Here’s a treat in my inbox tonight about the whole coin toss thing … are we still talking about this? Please kill me now.
Statement from Jets Chairman and CEO Woody Johnson
An NFL coin toss has a few fundamental elements that are missing here, most notably the presence of the teams involved. That’s how it’s always done in the League, whether it’s determining the order of the draft or deciding who’s going to kick off the game. When the issue of which team would be hosting the first regular season game could not be resolved on the merits, I suggested a coin toss as the fairest way to resolve this issue. The League rejected that idea. Then, I was told on Friday that a coin toss had taken place at the League office and that the Jets had lost. We rejected a process in which neither team was present. The League departed from our time-honored tradition and declined the opportunity to set the matter straight with a transparent process.
Of course, the Giants couldn’t help but gloat.
“We look forward to playing the first regular-season game ever in the new stadium,” Giants spokesman Pat Hanlon said. “We have a great new home, and it’s right next door to Giants Stadium, a building that housed our three Super Bowl championship teams. We look forward to building the same legacy for our new stadium, and it starts on Sept. 12.”
Ugh .. can you hear the implied message to the Jets ownership in that statement? I sure can.
I’ll get to the issue of what the league did in a minute, but let’s make a timeline of this as we now know it and how exactly that matches up with the “transparency” that Woody is so keen for which to call out the league.
Friday – According to Woody’s statement he learned about the actual coin-toss result.
Saturday – The Jets website subtly publishes a story about an upcoming coin-toss for the game and that fans might be invited to attend!! Goody!
Sunday – The Giants don’t say anything about the matter, referring it to the league.
Monday – Word leaks that the coin flip was done and that Woody is “outraged” at the matter. Woody late in the day releases a statement about transparency.
So Woody, must have OK’ed the weekend story about the coin toss right? Yet he already knew the outcome of it, regardless of his acceptance of it’s validity. Then he forced a story about something that already happened, along with the potential for an event around it, and is chiding the league for their transparency issues? Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!
I know this is meta, and might not be all that relevant, but for those who follow this closely, Woody has made the team reporter, Randy Lange (FULL DISCLOSURE who I respect beyond measure) look like a heel. If Randy Lange knew the real story, then he looks irresponsible for propagating a known falsehood, if he didn’t know the real story (which I imagine he didn’t) then he looks like nothing more than a mouthpiece. Ah … nothing quite like willfully throwing your employees under the bus to stroke the ego of a billionaire. What, that’s never happened to you? Oh.
As far as who should host the first game? If the league had any inclination to make things “fair” then they would have let the Jets have first crack, for various reasons that we won’t bother detailing. But far more important than any other, for the sole reason that the Jets have looked like the league’s redheaded stepchild in New York, and the league has in this move shown no desire to end that perception.
So rather than just complain about how the Jets and the league handled it, I’d like to suggest an alternative method for how the Jets could have gone about this.
Roger Goodell has an Achilles heel, and it’s public perception. Whereas his predecessor didn’t seem to care enough, I get the sense that Goodell can care too much about it at times. This could have been one of those times to work it to his disadvantage. With all the social media outlets available at their disposal, Facebook, Twitter, their own website message boards, whatever … the Jets could have gotten their fans involved, much earlier in the process (had they been … wait for it … umm … TRANSPARENT) and from a positive “please petition the league for the first game!” perspective.
If the Jets were so afraid the team wouldn’t get the game but wanted it, then they could have asked the fans to “do the dirty work” and get the message back to the league. The office would have been slammed, and they would have had to accede to at least a fair coin flip. I mean, we the fans ARE basically the shareholders of this league right? Last I checked we should hold some sway with what the league does or doesn’t do … since ultimately we help pay the bills. The Jets wouldn’t have been the bad guy. I know this is a viral campaign waiting to happen on Twitter … and with guys like PR Head Greg Aiello, and Commish Roger Goodell, easily available … it would have taken no time at all to get their attention.
But, the Jets didn’t think about it that way, and we were left with a pissing match between the Jets and Giants. We’ve always dreaded knowing, but now know beyond a shadow of a doubt who will win that in the league’s eyes. I think that can change in time, but it’s going to come down to a few things for the Jets: stable ownership, a winning tradition, and an even more devoted fanbase. If the Jets right now are about changing the “SOJ” culture of the team, then the way the front office handles this stuff needs to change too.
As a clear concession, the Jets will host the first Monday night game. I imagined that both teams would get a home game that weekend. Still, it’s clear that the Giants are crowing over hosting a game one day earlier than the Jets. Honestly, this only proves to me that the Giants are as an ungracious organization as I have always imagined them to be.
Thanks to the many of you who sent this in tonight, my thanks!
Re. Jets getting the first nationaly televised game – has the league specified that the Giants game will be on Sunday afternoon? I can see them showing yet another Giants-Cowboys or Giants-Eagles matchup on Sunday night.
Just read the Jets could opt out of the stadium deal…They should move to one of the five burroughs or Long Island (Queens makes the most sense) and put a dome on it (this would steal all the events [like the Super bow] from the new Giants Stadium).
honestly Woody is one of the best owners in the league. it would have been near impossible for the jets to get a stadium in ny. i agree that it sux that the jets got shafted again, but it doesn’t really matter who plays there first. the jets are on the uo swing and have much more potential than the giants .i thinks its all about the fans, us jet fans are some of the most passionate fans in the whole league and we have a brand new stadium thats gonna be sick, i think we can make it “our” stadium just by winning and being as passionate as i know jet fans can be
Was there any doubt that the nfl would make sure there beloved giants would get to open the building. But all that matters is winning.
Ugh…you call this news? In the words of that tired, miserable old fart Tom Coughlin, “Talk is cheap. Play the game.”
@Brendan…BINGO…key word – “harder”. Woody took the easy way out. I’m sure there’s plenty behind the scenes of all 3 location options that we fans don’t know about, I get that. Bottom line is it would have been harder…but not necessarily impossible. BTW…I’m not attempting to rehash the stadium issue, bottom line is they are in NJ. My point is that was Woody’s choice and he now has to deal with some of the possible negatives of that decision. To me personally, I couldn’t care less which team plays first. Last team standing counts much more than first does.
Haha, ok dude. If by “easy way out” you mean spending years of his life and millions of dollars on proposed deals that didn’t go through and then “settling” for spending $850 million on a state-of-the-art mega stadium that would bring the first cold-weather Superbowl to the NFL since they started awarding it to cities and not the home teams.
And it wasn’t Woody’s choice. How long do you hit yourself with a hammer until you stop swinging? He was never going to get on the West Side and Queens was even less likely. Would you rather the Jets play in old Giants stadium while the Giants played next door in a new stadium?
if they painted it green and changed the name, yes i would.
There is absolutely no chance of the Jets moving to Queens in the next thirty years. They just opened their Atlantic Health facility in New Jersey, and have spent a ton of money on this new stadium. I also felt the team lacked its own identity by playing in their rivals stadium since the moved in 84, but I’m over it as well. This stadium is half ours. It’s what we do INSIDE the stadium that will determine whether the Jets or Giants are the more respected and beloved team in New York. But honestly, I really don’t care if only 10% of New Yorkers are Jet fans. That 10% will kick ass!
Woody is so right in this matter. Don’t know how you can criticize him, Bassett.
Perhaps the real problem here is that Woody is first class, but the fans are still 2nd class.
If Woody wouldn’t have spoken up I would’ve been disappointed. It’s probably because of Woody’s approach to this matter that we got MNF in the end.
Woody wants a winner and it’s obvious in this organization from top to bottom.
Bent-
Thanks for the rebuttal quote. Everyone should just read that and realize how much we kick A$$. No arguing is needed. We will blow the doors off that joint on MNF. I doubt there is a team that will be as hungry as our NY JETS come opening game. I can guaranTEE no team wants to be that first one we get. I picture Trent Edwards in the BUF game this year. We hadn’t got a sack in like 4 games and they literally folded him up like patio furniture. Gonna suck to be you on Monday Night…whoever you are.