So this is what it's like to see your team go to a championship game...

I hardly ever post, but I do lurk in the forums most weeks either during our latest disaster or shortly thereafter. I've been a life long NY Jets fan and grew up on Long Island. I've lived with the ups and downs and often wondered when it would be our turn to go to a Super Bowl and finally experience what we've all seen other franchises and their fanbases enjoy. Alas, as bicentennial baby born in '76, the closest I've come were the 3 AFC Championship games, one of which (Denver) I was at. We all know what it's like to experience the frustration of watching your beloved team fail year after year or, almost worse, tease us with hope and then pull the rug out right from under us as we get close. That's being a Jet fan and, really, for as much as I hate the disappointments I'm sticking with the organization because deep down I'm convinced that the satisfaction from finally seeing them do it will be worth all those years of misery (it likely won't, but hey, life's better with hope right??).

Last night was the first time I got to see the other side of it. The unbridled joy of your team winning their way into a championship game. You see, I've lived down south since the mid-90s, Atlanta specifically since 98, and through my wife I became a UGA fan. For as big a fan of football as I am, I didn't pay much attention to college ball growing up. These days with national exposure and ESPN's TV deals with the major conferences, big time college football is everywhere even if you don't live near a major college program, but back then growing up on Long Island, I didn't have much

 

I appreciate all the well wishes. And for those who question this organization's ability to win, I'm right there with you. I'm a Darksider. Unless we get pretty lucky, we'll likely need an ownership change in order to see what we all want so desperately to see. I don't know that an ownership model whereby on field success translates directly to profitability would make the Jets a better team, but I can't help but feel like Woody is the kind of owner who isn't motivated enough to make the team a SuperBowl winner when you make money either way. Do you make more money now if you win? Yes. But when you make a ton of money even if you lose, a certain amount of incentive is absent. Can smart business people motivated by profits still fail? Absolutely - only one in 32 wins each year. The cynical side of me believes that in many years, quite a few owners aren't all that motivated to get better because, in the end, they still made money. Can you be a bad owner and too involved? Absolutely. I think we have an owner who doesn't make great decisions but isn't penalized for doing so because the bottom line is still positive. So, we languish.

I have my tickets to the game Monday night and will be rooting on the Dawgs. I jokingly said to my wife that the SB is here in Atlanta next year and wouldn't it be cool if the Jets got in...... Seriously though, I've been to over a dozen Super Bowls and I just hope I get to see one with the Jets before I die!

 

And that's what it's like to see your team lose a championship...

So, first things first, that sucked. I felt like Georgia needed another score in the 4th to keep just one step further ahead to holdout Bama's comeback and they just couldn't do it. This time it was the other guy making the adjustments at halftime and the balls it took to replace your QB in a championship game are huge. They won the game and deserved to.

That being said, while I'm not someone who believes in moral victories or the always irritating "there's always next year" (can't ever forget that first game in 99 after what almost was in 98), I think Georgia is on a much better track than they were 3 years ago. Kirby Smart is a big step forward and i have no reason to think they won't be competitive for a while going forward. Is he going to surpass Saban? Nope. No one will. Ask Clemson, Ohio State and Auburn fans. Sorry folks, like Belichick, he's the best in the business and while you may beat him in a given year, over time he gets the better of everybody. It sucks to be in the same conference as Alabama, but not as much as having to see the Pats twice every season and their forever string of divisional titles.

What Georgia has is reason to feel like they could get back there. I absolutely don't have that confidence in the Jets. While I know Brady only has a few years left and Belichick can't coach forever, it's a much bigger stretch to think that the Jets fortunes will turnaround before or even after the Pats inevitably fade. Our owner makes shit decisions and that will likely doom us until he's no longer the owner. I'll get to smile and eventually when all Pats fans have are stories about the good old days, but obviously I'd prefer that the Jets have their own success. With Georgia, I think they could put the pieces together to win a title. Will it be a dynasty? That's ridiculously hard for any program to achieve, especially as long as Saban is still around (although at 66 and now having tied Bear Bryant for 6 titles, there's not much left to prove so I really wonder whether he's still coaching in 2025 - the end of his current contract). With Dabo Swinney and Urban Meyer having gotten their rings even in the Saban era, I think Kirby can get his too.