Some of you know I am a passionate sports fan, almost as passionate as I am with politics and history. I love my hapless Mets; it is not the players fault they can't win, it is the cheap, inept ownership that is the cause for the team's misfortune.
While I think Terry Collins is an apologist for the team's nightly performance, he can work only with what the GM and by extension, what the ownership will spend money on to obtain. The Wilpons have had ownership of the team in some degree since 1981 and we have two World Series wins and a couple of other lesser titles to show for it.
So much for caring for the fans.
But nothing can compare with the inept ownership that my Jets have endured since Sonny Werblin sold the team. Sonny was the guy who brought Joe Namath to the team and that action led to the greatest upset in American football history when the underdog Jets, eighteen point underdogs by the way, beat the immortal Johnny Unitas and the Baltimore Colts, coached by the great Don Shula in a 16-7 upset on January 12, 1969 in the Orange Bowl.
Since then, nothing. We have suffered through years of darkness with a just a few days of sun peaking through the horizon. We thought six seasons ago we were finally going to get there again, but the team thought if you were ahead after 2 1/2 quarters in the AFC Championship game, the game was won. Oops.
Since the early 70s, we have not had a coach as good as Weeb Ewbank. Kotite? Walton? Edwards? Hell, no. Not even Parcells was as good as Ewbank. Maybe because he had quarterbacks at the end of their careers. But that isn't an excuse. That is a cop-out.
But nothing is as bad as what is coaching the Jets now. When Woody Johnson fired GM Mike Tannenbaum, kept Rex Ryan as Head Coach and brought in an inept John Idzik, it was a disaster in the making.
And now? The Jets are the Titanic, the Mt St Helens of the NFL. A real disaster. Rex has no idea what he is doing out there, week after week. He is looking over his shoulder, waiting for Woody to finally administer the prescription from his pharmacy to put Rex out of his misery. He would be doing Rex and the rest of us a favor, quite frankly.
Rex is in the final year of his contract and I am sure he is anxious to move on. And so are we.
It is time, once again, to rebuild this sad excuse of a once great franchise. Like the Mets, the Jets ownership can't be fired. But perhaps if the fans stopped going to the games and buying the licensed jerseys and other products, by hitting Woody in the wallet, he would get the message that it is the fans that matter. Without us, he has nothing.
As much as I bleed Orange and Blue, I also bleed Green and White. I am a loyal fan to the team. I ache with each loss, and celebrate each win.
Sadly, this season is done for the most part. I will still watch with anticipation that perhaps this week will be the week it gets turned around. But then, I slap my head and realize as a football fan, we are playing the great Tom Brady, four days after we played the great Peyton Manning. Talk about a 1 - 2 punch to deflate the season even more.
I can't wait for the bye week. Maybe by then, we will be saying "bye" to Rex and Idzik and Vick and Geno. Give the ball to Matt Simms. He can't do any worse than what we have watched since 2010.
And maybe, just maybe, we will watch the sun rise on this great franchise again. It certainly can't hurt.
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