Category Archives: Opinion/Bent
Relive Bent’s experience as he watched the final moments of the Jets Raiders game in December. Sorry for not posting these in a while, and then rushing through the final bit, but we thought it was approrpriate to finish this saga before camp started.
Chapter 8 – The Fourth Quarter
As the fourth quarter begins, with the Jets in field goal range and up 13-3, the significance of our hotel room number dawns on me. Remember, we were in room 1716. It was so obvious…the Jets were going to lose 17-16 in heartbreaking fashion and when I finally mustered the strength to drag my crushed carcass back to the hotel room, the number on the door would be right there, taunting me. Panic set in. If the Jets were held to a field goal on this drive, it was obviously going to shake out this way. I began to hyperventilate.
Pennington made a great throw to Cotchery on third down to move the sticks, one play after a near interception and the Jets moved on down to the fifteen yard line. A sweet backhand hesitation pitch gave Leon the step he needed to get to the outside with room to run down the left side, the crowd rose up, Leon cut back at the five and dived across the goalline for a touchdown. I went bananas again. Smashed my knees up again. Didn’t care. The place was jumping. Not only was it now (after the PAT) 20-3, but the Jets had pretty much won it already and – most importantly – my fears about 1716 had been allayed. I went from thinking we were certain to lose to feeling confident that we had it won in just one play.
After a long absence (Bassett’s fault), we’re back with the epic tale of our English friend, Bent his buddies J & D, and his first Jets’ Gameday experience last December, Week 17 versus the Raiders. Today’s tale, halftime.
With plenty of time left to go, it was time to take stock of my emotions. D and J went somewhere to do something (I can’t remember what, but I’m pretty confident it involved food), leaving me to reflect for a while. So far it was a great experience, with some moments to cherish, but the overriding feeling was that it was going to be amazing if we could actually win this game (which, at that stage, was far from over).
Where I was sat, I was surrounded by guys with signs. Right behind me the guys had a big sign that they were holding up just above my head, so I figured there was a chance I would end up with my ugly mug on TV, but on reviewing the DVD later, this was not the case. However, someone else with the exact same sign, word-for-word, was shown on the TV at one point. Can’t remember what was on it now, though. Something about Chad, who by the way the crowd LOVE, regardless of the amount of negativity towards him you might see from Jets fans on message boards and the like.
Sure it might be 90 degrees outside, but today we take you back to the chilly Meadowlands as Bent recalls the second quarter of his first live Jets game, with his friends, J & D.
The second quarter begins with more good running by the Raiders against the Jets makeshift defensive unit. According to Dierdorf, Eric Barton grabbed Justin Fargas, turned him upside down and dropped into a sitting position with Fargas’ head jammed between his legs. Well, he said he hit him with a piledriver, anyway. In actual fact, he hit him in the head with his knee out of bounds to draw a personal foul and move the ball to the twenty. Uh-oh.
Robertson comes off the bench to stop the bleeding and makes a good stop to force third and five, but (shock horror) Barrett gives the receiver too much cushion on the next play and allows the first down. “[The Jets] have been really blessed with the addition of Kimo Von Oelhoeffen. Solid run stopper,” says Dierdorf. Ummm…
Chris Carr readies himself eagerly at about the thirty yard line for Nugent’s kick. The crowd is pretty loud at this point. The Jets make the stop and the Raiders start off with the ball.
In order to help me remember the events in the right order, I should mention that I am using a DVD of the game, so that it doesn’t look like I am pretending to be capable of remembering the tiniest of details. This is a good opportunity to look at the performances of guys like Ferguson, Robertson, Pennington, Vilma and Rhodes, to see if they were as good or bad as first thought at that stage of the season. (more…)
It’s been a while since our last installment of Bent, D&J’s trip to the Meadowlands for the Raiders, apologies, apologies all around … things have been a bit hectic in the Bassett household. When we left our heroes last, they were making their way into the stadium. Let’s see how their bloodthirsty savagery they consider “supporting” matches up to our less transfusionworthy American version. Enjoy.
As we headed into the stadium, some guy overheard our accents and said “this is football, not rugby,” to which I was going to say “It is? Oh, right – let’s go home, then,” but before I could, D launched into some seemingly well-rehearsed diatribe about how we get a wider selection of NFL games that you do in the States, with all the cold-blooded efficiency of an entrepreneur giving a sales pitch. Since New Yorkers routinely assumed we must be Australians, we could probably have parlayed this into a situation where everyone thought we were related to Ben Graham, but at that time, I was too focused on the game for such frivolities. (more…)
We continue with another installment from Bent and his band’s merry romp across the festering ooze-pit that is the Meadowlands. Today’s installment, heading to the game.
Gameday! As we went down for breakfast, there was a big crash of pots and pans in the kitchen and I instinctively made an “I didn’t know Justin McCareins worked here” joke before immediately regretting it and panicking that I was setting things up for him to make a crucial drop or fumble later on. I immediately start making some self-deprecating comments about myself to appease fate. D-fense (mechanism)! D-fense (mechanism)!
I had made sure my “insurance policy” was in place before we left. My insurance policy, which some of you may not like, was that I decided to gamble on the Raiders, so that if the Jets lost, I would be compensated for the anguish. I bet enough money that if the Raiders won outright, my trip would be paid for. Since the Jets were 11.5 point favourites (sic) I was also able to bet on the Raiders to cover, which meant that if the Jets won by less than 12, I would recover the cost of the initial bet and still have the joy of them having won.
We continue today with more of Bent, J &D’s tale of their pilgramage to the Meadowlands.
I don’t intend to bore you with the details of packing suitcases, travelling to the airport or flying into the States. Suffice to say, D had a great view into the stadium as we flew overhead, whilst I had a great view of some dude’s rear end as he got his luggage out from the overhead compartment. Not what I’d term a dream flight.
Once we landed – the first “touchdown” of the trip – we got a cab to our hotel in Jersey, which was fine, although the driver had the mildly irritating habit of nearly killing us all by reading the paper instead of looking where he was going. On arrival, being British, naturally we thanked him for the lift and gave him a tip (of the monetary, not the potentially life-saving variety).
The British are coming! Raiders fan D with Jets fans J and Bent
The day has come. The moment you have been waiting for is finally here. For loyal readers, you will remember that our intrepid fellow fan and TJB writer from Across The Pond, Bent was our lucky charm that shoehorned Mangini’s team into the playoffs with the win against the Raiders. Sure it’s been over six months, but the tale is ready to be revealed in all it’s glory. Would you rush Michaelangelo’s Cistine Chapel?
Homer’s Iliad? Garbage. Beowulf? A children’s story. The Song of Roland? More like the Song of Crap. Gird your loins and prepare for a tale of three heros from England, as they embark on an adventure the likes of which you will not soon forget. (–Bassett)
Prelude
On December 31st, 2007, having been a through-thick-and-thin Jets fan for just over 20 years, I finally made my first trip to a Jets game.
I had only been in New York once in my life and, on that occasion, only got to see the inside of JFK (the airport, not the dead president). That’s other than a probably-would-have-gotten-me-shot-if-I-did-it-today climb up and glance over a security wall which revealed only that JFK – like most airports – is basically in the middle of nowhere, not just down the road from Times Square like my naïve eighteen-year old brain pictured it back then.
This was to be a much more expansive trip, but why did it take me so long to make it over there? When I was younger, it was the cost (although I did save up the money when I was fifteen after my Dad told me he would take me if I paid for myself, only to be told that he had only said that because he had never expected me to save the money and never had any intention of taking me). As I grew older, it was the Jets. Did I really want to take a trip that I’d waited so long for and for it to end in a frustrating blowout where they didn’t even seem to try to move the ball or a crushing defeat-snatched-from-the-jaws-of-victory-type debacle?
The Manhattan Project, Human Genome Research and the Jekyll Island Club are nothing compared to what TJB is about to unleash on you. Secretly during Super Bowl weekend, the co-conspirators of TJB met in seclusion, far from the festive and prying eyes of the NFL glitterati. Prepare yourself for the second annual Meeting of the Minds. Today, R in CT and TOON2388 discuss the Quarterbacking situation.
TOON2388: good evening Ray, just about dark here at my office in San Marcos (30 miles north of downtown San Diego). In Chad we trusted in 2006. What about 2007?
R in CT: I think the offense is totally built around Chad at this point, and with Schottenheimer coming back, it seems only natural to at least start the season with Chad in charge.
T: Agreed. I understand that Mangini’s mantra is “every position is open for competition,” but I think the team needs to know Chad is the starter before we get to the first mini-camp
R: I think all the players probably know that, and that Chad probably knows that it’s his job to lose right now, as well it should be — he had a very respectable season: a 64% completion percentage, 17 TDs, over 3,300 yards and an 82.6 passer rating. The only downside was the picks: 16, which is a little high, especially for a guy that has established a career based on short passing and accuracy.
T: The picks are a big concern. Without re-hashing all of them, my memory tells me that most were Chad’s fault. I thought he played really well at NE in the playoff game. Forget about the late pick returned for a touchdown, at 30-16, the game was all but over. The one thing this staff will not do is put us in a 1992 situation when Coslet handed the job to Nagle because he felt “O’Brien could only take team so far.” Clemens may be a stud down the road, but he will have to “win” the job, not have it handed to him.
R: I totally agree – this management team wants to (and thinks it can) win now, and will always play the guy that gives them the best chance. Right now, that’s Chad, but if Chad falters and they think Clemens is ready, he will definitely get in.
The halfway stage of the season is upon us and although the Jets have exceeded preseason expectations, the overwhelming feeling heading into the bye week is one of disappointment. At least October is finally over.
Let’s get going…
* I was convinced the Jets would lose this week, so it would have been really sweet to pull it out at the end there. When you consider the combined factors of the Browns coming off a week of turmoil, the Jets subconsciously taking their foot off the pedal with the bye week upcoming and simply the fact that when you look at it from their point of view, the Browns were facing a 4-3 team at home that was yet to beat anyone good, it was all too much to overcome on Sunday.
* Obviously, we were robbed at the end there, but once the call on the field was incomplete, there was no comeback. (Yes, they probably should change the rules). Clearly, Baker was going to land with both feet in bounds, but in real time I can see how that would have been tough to see. Maybe we will get a make-up call in next week’s game. Who are we playing again? Ah, crap…
(more…)
Now, I don’t have the media credentials to obtain exclusive interviews with big NFL names, but recently I was fortunate enough to conduct a telephone interview Eric Mangini. Not in real life, just in a dream I had. At least, I think it was a dream…I can’t be too sure because I am a parasomniac. However, I’m pretty sure that this is how the conversation would have gone anyway.
I can’t remember how I got hold of Eric’s number, or persuaded him to talk with me about the Jets, but somehow I was in the middle of an in-depth conversation that went something like this:
EM: “…in order to determine the feasibility of such an action, we will meet tonight and discuss all of the pros and cons before arriving at an informed decision that we are all content with”
Bent: “But I only asked you if you could move your mouth a bit closer to the receiver!”
EM: “How’s this? I’ve stopped eating now.”
Bent: “Much better, thanks.”
EM: “So, what did you want with me anyway, random-person-who-I’ve-never-heard-of?”
Bent: “I don’t know, I can’t remember the first part of this conversation.”
EM: “Me either.”
Bent: “Perhaps you could just talk about the Jets and then I can write about it on thejetsblog.com?”
EM: “Sounds good to me. As long as I don’t have to reveal any information.”
Bent: “I wouldn’t worry too much about that.”
EM: “OK then, what do you want me to talk about?”
Bent: “Well, I’m kinda interested in what makes you different from previous Jets head coaches.”
EM: “Right, well I have this revolutionary idea of playing young guys before they are in the last year of their contract.”
Bent: “Interesting.”
EM: “And not running my more experienced players into the ground.”
Bent: “That might work! What else?”
EM: “Erm, if something doesn’t work, I have this very clever idea of trying something else instead.”
Bent: “Ah, but surely if you’ve been throwing dump off passes to double covered receivers on third down all day, the LAST thing the defense would expect would be for you to do it again?”
EM: “It’s thinking like that that might one day land you a head coaching job in the AFC West.”
Bent: “Thanks…I think.” (more…)
You’ll have to excuse me if I am a bit more angst-ridden than usual for the next few weeks, but I (seriously) have an irrational phobia about October. No…screw that – it’s an entirely rational fear. I hate the month with a passion and will be facing each day with an overwhelming sense of trepidation until Halloween. There, so now I’ve bared my soul and you all know I’m an emotional nut-job, you can all read this week’s thoughts through compassion-tinted goggles.
Let’s get this over with:
* The coach doesn’t matter. The gameplan doesn’t matter. The weather doesn’t matter. How loud the crowd is doesn’t matter. The opponent just…doesn’t…matter. The longer you’ve been a Jets fan, the more certain you had to be that this game was going to result in a loss. And as hard as the more pessimistic amongst us will have tried to emotionally brace ourselves to expect a blowout, so that anything positive would seem like a bonus, the Jets – bless them – always perform well in the most unlikely of games, but only just well enough to give you inevitably-to-be-dashed hope. Naturally, I fear that the season could be headed the same way.
* The more optimistic side of my conscience knows though, that although victory was callously yoinked from the Jets grasp, to be this competitive in a game against one of the league’s top teams has to be – at worst – a big step in the right direction. And as the Jets continue to show heart and (cruelly?) raise expectations amongst the fans, it sure is more entertaining to watch than what we saw at the end of last year.
(more…)
