Watch out Reggie Bush, you’re done!

Hey Reggie Bush, you better watch your back and your knee and your head. Kim Kardashian isn’t here to save you anymore (she’s busy with Kayne know right?) and the Jets are coming for you. If you had any doubts about the 2012 New York Jets defense, they are as mean and nasty as it ever was… And Reggie Bush is about to feel the pain.

Jets coach Rex Ryan said he wants Dolphins running back Reggie Bush to apologize for his “what-goes-around-comes-around” comment from Week 3. Bush, speaking two days after the Jets’ Week 3 win in Miami, intimated that cornerback Darrelle Revis deserved his season-ending knee injury.

As for Ryan’s players, well, they just want Bush, period.

“We want to knock him out, but we’re out to do it legally,” linebacker Aaron Maybin said.

Bush couldn’t finish the first meeting because of a second-quarter knee injury. Safety LaRon Landry, who made the initial hit on the play, said Bush will be haunted by it when the teams meet again Sunday at MetLife Stadium.

“Every time he sees me, he will remember that hit,” Landry said. “If I’m in the box or I’m going downhill, he’ll remember that hit.”

Landry has been called for three personal-foul penalties this season, but he said he’s not about to change his physical style of play.

“If I get penalized, I’m not going to stop head-hunting,” he said. “I’m not going to stop the way I play.”

I’m not going to lie, I absolutely LOVE seeing the Jets defense fired up and on a mission. The New York Jets are mad as hell that they lost to the New England Patriots and they’re about to take it out on an inferior team, the Dolphins. Look out Ryan Tannehill, you’re about to meet the pain train. Reggie Bush? I honestly wouldn’t even think about touching the ball because the New York Jets defense and the ghost of Darrelle Revis’ ACL are coming to destroy you. Don’t believe me? LaRon Landry thinks otherwise!

The Enforcer: LaRon Landry

Mark Sanchez, you’re Jets starting QB

Yes, it’s true that Mark Sanchez hasn’t played his best football this year. Statistically, Mark Sanchez is horrendous by quarterback rating and QBR standings go, bottom 5 in the NFL in both categories. Sanchez has thrown 9 touchdowns and 7 interceptions, a few of which are awful, inexcusable, hit your head against a wall decisions. But Mark Sanchez has also shown the ability to lead the Jets in difficult situations such as a 90+ yard drive to get the Jets within striking distance of the New England Patriots in the 4th quarter.

Mark Sanchez will never be Tom Brady, Eli Manning or Drew Brees. With the position he was drafted in, we all hoped he would be, but it’s just not the case. But at this point in time, the Jets best bet is to roll with Sanchez. Is Tim Tebow really going to perform any better? No, I don’t think so. And neither does the Jets coaching staff or front office. Because if the Jets really did believe in Tim Tebow aside from Jersey sales and ticket prices, they would have given him more reps while Sanchez was struggling mightily. While the Jets fan base faith in Mark Sanchez might be low, the Jets coaches have even lower faith in Tim Tebow to get the job done.

And to the Jets fans that want Greg McElroy to play? Find a busy road and run across it (just kidding, but seriously). McElroy hasn’t even suited up for an NFL game this year and his experience in the league has been restricted to preseason games against 3rd strings scrubs. McElroy would get eaten alive behind center, especially with the severe lack of weapons the Jets have.

Oh, I mentioned lack of weapons didn’t I? That’s going out to you Mike Tannenbaum! Because while Mark Sanchez is severely struggling, find me a quarterback that would be succeeding with Jeremy Kerley and Stephen Hill as their #1 and #2? They’re both fantastic young receivers but they wouldn’t be sniffing first and second team reps on 75%. Bottom line, the Jets have a total lack of weapons on offense and it’s due to the front office, not Mark Sanchez.

All in all, Jets fans can stop their complaining. Because nothing is changing anytime soon. The 2012 Jets team has some heart and fight in them. They might not be the healthiest or most talented team in the NFL, but they’re going to come out and hit you in the mouth.

The Jets made it close, but lost in OT.

That one is going to sting for quite a while. The New York Jets hung around against the Patriots, coming back from down 10 points in the 4th quarter to have the lead, but gave it away in the final two minutes and overtime. The Jets had the game in their hands after the ineptitude of the Patriots almost lost it, but due to a few poor plays and ineffective clock management, the Jets are now 3-4 while the Pats are in 1st place. Here are a few quick note reactions from the Jets loss to the Patriots in overtime.

• The Jets are playing inspired football, despite a lack of talent and some key injuries. Even with Darrelle Revis out, the Jets defense has stepped up to the plate big time. For the most part, the Jets defense played extremely well against the Patriots and Tom Brady. It was nice to see and definitely a big confidence boost for future games.
• Mark Sanchez played well, but didn’t come up in the final drive. That can often be the difference between an average quarterback and a legend. The ability to drive the football team down the field with the game on the line. The Jets had a chance to seal the deal with a touchdown or take it back to the Pats with a field goal, but a big hit on Sanchez sealed the deal.
• Offensive player of the game: Jeremy Kerley. Yup, this one was easy. Kerley played some stellar football with big catches all over the football, proving to be Mark Sanchez’s new favorite target. 7 catches for 120 yards is some impressive work for the Jets 2nd year wide receiver.
• Defensive Player of the Game: Isiah Trufant. Who is Isiah Trufant? Just some little, tiny guy on the Jets defense that played awesome football today. He really has come into his own, especially as the Jets nickel back. Phenomenal job by Trufant in the losing effort, 6 tackles with 2 for a loss.

Overall, the Jets played their hearts out and just didn’t get the W this week. I’d go as far as saying this is a “moral victory”, but there isn’t a moral victory category on the Wins and Loss record. I said it before, it was an extremely tough loss for the New York Jets but the team showed some grit. The Jets don’t look like world beaters, but they will be a competitive team in the NFL this year, with a shot at making the playoffs.

What are your thoughts on the game? Leave them here.

Jets vs Patriots: Who will win?

The 3-3 New York Jets are taking on the 3-3 New England Patriots in a battle of for mediocre AFC East supremacy, but who will win? Not the Jets, according to much of the outside world. Las Vegas has the Jets listed as +11 point underdogs, even though the Patriots are coming off a poor loss in Seattle to rookie QB Russell Wilson. No one outside of New Jersey/New York is giving the Jets a chance, so is there any hope?

The short answer? Yes, there is always hope.

Let’s be honest with ourselves here, the New England Patriots are a better football team than the New York Jets. But if the NFL has proved anything this season, it’s that any team can pull off the upset on any given Sunday (or Thursday or Monday night). The Patriots certainly have more firepower than the Jets on offense, although the Patriots defense has shown some critical flaws in the 4th quarter during the team’s three loses. During the initial part of this season, Tom Brady has at times, looked like Tom Brady and at times, looked like a mere mortal.

The Jets are certainly fired up for this game in Foxborough, but we’ve seen that before haven’t we? It seems like every time we play the Patriots, either the Jets pull off a huge win in nailbiter fashion, or the Patriots blow Gang Green out in embarrassing fashion. According to the experts, the Jets are about to experience the blowout. But has Rex rallied the troops around the injuries of Darrelle Revis and Santonio Holmes? Is Mark Sanchez finally going to step up and play like a top-5 overall draft pick? Is Tim Tebow going to breakout into #TebowTime?

Well, there’s only one way to find out. Tune into the game at 4:25pm on Sunday and watch. But while the Jets seemingly have no shot at a victory, there’s always any given Sunday!

Shonn Greene leads Ground and Pound to a Jets win

Ground and Pound is back for the New York Jets. At least for this week it was, as the New York Jets thoroughly handled the Indianapolis Colts 35-9. All around, it was a great effort by the Jets in all three phases of the game. Here are some quick note reactions from the game below. More detailed podcast and posts to follow!

• Shonn Greene, nice to see you again. 150+ yards and 3 touchdowns is nothing to sneeze at. Greene definitely deserved the gameball after this Jets victory, literally carrying the Jets offense to a thorough victory.
• Jets defense literally imposed their will on an inferior Colts offense. The Jets shutdown the running game from the first blow of the whistle, forcing the Colts into predictable passing situations. It definitely helped that Andrew Luck missed multiple targets with over-thrown balls, but you take what you can get.
• Mark Sanchez, the model of efficiency? Looking at Mark’s statistics, he only threw for 82 yards, but he didn’t make a mistake. Sanchez was money in the redzone with 2 TDs and no turnovers, a refreshing change. We’re certainly not going to be able to win many games with less than 100 yards passing by our quarterback, but it’s nice to see that Sanchez was actually able to manage an efficient game and not throw it away for once.

You got questions, We got answers!

Earlier this week, I reached out to readers via the Jersey Jets Fan newsletter, asking specifically for questions or comments regarding the New York Jets. I received a emails, tweets and Facebook posts, all asking different questions regarding Gang Green’s rough start to the 2012 season. It was truly an awesome turnout of questions from Jets fans in varying locations from California, New Jersey to Sydney, Australia! In true Jersey Jets Fan fashion, I came back with my own spin on the answers, whether or not you agree with them or not.

Unfortunately for the podcast, I’m actually not at my apartment in Washington DC and back at my folks house in Jersey, so I didn’t have access to my usual podcasting equipment  I simply ran with it on my iPhone 4S, so if the sound quality is lacking, don’t kill the podcaster! The file was actually too big to email in one segment, so the podcast is split up into two different files. Enough of the talk though, the question and answer podcast is below!

Hi Rob,
My wife and I live on the west coast near L.A. Bellflower, Ca. to be exact. We went to the Jets game on September 30th and although the outcome wasn’t what we wanted, the game experience was great. Metlife stadium is better in person than in the pics. Seeing so many Jets fans in one place…. Well it’s not like on the west coast. Going to the game from New York city we thought we were going to get lost, but helpful fans in the green and white directed us to the right station. What an experience riding the train to the Meadowlands. When people found out we was from the west coast to see a game a lot of people wanted to talk to us.
Just wanted to share this with you.
-Craig

Mate, Just two questions for your podcast this weekend
1. How long and how many chances to do something are they going to give
Mark Sanchez before they put Tim Tebow in because if they leave it to long
the season might slip away? Are they keeping him in play because they paid
so much for him?

2. Im a big Rex Ryan fan and think hes a great coach and seems like a great
guy but how can he be so positive all the time after the last 3 games?
wish I had his positive out look on everything

Love the show keep up the good work!

Cheers,
Dave from Sydney Australia

Rob,
In preseason, Rex talked big how he was going to use Tebow. We heard plans for using him in redzone situations. Then came all the blogs about how that was going to undermind fragile Sanchez. Now we see the 49ers using their # 7 in those situations while Rex yanks Tebow out of the redzone—insert Mr. Sanchez, only to lose any opportunity for a touchdown that could have help set them up for the win.

Who is better able to make a touchdown in that situation, Tebow or Sanchez? I would pick Tebow everytime. Right now I’ve come to think that what Rex says means nothing, that he is swade by all the critcism of Tebow, such that he is now unwilling to use him. If that is the case the Jets season is over.
-Judy

Some great questions from the readers this week! I really enjoyed doing a segment like this and think it’s definitely worth continuing in the future. Let me know your thoughts and if you enjoyed the podcast. Special thanks to all of those who emailed me their questions, comments and concerns on the Jets!

Are the Jets terrible, mediocre, or good?

Yes, I said it. The Jets are a mediocre football team, even on their best day. There are multiple factors causing the mediocrity of the New York Jets, with the largest component being injuries, but let’s face it, the Jets just aren’t that good. There are many different problems facing the Jets, but let’s not start jumping ship and acting like the sky is falling. It isn’t… At least, if you ignore the boneheads over at ESPN and use some common sense, you know it isn’t. While many people are saying that the New York Jets are the worst team in football now, that’s completely false. Are they a Super Bowl contender? No, but they will be a competitive football team in 2012.

Below, I’ve listed what the 2012 New York Jets really are:

• Injuries: The Jets roster has been ravaged by injuries to key players such as Darrelle Revis, Santonio Holmes, Dustin Keller, Stephen Hill and Sione  Pouha. It’s just not feasible to win games when you have 5 starters missing, filled in with 2nd, 3rd and practice squaders.
• The Jets offense is what it is. The Jets can’t run the ball, they have no receivers to throw to and I HIGHLY doubt it’s getting any better. It doesn’t matter if it’s Mark Sanchez or Tim Tebow at quarterback, Tom Brady would struggle with this mess of an offense. Shonn Greene is completely ineffective, McKnight and Powell aren’t any better and Jeremy Kerley is the team’s only capable WR
• You want the Jets to go out and sign someone off the street in free agency to save the season? They wouldn’t be on the street if they were any good! You think the other 31 NFL teams don’t want to improve their rosters? They do, just as badly as the Jets. So no one is coming in off the street at WR to save the day for the Jets. Not Terrell Owens, not Chad Johnson, etc. Don’t waste your time.
• The Jets defense isn’t top 5 quality. Losing Darrelle Revis has been brutal, although Antonio Cromartie has stepped up big time. He’s been a pleasant surprise on the defensive side of the ball, but the Jets inability to stop the run has been tough to watch. While I place a lot of the blame on the defense, the offense needs to give them a break every once in a while, put up some points and give the D a breather.
• Bad ownership and management. Woody Johnson and Mike Tannenbaum aren’t doing their jobs. Let’s be real here. Woody is more concerned about Mitt Romney for President and putting asses in the seats via Tim Tebow, not winning football games. And Mike Tannenbaum? He completely ignored the massive issues on the Jets roster this off season, making only two significant moves, LaRon Landry and Yeremiah Bell (yeah, I left Tim Tebow off the significant move list).

The New York Jets hung in for 60 minutes against the Houston Texans, who most people consider to be the best team in the NFL. It wasn’t pretty at times and the Jets had a legitimate shot to win the game, but it shows that there is still some fight left in this dog. All things being considered, the Jets aren’t a very good football team right now, but if they stay competitive, there is an outside chance they could eek into the playoffs. It all starts with a win on Sunday, at home, against the Indianapolis Colts. The Jets need to beat Andrew Luck and the inspired Colts, or this could be the beginning of the end for the Jets 2012 season.

Woody Johnson: no hair don’t care?

I’d rather see Mitt Romney win this election than the Jets having a winning season. This is what Jets owner Woody Johnson implied when asked if he would you rather have a winning Jets season or a victorious presidential election for Mitt Romney?

Organizations and teams that win championships, for the most part, have one thing in common. They have owners who would do anything to win. Look at the Yankees, the Steinbreinners’ always take the teams profits and pour it back into the team so they have the best chance to win. The Mara’s of the Giants, the Rooney’s of the Steelers, Bob Kraft of the Patriots, Mark Cuban of the Mavericks, all of these people own teams that win and win championships. Why? Because they are relentless in doing what is necessary to make their team championship caliber. Whether it be giving a generous contract to a veteran leader, or getting rid of a cancer in the locker room. These guys don’t hesitate to do what’s best.

The Jets on the other hand, do the exact opposite. For example, the Steelers cut Santonio Holmes because he only cares about himself. So what do the Jets do, they sign him and it is a disaster. Plaxico Burress has and had a terrible reputation. What do the Jets do, they sign him. Doing this, while getting rid of veteran leadership that might cost a little bit more, but is essential for team success. I believe that Tony Richardson was a vital part of the Jets locker room. I would go as far as saying his impact was almost the equivalent to that of Ray Lewis. The Jets cut him. They also got rid of a major leaders in Damien Woody and Thomas Jones. Two players they have yet to somewhat replace. The reason; save money.

Right now, who is the leader of the Jets? Is there one guy that you can point to and say yes, this person is someone we look to in times of chaos. That man isn’t on the team. Veteran leadership is something that is invaluable to a team and to winning. Right now, the Jets don’t have that man and it shows.
There is no excuse for having 8 million dollars in cap space for a team that lets face it, need lots of help. They need receiver depth, tight end depth, a consistent running back, and offensive lineman that know something about blocking. These are glaring holes that need to be addressed. If the Yankees have a hole in the pitching rotation, the Steinbreinners and Brian Cashman make a move. They don’t sit back and save the money. They assume these problems are going to fix themselves. What is Woody Johnson doing with all this money he made in PSLs and the money he’s charging fans to park? (That would be a reasonable $50 for the right to enter the stadium). They had all off-season to make improvements. So what did they do, they traded for Tebow and drafted people. He needs to put money back into the team so they have a chance at winning.

For all I know, Woody Johnson’s Super Bowl is seeing Mitt Romney win this election. I know for a fact that the Steinbreinners, Rooney’s, Mara’s, and the Kraft’s, would never say anything like this and that nothing compares to their teams winning. Is Woody Johnson the man to lead this team to the promise land? I think not.

Rob Carpenter: Former New York Jet

If you’re a New York Jets fan, you probably have a lot of concerns right now. Injuries have sidelined Darrelle Revis and Santonio Holmes for the season, many fans and media are calling for Tebow to start, Mike Tannenbaum’s job may be on the line, and the list goes on and on. I recently spoke with former New York Jets wide receiver, Rob Carpenter to get his take on the Jets and what life was like growing up with a dream to one day play in the NFL.

Rob Carpenter grew up in New York, with a goal to one day play for his hometown New York Jets. Idolizing the likes of Muhammad Ali and Julius Irving, Rob learned at a young age that hard work and a consistent effort was the recipe for success to make it to the top, and it paid off. He was recruited by every ACC school, Syracuse University, Pennsylvania State University, the University of Iowa, and the University of Notre Dame. I asked Rob why he chose Notre Dame, and simply put, “it was a top notch school and football program, and my father and grandfather were big fans of Notre Dame” he said.

After his first season at Notre Dame, Rob transferred to Syracuse University, where he excelled. Although he only played two seasons with the Orangemen, Rob still ranks among the top wide receivers to ever come through Syracuse statistically, putting him in the same company as the great Marvin Harrison.
While Rob was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals in 1991, his dream of playing for the New York Jets came one season later, where he showed true promise averaging over 12 yards a catch. Unfortunately, Rob Carpenter was plagued by injuries afterwards, and retired after five seasons in the National Football League. I asked Rob if it was hard letting go of the game and not putting on the pads every Sunday.
“Not at all, I had a goal to play in the league for five years, and I did that. If I didn’t get hurt, it would have been plenty more.”
Today Rob remains an avid sports fan, a Syracuse alumni like his wife, and a loving father to his three sons and daughter. One of his current hobbies is watching his son Christian, currently a freshman football player at Towson University, making an impact on defense and showing his athletic ability he inherited from Rob. Playing time as a freshman isn’t just handed out, and maybe one day we will see him in green and white! Until then, we can only focus on the Jets’ current situation. I got a chance to catch up with Mr. Carpenter about the New York Jets. What other way to start off than to ask him about Mark Sanchez. His thoughts:
“I believe Mark can lead the Jets like any of the other quarterbacks who have come into the league around his class. The Jets need to surround him with weapons like the other quarterbacks have at their disposal. It’s kinda hard to play quarterback in this league without a real playmaker to throw to.” Rob makes a great point, especially with no Santonio Holmes for the rest of the season, Stephen Hill and Dustin Keller’s lingering injuries, and the ineffective running game led by the widely overrated and overhyped Shonn Greene. I expressed to Rob my lack of faith in Greene, voicing my opinion to him that Shonn disappears too often in games, lacks the vision a number one running back has to have in order to be successful, on top of running like he’s in a mud swamp every time he touches the ball. Carpenter was nicer than me, saying “In my opinion, he’s a better complimentary back than a lead guy.” Shonn Greene is not even complimentary worthy in my eyes. Instead, he’s a liability with no future with the Jets after he finishes his rookie contract at the end of the season.
So who does this all fall on? I have been vocally supportive of Jets General Manager Mike Tannenbaum for the entire preseason and first few weeks of this season. I thought he was getting too much criticism; the same way New York Giants’ GM Jerry Reese did after their 8-8 season in 2010. It is only week five of the 2012 season, but it looks like I was DEAD WRONG (ego kill) supporting a guy who I thought was highly underrated. The injuries on both sides of the ball have truly exposed the teams glaring weaknesses and lack of depth at seemingly every position on the field. Rob chimed in when I brought the subject of Mike Tannenbaum up, telling me “in the last two seasons, Tanny has not addressed the offensive issues, and it shows against the top teams in the league. Just look at the Steelers game!”
After the week one massacre at Metlife Stadium against the Buffalo Bills, Jets fans everywhere had realistic hope and expectations that this could be our year. Unfortunately, three weeks later, while sitting atop of the AFC East with a 2-2 record, realistic hopes are dissolving faster than Mike Tannenbaums credibility. While I interviewed Rob Carpenter, I did ask him a Tim Tebow question, but I refuse to be an additional critic and writer who stirs up more superfluous controversy when we live in a world that seeks and thrives off of such nonsense. Time will tell what Jets players will step up, along with what Jets personnel needs replacing.
I want to thank Rob Carpenter for taking the time out of his busy schedule to talk with me about life and Jets football. He was a pleasure to communicate with and I look forward to maintaining, while building, a stronger friendship with him. I would love for those who have read this to please leave comments and/or criticisms to help me become a better writer, allowing me to build on my strengths and weaknesses!

The passion, the anger.. The Jets fan!

I am not a “long suffering Jets fan” and definitely not a “same old Jets fan”, I am a positive person who loves to root for my team.  My problem is that no matter where I look I am surrounded by a media that is looking to tear down the team whether or not what they write is true or even factual and even worse a fan base full of reactionary people who almost always jump to the worst possible conclusion before they read any facts and truly believe that they are more knowledgeable than the organization.  This has made one of my favorite activities, watching and reading about Jets football, into something less fun and even sometimes pretty damn stressful.

Let’s take this week for example, the media from Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News to Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com and too many fans to mention on Twitter have labeled this Week 3 game a “must win” game.  Just like we heard that Week 1 against the Bills was “must win” and some idiot with a blog last week stated that the Steelers game was “must win” as well because we had to “make a statement”.  Then the pundits layered on top of that that the Jets should blow out the Dolphins as well.  So to recap the Jets “must win” this game or else the season will be a disaster and oh by the way if they don’t win by a lot that means that something is wrong too.  Other than a massive blowout of a divisional rival on the road there is no acceptable outcome this week.  My question is how is this fun anymore?  We are so critical that anything short of a Superbowl is a disaster and we should get rid of a head coach, quarterback and general manager that have presided over the 2nd most successful sustained period in the history of the franchise save the late 60′s-early 70′s.  Do we not remember how bad Rich Kotite and Bruce Coslet were?

Another incident this week that made me angry was the incident on Friday between Bart Scott and Dan Leberfeld, a blogger from Jets Confidential which is a pay blog.  The two got into an altercation where Scott threatened to “beat the shit out of” Leberfeld while Leberfeld threatened to sue Scott if he did to which Bart replied “I don’t care”.  Immediately every news service from ESPN to NFL Network ran with the story without gathering any facts or doing any background because of course if you are not first with the story than you are chastised and it doesn’t even matter if you get all the facts right.  As the afternoon went on the actual facts started to accumulate it seems that Leberfeld had taken creepy camera phone pictures of Scott talking to Kimberley Martin of Newsday on Wednesday and Jane McManus of ESPNNewYork.com on Friday.  Photos of off the record conversations like those that were occurring are not allowed in the locker room and both Martin and McManus were both not happy with Leberfeld either.  Additionally Leberfeld was advertising a story on his blog that one of Bart Scott’s “friends” had started the circus talk about the Jets organization that Scott has taken offense to which also enraged the Jets linebacker.  Finally it was curious that within 15 minutes of the incident Leberfeld was on admitted Jets hater Mike Francessa’s show, followed by Sirius Radio with Adam Schein as well as the Michael Kay Show all the while plugging his pay blog.  It became apparent to even the most jaded of writers, Bart Hubbuch of the New York Post, that Scott was not to blame in this incident.  Later Jane McManus stated that this was not the case of an entitled athlete acting poorly but an incident with a rather deep backstory.  By the next morning the story has already dissipated.  All people will remember is that Bart Scott threatened a reporter, however, and the perception of the Jets continues to get sullied.

Today’s incident was a surprise release of long-time Jet Bryan Thomas.  Thomas has been with the team since 2002 and has been instrumental in the Jets run defense as it is his job to set the edge and not let the runner get to the outside.  Thomas has a hamstring issue that has sidelined him and he does not appear close to returning.  Before you had a chance to digest the move you had fans going absolutely crazy over releasing a 35 year old linebacker with leg issues.  Some were comparing it to letting John Abraham and Hugh Douglas go in free agency (don’t get me started on Abraham who quit on the Jets) before the facts were in.  As it turns out the reason he was released was to promote DB Donnie Fletcher from the practice squad without having to expose a player to waivers since Thomas is a vested veteran.  So unless a team takes on a 35 year old with a bad hamstring and a guaranteed contract Thomas will be back with the Jets by Monday at the earliest and when he heals at the latest.  This was actually a shrewd move by the team to not take a chance of losing a younger player that may get gobbled up by a future opponent or division rival.  You wouldn’t know that because the Armchair GMs have to give their say on the matter.

I’m not trying to change the way these people act because I can’t change the culture by myself but in my opinion it doesn’t make you a better or more passionate fan to be negative and critical at every turn.  I am a proud homer and I really don’t care to be anything else.  I also miss the days of reading media reports for facts and breaking news and not news spun to further an opinion a writer may have.  I find myself unfollowing people and not reading columnists I used to like and I wish it didn’t have to be that way but I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t.  I can be happier and less informed or up to the minute and stressed.  Personally I’m going to choose happy but that’s me I’m a positive fan living in a negative world.