The Jets are back. Giants, too. A disgusting story out of Penn State. And a fabulous “Goodfellas” parody

Well well, looks like we’ve got a little race in the AFC East again.
Looking nothing like the frauds who lost three straight games in September and October, my beloved New York Jets kicked some serious ass Sunday.
After spending the first half trying really hard to keep the Buffalo Bills in the game, with the boys in green blowing chance after chance, the Jets dominated the second half and won easily, 27-11.
Man that was fun to watch. And thanks to my good friends the New York Giants pulling a stunner up in Foxboro (more on them in a minute) the Jets have an incredible shot next Sunday night, against New England at the Big Snoopy (that’s what I’m calling MetLife Stadium, think it’ll catch on?) to take control of the division race.
Wow. Some quick thoughts after this one:
– The Jets’ D was huge, shutting down a very good offense. Bart Scott and David Harris both made some fantastic plays, and once again Darrelle Revis was fabulous in the secondary.
– Mark Sanchez, you once again make me crazy. You play great on the first drive, get ‘em all the way down inside the 10, then throw a terrible interception. Then you fumble a snap. But in the second half, you were fabulous, making every big throw. He could be SO good, this Sanchez guy, but he’s just not there yet.
– Dustin Keller, please keep your feet on the ground so you don’t kill yourself. Thank you.
Other NFL thoughts on a wild day in the league, as usual…
– What a huge upset by the Giants, going up to Foxboro and beating the Pats, 24-20, with (stop me if you’ve heard this before) a great last-minute drive by Eli Manning. OK, it wasn’t the Super Bowl, but still, that’s a hell of a victory.
– Green Bay’s offense > any other offense in the last 10 years in the NFL.
– Hey Oakland fans, how’s that Carson Palmer thing working out? It’s a mad, mad world when the Bengals are in first place and their front-office made a smart move.
– How the hell are the Bengals 6-2 and the 49ers 7-1????
– Finally, this is one of the best punt returns you’ll ever see. Arizona’s Patrick Peterson, a 99-yard beauty in OT, as called by a Spanish announcer.

**This is one of the most disturbing stories I’ve ever heard. Jerry Sandusky, a former longtime assistant coach at Penn State under Joe Paterno, has been charged by a grand jury with sexually abusing eight boys over a 15-year period.
What’s almost as awful is that officials at Penn State apparently knew about Sandusky’s behavior and DID NOT report him to legal authorities.
Joe Paterno has had a legendary career as a head coach at Penn State, and scandal has never truly touched him. So far,  it doesn’t look like Paterno is charged with any wrongdoing.

But man, these things have a way of mushrooming and enveloping everyone involved. So we’ll see.

**I’m a huge “Goodfellas” fan, as I think all right-thinking people should be. And if you know Scorsese’s classic, you know one of the most famous scenes in movie history is when Henry Hill takes Karen out on a date to the Copacabana club in New York City, and the camera follows them for one incredible shot as Henry walks through the kitchen glad-handing everyone on the way in.

ESPN’s “Pardon the Interruption” show just celebrated its 9th anniversary and did a fabulous parody of the scene. Here’s the original scene, and above is the incredible ESPN version. Love it!

Steve Jobs finally walks into the sunset after changing the world. A school district uses sheep as lawnmowers. And a fun day at U.S. Open qualifying

Usually, when a CEO leaves a company, the tributes to him or her are overblown.
No one person is that much bigger than the product or business, 99 times out of 100. Most anyone else below the big chief can do that job.
And yet, with the news that Steve Jobs is stepping down, it definitely seems like the hype is about accurate.
This guy changed the world. His brilliant innovations with Apple are too numerous to be named here; there’s probably no area of technology that Jobs and Apple haven’t had a hand in. (if you’re reading this on an iPhone, I rest my case).
Jobs has been sick for a while, so Wednesday’s news isn’t a huge surprise, I guess.
But it still feels like the end of an era. What a remarkable career he’s had; people forget that he was thought to be all washed up when he left Apple. Check out this interview from 1994, and see how prescient this man was.

**You think your school district has funding problems? Please. You haven’t seen the trouble facing Carlisle, Pa. How desperate are these folks? They’re not using lawnmowers anymore to cut the grass at two local schools. They’re using sheep.
That’s right, sheep. Seven of ‘em, on loan from the principal of the middle school. (Why does the principal own seven sheep? I’m guessing that’s a whole ‘nother story).
Embarrassing that a school district would have to do this. But hey, also educational for the kids? Who needs a field trip to the animal farm when you’ve got Dolly and Co. right outside the classroom window?

**How often in life do you get to stand five feet away from professional athletes, as they play some of the biggest matches of their career?
Not often. Which is why I did something I’ve always wanted to do this week: Go to the qualifying tournament at the U.S. Open.
For those not familiar with the “qualies” it works like this: If you’re a pro tennis player ranked in the top 100 or so, you automatically get into the U.S. Open. If you’re not, you have to play your way in through what’s called a qualifying tournament. For several days you try to beat other men and women desperate to make it into the main draw.
Every year before the Open they open the National Tennis Center in Queens, N.Y. and let fans watch the qualies for free. I went this year and it was fantastic. You can literally get five feet from these men and women while they’re playing; you can’t do that with any other sport.
Sure, there were no huge famous names like Roger Federer or Serena Williams playing, but these were true pros fighting their guts out, and in many cases the money they were trying to win would determine whether they could keep playing as a pro next year.
It was great fun. And yeah, there may be some more U.S. Open posts from me next week; I’m going at least twice, and hoping for more. In the immortal words of Bart Scott, I can’t wait.

Coming late to the party on “Psych.” I tweet, therefore I am. And psyched up for “Hard Knocks.”

Sometimes, like most men, I have to be hit over the head with something before it registers.

For years my wife has told me that I would love the USA show “Psych.” It’s funny, incredibly 80s-reference dominated, and completely lightning-fast with the jokes. If you’ve never seen the show, it stars James Roday as Shawn, a “psychic” detective in Santa Barbara, and Dule Hill (Charlie from “The West Wing”) as his straight man/partner Gus. Corbin Bernsen is in it too, as a police chief.

Mindless entertainment, but awesome. Yet I resisted. Last year they did an amazing and hilarious episode completely based on lines from John Hughes movies, and still I didn’t watch.

Finally this season I’ve gotten into it. And it’s awesome, again. The rapid-fire delivery of the actors totally makes the show, and you spend a few seconds after each joke thinking about what you just laughed at, and miss a joke.

The acting is great, the writers are clearly having a great time and don’t care if you don’t get all of their pop culture references. I once had an editor tell me that once you make a pop-culture reference in a story, you lose 1/3 of the audience. He may have been right, but it’s still funny if pulled off properly.

Anyway, I highly recommend “Psych.” Wednesdays on USA.  80s lovers, I guarantee you’ll laugh.

**Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages: I have an announcement. I’m taking my talents to South Beach (oh wait, sorry, that was LeBron James’ script. How did that get here?).

No, seriously. My announcement is that I’ve finally joined the Twitter-verse. That’s right, tonight I sent my first Tweet. Man, it felt refreshing and a little tingly.

If you’re Twitter-inclined, please consider following me. I’ll post links to my blog, links to other great writing, and basically rant and rave in 140 characters or less (that will be a HUGE challenge for me. I’m not, shall we say, brief in my thoughts).

Find me there at twitter.com/michaeljlewis75. Thanks.

**One of the true highlights of the summer for me comes tonight. My beloved Jets are the subject of HBO’s “Hard Knocks,” a totally awesome reality/documentary HBO does every summer inside the training camp of an NFL team.
I’m addicted to it normally anyway, ever since we saw Tony Siragusa and Shannon Sharpe hazing rookies on the Ravens’ “Hard Knocks” a few years ago.
But now, with my team being in the spotlight? Should be awesome. The storylines are so good: Rex Ryan, uncensored. LaDainian Tomlinson and Jason Taylor (still can’t imagine him in green and white, and still hate him), trying to show they’ve got something left. Santonio Holmes, a star on a new team. Bart Scott’s bark. Darrelle Revis’ holdout.

So much good stuff. Can’t wait for the season, and can’t wait for tonight’s first episode.

A bizarre, beautiful win for the Jets. The Giants stink. And a hilarious anti-bully video

Nope. Ain’t giving this one back or apologizing for it.

It is extremely rare that I’ve agreed with anything Bart Scott has said this year.

The fiery Jets linebacker is way too cocky, and his words usually betray a total lack of reality for how good his team is.

But Sunday, well, Sunday, me and Bart were on the same page.

This is what he said after one of the strangest Jets wins I’ve ever seen.

“I ain’t apologizing for jack.”

He was talking, of course, about the wild and bizarre way the Jets beat the 14-0 Indianapolis Colts Sunday. With the Jets down 15-10 in the third quarter, hanging in there and playing a pretty good game, Colts coach Jim Caldwell decided that now was the time to pull his starters, rest them for the playoffs, and throw poor third-string QB Curtis Painter into the game, replacing some guy named Manning.

And so, predictably, the Jets steamrolled Painter, played great on offense against the Indy backups, and won, 29-15.

And of course, in this crazy season, everything once again went right for the Jets in the other games, so now all my boys have to do is beat Cincinnati next Sunday night (and damn you, NBC for making me wait around ALL DAY next Sunday to watch the Jets break my heart!) and they’re in the playoffs.

Lots of things to digest from Sunday’s game, but back to Bart Scott first: I agree. I ain’t giving this one back. There have been so many terrible things that have happened to the Jets over the 30 years I’ve been a fan, that if they get a huge break like they did Sunday, I’m good with it.

This is the NFL. You can’t take any win for granted, nor feel bad about it.  Do the Jets deserve to be in the playoffs? Probably not. Was this a terrible move by Caldwell, teasing his fans and chucking away a shot at 19-0 and history? Yes.

But hey, Jets coaches have done stupid things for 40 years. ‘Bout time someone else did it against them, right?

Couple more thoughts on the game:

– Brad Smith, that KO return was HUGE. Just huge. Gave the whole team a lift.

–Thought Mark Sanchez did OK, and obviously he didn’t have to do much in the third and fourth quarters, as the running game took over. Fantastic job by the O-line and by Thomas Jones and Shonn Greene, though yes, they did do it against Colts backups.

– If Indy doesn’t win the Super Bowl because the team is rusty and loses its first playoff game, well, I think it’s going to be a miserable offseason for Coach Caldwell. 

– Hate to give Mike Francesa, the blowhard know it all on WFAN, but he brought up a great point Sunday night: Peyton Manning completely supported his coach’s decision to pull him from the game, though you could tell he was so upset on the sidelines as perfection slipped away. But Manning, the player, did as his coach asked. Contrast that to the me-first No.4 under center for the Minnesota Vikings, who got his panties in a bunch when his coach wanted to pull him from the game.

–What the hell is wrong with the Saints? Geez, blowing a 17-point lead to the lowly Bucs at home? That’s awful.

– Nice to see the Houston Texans tease their fans again with a strong finish. And while we’re at it, Derrick Mason of the Ravens, how do you drop that ball in the end zone? I’m starting to think somehow, someway, the Steelers are getting in the playoffs.

Finally, this is definitely in the Unintentional Comedy Hall of Fame. It appears to be a PSA about how to deal with bullies. The part about biting is my favorite:

Ah, the Jets, making all of New England feel better. More NFL thoughts, and the finale of “Curb”

Voicemail message from my father, approximately 5 p.m., as New England took a 21-0 lead:

“Why don’t you leave the bar, go home, talk to your wife, have a nice dinner, anything else but watching this.”

The man is a fountain of wisdom. I was sitting at Houligan’s, having just finished off a nice pulled pork sandwich (Mmm, pulled pork), and I was watching the Patriots systematically take apart the New York Jets.

The Pats ran on the Jets. They threw on the Jets. They stuffed everything the Jets tried to do on offense. They completely befuddled and confused Mark Sanchez (more on him in a minute).

So, I left. It’s not the first time I left a Jets game, and it won’t be the last.

Course, I get home, and I check the score, and it’s 24-14, so I start watching again, and of course they never got any closer and lost, 31-14.

Very few positives to talk about in this game, so let’s deal with the negatives, shall we?

– This defense is not only not good, not only can’t they tackle well, but they can’t cover a bedspread right now. What happened to Kerry Rhodes? Guy used to be great. Bart Scott, anytime you want to earn that contract, go right ahead. The pass rush was OK, but never there when it was needed.

– How does the Jets coaching staff come out SO woefully unprepared for the first half? They got outgained 273-34. That’s insane.

– I know Mark Sanchez is a rookie. And I do have faith that he’ll be a good quarterback one day. But man oh man, the kid keeps making the SAME mistakes over and over. Trying to throw into triple coverage. Throwing off the wrong foot. I just get worried that he doesn’t seem to be making any progress here. But I don’t want to bench him. Look, Peyton Manning was awful as a rookie, too.

– Four and six wouldn’t feel so bad if they hadn’t started 3 and 0.

Some more Monday NFL thoughts:

– I know this will never happen, but let a sports fan dream for a minute: Indianapolis is 10-0. New Orleans is 10-0. Wouldn’t it be incredible if they met in the Super Bowl, after BOTH having gone 16-0? I think the Internet might explode if that happened.

– Two more reasons I never, ever wager on NFL games individually: Kansas City 27, Pittsburgh 24.  Oakland 20, Cincinnati 17.

– I think Jack Kent Cooke and Tom Landry were spinning wildly in their graves Sunday, as the Cowboys and Redskins combined to play one awful football game. I knew it was bad when the Cowboys fan sitting near me whooped at one point, really loudly. What happened, I asked.  Skins missed a field goal!, he exclaimed.

–Who’s that guy in the picture above, you ask? Daytona Beach’s own Eric Weems, now an Atlanta Falcon. He caught at TD pass Sunday against the Giants. He’s a great kid; I’ve interviewed him a few times and he just never put on the attitude some guys have. He’s a great story; 5-foot-9, undrafted out of Bethune-Cookman University, makes the Atlanta practice squad for a few years, and now finally is getting his shot. Good stuff.

Finally, the “Curb Your Enthusiasm” season finale aired Sunday night. It was pretty funny, especially the stuff when Jerry Seinfeld and Larry David were just riffing off each other. I also loved that they finally addressed the whole “George Costanza really is just Larry David” thing; that was always out there but never talked about.

Last week’s episode was still this season’s masterpiece, the equivalent of “Crazy Eyez Killah” and “The Producers” episodes from years past.

Anyway, good to see Cheryl back, and the still-pretty Elisabeth Shue, too.

For you “Curb” fans, here’s a little best of video I found on YouTube.

The Jets crush me again, Yanks one win away, and an exciting new place to buy beer

I’m getting more than a little sick and more than a little tired of this losing to the damn Dolphins, New York Jets.

I’m also stunned that the Gang Green can completely throttle the Miami offense, holding them to 104 yards, can gain 378 yards on offense on their own, and still lose the game.

How the hell do you give up two 100-plus yard kickoff returns in the same game? In a row???? I mean, after the first one, don’t you just, I don’t know, KICK AWAY FROM TED GINN!!???? Shonn Greene’s fumble also led to another touchdown by Jason Taylor (God I’ve hated him for so long), and somehow the Jets managed to lose this game, 30-25, and fall to 4-4 on the season.

This team’s record is actually perfect; they’re a so-so football team. They can’t put everything together in one game, and it’s mind-boggling. They run the ball well like they have the last few weeks, and then they can’t throw. Then Mark Sanchez plays great in the second half Sunday, and the special teams screws up. Or Sanchez plays well like in the first Miami game, and the special teams are good, and the defense sucks.

Truly, this is one of the more mystifying Jets teams of my lifetime. So frustrating, losing to the Fins, and listening to their fans at Houligan’s (my sports bar) all excited and giddy after the game.

Also, Jets linebacker Bart Scott, ye of your sarcastic comments after the game: Shut the hell up. You and the rest of the Jets have no right to talk any smack whatsoever, about the Dolphins, about the Middle East, about ANYTHING. You’re 4-4, which is not that good. So please, be quiet until the team has proven something.

The Jets are off next week. Good. I need a break. And so does the carpet at Houligan’s, all my pacing has probably worn it out.

Some other NFL ramblings from Sunday:

**It has to stink to be a Green Bay Packers fan today. Not only do you lose to Minnesota, but even after you lustily boo Brett Favre, the Vikings and ole’ No. 4 come into Lambeau Field and win easily, as the Indecisive One throws four touchdowns to beat you. I was actually surprised there weren’t more cheers for Favre; I mean, I know the fans are pissed, but he did give you 16 good years. I guess it’s just too soon to forgive him.

**Hey, remember when the Giants were, like, good? They were undefeated and cruising and all was swell.

Yeah, I can’t remember that either. Man did they look awful in losing to the Eagles.

*** So, maybe the Carolina Panthers aren’t horrendous after all. And maybe Arizona isn’t that good. The NFL sure has a lot of mostly crappy, but not entirely terrible, teams this year. Buffalo, Carolina, Seattle, Jacksonville, and plenty more.

**Eric Mangini just looks miserable right now. The old Jets coach was practically whimpering in his post-game news conference after yet another pathetic performance by his Cleveland Browns, a 30-6 loss to the Bears. I almost feel a little sorry for the guy, but you know, he sort of made his own bed there, by picking a lot of the players himself, and by playing musical chairs with his terrible QBs.

**On the World Series: I think Jorge Posada ran the equivalent of the New York City Marathon Sunday, walking back and forth to the mound for conferences with Yankees pitcher C.C. Sabathia. But hey, whatever works.

**This series will probably go back to New York with the Yankees up 3-2; I fully expect Cliff Lee of the Phils to dominate Monday night and keep his team alive. But then, in Andy Pettitte I trust. Still can’t believe A-Rod is coming up so clutch; it’s like he’s a different person.

**Also, I think it’s very cool that between the microphones and the HD technology, you can hear the home plate umpire tell the batter and catcher where the pitch was. Several times Sunday I heard the ump say “a little outside,” or “low.”

I don’t think we appreciate it enough, but watching sports in 2009 is just an unbelievable experience.

***OK, this isn’t really football news but it sorta is. As if there weren’t enough weird things about the Washington Redskins, as if it weren’t despicable enough that owner/dictator Dan Snyder has sued season ticket holders who couldn’t pay for their seats due to the recession, now there’s this:

Apparently the Redskins have been selling beer at FedEx Field in the bathroom. Seriously, that is pretty disgusting.

But as the article says (and man do I wish I thought of this line), it brings new meaning to the term “revenue stream.”

Three and oh, my New York Jets keep flying. And a great old Jewish joke at the end

Well, this is getting a little ridiculous, isn’t it?

It’s getting increasingly difficult for me to strike my usually pessimistic, gloomy view of my New York Jets.

Yet another Sunday afternoon, and yet another day I leave Houligan’s (sports bar where I watch the games) happy. After a great start, a very shaky 2nd and 3rd quarters, and a terrific 4th, Gang Green beat Tennessee, 24-17.

It was quite different from the first two games, but at the end all I care about is the W. Three and oh. Never, in a hundred years, would I have predicted the Jets would be 3-0 after this brutal early schedule they had.

But hell, maybe after 40 years everything is starting to go right again. Heck, the Jets got two gift touchdowns from the Titans’ returner (or should I say ex-returner) Ryan Mouton, Mark Sanchez didn’t panic under pressure, and they’ve got a quarterback crazy enough to take on defenders while leading with his head. It’s great!

– Let’s start with Mark Sanchez. Love the kid’s poise in the pocket, but hey Mark, bubeleh, next time you’re going to try to run it in for a touchdown, please slide or try to go around the big dude trying to tackle you? This play scared the hell out of us fans (fast forward to about the :32 mark). Still, really bad attempt at a mustache aside, the kid is making all the right moves. Sure he had some mistakes Sunday; the ball slipped out of his hand a few times, and he threw an INT that wasn’t his fault. But he’s making progress every week.

— Big game for David Harris and Bart Scott, the Jets new linebacker combo. They harassed Kerry Collins in the fourth quarter. The D looked shaky for quite a while in the second and third quarters, but you know what? When it mattered most and they HAD to get stops, they did. I love that Rex Ryan throws so many different looks at opposing offenses; three straight weeks now, in the fourth quarter, the opposing QB looked rattled.

–I’m officially concerned about the Jets running game. It’s been three games now, and the O-line hasn’t been opening too many holes. Thomas Jones had two good runs in Week 1 and that’s been it, and Leon Washington hasn’t done much, either.

– Jerricho Cotchery, you rule. Couple of fantastic catches Sunday. Overall, the offense was subpar, but they took advantage of the chances the Titans gave them.

– Tennessee’s receivers totally let Kerry Collins down most of the day. Justin McCareins, where have you gone? Oh wait, he stunk, too.

– Next week is a freebie in my mind. I don’t expect the Jets to go into the Superdome and shut down Drew Brees (though Buffalo did a pretty good job on him Sunday.) Even if the Jets lose that one, they’re 3-1 with two games against Miami, one against Buffalo and one against Oakland the next four weeks. Sounds good to me.

OK, enough giddiness. These are my Jets I’m talking about here. They’ll break my heart again at some point this season. But for now, man this is fun!

Other NFL thoughts:

– Congrats to the Detroit Lions and their fans, as the Leos finally broke a 19-game losing streak with a win over the Redskins. If I’m Washington head coach Jim Zorn, I’m not answering the phone for a few days. It’ll probably be crazy owner Dan Snyder looking to fire him. Great column on the Lions here by the great Mitch Albom.

–HUGE comeback win for the Cincinnati Bengals, HBO’s favorite team. Down 20-9 at home to the Steelers in the fouth, Cincy comes back and wins with a Carson Palmer touchdown in the final minute. Psychologically, Pittsburgh has owned the Bengals, so this one is huge. Who’d have figured Pittsburgh would be 1-2 after three weeks, with two crushing last-minute losses? Check out Cincy Enquirer columnist Paul Daugherty (who I always read after Bengals games because even when they’re terrible, he’s wildly entertaining) with a good column here.

– We have two legit opportunities for a team to go 0-16 this year. I don’t have a clue who the Cleveland Browns will be able to beat; they look horrendous. And the St. Louis Rams, well, they’re not much better, especially if Marc Bulger is out for a while.

– Apparently some guy playing QB for the Vikings had a last-second touchdown to win the game. Sorry, I’m still in a Brett Favre blackout. Can’t discuss it.

– The Miami Dolphins’ receivers stink. All of ‘em. Man did they drop a lot of passes Sunday in their loss to San Diego. Ted Ginn, especially, can’t seem to catch a cold. Poor Chad Pennington got hurt again, too; I love Chad but he gets hurt practically every year.

– Miami is 0-3, my Jets are 3-0. That’s just beautiful.

**Finally today, for those of you, like me, going without food for Yom Kippur, here’s a great joke from a very cool website called, Old Jews Telling Jokes. It is, well, exactly what it says is: A web site where old jews stand up and tell jokes.

This one is unsafe for work at the end, so maybe turn your volume down if that’s where you’re hearing it:

more about “Three and oh, my New York Jets keep f…“, posted with vodpod

Finally, Jets kick the Patriots’ butt. And a word on the Emmys (and cockroaches)

Nine years I’ve been waiting to see this sight.

Nine goddamn years I’ve been waiting to see Tom Brady leaving the Meadowlands with his head down. Nine years I’ve been waiting to see Bill Belichick, who I will never, ever forget should’ve been the New York Jets coach before he wussied out and quit after one day, running off the field in shame.

Yes, it’s been a long time since my beloved Green and White defeated the evil New England Patriots at home. Man what a great Sunday it was, as the Jets won, 16-9. A punishing, aggressive, harassing defense tortured the heck out of Giselle Bundchen’s husband, holding him to three measly field goals.

Guys like Bart Scott and Darrelle Revis and David Harris and Lito Sheppard and Shaun Ellis (really, the whole Jets defense played great) got after Brady and the Pats’ receivers all day long. Did the Jets greatly benefit from Wes Welker not playing? Of course. Welker is awesome. But the Jets’ defense was superb in all areas. Revis, in particular, totally shut down Randy Moss, and unlike in some games in his past, it looked like Moss was trying.

And the offense? It was good enough. I was a little worried about Mark Sanchez in the first half, but the kid turned it up. You don’t understand how nice it is for a Jets fan to see a quarterback zip the ball into receivers; after the last seven post-Vinny Testaverde years, we just haven’t seen that.

I was, of course convinced that after Jets coach Rex Ryan stupidly tried to throw the ball on 3rd and 3 with 2:30 left in the game and the Jets holding a 16-9 lead (come on Rexie, it’s 3rd and 3, a toss to Leon and we get the first down and the game’s over!), that Brady was going to march down the field and tie it.

What’s funny is that after the game, Bart Scott said he knew that’s what Jets fans were thinking (hey, just because he’s new doesn’t mean he doesn’t know the pathetic history of our franchise!). But dammit the Jets D stepped up and stopped the Pats.

I know, I know, the Jets are 2-0, and they’re in first place in the AFC East, but I’ve been down this road too many times before to get too excited. But you have to love how this team is playing: Aggressive, smart, tackling well (best Jets tackling team since the Parcells years) and making enough plays to win.

Good stuff.

Couple more NFL-related thoughts from a pretty awesome Week 3:

**Something’s just not right yet with Tom Brady. Maybe rust from all the time off, or his receivers aren’t good enough, but something isn’t clicking. As you can imagine, my heart’s bleeding for the guy.

** Chad Johnson (I refuse to call him by his stupid other name), you’re a wimp for only doing the Lambeau Leap into the arms of a Bengals fan in Green Bay. But damn impressive win for the Cincy boys.

**OK, you go gamble on the NFL: Houston scores seven points, all on defense, against the Jets last week. Then, against Tennessee, one of the best defenses in the league, the Texans score 34.

**Couple of real good late games, Pittsburgh-Chicago and San Diego-Baltimore. The Bears, well, they downright stole that win, thanks to Jeff Reed missing a couple of field goals he normally makes. And the Chargers, well, they absolutely, positively should’ve won that game. Except their coach is Norv Turner, and once again that’s why they lost. I can’t believe he actually has one of the 32 head coaching jobs in the NFL. It defies logic. I really thought my mother could do better.

At the very least, she’d make sure they had nutritious, low sodium pregame meals.

**Hell of a Sunday night game. Eli Manning will never be as good as his brother. But damn, he’s getting closer. Fantastic final drive for the Giants. Clutch, clutch win over Dallas in Jerry Jones’ new castle. And can I just say how absolutely freakin’ stupid the rule is that you can call timeout a split second before the guy makes the kick? So stupid.

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OK, so I won’t reveal any of the Emmy Award winners Sunday night in case you haven’t watched them yet, but can I just ask: Is Neil Patrick Harris becoming the next Billy Crystal?

He’s smart, he’s funny, he’s talented and can sing and dance, and he used to be Doogie Howser. He was an awesome host Sunday and I think we should just give him the job permanently. I thought it was hilarious that he introduced the presenters with their most obscure roles ever.

Also, during my favorite segment of these award shows, the “In Memoriam” part (I’m weird, I know), I was shocked to hear that Mr. Bentley died. From “The Jeffersons,” remember? I loved that character.

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Finally, a personal horror. Woke up earlier than usual Sunday; started to do laundry. Pulled out a bunch of towels from the laundry basket and I’ll be damned if I didn’t see the largest freakin’ dead cockroach I’ve ever seen.

This thing was like the Mark McGwire of insects. I screamed for the wife. She screamed. She kills cockroaches at our house, while I’m on body removal (it’s the opposite for spiders. Don’t ask, we all have our phobias).

I disposed of it. Kept doing the laundry.

The horrors of everyday life.