets in the previous post is going to totally bite me in the butt.
- I can't even get into details for the inning, The Yanks leave 3 on base after a late rally… this is absolutely killing me… these guys are hanging themselves here and I have to watch the next two innings.
Bottom of the seventh
- I haven’t had to mention Glavine much today. That’s a good sign. Long may this rejuvenation period continue. Valentin pitch hits and gets a four-pitch walk.
- My knee hurts.
- It’s getting windy, so the Yankees call upon Ron Villone to see if he can actually throw a strike. He gets three of them on Reyes (who was guilty of swinging at a couple of pitches way out of the zone) and then retires Lo Duca and gets lucky as Beltran’s liner finds Jeter to end the inning. Yanks relievers doing pretty good. Can the Mets bullpen respond?
Top of the eighth
- I know the Yankees love the late inning drama but I am starting to get ill over this. Maybe I am not feeling well because ESPN is lingering on a shot of Phillip Seymour Hoffman, who is wearing the rattiest, sweat-stainiest Orioles hat I have ever laid my eyes upon. John Wetteland's hat has nothing on this guy's.
- Cairo walks and Damon makes a great hustle play on a little chopper.. Yanks have two on!
- Jeter bunts to get a hit. The pitcher, Sanchez makes a valiant dive, but all safe
- Giambi sacs in Cairo, which is helpful, but gives up an out.
- It's Mr. Clutch time… and A-Rod doesn't disappoint me by grounding into double play. Objects within arm's length begin to fly across my living room.
Bottom of the eighth
- Oh boy, the ninth is not going to be fun.
- Right now, I just want to go to bed. It’s 4:15am and I am watching the game in a hotel room (ie quietly) and need to be up in 4 hours to go on a course. I don’t want to say I’m thinking “I would rather see the Yanks win than another extra innings game”, but that’s only because the cartoon devil and the cartoon angel that represent my psyche have fought about it and right now, the devil is sitting on the angel with a pitchfork to his throat. Or perhaps I am hallucinating because of sleep deprivation.
- “I hope Floyd is not too badly hurt”. I think as the Mets look about as likely to get another hit as Milli Vanilli.
- Retired in order…*this* time I really hope my work here is done.
Top of the ninth
- Bernie always instills me with confidence, but it's the players behind him that make me want to turn off the game now. Bernie continues his streak of freak plays… X-Nad dives for a ball but misses the catch and bernies gets safely to first.
- Melky puts one through the hole to move Bernie over. This kid is more clutch already than A-Rod ever has been! (OK a bit of an exaggeration)
- I mutter curses under my breath as pigman Kelly Stinnett comes to the plate. At least he swung at the last strike this time. Cairo ends the game by grounding out to second. I take the last swig of my warm beer utter some curses and think that I should have provided a play-by-play of the Soprano's episode instead of this game. The Yanks will look to get redemption soon enough!
There have been a few good articles from Pat Kirwan recently, though I would share them.
- To help us football junkies, Pat Kirwan's hooks us up with his first of three trivia quizzes. From Kirwan “A word of caution — if you cheat when you play golf by yourself, you are probably going to cheat and look at the answer key, so don't do it!” Some of the question are oddly worded, but I got a 12 (13 if you debate the Ty Law answer) see how you do! Now you can have proof positive that you are smarter than me! Also, I will try to put together a Jets Quiz in a bit.
- Kirwan also recently took a look at the rise in use of Double Tight End sets now within the NFL, and thinks that you will see more of this in the future.
