ANOTHER CAMPAIGN ENDS

As I type this, at 9:58pm EST, the New York Jets have just lost the American Football Conference Championship to the Pittsburgh Steelers 24 - 19.

How do I feel? Disappointment. Frustration. Resignation.

Frustration they played only one half of football and still had a shot. If they'd played a full 60 minutes they'd have won by a lot. But they didn't.

I could nit-pick this and that. Mistakes. Reverses. Success. But I won't.

What I will say is this. Because its what I feel and I'm not bullsh*ting. Just said this to my dad, who I watched the game with:

Two years under coach Rex Ryan and 24 year old rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez, two men who have never held those positions before in their lives, and we've been to the AFC Championship game both years. Two years in a row in the final four.

That's amazing.

I can only hope that during the off-season the Jets can fix their inconsistency. This game revealed it more than ever. The first half of this game was the kind of performance I dreaded the last two weeks.

It chose a terrible time to show up. (when is a good time?) I can only hope they get a handle on it.

For instance, my father and I were disgusted watching the Jets blow a 21-7 lead against the Houston Texans at the Meadowlands November 21st. We were ready to walk out. They came back and won in the last second (30-27) and it was exciting. Having true grit enough to fight back and win was awesome. Losing that lead was not.

They've got months to fix it.

They're knocking at the door. One day it'll break.

Congratulations Rex, Sanchez, and the Jets on an amazing season. It was entertaining as hell, and if there was ever a true reason to keep hoping for that elusive championship, its what you've accomplished the last two years.

GO JETS.

MJW

NO FEAR! (THAT'S AN ORDER)

Wow what a game Sunday! The New York Football Jets upset the number one seed New England Patriots AT HOME, to advance to the Championship game of the American Football Conference. Wow.

I think I'm just recovering my full voice, and fully realized what this means. TWO years in a row my team is playing for the right to fight for a Superbowl Championship. To hold the Vince Lombardi Trophy over his head. To hoist it high for Jet fans everywhere to cheer. To release YEARS and YEARS - DECADES of futile dreams, shattered hopes and heartbreak.

That's what it'll take. One Superbowl victory will make it all go away. A clean slate.

And then, we go for another one. And another. And another.

You see, there's one thing I did NOT feel this Sunday. A couple of my friends did and it was interesting to see them experience it, because while it entered my mind, I didn't FEEL it. I did NOT feel that they would blow it.

I no longer feel that when the Jets have a lead and Tom Brady gets the ball with two minutes left, that they'll choke. Or that WE have to be the ones AFRAID in that position instead of THEM being scared. THEIR fans should be crapping in their pants.

THOSE DAYS ARE OVER, FRIENDS. No more fear. No more panic that we'll snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. BULLCRAP!

The Patriots were going for the onside kick after scoring. My friends seemed super tense. I said LET THEM KICK IT! We'll scoop the ball up AND SCORE AGAIN! (which Cromartie did and bolted straight into enemy territory - he had it on his mind the whole time. which was dangerous plucking the ball instead of falling on it, but...)

THAT'S the way I feel now. I expect the enemy to FAIL and that failure will doom them further. THEY should be cowering when we've scored on them to drive up our lead. THEIR fans should be squirming and we should be eager to finish the job.

THE OLD DAYS ARE GONE, JET FANS. THOSE DAYS ARE GONE. NO MORE FEAR. NO MORE SQUIRMING. IT'S OUR OPPONENTS TURN.

On to Pittsburgh. Will they win? Don't know. CAN they win? Yes. Though plucky, this team HAS been inconsistent this year. We'll put up 38 points one game, zero in another. Indianapolis was missing some star players. New England's defense was NOT all that. Neither of those teams are their teams of old. Pittsburgh did not have their defensive star Troy Polamalu.

So we'll see. But I'm confident they're ready. They're fired up. They seem to believe they can win it. They seem to believe they are the best. Were going into the tournament. Arrogance? Maybe. Confidence? Positive thinking? Who cares. It's working.

Good luck, Jets. I'm excited. I'm with ya. All of Jet Nation is behind you, including all the band-wagon New Yorkers and fans across the nation who's team is eliminated and they need someone to champion. We'll take'm all.

Now YOU guys take us to the promised land. PLEASE.

MJW

SAME OLD SAME OLD

The last entry I posted on this site was about how the Jets were a minor league team that will always remain so no matter how successful this season. (wasn't my last one, but next to last)

I know I sounded a bit harsh. It was written, I believe, after the opening loss to the Ravens, where they played like a lot of nine year old school girls after an entire off season to prepare. "But the first week they're bound to be rusty."

Sure. The New England Patriots beat the Cincinnati Bengals 38-24 opening day. They seemed to figure it out.

And I swear I've restrained myself from commenting since then, because as soon as I ripped them a new one, they went on an amazing victory streak. I figured, wow, HATING them and being SO fed up that I just can't bother to expend another ounce of self on their behalf, has magically sparked success. Maybe I should have hated them my whole life and they'd have won fifteen Super Bowls in a row.

But alas, how fitting is it that with the recent collapse of the Amazin' Jets, my last entry is as valid as it was after game 1's performance. And so I leave it. I still believe it.

This is the same old same old. Its the organization. Its the fact the Jets CONTINUE to hire inexperienced head coaches. That's not the only side of the story but look: Bill Parcells was the last coach the Jets hired who had previous success as a head coach. After him came a string of never before been head coaches. Including Rex Ryan. Who I love, and maybe in a few years he'll be the next Vince Lombardi. But right now, he's on the job training.

Can the Jets EVER get a Shanahan or Cowher or Gruden - SOMEONE. ANYONE who has a ring or two on his hand and a system already in place? Who comes in and BAM gets to work on recreating Super Bowl victory?

Even hiring a franchise quarterback at this point in time, when the team, after going 8-3 under a veteran quarterback in Brett Favre, then collapsing under his playing injured - thanks Brett - were ready to make a serious run??

Could they not have just gotten a solid, veteran QB to plug up that spot and deliver the ball with confidence, balancing out the running game and amazing defense? Who knows where we'd be right now. How long can they keep this group together? And I know there's a lot of new faces on the Jets this year. They made plenty of moves in the off season to get us over the edge.

But remember. Last year we made it into the playoffs with help. It was an up and down season. This year is up and down. They're still not a great team, far from dominant, and Rex and Sanchez have years more learning to do. WHY WHY WHY did they have to earn their stripes during these years? WHY?

The organization made these decisions. These are the reasons, amongst others, that I believe the ORGANIZATION is the reason for the Jets long time failure to reach let alone WIN a Super Bowl.

That's all I ask. Just one. One championship. And MAKING it is not enough. I could not STAND to lose a Super Bowl. I want a WIN. Then I can forget about them forever. They can go another forty plus years without one. Fine. Just give me ONE DAMN MOMENT to scream, shout, vent, and release every shred of failure and misery caused me since I was a kid.

JUST ONE. That's all I ask. And I don't think this is their time. They're still years away. If ever. Maybe the Rex/Sanchez era is already over. We're watching it die. Who knows. Not to be negative, just being realistic. We shouldn't have won half the games we've won this year. A win's a win. I know. Doesn't matter how. But while my dad and I jumped for joy at the Texans game at the stadium when they pulled victory from the jaws of defeat, the fact they blew about a twenty point lead spoke volumes of how bad they are right now.

Penalties. Lapses on offense AND defense. They're continuously getting worse, not better. And why? Who knows. I now blame the coaching equally if not more so now. And again, Rex is learning too. I know. Learning. Well you know what? I ain't getting any younger and this team has been SO DAMN CLOSE to making a serious run at a title and rookie coaches and quarterbacks may have been the dumbest damn decisions in the history of the organization. (besides hiring Rich Kotite. That takes the cake).

So, we can J! E! T! S! JETS! JETS! JETS! all we want at the stadium. And we do. What else we gonna do? We spent a fortune on tickets, parking and jumbo dogs to watch our Final Four team of last year lay a giant green and white turd on the astro-turf of the New Meadowlands, so why not feel we make a difference? But it ain't doin' dookie-squat. Cheering on third and ten, third and eight, third and fifteen and EVERY TIME they give up the first down. I think I saw one or two 3 and outs last game against Miami. That was is. I haven't seen it happen all year it seems like. When we kick off then kick their offense off the field. They usually drive down and kick a field goal and we pat ourselves on the back we only gave up three. Bullshite. How about a 3 and out instead of three points.

And you'll notice I've not even mentioned our not scoring an offensive touchdown in several games now.

I could blame myself. I think the curse removal ceremony last year may have been a dud. Maybe I made it worse by invoking the crossroad gods. Or they're gonna give us the trophy but they're just screwing with us. Who knows. I don't. Nor do you. Nor do the Jets. I know all life is uncertainty. But the Jets organization could do a little better. Here's to hoping. As we always do as Jet fans. And here's to Sundays game against Pittsburgh. I think we're gonna lose, and we're gonna lose good. Sorry. But that's the way I feel.

(maybe bitching again will spark a revival! Or am I just insane by now?)

MJW

A Message (and Picture) from Moe's Oldest Daughter

See that adorable Jet baby? That's Moe's granddaughter. Rather than myself explain I give you the email.

hey guys, My name is Linda & I'm Moe's oldest daughter. In my eyes, my dad is one of the biggest and most dedicated jets fans I know. I grew up having no choice but to also love the Jets. Now that I'm an adult I actually follow the game more than my husband (who's a Giants fan unfortunately) , & I LOVE THE JETS!!!! Because I grew up green & white I am teaching my daughter, Katherine, to love them at at early age. She's 11 months old and I have already taught her the Jets chant. She knows to pump her arms in the air when mommy says J E T S, JETS JETS JETS!!! So I wanted to share a picture with you guys of my daughter in her Jets gear with her grandpa holding her. Linda

Congrats on Moe being a grandfather and having a daughter who has already taught her own daughter the Jets chant. That is kind of awesome.

Wayne

ITS A MAD MAD MAD MAD JET WORLD

The New York Football Jets drive me crazy.

I still feel they're a minor league team. No victory pulled from their buttocks will change that feeling in my heart.

Today the Jets won a great victory against our arch enemies the New England Football Patriots. It was our first win in our new stadium. What a way to ring in a first win.

The first half was the same damn poor as hell football they played last week. They come out of the locker-room the second half and blow the roof off the sucka. I wonder what the heck happened. Did they dress robots to play the rest of the game? Or did head coach Rex Ryan and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer bust out identical keys from around their necks, plunge them into the secret safe, turn clock-wise at the same moment to pop open the door with their actual offensive playbook?

Regardless, they finally gave me something to cheer about. My dad and I high-fived and did so with the great group of fans around us till our hands were sore. Was nice to not be heckled by the opposing fans on our way out of the stadium and instead boo Patriot fans as they headed to the exits.

I said we'd go 9-7 last year (though we won the games I thought we'd lose and vice-versa). Before this game (because I did not predict before last weeks game) I predict a record this year of 7-9. Of course I hope for better, but with the Jets, one never knows, does one.

MJW

MY COMPLETE IDIOCY

Greetings. Mark here, back after a long off season.

Yes I am writing this the day after watching our despicable opening game loss to the Baltimore Ravens in person with my dad. Yes I could choose to be buoyant and upbeat and focus on the positives. That its only one game we lost by one point.

BULL CRAP.

Note I am NOT one of the Jet fans who believes we are automatic locks for the Super Bowl or anything else Ryan says, and that what I say below is true no matter if we win every game here on in, including the Superbowl.

Sitting in the stadium last night, standing on every third down of ours and theirs (all of them going against us), none of the "Get Loud!" urges by the 4 mega-jumbo-trons, and our hearty, vuvuzela-decibel responses making a shred of difference, shredding my voice with the thousands of passionate Jet fans around me and being rewarded with greater and greater displays of incompetence, I have reached the point (once again and once and for all) where my rooting for the New York Jets makes me a complete idiot.

This organization is garbage and I am a fool to support them with my time and money. I could go on at length about the bigger stadium and smaller seats, the slow, incompetent concession staff, the universal higher prices and fewer, safer, exits (if there's an emergency and panic mid-game it will be a death-trap) and much more, but I won't.

The Jets are a bad minor league team. They are a Hollywood studio that promises block-busters but delivers duds. Each upcoming trailer promises that THIS one will be good. "Look at the stars! Look at the director! Look at the 3D computer graphics!" AND IT SUCKS.

Until we Jet fans get it through our star-crossed minds that it's not the glint and gleam of the Emerald City or columns of fire and smoke aside the apparition of the fabled Wizard of Oz, but the men behind the curtain of this disorganization that lay the yellow brick road of our hopes and dreams then pave it for PSL parking, we shall forever snooze in the poppy fields of foolishness, without courage, without heart, and in desperate need of a brain.

MJW

We're back...in the parking lot!

Oh the world of post-production is a wonderful momentus place whereby the story truly develops and takes place.

Okay that is a fancy way of saying, We ain't done yet!

Fear not though. We've taken advantage of this opportunity to grab some (err WILL grab some) footage from opening night with Peter, Moe, Mark, and anyone else we trip over.

Consider yourself updated.

Wayne