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The Zionist Conspiracy

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

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Sunday, August 26, 2007
 
Jets Brass Blowing It

During the Terry Bradway era, the Jets consistently neglected their offensive line, and let talented offensive linemen like Randy Thomas and Kareem McKenzie leave as free agents after the 2002 and 2004 playoff seasons.

With Bradway's replacement by Mike Tannenbaum and Tannenbaum's selection of D'Brickashaw Ferguson and Nick Mangold in the 2006 draft, it looked as though the neglect of the Bradway regime was a thing of the past. While the selection of Ferguson at #4 was questionable, it certainly appeared that the Jets finally recognized the importance of their offensive line.

Alas, since the first round of last year's draft, the Jets have reverted to neglecting their offensive line. They have brought nobody of any talent in as a free agent, and their only selection of an OL in the 2007 draft was their sixth round pick of Jacob Bender.

After a mediocre rookie season, Ferguson has struggled this pre-season, making the left side of the line a mess in light of the trading of ex-left guard Pete Kendall on Thursday.

The Kendall sideshow that led to his trade is reflective of another Tannenbaum failure. Kendall is essentially an average guard nearing the end of his career, so that the Jets refusal to acquiesce to his demands to renegotiate his contract were not inherently unreasonable. What is unacceptable, however, is that due to the front office's neglect, there is not a single player on the Jets roster capable of replacing Kendall. Instead, the Jets are left to hope that someone will be released by another team and immediately step in to shore up Chad Pennington's blindside.

It is ultimately pathetic that after trading for Thomas Jones and giving Jones a large contract, the Jets offense looks like it will be going nowhere because its line can neither run block nor pass protect. Under those circumstances, Jones will have little chance to gain yardage between the tackles, neither Pennington nor backup Kellen Clemens will be able to sustain a serious passing attack, and the talents of wide receivers Laveranues Coles and Jerricho Cotchery will be wasted.

Sunday, August 19, 2007
 
Summer 2007 In Jerusalem

1. Last night I attended a large festival outside the walls of Jerusalem's Old City. It was a great event and the type that rarely if ever occurs in the U.S. Certainly no such event is filled with kosher food from around 15 different shops, restaurants and cafes.

Shabbos ended at 8 last night. We arrived at the festival just before 9. At first the festival looked like an event solely for the remaining secular residents of Jerusalem. By 10, however, plenty at dati (national religious) Israelis were there, and by 11, lots of charedim were there too, many with strollers.

The festival included a concert at the Sultan's Pool stadium by Arkadi Duchin, an Israeli singer. Some of the charedim attended this concert. That there are even some charedim attending a concert by a secular singer, a concert performed at a venue facing the Old City walls, says everything necessary about the absurdity of banning concerts by religious singers at which men and women are seated separately.

2. On the subject of these bans, I have been thinking about what the reaction should be by those of us who reject these bans but at the same time take our obligations as halachic Jews seriously. Is it enough to just ignore the bans? Should they be challenged outright? Should alternative perspectives be articulated?

3. Generally there have been a massive number of events in Jerusalem this month, all part of a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the liberation of Jerusalem. There are events for children in Liberty Bell Park, there was an Italian festival on Hillel Street last week, plenty of street performances on Ben Yehuda, and this week more events - including a jazz concert tonight - at the new Mamilla outdoor shopping area.

Of course, that aspect of Israel is never portrayed in the media. At the same time, one wonders why Israelis require so many festivals. Perhaps it's necessary to take their minds away from all of the threats their country faces, and the fact that they are stuck with the horrible government they foolishly elected 17 months ago.

4. The current government is not only incompetent but entirely cynical, its main purpose staying in power.

The media here love to bash Binyamin Netanyahu, very rarely for any reason of substance. God willing Netanyahu will be Israel's next prime minister before Kadima and Labor formally bring in Mahmoud Abbas as a senior member of the governing coalition.

5. Why are the pro-Bush American Jews not objecting to the love affair between Condi Rice and all things Fatah?

6. It is normal to have some hesitation before visiting Yad Vashem, but the experience of a visit remains extraordinarily powerful. I was there for nearly 5 hours and did not finish the museum.

7. I had not planned to attend an Israel Baseball League game, but when the OU's Israel Center arranged for two buses to go to the Petach Tikva Pioneers vs. Modiin Miracle game last Tuesday, I could not resist going. For my 2 1/2 year old son it was his second baseball game.

It was a fun atmosphere, but closer to a low-level college game than anything resembling pro sports. If the IBL is to succeed, it will have to build new fields in the home teams' cities (particularly Ra'anana, Modiin and Beit Shemesh), add or move a team to Jerusalem, and find some way to get native Israelis interested. As it now stands, around 300 people attend the average IBL game, most of whom are former Americans or American tourists. That's not terrible, but the IBL will need average attendance of closer to 1000 to succeed and that will require at least a core base of native Israelis to become interested.

Tonight Modiin and Beit Shemesh play in the IBL's first championship game.

8. Congrats to the 3500 North Americans who have made or are making aliyah this summer, and to Nefesh B'Nefesh for its monumental role in making aliyah mainstream again.

9. The Jets seem to have handled the Darrelle Revis negotiations horribly. After wasting weeks that Revis could have and should have been in camp by demanding that Revis sign a 6 year deal instead of the 5 years almost everyone else signed, the Jets grossly overpaid Revis and will have to pay an absurd amount to keep him for that sixth year.

10. As usual, the Mets have proven correct my dire pre-season warnings about the state of their bullpen. Omar Minaya's trading of Heath Bell and his refusal to resign Chad Bradford were particularly egregious, and his free agent signings of Scott Schoeneweis and Guillermo Mota were no better. Were Minaya not so stubborn, he would reacquire Bradford, who is reportedly available for a reasonable price and would be a major asset in September and October, as he was last season.

11. If the contract price is right and they are satisfied that he is healthy, the Rangers should sign Michael Peca and slot him in as their third-line center in replacement of Matt Cullen.

12. The Zionist Conspiracy's fantasy football league is slated to return for a second season, during which I will be hard-pressed to defend my championship during the league's inaugural season. If it works for the other participants, draft night will be next Monday, August 27.

Friday, August 03, 2007
 
Update

I will now have a brief respite from what has been an extremely busy period at work. I leave for Israel on Tuesday, and when I get back I'll have another very busy couple of months.

It has been difficult to closely follow sports, but it is clear that the Jets are badly mishandling the Darrelle Revis contract negotiations. After trading three picks to move up for Revis, the Jets are insisting that he sign a 6 year deal even though all of the players taken near him only signed 5 year deals. Even if the Jets win this battle, they will have lost the opportunity for their top pick to learn the defense during training camp.

If enough people are interested, I will try to again participate in a fantasy football league. Ideally the league would have eight teams with a draft in a few weeks. Unlike traditional leagues, my league includes defensive players and has a much more realistic scoring system.