Pay attention to the news and conferences, fans, and you will see what's really behind 40 years of mostly wandering in the wilderness. With the mouthpiece gone, Jets ownership is center stage again, and you can see why this franchise is "cursed". Mangini is gone, and many of us are happy, but that doesn't mean Woody Johnson knows what he's doing. There is no grounding prinicipals for this team, no overall plan. Part of the problem is the financial issues facing Johnson: the new stadium, the need to sell PSLs, the need to compete with the Giants. And that creates a conflict of interest...a coat of white-wash to bridge the team to 2010 and then he'll worry about the infrastructure. Columnists like William Rhoden of the NYTimes, Steve Politi of the Star Ledger, and Jim Baumbach of Newsday did a great job of pointing out where the rotting smell is coming from. The non-speak, double-speak that Mr. T (what a fucking joke) and Mr. J were dribbling out the last two days is really quite terrifying if you're a fan that's already investing thousands of hours and dollars into this franchise and are being asked to fork over even more. With this kind of tepid leadership, it's conceivable that we'll have to wait a lot longer for this thing to finally achieve the kind of foundation that teams like the Giants, Pats, Steelers and Colts enjoy. Check out a little of Baumbach's column from Newsday today: When Johnson speaks publicly, it seems he's always talking about developing an organization defined by its continuity, a successful franchise built to run on its own. You know, like the Patriots. But if he is happy with what has been developed here these last three years, he's only kidding himself. There is an aura of paranoia surrounding this organization, a closed-door mentality when it comes to everything. It's the result of players being ordered not to discuss injuries, agents being told not to talk to the media and incidents such as Pete Kendall's assignment to a rookie dorm two years ago after he criticized team management. The Jets even attempt to control their own fans' information. They kept the scores of the two games related to the Jets' playoff hopes off the Giants Stadium scoreboard Sunday. The Patriots' 13-0 win over Buffalo was done by the time the Jets took the field. It did not go the way the Jets needed it to, so no need for the fans to see such bad news, right? That meant the only way the Jets could get in was with a Jaguars victory over the Ravens. Fans at the Jets' game did get one update, when the Jaguars took a brief 7-3 lead. The crowd roared. Never mind that the Ravens won, 27-7, eliminating the Jets from playoff contention even if they had beaten Miami. After all this, can you blame people for half-jokingly wondering how the Jets would fare if they spent more time on X's and O's than controlling the flow of information?
I agree with you GSour, it gets harder each year to continue sticking with this organization. But i will, I just wish the idiocy from the front office would stop, and get their act together. All this mickey mouse bullshit gotta end one day.
Woody is effectively still a very new owner. He's working on his third transition since acquiring the franchise and the first two were heavily influenced by Bill Parcells who is not known for leaving a team in a stable and steady state. I do think that he needs to get this one right. The third time really is the charm and we'll know a lot more about Woody and the state of the Jets after he has completed the process. He really should get rid of Tannenbaum though, that's another Parcells legacy that is holding him and the team back.
In fairness... Many of the players asked for them not to show that score during the game. Shanahan did the same thing two weeks ago, with the chargers game, and the Jets did the same thing in 02 with the Pats/Phins game. You make a lot of good points Gsour, but, as far as paranoia, I get a little queasy when I hear any media type complain about lack of access, because it reeks of sour grapes, since the lockdown makes them feel like their job is SO hard. As you know, those same reporters had EASY street under Herm and his "loose lips" are encouraged regime. That said, what bothered me the most about the way Mangini and Tannenbaum ran things, was they had not earned the right to do it that way. You can't just come in, with NO experience, and be Parcells, and be Bellichek, and close off everything to the media. You have to earn that, especially in NY. That is one reason I am in favor of an experienced HC for this team. One that has some cachet and that the media will respect from day 1.
That's not the point. The really successful owners in the NFL have owned their teams for quite a bit longer than Woody has owned the Jets at this point. It takes some continuity and learning on the job to know what you are doing right and wrong and to make corrections. The job of NFL owner may not seem like much but based on the records of the various franchises it clearly takes a lot of skill and knowledge to do right and that's not something you can pick up over night. Woody came into the NFL probably knowing very little about how to effectively own a team. He's getting a year by year crash course in the Jet's school of hard knocks and hopefully his eyes are opening a little bit wider each year. He really does need to clear out the trash though. Keeping people around for the sake of continuity only makes sense if you're doing very well at the time.
Sorry I have to disagree with U on Woody being a "new" owner. Woody has just completed his 9th year of ownership. Easy to count 1 season Al Groh 5 seasons Herm & 3 season Mangini.
The Vikings did the same thing at their home game in regards to the Bear game, are they unprofessional?
Well the Vikes guy for 1. Maybe Blank in AtL. The Ravens owner. The Texan owner. Maybe the Browns owner.
Well, Woody has an opportunity here to get it right now. They should run the same personality tests on the coaches that they do on the players. Quite frankly, I though Mangini had the right stuff, but his personality quirks completely undermined him. The arrogance, the control freak...they really are the things that did him in. Johnson needs to talk with some of his kin--the ones who really work for a living--and discover the kind of tools they use in determining which people are best for the management of the big band-aid company.
You know he is not going to get right. If he doesn't hire Cowher or Shanahan then he might as well have kept Mangini for another year. Hiring another coorindator and hoping they are a good head coach is more risky then keeping Mangini. Everything was on track to make this franchise into a consistent winner until they got Favre.
The Ravens owner inherited Ozzie Newsome. So he comes off the list fast. The Texans and Browns are worse off than the Jets at this point and have been over Woody's ownership. So really it comes down to Blank in Atlanta and Wilf in Minnesota. Those are the guys who are kind of in Woody's peer group at the moment, and neither of them inherited a team that Bill Parcells had built and abandoned. Ok here are the good franchises in the NFL right now: Pittsburgh New England Indianapolis New York Giants Tennessee (very good over the least decade despite a two year period where they bottomed out) Philadelphia That's kind of the whole list at the moment. Dallas makes a lot of money but they're not a great franchise any more. Denver just fired Shanahan. San Diego hasn't done anything special without Marty Schott in the house and he's gone now. Baltimore is the closest to a great franchise of teams not on the list and they have a hall of fame GM running the show. Woody certainly has stumbled a bit but he's doing pretty well for a relative newbie owner who came in to a competition dominated by 20+ year owners.
