The Thursday Top 10: Off-Season Never Ends
As any of you who are actually swinging past this site in the dead of June know, this is the true nadir of the off-season. OTAs and mini-camp are over, and all the players and coaches have dispersed, vacationing everywhere from Sioux City to Cape Cod.
Simply, there ain’t much going on.
So now seems like like the perfect time as any to have some fun and share –
The Top 10 Reasons Why I Hate The Off-Season
10. It’s waaaaaaaayyyyy toooooo long! Seriously, why does the most popular sport in America have the shortest season, with only 16 games? Including preseason and playoffs, it starts at the end of July and for the most part, finishes at the end of January — six short months. Baseball starts in March, plays ten times more games and ends in November, which is at least eight months. Hockey goes from September to June (nine months) and plays 82 games, while the NBA, which just ended a week ago, plays about 1,001 boring games and starts up again next week. (Or so it seems.) I know there’s been talk about adding a game to the regular season at the expense of the preseason — how about adding two? There’s nothing going on in February anyway. If the XFL could play during that month, then why not the NFL?
9. In lieu of actual football, too much attention devoted to what should be non-stories. For example, rather than report on actual mini-camp happenings (which would involve actually watching and paying attention during practice), some beat reporters might try to stir it up by giving blanket coverage to one player who is unhappy with his contract even though the other 82 — including the dozen or so who signed new lucrative contracts or got re-worked deals — are happy. Such nonsense is even fodder for months of “reporting” in some cases.
8. Everything is debated to death. See any thread on this blog with the phrase “quarterback competiton” — loyal commenter SackDance99 has probably (and intelligently) written more about this one topic in one off-season than everything I’ve churned out here in the past two years! And that’s something important — heck, without actual football, we’ve been relegating to discussing everything from hating the Patriots to PSLs to “The Curse of Bent.” I want to talk about what’s happening on the field, not what everyone else is doing off of it!
7. Not enough gratuitous Flight Crew images available. Luckily, I have one or two laying around to help resolve that.
6. “Idle hands are the Devil’s playground.” Religious implications notwithstanding, plenty of players seem to have plenty of time to get into plenty of trouble: Cedric Benson, Javon Walker, Marvin Harrison, Marshawn Lynch, Jevon Kearse, Chris Henry . . . and the list keeps growing and growing. Maybe there is something to building a franchise of high-character boy-scout types after all? I’m just worried that the law of averages says it’s only a matter of time before trouble finds someone on this team.
5. No excuse to get out of yard work. Or to avoid going to a christening or the opera or the local husking bee or any other painful social function that you want no part of. Personally, I have a wonderfully loving wife who understands that for only 16 times a year, for three hours a shot — a mere 48 of the 8,760 hours of the year (or about half of one percent) — all I want to do is simply watch the Jets game relatively undisturbed, and thus, she does not schedule conflicting events or activities, nor force me to make painful decisions. (Both our kids were even conveniently born in the springtime!) But the rest of the year — I’m going to my nephew’s pan flute recital or Great Aunt Rita’s bunion scraping.
4. Lack of overall Jets programming. I know I’ve brought this up before, but why isn’t there more Jets content on our partner SNY in the off-season? Like, how about a weekly “Jets Classics,” where they give us a great game from the past? Or a “Jets Hall of Fame” series with a weekly — heck, I’ll take monthly — career profile of a green-and-white great? I know my new close personal friend Ted Berg over at SNY (turns out, he and I are practically family — who knew?) occasionally reads through this site — hey Ted, can you respectfully ask your bosses at SNY to consider giving us a little more Jets on the home network of the Jets?! Possibly sneak an anonymous note into the suggestion box? A lot of Jets fans out there would be very grateful (especially if the danged Mets continue to fizzle away the summer). Thanks!
3. Too much time to overanalyze my upcoming fantasy football league draft. Yes, I know my league’s draft isn’t until Labor Day weekend, but it doesn’t mean I have to wait that long to start thinking about it, right? Here’s the problem, though — we’re allowed to keep one player from last year’s squad and I had LaDainian Tomlinson. No brainer, right? Yeah, but with a few months to think about it, I know I will almost be able to convince myself that he’s overrated, or that he’s due for another “down” (read: “great for anyone else”) year. Or that he’s ready to break down. Or that Thomas Jones, who I also had, will run better behind an improved Jets line. Or that Ryan Grant, who I also had, will continue to be the monster he was down the stretch last season. Or that Michael Turner, who I also had, will have a break out year. (Man, how did I not win it all?! Oh yeah, my quarterbacks were Eli Manning, Jay Cutler and Kellen Clemens. Ugh.) Eventually, after a few weeks of studying projections, crunching numbers, watching game film, consulting magazines, reading tea leaves, watching moon cycles and copious amounts of insane rambling, I’ll come back to my senses and realize that it’s freakin’ L.T. — no brainer.
2. Sunday afternoon TV sucks! Seriously, without the beloved NFL, what is there to watch? The frustrating, lifeless black hole of suck that has been the Mets this season? The Evil Empire that is always the Yanks? The other “futbol,” where they score goals about as often as Justin McCareins actually caught passes? The snooze fest that is pro golf or tennis? Reruns of “Degrassi: The Next Generation”? Magic Bullet infomercials? Come on! At least give us a “Making the Squad: The Flight Crew” marathon (you know, after you film one), so we have a reason to post more gratuitous Flight Crew shots, right? (Oh look, there’s one now …)
1. No Jets football. Duh!
17 Responses to The Thursday Top 10: Off-Season Never Ends
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DSmizzle says:
I’d love the season to be longer, but myself and my buddies who played at a low-level of D-3 college football are already hobbled from our playing days.
I’ve always said that I can’t imagine what its like for someone who went to a huge Texas highschool with longer seasons, then went on to Football University and played 12-game seasons with spring practices, then starts playing in the NFL.
I’m only 28 and played HS football in New York and college football in D-3, and everything hurts all the time (neck, back, shoulders, knees, etc.).
That guy on the Pats (Kazcur) isn’t an oddity; he’s probably the norm. These guys’ bodies are broken and the last thing they will be able to handle is MORE games!!!
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Zenlaw says:
I dunno JayM. I’m not sure I could handle 2 weeks b/w games.
Besides, I think one of the main reasons why football has become so popular is the fact that in such a short season, every game counts. No other sport can say that every game counts.
Plus, the fact that the season is so short leaves all of us fans wanting more. It’s like that Seinfeld bit George pulled in the board room…..”that’s it for me, I’m outta here.”
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Oh, and I almost forgot, fantastic ass on that Flight Crew member.
Yes, I have an incredible grasp of the obvious.
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nyr2k2 says:
Dude, don’t hate on Degrassi. When I was 23 I had my tonsils removed and watched a 2-day Degrassi marathon. That show brought back memories (of things I wish I experienced in high school…).
Also, nice work placing that FC pick next to the “Idle Hands” bit. Makes me want to smack my junk around at work, being that I’m such a heathen.
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ramble914 says:
The thing I hate most about the four sports is that only baseball gets time to its self. The three other major sports all overlap at some time or another. Baseball gets about two full months (June and July) without one of the other major sports playing. I wish football got that, I hate listening to 1050espn or the WFAN in the Fall and wanting to hear about football , but have to endure discussions about baseball playoffs, and the start of the hockey and basketball seasons. The thing is I am a baseball fan, but once football starts nothing else compares.
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nyckage says:
well u cant have a lot of games in football the injury rate is 5 times higher than baseball and 3 times more thena basketball and who the hell likes hockey i would like an axtra game only so tom brady has a greater chance of having a career ending injury
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spent says:
We need one of those countdown timers on TJB so we know to second how much longer until the first pre-season game.
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Jonathan says:
I’d take a 2nd bye week, 2 more regular season games, and perhaps a week before the playoffs start, which would give us a full month more of football.
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billvv says:
I know this is all wishful thinking and not really serious, but, I looked at this before, the idea of adding another game and taking away one from preseason, when nobody watches and, really, nobody plays.
As it is there are two games each within the division and four games each against one AFC and one NFC division, and two games against the two remaining AFC divisions that finished the prior year the same as your team did. (Parity games.)
So where would you add the game? Would three pairity games be too many? Would nine in-division and no parity games be better?
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I like hockey.
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sec108 says:
I like hockey too. And since this is a why I hate the offseason post I’ll throw this in, another reason to hate the offseason, no games to talk about so we get stories about PSL’s. Today was the Giants turn disappoint thousands of loyal fans:
http://www.giants.com/news/headlines/story.asp?story_id=27182
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Twenty-one days until camp!
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Joe Klecko says:
We need one of those countdown timers on TJB so we know to second how much longer until the first pre-season game.
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Jonathan, I think your scenario is the best one proposed. If we added two regular-season games, the extra bye week would be a blessing for the players as well as for the fans.
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pat d says:
Two more games is unncessary. There is a reason the NFL makes more money than all the other sports put together. Actually there are about a dozen.
The NFL could most improve by doing something about the pass interference call. I’m sick and tired of a 40 yard penalty for a ticky tack call. Pass interference should be a 10 or 15 yard penalty with automatic first down. Unless it is flagrant then mark at the point of the foul.
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I agree nice a$$
Stretch the season till March teams will play every other week instead. Plus maybe there will be less injuries from it. Just a thought.