So I’m a lurker. Years ago, I would make a few posts here and there—must have gotten to 10 because I can view links—but it would take even the most judicious of TGG readers with the clearest of memories to remember anything I might’ve offered back then. (Is my avatar still a photo of Derrick Strait when he was at Oklahoma? If it is, I’ve already lost all credibility with everyone reading this. I’ll just hope that it isn’t and move on.) But I like coming here because it makes me feel like part of the fan base. As a displaced New Yorker now living upstate, I’m in the heart of Bills country and I don’t have many fellow Jets fans around. Since I’ve lived here, I’ve headed to the bar each week with a few friends of various NFL loyalties, and while they’re always willing to glance over at the Jets game whenever I make a comment on Curtis Martin’s great vision, Ray Mickens’ phenomenal third down coverage, or why oh why can’t James Reed ever stay in his fucking gap, they usually turn back to their game pretty quickly, and I can’t ever really explore a full discussion on the matter. Fortunately, I could turn to TGG. I never played football, but as a student of the game, reading the threads on this board made me feel like I knew the team better and knew the game better. (I also got some great breaking news from that kid who made the Jets.tv segments.) The times I’ve been most tempted to post are after a really tough loss. Sometimes I even get close, but I’ve found that despite logging onto the forum a mere 19 seconds after the final whistle has sounded, everyone has already hashed and re-hashed everything that went wrong, and RobA has already posted a seven-paragraph rant detailing his own impending suicide. So again this week, I logged in and didn’t post anything, but my head was still spinning as I grasped for some kind of perspective. Was this year's mini-collapse as painful as last year’s late season collapse? No, probably not. Was this game the most lopsided, dominating-performance-that-we-still-managed-to-lose ever? Well, no, there was that 2000 Ravens game, you know, the one where we started out up 14-0 after coming out 4-wide and running flea flickers out of the no huddle, outgained them something like 600 to 150, but lost because Jermaine Lewis scored like three touchdowns. Still, it didn’t help. For the umpteenth time, I was wondering whether I’d be a happier person if I’d never been a Jets fan. But then I found a piece of paper under my desk. On it, I had scribbled my game-by-game predictions for our season. Given our rookie QB and rookie head coach, the first half of the season looked like this: @ Houston (Loss) New England (Loss) Tennessee (Loss) @ New Orleans (Loss) @ Miami (Loss) Buffalo (Win) @ Oakland (Loss) Miami (Win) Now the first thing I took away from my scrawling was this: If, before the season, you’d offered me (and 90 percent of other Jets fans, I think) a scenario where we were 4-4 at the bye with one of the wins coming against New England(!), I would’ve taken it in a heartbeat. A mild lift, but that’s not even the point. The point is that, while making guesses in the preseason, I was completely wrong about the result of 6 out of our first 8 games. This might mean I’m a moron (actually, it probably does, but for the sake of my argument, pretend that it doesn’t), but I think that it shows how totally unpredictable the NFL is. Right now, our remaining schedule might look tough. I certainly can’t find six wins in there. But I’m definitely not going to stop watching. Sneak into the playoffs and this team has enough talent where anything could happen… we’ve already beaten the fucking Patriots for Gods’ sake! It might be 2 a.m., and my brain might not be functioning properly because of all the Mountain Dew I drank during the Saints game, but finding that crumpled up piece of paper gave me hope. And if this post gave even one of you a slightly more cheery outlook on the rest of the Jets season, I’m happy that I could give something back after a few years of reading and lurking. Enjoy the bye week everyone. ~Upstate [Note: Posting this in the BS Forum because I just realized I can’t start a thread in the Jets Forum until I’m at 50. If any of the Mods feels like moving it, well, I guess I’d appreciate it.]
7 paragraph rant :lol: golden...also enjoyed your bit on derrick strait in your avatar that was great. I think you summed up what everyone is thinking pretty well. I think 5-3 would put us in the playoffs if our losses are in the nfc mainly and if we beat the bengals in week 17. 9-7 teams making the playoffs are nearly always in a tie-breaker so I COULD see it. 10-6 should put us in but I don't see it happening. The Patriots, Colts, Falcons, and Bengals will all be tough games to win and saying we will win our other games (which are being the jets no gimmies) and win 2 of those 4 hard games...well that may be too much to ask. The season most def isn't over but it's getting to that time where we've gotta keep track on teams like the Daniels-less Texans, Chargers, and 3 actual teams in the AFC north.
Post more, UJF. Moving this to the Jets Forum and then hitting the road up to your little corner of the world. :up:
Good read and I agree that nobody should feel that the Jets have grossly underachieved to be sitting here at 4-4 at the midpoint of the season. I guess it's how we got to 4-4 that has some of us scratching our heads. After a blistering 3-0 start where the team looked incredibly solid, the wheels seem to have come off and it seems like the season is about to unravel. It doesn't help that the Jets started yapping away after they won a few games. That only fueled their undeserved hype. If I can take all the emotion out of it and think objectively, I'd have to say that I think we're headed in the right direction. I firmly believe the core of talent is there. My biggest question is whether or not Ryan can coach. Great post by the way. That was a good read.
Well said, my friend. I laughed, cried, farted.....and laughed again. The guys are right...you should post more.
agree with everyone here. this post is excellent. main point i'm taking away: as you alluded to, read: the unpredictability, on any given sunday. hell, the eagles lost to the raiders (take note here lover of saints #51- that's the real clowns of hte nfl), and smoked the giants (a favorite by many to represent the NFC in the SB). we need more posters like the OP coming out of the woodworks during the week. :beer:
I'm with ya.... The Bills game was still dispicable though because it was as simple as handing the ball off all day for the Win and that win alone would make a huge difference right now.... Losing on 2 KR vs Coach Westoff is just shocking as well.... We should be 6-2 and that's a bit sickening... 2 Games that leave a bitter taste but, in the long run, we are who we thought we were and it's just the begining of the Rex era... And I think the fact that he's sick to his stomach over Miami is going to man out well for us in the future when when Miami / Jets games could be for a lot more marbles.
Good post, but I'd feel a lot better if we started 1-3 and improved to 4-4, rather than the other way around...
That's probablt what people say about me. Great post. You hit the nail on the head. Hope to see more.
