TJB Readers Chime In: Gen Xer speaks out Against the “Benigno-like Mentality”
Last year at the 2008 NFL Draft we had the fortune to meet DKnyj for a beer Saturday night. Although he didn’t ride the bar’s mechanical bull, he did regale us with a story about Kerry Rhodes dissing a Pats fan at the ESPNZone who wanted his autograph. DKnyj has been a great commenter and was single-handedly responsible with me finding a mobile version of TJB after he showed me how the site looked like trash on his celly, so if you want to thank anyone for that, look no further.
In the second post of the day about changing the mentality around this place. DK noted that “sorry – with this topic a paragraph or two wouldn’t of done it.” He makes a good point that some in the media have made a whole career on preceding the Jets with the phrase “same old.”
Hopefully this goes a little ways towards ending it.
“(*&)#*&$@*! here we go again!” – The first thing as Jets fans that crosses our minds half way through a game when things appear to go sour. This goes for both older fans (Younger members of the Silent Generation & The Boomers) – and us younger fans (Gen X & Y) too. But in that moment of pure frustration, at least in my mind something happens… we divide. There is a negative energy unlike any other force on the planet that emanates from older Jet fans… it’s like you just found out their financial advisor was Madoff… I like to call it “The Benigno phenomenon” or TBP for short. TBP is the sound and energy of impending Jets doom no matter what the down, distance – situation.
Now – it is not neccissarily because older Jet fans are all like WFAN’s own Joe Benigno – but because no one else in the mainstream media is so geniunely pre-convinced that something bad is always going to happen to our team than good ole’ Joe.
Now don’t get me wrong – I love and respect Joe B. dearly – he has helped make our team relevant – but as a younger Jets fan I am here to take a stand and stop this nonsense. I will not ever, let myself get dragged into the misery and negativety… won’t do it, can’t do, not me… nope. You can feel it when it hits the stadium too, and the players do to, and I am big believer that it affects the way they play, I really do! How can you not react negatively to 50,000+ people moaning and groaning sarcastically?
Now before you go all “Get off my lawn! You rotten kids!!!” on us – there are some things about us younger fans that you should give some thought too… Now I know you are prepared to come at us saying we haven’t suffered as long as you have – which in it’s own right is a fair point. But most of you were alive when SuperBowl III happened, or grew up in the 70′s and Early 80, when the Jets were a respected entity. Well we grew up with Bruce Coslett and Rich Kotite, and not only that, have had to deal with Fantasy Football Message boards, blogs, the draft blunders YouTube video and main stream media outlets you never had to deal with. My point is – our failures as a football team have shoved our faces like a Baby Einstein video since the day we were born – so we have suffered less years, but I’ll argue that it is much harder to be a younger Jet fan now than it was when you were our age – I bet I received 10 times more insults on this year’s Fantasy Message Board alone then you have in your whole life. And yet I am steadfast – I stay positive, I have faith, I believe – I do not let TBP enter my domain!
But my goal in writing this is not to lambast you older fans or argue about who has suffered more – that won’t solve anything. I am here to help invoke the change that needs to happen – and rather than argue with you older fans, I would like to offer a truce… There is an opportunity on the horizon… a new stadium. This a unique chance for you to leave your TBP at the door, never bring it into the next generation’s stadium (That doesn’t say Giants on it). When Kellen Clemens or Ratliff throw their first interception – it’s okay, you don’t have to start screaming or sell your season tickets to a Dolphin’s fan. When NugeyFeeley misses his first field goal – it’s okay to clap and say we’ll get the next one! And most of all when Rex Ryan’s D-fense gives up a big play on a blitz that didn’t work – Have faith that overtime, we will prevail!
So with that – this truce is simple – you leave your TBP at the door – and we’ll have a united front in being the true 12th man in our new building and hopefully – positiviely and D-Rex’s pure defensive and fan intensity will lead us to the promise land!
11 Responses to TJB Readers Chime In: Gen Xer speaks out Against the “Benigno-like Mentality”
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KevT says:
Amen to that! This is why I like listening to ESPN radio vs the Fan…not as much negativity at ESPN with Greeny and Brandon Tierney as the resident Jet fans.
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steviek says:
i’m in the older group. and most of the painful memories are of the recent variety.
i started rooting when the team won 6 games in a row to finish 7-7 and i thought this is something cool. next year… charlie winner, 3-11.
most brutal moments have no age gap and were all playoff related. leahy missing a chippy fg in cle in ot, the turnovers in denver and herm running into the line at the end in pittsburgh.
every season is different and there’s no reason to give up the ship down 2 scores in the 3rd.
you get a feel by november whether the team is any good or not and expectations can jump. 07 we were done by halloween. thats not TBP. last year i was believing at 8-3, but hesitant. did my history make me hesistant? I’ve watched alot of football, but i have to admit i couldn’t watch the seattle game anymore. i had to flip the channel. TBP or sanity? -
Bryan says:
There is a pessimism that pervades Jets fans that is palpable. The stadium always sounds so quiet to me, like they’re just waitiing for the failure to come. It doesn’t help the team to be this way. It’s like when your kid comes home with a report card and you approach them like “so what did you screw up this time” before you even know what the marks are. There’s something to be said for having some confidence, some blind faith, some enthusiasm. Because you know what, when winning doesn’t really thrill you as much as losing depresses you, that’s a problem.
Personally I think the media are just as to blame as some negative fans. The Jets could go 15-0 but if they lost that last game of the season the headline would be “Same Old Jets.” There’s no such thing as Same Old Jets. Even in failure there’s always a difference. It’s ridiculous to keep tarring current ownership/management/coaching for the sins of previous ownership/management/coaching.
It’s also ridiculous to think that Jets fans’ suffering is any greater than every other franchise’s suffering and our mistakes are greater than every other franchise’s mistakes.
Every franchise goes through good times and bad times. To completely disregard the good times and dwell on the bad times is once again, a problem.
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I’m only 26 years old and I’ve seen so much heartbreak in the last 10 years. And it’s no so much that they’ve been a losing franchise. They’ve teased us into thinking they were ‘Championship’ caliber only to disappoint us in the end.
I think the older generation is justified in having that attitude until this team can get over the hump and make it to another Super Bowl.
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Pete57 says:
Personnally, I think the majority of Jet fans are great. While I am exteremely positive and optimistic every year, I can understand why some fans are doubtful. The national perception may be harder to change, but I know that if the Jets put a winning team on the field, the fans will support them better than anyone else’s. That’s the key with any fan base. Win. Look at the Red Sox. Have there ever been a more negative, gloomy bunch of people? But not now. Now they are cocky, and believe their team will win. That’s what happens when you win, even after 87 years of losing and heart break.
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SackDance99 says:
I’m not sure that the “TBP” or “same old Jets” mentality has a generational divide. As a tail-end boomer/gen X ‘er (heck, if you’re born the same year as Eddie Vetter, you have to be Gen X, right?), I often post what R in CT posts: that since the Parcells era (’97), the Jets franchise has been decent. The “crushing” losses all have a basis…the ’98, ’02 and ’04 teams just weren’t good enough (I know, maybe the ’98 team was good enough, but the Jets lost to the reigning SB Champion on its home field, not like losing to the Fins because of a flood). We just couldn’t say that about the Sack Exchange team that was plenty good enough to win a SB. I think us “older” fans were gravely disappointed with that team, especially the 10-1 collapse season in ’86, followed by my namesake’s bonehead play against the Browns. And, it was the sheer randomness of it all…the flood, the roughing the QB call (which was a borderline call). Those years gave us a Red Sox fan’s pre-Big Papi fatalism…watch game 6 of the ’86 series and you have to be convinced that God didn’t want the Red Sox to win. But, honestly, I’m over it. It’s you young guys that use the Pats as a measuring stick and are always disappointed.
After Coslet, Kotite and Mr. Hess’ horrible ownership era, these are happy days to be a Jets fan!
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Wise Old Jet Fan says:
DKnyj, oh the optimism of youth…he types with a sly smile.
God bless you, but trust me someday, sooner rather than later, the SOJ mentality will just jump up and getcha
WOJF
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Dennis O'Brien says:
I have been a Jet season ticket holder since 1966 and faithfully traveled from NJ to Shea and then Ct to the Meadowlands w/o fail. The Jets, like most other teams in the NFL have had their ups and downs. However, in this media market, we are bombarded by negativity with phrases like “same old Jets” whenever things don’t go well. My biggest gripe with Beningo is with his constant whining of “disasta” and finding fault in everything the team or organization does. Unfortunately, he has become the voice of Jet fans in the metro area. Not all of us see the cup as half empty, nor do we all come from Long Island. The Jets are a N.J. team now, with a great facility. Joe, it’s time to move on – now!
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Capt. Rich says:
I to have been going to the Jets games since the early seventies and as a young fan then it was brutal compared to what the Jets have been doing in the past 10 years. Most every season we won no more than 6 games, most times 4! Hell, I didn’t even know they had playoffs back then because we never even sniffed first place for the whole decade. In those days it took years to build a team through the draft because there was no free agency. Nowadays you can be 1-15 one year and win the division the next. And the Jets have been a winning/playoff caliber team since Parcells showed up. And if my recollection is clear we won a pretty good amount of games during the eighties and came close during several seasons to going all the way. As far as I’m concerned it’s been great to be a Jets fan at just about any time since the franchise was born sans the 70′s…luckily for me during those times I was young and full of optimism and hope and just loved the excitement of going to the games and watching my favorite players!
Couldn’t agree more — as a fan who straddles both eras (saw the end of Joe Willie’s career forward), I can stand the whole TBP. “Long-suffering” is idiotic — in the last 10 years ’98-’08 (11 seasons), the Jets have been .500 or better 8 times with 5 playoff appearances (and a few playoff wins). The team has gone 91-85 during that stretch, which is not the mark of a losing franchise.
I guarantee you that the fans of teams like Buffalo, who haven’t been to the playoffs in 9 years, or the Lions, who also have had a 9-year drought plus well-documented post-season struggles, would happily change places. Heck, Texans fans have yet to see a winning season, let alone a playoff berth.
At least the Jets have one super bowl championship — old teams like the Bills, Cardinals, Lions and Browns continue to still seek their first.
In short, TBP only happens because people want to see the glass as half-full. It’s definitely been anything but that.