Monday Mash- Time Again To Cue Up Beavis

Hello again, everybody.  For those of you unaware of this website's temporary, superstitious leave of absence, I apologize.  Every blog done since the regular season ended can be found by visiting the Reilly Sports Blog .  But that's only if you like to read incorrect picks and enjoy Super Bowl-esque celebrations after winning a divisional round game.  Nevertheless, everything's there in case you missed me.


It's the phrase/scene I've come to think about when I sit on nights like this.  Whether it's the Mets getting eliminated the final day of the regular season...or the Islanders getting eliminated pretty much midway through the season...or the Jets falling just short in the postseason.  We're never gonna score.

The 'speech' is ridiculously applicable to life as a sports fan.  You follow the same idea/belief for months upon months, telling yourself it's going to happen.  Every once and a while the team does great work in leading you along in this faith.  But just when you're on the cusp, it all comes crashing down and you're in the same exact spot as the team that finished in last place.  It's not fair in the least bit.  We're never gonna score.

The seeds of the 2010 Jets were planted over the summer, when Hard Knocks got them serious recognition.  They thought they were the best team, they reminded us everyday, and they had one of the most exciting, bizarre regular seasons imaginable.  Though some losses were ugly, some of the ridiculous last-second comebacks made you believe this Jets team was just destined to do what it hadn't done in over 40 years: go to (and perhaps even win) the Super Bowl.  Rousing wins over the favored Colts and heavily-favored Patriots really painted a picture of this being a team of fate.  

As for this particular game, I'm not really sure how to recap the whole thing.  I guess over the hour-or-so after it ended, Conor Reilly had branched into three different people: bitter Conor, sad Conor, and accepting Conor.  Some quick thoughts from each one...

Bitter Conor (Lifespan: From the final kneeldown to 15 minutes after the game)
  • I didn't expect the Jets to get every call from the officials (who are we the Patriots?) but could ANY call go the Jets' way?  The Sanchez fumble was one so close you just hope that at 17-0 it gets overturned just to keep the game exciting.  But the running into the punter call??  It was physically impossible for his hands not to have touched/tipped that ball.  Eric Smith of the Jets getting a personal foul for doing nothing more than setting a basketball-like pick, and then there is no whistle on James Harrison for belly-flopping on Sanchez after he slides?  Why slide in the first place if you're still going to get decked?  Heath Miller pancaking Bryan Thomas 2-3 seconds after the play ends?  And the vicious helmet-to-helmet hit on Shonn Greene that fell on blind eyes?  All in all, exactly double the amount of penalty yards on the Jets as compared to the Steelers.  That's tough sledding on the road.
Sad Conor (Lifespan: 15 minutes after the game to 1 hour after the game)
  • Man this really stinks.  Forget this one particular game...it was more about the bigger story.  From Hard Knocks to the new stadium.  From Braylon's DUI to Ines Sainz to Sal Alosi to Rex's camerawork, so many things made it annoying to be a Jet fan.  But the insane comebacks, ridiculous bravado, and playoff upsets made these worthwhile.  In  40+ year drought where nothing else has worked, it seemed like it would take a crazy year like this to finally get over the hump.  The stories and memories (good and bad) would have lived on forever if this band of arrogant, unconventional players was able to do it.  Beating Manning/Brady/Ben just seemed so right.  Instead, it was too good to be true.
  • Going along with 'We're Never Gonna Score,' man was tonight a game of inches.  Mark Sanchez releasing the ball 0.0000000001 seconds sooner to that there wouldn't even be a question about a fumble.  The Jets running the ball in that situation in the first place.  Forget about roughing the punter--how was that kick not blocked?  We're talking about a 7-point game with 10 minutes left in the 3rd quarter if Westerman gets that one.  Kyle Wilson dropping an interception that hit him right in the hands.  Cotchery or Greene getting just one more step to score so the massacre-at-the-goal line never happens.  Finally, the pass on the final drive to Heath Miller.  Brodney Pool must have felt the air as it whizzed just millimeters past his outstretched fingertips.  Just classic stuff Beavis is alluding to.
Accepting Conor (Lifespan: 1 hour after the game to training camp 2011)
  • The Jets already gave us more than enough late-game heroics/luck/thrilling games this year.  Playing like dogs for an entire half, going down 24-0 on the road, and coming back to win the game would almost be scary.   
  • Though there will be no Super Bowl, I really believe this is a team on the upswing.  There is a nice core of Sanchez/Revis/Mangold/Ferguson/Greene/Scott in place.  It's true everything goes back to square one next season, but the Jets will have just as much talent as anyone else in the 2011 AFC.
  • It just wasn't their time to 'score.'  Tough night?  Absolutely.  Add it to the list of nights that will make the day they finally do score that much better.  Let's just hope that day predates the sun burning out.

I'm not sure what else to say.  Sometimes the great story has an ending that just sucks (we all saw No Country for Old Men, right?)  But as the book on 2010 has closed, the book of 2011 should offer plenty more for Jets fan to enjoy.  'Same old Jets' is and always has been a stupid phrase.  You know who gets to say 'same old' these days?  The Dolphins, Bills, Browns, Chiefs, Lions, and Bengals.  Teams that have gone over 10 years without winning a single playoff game.  The Jets have won four in two years.  

In structuring their team, it was inevitable that the Jets would face some serious roster changes once this season ended.  Some big questions remain about who will be lost to retirement (Tomlinson? Richardon? Taylor?) who will be lost to free agency (Edwards? Holmes? Harris? B. Smith? Ellis?) and who will be coming in to help the cause (pass rusher in the draft/working some youth into the defensive front seven.)  Leonhard and Jenkins coming back from injury will be interesting to watch as well.  All these questions and more will be answered in the coming months.  Hopefully a labor stoppage won't get in the way of all that.

In any case, the Super Bowl sure won't be a snoozer.  Green Bay and Pittsburgh are two awesome teams that should really put on a show.  But it  won't quite the show we all hoped for.  42 years and counting, Jets fans still await the day they will finally 'score.'  

Good things come to those who wait.

Posted by Conor Reilly at 1/24/2011 7:22 PM
Categories: uncategorized
 

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