With last week’s widely publicized G20 Meetings in London, we thought it would be fun to convene the TJB20. In this inaugural edition, we’ve culled the thoughts of NFL Columnists, Jets beat reporters, bloggers, founders of online fan communities and typical Jets fans.

We whisked the TJB20 to Geneva and enjoyed a scalding pot of fondue along with some kirschswasser. We’ll be dropping two questions a day for the next two weeks. In this post, we’re going to give you some background on who participated.

And no we’ve not forgotten about The First 100 Days, we’ll get caught up in the next few days.

The TJB20 Rules

• Twenty invitees, twenty questions about the Jets. From the Draft to the Quarterback to PSLs, and much more
• Answer however many questions you like and we’ll post the answers up.
• It’s your job as the reader to sift through the responses and learn what you can from the broad range of panelists. The more opinions, the more well-formed your thoughts will be.

The TJB20 Panelists

(In first name alphabetical order)

Bill Barnwell from Football Outsiders: Bill is the Managing Editor of Football Outsiders and writes a weekly matchup column for ESPN.com. Barnwell keeps a close eye on the Jets in his Football Outsiders work.

Bob Bullock from Jetstream (NJ.com): The Godfather of Jets bloggers, Bob’s was the original blog with the name “Jet” and “Stream” in the title, and as far as I can tell, he was the first dedicated Jets blogger on the map. During that time, Bob has lent his thoughts to the ongoing discussion around the Jets and always been a voice of reason or ranting when appropriate.

Bob Glauber from Newsday: Tom Crean lookalike, Bob Glauber has been an NFL writer for 22 years, and serves as Newsday’s national football columnist. Bob is a regular contibutor on ESPN2’s Cold Pizza gets the dynamic between traditional and new media and well … he’s a bit of a prankster.

Erik Manassy (@e_man) Crazy Season Ticket Holder: Erik (e_man) is a gadgetphile who enjoys messing with Kerry Rhodes on Twitter. Manassy is a dedicated Jets fan, and a season ticketholder for many years. Erik is also a diehard Mets fan, who bought seats from Shea.

Jane McManus from The Journal News: Cub beat reporter for the Jets this past year for Rockland & Westchester’s The Journal News, McManus is no novice to sports media. She might be new to the beat, but she’s formed some solid relationships with players like WR David Clowney and was absolutely prescient in her analysis of Mangini as the team unravelled in December. McManus looks harmless, but beware her elbow pads and spiked helmet, she’s also a rollerderby-er (derbiest? derby-ite?) on the Indian Point Sirens whose nome du skate is “Lesley E. Visserate.”

Jason Fitzgerald from NY Jets Cap: I thought I was insane for running a whole blog about one team, how about a site entirely dedicated to one team’s cap situation? Jason is the foremost expert on the Jets salary cap situation. While beat writers were off by tens of millions of dollars in their reporting back in February, Jason’s detailed and methodical work is some of the most reliable on the intarwebs.

John Butchko from Gang Green Nation (SBN): Longtime Jet fan, new blogger for my friends over at Sports Blog Nation. John has brought a solid work ethic to his work for GGN over the past few months.

Josh Alper from NBCNewYork.com: I’ve followed Josh’s tremendous writing style from his seminal work at his blog “The Feed.” That blog’s excellence started him on a long course of work with AOL FanHouse and now WNBC’s New York website. Most recently Josh’s work has landed him with renowned Mike Florio on ProFootballTalk.com.

Matt Loede from NFLGridironGab.com & JetsGab.com: Matt has been in sports media for over 13 years and he is the driving force behind many excellent NFL blogs. Matt pays painstaking attention to all teams in the league, and brings a wider view to the panel.

Max from JetNation.com: Max started JetNation in 2005 and has grown rapidly ever since. JN frames itself as a haven for denizens, but all the folks I’ve ever met at their tailgate have been fantastic and extremely adroit in discussing the finer points of the team.

Michael Salfino from SNY: Michael Salfino is a web columnist who uses statistical analysis to predict player and team performance for both the NFL and MLB. Salfino is a dedicated Jets fan who admits he’s overly strict on his own team because he wants them to succeed.

R in CT from DamnedCT: Longtime TJB writer, his Weekly Top Tens and Thursday TJB Scouts columns created cult followings. R in CT is now chronicling the paranormal in Connecticut in a semi-satirical manner. I STILL want to believe he’ll write weekly for TJB! :)

Sean Deegan, Editor in Chief JetsInsider.com: Deegan started JetsInsider in 1999 and has been doing a bang-up job of providing both user generated and custom content for the avid Jets fans ever since. JI is known as a forum, but over the past few years has broadened it’s offering to include news, analysis and much more. Sean has always been an encouragement to us at TJB in our work.

Sean McCormick from Football Outsiders: Sean is an excellent writer, reasoned logician and stats freak, something he gets to pull together for Football Outsiders and their annual publication, Pro Football Prospectus. If you ever see a guy wearing a Richard Todd jersey, you’re probably looking at Sean. Sean teaches high school in Brooklyn and has been one of the longest and consistently best commenters on TJB.

Seth Edelstein, Jet Fan Extraordinaire: Seth has 15+ years as TV producer, with experience in football and his  first memory is of Richard Todd’s pick in the end zone to seal the wild card loss to the Bills in ‘81 and has been a life of heartache ever since.  His father had encouraged Lisa Gastineau into “working it out” with Mark when they first had marital problems … hmm maybe not the best advice … 

Simon from SimonOnSports: Simon writes one of the best general sports blogs I can find and has been doing it for a few years. Simon lives in CT and is working while also in grad school. Simon recorded the travails of our former QB during the 2008 to much acclaim in his Arm Punt Formations posts. Huzzah! You been gunslung!!!

(Since we’re the hosts, we’ll go last)

Angel Navedo from TheJetsBlog: Angel is a recent addition around here at TJB, but Angel has been writing for sites like the Examiner and NYJetsFan.com for quite some time.

Bent from TheJetsBlog.com: I think Bent might have been the very first commenter, back in the nyjetsblog.blogspot.com days. Draft, cap and strategy guru. His help has been invaluable to the success of this blog.

Corey Griffin from TheJetsBlog.com: Longtime Jet fan, ESPN employee and newly minted Weekend Editor here at TJB. Corey knows this team inside and out. Corey and I are waiting for the second coming of Namath (since we never saw the first).

Drack from TheJetsBlog.com: TJB writer and longtime reader of the site. Drack has been a great challenging / encouraging influence to continue to expand the reach of the blog. Drack works in PR and is a dedicated fan who is slowly convincing and educating his wife on the finer points of the Jets.

Filed under: Main Page