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Rich Cimini Nails It

I very rarely post extensive quotes of someone else's writing, but Rich Cimini's latest blog post is absolutely on target about the dismal state of the Jets.

Cimini exposes the fact that Woody Johnson has gone Steinbrenner on us (the 80s Steinbrenner). Here's his gem, in full.

Some teams, like the Giants, Colts and Patriots (except this year), begin the postseason by preparing for a playoff game. The Jets begin by looking for a coach.

The years go by, the faces change, but one thing never changes: the Jets remain a mess.

Everybody deserves blame in this latest debacle: Owner Woody Johnson, former coach Eric Mangini and QB Brett Favre.

Mangini never wanted Favre, it was learned yesterday, but he welcomed the future Hall of Famer and tried to make it work. I don't think GM Mike Tannenbaum wanted him, either, but Johnson, trying to market his new stadium, was infatuated with Favre and essentially told Tannenbaum, "Go get him." So he did, adding a last-minute wild card and changing the way they played offense.

But, hey, they sold tons of "4" jerseys.

In the end, Favre cost Mangini his job, throwing nine interceptions in the final five games. You name me a coach that could overcome that many mistakes.

That said, Mangini deserves his share of the blame. Under his watch, the team got lackadaisical, didn't improve in key areas, made too many silly mistakes and let inferior teams (see: West Coast) beat them in money games.

But did he deserve to be fired? If Johnson has Bill Cowher up his sleeve, then, yes, that would represent an upgrade over Mangini. But that doesn't appear to be the case. The Jets are interested in Cowher, I'm told, but their current power structure (see: Tannenbaum as the No. 1 football guy) isn't going to work for Cowher. So, in the end, they'll probably end up hiring an unproven assistant.

In the end, Johnson, suddenly acting like a football guy, caved to the media and fan pressure. If he truly believed in Mangini as much as he said he did, if he was considering a long-term extension only five weeks ago, he would've come out late in the season (maybe after the Seattle loss) and given Mangini a vote of confidence. It wouldn't have stopped the fans from spewing their bile, but it would've stopped the speculation.

On Sunday night, after the Miami loss, a visibly upset Johnson told a few reporters he was going to take some time to make a decision, that it wasn't going to be a heat-of-the-moment call. A little while later, like maybe an hour or two, he decided to fire Mangini. If that's not heat-of-the-moment, what is?

Johnson was appalled by the late-season collapse. His signs the checks, so he can do whatever he wants. Right now, he looks like an impulsive guy consumed with building a stadium and selling luxury suites. Where's the plan?

Here's my plan: After sitting in section 119 since 1994, I won't be shelling out thousands in PSLs to Woody.
posted on 12/30/2008