The Thursday Top 10: Alllllmost There . . .
Can you feel it? After what seems like a bajillion years, we’re almost through the darkness and to the light that is the return of Jets football! Just one short week — 7 mere days — until the team is back on the field and getting ready for another season.
As Bassett has mentioned, TJB is planning on being out at Hofstra next Thursday (myself included), and as such, here are –
The Top 10 Things I’m Looking Forward to Seeing at Training Camp
10. The green-and-white clad fans eagerly cheering on the team. I know the media and NFL tend to forget, but none of this works without us! And one of the joys of training camp is that it’s a place teeming with boundless optimism and positive vibes, of truly devoted fans emerging from the long off-season slumber to see their heroes return to the gridiron and inspire with feats of athleticism. Like the old commercial, today everyone is 0-0, and hope springs eternal — and that sense of it being a fresh new season is nowhere more apparent than in the stands at Hofstra.
9. GenJets Fest. Okay, I know it’s for the kids, but it’s nice to see families of Jets fans out together having football-related fun without having to shell out hundreds of dollars for tickets and then having to endure dozens of drunken tailgaters (not that there’s anything wrong with it). I love the look in a kid’s eyes when he kicks a field goal or tosses a perfect pass, how he high-fives his buddies or his father. For a second, you can see that gleam, that momentary “I can do this” flash. I also enjoy the whole initiation experience of it, sort of cultivating another generation of Gang Green fans. Even more selfishly, I also want to get more Titans of New York merchandise — maybe another sweatshirt — to add to my growing collection, and this is the place to do it without having to pay for shipping!
8. The Flight Crew! I’m hoping that they might be on hand getting ready for the upcoming season, you know, working out in green-and-white bikinis, glistening in hot summer sun, then deciding to cool off with a spirited water fight . . . but as it turns out, although the lovely ladies of the Flight Crew will be on hand at opening day, they will just be posing for pictures and signing autographs — not using super soakers on each other (or eager bloggers).
7. Meeting TJB readers and other Jets fans. If any of you have met Bassett, you know he’s a great, gregarious, outgoing fellow who loves the Jets and is always eager to meet new people and talk football. I’m also always eager to talk football, but am not quite so at-ease when attempting to meet new people or striking up conversations. Okay, I have near paralysis-inducing shyness when you get right down to it, and all the verbal eloquence of Gilbert Gottfried — still, I try to work through it because I love being around my own kind (dozens of knowledgeable Jets fans) for hours on end as opposed to my normal day, which involves being surrounded by Giants and Patriots fans and having to endure constant belittling smack talk and Super Bowl taunts. Ugh.
6. The field itself. Okay, I don’t know how to explain this without sounding like a complete idiot, but there’s something a little magical about seeing the empty field for the first time, the vast green expanse of pristine turf stretched out and quietly waiting for the team’s arrival. The fresh white lines, the solitary goal posts, the equipment all lined up and ready to go, the sense of anticipation . . . “I love the smell of FieldTurf in the morning . .. it smells like … victory!”
5. Viewing position battles with my own two eyes. One thing that I’m sure we’ve all learned about the Jets beat writers is that they all have their own agendas and will report things with their own spin, which was on display during OTAs when Cimini was pushing for Pennington to win the quarterback battle while Hutchinson and Boland sort of saw it differently. Okay, I know I may have my own biases and agendas, but I also know that I can trust my own eyes to objectively tell me how a player is performing. Who is throwing the best passes? Who is the 2nd best corner on the team? Who is getting pressure on the quarterback? I want to see it all myself and make my own assessments, thanks!
4. The new additions. Again, I don’t mean these guys — I’m talking about all the new shiny toys the front office has given us: Faneca, Jenkins, Woody et al. I want to see Pace’s motor and Gholston’s guns, as well as if Keller is the beast he looks to be and whether Richardson still has a few crushing blocks left in the tank . . . man, I’m getting pumped . . . because I’ve . . .
Been working so hard
I’m punching my card
Eight hours, for what
Oh, tell me what I got
I’ve done this feeling
That time’s just holding me down
I’ll hit the ceiling
Or else I’ll tear up this town
Now I gotta cut
Loose! Footloose!
Put on your football shoes–
* * *
Oh, sorry. Sorta got carried away again. *Ahem* Now where was I? Oh yeah . . .
3. The one-on-one tackling drill. This was a big hit — literally, with the players, and metaphorically, with the fans — in years past, and something highly anticipated as major portions of public training camp don’t involve the actual popping of pads and crunch of bodies colliding. This makes up nicely for that.
2. The interaction between the fans and players. Training camp is a great place for fans to get close to the players, to get autographs and to be up close and personal, but it’s also a place where the players can get a bit closer to the their fans, sans helmets. It’s where football goes beyond something we see on TV once a week (and discuss ad nauseum online) and becomes a living-and-breathing tangible experience involving actual people we can look in the eye, talk to and shake the hand of. It becomes real, for lack of a better term, when they can see us, hear us, and even acknowledge us.
On a side note: I was looking forward to seeing D. Rose taunt Woody Johnson and his purple helicopter again, but with D. Rose off on vacation, I can only hope he sends a robotic proxy wearing an Eric Barton jersey and rigged with some sort of remote-controlled bullhorn. “Turn back to the fence, David.”
1. Jets football, pure and simple. Cause after everything is said and done, it’s all about the football, baby!
See you all out there next week!
14 Responses to The Thursday Top 10: Alllllmost There . . .
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well done R! I had no voice after the day last year from talking so much … looking forward to it again!!
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spent says:
Haha. I skimmed number 8 as:
8. The Flight Crew! I’m hoping my hand will be ready for the upcoming season…
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Reprocity says:
I guess spent…spent!
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Harvlis says:
R,
Good job. I can’t wait for Jets football. Although, no one knows whether this team will be competitive or not, I have a good feeling.
1 – Having a complete Offensive team
2 – Thomas Jones rushing behind the crunching blocks of Tony Richardson and Alan Faneca
3 – Jenkins stuffing the middle and letting David Harris do his thing
4 – Gholston, Pace, Ellis, Thomas, Bowens, and Rhodes putting on a devistating pass rush
5 – Revis and Miller shutting down the top receivers in the league
6 – Chansi Stuckey becoming a great slot receiver
7 – Keller and Franks open up the field and the endzone for Chad
8 – Abraham Elam and Kerry Rhodes laying big hits all over the field
9 – Jehuu pounding the ball into the endzone when we get close
10 – Finally, my favorite, Chad walking us up and down the field and all of his critics eating sh-t, along with Eli’s detractors. Go Chad!!! -
GhoulHouse says:
R:
Great blog !!!
Harvlis:
You said it all, specially # 7 with Chad. And don’t forget his play action fake!! He is the absolute best at that AND with Keller will confuse the hell out of the defense. -
Coachmach529 says:
I agree with your top Ten.
Do you think the J-E-T-S are going to get this draw of people at Training camp in New Jersey?
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billvv says:
New Jersey is a civilized place. A couple of us will show up. I can make the drive on Friday for the 1:30 practice by leaving in mid-morning! I look forward to cutting that WAAAAY down.
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SackDance99 says:
Here’s something that we’re not looking forward to, Crain’s New York Business reported that Giants season tickets holders got their PSL contracts. Here’s the Giants plan (by the way, the Giants plan to raise $371 million through PSLs):
The new stadium, which the Giants will share with the Jets, will seat 82,500, compared with 80,000 for the Meadowlands.
About 26,000 tickets will carry a licensing fee of $1,000. Those seats are in nosebleed sections in the four upper terraces. Another 11,000 seats, in the mezzanine level behind each endline will bring the $4,000 license fee.
About 34,000 seats — in field-level sections at the offensive and defensive ends of the field — will carry license fees that range from between $5,000 and $10,000.
The primo seats, at field level surrounding the 50-yard line in what’s called the “coach’s club” and the “field one” sections, are priced at $20,000 per license.
Starting this week, the team will send out glossy contracts out in batches. The first to receive contracts will be the approximately 1,600 season ticket-holders who hold about 5,000 seats in the midfield sections. The contracts will be sent out in 5,000-seat increments over the next seven months. Tickets will not be allocated until all have been sent out.
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PSLs are a sad commentary. As SD99 points out–there will be 2,500 extra seats, and many other additional revenue sources. And though I’ve always been anti-Giant, at least the Maras never seemed to soak their fans. But, money rules everything today.
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patsrockjwa says:
who the hell would want to waste thier entire day watching bums practice against bums? i guess its the only way they can look good
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You dont go to Pats camp and watch them practice? Or do you have some one read the articles for you out of the football magz you go picking through the dumpster when you’re clothes shopping!
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yea ur mom actually reads them to me…. well she cant really read, so she just shows me the pictures and i give her a nice biscuit and pat her lightly on the head
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So she reads then she doesn’t… And you just look at the pics… Dont laugh to hard you might choke on your last tooth!
Just wanted to let you know (as a big newyorkjets.com blogger) I am really impressed with your site. It has a ton of info and you seem to really understand the jet fan. Your top ten thing you are looking forward to is what every “real” Jet feels this close to training camp…….Keep up the great work and Go Jets!!