Well, luckily this weeks update has some substance (other than the depressing, sorrow inducing BS that filled the last two.) This past Tuesday, the NHL took what was largely viewed as a massive step forward in negotiations, offering a proposal to the players that was MUCH better then the ones they had previously tendered (coming "coincidentally" one day after their plan of hiring a famous PR firm and attempting to find ways to win fans support back was leaked to Deadspin.com). The big news was that this proposal offered a 50-50 split in HRR (gee, who predicted that?) while somehow preventing the players from facing immediate salary rollbacks (the method is very complex, and frankly I don't fully understand it, so I won't go into that here.) The deal is contingent on completion within the next week or so, with the commissioner and owners wanting to start a FULL 82 game season on November 2nd, following a week of training camp. Full details of the proposal were released in a press release from the NHL and fans and media everywhere found that, once again, hope was appearing. Only this time it truly felt real.
As expected, the players did indeed find things that they didn't like about the proposal. First: it's still a 7% drop in HRR from their current 57%, and though 7% might not seem like much, we're talking hundreds of millions of dollars from the shared 3.3 billion dollar "pie." There were also many systemic issues that players disagree with such as 5 year contract limits, and a increase to 8 years of NHL service and being at least 28 years old to have unrestricted free agent eligibility. Nonetheless, the hope of the NHL, presumably, is that the NHLPA would keep the base of the offer intact, and work off of it while forming their counter-proposal.
And that brings us to today, October 18th: the most critical day in the CBA negotiations. As I type, the NHL and NHLPA are meeting, with the NHLPA presenting one, or possibly multiple, counter offers and scenarios. The fate of potentially the entire season hangs in the balance. The NHL made it clear that this was an offer meant to get the season started very soon, and have all 82 games (per team) played. It has been widely speculated that in order to have a week of training camp and begging on November 2nd, a "deadline" of October 25th must be set as the least day for a deal to be reached. If negotiations stall, or Donald Fehr and the PA come back to the NHL with a proposal that is completely unrelated to the one offered on Tuesday, this ray of hope could once again be shattered, and this time possibly for good. Many believe that if negotiations fail here, the next talks won't occur until late December or early January, leaving only enough time for a shortened 45 game season, or worse, no season. If all goes well, my next "Thursday NHL Update" could be a "Thursday NHL Preview." So whats it gonna be players? Hockey or no hockey? Fans around the world know what they want, and they'll hold their breath, hoping and waiting to hear good news.
UPDATES TO FOLLOW
UPDATE (3:05 pm): the NHLPA had a conference call just before the meeting and discussed FOUR proposals, all of which consist of 50-50 revenue sharing, but have gradual down grading from their current 57% share, rather than an immediate 7% drop in year one. All four proposals could be presented in todays meetings.
UPDATE (3:50 pm): meetings coming to an end after about 70 minutes. Appears the NHLPA presented THREE proposals to the NHL. NHL to speak to media shortly...
UPDATE (5:00 PM): hope meet hammer, hammer meet hope...Gary Bettman emerged from the meeting after only 1 hour, claiming the day was a "dissapointment" and "step backwards" with no progress made. Steve Fehr echoed those sentiments, adding that the NHL took only 10 minutes to look over the NHLPA's 3 proposals before rejecting them outright.
UPDATE (Sunday, 10:30 PM): the sides spoke over the phone twice this weekend to "clarify" HRR definitions and other aspects of last Tuesday's proposal by the NHL, but no meetings have been scheduled. The NHL remains adamant that they will only "tweak" their proposal and are not willing to accept a completely different one from the PA. The deadline for a deal that would ensure a full 82 game season looms this Thursday. While good feelings and hope have faded in the eyes of many, there are plenty of writers and media members continuing to say that the two sides are as close as they have been to a deal since negotiations began (b/c the players are accepting a 50/50 split of HRR), and that a deal could soon be consummated, even this week. We can only hope...
Last Thursday I wrote the first of what will be my weekly update on the happenings in the NHL. My hope is that this will soon become a recap of big games and stellar performances on the ice. However, because these morons couldn't/ still can't get a deal done, that's not possible. So here's your lockout update:
- I left you last week with the slim hope that either side could possibly make a proposal early this week. Well, those proposals never came, and still haven't.
- Reports surfaced Sunday that the two sides would be having meetings on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday....
- By Monday however, the notion that core economic issues would be discussed was quickly smashed by reports that, once again, only non core issues were on the agenda. (just another swift kick in the nuts...)
- Meetings began yesterday, with the "Big Four" (the Fehr brothers, Bill Daly and Bettman. Credit Pierre LeBrun for the term) meeting for an hour. Early reports were grim, and proclaimed nothing had been accomplished. (Key word: EARLY, things got crazier...)
- A larger meeting took place later in the day, with key issues like ice conditions on the agenda...
- After the meetings, things got even crazier. Donald Fehr's brother, Steve, said that core economic issues WERE discussed. Shortly after, reps from the NHL (Daly) proclaimed that that was not the case, saying no core economics were discussed, and that little or no progress was made. Basically, both sides sat there for an hour, urging the other to make a proposal...these clowns can't even agree on whether or not they spoke about an issue!!
- More meetings are scheduled for today. I'll update as the day goes on. UPDATE (10:30 am): The first of 2 sessions, with a reported agenda of drug testing issues (-_-) has just begun. The PA has many player reps in attendance, as well as Steve Fehr, however PA leader Donald Fehr is NOT in attendance, which is certainly not a good sign for those looking for serious progress towards a deal (see: Everyone). UPDATE (2:20 pm): Second round of meetings beginning, still no Donald Fehr in attendance, only Steve... UPDATE (5:30 pm): Well, I'll just let these sad, disgusting pictures speak for themselves:
So ends yet another useless, depressing week in the state of the NHL passes. Still mountains to be moved and valleys to be crossed before the puck can drop. I, and all over hockey fans can only hope, with any and all hope that we have left, that my update next Thursday is one of a much better tone. Heres to a proposal...someone...anyone...please.
If you're reading this you're either a loser, like me (Mets fan...please, save your jokes, I've heard them all before!) or your just interested in seeing the losers point of view on the playoffs. *Quick note: Losers are all the fans of baseball teams not in the playoffs* There, now that we got that uneasy line out of the way let's continue!
The great thing about the MLB playoffs though is that there is a new hero, a new unbelievable story line every year to keep up with, so even though our team is no longer in it someone is sure to capture our baseball hearts and minds and make them a hero, or a villain, forever and a day.
So let's just get this out of the way now, the New York Yankees are your best friend if you are a fan of any other team than the Boston Red Sox or a fan of another team living in the tri-state NY area (like a lot of Mets fans). I say this because if your heated rival is in the playoffs and they're playing the Yankees then you have a very good chance of seeing them fall to the 27 time World Series Champions and if you just have an affinity for the winningest, most storied team in sports history then the Yankees are the team for you to follow this October! Besides not being able to say no to this face, root for the Yankees if you love catchy name home run calls! This one is my personal favorite...(ignore the words, it's actually quite enjoyable)
Now that we started with the American League let's stay there. And let's say you're sick of the Yankees and Texas Rangers winning all the time and you want to see someone new then jump on the bandwagon of the Baltimore Orioles or the Oakland Athletics! The Baltimore Orioles are in the playoffs for the first time since 1997 so you certainly haven't seen them in a while! They will get started with a 1 game playoff for the American League Wild Card tomorrow at 8:30 against Texas, who we will talk about later. Baltimore is famous for previous playoff blunders like losing homeruns that weren't homeruns and all that...but for the team that hasn't won a pennant since 1983 this is a huge moment for the fans of Baltimore! To the other team, the Oakland Athletics, the lovable money ball team filled with guys like Billy Bean and Jonah Hill and a team of young guns who ransacked Texas on the last day of the season to win the American League West make their first playoff appearance since 2006! They will play the Detroit Tigers in round one (who we will, once again, get to later) setting up an intriguing re-match of the 2006 American League Championship Series that the Tigers won in a sweep. This lovable group out west hasn't been to a World Series since 1990 so it has been a while for them as well! But just remember folks, these people are also these people...
So maybe newbies aren't your thing and you love a good redemption story! Well Texas has that x3 for you! The Texas Rangers are the back to back defending American League Pennant winners (1) and features 2 men that have gotten over cocaine addictions (Manager Ron Washington, and Outfielder Josh Hamilton) to be at the peak of their baseball careers (2 and 3) and are just that one more chance, maybe, away from winning the World Series, the ultimate redemption! There's no doubt they are a fun bunch to root for, good pitching, good hitting, good fans, nice stadium, excellent crowd and championship starved! They will host the 1 game playoff against Baltimore tomorrow night so give it a look see!
And finally in the American League if you're looking for that team that kind of flies under the radar but has arguably the 3 best players at their respective positions in baseball then the Detroit Tigers are your team! They have one of the best pitchers in Justin Verlander, who in my humble opinion is the coolest person on the face of the freaking earth because he is dating Kate Upton! He's my hero.......anyway back to uh, what were we talking about? Oh! Baseball...sorry, the Detroit Tigers also boast Prince Fielder, the former Brewer first basemen who signed on to the Tigers in the off season and of course the man of the year in baseball, Miguel Cabrera! He won the triple crown! That makes you the best player of the year in baseball batting .344 AVG, 44 HR, 139 RBI. That's incredible, hats off to him. And just like with Josh Hamilton of Texas, a big round of applause for doing this while overcoming a drinking problem. I know I'll be rooting for him to keep it up in October!
Well that is your round up in the American League. Remember the American League schedule looks as such: Baltimore vs. Texas tomorrow night at 8:30 on on TBS. The winner of this game will be home to play the New York Yankees game 1 on Sunday! Oakland and Detroit kick off Saturday at 6! So be sure to tune in!
National League! (You know, the one that is better because there is no D.H. ...Hey, I'm not biased, it's science!)
The National League has the ultimate newbie in October this year. National League East Champions Washington Nationals! This franchise hasn't been to the playoffs since they were the Montreal Expos! They've never won a pennant and they've never won a World Series. They have good fans, a brand new ballpark, a fun presidents race (And a tip of the ol cap to Teddy Roosevelt for finally winning a race!), and a good group of young ballplayers, despite Strasburg being shut down for the season. The Nationals will start their campaign against the Wild Card winner this Sunday.
If you're into the perfect swan song for a long time vet then turn your attention to the Atlanta Braves! Larry Jones (Better known as Chipper Jones, you know... that guy) is finally laying up the spikes for good after this season is over. This once glorified Met killer, and all around terrific baseball player has been injury plagued over the last few years and on some not so good teams but the Braves have gotten back one more time for a chance at one more title. (Isn't the internet a wonderful place?)
These Braves will play the St. Louis Cardinals in a one game Wild Card playoff tomorrow at 5:00 on TBS.
Another newbie, though not to the same extent as Washington, is the Cincinnati Reds. Making only their 2nd post season visit since 1995. These Reds boast MLB's best record at 97-65, they have pitchers Jose Arredondo, Bronson Arroyo (yeah, the white dude with the corn rolls!), Aroldis Chapman, Jonathon Broxton, and have some big times bats in Joey Votto, Scott Rolen (I know, I can't believe he's still around either), Jay Bruce, and Brandon Phillips! They play in the Great American Ball Park, a place that will be hoping come game time against San Francisco this Saturday at 6. They're a fun team to watch who will be in it right to the end.
The team this Reds team is playing is one of the best staffed teams in the MLB, the San Francisco Giants! Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum, Guillermo Mota (hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha Just kidding, sorry about that...), Madison Bumgarner, and if he ever figures it out, Barry Zito. They also have likable guys like Buster Posey (his name is Buster, how do you hate a guy like that?) I mean he can't catch a knuckleball but he sure can catch the heck out of being awesome! They also have the kung fu panda: Pablo Sandoval, former Met great Angel Pagan, and the X man himself, Xavier Nady! So if pitching, small ball, and guys with awesome names and nicknames is your thing then the 2010 World Series champs are your go to team!
And finally we have the ****ing St. Louis Cardinals, with ****ing Yadier Molina... and ****ing Adam Wainwright....no I'm not bitter, look, I'm not bitter, not bitter at all, no way, not even a little....okay maybe I am...just a lot of bitter but that's besides the point...after last years unbelievable World Series comeback against Texas, this clip from the worlds greatest cinematic master piece describes my feelings towards the Cardinals....just for the record I might have let Molina sweat it out with the bears for a little big longer...
Anyway, if you don't know already the Cardinals are the defending champions. Why? Because David Freese is insane. He's clinically insane. He has ice in his veins, he's on clutch steroids...Behind Justin Verlander he the most clutch man on the planet. Twice leading the Cardinals from their last strike to elation in game 6 and eventually helping them go on and win the 2011 world series in a 1986 Mets style victory that will live forever in the baseball world as one of the greatest finishes to a World Series ever...and I was in Manchester for it...go figure!
St. Louis is playing the Atlanta Braves in Atlanta tomorrow night for the right to play Washington in round one. They have Carlos Beltran, that's all you need to know, and quite frankly the sick, twisted, cruel bit of irony that would come watching him, as a Mets fan, win with St. Louis would be odd, but I certainly think he deserves it after everything he put in with us. The Cardinals fan base is one of the best in baseball, Busch is filled every night with fans dressed in red from head to toe, they've won 2 World Series in 5 years and certainly know how to get it done. This will be Mike Matheney's first playoffs as the manager.
The first round for the National League TV schedule looks like this: St. Louis plays at Atlanta on Friday at 5:00 on TBS. The winner plays Washington at home on Sunday. Then Cinci and San Fran play Saturday at 9:30 pm on TBS.
For both the American League and National League game times and schedules please see MLB.com in order for further games.
Otherwise, I hope you enjoyed this (Almost) un-biased attempt at helping you decide who you are going to root for come October! But remember, it really doesn't matter who you root for as long as you sit down and enjoy the great MLB because something insane is bound to happen...
"WIN, THEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE YANKEESSSSSSSSSS WINNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!" Is heard by Michael Kay after every Yankees win and for the last day of the regular season on Wednesday, he got to say it again. With a 1 game lead over Baltimore going into the final day, all the Yankees had to do was win against the Red Sox or have the Orioles lose to Tampa. Luckily both ended up happening and the Yankees clinched the American League East title for the second straight year and their 13th American League East title since 1996.
Throughout my life I have been blessed with the Yankees success. They have won 13 AL East titles, 5 World Series and American League Champion 7 times. So this was not the most surprising thing but going down the stretch, I actually did have doubts of us holding onto the division and if we were going to make the playoffs at times. Teixeira was hurt for most of September, A-Rod couldn't hit, Granderson strikes out too much, our pitching was slowing down and we just seemed old. The Yankees of the past are now getting old. Pettitte who came back this year is 40, Jeter is 38, A-Rod is 37, Rivera who they lost to an ACL injury in June is 42 and a lot of other players are in their 30's. This team in MVP 05' on Xbox would have been the best team ever created. Jeter, A-Rod, Chavez, Ichiro, Ibanez, Pettitte, and Rivera all in their primes. Then Tex, Granderson, Swisher and CC were all young guys just starting out. I love that we have Veteran leadership but its a long season and I thought that is was going to wear them out.
Question is now, how far will the Yankees go in this Postseason. Starts off Sunday night against either the Texas Rangers who got swept in the final series to the A's for them to win the division or the Baltimore Orioles Cinderella story. Neither is going to be easy competition for the Yankees in the 1st round. Especially with Games 1 and 2 being played on the road and then the next 3 if necessary at Yankee Stadium. Their ALCS possible match-up maybe easier then the 1st round match-up. Texas has reached the World-Series the last 2 years and they would love to actually win it this year instead of losing. The Orioles are just a young team that everyone would love to beat the Yankees. So can the Yankees even make it out of the 1st round even though they had the best record in the American League this year. Only time will tell if the Yankees older players can hold up playing this many games and if their leadership can help them propel to their 28th World Series Championship.
Quest for 28 begins Sunday. LET'S GO YANKEES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It comes down to one game, as it usually does.
One game that defined the season for 2 sports franchises on two separate continents, separated by 7 hours of ocean. A game 6 for the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference Finals and match day 38 for Manchester United in the Barclay Premier League. And thanks to Twitter I now know that there is more than just a couple of us who share the same affection for both teams.
Anyway...in the Eastern Conference Finals The red team, the devils, were ahead 3 games to 2 over the blue team, the Rangers. The blue team hadn't scored more than 3 goals 18 previous playoff games so when they fell behind by 2 goals early in game 6 they knew they couldn't let up anymore because they just wouldn't have enough fire power to come back and as it stands they did not, falling in the game 3-2. Despite shutting out the Devils twice over this 6 game stretch the Rangers potency for goals was lacking that of the Devils and when the Devils needed it the most over the last 3 games of the series they outscored the Rangers 4-1 (game 4) 5-3 (game 5) and 3-2 (game 6) only solidifying something the Rangers fans had known for a while, that besides their 40 goal man, Marian Gaborik, they needed someone else to score goals.
Let's travel across the Atlantic Ocean to England, May 13th, 2012. Sunderland and Manchester, the only two sites left with a possibly EPL champion. This time the red team, the Devils, trailed the blue team, Manchester City in the goal department by 8 goals, the next deciding factor in who would win the premier league if points are even. As it was both clubs did have an equal amount of points and after Manchester City came back from behind and defeated QPR on the last day the standings looked like this:
Manchester City: GD +64. 89 PTS
Manchester United: GD +56 89 PTS
For the first time ever 2 teams tied atop the standing leaving it to goal differential alone. This, of course, meant Manchester City were Champions and Manchester United losers by only 8 goals. Thus showing United, who really lacked a secondary scorer after Wayne Rooney, needed more fire power to keep up with their rivals.
This lead both teams to look for outside help for scoring.
2 men, of a very similar situation were the ones targeted to help aid in the scoring department. Rick Nash and Robin van Persie. Each player had grown tired of their current situation and looked for a way out to a team that would produce what they were looking for: Trophies. van Persie had spent 8 previous season with Arsenal and finally in his last 2 when the team was crumbling around him he stepped up and led Arsenal to the top 4 of the Premier League both times with 18 goals in 2010/11 and 30 goals in 2011/12. Rick Nash had spent 9 seasons in a dismal Blue Jackets organization who only managed to amass one playoff appearance and no playoff wins. Nash scored 30+ goals 7 times over this time period announcing himself as one of, if not the top forward in the NHL.
There had been rumors Nash had wanted out of Columbus for a while despite signing a contract extension a few years back and finally just a couple of weeks before the NHL trade deadline it had become official that Nash wanted out. The Rangers were the perfect fit for him but at the time the two sides couldn't come to an agreement and Nash finished out the season in Columbus. Then the NHL season ended and the talks between the two sides sparked back up again and finally on July 23rd 2012 the Rangers had put together the right pieces and waited long enough for Columbus to finally crack and Rick Nash was traded to the New York Rangers.
Just a few weeks prior to the Nash acquisition, on July 4th 2012 in London, Robin van Persie announced he would not resign with Arsenal Football Club. After talking to the manager Arsene Wenger and Chief Executive Ivan Gazidis RVP came to the conclusion that he did not agree about where the future of the club was headed. This sparked a frenzy for the soccer media in England and for the rumor mongers on Twitter and the first name that surfaced to bid for the Dutch striker was the blue team, Manchester City. Soon after that Italian side Juventes and Manchester United threw there hats into the ring. After a couple of months of deliberation, discussions, contract offers, angry Piers Morgan tweets, and major rumors, Arsenal, on August 15th 2012 agreed to sell RVP to Manchester United and on August 17th he was officially handed a contract to sign and a United shirt to wear proudly.
Marion Gaborik the 3rd highest goal scorer in the NHL last season and Wayne Rooney the 2nd highest goal scorer in the Premier League last season (behind RVP) now have help at the top. And while there numbers might go down with these new additions, there utmost skill and knowledge of their sport will help turn it into something so much more special.
RVP currently has 8 goals for Manchester United in 7 appearances altogether (5 in the Premier League) and even if there wasn't an NHL lockout the season wouldn't have been underway quite yet but because there is there is currently no stats to show for Rick Nash. Hopefully there will be an NHL season in the near future and I will be able to update this as each man scores and scores and scores some more.
Now these two athletes, 2 continents apart, who have spent the majority of their professional careers playing for one club in one city have a new task: to take the reigns on their new clubs and infuse it with that little bit of extra goal scoring they were missing in their "oh so close, but not close enough" seasons the year before.
The old adage is that defense wins championships, and maybe so, but in this case the best defense is a damn good offense!
For any NHL hockey fan, the last three weeks have been a nightmare. And I truly mean an absolute nightmare. The minute the clock struck midnight on September 15th, without a deal between the NHL and NHLPA being reached, it all became real. Fans who could remember 2004 worried that they were watching the same, awful movie all over again, and hopes faded quicker than the "Von Dutch" hat phase. Newer, non-cynical fans of the game wondered how this could all be possible. How could the NHL experience their most viewed playoffs ever (EVER), and still not be able to overcome their differences in order to avoid a lockout? How can they not realize that this will be a massive blow to the continued growth and previously budding health of the league (which, by the way, already clearly comes in as the least popular of the four major sports in America). These fans couldn't be more correct. It is completely mind-boggling, and unbelievably frustrating that these two sides can't find some common ground. Hell, they can't even stop the pissing match that continues on almost every day through the media. Commissioner Gary Bettman is currently involved in his FOURTH work stoppage in 20 years(!), and second in 7 years, and has taken (deservedly so) an immense amount of criticism from fans and hockey writers. With no end to these arguments in sight, and little no real willingness to negotiate shown by either side, the outlook only continues to get bleaker, and the future of the league remains in limbo.
The general issues at hand are tough for the average fan to fully understand. Essentially, arguments are revolving around three major sticking points: 1) the split of Hockey Related Revenue (HRR), 2) the revenue sharing between big and small market teams and 3) the owners irrational (in this writers humble opinion) demands for immediate salary rollbacks for players. Currently the players receive 57% of HRR, and the NHL wants to reduce this number significantly. However, it's painfully obvious that they are heading directly towards, and will likely eventually agree on, a 50/50 split. One can only hope that both sides realize this sooner rather than later, so we can get back to playing hockey. The 2nd issue is fairly simple: owners of smaller teams want the wealth to be spread around more evenly by the big teams (Rangers, Leafs, Bruins, Habs, etc...). This is fully understandable and should hopefully be negotiated with less of a headache than the other issues. Finally, the last major issue: immediate salary rollbacks. This is where the owners come off as the "villains" of this lockout (a large majority of fans are siding with the players, in large part due to this). To explain simply, the owners want to take a certain percentage away from each players salary. Essentially, owners are saying: "Hey players, we know that WE approved the deal that was offered to, and signed by you, but we decided that we don't want to pay it all, so give some back!" This is something that the NHLPA simply will not budge on, and seems to be the number one obstacle that needs to be overcome to make a deal. In my humble, unbiased opinion, this is one of the most asinine, ridiculous, and frankly moronic ideas that I have ever heard. The fact that the owners and commissioner Bettman not only thought that this could actually work, but that it is in any way fair or an even marginally good idea is completely, 110% irrational and just plain stupid (NOTE: told you, unbiased!).
For hockey fans, it is impossible to scroll through ones twitter timeline each day and not see news about the lockout. The bad part about this is that its usually horrible, depressing news. For the still somewhat optimistic suckers (like me), its even worse. Each and every time some encouraging news comes out, such as the two sides meeting, a possible proposal being tendered, or anything else that offers any inkling of hope, it is promptly bashed to pieces by the news that it was unsubstantial. The number of meetings that have occurred and yielded no progress, meetings where only non-core issues end up being discussed (like the ones that took place for three days this past weekend), and proposals tendered then promptly ripped to shreds by the opposing group (see: Bill Daly, Donald Fher post meeting media sessions) is simply sickening. Todays shred of hope comes with reports of the possibility of proposals from both sides that would be made next week. That news was then followed up by the news that the two sides have no talks planned for the remainder of this week, or the weekend. It becomes more and more disheartening and depressing with each passing day, and as games begin to be cancelled (the NHL cancelled all games until Oct. 24th, 82 in total) it gets even worse. Fans are left hoping that, just once, one of these rays of hope yields some type of substantial movement towards a deal. For all fans of the league, and of hockey itself, there is one shared wish and prayer: to wake up from this nightmare.
So as a huge Jets fan it kind of sucks with how shitty we have played the last two weeks. This weekend in particular with Sanchez having a completion rating of 44.8%. That was the worst of any Starting Quarterback in the NFL this season and it is just abysmal. However even with this terrible completion percentage Rex Ryan still wants to start him. Ryan said, "Right now, I think Mark [Sanchez] gives us our best opportunity to win." This is the same thing John Fox said in Denver about Kyle Orton and Tebow as the back-up. Sounds familiar doesn't it.
In my opinion, what do you have to lose by starting Tebow. With Holmes most likely out for the rest of the year, you don't have many receivers, your line is terrible so at least Tebow will move away from defenders and you can't be any worse then what happened last week. Sanchez had one interception and a fumble last week. I am not saying Tebow will do any better but it can not make any difference. You got shut out and this team needs change. Whatever they have going right now is not working at all.
Last point about all this, say our season is shitty which we all are expecting and we get a good draft pick. What do you even draft? No one is going to take Sanchez and his contract so if you draft another Quarterback and have to pay him, you won't be able to afford it. This team needs a complete overhaul. You need an offensive line other then a Center with Mangold, you need WRs, a Runningback that averages more then 3 yards/carry, corners, linebackers, and basically everything except for specific players such as Revis, Mangold, etc.
SO Who do you think should start this weekend for the 1st Place New York Jets against one of the best teams in the NFL the Houston Texans on Monday Night Football and what would you draft as the Jets?
Welcome to our blog! The four of us: Dave, Jonathan, Sam and Brandon, will write about any and everything related to sports, current events, pop culture and whatever else pops into our strange, wandering minds. So kick back and enjoy!
