j-e-t-s-(space)-p-r-e-v-i-e-w-(space)-f-o-r-(space)-o-s-i-x

Now, from the way I see, there's five unresolved questions about the Jets.

1. Now, I liked Herman Edwards. I liked what he brought to the team, mainly a vince lombardi-esque approach to football, and a commitment to his players. He could handle the new york media well, which is not a gimme (see a-rod, randy johnson, sheffield, well, basically all the yankees except jeter), and he was always dressed really sharply on the sidelines. The problem was, he couldn't manage a clock and didn't really run a good game. Enter Eric Mangini, an untested and young coach brought in mainly because he was Bellicheck's apprentice. Can he become another version of Bellicheck, aka a Michael Corelone ready to take over the family, or is he Sunny? By the way, I'm waiting for Bellicheck's fall into complete depravity a la Godfather part II, cause his wife just left him, I could see vinetari taking a little fishing trip, and deon branch in a bath tub. Anyway, early rumors coming out of training camp were he was having trouble exerting authority and showing himself as the boss. Will he be able to manage this team in shambles? I don't know, but his latest manuvering of the quarterback shows he's playing no favorites and isn't being railroaded by pettington. Speaking of...

2. We have no quarterback, or to be more accurate, three quarterback. A limping franchise, an average 'use him in your bye-week' patrick ramsey, and the treasured rookie. Word is the coaching staff loves Clemens, and it gives Mangini a nice chance to mold a guy into his way of thinking, but Pettington fills a nice leadership hole. We'll probably see Pettington the first couple of weeks, and after his shoulder starts bothering him again, Ramsey for a game or two...and if they have no shot of a playoff run Clemens comes in. I suppose you could put Clemens in earlier if the o-line is up and running. Speaking of...

3. A completely untested o-line. Two rookies, both of them first round draft picks. It's a step in the right direction, but can we throw them right under the bus and hope they'll be able to stop said bus and then crush it? We'll see quickly.

4. No no. 1 running back. It seems it's the new hotness, building a team's offense around a running back (vs a quarterback). Unfortunately, the Jets don't really have that option. We have barlow now, who should produce much better numbers this year, as his last coach was hitler. And hitler had bad clock management skills too (see: invasion of Russia).

5. And finally, the defense is being completely revamped from a 4-3 to a 3-4. I'm actually least worried about this one. Mangini is primarily a defensive guy so this will really be his pet project. Some say it's gonna be a huge tax on our front 3 and we don't have the personal for it, well, whatever. Mangini was the guy who took troy brown from the reciever and put him in the secondary, he's used to plugging people in and making them work.

Well, there you have it, every last piece of the Jets is a mystery. Honestly, I have no idea what this team is going to do. No one's really expecting anything from them, so we can take things nice and slow for a season or two and see how things progress. You can't start out with a completely new team and think everything's going to click right away, life isn't like it is in the movies, these things take time. We have to get to know one another, each other's likes and dislikes, and if we can learn to love the qualities and the flaws, and if our dreams in life match up. So my advice is go into the season, with no pressure, and have fun. And, if you see there's a future with this team, then talk it out in a honest and vulnerable way. Remember, a football is not just about going for that championship ring, but finding the right championship for you. Because if you find that right championship, you won't need to win another (see: red sox).

More Inspirational Bush

Here's Bush as his most inspirational: Sunday, Bloody Sunday

06 Football Scouting Report

So, I came across this the other day, check out the bottom of the page where they list the defensive statistics. Pretty interesting.

http://www.franklinboe.org/fhs/football/results/football_team_statistics_97-98.html

Feel old people....

So, I was watching cable at 3am like I do every night, weeping to myself at the life I could have had, when I saw a commercial for one of those time life collection cds. But this time around, it was the songs "I" grew up with, like Oasis and the Cranberries. I guess now it's that time in my life where I can wax nostalgically at my mid-90's grunge self. Such simpler times...here's the cd: http://www.alltvstuff.com/rt8053.html , or as I like to call it, Songs from Napster. Oh, and quote of the day, this time from Brave New World:

'What fun it would be,' he thought, 'if one didn't have to think about happiness!'...It was the sort of idea that might easily make them lose faith in happiness as the Sovereign Good and take to believing, instead, that the goal was somewhere beyond, somewhere outside the present human sphere; that the purpose of life was not the maintenance of well-being, but some intensification and refining of consciousness, some enlargement of knowledge...back into the present, back into reality; the appalling present, the awful reality-but sublime, but significant, but desperately important because of the imminence of that which made them so fearful.

Patriots Football Season: Preview

So for the past, I don't know, 7 years, I've been banished to the world of Patriots-only football. I suppose it was worse during the 2000 season, man they were awful. But it really hasn't improved much since then. As I'm about to spend another season wading through Patriots game after Patriots game, I'll give you all a recap of what happens every single game.

First half: an unproductive offense vs. an unproductive offense, or , in other words, watch the Pats defense carry them. Brady will be mostly ineffective, floating pass after pass over receivers' head. Bellicheck will try at least one cute play, which is met with limited success. However, if somehow the Patriots go down by more than 10, game over, they'll lose. Brady's kind of a whiner, so he'll pout and sulk and whine to all his players. The commentators will call this being a "competitor." On the other hand, if the Patriots are losing (or winning I guess) by less than 10, they'll win, really no doubt about it. As the teams head in to the locker room for halftime, if you're lucky the sideline reporter will have a quick interview with Bellicheck. He'll have this look of utter hatred on his face, like he's gonna go all crazy on Bonnie Bernstein and her weird hat.

Third quarter: The boringest part of the whole game. The Patriots will spend the whole quarter grinding out one series. Run for three yards, quick pass for four, run for three, repeat ad naseum. At this point the commentators discuss Brady's importance in the course of human history; most place him somewhere between Guttenburg, inventor of the printing press, and Pasteur, father of modern germ theory. I think he's the Derek Jeter of football.

Fourth Quarter: Usually the other team finds some way to make it interesting, but somehow, on the game winning drive on like the Patriot's 10 yard line, the quarterback will throw an awful pass right to Brusci. He'll run it back and the game's over; and the commentators are marveled how the Patriots always find a way to win. Yea, it's called not losing the ball in the last five minutes, or, if you do, draw up some obscure rule that doesn't make sense.

Teams I'd rather watch all of their games:
Panthers: They're a wacky team, absolutely no consistency. One week they slaughter the Patriots, next, Denton High School roles over them. Plus, Fox is a nutcase.
Bengals: This may be a train wreck of a season, as half the team is on bail and completely crazy.
Jets: Of course, we may get 5 wins this season.

When I'm thinking alone, I prefer to be by myself

My roommates have been absent for about a week or so, leaving me alone in my apartment, and it's got me thinking, about, well, isolation. I remembered a verse in Proverbs on the subject, so I looked it up and found this:

Each heart knows its own bitterness, and no one else can share its joy. ~ Proverbs 14:10

Now, if I'm reading and thinking about this correctly, it says there is this part of everyone that will never be known by anyone else. Of course I'm speaking from a certain perspective, I suppose after being married for 50-60 years I'd probably have a different opinion on the matter. However, it does seem adamant that the pains and joy each person experiences can be shared with others, but there will always be some hidden inner self that can only be seen by God. There's two ways of going with this line of thought. The first is you can despair over the fact that you will never get to know anyone fully, and take pride in the fact that no one will ever know you. It's a lonely road that leads to seeing yourself at the center of the universe. Isn't this the path of half the teenagers out there (myself included, back in the day), muttering under their breath, "I'm such a complicated an unique person that you could never possibly know." Then, the other way to go is to look around, and realize that every person you come across or see is an infinitely complex person, with an inner joy that can only ever be experienced by that person. It should end up having the reverse effect, almost a complete awe of friends and strangers, that the intrinsic value of this person is something greater and unique, a perspective and knowledge of God that you will never fully know, and so, place the upmost value in. It would also be the end of judgment. Sure, you can question a certain behavior or attitude in someone and bring it to their attention, but the final action of placing a verdict on this behavior is completely out of your control. There is a unique path for all of us, as we read at the end of John :

Jesus said, "Feed my sheep. I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, "Follow me!" Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is going to betray you?") When Peter saw him, he asked, "Lord, what about him?" Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me."

I love this response of Peter's. Basically, Jesus told he would die for following Jesus, and his first reaction is to see if that guy's going to die too. It's like he was making sure he wasn't getting a raw deal. And Jesus just told him, don't worry about it. It's the end of whining about what an easy road it seems other people have, how you see your life as some kind of penultimate modern Job. The pains and sorrows of each person are fully known to them, but it brings about a certain peace and joy that's all their own. Of course, that's just like, my opinion, anyone can chime in and say I'm wrong.

Mid-season baseball report

No matter what the outcome of the 2006 season is, by far my favorite trend is: with one out and a tight situation, walk the guy before a-rod because a-rod's going to hit in to a double play. My question is, has anyone seen a-rod and peyton manning in the same room together? Because, either they are both pursuing the dan marino record of MVP awards without a title, or there's some shape-shifting choke artist out there. Just a food for thought: by the end of a-rod's 10 year contract, if you take all the money he'll earn and cash it out into single dollar bills and align them end to end, the line will go once around the world with enough left over to waltz across texas. In that timeframe, the average american will just about cover rhode island.

ps. I kind like this Abreu trade. The Yankees outfield has been getting better production this season than last. Now they've gone and screwed with something that was working, and angered Sheffield.