Well it finally happened. Last summer, when Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez both left Manchester United, the three time champions were always being written off as a title contender for the 2009-2010 season. They lost two important stars and all they added was an aging Michael Owen, and replaced Ronaldo with Antonio Valencia who had no hope of filling Ronaldo’s boots. The big United fans kept hope however, the rest of the league was a bit weaker, Rooney was going to play down the middle this year and score more goals and we would be ok.
What then happened was Rooney played down the middle and scored 34 goals in all competitions. With Rooney firing away, United were back on top of the league, with Rooney going, United were going. Still, it soon became obvious United were too dependant on Rooney, and questions arose as to whether they would be able to hold on and win the title again. Soon it became obvious they wouldn’t, and at the end they came up 1 point short of Chelsea.
So United just missed the title by one small point this year and now I will ask, did they even have a plan for this season?
While it may seem hard to question a team that finished one point behind the champions the question of whether United had a plan needs to be asked. Last season, many of United’s younger players earned the chance to shine throughout the Carling Cup competition and ended up winning the cup for United. The future looked bright with these young players coming through the ranks. When Tevez and Ronaldo left last summer, many fans saw this upcoming season as a rebuilding this year. The team had only made one new signing, bringing in the young Antonio Valencia, but we had many young guys that we figured would start to get more playing time and experience this coming season.
But then the season started and the young guys weren’t playing. United, who have a lot of players who are beginning to get up there with age seemed to be throwing their chips in for one last hurrah with the older players. One more shot at the title. But then the older players weren’t getting it done, and it was clear that we just weren’t going to win with this team. Fergie started sprinkling some young players in here and there to mixed results. The end result was not winning the title.
It is very easy to look back in hindsight and second guess, but I was ready to write this post back in December. When things were just lackluster for United I decided, this team needed to make a choice. Throw all your chips into the pot for one more title this year, blow it up next season and start again, or start getting ready for next year now. Truthfully I thought they should have taken the latter.
While the performances of guys like Paul Scholes, Gary Neville, Ji-Sung Park, and John O’ Shea were very good towards the end of the season, would it have been better for the team if they didn’t play as much as they did. United have bright young stars that were not seeing the field this year. Fergie spoke of how much he liked the games of guys like Federico Macheda, Darren Gibson, and the Da Silva twins. When it came down to it, with the exception of Gibson, these players barely saw the field this season. I know they all battled injuries but they still should have played more. Gibson went through a fantastic run of form at the end of December, but after United’s youngsters lost their FA Cup match against Leeds at the beginning of January, Gibson took an extended spell on the bench. Macheda started the season healthy, but only played a half hour in the first Carling Cup match when he was the one who was subbed off after Fabio had been given a red card. He wasn’t heard from again until coming on to score a goal against Chelsea in April. Fergie then said he’d be an important player for the rest of the season, but even though Fergie had already lost faith in Dimitar Berbatov, he still chose the Bulgarian over taking a gamble and giving the young Italian even a chance.
While United got hot towards the end of the season, and during March it looked like they had legitimate chances to win both the Premier League and the Champions League, I was still indifferent. At this point, we had almost killed our chances for next season. Our young players weren’t gaining experience, and it was clear that we would bring in one or two new big names, but we would still be relying on our older players to turn in stellar performances again next season.
Fergie claims that part of the reason United have been so good late in games and in close games is because when his older players were young, they played in those games, and lost those games. They gained the experience by losing. But somehow that didn’t transfer to this current crop of youngsters. After the FA Cup loss to Leeds, many of them didn’t see the field again for a while, even Gibson who had been playing well. Gibson then got a chance to impress again in the home leg of the Champions League, he played well and even scored the first goal of the game for United, he was rewarded by not starting another game all season. Young defender Rafael, who for a time had won the starting right back job last season, got the call at the San Siro against AC Milan. His task was to contain Ronaldinho. At first it looked like it would be a disaster, but after 10 minutes Rafael settled down and played beautifully the rest of the game. After the game Fergie said Rafael had played very well in a big game and had gained valuable big game experience. His reward, for the home leg Fergie picked Gary Neville at right back, citing reasons as “experience” for why Neville was chosen. Rafael did get a chance against Munich, where he was sent off, possibly causing United to bow out of the Champions League. He only made one more appearance for the rest of the season after that.
It’s easy to say I’m wrong right now and that United still came very close to winning the title. It’s easy to quote reasons like, “if the referees would just enforce the offside rule on Didier Drogba then United would have won the title by 5 points,” or “if Michael Carrick doesn’t miss a penalty against Burnley on the second day of the season then we win the title,” or even “there was a point in the season where we only played with a back three, and two of them were midfielders.”
While all those reasons are true, back in December I decided that I would rather have been watching the young players more often. While I enjoyed the ride all season, and dreamed of what could have been, that thought was always in the back of my head, we still should have and should be playing the young guys. Rafael should have been playing over O’ Shea and Neville. Gibson should have been getting many more starts then he was. Macheda should have been getting many more appearances. When the young guys impressed in their Carling Cup outings Fergie would glow about them and talk about how more first team appearances would come. But when 9 first team defenders were injured and Fergie decided to play with a back three of Fletcher-Carrick-Evra instead of giving a young guy a chance I grew more and more confused.
So at the end, when United came up short, the question must be asked, did United have plan? At the beginning of the season they were mixing in the young guys, talking about getting them big game experience, but when it all came down to what matter, Fergie turned towards his older players time and time again. Now I worry that we may have set ourselves back for next year, and may be going through more of the same next season.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Monday, April 26, 2010
Jerry Manuel Is Clueless On How To Use A Bullpen
April 19th 2010. It was a day that sparked a renewed optimism for the Mets, and gave new hope for their fans. After last season, fan confidence was low; it grew a little bit during spring training, and then was once again shattered during the teams 4-8 start. In a move that was clearly scheduled to happen right from day one, on April 19th the Mets called up first base prospect Ike Davis whom all the fans had been waiting for. The move has looked great so far; Davis is hitting .318 with a Home Run and 2 RBI’s in his first week in the big leagues. More importantly the Mets are 6-1 since calling him up. April 19th could be looked at as the day that saved the Mets season, but it wasn’t. April 19th 2010 is the day that ruined the 2010 Mets season, and has possibly caused more long-term damage.
Lets be fair, this is not an “Ike Davis is not ready for the majors and should still be developing in the minors” article. This is an “Ike Davis may be saving Jerry Manuel’s job article,” and that is a problem. The Mets might be playing great baseball right now, and Manuel may look like a genius for moving Jose Reyes to the #3 spot in the order but there is no way the Mets can make the playoffs with Jerry Manuel running the show.
When Jerry took over in June of 2008 he immediately steadied a sinking ship and put the Mets right back at the top of the division. The Mets started pitching, Carlos Delgado started hitting, and the Mets were winning again. They looked like they were going to move past the collapse of 2007. What happened next was almost an exact repeat of 2007, only this time it was different culprit, the bullpen simply could not close out a game.
By the time September of 2008 came around the Mets bullpen was exhausted. It became a struggle to hold onto a four run lead over two innings. At the time it looked like the Mets bullpen just lacked talent, but really there was a bigger reason for the bullpen collapse, Jerry had no idea how to use them, and now were heading for more of the same.
I know its only April and it is still early but there is no way the Mets can go to the playoffs if they continue to be managed like this. Coming out of spring training, confidence was high about the Mets lineup, however many questions were raised about the starting rotation and the bullpen. Through almost one month of the season, the lineup has been pretty bad, until Ike arrived, the rotation has been amazing and the bullpen has been amazing. The problem is our bullpen has been usage is among the highest in the league. There is no reason I should be reading that going into Sunday’s game Fernando Nieve had pitched in 12 of 18 games. There is no reason that Pedro Feliciano, who has set appearance records for the Mets in each of the last two seasons, has at least warmed up in 14 of 18 games. There is no reason that K-Rod should have thrown 100 warmup pitches in the bullpen before entering the 20-inning marathon game against the Cardinals in 19th inning. Actually there is a reason; when it comes to the bullpen, Jerry Manuel has no idea what he is doing.
Jerry said at the beginning of the year he didn’t have roles for any of his relievers yet, but we all know Jerry favors certain guys. He said on opening day that 20 year old phenom Jenrry Mejia would not pitch the 8th inning. So for some reason Mejia never pitches the 8th inning even though he’s been stellar this season, as Jerry opts to use Nieve and Feliciano instead, even if they are tired. Jerry will always call to his “comfort pitchers.” Right now they are doing great, and even better, were learning Feliciano can get right handed batter out too, but how will this end?
There is history behind the situation unfolding, very recent history actually. In fact every year in April we become shocked to learn that Pedro Feliciano can get right handed hitters out as well as left handed ones. But then every year in May when we start playing the Phillies Feliciano moves back into the left-handers only role, with Jerry refusing to let him pitch to anyone else. By the time mid-summer comes along, Feliciano is already tired and overworked, and can’t get those lefties out anymore, thus turning him into a guy who warms up pitches to one batter and leaves the game.
Question marks were also raised this season about the Mets rotation. With the exception of some shaky John Maine starts the rotation has been awesome. The one problem has been, they’ve barely been pitching. I’m not a big fan of pitch counts but I do understand their merit. However Jerry is living way too strictly by them, especially since he doesn’t change it depending on the pitcher. They say the number of pitches a pitcher throws should be around 100, but that number is too low. Pitchers really can throw up to 125 pitches a game before completely losing effectiveness, but they should not be hitting the 125 mark every outing. In reality pitchers should be looking at 110-115 pitches a start. Jerry has the bar very set at 100. Even when pitchers are doing well, even if the pitcher is Johan Santana, too often Jerry has removed pitchers after 6 innings and 103 pitches. Over the last week he removed Oliver Perez and Jon Niese before they completed the 6th inning despite good outings. He used lines like “I want Olli’s confidence to remain high so I took him out after a good outing.” This can’t keep happening, at a certain point you need to let your starters, even your young ones go out there and work and get through tough times, or you need to say to Johan, we need another inning out of you go get it. I know its early, but at this rate this bullpen is going to be exhausted by June.
When Jerry took over the Mets in 2008 it took him just 2 and a half months to tire out the bullpen. He has no idea how to use it. Mets games used to last 2 hours 50 minutes. Now I’ll turn on a game in the 7th inning and still be watching 90 minutes later because Jerry needs to make a pitching change every batter, at a point your just overdoing it. The Mets need a manager who understands you don’t need to use your bullpen 3 innings every single night, and you can’t have every pitcher warm up every night. My anger culminated last night when the Mets played a rain shortened 5-inning game. The game was called 1 pitch into the 6th inning. Even though our starting pitcher did not give up a single run, Jerry still managed to find a way to warm up TWO different pitchers on the night. It may only be April, and we may be winning right now, but very soon these pitchers are going to be exhausted from throwing every day, and the Mets will be unable to turn over a 4 run lead to their bullpen, and all the positives will be wiped away. Mets fans may be happy now, but at this rate, they will be very angry, very soon.
Lets be fair, this is not an “Ike Davis is not ready for the majors and should still be developing in the minors” article. This is an “Ike Davis may be saving Jerry Manuel’s job article,” and that is a problem. The Mets might be playing great baseball right now, and Manuel may look like a genius for moving Jose Reyes to the #3 spot in the order but there is no way the Mets can make the playoffs with Jerry Manuel running the show.
When Jerry took over in June of 2008 he immediately steadied a sinking ship and put the Mets right back at the top of the division. The Mets started pitching, Carlos Delgado started hitting, and the Mets were winning again. They looked like they were going to move past the collapse of 2007. What happened next was almost an exact repeat of 2007, only this time it was different culprit, the bullpen simply could not close out a game.
By the time September of 2008 came around the Mets bullpen was exhausted. It became a struggle to hold onto a four run lead over two innings. At the time it looked like the Mets bullpen just lacked talent, but really there was a bigger reason for the bullpen collapse, Jerry had no idea how to use them, and now were heading for more of the same.
I know its only April and it is still early but there is no way the Mets can go to the playoffs if they continue to be managed like this. Coming out of spring training, confidence was high about the Mets lineup, however many questions were raised about the starting rotation and the bullpen. Through almost one month of the season, the lineup has been pretty bad, until Ike arrived, the rotation has been amazing and the bullpen has been amazing. The problem is our bullpen has been usage is among the highest in the league. There is no reason I should be reading that going into Sunday’s game Fernando Nieve had pitched in 12 of 18 games. There is no reason that Pedro Feliciano, who has set appearance records for the Mets in each of the last two seasons, has at least warmed up in 14 of 18 games. There is no reason that K-Rod should have thrown 100 warmup pitches in the bullpen before entering the 20-inning marathon game against the Cardinals in 19th inning. Actually there is a reason; when it comes to the bullpen, Jerry Manuel has no idea what he is doing.
Jerry said at the beginning of the year he didn’t have roles for any of his relievers yet, but we all know Jerry favors certain guys. He said on opening day that 20 year old phenom Jenrry Mejia would not pitch the 8th inning. So for some reason Mejia never pitches the 8th inning even though he’s been stellar this season, as Jerry opts to use Nieve and Feliciano instead, even if they are tired. Jerry will always call to his “comfort pitchers.” Right now they are doing great, and even better, were learning Feliciano can get right handed batter out too, but how will this end?
There is history behind the situation unfolding, very recent history actually. In fact every year in April we become shocked to learn that Pedro Feliciano can get right handed hitters out as well as left handed ones. But then every year in May when we start playing the Phillies Feliciano moves back into the left-handers only role, with Jerry refusing to let him pitch to anyone else. By the time mid-summer comes along, Feliciano is already tired and overworked, and can’t get those lefties out anymore, thus turning him into a guy who warms up pitches to one batter and leaves the game.
Question marks were also raised this season about the Mets rotation. With the exception of some shaky John Maine starts the rotation has been awesome. The one problem has been, they’ve barely been pitching. I’m not a big fan of pitch counts but I do understand their merit. However Jerry is living way too strictly by them, especially since he doesn’t change it depending on the pitcher. They say the number of pitches a pitcher throws should be around 100, but that number is too low. Pitchers really can throw up to 125 pitches a game before completely losing effectiveness, but they should not be hitting the 125 mark every outing. In reality pitchers should be looking at 110-115 pitches a start. Jerry has the bar very set at 100. Even when pitchers are doing well, even if the pitcher is Johan Santana, too often Jerry has removed pitchers after 6 innings and 103 pitches. Over the last week he removed Oliver Perez and Jon Niese before they completed the 6th inning despite good outings. He used lines like “I want Olli’s confidence to remain high so I took him out after a good outing.” This can’t keep happening, at a certain point you need to let your starters, even your young ones go out there and work and get through tough times, or you need to say to Johan, we need another inning out of you go get it. I know its early, but at this rate this bullpen is going to be exhausted by June.
When Jerry took over the Mets in 2008 it took him just 2 and a half months to tire out the bullpen. He has no idea how to use it. Mets games used to last 2 hours 50 minutes. Now I’ll turn on a game in the 7th inning and still be watching 90 minutes later because Jerry needs to make a pitching change every batter, at a point your just overdoing it. The Mets need a manager who understands you don’t need to use your bullpen 3 innings every single night, and you can’t have every pitcher warm up every night. My anger culminated last night when the Mets played a rain shortened 5-inning game. The game was called 1 pitch into the 6th inning. Even though our starting pitcher did not give up a single run, Jerry still managed to find a way to warm up TWO different pitchers on the night. It may only be April, and we may be winning right now, but very soon these pitchers are going to be exhausted from throwing every day, and the Mets will be unable to turn over a 4 run lead to their bullpen, and all the positives will be wiped away. Mets fans may be happy now, but at this rate, they will be very angry, very soon.
Monday, March 8, 2010
ROONEY FINALLY GETTING THE CREDIT HE ALWAYS DESERVED
I’ve had about 9 million different ideas for entries over the course of this year about Cristiano Ronaldo’s exit from Manchester United to greener pastures of Real Madrid. However every time I thought of one, I would forget to write it, and usually that weekend United would either win big, or get killed and prove whatever point I was going to make wrong. But now as the season is winding down and the title race is incredibly tight I’m ready to bang this out.
The media have begun to fall in love with a certain idea about this post-Ronaldo season for United. There seems to be an overwhelming number of people who are writing about how since Ronaldo left Wayne Rooney has emerged as United’s most valuable player. While yes this is true, that Rooney is having his best season ever and is absolutely incredible, he is not JUST emerging as United’s most valuable player. The truth is, Rooney always has been the heart and soul of that team.
I could swear that I wrote about this topic a few years ago, but looking through my disappointingly small archives I discovered apparently I haven’t. Wayne Rooney is the ultimate team player, they say he doesn’t care what position he has to play, but that he’ll be happy if he just gets to go on the pitch and kick a ball around for 90 minutes. This became evident when Critiano Ronaldo emerged as the worlds best player, often moving to the center of the field, and exiling Rooney down the left flank.
When Ronaldo left this year it was announced Rooney would go back to his central role. Many pundits wondered how United would cope without Ronaldo, but United fans knew that putting Rooney back in the middle was almost like bringing in a whole new player. We were going to see a completely new Wayne Rooney this year. I’ve always known how potent Rooney was in the middle; I never understood why they exiled him down the left side. In United’s 2008 European Champions League away match with AS Roma, Rooney played down the left side. For 10 minutes Sir Alex Ferguson moved him back to the middle. It took Rooney just two minutes to score after that switch, and moving him back out to the left, perplexing, followed it.
In the first post-Ronaldo year at Old Trafford, many people believe United are TOO dependent on Rooney. There defiantly is some truth to the statement. In the Champions League and Premier League this season Rooney has only not started in 3 matches. Once because of a knee injury, once because he just had a child, and once just to give him rest. In two of those matches United played with only 1 striker, Dimitar Berbatov, who excelled at showing the world that we overpaid for him, and that he cannot function as the only striker on the pitch. We did manage to win both games 1-0. The other match, a home tie against CSKA Moscow, Fergie was forced to bring on Rooney with 30 minutes to play, and Rooney helped ignite a comeback earning a 3-3 draw. Most recently, Rooney was rested against Aston Villa in the Carling Cup final. That rest lasted 30 minutes before Rooney had to replace injured Michael Owen, and of course save the day by scoring the winner.
This all of course comes in light just after witnessing this weekend’s match, where Rooney was forced to miss the match due to an injury. United played with only Berbatov up front. The result was a fail of epic proportions. It took United a long time to learn how to play with Rooney as the only striker, they finally have gotten the hang of it, but in truth only Rooney can make it work. The team mounted relatively no attack from their wingers and Berbatov, who are essential in this formation. Deploying this formation just helps to show how we wasted our money on Berbatov, and how because of this we lost Carlos Tevez.
What many people fail to see is that Rooney was just as valuable with Ronaldo on the team as he is now. In 2008 Ronaldo scored 42 goals in all competitions. United just kept winning and winning, most of the time with Ronaldo being the only goal scorer of the game. That season Rooney hit a good run of form in October, and again in February, but both times that great run in form was halted by an injury. Furthermore, he also went down injured in the first game of the season. While many said that with his 42 goals Ronaldo was easily the most valuable person United had in the team, there was someone else who made his motor go. Rooney got injured 4 times that season, not once did United ever win the first game that Rooney missed. Rooney was hurt in the first half of the first game of the season. United drew 0-0. He missed the next few games; United would follow the first match with a 1-1 draw, then a 1-0 loss. While they would win the next four games, they would only score 4 goals, all 1-0 wins. As soon as Rooney came back the goals started pouring in. The next time Rooney went down it was followed by a 1-0 loss to Bolton. He would go down again and United followed that with a loss to West Ham.
Rooney has always been the heart and soul of United. While Ronaldo scored the goals, Rooney was the engine that got Ronaldo going. So please, Rooney being United’s most valuable player is nothing new. He always has been.
The media have begun to fall in love with a certain idea about this post-Ronaldo season for United. There seems to be an overwhelming number of people who are writing about how since Ronaldo left Wayne Rooney has emerged as United’s most valuable player. While yes this is true, that Rooney is having his best season ever and is absolutely incredible, he is not JUST emerging as United’s most valuable player. The truth is, Rooney always has been the heart and soul of that team.
I could swear that I wrote about this topic a few years ago, but looking through my disappointingly small archives I discovered apparently I haven’t. Wayne Rooney is the ultimate team player, they say he doesn’t care what position he has to play, but that he’ll be happy if he just gets to go on the pitch and kick a ball around for 90 minutes. This became evident when Critiano Ronaldo emerged as the worlds best player, often moving to the center of the field, and exiling Rooney down the left flank.
When Ronaldo left this year it was announced Rooney would go back to his central role. Many pundits wondered how United would cope without Ronaldo, but United fans knew that putting Rooney back in the middle was almost like bringing in a whole new player. We were going to see a completely new Wayne Rooney this year. I’ve always known how potent Rooney was in the middle; I never understood why they exiled him down the left side. In United’s 2008 European Champions League away match with AS Roma, Rooney played down the left side. For 10 minutes Sir Alex Ferguson moved him back to the middle. It took Rooney just two minutes to score after that switch, and moving him back out to the left, perplexing, followed it.
In the first post-Ronaldo year at Old Trafford, many people believe United are TOO dependent on Rooney. There defiantly is some truth to the statement. In the Champions League and Premier League this season Rooney has only not started in 3 matches. Once because of a knee injury, once because he just had a child, and once just to give him rest. In two of those matches United played with only 1 striker, Dimitar Berbatov, who excelled at showing the world that we overpaid for him, and that he cannot function as the only striker on the pitch. We did manage to win both games 1-0. The other match, a home tie against CSKA Moscow, Fergie was forced to bring on Rooney with 30 minutes to play, and Rooney helped ignite a comeback earning a 3-3 draw. Most recently, Rooney was rested against Aston Villa in the Carling Cup final. That rest lasted 30 minutes before Rooney had to replace injured Michael Owen, and of course save the day by scoring the winner.
This all of course comes in light just after witnessing this weekend’s match, where Rooney was forced to miss the match due to an injury. United played with only Berbatov up front. The result was a fail of epic proportions. It took United a long time to learn how to play with Rooney as the only striker, they finally have gotten the hang of it, but in truth only Rooney can make it work. The team mounted relatively no attack from their wingers and Berbatov, who are essential in this formation. Deploying this formation just helps to show how we wasted our money on Berbatov, and how because of this we lost Carlos Tevez.
What many people fail to see is that Rooney was just as valuable with Ronaldo on the team as he is now. In 2008 Ronaldo scored 42 goals in all competitions. United just kept winning and winning, most of the time with Ronaldo being the only goal scorer of the game. That season Rooney hit a good run of form in October, and again in February, but both times that great run in form was halted by an injury. Furthermore, he also went down injured in the first game of the season. While many said that with his 42 goals Ronaldo was easily the most valuable person United had in the team, there was someone else who made his motor go. Rooney got injured 4 times that season, not once did United ever win the first game that Rooney missed. Rooney was hurt in the first half of the first game of the season. United drew 0-0. He missed the next few games; United would follow the first match with a 1-1 draw, then a 1-0 loss. While they would win the next four games, they would only score 4 goals, all 1-0 wins. As soon as Rooney came back the goals started pouring in. The next time Rooney went down it was followed by a 1-0 loss to Bolton. He would go down again and United followed that with a loss to West Ham.
Rooney has always been the heart and soul of United. While Ronaldo scored the goals, Rooney was the engine that got Ronaldo going. So please, Rooney being United’s most valuable player is nothing new. He always has been.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Rex Ryan Turns His Swag On
I’m upset. I’m not upset because the Jets lost, they played well and lost to a better team. You could not ask for more from a 9-7 team with a rookie quarterback. I’m upset because it’s over.
The term “same-old-Jets” gets thrown around this team so often. For the fans, it has come to mean the Jets will get your hopes up and then just when you think everything is going well they will stab you and lose. You hear it so often. After the 2004 playoff loss to Pittsburgh there were cries of “same-old-Jets.” We heard them in 2008 when the team started out 8-3 and finished 1-4 and missed the playoffs. The reality for Jets fans was quickly becoming the belief that this team would always let us down. But that would all change in January 2009.
Rex Ryan came in as the new Jets Head Coach with swagger and a plan. Ryan came in talking, saying the Jets won’t back down from anyone, saying the Jets were the team to beat, and that the Jets would win a Super Bowl during his tenure as Head Coach. YEA RIGHT!
The first step was getting the players to buy into his system, it didn’t happen overnight, but it happened. The hard part was getting the fans to buy into Rex’s swagger. He said the term “same-old-Jets” didn’t apply anymore, that this was a new team with a new attitude. Why should the fans believe him? We had no reason to believe him, but then the season started.
The Jets were 3-0. More importantly the Jets were fun to watch. Specifically their defense was fun to watch. When was the last time the Jets had a defense that was fun to watch? We had a rookie coach and a rookie quarterback walking around with a swagger; really, the two of them were a match made in heaven.
The Jets started the season 3-0, now all of a sudden they’re 4-6. Sanchez had a hot start, then he started playing like a rookie, and now he was REALLY playing like a rookie. Well it was fun while it lasted but these are the same-old-Jets.
But that’s where Rex Ryan brought his swagger, he didn’t give up, he took a larger role in the offense and the development in his rookie quarterback. More importantly he didn’t let his team stop believing. At this point the Jets were playing ugly football, and watching the games was, well it was like the way watching a Jet game used to be, ugly football and waiting for the other shoe to drop. Then the Jets lost an ugly game to Atlanta, they were all but eliminated.
Just when we thought the Jets were eliminated from the playoffs something crazy happened. If four (it actually might have been more I don’t remember) teams lost their games in week 16 the Jets would control their own playoff destiny. Win the last two games, and they’d be in. Miraculously every team the Jets needed to lose lost, now we just had to beat the unbeaten Colts. When we first looked at our schedule back in April we knew there was a chance the Colts would have nothing to play for and may rest their starters, as a nice holiday gift for the Jets, the Colts gave us Curtis Painter who gave us really bad play and a win.
Following the win against the Colts it suddenly started happening. The players had now fully bought into Rex Ryan, and now the fans were too. We believed we would make the playoffs, and then we believed we could make a run in the playoffs. Rex was still running his mouth and saying things that we thought were a little too far fetched, but then he was turning out to be right. Suddenly we all believed what he was saying; the swagger Rex carried was rubbing off on the fans. Suddenly not even Jets fans were throwing around the “same-old-Jets” phrase anymore, we truly believed times were finally changing.
So I’m upset that the run is over. Rex Ryan has made watching Jets games fun again. The games are exciting, the defense is once again fun to watch, not only that but the fans carry the swagger that even though no one believes in us we knew we would win. Rex Ryan has changed the whole outlook of the franchise, there is optimism floating around the Jets for the first time in god only knows how long. It’s upsetting because we can no longer watch this team week in week out.
It’s fitting that we lost to Peyton Manning and the Colts. After the game I got a text from a friend saying “AP Coach of the Year Peyton Manning?” I almost believe Manning should get the award. I honestly believe that of the four teams in conference championship games the Jets were the second best team. I really believe they would beat both the Saints and Vikings. I do not think any coach could have figured a way to beat our defense; therefore we would shut down both the Vikings and Saints. On the other hand, I never doubted that Peyton Manning would be able to figure out our defense. I think he is the only person on the planet that could figure it out. So it’s not so much the sting of losing, we lost to who I believe is the only person who could have beaten us. Peyton Manning, not his coach, not any other coach in the league.
The unfortunate part is that this run is over, but for the first time in a long time Jets fans feel that this run is just going to start right back up again in week 1 next season. We have some improvements to make, but we have the perfect piece at the center of the table. A man who is not only a great football mind, but a man who had the power to bring a swagger to a franchise hasn’t had any in 41 years, and a fan base who thought they were doomed for a lifetime of failure.
The term “same-old-Jets” gets thrown around this team so often. For the fans, it has come to mean the Jets will get your hopes up and then just when you think everything is going well they will stab you and lose. You hear it so often. After the 2004 playoff loss to Pittsburgh there were cries of “same-old-Jets.” We heard them in 2008 when the team started out 8-3 and finished 1-4 and missed the playoffs. The reality for Jets fans was quickly becoming the belief that this team would always let us down. But that would all change in January 2009.
Rex Ryan came in as the new Jets Head Coach with swagger and a plan. Ryan came in talking, saying the Jets won’t back down from anyone, saying the Jets were the team to beat, and that the Jets would win a Super Bowl during his tenure as Head Coach. YEA RIGHT!
The first step was getting the players to buy into his system, it didn’t happen overnight, but it happened. The hard part was getting the fans to buy into Rex’s swagger. He said the term “same-old-Jets” didn’t apply anymore, that this was a new team with a new attitude. Why should the fans believe him? We had no reason to believe him, but then the season started.
The Jets were 3-0. More importantly the Jets were fun to watch. Specifically their defense was fun to watch. When was the last time the Jets had a defense that was fun to watch? We had a rookie coach and a rookie quarterback walking around with a swagger; really, the two of them were a match made in heaven.
The Jets started the season 3-0, now all of a sudden they’re 4-6. Sanchez had a hot start, then he started playing like a rookie, and now he was REALLY playing like a rookie. Well it was fun while it lasted but these are the same-old-Jets.
But that’s where Rex Ryan brought his swagger, he didn’t give up, he took a larger role in the offense and the development in his rookie quarterback. More importantly he didn’t let his team stop believing. At this point the Jets were playing ugly football, and watching the games was, well it was like the way watching a Jet game used to be, ugly football and waiting for the other shoe to drop. Then the Jets lost an ugly game to Atlanta, they were all but eliminated.
Just when we thought the Jets were eliminated from the playoffs something crazy happened. If four (it actually might have been more I don’t remember) teams lost their games in week 16 the Jets would control their own playoff destiny. Win the last two games, and they’d be in. Miraculously every team the Jets needed to lose lost, now we just had to beat the unbeaten Colts. When we first looked at our schedule back in April we knew there was a chance the Colts would have nothing to play for and may rest their starters, as a nice holiday gift for the Jets, the Colts gave us Curtis Painter who gave us really bad play and a win.
Following the win against the Colts it suddenly started happening. The players had now fully bought into Rex Ryan, and now the fans were too. We believed we would make the playoffs, and then we believed we could make a run in the playoffs. Rex was still running his mouth and saying things that we thought were a little too far fetched, but then he was turning out to be right. Suddenly we all believed what he was saying; the swagger Rex carried was rubbing off on the fans. Suddenly not even Jets fans were throwing around the “same-old-Jets” phrase anymore, we truly believed times were finally changing.
So I’m upset that the run is over. Rex Ryan has made watching Jets games fun again. The games are exciting, the defense is once again fun to watch, not only that but the fans carry the swagger that even though no one believes in us we knew we would win. Rex Ryan has changed the whole outlook of the franchise, there is optimism floating around the Jets for the first time in god only knows how long. It’s upsetting because we can no longer watch this team week in week out.
It’s fitting that we lost to Peyton Manning and the Colts. After the game I got a text from a friend saying “AP Coach of the Year Peyton Manning?” I almost believe Manning should get the award. I honestly believe that of the four teams in conference championship games the Jets were the second best team. I really believe they would beat both the Saints and Vikings. I do not think any coach could have figured a way to beat our defense; therefore we would shut down both the Vikings and Saints. On the other hand, I never doubted that Peyton Manning would be able to figure out our defense. I think he is the only person on the planet that could figure it out. So it’s not so much the sting of losing, we lost to who I believe is the only person who could have beaten us. Peyton Manning, not his coach, not any other coach in the league.
The unfortunate part is that this run is over, but for the first time in a long time Jets fans feel that this run is just going to start right back up again in week 1 next season. We have some improvements to make, but we have the perfect piece at the center of the table. A man who is not only a great football mind, but a man who had the power to bring a swagger to a franchise hasn’t had any in 41 years, and a fan base who thought they were doomed for a lifetime of failure.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Kaeding Didn't Choke: It Was Written.
I spent this past Monday morning driving from Boston back home to New Jersey. One of the perks of this road trip was that for the first time I got to experience the much talked about WEEI Sports Radio in Boston. Those guys can only be described as “special.”
When I got in the car they were debating who Patriots fans should be rooting for in the AFC Championship game. Should it be the division rival Jets, or should it be the team they’ve been battling this past decade the Colts. The guy on the air finally settled on the Jets for three ridiculous reasons. The first was that if Peyton Manning loses to the Jets who were a number 5 seed in the playoffs it would settle the Manning vs. Brady argument and Brady would be better (That is the worst logic I’ve ever heard. There is no argument there, Manning is better, who cares what Brady has done in the playoffs, you want proof just watch film of the two of them). The second reason for rooting for the Jets was this way the Colts will not win the Super Bowl and then in everyone in Boston could have fun watching either the Saints or Vikings destroy the Jets in the Super Bowl. (That’s right because obviously if the Jets defense is good enough to stop the Chargers and Peyton Manning on the road in back to back weeks they obviously are not good enough to stop either the Saints or Vikings on a neutral field.) Yes this guy gets paid to think like that, there is hope for me yet.
He then moved on to talk about how the Jets should not even be here and that they are only here because Nate Kaeding choked last week. I’m not totally buying into that. Was it really Kaeding’s fault for missing three field goals on Sunday?
Lets first look at the numbers. Yes Kaeding was the most accurate kicker in football during the regular season, but going into the game against the Jets he was 3 for 6 in his career in the playoffs. That’s right; Kaeding was only a 50% field goal kicker in the playoffs. Even Shaun Suisham hits more then half his field goals. This was not as much of a joke job as just the norm with Kaeding, when the big moment comes he shrinks. You could have said the same thing about Peyton Manning until 2005 when he won the Super Bowl.
Getting away from the numbers let’s look at the situation Kaeding was put in. Did you see the field on Sunday? It looked nice didn’t it? Well did you also see how many people were slipping and losing their footing in the first half? Forget about Jim Nantz working the announcer’s jinx to perfection on that first kick (though a very big thank you to you Jim). The whole first half people were slipping when trying to make cuts on almost every play. When it’s hard to plant your feet it is not exactly easy to set your feet for a field goal. This was not an easy field to kick on, yes, Jay Feely hit all three of his kicks but his first extra point came dangerously close to missing. This was not an easy field to kick on.
I don’t think anyone is holding the second field goal against Kaeding. It was a last second 57-yard field goal that would have tied his career long. It was defiantly not a sure thing.
Now lets get to perhaps what was the most important (and perhaps his worst miss) kick of the game; Kaeding’s last field goal. Kicking in the NFL is more mental then anything. It’s all about confidence. Nate Kaeding was the most accurate kicker in the NFL, he defiantly had confidence. That is until he got rattled. When Kaeding came marching onto the field for his third kick his face looked like he was thinking, “I know I can do this, I’ve done it before, I SHOULD be able to do this.” Anyone who has played sports knows that there is no room for “I think,” “I can,” or “I’ll try,” there is only room for “I will.” Nate Kaeding did not have the “I will make this kick” look on his face. Already, even before the kick he had lost the battle. Even after his third miss he had a chance to make an extra point, he came out with an “I will make this extra point” look on his face, and he put it right down the middle. It was all about confidence with Kaeding and after 2 misses he had a moment of doubt, and when kicking field goals is a mental game, a moment of doubt is all it takes to screw up.
The Chargers were going to miss that kick as soon as Kaeding trotted out on the field without the swagger a kicker needs. Head Coach Norv Turner should have seen the lack of confidence his kicker had and sent the offense back out to go for the first down. The look on Kaeding’s face said it all “I should be able to do this,” not “I will do this” and when you saw that look, you knew he was going to miss.
With all that being said opposing kickers are 0-5 on field goals in the playoffs against the Jets. Maybe Indy should be thinking there just might be a higher power here and that they shouldn’t even tempt fate by using their kicker. Maybe I should keep my mouth shut before I give them an idea and see the Colts score a touchdown on a 4th down play.
When I got in the car they were debating who Patriots fans should be rooting for in the AFC Championship game. Should it be the division rival Jets, or should it be the team they’ve been battling this past decade the Colts. The guy on the air finally settled on the Jets for three ridiculous reasons. The first was that if Peyton Manning loses to the Jets who were a number 5 seed in the playoffs it would settle the Manning vs. Brady argument and Brady would be better (That is the worst logic I’ve ever heard. There is no argument there, Manning is better, who cares what Brady has done in the playoffs, you want proof just watch film of the two of them). The second reason for rooting for the Jets was this way the Colts will not win the Super Bowl and then in everyone in Boston could have fun watching either the Saints or Vikings destroy the Jets in the Super Bowl. (That’s right because obviously if the Jets defense is good enough to stop the Chargers and Peyton Manning on the road in back to back weeks they obviously are not good enough to stop either the Saints or Vikings on a neutral field.) Yes this guy gets paid to think like that, there is hope for me yet.
He then moved on to talk about how the Jets should not even be here and that they are only here because Nate Kaeding choked last week. I’m not totally buying into that. Was it really Kaeding’s fault for missing three field goals on Sunday?
Lets first look at the numbers. Yes Kaeding was the most accurate kicker in football during the regular season, but going into the game against the Jets he was 3 for 6 in his career in the playoffs. That’s right; Kaeding was only a 50% field goal kicker in the playoffs. Even Shaun Suisham hits more then half his field goals. This was not as much of a joke job as just the norm with Kaeding, when the big moment comes he shrinks. You could have said the same thing about Peyton Manning until 2005 when he won the Super Bowl.
Getting away from the numbers let’s look at the situation Kaeding was put in. Did you see the field on Sunday? It looked nice didn’t it? Well did you also see how many people were slipping and losing their footing in the first half? Forget about Jim Nantz working the announcer’s jinx to perfection on that first kick (though a very big thank you to you Jim). The whole first half people were slipping when trying to make cuts on almost every play. When it’s hard to plant your feet it is not exactly easy to set your feet for a field goal. This was not an easy field to kick on, yes, Jay Feely hit all three of his kicks but his first extra point came dangerously close to missing. This was not an easy field to kick on.
I don’t think anyone is holding the second field goal against Kaeding. It was a last second 57-yard field goal that would have tied his career long. It was defiantly not a sure thing.
Now lets get to perhaps what was the most important (and perhaps his worst miss) kick of the game; Kaeding’s last field goal. Kicking in the NFL is more mental then anything. It’s all about confidence. Nate Kaeding was the most accurate kicker in the NFL, he defiantly had confidence. That is until he got rattled. When Kaeding came marching onto the field for his third kick his face looked like he was thinking, “I know I can do this, I’ve done it before, I SHOULD be able to do this.” Anyone who has played sports knows that there is no room for “I think,” “I can,” or “I’ll try,” there is only room for “I will.” Nate Kaeding did not have the “I will make this kick” look on his face. Already, even before the kick he had lost the battle. Even after his third miss he had a chance to make an extra point, he came out with an “I will make this extra point” look on his face, and he put it right down the middle. It was all about confidence with Kaeding and after 2 misses he had a moment of doubt, and when kicking field goals is a mental game, a moment of doubt is all it takes to screw up.
The Chargers were going to miss that kick as soon as Kaeding trotted out on the field without the swagger a kicker needs. Head Coach Norv Turner should have seen the lack of confidence his kicker had and sent the offense back out to go for the first down. The look on Kaeding’s face said it all “I should be able to do this,” not “I will do this” and when you saw that look, you knew he was going to miss.
With all that being said opposing kickers are 0-5 on field goals in the playoffs against the Jets. Maybe Indy should be thinking there just might be a higher power here and that they shouldn’t even tempt fate by using their kicker. Maybe I should keep my mouth shut before I give them an idea and see the Colts score a touchdown on a 4th down play.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Mets Have Terrible Medical Team
Carlos Beltran getting surgery on his knee is perhaps the least shocking story I’ve heard in a while. All I could ask is why not get it sooner?
The Mets are upset about Beltran’s surgery remained adamant that he did not need surgery. I’m pretty sure the Mets have already lost all their credibility when it comes to injuries. The Mets have easily the worst medical team in the major leagues. This is a team that had a concussed Ryan Church fly on an airplane, then pinch-hit in a game, only to sit him down 6 days after the injury. This is a team that made Carlos Delgado fly from New York to San Francisco just to have his knee evaluated, and then they made him fly back to New York.
The funny thing is the Mets still don’t think Beltran needed surgery. Hello! His knee has been bothering him since he hurt it midway through last season when he said he needed surgery!
I will always refuse to trust the Mets medical staff as they have mishandled many injuries over the years. The Mets are a poorly run organization and until they clean house of the entire front office and put in some sort of structure this franchise will stay in a spiral of mediocrity.
The Mets are upset about Beltran’s surgery remained adamant that he did not need surgery. I’m pretty sure the Mets have already lost all their credibility when it comes to injuries. The Mets have easily the worst medical team in the major leagues. This is a team that had a concussed Ryan Church fly on an airplane, then pinch-hit in a game, only to sit him down 6 days after the injury. This is a team that made Carlos Delgado fly from New York to San Francisco just to have his knee evaluated, and then they made him fly back to New York.
The funny thing is the Mets still don’t think Beltran needed surgery. Hello! His knee has been bothering him since he hurt it midway through last season when he said he needed surgery!
I will always refuse to trust the Mets medical staff as they have mishandled many injuries over the years. The Mets are a poorly run organization and until they clean house of the entire front office and put in some sort of structure this franchise will stay in a spiral of mediocrity.
Monday, January 4, 2010
This Needs To Be Brought To Everyones Attention
http://www.independent.com/news/2009/dec/30/exonerating-eric-frimpong/
I couldn't really figure out why the link wasn't actually working, and I'm tired so just paste that into your browser.
I couldn't really figure out why the link wasn't actually working, and I'm tired so just paste that into your browser.
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