Greetings from the Darkness

Hi my loves. I'm sorry to be away from you for so long but I've been living in the dark hole, better known as New Jersey. Being that I live a half hour from the shore, I thought there was no way this storm could really effect my suburban town as badly as was being predicted. Boy, was I wrong. Thankfully, my family was not effected nearly as badly as thousands throughout New York and New Jersey. My house is standing and dry and our cars are unharmed. If you are able to volunteer or donate to the relief in the area, it would be so greatly appreciated by those who have lost loved ones, homes, cars, and memories. Being that I am now on day eight without power in my home, I have been pretty isolated from the endless news coverage of the storm. It's a pretty surreal feeling being cut off from the rest of society for over a week. It's amazing how much we rely on technology not only for entertainment but for the bare essentials.

I Hate You, Tom Brady

I really did not want to write this article. I really hoped that the outcome this past Sunday would have been different and I would be writing a bragging, celebratory post boasting about New England's failures and dangling first place over their heads. Sadly, that eternal itch I can't scratch, Tom Brady, did it again. God, I hate him. While the Jets fell 29-26 in an overtime heart breaker to the Patriots, all was not lost. Yes, a win's a win and a loss is a loss. I'm not one for moral victories, they don't affect the standings so they don't count. However, Sunday's battle in Foxborough proved one thing to the world: these are not the same untouchable Patriots that we've come to expect throughout the Brady/Belichick era. Of course Pats fans like to think nothing's changed, but it has.

WTF

Every now and then today's athletes and other major figures in the sports world need to be called out for their insane behavior, ridiculous press conferences, peculiar tweets, and just general outlandish behavior. Maybe a little more than "every now and then," since this crazy shit happens all the time. Sure, Deadspin calls them out on it, but is that really enough? As fans and constant critics of our favorite sports personalities, we share in the responsibility of calling out their bullshit.

Where to even begin... How about with the breaking news? Miami Marlins' President Larry Beinfast released a statement this afternoon firing Fidel Castro's biggest (and only) fan in Miami, Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen. "After careful consideration following the disappointment of the 2012 season, we decided to dismiss Ozzie," Beinfast said. Now, the MLB's resident lunatic skipper was brought in to lead the relocated and completely renovated Marlins to victory. Unfortunately for Miami, they ended up with a pathetic 69-93 record. Even more unfortunately is that if Guillen doesn't find a new managerial job before the 2013 season, the Marlins will be eating the $7.5 million owed to him over the remaining three years of his contract. Sucks to suck, huh?

Tebowing™ And Beyond

Sunday marks the day Jets fans both anxiously anticipate and slightly dread each and every season - the inevitable game against the Patriots in New England. Of course, the rivalry between the Jets and Pats extends past football and feeds into the ever present New York versus Boston battle. Since Rex Ryan took over as head coach and drafted quarterback Mark Sanchez in 2009, the Pats lead the Jets only four games to three in regular season play. This week's match up is extremely important as all four teams in the AFC East have identical records of 3-3. With the Jets having won two divisional games already, beating the Patriots would bring them to 3-0 in the AFC East and give them a great advantage as the season progresses. But the question remains, just how will Rex's Jets beat Brady and Belichick?

See You Next Season

 

When Jeter went down it was like you could physically see the remaining Yankees deflating. Not that the Bombers were on top of their game throughout the ALDS series against the Orioles, but at least there was little bit of fire in their eyes. I'm one of those fans that sticks by my teams, especially the Yankees, to the last pitch. However, during the ALCS, it was apparent early on that the Yanks just weren't all there. After losing the Captain in extra innings during the first game, the future seemed bleak. Still, we hung on, we believed, but game two was even flatter than the first - even with Yanks pitcher, Hiroki Kuroda, hurling a perfect game through five innings (and a one hitter through six!) Game two blended with game three and by the time game four was rained out, we found ourselves almost thankful that we lived to die another day. And then the day came. The Yanks trailed the Tigers 0-3 in the series, but C.C. was set to take the mound. Everyone has an off day, and unfortunately Thursday, October 18th was Sabathia's day to be off his game. The game was ugly.

Touchdown, So That's Good?

As a Jets season ticket holder and die hard fan, you find your weeks dictated by either the atrocities committed against Gang Green or the unbelievable wins that they somehow held on to pull off. The Jets are known to bring you up to the point where you think they may actually have a shot at greatness, only to bring you down and stomp out your hopes and dreams (hello, Brett Favre.) This year's been one of the rougher seasons. Though the Jets were 2-3 heading into week six where they'd face the post-Peyton Manning Indianapolis Colts at home in the Meadowlands, the wins were ugly and the losses were pretty much unwatchable. Of course week one's 48-28 win over Buffalo was beautiful and the unexpected close game with the previously undefeated Texans last week was an almost-win that was almost cause for celebration, overall it hasn't been pretty.

So Long Sweet Captain

On Saturday night one of the most devastating things to ever happen in New York Yankees history took place. Just months after we watched in horror as Mariano Rivera was carted off the field, Derek Jeter overextended himself playing on an already bruised ankle without taking even a day off. The captain is pretty much the epitome of a team player. The man got his 3,000th hit in incredible fashion, but was happier that his team won the game that it came in. His team clinched the AL East pennant midway through the last game of the season and as his teammate celebrated, Jeter's expression never changed and as he explained, they still had a game to finish and win.

 

So on Saturday night, when Jeter fielded a ball in the top of the twelfth inning and neither finished the play nor got up afterwards, we knew something was terribly wrong. The captain just laid there, with pure anguish and pain on his face. The stadium went quiet, hell, it felt like all of New York went quiet. With the exception of seeing Mariano carted off this past May with a torn ACL, I have never been in such a deep depression surrounding the Yankees. Sure I've seen them knocked out of the playoffs and even lose the World Series, but the shock and horror of losing the heart and soul of the organization is a pain almost impossible to shake. When Mo got hurt we thought his career might be over. We prayed and now we've  seen  him  back  in  pinstripes  to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at last Wednesday's ALCS game three. When Jeter went down we

knew it was bad, when he was carried off the field putting no weight at all on his left leg we knew it was worse, but the announcement by Joe Girardi after the game sealed his fate. Broken ankle, six week recovery, out for the remainder of the 2012 postseason. Even typing those words now is hard. It's bad enough that Jeet won't play, but on Sunday it was announced that he's in Charlotte, North Carolina meeting with undoubtedly the best foot specialist in the country and he will not be traveling to Detroit with the team for games three, four, and five of the ALCS.