A Look Back

It’s great to know that the number 99 jersey identified with one Aaron Judge is the leading seller in MLB gear. For the third year in a row. Even if Judge is having a lesser year by his rookie standards, which one Pete Alonso of the Mets has surpassed, he is still the superstar that Yankees fans madly adore and the rest of creation watches in case he uses his strength and athleticism to hit homers or throw our runners. I just have one question—which sells more—the home pinstripes or the away gray?

There are a number of different things to focus in on for this week and the upcoming MLB playoffs. So, too, there was a bevy of interesting college football games on tap (30 in the NY Metro area are being televised) and the usual slate of NFL games minus the Jets (mercifully) and the 49’ers, who have been assigned the first bye week. 

Instead, I want to go back in time, to when I lived in Highland Park, a small town across the Raritan River from New Brunswick, a small city which was home to Rutgers University and the all-women’s Douglass College—the former much smaller and more Ivy League-like in contrast to the behemoth state school it has become. I was a small, roundish Jewish kid who had grown into loving sports and playing them. I never thought anything was amiss about my size when I played—I could throw the ball farther and sometimes harder than others and I could shoot baskets without thought of not getting my shot off, or play any position on the football field. 

I had a Schwinn bike, and it allowed me to go everywhere around the town, which was divided between North and South sides and with the Triangle section (also known as the Irving section after the elementary school of the same name in that area) formed by Woodbridge and Raritan Avenues from where they met at North and South Sixth Avenues. 

One of the first places I went to was at the high school, where, in the summer, the borough had a recreation program. Loosely organized, it was a place for kids to go on a daily basis to interact with their peers. I played dice baseball, Chinese checkers, caroms, ping pong, wiffle ball, softball inside of the fenced in macadam tennis courts, ran football patterns and shot hoops. I was only 5 minutes from home by bike, too. It was a place to go to during the morning and some afternoons, when I wasn’t hosting friends at the in ground pool my father had constructed, which was one of the first of its kind in Middlesex County and the subject of a lengthy article in The Home News.

I met the head of the program, a garrulous individual named Jay Dakelman. Jay was the head coach of the Highland Park High School football team, which was quite a small school powerhouse. He also coached track and field, which produced some exceptional performers. 

I spent 12 years around Jay—from 1956 when we first moved to Highland Park from neighboring Edison, until I left for college. His imprint on my life was incredible. But then again, that’s what great coaches do.

Jay was a tough and demanding football coach. Jay was a rarity—a Jewish coach. He could roar and motivate as well as anyone. This was extraordinary, because he was not a big man. Yet he never once raised his voice to me, no matter what I was doing around HPHS athletics or at “Rec,” as we called it.

When I started going to Rec, I met his counselors—members of some of his early football teams. Tommy York, Jackie Vanacore, Donnie and Jimmie Bell are the players I remember. They treated me as one of them—having fun while teaching me fundamentals in each sport. Probably because I was so enthusiastic, they enjoyed teasing and pushing me to greater heights beyond my small stature. 

As a result, I would spend a lot of my time at the high school in the fall, watching football practice and becoming an unofficial ball boy and mascot. Games weren’t being played at the high school—they were played at Johnson Park, land donated to Middlesex County by the pharmaceutical heirs. I would ride my bike down the hills sloping towards the river, underneath the narrow stone arch on River Road, and over to the temporary stands set up in the smaller Highland Park portion, near the Piscataway border. I would watch my friends play,  led by All-State QB Joe Policastro, winning more than losing and always defeating arch rival Metuchen on Thanksgiving Day in New Brunswick.

There was so much that I was privy to while hanging with Jay. I saw the plans for the new football field and the baseball field adjacent to it. I listened to assessments of rival coaches and players. I learned about play calling and defenses. 

He gave me access to the great State track meets on the cinder at Highland Park. I used my mother’s typing test stop watch to time athletes on the track along with the official ones and my times were taken into account!! I hand-timed Olympian Marty Liquori’s state record-setting mile when he was a student at Essex Catholic.

Because I was so good at baseball, somehow Jay and his players got me into the Midget League at 8 years old, when the starting age was 9, placing me on the Police Department team with some of the better baseball players in town. 

He ran the youth basketball in the schools, so I of course participated with the running clock at Hamilton School and then at the high school, becoming a scorekeeper and timer for the older kids. I started attending varsity games in the cramped old gymnasium, watching my older friends perform for Coach Austin (Bus) Lepine. This ultimately led to my being the scorekeeper and head manager for the varsity basketball team. The training I received from Coaches Bob Kertes and Bob Tirone coupled with the autonomy they gave me was another life lesson I mastered. 

Because everyone else wanted to play freshman football, then so did this 5’2”, 150 pounder. I thought I could play QB because of my arm. In reality, I was a slower third string running back, fourth string QB and a third team linebacker, whose only playing time came with a cameo on the kickoff return team and one carry against John Adams Junior High at the Edison HS field which gained 3 yards. That and the one brutal hit from a junior 100 pounds heavier than me which rung my bell (concussion protocol?) taught me that I would be safer on the sidelines. It was fun hanging out with some of the players from the 1964 squad—QB Richie Policastro, a future Rutgers QB,  would throw hard at me to test my hands and WR Glenn Meltzer, who led the nation in receptions one year at Wichita State would laugh at my ineptitude and show me how to cradle the throws. Another notable was the flamboyant Wayne Donaldson, who one time ran his car into a garage on Lincoln Avenue, leaving the owner’s car teetering over the brook far below. Gary Beno was the tough fullback, who would clear the way for the runners. These were my guys—they knew me and I somewhat idolized them. 

Jay saw my dilemma and introduced me to Donny Berkman, who did his football statistics. When the varsity played on Saturdays, I would follow Donny and learn how to keep stats and what information was needed to provide the newspapers and radio stations with, receiving some nice pocket change in the process. 

By the time he had left, I was the main stat man for the varsity football and basketball teams. Every Saturday night I would be in my room, breaking down the figures, providing the coaches with everything they needed to know about the game and providing cumulative statistics for the season. Then I would hang with my friends, go get a hot salt bagel and bring home the early Sunday papers ensconced in my bicycle’s baskets. Who knew from girls? It was such an innocent time. 

This earned me a place at the coaches meeting on Sunday mornings when I would deliver my sheets to Jay and sit in when they started to break down the next week’s opponent from their scout, setting up the plan of attack for a team which would go undefeated. I also could have any doughnut I wanted. This, to me, was pretty heady stuff. 

I enjoyed the bus rides, hanging with my classmates and the younger players. Never was I demeaned for my not being a player. I was treated as part of the team. I endured the tirade Jay blistered the dejected group who trailed Carteret 20-7 at the half and saw their season imperiled. (on the day, when I gave Jay the halftime stats, I could see that he was absolutely seething but he still managed to say thank you before walking away in a huff).

My passion for football stats continued at F&M, when I was the freshman statistician and then for two years, the varsity stat guy. Every Sunday I would have the stats ready for Coach Dave Pooley or his successor, Coach Bob Curtis. I made the mistake of going with a couple of the players to a frat party my sophomore year and getting drunk; Coach Pooley came angrily to my door demanding the stats as I was ready to puke—never again did I get drunk after a football game!!

Once more, the players treated me as one of them. The coaches allowed me to eat with the team before the games. I rode on the bus. I went into the locker room. I consoled them when they were injured. I sat in the press box, through heat, cold, rain. The home games were catered, so the staff learned that I liked turkey sandwiches and they were there for me. As a stringer for the newspapers, radio and TV, I earned more pocket change.  

I had a blast. The toughest decision I faced at F&M was when I went to the Washington Semester Honors Program in Government at American University. Either I was giving up baseball my senior year or I would go for the Fall Semester. When I landed a summer Congressional internship which I could keep during the fall, the die was cast. My football stats career had come to an end. 

So when I see that another fall is upon us, I reminisce about my childhood and what football has meant to me. With much thanks to Jay Dakelman, who presented me with the greatest opportunities to understand and appreciate the game from the time I was so young and into college. His imprint is still there—I look for the stats on the big scoreboards at Jets games, keeping track of things in my head. I identify coverages and and anticipate play calls. 

It is easy for me to think how lucky I was having received the football education I absorbed.  My fabric is made up of many events which made me into who I am today. None were more important than the ones I was most fortunate to have received from the generosity of Jay Dakelman, beginning as little boy at the Rec in the summer of 1956.

Thus, it was an absolute travesty that the recent NJ.Com ranking of all-time coaches in all sports omitted Jay Dakelman. Jay was a pioneer and member of the first class of the NJ High School Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He coached at a small school so he could never measure up to those who were in the legendary programs at larger schools and at the Catholic high schools who recruited their talent.

With no apologies to the great Bob Hurley and his outstanding St. Anthony’s basketball teams—Bob being a Naismith Hall of Fame inductee—while Coach Hurley was listed as the top coach in the aforementioned rankings, Jay Dakelman will always be number one in mine. I wish I could have told him that.

Such Is The State Of Football In New York

This isn’t about the Yankees clinching the AL East and still navigating through drama in the form of Dellin Betances’ Achilles tendon and Domingo German’s domestic violence allegation or the update on Gary Sanchez’s health.  And it is not about garnering home field throughout the AL playoffs and through the World Series—Houston is likely going to have that in their favor.

It isn’t about the AL Wild Card race between a resurgent Cleveland team, a tough Tampa Bay squad and the seemingly always in the hunt Oakland A’s. Only 2 teams can make the Wild Card; somebody is odd man out.

Nor is it about the Mets not making it to the NL Wild Card even with the Cubs swoon, the Brewers rallying after losing Christian Yelich and the Cardinals acting like winners while the Nats see if they can make it through the week and head to the post-season. This despite the eye-popping numbers put up by Pete Alonso, who should get more than just Rookie of the Year accolades (he will suffer from Aaron Judge syndrome and only win Rookie of the Year honors) and the low E.R.A. posted (again) by Jacob deGrom. 

So this week’s installment is not about anything remotely baseball. Whether it be the Wild Cards, the forgotten and formidable Atlanta Braves and the equally dangerous Minnesota Twins. Or any potential firings (Joe Maddon??).

I am not writing about college football. Anybody would’ve foreseen Wisconsin romping over Michigan, Ohio State beating in-state rival Miami without mercy, Alabama sending Southern Miss back down I-59 after being vanquished. For that matter, Auburn going to College Station and emerging as a winner over Texas A&M. Ditto for Cal making the trip to Oxford and flying back home with a win over Mississippi, to the disappointment of the fraternity and sorority members and with a questionable call to end the game by a Pac 12 officiating crew (once more). UCF became a loser after the employment of a “Pitt Special.” How quaint. 

Even with Georgia clinging to a 23-17 win over Notre Dame in between the hedges at Dooley Field inside Sanford Stadium, that wasn’t enough to get me to expound on college football. Same thing with UCLA’s stunning 31 point turn around to defeat Washington State in Pullman. Big deal. Or ever pesky Appalachian State downing another Power 5 school on the road—this time it was North Carolina who was the victim. 

No reason to waste my time on Rutgers losing 30-16 to a not-very-good Boston College team in PIscataway. A sorry way to celebrate 150 year of college football on the Banks of the Old Raritan.

Lafayette traveled to Albany and will bus back a loser. For that matter, the best thing about the putrid Patriot League is that half of the teams had the weekend off. That Lafayette-Lehigh matchup in November is going to involve two very bad teams. This is unimportant.

The Ivy League opened its season and the schools went out of conference to a 6-2 mark, with the only losses coming in road tilts for Penn at Delaware and Harvard at San Diego. The list of chumps for the Ivies who were victorious: Bryant, Marist, Holy Cross, St. Francis (PA), Jacksonville, and Butler. Yawn.

NESCAC scores of note included Williams rebounding from its loss at Middlebury to thrash Tufts, who had upset Trinity the week before. Can the Ephs sustain this kind of play for the remainder of the season? Middlebury, Amherst and Wesleyan kept on rolling. Plus Trinity took it out on poor Bowdoin to the tune of 61-7. Too early to prognosticate.

Glad I didn’t watch this on the computer or make the drive to Lancaster. For the record, F&M downed Mc Daniel after trailing at the half. 

The Antonio Brown saga is in its final act for the very troubled man. At least he did not to play on Sunday against the Jets in Foxboro. And it isn’t about 30 teams in the NFL and how they are doing. 

Even if there was a great game on tap when Baltimore invades Arrowhead Stadium to meet the Chiefs. Lamar Jackson versus Patrick Mahomes. That’s just not what I want to write about this week.

What I am going to discuss is the state of professional football in the New York metropolitan area. To me, this is my top story of the week.

Some background is warranted. When I was young, I was a New York Giants fan. Until the American Football League arose in 1960, the NFL and the Giants were the only pro football franchise in town. So I became a Giants fan—what else was I going to do?

I rooted for Rosey Brown, Robustelli, Patton, Tittle, Shofner, Koy, Mercein, Homer Jones, to name a few. I thought Jim Lee Howell was a great coach and that his successor, Allie Sherman would be even better. Wellington Mara, the Giants patriarch, was a revered figure. I recall the stories about Frank Gifford and the hit which knocked hims senseless and the “Violent World of Sam Huff,” relating to his fierce style of play. 

My first NFL game was a 1966 afternoon when the Giants were beaten at Yankee Stadium by the fledgling Atlanta Falcons. The annual exhibition game between the Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles was a cannot miss Saturday afternoon event in August at the old Palmer Stadium on the grounds of prestigious Princeton University.

Yes, I was a Giants fan. And I still don’t root against them—only when they play the Jets. I loved the incarnation of Lawerence Taylor. Phil Simms was everything a QB should be. Bill Parcells was godly. Those guys could win.

Which leads to the current day New York Giants. In turmoil, with only a hope and a prayer to achieve success via a lengthy rebuilding. Are Dave Getteman and Steve Schurmer the right duo to lead them from the abyss?

The current squad is a shadow of some of the great teams which brought home 2 Lombardi Trophies under the guidance of Tom Coughlin and with Eli Manning at quarterback. With no evidence that the turnaround is near.

What happened this week with the benching of Eli Manning in an effort to salvage the season is more about egos than reality. While the team has been in decline for a number of reasons and the braintrust shipped star WR Odell Beckham, Jr. away to so-called purgatory in cold and windy Cleveland on the banks of frigid Lake Erie, are they deceiving themselves in believing that this is the right time to sit Eli and start heir apparent Daniel Jones, who looked exceptional against second team players during the pre-season?

The Giants hierarchy brought Manning back, ostensibly with idea to play him the entirety of the season. Which would allow for Jones to learn by watching Eli and absorbing his work ethic and taking his guidance. This had to be the plan, because Manning is a very large cap hit to the Giants, has a no trade clause, and he has been a fixture at QB and the face of the franchise. Manning, in my mind is a Hall of Fame inductee down the road. Everyone knew Manning’s numbers in the regular season weren’t stellar because many Giants teams were sub par—he has a 116-116 won-lost record for his career. Plus, Manning does have those 2 Super Bowl wins under his belt, along with the 2 Super Bowl M.V.P. awards and he has passed for the 6th most yardage in NFL history. 

Most every star QB faces the ultimate test—when age robs the youthful abilities and the hits absorbed take their cumulative toll. Nothing is forever, especially in the NFL. Eli had his streak of consecutive games unceremoniously broken at 210 when the then powers that be decided he had lost his stuff. Was that a harbinger of what was to come? Perhaps.

It is the way that the Giants muffed this that troubled me. They yanked Eli’s chain by giving him such a rich deal, made all sorts of promises about how he was going to be the QB, sink or swim however the season turned out. 

Instead, Eli has to suffer the embarrassment of being pulled in Game 3 of the 16 game Giants schedule. This is no way to treat an icon, a pillar of the community, an unselfish man, a consummate pro.

Just like when Eli replaced Kurt Warner as the Giants QB and never looked back, I wish that, for his sake, Daniel Jones has the same opportunity and as much success as Eli Manning.  This could be like Manning replacing a Hall of Fame QB in Warner. Moreover, I hope that Jones can carry himself with as much dignity and garner as much respect as Eli Manning has. 

Seeing an icon go down like this always hurts. I have to remind myself that there aren’t always storybook endings in pro sports, that everyone goes out on top and wins championships in their final season. That is the way it will be, as it was before with Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath, Joe Montana and so many more.

My second problem with New York pro football is my primary one. The team that I root for, more fervently since my sister and I became season ticket holders in 1977. That team is, of course, the New York Jets. They are the epitome of losing.

When the franchise was born, I had a mild interest in the Titans, who played their games at the Polo Grounds, sharing it with the new National League baseball club, the Mets. Besides sharing that old, dilapidated facility, they both were losers in their early years. 

With the opening of Shea Stadium in 1964, the team changed its name to the Jets, coinciding with the deafening roar of planes taking off from nearby La Guardia Airport. While the name changed, the team would not get any better until the arrival of the guy with the bad knees, Joe Willie Namath, as effete sports reporter Howard Cosell would refer to the fledgling Jets QB out of the University of Alabama. He was part of a 1-2 punch with John Huarte, another QB out of Notre Dame, a hedge against Namath’s bad knees, but nonetheless prizes for the big city and empresario, David (Sonny) Werblin in the AFL-NFL signing war.

Suddenly, under the tutelage of Weeb Ewbank, the former head man in Baltimore, replaced by the Colts management with a much younger Don Shula, the Jets roster became more acceptable and the team began to win behind Namath’s aerial show, throwing to receivers like Hall of Fame wide out Don Maynard, George Sauer, Pete Lammons and Bake Turner. He had a monster offensive line headed by Winston Hill, Randy Rasmussen, John Schmitt and Dave Herman, able to keep him upright and permitting Namath to throw as well as run block for running back Emerson Boozer and Matt Snell. The defense had John Elliot, Verlon Biggs, Al Atkinson, Larry Grantham, Gerry Philbin, Ralph Baker. The kicking was outstanding with Jim Turner and Steve O’Neal. 

With the decline of the Giants for years to come, the Jets became the media’s darlings, culminating in the Super Bowl III win, the only appearance for the franchise in the iconic game, made so by the upset win Namath and crew engineered over the heavily favored Baltimore Colts.

Recently, ESPN celebrated the 50th anniversary of the start of Monday Night Football, by televising the game between the two participants—Cleveland and the Jets. In the original game, Namath broke his wrist and was out for the season. The Jets went 4-10. Prior to this contest, the Jets lost starting QB Sam Darnold to mononucleosis, and then his backup Trevor Simiean hurt his ankle and was lost for the season. This fit right in with the ugly past of the Jets.

Sub-tenants in Shea Stadium due to the onerous lease M. Donald Grant of the Mets forced on the football team to protect the baseball turf from football cleats, often the team would play many games away from home to start the season, most notably when the Mets won the National League in 1973 and the Jets didn’t get home until the end of October.

During this time, the glamor wore off of the team. The wins continued to decrease and the team switched head coaches, from Ewbank, to his son-in-law, Charlie Winner, to Lou Holtz. Holtz unexpectedly left the team to assume the head coaching vacancy at Arkansas, and vaunted runner John Riggins left for Washington, tired of too many Namath passes.

With the 1976 installation of Walt Michaels as the head man came the trading of an old and oft-injured Namath. While I watched the away games TV due to blackout, I had no idea that Jets season tickets were available until one day I saw and ad and jumped at the idea. Although I would painfully learn that Shea Stadium was a hard car ride from New Jersey and a difficult ride on the 7 train if I parked in Manhattan, I was enthused and went to all of the home games. I had been smitten

The 1977 NFL draft produced beloved WR Wesley Walker, tackle Marvin Powell and defensive stalwart Joe Klecko. Richard Todd, another QB from Alabama, along with Matt Robinson from Georgia, battled for the QB job until Todd finally won it outright due to Robinson injuring himself arm wrestling. You cannot make this stuff up.

The beleaguered Michaels finally guided his team into the playoffs in 1981, with Todd at the helm, Walker catching passes and Klecko, Marty Lyons and Mark Gastineau forming the “New York Sack Exchange” en route to recording 40 sacks. The Jets fell behind the Buffalo Bills 24-0 in the Wild Card game on December 27, 1981, losing 31-27 when a Todd pass was intercepted near the goal line. I remember the game vividly, because I had gotten little sleep the night before—I met my wife for the first time on a blind date and we talked for two hours when I needed to get home for some sleep before the long trip to Queens. 

The 1982 team, behind Todd, Walker and running back Freeman Mc Neil, made it to the AFC Championship Game in Miami, where it was a mud bowl, allegedly due to the Orange Bowl not having a tarp to cover the field from overnight rains. The running game stalled, Todd threw 5 interceptions and the Jets were losers, 14-0.

Michaels left and in came offensive coordinator Joe Walton to led the squad. In the 1983 NFL draft, the team passed on Dan Marino, selecting QB Ken O’Brien. More mediocrity ensued and the Jets could not overcome an impasse with Mayor Ed Koch’s office on expanding Shea Stadium, so owner Leon Hess moved the team to Giants Stadium (to my ever-lasting glee).

1985 and 1986 were playoff years and while the team was inconsistent, they were exciting, witness as I did, the 51-45 OT shootout between Marino and O ’Brien which the Jets won. I was there when the Jets beat Kansas City in the Wild Card game and Pat Ryan relieved an ineffective O ‘Brien. A loss by the injury-riddled Jets at Cleveland in the next game ended the run. That year, the Giants won their first Super Bowl, but may not have been the best team in the area.

By 1989, the Jets were back into losing and Walton was fired. Bruce Coslet came in from Cincinnati as an offensive guru. The Jets made some bad decisions, drafting RB Blair Thomas, who was too often injured and not finalizing a draft day deal for Brett Favre. A kicker named Raul Allegre, who replaced the legendary Pat Leahy, converted field goals to force OT and then to win at Miami. This put Coset and his team in the Wild Card again—with a loss to Houston.

Coslet famously started Browning Nagle in 1992, leading to a 4-12 mark, with the retirement of super WR Al Toon due to too many concussions and the partial paralyzation of lineman Dennis Byrd.

Bringing in Boomer Esiason to play quarterback didn’t help, nor did a December slide, which cost the team a playoff berth and Coslet his job. 

Enter the Pete Carroll era. All of one season. Owner Leon Hess lost his GM, Dick Steinberg, to stomach cancer. The greatest disaster came with the signing of Rich Kotitie as Head Coach and GM. With a plethora of bad decisions, the worst season in Jets history, 1-15, came about.

A return to respectability ensued with the hiring of former Giants legend Bill Parcells to be the head coach. Even that was botched, with the Jets making Bill Belichick head man for 6 days, until Commissioner Paul Tagliabue negotiated a compromise solution to free Parcells from his New England contract.

Making one of the best signings in franchise history with free agent Curtis Martin and having former Baltimore Ravens QB Vinny Testaverde, the 1998 team went 12-4 and was up 10-0 in Denver in the third quarter, when the roof caved in. It was especially bittersweet for me, as I had two tickets for the Super Bowl if the Jets won.

1999 was, once more, a disaster, with Testaverde going down with an injury and culminating in Parcells resignation as head coach. Belichick was to be the next up, but, in the fine tradition of Jets screwups, we all know that Robert Kraft astutely lured him to New England and what has transpired since.

Leon Hess died and Woody Johnson outbid Charles Dolan to become the next owner of the Jets; imagine how that would have turned out with the Dolans running the show like they have with the Knicks and Rangers.

Having acquired 4 first round picks in 2000, the Jets picked QB Chad Pennington, DL John Abraham and Shaun Ellis and TE Anthony Becht. All good but not great choices. No playoffs that year, but it is remembered for the “Monday Night Miracle” comeback, the largest in the history of Monday Night Football and winning the first four games in a season for the first time ever.

Al Groh resigned as Head Coach for the same position at his alma mater, the University of Virginia. Parcells left the fold and Terry Bradway took over executive decisions. His first head coaching hire was Herm Edwards, and the team won a do-or-die game in Oakland to get into the playoffs, only to return to Oakland to be eliminated the next weekend.

Pennington was outstanding in 2002, finishing as the top-rated passer in the NFL. A final game win at home versus Green Bay was followed by a 41-0 playoff romp over Indianapolis. Nemesis Oakland booted the Jets from the playoffs.

In 2003, the team was decimated by free agent defections and the loss of Pennington to a serious wrist injury. The 2004 team made the playoffs, starting out 5-0 before Pennington suffered a rotator cuff tear. New York defeated San Diego on a Doug Brien field goal, with the 15-1 Pittsburgh Steelers up next in the divisional round. Brien missed two crucial kicks in regulation and OT, costing the Jets the victory.

Both Pennington and backup QB Jay Fielder were injured in the same game in 2005. Brooks Bollinger was awful and Testaverde was ineffective when he came out of retirement. Martin also had arthroscopic knee surgery that year.

Herm Edwards left for Kansas City. Eric Mangini, a former New England defensive coordinator replaced Edwards, and Mike Tannebaum succeeded the reigning Bradway.

“Mangenius” got his team into the playoffs, where the Patriots ousted them.

2007 was the year of “Video Gate,” involving the Patriots spying on the Jets. Starting out 1-7, Pennington was benched, replaced by the ill-fated Kellen Clemens. A 4-12 mark was a sharp contrast to the Giants and Eli Manning upsetting the undefeated Patriots in the Super Bowl.

High hopes came in the form of Brett Favre, who had been replaced in Green Bay by Aaron Rodgers. Until Favre tore his rotator cuff. For good measure, the Jets were eliminated in the last game of the season by a Miami Dolphins team with a special QB—Chad Pennington.

Gone was Mangini and enter loquacious Rex Ryan, the son of former Bears head coach Buddy Ryan, a one-time Jets defensive coordinator. Installed at QB was Mark Sanchez out of USC. All he does is lead the team to 2 consecutive AFC Championship losses. His resume includes the “butt fumble,’ and a fade from prominence. QB’s such as Tim Tebow, Greg Mc Elroy, Geno Smith and Michael Vick couldn’t right the ship.

Management changes occurred after the 2014 season with the firings of John Idzik and Ryan, with Tannenbaum having been fired in 2012.

The Todd Bowles era was equally dissatisfying. New leader Sam Darnold showed some promise as a rookie, but another 4-12 was the result.

So here we are. 2019 and another lost year with Darnold down, and current QB Luke Falk out of his element. This team is bad. Even if Darnold returns, the team is going to be below .500. The defense has only one legitimate player—Jamal Adams, and he is unhappy. Le’Veon Bell is a costly free agent signing and the Jets have burned through a ton of cap money in assembling this mediocrity.

If I sound bitter, well, I am. From what I have chronicled, it is painfully obvious. The Jets have a total of 14 years when they made the playoffs. I have been a season ticket holder for 12 of those seasons. With nary a Super Bowl appearance. No AFC Championships hosted during that time. The cumulative record of the Jets is way below .500 for the franchise as well as for me—401-494-8 overall and 295-364 for me. The team is 12-13 in post-season play.

I pay top dollar to sit upstairs in a stadium devoid of any color. Parking is not cheap. In term of an investment, a seat license for this franchise was not a good move. 

I now have to use my phone to show my tickets to enter the stadium. With nothing to show for my investment of time, money, sweat and near frostbite. Management could not close the deal on a new domed stadium on Manhattan’s West Side—I blame Senate Leader Sheldon Silver and his nefarious ways. Once more, typical Jets. 

I have a partner, a friend from law school, who is equally as disgusted with the current version of the New York Jets. Another law school friend has had tickets going back to the days of the AFL and headed out of Wilmington, Delaware on weekends to root for the Jets in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. He is so addicted that he and a group of friends travel to an away game every year. At least they eat well on those trips. Like me, he too is dejected about the state of the team and its future.

My friend from Highland Park, who I go with annually, is a Rutgers fan like I am—he graduated from there—I did not. He sees as much losing as I do, which is a lot. Fan X is a diehard, but he is already finished with the team for this season after the Game 1 loss to Buffalo. 

We are not alone. The airwaves and social media is awash with complaints about the Jets. Most Jets fans take solace in the Giants woes, except they managed to win a few Super Bowls since 1969. The rise of the Patriots has been a thorn in our side. Dan Marino was another irritant. I can go on and on. 

I have two more games this season—New England on a Monday night in October. I hope the weather is okay. I will have to leave exceptionally early to insure a good parking spot rather than hunt for one when patrons use two or three for their tailgating. Maybe Darnold will be back. But it is, to me, already a season lost unless a miracle occurs—something which almost never happens in Jets land.

Then I have one more game left in my season. The hated Giants play as the visitors in Met Life Stadium. Will this be a game between two also-rans? Based on their records thus far and their play on Sunday? 

Wait—didn’t Daniel Jones throw for over 300 yards and 2 TD’s and run for two more as the Giants pulled off an amazing comeback in Tampa? Jones versus Darnold. The future of football in New York. This story still has to unfold. I worry that it will prove to be the same old one for the snake-bitten Jets give their history, while the Giants might be headed towards glory once more. While I grow older and more impatient, spending my Sundays, some Mondays and an occasional Thursday rooting for what seems to be nearly impossible.

Such is the state of football in New York.

Following Football and Baseball

While I was away on a mini road trip, sports seemingly always was nearby. Before I left NJ, Fan X and I went to the Meadowlands to watch the Bills and Jets. With some enthusiasm and much more trepidation, as these are the New York Jets, we watched Jets legend and Pro Football Hall of Fame player Joe Namath appear on the field and his magic might have led to the Jets running up the score to 16-0.

But within that score were some not so good things. The Jets kicker, acquired off of the waiver wire from the Minnesota Vikings, missed an extra point and horribly shanked a FG attempt (If he couldn’t kick indoors well enough to impress the Vikings, who would have thought he could kick well outdoors in the unpredictable winds of Met Life Stadium, a place he had never kicked in until game day?). Defensively, the Jets were doing okay until LB C.J. Mosley injured his groin and could not return in the pivotal fourth quarter. Mosley had an interception for a TD, led the team in tackles and sacks. He was the leader of the defense. 

Meanwhile, the offense was stagnant. LeVeon Bell was a bit rusty in his first action of the year, but he did bail the Jets out with some key catches and short runs. WR Jamison Crowder was QB Sam Darnold’s favorite target on short routes into soft coverage offered by Buffalo. Darnold missed a number of opportunities with balls batted down by the Bills defensive line or overthrowing WR Richie Anderson on a deep ball when Anderson was wide open.

With their best defender gone, it opened up the field for the Bills. QB Josh Allen shredded the meager Jets defense for 17 uninterrupted points to take the lead. New York could not mount a comeback. What should have been a win instead was a disheartening one point loss. 

With the season already looking drab, the news got worse this week. First, WR Quincy Enunwa suffered another neck injury; last season he was out do to neck problems. Then a reserve DL was hit for a 6 game ban for using banned substances. Mosley and first round pick DE Quinnen Williams remain out. To top that off, Darnold was diagnosed with mononucleosis, putting him on the shelf for a minimum of 5-6 weeks. 

Now the season is left to reserve QB Trevor Siemian to resurrect. The one-time Denver Broncos QB out of Northwestern has a track record of starting and winning for John Elway’s team, but not well enough for Elway to be satisfied with his abilities. If Siemian can keep his predilection for making bad throws under control, and the Jets get more out of Bell in the upcoming game against Cleveland on Monday night, then they actually have a chance. Cleveland was battered by Tennessee in their opener and Baker Mayfield and Odell Beckham, Jr. will be coming to New Jersey to show a national TV audience that the opener was a fluke.

Make no mistake—this Jets team was flawed at the outset. Starting with the head coach. I was not enamored with Adam Gase when he was in Miami, and I haven’t been thrilled with him thus far. While defensive coordinator Gregg Williams comes with a reputation as a bounty hunter (New Orleans) and a proven track record with good players, he does not have that kind of roster in New York. The secondary is pitiful and the defense has taken a tough hit with the loss of Mosley for however long the groin is hurting. 

The schedule is not easy—probably the only plusses in the early part were the Bills and Browns to open at home—with the Browns inaccurately anointed as Super Bowl contenders. Next up after Monday night is a trip to New England, who are 2-0 after a trip to Miami to play the woeful Dolphins. New England actually improved itself this season, even with the retirement of TE Ron Gronkowski. The acquisition of troubled and extraordinarily talented WR Antonio Brown makes the Patriots even more formidable. The defensive secondary is one of the best. Demolitions of the Steelers and Dolphins while surrendering only 3 points total is impressive—even if the opponents are not that talented. And oh, yeah, they still have the ageless wonders, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. 

In Miami, there is a disaster there, too. The Dolphins have been pummeled by Baltimore and New England, to the tune of 59-10 and 43-0. Key players have been traded away. Others, like DB Mika Fitzpatrick, want out of an untenable situation. Supposedly, the Dolphins are tanking the season, in order to have first crack at Alabama QB Tua Tagovailoa, the consensus number 1 player in college football. It is a risky proposition to try this route, if indeed Miami is attempting such. History in Miami is trying to repeat itself—when the Dolphins needed to replace the aged Bob Griese, somehow they were able to secure the draft rights to Dan Marino. Although Miami never won a Super Bowl with him, the franchise obtained one of the greatest QB’s in the history of the game.

I don’t know if Miami will go winless this year. They do have two games against the Jets…and one in Met Life Stadium against the Giants. They play a Monday night contest in Pittsburgh, which is a team hard to gauge without its star QB. Washington visits on October 13; there are road games in Cleveland and Indianapolis; Cincinnati comes into Miami Gardens on December 22. The remainder of the schedule is rugged. I don’t know if Phil Simms’ prognostication of 3 wins is doable. I feel sad for such a proud franchise with a very loyal fan base.

Another disaster is the co-tenant at Met Life Stadium. The Giants are 0-2 after Buffalo defeated them 28-14. Absent Saquan Barkley, who scored his first TD against the Bills, the Giants simply do not have talent. The Daniel Jones/replace Eli QB watch in the media will be ramped up. For my Jets games this year, I took the Giants game on November 10. I would say that somebody has to win the game, but then again, I watched Arizona and Detroit play to a tie in Glendale last Sunday.

We landed at the Louis Armstrong International Airport and our Lyft driver took us past the Superdome about 3 hours before kickoff. Hordes of fans were heading to the stadium, wreaking havoc with the traffic on the old, narrow streets of New Orleans. Incredibly, we secured our daughter’s car, retrieved boxes from her apartment and escaped the Crescent City two hours before game time.  

The Saints fans were ready for this game. Most were wearing Drew Brees jerseys, as expected. But we did see a number of fans wearing referee shirts (predominantly women) as sarcasm by telling the world that they did not forget what happened to the team with the horrendous non-call in the NFC title game.

Safely in our hotel room in Hattiesburg , Mississippi and after we had eaten dinner, we watched the exciting conclusion to the Texans-Saints game. The Saints converted a 47 yard field goal with :50 left. Deshaun Watson, an emerging talent in the NFL, took his team to pay dirt in 13 seconds. Which was too much time left for Drew Brees, who positioned his team for a the winning 58 yard field goal by Will Lutz. A great way to finishing the opening weekend in the NFL’s 100th season.

The rematch was on Sunday, this time in Los Angeles. It was one-sided, largely due to a thumb injury sustained by Brees, forcing a very rusty backup Teddy Bridgewater to face the Rams defense. LA cruised to the win.

I went 14-2 in my picks last week—losing on the Jets game and with Jacksonville, as QB Nick Foles suffered a broken clavicle. Had I picked Buffalo, we would have been in it to win the weeks’s bounty at FOX News, my daughter’s longtime ago employer. 

I pick the games and she corrects me. We do it more for the fun, as I am no more an expert than any other gambler. This week, I started out with a loss when I went with Carolina over the Buccaneers. Cam Newton does not look very good right now. He has lost 8 straight starts and appears to be still not fully strong after shoulder surgery. Plus he gets hurt too much during games. What once was a very promising career could be on the downside if he cannot improve his throwing. 

Conversely, Jameis Winston looked strong and the defense charted by former Jets head man Todd Bowles was spot on. With Bruce Arians at the helm, supported by a cohesive group of assistants who are among the best in the NFL, the 1-1 Bucs could be a sleeper. Forget the home loss to San Francisco to open the season—the Niners are a legitimately good team that can put up points—31 against the Bucs and 41 on the road in Cincinnati. The division is not that good—Tampa Bay and New Orleans were the top two teams until yesterday. 

Buffalo had the scheduling oddity of playing the Jets and the Giants in the Meadowlands on consecutive Sundays. Behind QB Josh Allen and an improved defense, the Bills are the champions of Met Life for now. Dallas and Miami have the opportunity to also go 2-0 if they defeat both New York teams at Met Life Stadium.

The rest of my picks were fairly good until the end—Houston escaped the Jaguars at home by 1; the Ravens survived against the Cardinals in Baltimore; Green Bay went to 2-0 with another division win, this time defeating the Vikings; Seattle, which had a losing record when at Pittsburgh, pulled out a 28-26 win over the winless Steelers and Big Ben, who suffered a season and possibly career-ending elbow injury; Kansas City won again, this time at Oakland; Dallas bested the Redskins on the road; I did not pick the Indianapolis Colts to have a comeback win at Tennessee, which had punished the Browns the week before, nor did I have enough faith in the Bears, who won at Denver with :01 left in regulation, or the Lions against the Chargers. It was totally fitting that my pick in the Sunday night game was Philadelphia on the road in Atlanta—thanks Matt Ryan for your late game heroics to completely obliterate my chance to win this week’s pool.

At the end of Week 2, there will be 8 teams with an 0-2 record. Nine teams have 2-0 records. How many of those losing franchises will be tanking, and how many of those elite teams will win at least 10 games? 

With all these QB’s going down, do I believe that Colin Kaepernick is going to return to the NFL? Nah…Tony Romo stands a better chance for a comeback and he’d be foolish to give up his gig @ CBS. BTW—Nike’s commercial featuring the polarizing former 49’ers QB won an Emmy.

We stayed in three college towns on this trip. Which brought good luck to two—Southern Mississippi and the University of Tennessee. Our other locale, Pittsburgh, is home to the Pitt Panthers, who invaded Beaver Stadium and gave their former arch rival, the Penn State Nittany Lions, a real tussle. While we passed Tuscaloosa, they probably didn’t need any extra help in defeating South Carolina in the SEC opener. We couldn’t help UT Chattanooga much, because they played at Tennessee. Maybe we were also helpful for West Virginia, who won over NC State at home, and Washington and Jefferson College, who trounced Thiel. 0-1 Emory and Henry thankfully had a bye.

While I jest about our giving good luck to some teams by mere presence (and possibly bad luck on the pro level by being at Met Life, passing the Superdome and Heinz Field last week), the college football landscape is shaping up and becoming interesting. At all levels. 

Clemson got revenge at Syracuse, easily handling the Orange. No. 3 Georgia ripped Arkansas State, but that wasn’t the real story. Fans came to the game wearing pink, in memory of Wendy Anderson, the late wife of ASU Head Coach Brian Anderson, who lost her courageous fight against cancer. Very poignant and classy. 

There were oddities—Iowa defeated Iowa State when an Iowa punt accidentally hit a Cyclone player who ventured too near the play, giving the men from Iowa City the Cy-Hawk Trophy for another year (The trophy name is derived from Cy the Cardinal from Iowa State and Hawk the Hawkeye of Iowa). 

Plenty of upsets. Number one was The Citadel’s triple option running for 320 yards and  downing Georgia Tech in Atlanta in OT. The Citadel does pull some upsets of the big boys—they defeated in-state foe South Carolina in 2015 and Army and Arkansas in 1992. The Bulldogs received $400,000 from Tech for the game. They should have held out for more.

Another giant killer, although on a lesser scale, is Eastern Michigan. The MAC school went to Illinois and beat the Illini. This is the third consecutive year EMU has downed a Big Ten opponent on the road—Rutgers in 2017 and Purdue in 2018.

Herm Edwards’ Arizona State Sun Devils journeyed to East Lansing and knocked off No. 18 Michigan State which had a 42 yard FG wiped off the board via penalty and then the ensuing kick was missed. Didn’t Herm once coach in the NFL—for the Jets among others?

Surprising Kansas State went to Starkville and downed Mississippi State. The Wildcats are now 3-0. No. 17 UCF hosted Stanford in a true test of their strength. UCF passed with flying colors. Air Force won a rare battle with in-state rival Colorado, posting a 30-23 win in Boulder. I guess that Colgate warmed them up for the task. Kansas traveled East and returned home a winner at the expense of Boston College. What has happened to BC football?

Moreover, what has happened to USC and UCLA? The Trojans lost to BYU on the road and the Bruins were shellacked by a very good Oklahoma Sooners squad. I don’t think that the Pac 12 is a s good as the pollsters make them out. Utah is the highest ranked, at number 10, followed by Oregon, Washington, Washington State, California and Arizona State. I am willing to say that: 1) half of these schools are unranked in 3-4 weeks; 2) not one of them will be in the top 10.

My weekly update for the Patriot League is glum. Lehigh and Lafayette are now 0-3. So are Bucknell and Colgate. Georgetown is 2-1 by virtue of wins over Marist and Division III Catholic. Holy Cross is 1-1, with a blowout loss at Navy then a 13-10 triumph over a weaker than usual New Hampshire team. Fordham’s win is at Bryant, with a home loss to Central Connecticut State and a trouncing by Ball State. This is not going to be a good season, and the conference winner will be sent home in the first round of the playoffs.

In Division II, top-ranked Valdosta State opened its home slate with a big win over Ohio Dominican. That’s 17 straight for the Blazers.

Big news in the Centennial Conference. Susquehanna upset Johns Hopkins in Baltimore for the second year in a row. This does not mean that Hopkins is a lesser team than the one which reached the Division III semi-finals last year. There are some players at Franklin and Marshall, big winners over a Juniata team which is not very good, and #8 Muhlenberg, who has The College Of New Jersey and Dickinson as its victims. 

In the NESCAC, Tufts downed perennial power Trinity in the opener. This is eye-opening. Middlebury downed Williams—the Ephs are a sad situation, far from their not-so-long ago glory days. Along with Trinity, they are in the second tier with the usual suspects—Bates, Bowdoin and Colby. Trinity is likely to escape, but is Williams?

Baseball now has two weeks left to complete the season. The competition for the best overall record is fierce among the Yankees, Astros and Dodgers. After Sunday’s play, Houston and New York are deadlocked. 

Quietly, the Twins have accumulated a 4.5 game lead on the Indians. Cleveland is 1.5 games out of the second AL Wild Card berth, with Oakland 1.5 games ahead of Tampa Bay.

The Dodgers have clinched their division and the Braves have clinched a playoff berth en route to winning the NL East in a day or so. The NL Central and Wild Card are up for grabs. St. Louis, Chicago and Milwaukee are separated by only 3 games. The Cubs and Cardinals play each other 7 times in the remaining 13 games. While Washington has a 1.5 game lead over the Cubs in the Wild Card, Milwaukee, playing hard despite the loss of superstar outfielder Christian Yelich, remains 1 game behind the Cubs, with a much less rigorous schedule. And believe it or not, the Mets are still in the Wild Card chase, 4 games behind the Cubs after a horrendous loss on Sunday night. Will the season-ending series at home against Atlanta be meaningful?

The Yankees had some encouraging news Sunday. Lefty Jordan Montgomery pitched for the first time since rehabbing from Tommy John surgery. He gave up 3 runs, looked more like a pitcher still in Spring Training. Dellin Betances looked sharper in his two batter debut. Luis Severino is expected to pitch on Tuesday. Slugger Giancarlo Stanton may be there on Tuesday, too. 

Still, while Aaron Judge is starting to hit homers, Gleyber Torres is a budding superstar and Brett Gardner is having a career power year, the Yankees suffered more injuries when Gary Sanchez, Edwin Encarnacion went on the IL again and surprising outfielder Mike Tauchman suffered a calf injury which puts his season return in jeopardy. Then there is the question of what does C.C. Sabathia have left in his tank as an opener or reliever? There are many difficult decisions to make about the post-season roster, which will clear up by the time we reach the end of the season.

As for those naysayers about the disappointing finish by the USA team in the FiBA Championships (won by Spain), remember this—if we had a full squad of the top flight players, this would never have happened. At least we are qualified for the Olympics.

I end with this in mind—thankfully Rutgers didn’t lose this weekend. They didn’t play.