It seems that any topic that touches upon the Jets and their fortunes inevitably turns into a debate between the older fans, who the young guys call "Same Old Jet Fans" and the younger fans, who I like to call the "Bright-Eye, Bushy-Tailed Optimists". It's time this got its own thread so that, rather than derailing another thread about free agents, Rex, Sanchez, or any other topic not related to the performance of the organization from a supernatural standpoint, it can be discussed, debated upon and/or argued about here. As one of the guys in the SOJF camp, having gone through 31 years of heartbreak, I've seen it time and again. Since the early 80s, the Jets have been good often enough to tease all the younger fans into having hope. It is cyclical, and I've gone from bright eyed and bushy tailed with optimism to what the young guys are apparently calling SOJFs. Its a stone cold FACT that the Jets have repeated the same type of behavior, on and off the field, for decades. That is not disputable. Those us that have lived through multiple cycles have a natural tendency to expect more of the same. To understand this, try kicking your dog every third time you see it. For a little while, the dog will remain somewhat optimistic, even hopeful, that you won't kick it, but after a few cycles, the dog will be afraid of getting kicked each time you are near it, regardless of what you did last. Doesn't mean dog doesn't still love you. And it doesn't mean the older fans that are shellshocked don't love the Jets. Hopefully they'll win soon and you won't have to be cynical like us. We are rooting hard for being wrong, trust us. Thoughts?
I've been a fan for 45 years and a STH for 32 years and this Jets era is different. I don't think you can lump things into those two categories - the old guys being pessimists and the young guys being optimists. As someone who has seen it all with this team, I think the current team has as much potential as many and find myself willing to be patient. I find its the young guys as much as the old who, after a season like this, want to tear it down, cut everyone, sign Manning, etc. I say stay the course, learn from the mistakes, fix the obvious holes, and come back next year with an OC that knows how to use personnel. Jets fans on a whole are too quick to want complete change. Sometimes you need to take a step back to move two forward and this season presents such an opportunity. I hope they play it right.
No team in your past, besides '98 perhaps, has seen as much promise as this current team does. Just because one year the jets broke off some wins and made the playoffs and got the fans excited due to the rarity of that occurring with this team, does not make them similar to a team that, with a rookie HC and QB, run to the AFC champ game back to back years and collapse by going 8-8 and barely miss the playoffs. Call it what you want, I don't think I'm a sunshiner - just patient. I've been a fan since '96 - and beyond one or two years - this team has BLOWN. I'm excited to see this team be on the field and have a chance to win every game that they play. I have seen too many teams that don't look like they will win more than 3 games.
I'm certainly not near the oldest(around 30 years of Jets),but I feel that they will right the ship this time. As long as they get back in the direction they were going in 09,10 with Oline solidification and defense we'll be back. If i can't put my faith in whats going on,then why even bother being a Jet fan? The whole SOJ stuff doesn't make much sense to me,i'd rather have our last 14 years than Miamis.
Being on the very young side but still having over ten years of fandom under my belt I see it like this. A large chunk of the older guys seem to have no patience and at the first sign of trouble want to cut pretty much anyone who has ever made a mistake and get rid of the coaching staff and GM. I assume not every old guy wants all these things at the same time but when reading opinions on a message board you start to let multiple opinions bleed into one. I would imagine this same thing happens with the older guys reading the younger fans opinions. I just get the impression that the older guys are all saying "I waited 30, 40 years Iwait my superbowl right now and if I don't get it try something completely different!!" which I think anyone who follows the NFL would know is a terrible way to run a team. So in the end I think the lack of patience in a team that had a Dissapointing year after two years of showing signs of finally getting it right is annoying. We all want the same thing we just don't agree on how to get it.
H'mm do U think RR brought pride & respect or shame & degradation to the NYJs this past season Actually I myself have been a STH since the 1965 season which is long, long time ago. I to have seen all the mismanagement, ineptness that has gone on with the NYJs from the time Hess ejected Wberlin as a partner for signing JWN without getting the approval of Hess Have you researched our #1 & #2 draft choices from like 01/13/69 till the present & see how many average to below average players we have drafted? MHO you are in Dreamland when U say that we have good players I see zero PR which means our DL sucks I see slow & old LBers I see safeties who can not cover TEs I see we have no rushing game worth a damn I see our OL that is porous I see no deep threat WR I see a QB that cannot make or does not want to make snap decisions After all that life is just a bowl of cherries in NYJ land :sad:
Well here is a very important question for U which will super easy to answer since it only requires a yes or no answer Do U think RR brought pride & respect or shame & degradation to the NYJs this past season? My advise to U just wait till U R 60 & the NYJs have won NOTHING ffrom now to then & maybe then U will understand because IMHO right now you surely do not understand the feelings of fans of the team for 30/40 years :sad:
You wait till you are 60 & the NYJs have won nothing from now till then & then you will understand how longer term fans think :sad:
I have been a Jets fan since the fake-spike game (i was 9 at the time). The next two years were the Kotite years. We were 3-13 and 1-15. Since then, The Jets have had a fair amount of success. We have made the playoffs 7 times and have gone to three AFC Championship games in that time. Therefore, I really can't complain about the Jets since I've been a fan, and as a result, I tend to be a bit on the positive side. There have really only been three playoff losses I would deem "brutal" since I've been a fan: 1) AFC Championship @ Denver, 2) Last years AFC Championship @ Pitt and 3) Divisional Playoff Game @ Pitt. In all three games, we were on the road and considered underdogs. Only last year did I truly feel that we were just as good as our opponent, and even then, I think Pitt was probably a slightly better team.
Wait till U R 60 & they have won nothing between now & then & see if you feelings will be the same as they are now :sad:
I been a fan since the 03-04 season. Only about 9 years old. I feel I've gone through heartbreaks, I can just imagine for you people who have been fans and suffered through the 80's early 90's Jets.
If the Jets still haven't won a superbowl when I am 60 I promise to continue to type complete words and sentences.
If i'm going to look at it that way,i might as well not watch anymore. It is VERY hard to build a team like the 68 Jets,80s Niners etc now a days. Way too much money involved,contracts are ridiculous,and no one adheres to them anyway. Players have way too mnay rights. You can't build a long term successful team anymore,it's just not possible. And unfortunately,building team chemistry is hard when every year brings so mnay changes. It has nothing to do with SOJ or anything like that. It's too much of a business now. You're not rooting for the same thing you were in 68
I have been a Jets fan since 1967, I have seen more disappointment then any fan deserves. Yet, this is my team, like a marriage, for better or worst in sickness and in health till death do us part. An like a good catholic ,the most difficult part of it is, divorce is not an option... So I would hope all the young fans would understand that as you get older and have kept your eye on the prize with no results, it gets harder and harder to stay positive. You see we who are now in our mid 50's early 60's are running out of time and each year we know we have less available to us. An while you may call us SOJF, you also must realize , we are the foundation and the rock of the fan base. For many of us walk this road before many of you were a twinkle in your parents eye. An what is even more interesting is many of you are now the parents of young Jets fans.. An so the cycle goes, that is why compared to many teams our fans are solid as a rock with very few bandwagoners and most fans being legacies, thru parents and grand parents...... An the one constant, no matter how much we bitch,moan and cry is, come April and draft day we are all solid Jets fans again with great hope and promise for the next season, in hopes that the prize will finally be delivered before we are delivered.....
I've been a jets fan for 31 years and I disagree with you. We've got to be honest with ourselves. Rex Ryan has gone 9-7, 11-5, and 8-8. That is pretty middle of the pack or average or mediocre. That's not great. Lots of teams in our past have been like that. A lot of 10-6 teams. A lot worse too. A few Ken O'Brien teams with ''promise''. I appreciate the two playoff runs but this team has never been elite. In 2009 we got lucky, manning sat and we shouldn't have been in the playoffs. In 2010 we won a bunch of nail biters against the bottom feeders with a lot of bounces going our way. And last year we were a bad team. And I can handle an 8-8 season but the circus that followed the season was disgraceful and embarrassing. My point is we've had teams like this before but haven't turned the corner. I always want the jets to win and I hope this team finally turns the corner but we've been waiting a long time.
+1. Truly an opinion that I echo also. What some Jets fans lack is Patience but for those older Jets fans, it's like they have an attitude of "Hey....I'm going to die of old-age soon. Can I please have a SuperBowl before then?" And in a way, I can understand that rationale but that's not how things are or should be done as far as running a team which kenny so eloquently pointed out. And, at the risk of sounding too callous, it's simply not our(meaning the younger jets fans) problem if you want the Jets to win one before passing. Just like when we get older and we have younger jets fans around, they'll be telling us the same thing. It's a neverending vicious cycle...
Bright eye... bushy tailed... Sorry, but I'm afraid you're going to have too try a little harder than that.
