A clandestine undertaking on behalf of Israel, the Jets and the Jews.

 
Don't Call The Jets A Joke

Over at Elster, the latest post includes Elster's lament that "the Jets organization is an absolute joke right now." Elster writes: "I blame this on owner Woody Johnson, fired GM Terry Bradway and [ex-Jets head coach Herm] Edwards as well."

It should be noted that Elster was a staunch defender of Bradway - and Herm too to a lesser extent - in comments on this site.

Elster was apparently annoyed because Al Michaels poked fun at the fact that to get out of his contract with ABC and move to NBC, the compensation received by NBC was worth more than the fourth round pick the Jets received for Edwards. (Elster's version of the story, that Dick Ebersol "stated that Michaels was more valuable as a broadcaster than Herman Edwards is as a coach" is, I'm quite sure, inaccurate.)

What I find interesting is that the mainstream media - who are apparently influencing Elster and so many other observers - now portray the Jets as "an absolute joke." Just a couple of months ago, the same media assured us that the Jets were in great shape, that the terrible 2005 season was an aberration due to the injuries to quarterbacks Chad Pennington and Jay Fiedler. There was no criticism of Edwards, and very little, if any, of Bradway.

The reality is that the Jets are not an absolute joke right now. From what I can tell, they have a new head coach and a new GM who mean business, who will stop the laid-back attitude that permeated the organization during Herm's era, especially in 2005. I have serious concerns about the lack of experience of coach Eric Mangini and GM Mike Tannenbaum, but I also believe that both are an upgrade over the men they replaced, especially Mangini. It may take them a while to improve the mess they've been left with, but in today's NFL, with some breaks improvements can come quickly.

Getting back to Herm and the compensation the Jets received for him: Why should the Jets have received more than a 4th rounder for a mediocre coach? The compensation for Al Michaels was more generous because Michaels is a valuable asset (not quite my cup of tea, but excellent for the casual football fan), who all of the networks coveted. In contrast, the Jets wanted to dump Herm, and did well to get what they did.

Elster mentioned this morning's Mike & Mike show on ESPN radio. I tuned in to the show for a few minutes, and heard Mike Golic mention that Herm would be telling Chiefs QB to go back to pass on 1st down. To which Mike Greenberg retorted (I'm paraphrasing): "No, Trent Green won't be passing on first down. We all know how it's going to go. First down, run. Second down, run. 3rd and 8, six yard pass. 4th down, punt. 'Hey guys,' Herm will say, 'great drive! We punted, we didn't turn the ball over, great drive!'"

And the Jets are an absolute joke because they not only got rid of this guy, but received compensation for him? I don't think so. Time will tell.
posted on 2/10/2006