From the Bleachers

Friday, January 14, 2011

NFL playoffs - Divisional round picks

Ravens @ Steelers
Put the kids to bed before this one (although, they might argue with you seeing as it would be actually fairly early, particularly in the States, in Ireland you might get away with it, but, as Homer says, and I don’t mean the Greek philosopher, I digest!) it might get ugly in a hurry. Two hard hitting, penalty prone teams going head to head. A tough talking and tough playing rivalry for the ages. The Steelers have really put an emphasis on ‘D’ this season, and their ‘O’ has, for long stretches, struggled to score points. The Ravens made a tricky trip to Arrowhead look easy last week. The Steelers are understandably the home favourite, however the Ravens have a comparable (note, comparable, not equal) defence, and a superior offence with more weapons. Sneaky feeling they waltz into Heinz Field and come out smiling the other end
The Pick: The Ravens 27-24

Packers @ Falcons
Now that’s what you call Saturday night entertainment. What a potentially fantastic game. Here’s the thing, doesn’t it seem every season the Packers play great, entertaining football, beat a few people up and then lose an absolutely fantastic shoot-out against someone? You hate to ‘hex’ a game, but we should expect fireworks here. Matty ‘Ice’, given a minute to work with, drives the Falcons into game winning field goal range, after a barn-stormer of a showdown.
The Pick: The Falcons 38-36

Seahawks @ Bears
Last weekends shocking upset by the Seahawks over the former champion Saints was an incredibly generous gift, beautifully wrapped, for the Chicago Bears. Instead of facing Green Bay they now get to face one of the worst road teams in the NFL. The Seahawks played with great passion and pride in front of their home fans and truly deserved that win last weekend, but this Sunday evening reality will hit home. Reality in the form of that swarming Bears ‘D’ will hit home hard. It is hard to see how the ‘Hawks will move the ball with any regularity against the creative and aggressive Bears blitz packages, and they will certainly not be taking Lovie Smith and his crew by surprise, after unseating the champion Saints. Meanwhile, the last couple of months Jay Cutler, Matt Forte and the rest of the Bears offence look like they have really bought into offensive coordinator Mike Martz’s schemes. The Bears are scoring freely and Cutler looks really comfortable. Hard to see anything but a big Bears win.
The Pick: The Bears 35-17

Jets @ Patriots
Couple of things came to mind this week, as the Jets, and everyone associated with them, ran their mouths all week long. Remember the Steelers had a verbal ‘pop’ at the Patriots in ’07, and Brady and Moss pulled off that humiliating trick play, where Brady threw a backwards pass to the sideline to Moss, who threw a backwards pass back, after which Brady uncorked a 60 yard beauty for a completely demoralizing touchdown? Remember that? Should be interesting to see what Belichick and Co come up with against Cromartie. Bear in mind Cromartie was absolutely torched by Manning and the Colts. All credit to the lad for his nice kick return close to the end, but before that we should all remember he was absolutely abused by Manning and his gang.

I also remembered the 2004 ALCS, where Brady, completely flattened by the flu, walked into Pittsburgh and pulled out a performance for the ages, managing New England past the Steelers. My thought there was, in terms of this week, if Rex Ryan really thinks he is going to distract Brady with some pathetic, asinine media garbage, he has another thing coming. The Jets are all talk. They keep telling us they are going to win the Superbowl, they have been doing that for two years now. However, we're not stupid, right? We can all see they snuck past an injury depleted Colts team, and we all noted they gave up 80+ points in two games to the Patriots and Bears. We're not falling for this pathetic bluster coming out of New York, right?
The Pick: The Patriots 30-17

Linkage

Comments
Comments welcome! Free and open debate and communication are some of the most enjoyable aspects of life. Please leave a comment, disagreements welcome! If you disagree, debate your case by all means. However, anything rude, spiteful or any cowardly anonymous personal attacks will be not be tolerated and will be deleted.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Premiere League soccer players disgracing themselves - El Hadji Diouf and Craig Bellamy in hot water (again)

In England, a country hit almost as bad as Ireland by this tricky little Global recession we are all experiencing, a ‘Grade A’ nurse is paid between £10 and £12 thousand pounds a year.

The average English police officer earns £20 thousand. A teacher in England can be paid as little as £15 thousand.

Craig Bellamy will be paid £4.5 million this season by Manchester City. El Hadji Diouf will be paid just over £3 million for his services this season by Blackburn Rovers.

Why are we bringing all this up? Because it is pretty sickening to read about the disgraceful antics of players in the self acclaimed 'best league in the World', the English Premiere League, who are paid sums that those previously mentioned hard working people could never even dream of coming close to seeing in their infinitely more important lifetimes.

Bear in mind, this is coming from someone who invests considerably too much time and effort in and on sports, however there is no escaping at very least the question, why is the Grade A idiot El Hadji Diouf paid £60,000 a week when a Grade A nurse earns £192 for the same period?

If you think about it too much it would make your head spin, it is indeed a bewildering world we live in.

Does it appear we are unfairly picking on two individuals with bad boy tags? Well, last night Bellamy was arrested on assault charges (yes, again) while as recently as Saturday past, Diouf was embroiled in a particularly ugly incident in a cup match.

When it comes to El Hadji Diouf, where on earth do you start? This nasty piece of work is so past his 'sell by' date, it isn't even funny. Diouf is a big fan of spitting. In 2003 he spat at Celtic supporters in the stands. In 2004 he moved on to Middlesbrough fans, later that same year he spat at Portsmouth player Arjan de Zeeuw. You can probably see a pattern developing here.

There is no humour at all in his most recent incident.

On Saturday Blackburn beat Queens Park Rangers 1-0 in the English FA Cup. During the game QPR player Jamie Mackie suffered a horrific injury in a tackle with a Blackburn player. Players in the vicinity of the incident were visibly upset as Mackie lay writhing on the turf, clutching, as it turns out, a leg broken in two places.

Diouf's response? He approached the scene and gestured at the stricken players and shouted, loudly, ''expletive you and expletive your leg!''

''expletive you and expletive your leg!''

The QPR players were so incensed that there was a fight after the match in the tunnel as they left the pitch. Blackburn players, Diouf's own team mate, have come forward anonymously and told journalists they think Diouf should be sold immediately. His own manager is conducting an internal inquiry on the incident.

The worst part of the story is after the match QPR players approached Diouf and told him that Mackie's leg was broken badly, in fairness to Diouf, in case he honestly thought Mackie was faking. Diouf’s response? Repeating word for word his earlier assessment of the situation; ''expletive you and expletive your leg!''

Craig Bellamy’s rap sheet reads like a Cincinnati Bengals player’s (in 2009/2010 there were ten, count them, ten Bengals players with police records of some description). Come to think of it, do the Bengals need a kicker in 2011? Bellamy could be a perfect fit.

In March 2004, he threw a chair at a Newcastle coach. In 2006 he was accused of assaulting two women in Cardiff. In 2007 Liverpool held an internal investigation after Bellamy assaulted team mate John Arne Riise with a golf club. In 2009 Bellamy attacked a pitch-invading football fan. Last night, Bellamy was arrested and bailed on an assault claim in Cardiff, in which two men suffered facial injuries.

So what do these two individuals, Bellamy and El Hadji Diouf have in common? Apart from the fact they are both basically scum-bags dressed in fancy, colourful uniforms? They are both disgustingly overpaid compared to the hard working people doing the really important day to day jobs that keep, in this case, England ticking. This all leads to the vexing, perplexing question, why on earth do we, as a society, allow this to happen? Why are professional athletes so wildly over paid in comparison to the men and women of our embattled and beleaguered public services?

That's a meaty, heavy question that needs further research, analysis and debate, and right now there's no time, as this writer feels oddly compelled to go spit at someone, perhaps while attacking them with a four iron.

Linkage

Monday, January 10, 2011

The top ten most enjoyable sporting rivalries

And so, it came to pass, the Jets would travel to New England to play the Patriots. New Yorks gritty, grinding win over the injury riddled Colts on the weekend means that the Jets get another shot at making a 'rivalry' out of their show downs with the Patriots. To date, although tensions are high, it isn't a rivalry in the classic sense of the word, as the Jets have struggled to keep up with the Patriots. No Superbowl wins, very few playoff wins and a terrible head to head the last few years (although it is notably more even just recently).

That aside, seems like a good time to review and update From the Blechers top ten most enjoyable sporting rivalries, worldwide. Often if you get someone from Europe picking the list you get tennis, motor sports, soccer and cricket. if it's someone from the States you get obscure college rivalries and NASCAR. The answer to the question 'What are the top ten most enjoyable rivalries in sports?' lies, as always, somewhere in between.

Ground rules:
It has to be a reasonably evenly matched head to head to be considered a rivalry. Until the Jets actually win something, for example, their rivalry with New England is more of a border-feud. Most Individual sports don't count. Two bratty, spoiled tennis stars feuding on the court? No interest. If there aren't hundreds of thousands of fans motivated by the rivalry, it doesn’t count. There are of course exceptions. Disclaimer: This is of course just one blog's opinion. That's the beauty of sports lists. Disagree? Make your own! Go ahead, put it in the comments section!

The top ten most enjoyable rivalries in sport

10. Muhammad Ali v Joe Frazier
Starting, naturally, with the exception to the rule. Way back when, in a time when heavyweight boxing was still important, these guys went head to head three times. Two of those events were considered among the greatest, if not the greatest fights of all time. Boxing enthusiasts often call their first fight at Madison Square Garden in 1971 the most 'significant' boxing match in history. Their third fight, "The Thrilla in Manila" is the stuff of lore. This selection is tinged with nostalgia, as boxing, to me anyway, is dead at the moment. It's lost something. I remember staying up late for the big fights, Foreman, Tyson, Lewis, Bruno. There was something of a charm and a class to those fights. Today? Nothing. Boxing has no pulse. Muhammad Ali v Joe Frazier? The stuff of legend.

9. Inter Milan v AC Milan
There is atmosphere, and then there is atmosphere. The depth of passion and history in this rivalry is astonishing. Italian league football has lost a little of its gloss lately, lagging behind La Liga and the Premiership, but any meeting between these two old giants is worth tuning in for.

8. Giants v Dodgers
Every time you see a game between these two, you can feel the mutual hatred in the stands and on the field. In this day and age of multi millionaire playboy players, that's pretty rare. Kind of nice to see actual sporting animosity still alive and well in this rivalry. Of all the rivalries here, do Dodgers and Giants fans hate each other more than anyone else? Even more so than Boston/New York for example?

7. Celtic v Rangers
The 'Old Firm' derby has been diluted somewhat by over exposure to each other, however when gameday comes around, this is one of the most fiercely contested sporting events in the world. Consider this, US readers who are wondering why namby pamby college A against hauty tauty college B isn't in this list. It is actually dangerous, physically dangerous, for a Celtic fan to be at Ibrox, or a Rangers fan to be at Parkhead. You would be literally taking your life in your hands.

'The Old Firm rivalry fuels many assaults and many deaths on Old Firm Derby days; an activist group that monitors sectarian activity in Glasgow has reported that on Old Firm weekends, admissions to hospital emergency rooms increase ninefold over normal levels, and journalist Franklin Foer noted that in the period from 1996 to 2003, eight deaths in Glasgow were directly linked to Old Firm matches, and hundreds and thousands of assaults'

Celtic v Rangers is so much more than just a football match - it's a clash of religion, politics and opposing social attitudes. It's war.

6. India v Pakistan
You want a global level rivalry, a rivalry of potentially nuclear proportions? I give you India v Pakistan. Since the creation of Pakistan by the Partition of India in 1947, cricket on the subcontinent has been a hairs width from causing international incidents on several occasions. I witnessed a small cross section of this on a trip to India a few years ago.

So for those of you following at home, India have arrived in Pakistan for their massive showdown. I have seen Red Sox v Yankees. I have seen Sunderland v Newcastle, the Manchester Derby, Ireland v England in all sports. They are all an episode of the Tellytubbies on a Saturday Morning compared to this in terms of intensity. I don’t know how many guys I saw carrying cricket bats with them today, clutching them like they would be able to help India win from here. In a country with whatever, 1 billion people, it is literally all anyone wants to talk about. It actually nearly proved the catalyst towards the first conversation between my driver and I. I’ll get back to that. On a somber note, but just to give some idea of how big this game is over here, the atrocity in Madrid was a very, very poor second to the game on the front page of the newspapers. If it hadn’t been for CNN in the hotel I would hardly have known what happened actually, showing just how far away and just how different a place this is. Same way I imagine we would turn something of a blind eye to something of that magnitude happening here in Delhi.

5. Sunderland v Newcastle
Often called the Tyne–Wear derby, this makes North Carolina/Duke look like a picnic in the park between friends. These two groups of fans hate each other like there is no tomorrow. Sunderland, for years, were sort of the 'Rebel Alliance' to Newcastle's mighty Empire. However, then Newcastle went and got themselves relegated and spent last season in the division below the Premiership. They are back up again and the two showdowns between the two North Eastern giants in '10/'11 will be as bloodthirsty as always. Perhaps more so than ever before, come to think of it, with Sunderland now built with a spine of steel in the form of Jordan Henderson and Lee Cattermole, two of the most committed midfield players in the league. Combine Newcastle's Joey Barton and the odds on a red card in these two fixtures would have to be 1/5 or lower. Sunderland and Newcastle fans would settle for a mid table finish this year if you were to guarantee they would beat their rival. That's literally all they want.

4. Red Sox v Yankees
This rivalry literally exploded back into life in the early part of this decade. So much has happened in the last ten years alone you could write a 1,000 page book on the subject (and plenty have tried!). Joe West might not like it, but Boston/New York is juicy, super juicy. Think about it. All the Pedro Martinez stuff, Don Zimmer taking a dive, Carl Everett breaking up Mike 'Moose' Mussina's perfect game at Fenway, Karim Garcia and Aaron Boone, the whole A-Rod thing, Jason Varitek showing A-Rod who is boss, Johnny Damon, Gary Sheffield fighting with Boston fans and The Mitchell report and the nine Yankees appearing on it.

Then 2004 happened.

Boston coming back from 0-3 down. Dave Robert's steal. Curt Schilling pitching on one leg. David Ortiz's walk off hits. Johnny Damon again.

This isn't as much a rivalry, as an insane melo drama packed to bursting with story lines. Long may it continue..

3. Patriots v Colts
The greatest current rivalry in the NFL, one of the greatest of all time. Polian v Kraft, Dungy v Bilichek, Brady v Manning. The Colts may have the upper hand at the moment in that they are the most recent Superbowl participant of the two, but all Brady has to do is wave his hand with the three shiny Superbowl rings on it in the direction of Manning with his one, and the argument is done. For now.

2. Barcelona v Real Madrid
El Clásico. A match so good, so big, you just crack open a beer, sit back and let it wash over you. This has everything, history, drama and passion. Last season's sensational La Liga campaign saw Barcelona and Real Madrid quite literally battle over the title to the final day of the season. It was enthralling, and their late season derby match was absolutely compelling drama. Real Madrid re-stocked over the summer, and brought in more high priced talent and Barcelona's reaction was to absolutely abihilate them 5-0 in the first El Classico of the season. If you have never seen El Classico, do yourself a favour and make sure you catch the next one.

1. Celtics v Lakers
Such a colourful clash of cultures, styles and characters. You had the Showtime Lakers vs. blue-collar Boston in the '80s which was basketball at its best. Now we have the rivalry reborn in '08, '09 and potentially this season, '10/'11, and it feels as dramatic as ever. New characters, same enormous clash of styles. You really get a feeling as a fan that these guys do not like each other, and in this day and age of pampered sports stars, that's kind of nice.

The top ten most enjoyable rivalries in sports

Muhammad Ali v Joe Frazier
Inter Milan v AC Milan
Giants v Dodgers
Celtic v Rangers
India v Pakistan
Sunderland v Newcastle
Red Sox v Yankees
Patriots v Colts
Barcelona v Real Madrid
Celtics v Lakers

Linkage

Sunday, January 9, 2011

Marshawn Lynch wins the weekend

See, isn't this more fun than if the Rams had made the playoffs?

Last night the Seahawks stunned the universe and every clown that picked against them (including me) with a shocking 41-36 win over the Champion Saints. The clinching run was a rumbling, grumbling, jumbling 74 yard scatter by Marshawn Lynch. No, seriously, Marshawn Lynch. Eight, count em', eight Saints missed, whiffed, struck out on tackles on the young man.

Just in case you missed it, check out the video here. Count those missed tackles, and imagine the Falcons sitting at home giggling to themselves as Marshawn went marching in.

Reached for comment, Drew Brees had nothing to say, however he did have this facial expression for us to remember forever.

Oh, Marshawn!

Linkage

Comments
Comments welcome! Free and open debate and communication are some of the most enjoyable aspects of life. Please leave a comment, disagreements welcome! If you disagree, debate your case by all means. However, anything rude, spiteful or any cowardly anonymous personal attacks will be not be tolerated and will be deleted.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

From The Bleachers; Wildcard weekend the picks

Saints (11-5) at Seahawks (7-9)
Yes, Qwest Field is an intimidating place to play, we have all heard the cliché. The crowd is about as vociferous as it gets, although I don’t know how intimidating it can be for NFL players to be booed by someone holding a double espresso skimmed milk frothy mocha latte. Yes, the Saints are making that hideous cross country trip, and yes, they are doing it on a relatively short week. However, that’s where the hurdles stop. Last time these two met (November) the Saints ripped Seattle to shreds, 34-19. Pierre Thomas, Marques Colston and young tight end Jimmy Graham represents about 300% more ‘skill’ player than Seattle has. Reggie Bush also looks like he is almost at full throttle again. The ‘Hawks, firmly in rebuilding mode, made their season intentions clear when they allowed Deoin Branch to walk to New England earlier this year. If all else fails to convince you, bear in mind there’s a 60% chance the immortal Charlie Whitehurst starts this game for Seattle.
The Pick: Saints 28-16

Jets (11-5) at Colts (10-6):
A number of factors have to be in place for a traditional under-dog to pull off an upset win on a favourites home turf. One of the most important of those is for the under-dog to sneak in and take an unexpecting favourite by surprise. The Colts (a 3 to 4 point favourite as we speak) are fairly well aware that the Jets are coming. Rex Ryan ensured this by announcing this week to all and sundry that his team would consider anything but a Superbowl win a complete disaster. This is the same idiotic walking, wobbling mouth-piece on legs that last season announced Superbowl victory parade plans to his team before the first playoff game. That worked out well. The Colts have faced adversity all season long and somehow come out smiling. There are signs they are getting healthy again. Their running game, boosted by the return of Joseph Addai, has shown real signs of life the last couple of weeks, taking the pressure off Peyton Manning and the passing game. Of course the Colts are a passing team first, and if you are considering backing the Jets this weekend, ask yourself how the Jets did recently against two other passing teams of the Colts quality, the Bears and Patriots. This looks like the kind of game where the Colts could turn home field advantage into a big win, where half way through, with the Colts up by 10 and driving with the ball, we all exclaim; ‘Wow. The Colts are really that good’.
The Pick: Colts 27-17

''Now, where's the BBQ?''

Ravens (12-4) at Chiefs (10-6):
Doesn’t it feel like there is just something slightly awry with this Ravens season? Something slightly off. Be it the surprisingly loose play of QB Joe Flacco or the relative inability of Ray Rice to build on last seasons success, the Ravens just look one shade off this year. Meanwhile, Kansas is quietly building a contender. Arrowhead Stadium will be rocking, the Chiefs were 7-1 there this year and their fans can make this a very uncomfortable visit for Baltimore. The Chiefs running game can make things more uncomfortable yet. Slight gut feeling on this one, the Chiefs are on the rise, the Ravens have several important players past their peak. The shock of the Wildcard weekend.
The Pick: Chiefs 28-24

Packers (10-6) at Eagles (10-6):
Green Bay at Philadelphia, or, the battle of the time challenged coaches. We should be afforded many chances to marvel at two of the ‘looser’ time managing coaches in NFL football. In fairness to both Mike McCarthy and Andy Reid, they have done well to push their squads to identical 10-6 records. McCarthy, it could be argued, has faced down the greater levels of adversity, in the form of injured players. Reid had two NFL caliber QBs at his disposal, and for my money anyway, Green Bay’s results against over .500 teams are more impressive. Green Bay’s recent ‘nearly-win’ in New England, against all the odds and with Matt Flynn at the helm, was very note worthy. They showed real team spirit, and then backed that up with a stunning dismemberment of New York a week later. A mild shock on the cards.

The Pick: Packers 30-27

Linkage

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Underdogs Manchester City battle to 0-0 draw with Arsenal

Not since USA 4 USSR 3 in the Miracle On Ice, not since Ty Law picked off Kurt Warner and sent the +14 point underdog Patriots on their merry way in 2001, not since Sunderland shocked mighty, mighty Leeds in ’73, has there been as big a sporting upset as last night’s miraculous 0-0 draw between big bullies Arsenal and brave, tiny minnows Manchester City.

City, who’s Scrooge like owner Sheikh Mansour has only invested a paltry £573m in the club, defied the massive odds stacked against them to come away with a hard fought point from fortress Highbury. Man of the match was undoubtedly feisty young goalkeeper Joe Hart, who’s only claim to fame is that he is a full English international. Hart watched helplessly as Arsenal pounded the woodwork several times in the first half, but reacted superbly to tip over a potentially game winning rasper from Van Persie late on.

Striker Carlos Tevez also impressed. City’s adventurous, swashbuckling, cavalier manager Roberto Mancini employed Tevez in an imaginative role slotted in neatly just in front of the back nine, a kind of a 9-1-0 formation that looked revolutionary and forward thinking. Tevez rolled up his sleeves, tucked his Snood in and tackled his big Argentinean heart out all night long.

Tevez: Bravery in a Snood.

City’s ‘no-name’, heroic, battling midfield quartet of underdogs, De Jong, Barry, Milner and Touré almost brought a tear to the eye as they fought all night long to keep up with the Arsenal bullies, like 19 year old Jack Wilshire. The Dutch World Cup finalist, England international mainstays and former Barcelona star, valued at a piffling combined £100m, stuck studiously to their manager’s genius plan of none of them coming within 25 yards of the Arsenal goal. This ensured City had all the defensive cover they needed, and made the absolute most out of Mancini’s meager resources.

This courageous 0-0 almost makes up for the 0-3 thrashing Arsenal administered to City earlier this Premiere League season in Manchester when City, at home, were forced to, you know, play football.

This result will come as an enormous boost to beleaguered City, who are wallowing down the Premiere League table in lowly second place, and facing a financial crisis unlike any other club in English football.

Things are so bad in Manchester financially, that they are barely able to scrape together £27m to invest in Edin Dzeko, arriving next week in a desperate attempt to buy in some quality. Dzeko, ostensibly an attacking player, might be used as an auxiliary left back by Mancini, perhaps employing him in a brave, attacking 5-1-4-0 formation, with Dzeko pushing forward to support the four holding midfielders.

One thing is crystal clear, with battling, hard working and indeed heroic performances like these, the future is a turgid, stinking pile of dung for City fans all over the world. One would have to think £573m just isn’t worth quite what it used be.

Linkage

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Is Rex Ryan handicapping his own team?

Jets coach Rex Ryan is at it again. After a regular season ending, empty, meaningless win over a very bad Buffalo team, Ryan has announced his Jets squad as Superbowl favourites.

"I thought we'd win it last year. I think we're going to win it this year,"

Ryan is basically doing nothing but putting a massive bull’s-eye target on his sixth seeded wild card team.

The Jets are a talented, veteran squad with upper level skill players on both sides of the team, up and down their roster. They no doubt have the pure talent to win a Super Bowl. The question is, do they have the coaches to lead them to that title?

The Jets are hurting a little, their quarterback is nursing a damaged wing and they basically backed their way into the playoffs, winning an entirely meaningless game against a brutal Buffalo team on the last day of the season. Sadly for Fireman Ed and the rest of Jets nation, recent results have been less than exemplary. Jay Cutler and Tom Brady had their merry ways with the Jets secondary while New York failed to score a touchdown against a Miami team that then completely folded its last three games.

That’s the best team in the NFL? Really, Rex?

Once again though, the Jets form or skill is not being debated here, what is up for question is, why does their coaching staff insist on putting such ruinously heavy weight on their own teams shoulders?

The Jets, to win the Superbowl, will most likely have to beat the Colts, Patriots, Steelers and Falcons or Saints, in that order. On the road. To put it further in perspective, to win it all, the Jets Mark Sanchez is going to have to outplay three quarterbacks that have six Superbowl rings between them, Indianapolis' Peyton Manning, New England's Tom Brady and Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger. Of course, there is no doubt it could happen. They have the players to do it. However, what is the point in announcing to their upcoming four power house franchises that they are going to beat them? All that does is ensure those teams will be ready and waiting for them.

You think any of those teams are afraid of a Jets team that failed to score in Miami? A Jets team that conceded around 80 points to the Bears and Patriots?

All Ryan has done is fire up the likes of Dwight Freeney, Vince Wilfork and James Harrison. All he has done is intimate to his own team that anything but a Superbowl is abject failure. They will be playing every snap with tremendous pressure on their shoulder pads.

Ryan’s most seemingly innocuous comment is possibly his most revealing. It reveals his essential need to keep his mouth moving. He is like a shark, which needs to keep swimming to survive. Ryan seems to need to keep talking to do same.

There’s a great Simpsons episode where Homer is listening to Ricky Gervais’ painfully English character prattle on before Homer finally exclaims, exasperated, ‘You take forever to say nothing!''

With that in mind, here is Ryan on the Jets plans for this coming weekend.

''We're not going there to lose. We're going there to win. That's our mentality. That's my mentality. Always will be. I'm not apologizing for feeling this way. I believe in our football team. I know that's an excellent team we're playing, but they're getting our best shot."

Rex Ryan, you take forever to say nothing!

Linkage