A rare easy win for the Jets, OD’ing on Barack, and a huge gay-rights win in Houston

Well that was a highly unusual Jets game for me.

Hardly any pacing or shouting. Very little teeth-gnashing or anger-filled phone calls to my Jets posse. It was a delightfully easy win for the Gang Green, a 26-3 pasting of the pathetic Tampa Bay Bucs. I realize I insult all pathetic things by calling the Bucs pathetic; quite frankly, Tampa would have had to improve quite a bit Sunday to reach the high level of patheticness.

Basically, the Jets did what I expected them to do on offense: Run, run, run. Kellen Clemens proved once again he has as much business being an NFL quarterback as I do in the NBA as a dunking coach. Seriously, dude missed open receivers by THREE FEET sometimes! He was pretty bad for most of the game, though he did make a few nice throws in the second half, and most importantly, he didn’t screw up with any bad turnovers.

The defense was terrific, harassing Tampa’s running game and completely confusing poor rookie QB Josh Freeman. Man did that kid look lost.

The Jets running game was terrific again; I’d like to see them use Brad Smith more like they did today, on some Wildcat option plays. Guy is fast and has a strong arm so he’s a threat to throw.

And Thomas Jones, well, he was great again. (Discuss: Thomas Jones is the second-best running back in Jets history. At worst, he’s third, behind Curtis Martin and Freeman McNeil.)

The Jets have now won three in a row, against, admittedly, crappy teams,  and once again Sunday, the football gods shined upon them in other games. Miami beat Jacksonville, and Denver lost, too. The Jets are now tied with Miami, Jacksonville and Baltimore for the wild card spot, and stayed one game behind Bully Belichick’s New England team (who don’t scare anybody anymore; hell, Carolina was tied at 10 in Foxboro with someone named Matt Moore as their quarterback).

Still don’t think my boys are going to the playoffs, but if Sanchez is healthy next week and the Jets can beat Atlanta, well, things will get interesting.

Couple quick NFL thoughts:

– A brief toot of my own horn. In my weekly NFL pick ‘em league, I went 14-for-14 on Sunday’s games. Picked every single winner correctly. I don’t think I’ve ever done that before. OK, you can stop applauding now.

– Indy escapes again. New Orleans escapes again. Both are 13-0. Five more wins each, and my dream of two 18-0 teams meeting in the Super Bowl becomes reality.

– The NFL blackout rule kills me. 85 miles away from Jacksonville, a bunch of Miami Dolphins fans who really wanted to see their team play the Jags had absolutely no options Sunday afternoon. No viewing allowed on basic TV, or DirectTV, blacked out in both places because Jacksonville didn’t sell the game out. Just an awful, awful rule.

– This just in: The Giants defense is awful. What a wildly entertaining Sunday night game, though, with Philly claiming a 45-38 win over the Giants. Every few minutes there was another huge scoring play. But man, the Giants D stinks.

***So I saw President Obama on “60 Minutes” last night, and once again he was smart and well-spoken and defended his ideas well.

I used to laugh at the following notion when it was first posed a few months ago, but now I’m thinking it might not be crazy: Is this President on TV too much? I mean, every five minutes he’s doing another interview or press conference or speech. I just think maybe we should see him a little less, give off the appearance of being a little more presidential, and not be so available.

Just a thought.

***Finally, I wanted to follow up on something I wrote about a month ago, which become a terrific reality Saturday: The city of Houston elected its first openly gay mayor, as Annise Parker won a run-off election. The fourth-largest city in America has a lesbian mayor, becoming the biggest U.S. city to ever have an openly gay person in charge at City Hall.

This is huge, especially in a place like Texas, which in the past has not proven to be, shall we say, welcoming to people who are different.

Brick by brick, crack by crack, the wall of intolerance is coming down.

“South Park” nails it again, and the funniest hockey celebration ever

A couple of thoughts, and a couple of great videos for a lazy Sunday in November, as I prepare to watch my New York Jets get pummeled by the Patriots:

First, let me state right upfront I’ve never been a big “South Park” guy. I know, I know, everyone says it’s the greatest thing ever, and I admit that the few times I’ve watched it I’ve laughed. But I just never got into the show, though I acknowledge how wickedly clever Matt Parker and Trey Stone are.

This, however, absolutely slayed me. It’s Cartman, singing a song about … well, just listen. Brilliant stuff.

**I have absolutely no faith that the Jets will beat the Pats today. As I said in an email to my friend, excellent writer, Patriots fan and FOWWOS (Friend of Wide World of Stuff; yeah, that acronym needs some work) Ali Taber this week, I figure either New England will be so mad about everyone criticizing Coach Hoodie’s strategy at the end of the Colts game that they’ll come out and pulverize the Jets, or the Pats will still be a little dazed and my Gang Green will have a chance.

It would be just like the Jets to win today and then lose three in a row.

**This is totally random, but has anyone else noticed that tubs of cream cheese in the fridge don’t go bad nearly as fast as they used to? This is definitely a phenomenon worth exploring. I had some Philly cream cheese today that I think I bought in, like, September, and it was still good. I seem to remember cream cheese in the past always would go bad after like a week.

**Finally, 30 seconds of comic hilarity. A player in the Swedish hockey league, Henrik Andersen, got really excited after scoring his first goal of the season. So excited that, well … just watch.

I agonize over the Jets again, Belichick turns stupid for a minute, and ruminations from the supermarket

OK, nine games.

Not bad, New York Jets. Nine games in, and I can officially call it a season.

No playoffs, certainly not at 4-5 with the Pats coming up next week. No Super Bowl (ha!). No real reason to expect things to change in this, my 28th year of fandom (I was too young the first six years of my life to really appreciate this lovely franchise).

I really don’t feel like re-hashing all the things the Jets did wrong in their excruciating 24-22 loss to Jacksonville Sunday, but a few must be brought up:

– The defense is off for TWO weeks, and the Jets play like that? Awful tackling. Pressure on the QB in the second half, but not much in the first. And the pass defense on the final drive was atrocious.

– Braylon Edwards, you want a big contract? You HAVE to make that catch on the 2-point conversion the 4th, after the Jets put together a fantastic drive to take the lead. Don’t give me any garbage about the hit knocking the ball out; you have to make that play. If he does, I think the Jets lead by 3 and the game goes to overtime.

– I know it didn’t cost them any points, but Mark Sanchez, what the hell was that throw on the second interception, when the Jags’  defensive end, Quinton Groves was RIGHT THERE in front of your face, and you threw it anyway? Thankfully Groves forgot how to run at the end there, and tripped over his own feet at the 4-yard line. But still, terrible decision by our franchise QB. He did, however, have a great 4th quarter to redeem himself.

–Only my beloved Jets can try to let a guy score at the end of the game, which was the right thing to do, and fail at that, too.

– Rex Ryan, you’re a defensive coach. A brilliant coach, we’ve been told. One of the great minds in the NFL. Yet this is now twice in the last six weeks, when your offense gets you the lead, all you need is one stop to win the game, and your defense, which talks more trash than any team has a right to, can’t get it done. This was the freakin’ Jaguars, for God’s sakes, not the 1989 49ers or the 1998 Minnesota Vikings!

– More timeouts burned needlessly by the Jets in the second half. Didn’t we already go through this during the Herm Edwards Era?

Ugh. Just awful. This team is just not that good. The rookie QB is learning, the rookie head coach is learning, and it looks like 7-9 is in our future.

Thank God Duke basketball is getting underway. I need a good team to root for this winter.

**Some other NFL thoughts from a wacky Week 11:

– Bill Belichick made one of the craziest coaching decisions I’ve ever seen this side of Ray Handley and Art Shell Sunday night. After his Patriots pretty much dominated Indianapolis, Belichick decided to go for it, up 34-28, on 4th and 2 from his own 28-yard-line. Why? Clearly, he had no faith in his defense stopping Mr. Peyton Manning, but still, they’d stopped the Colts a few times already, and don’t you at least have to try?

Of course, the Pats didn’t make it on 4th down, and the Colts had great field position, and of course Peyton Manning made a superb throw on the score that won the game. Doug Hennig never made as many escapes as Indy’s No. 18. My friend Pearlman just wrote a blog about his greatness.

**Fantastic, hard-hitting Bengals-Steelers game Sunday. What an amazing turnaround by Cincy. Quick, someone call Ickey Woods and see if he still knows how to shuffle.

**OK, everyone who thought the one-win Rams would have a pass attempt that could beat the undefeated Saints on the last play of the game Sunday, please raise your hand. This is yet another reason I don’t gamble on the NFL.

**Finally, I love supermarkets. Always have. There’s just something about food shopping that makes me feel like a grown-up. Seinfeld has said this before, and he’s totally right: As a kid in the supermarket, you have to beg your parents for food. As a grown-up, you can buy whatever the hell you want.

Anyway, two ruminations from my Sunday evening trip to the store:

– One way I always know the new year is coming is when the milk’s expiration date is past January first. This is the earliest I ever remember it happening, but I got a carton with a “Jan. 6, 2010″ date on it. I was excited.

– It’s 2009. Hasn’t anyone at the company that makes Comet (Prestige Brands, I just learned) figured out a way to put a real, closeable top on the bottle yet, instead of that stupid adhesive tape that never sticks after you open the bottle? I mean, seriously, is this really so hard?

This is the stuff I think about. And you wonder why I have trouble sleeping…

Mark Sanchez makes me happy, and maybe the best Federer shot ever

 

You know, I’m trying to stay level-headed today. I keep telling myself, “It’s only one game, it’s only one game.” Lots of quarterbacks have had one great game. Hell, a journeyman named Scott Mitchell once had three great games, got a huge contract, then stunk up the field for the next two years.

But man, Sunday afternoon my New York Jets’ latest “savior” quarterback had a hell of a debut. A smashing, bang-up debut, one that had all the critics (well, me and every other Jets fan who are conditioned to be critical after 40 years of mostly losing) shaking our heads in wonder.

Mark Sanchez played like a 10-year veteran in leading my beloved Green and White to a stunningly convincing 24-7 win over the Houston Texans, heretofore thought to be a pretty good team. Sanchez stepped up in the pocket to avoid the rush. He made smart, accurate throws. He scrambled when he had to. He held on to the ball when his receivers were covered and he didn’t try to be Superman, forcing a ball into triple-coverage.

In short (which, incidentally, is what I am), he was awesome. The Jets’ offensive line was awesome, giving Sanchez all kinds of time. Leon Washington, who you will soon learn is my favorite Jet, was terrific, too.  Thomas Jones, who did nothing in the first half, had two huge runs in the second half to help salt the game away.

And man, what a start for the Jets defense. They were flying all over the place. New coach Rex Ryan came in with a lot of expectations on him, to make the defense great and blitz and force turnovers and all that stuff he did with the Baltimore Ravens.

Well, so far, so great. The Jets forced two turnovers, harassed Houston QB Matt Schaub into all kinds of hurried throws and sacked him twice, and tackled as well as the Jets have tackled in years. Darrelle Revis, the star DB, completely shut down Texans wideout Andre Johnson.

Very, very satisfying opening win, right up there as openers go with the win at Tennessee a few years back, and the mauling of Seattle in Bill Parcells’ first game in 1997.

The bullies from New England come into the Meadowlands next week. I’m certain Sanchez will make a few mistakes in that one, since Bill Belichick is known for confusing young quarterbacks.

But I really like what I see from this kid; after his one huge mistake, an interception returned for a touchdown, he didn’t get nervous or suddenly make tentative throws; he fired a laser to Dustin Keller on 3rd down on the next drive for a huge first down. The kid seems to have moxie and swagger (Moxie and Swagger, weren’t those two of the dudes in Billy the Kid’s gang?), and you have to love what he showed Sunday.

Couple other quick thoughts on Sunday’s NFL games:

– Poor Bengals. They’re down 6-0 to Denver, finally score with 35 seconds to go to take the lead 7-6, and it looks like they’re going to win. Then Denver hits a miracle play, off a deflection that just happens to land in Brandon Stokely of the Broncos’ hands, and he goes all the way for the winning touchdown.

All I can say is, Bengals fans, I’ve been there.

– Boy am I glad I drafted Drew Brees with my first pick in both fantasy leagues I’m in. Six touchdowns? Yeah, I’ll take that every week.

– Don’t overreact to Week 1, but the Panthers and Browns appear to stink, the Chiefs and Lions may not stink as much as we thought, while Philly and Indy are going to be pretty damn good again.

Finally, check out my penultimate U.S. Open tennis blog here, and watch this amazing shot (below) by Roger Federer in his semifinal win. This was maybe one of the two or three best shots I’ve ever seen Roger ever hit; my jaw hit the floor. Federer later called it the best shot he’s ever hit, and you can tell by his reaction how excited he was.

P.S. As usual, my favorite sports writer Joe Posnanski has written an entire, beautiful column about this Federer shot; check it out here. In it, he makes a fantastic point that I completely agree with: The more you know about tennis, the more you appreciate how amazing Federer is.

Michael Vick has paid his debt. Let him play.

My mother-in-law is pretty far from what you’d call a sports fan.

Wonderful woman that she is, she couldn’t tell you the difference between John Elway, Dan Marino or Wayne Gretzky if you put them in a police lineup.

She doesn’t watch sports, follow sports, or care about sports; one time while on a car trip I asked her over the phone to “check the score” of some game, and it was as if I’d asked her to explain quantum physics. She was completely flummoxed.

Anyway, I relate all this because about two or three times a year, she gets really angry about something that happens in the world of sports. I feel like if she’s fired up about it, plenty of other non-sports fans are, and Monday evening she was all kinds of fired up about the Michael Vick reinstatement to the NFL.

Before I go into why I think Roger Goodell did the right thing by conditionally allowing the felonious Vick back into the league in October, pending certain conditions, I want to stipulate the following, before I get tons of angry comments (actually, I’d be happy for ANY comments at this point, but that’s another story).

Michael Vick has been a disgusting excuse for a human being. His pathetic abuse of defenseless dogs, his blatant lying to everyone about his involvement, and the frightening and methodical way he ran a dogfighting ring puts him just below bat excrement on my list of favorite things.

He deserved to be punished severely, and he was. He absolutely, positively should live in shame for a long time in the public eye for what he did.

But I’m having a hard time agreeing with people, like my mother-in-law, who think he should never be allowed to play pro football again. They argue his deeds were so heinous that he should never be allowed the right to resume his profession.

I don’t get that. Let’s think about what has happened to Vick in the last two years: He lost his NFL career and his major contract with the Atlanta Falcons, costing himself more than a hundred million dollars.  He lost all of his endorsers. He was convicted of a felony. He spent nearly two years in prison, and for the rest of his life he will have to live with the memory of what he did (and, I’m sure, he’ll have to live with the animal-loving masses who no doubt will stalk him wherever he ends up.)

Now that he has paid his debt, is he not entitled to go back to work? If he was a banker or a lawyer or a gravedigger, would he not be allowed to try to pick up the pieces of his life and resume his career?

This is America, where getting a second chance is practically written into the Constitution. Was Vick’s crime more disgusting than most? Sure. Is it worse than athletes who beat their wives or get charged with DUI manslaughter like Donte Stallworth and Leonard Little, NFL players who aren’t suffering 1/10th the penalty that Vick has gotten?

One other thing that people who are railing against the NFL seem to be forgetting is that no team has to sign him. There are no guns to anyone’ s head.

It would take a coach and general manager who are awfully secure in their jobs, and in their team’s popularity with its fan base, to risk the backlash of a Vick signing. I fully expect huge PETA and/or ASPCA protests at any NFL stadium Vick would play in this year, or any year. Who could gamble on him? I’d say New England, because Bill Belichick is pretty bulletproof up there, or maybe Pittsburgh, coming off a Super Bowl win. And then there’s the Detroit Lions, who are so pathetic that perhaps their fans wouldn’t care about Vick’s transgressions if he helped them win.

Look, I think Vick should absolutely be scrutinized and banned permanently from the NFL if he even does anything remotely outside of the law.

But how long do we as a society need to punish a person? I’m not saying forgive Michael Vick, because he doesn’t deserve that yet.

But by allowing him to attempt to pick up  the pieces of his shattered life, the NFL is simply giving Michael Vick a second chance.

A chance that all of us in this country deserve.