Give Chad a Chance

At the end of the first Vinny Testaverde era in New York, things were looking up. A boyish, charismatic young man was waiting in the wings. He was one injury away from getting the opportunity to show many what he was able to do. In 2002, Chad Pennington got his first real shot at NFL stardom and boy did he make the most of it. Playing in 15 games that year and starting 12, Pennington threw for 3120 Yards 22 Tds and a meager 6 ints. Not to mention he complete 69% of his passes and ran for another 2 touchdowns. Most importantly the Jets made the playoffs. Who did they beat that year in the playoffs? A guy named Peyton. Whooped him. 41-0. A guy who is arguably the greatest and most efficient QB ever was beaten handily by a man who has a weak arm. Well doubters here is where I prove you wrong when you say Chad Pennington doesn't belong or that his time is up.

Consider the following:

Despite the lack of arm strength, Chad has completed 65% of his career passes making him one of the most accurate passers in NFL history. He has 30 more TDs than INTs and his career passer rating is 90.1. These are stats are of, if nothing else, a productive NFL starting quarterback.

Chad brings way more to the table than just some pretty gaudy stats. He brings leadership, a positive influence in the locker room and many other intangibles. So why am I writing this piece? Here's why: because I have a friend who knows who he is and won't be mentioned god help his soul, that said Chad Pennington is a bust. I don't usually lose sleep over too many things said about athletes or teams, but this was a new level for me. When I think of the word bust I think of guys like Ryan Leaf, Tim Couch, Akili Smith, Andre Ware, Gino Toretta, and other guys with huge expectations that get a couple chances and then are out of a job. The aforementioned never did anything in the NFL and now are all afterthoughts and where is he now conversation pieces. As far as I know, as of September 26, 2007 Chad Pennington still has a job as a starting quarterback in the NFL.

Okay, so he plays in the biggest sports market in the world, where fans can get impatient and always have high expectations. He's never won a super bowl, and has only gone as far as the second round of the playoffs. The icing on the cake, he was given a huge contract to be the franchise. Unfortunately, NFL quarterbacks are judged heavily by the ice on their fingers, to which Chad has none. But to call him a bust, shame on you.

Chad Pennington has played with 1 hall of fame player in his entire career, Curtis Martin. He's made the most of the talent around him (Laveranues Coles, Jerricho Cotchery, Chris Baker and Anthony Becht) and won with it. Now the Jets have never had a super bowl caliber team around Pennington but have still made the playoffs and won. And every time the Jets have made the playoffs they have been heavy under dogs, just ask everyone's boy Bill Simmons who had the Chargers crushing the Jets by 40 points only to have the Jets actually win the game and then the following week be 1 40+ yard field goal away from playing the hated Patriots in the AFC Championship game. Did I mention Chad Pennington is a calming influence and a consummate professional in the locker room? In a time where NFL players seemingly can't ever stay out of trouble, never is Chad negatively in the news. Now here is where his hero status comes in. Not once, but twice, Chad has had major surgery on his throwing shoulder. Remember limited arm strength to boot, he persevered and came back twice to reclaim his starting job. I guarantee that if the same thing happened to Ryan Leaf he would have quit and wined like a little girl about how the media hates him. Tim Couch clearly would have used HGH to get back in the league. And Chad's large contract, o yea, he deferred a ton of that money, in order to stay on the Roster and win his job back.

So call him what you may. Underachiever, bust, not a franchise quarterback, but just think of everything he has dealt with and ask yourself how your team's starting QB would have handled it. Also realize, that as I'm writing this Chad led the Jets to another hard fought victory and STILL is the starting QB. So when Jet fans cheer his injuries or boo his incompletions put into perspective everything that Chad Pennington has given to the New York Jets organization, literal blood, sweat, and tears, and appreciate the man for what he's worth.

Next week at BUFFALO.....J E T S Jets Jets Jets and go # 10.

Misery Loves Company

I find myself constantly asking WHY? Why do my favorite sports teams never win a championship? Is it Karma? Are they just not that good? Should I take a new found interest in Art? Whatever the reason is I find myself sitting on the couch at the end of a season hanging my head (a la Yadier Molina's home run in the 9th inning of game 7 of last year's NLCS). A Met team that had so much promise had quite the let down. Growing up the Mets stunk, then they trade for Mike Piazza, got real good, and made the playoffs 2 years in a row, 1999 and 2000. In 99 they lost a heartbreaking playoff series to the Braves (Kenny Rogers is still not welcome in my home) and in 2000 went to the World Series only to meet a cross town juggernaut that pretty much took them to the proverbial tool shed. This year they have played up and down but still find themselves in first place BARELY over the Fightin Phils. Please don't do this to me!

The New York Jets surprised everyone last year by making the playoffs. I believe the quote from Shannon Sharpe on the opening week of CBS's football coverage last year was "if the Jets win 4 games this year, the city should throw them a parade." Well Shannon, they won 10. Take Chad Pennington out to dinner why don't you. The Jets overachieved so much last year that us fans got what we called a "free" football game in the first round of the playoffs against some team in New England. Do we have audio and video of that game too? Okay, so be it the Jets lost and arugably shouldn't have even been there, but they were. This brings back eerie memories of the 1998 season, when the Jets were one of the NFL's Elite. They had a 12-4 regular season record led by the Tuna and Vinny behind center. Oh yea, they also had some guy at running back who they got from the Patriots the previous off season. You da man Curtis. Anyway after rolling through the playoffs and into the AFC Championship game against Denver and that Elway person things were looking up. A blocked punt touchdown by then legendary third string tight end Blake Spence put the Jets up 10-3 at the half. Come the second half it was a different story. Someone flipped the "Zach Switch" on meaning that his favorite sports teams must disappoint again. Mr. Elway went on a rampage and decided to destroy the Jets en route to his second of two SB's. The worst part of the defeat was that had the Jets actually won that game, I would have bet my arms and legs and eyes and ears, and some money that they would have beaten a much inferior Atlanta Falcons team in that years Superbowl; Dirty Bird!!!!! To start the 2007 campaign, the Jets have a surprise, surprise hurt starting QB and of course they can't block or rush the passer. I'm used to this by now I tell ya. 0-2 against two superior AFC teams (fair or not) should have been expected now that the Jets actually have higher expectations this year. Now the schedule evens out and let's hope the Jets can do some damage.

The Knicks and Rangers are going to share a paragraph because I like to share and if there is one thing I learned in life it is that sharing is caring. The Knicks are a joke and will continue to be. Growing up when Ewing, Starks, Oakley, and Derek Harper were on the hard court things were different. Those Knick teams had heart, passion, fire and a will to win, not to mention a coach with really slicked back hair who was pretty damn good. Of course, and I think solely because I am a Knick fan, they came sooo close yet sooo far from winning a title. Now I am lucky if I see the current Knicks make a bounce pass correctly. Oh and their head coach is currently involved in a civil suit against a former employee alleging that she was sexually harassed by him. Glad all his attention can be focused on building a winner. The Rangers have won a Stanley Cup in my life time. The bad news: I barely new hockey existed when it happened. I root for the Rangers and would call myself a modest to knowledgeable fan. I watched their playoff games against Atlanta and Buffalo this year. Of course they lost and didn't win a title. Theme here anyone? I like goalie Henrik Lundqvist, I like JJ, and I like Sean Avery who I sincerely think has actually murdered opposing players on the ice, but thats not why I like him, its because he plays hard. They signed Scotty Gomez and Chris Drury which is eerily familiar to them signing Eric Lindros and Bobby Holik, both of whom skated down Broadway and kept going until they were both out of town. If the Rangers win it all one day, I will be happy...........

.......Not as happy, ecstatic, or UBER EMOTIONALLY ecstatic as I will be if the Mets or Jets win it all in my lifetime. So with Pedro back, and a very good offense and hunger for revenge from last year, hopefully, just maybe the METS can end my RIPKEN like streak of misery this year. If not, and you can relate to everything I just wrote about, then please join me because Misery sure does love some company.

NFL WEEK 1: Spying Cameras, Shattered Expectations, and Picking Up Where they Left Off

NFL WEEK 1

It was a week filled with marquis match ups, the injury bug, tragedy, and some shenanigans, all will be addressed in this post.

Let's start off talking about the marquis match ups this past week. There were a pair of potential Superbowl previews with Indy and New Orleans and San Diego Chicago, with the AFC teams winning both games. The Colts picked up right where they left off last season, as the best football team in the world, defending Superbowl 41 champs. San Diego made a statement showing they didn't need to score 40 points and win. And they did it against the best defense, arguably, in the league DA BEARS.

There were two other divisional match ups of interest on Sunday and they were the Patriots against their rivals the Jets and the G-men taking on the Cowboys. Neither New York team fared well in their respective games, with the Jets getting blown away by the loaded Pats and the Giants getting injured at the 2 most important positions on the field in QB and RB in their loss against Dallas. Giants starting quarterback Eli Manning has a hurt shoulder said to keep him out about a month (Byron Leftwich, stay by your cell phone) and starting running back Brandon Jacobs out a month or more with a knee injury. The Jets QB Chad Pennington also suffered a foot injury after taking a sack and falling awkwardly. His status is up in the air. Two other side notes from the Jets Pats game was the re-emergence of the NFL's best receiver (yes best, when he wants to be) Randy Moss, 9 catches for a buck 83 and 1 score and the tactical mischief by New England. The Pats were reported to have had a camera used to spy on the Jets defensive coaches and this wasn't the first time this happened either. HEY GUYS.....you don't need all this garbage to help you win games, you already have the best on field personnel in the league. Nothing will come of this but if future occurrences of this arrive then serious punishment needs to take place.

Tragedy also struck on the gridiron on Sunday. Bills backup tight end Kevin Everett suffered what some doctors have called a life threatening neck injury during a head on collision. Doctors say that he will most likely not regain full movement in his limbs. It's very unfortunate that every 10 or so years we get an injury like this. In 1997, Lions linebacker Reggie Brown was carted off the field with a neck injury against the Jets. Luckily he managed to almost fully recover. We will see how this injury to Kevin Everett evolves and I wish him well.

The Steelers, with new coach Mike Tomlin, proved they are back in full force. Granted they played a horrible Cleveland team (who just today dealt Charlie Frye to the Seahawks), the Steel Curtain was dominant. Ben Roethlisberger threw 4 td's en route to a 41 point outburst. Brett Favre used his magic on the field to lead the Packers to a grind it out, thrilling victory over the Eagles 16-13. Donovan McNabb returned behind center for the Iggles after missing much of last season and played fairly well. I would not be concerned if I were an Iggles fan because they will work the kinks out and win at least 10 games as they perennially do under the leadership of head coach Andy Reid.

Adrian Peterson had his welcome to the NFL and to my fantasy team moment in his first NFL game as he had a 60 yard catch for his first career touchdown. He also ran for over 100 yards. Calvin Johnson made some noise, as the projected by starting QB John Kitna 10 win Detroit Lions, made a quiet statement on opening day beating the Raiders (FYI JaMarcus Russell has finally signed).

Now looking at this recap of week 1, it is way to early to forecast the success and failures of all 32 NFL teams. With all the parity in this game, anything can happen. So don't go crying over spilled milk if your team disappointed you in week 1 very much like I did, but I learned my lesson. There are 15 games left and every team is still in the playoff hunt. I say this now, but its only a matter of time before major injuries and off the field issues become prevalent and the landscape in the league completely changes. So here's to a fun and competitive 2007 NFL season and may the best team win without the use of spy cameras of course.

The Return of Pedro

September 3, 2007 marked the return of Pedro Martinez to a Major League mound. After more than 11 grueling months of rehabilitation from shoulder surgery, the Mets have their "ace" back. In the offseason before the start of the 2005 Major League Baseball season the Mets made a move that would forever change the foundation and direction of what was then a very sorry baseball team. Subtract Art Howe as manager and Jim Duquette as General Manager and add Willie Randolph and Omar Minaya to those positions respectively. And it was Minaya's perseverance that landed the Mets one of the prized free agents in all of baseball, Pedro Martinez. Coming off 7 plus dominating seasons as a SAWK, the Mets were getting the ace and the face they needed for their franchise. And amid reports of a bum toe and the always dreadful old age, Pedro delivered a 15 win Pedro-esque season. He also put fans in the seats, something the Mets hadn't had from a pitcher since a young Doc Gooden.
2006 was a very different year for the Mets and for Pedro. Pedro started the year where he left off in 2005, going 5-1. The ailing toe, however, along with a bad hip eventually led to strain on the shoulder and of course the season ending surgery. The Mets did not crumble when Pedro did. They won 97 games and as announcer Gary Cohen put it on the day they won the division "ran rough shot through the National League." These new Mets were young, feisty, and most important talented. The 2006 team was often described as a team with "IT." Much of that "IT" can be attributed to the arrival of Pedro to Queens only a year earlier. The magical season of 2006 was derailed in the playoffs on an Adam Wainright curveball in game 7 of the NLCS. That is all that will be mentioned from here on out about that game.
2007 was going to be the year the Mets proved to everyone that they were for real. They had their established talent in Jose Reyes, David Wright, and Carlos Beltran. They had their new veteran acquisitions in Moises Alou and Damion Easley, and they had a solid core of starting pitchers led by the now 300 game winner Tom Glavine and the ageless Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez. Mix those 2 with solid youngsters John Maine and Oliver Perez and throw in a makeshift number 5 starter and the Mets pitching would overachieve. They were missing that something they had all of 2006 though. After a dominating start to the 2007 season, the Mets struggled with a stretch of rather indifferent play. Now as we have marked the return of Saint Pedro back to the team, the Mets find themselves once again as the best team in the National League and with a division lead that can be considered comfortable.
With Pedro back, all the pieces are now in place for this team to soar to even greater heights than it did last season. Talk about full circle, Pedro's first start as a Met was against the Reds in Cincinnati in April 2005 and Pedro's return to the Mets was against those same Reds in that same Great American Smallpark. Pedro pitched well even though he was on a very limiting pitch count of 75. He ended up throwing 76 pitches in 5 gutsy innings. He got the win and recorded his 3000th career strikeout. Pedro's command was there and as expected the velocity dial was not turned up all the way. But as I stated earlier, Pedro was gutsy. Less than a year removed from a surgery that usually takes way more than a year to pitch effectively from again, Pedro toed the rubber and gave the Mets everything he had in a game that was the most publicized Met game since the debut of Mike Piazza. Even with Pedro being anywhere from 70-90 percent, just his presence alone is enough to make opponents tremble. And hopefully now that he will be around in October the Mets won't need a 7th game to try and win a pennant and can bring home a world title, the first since 1986.
The Mets now have a great dilemma as to what to do with their rotation come playoff time. If and when they make it to October, the Mets will have 5 quality starters all deserving of a shot to start in the playoffs. Maine and Perez proved last year they can pitch in the big spot and this year proved they can have productive full seasons as Major League Starters. Duque and Glavine have been the crafty veterans who always show they can pitch that must win game. And then there's that X factor. Mr. Martinez. The Mets organization and all their fans would love to see Pedro start a playoff game for them as that was the key reason for bringing him to Shea in the first place. You don't have 5 starters in the playoffs so one of the aforementioned will be in the pen, and if it turns out to be Pedro, just ask the Cleveland Indians what Pedro can do out of the pen in long relief, in the postseason.