And The Jets Raise Another Middle Finger To Their Fans

So, I got an e-mail from my parents today, saying to call my dad about a "tailgating situation." After calling, I discovered that my father had heard from a friend of ours who happened to be a fellow season-ticket holder. He alerted us to the fact that the Jets have re-zoned parking at the new stadium: one set for the non-PSL ticket holders and one for those who plopped down a house payment on season tickets. Okay, makes sense, right? They paid more, so they should get some sort of priority besides the closer seats. But then I found out where the parking will be for the rest of us schlubs: By the Izod Arena and the racetrack. That's right, on the outer outskirts of the parking areas, in 6 lots, the Jets are jamming every single upper-deck fan.

Now, we have been parking in the same area for over a decade now -- since before I went to college. We've been parking with the same group of people, with family friends of ours and made new friends over the years that I consider family -- my Jets family. But now, because I don't have thousands of dollars to stuff Woody's pockets with I'm suddenly different? And what do I get for my $200-plus a game for 10 games, plus playoffs? ONE lot that's close to the stadium, and six lots that will take me and my father, who is older and has had major knee surgeries, 25-30 minutes to walk from just to get to the stadium.

Obviously livid, I called the Jets to verify this horrendous slap-in-the-face. As it was all verified, I was given the canned answers and the assurance that "you have great seats, sir." Well, that's great! I SHOULD HAVE GREAT SEATS! My father's been a season ticket holder since 1968! OF COURSE I HAVE GOOD SEATS! BUT SUDDENLY I DON'T HAVE THE RIGHT TO HAVE EVEN DECENT PARKING?! WELL THANK YOU VERY MUCH, MR. JOHNSON, CAN I HAVE ANOTHER?!

Do you remember, Jets fans, when they told us that after the new stadium was built, how much better parking would be for us? How much easier it would be to get in and out? Do you remember that we'd only have to use these "parking permits" for the short term because once the stadium was built, there would be so much more parking for us as fans. We'd easily be able to fit everyone. In fact, when I called, one of their canned answers was "Well, sir we have enough room to fit all 82,500 fans and we're very proud of that." Except that's a lie. Because I was alerted that only 1 parking pass will be given out for every FIVE tickets in a group. So, if you've got friends you split your tickets with, you'd better find a place to meet or a place to park their cars beforehand, because you're not all getting in. It's the same as the satellite lots without those ridiculous buses. I have friends who share tickets and come from Brooklyn and Jersey. What are they supposed to do? Where are they supposed to meet? Where's the guy from Brooklyn to put his car? Oh, the  train? Well how he's supposed to bring a cooler, food, and a chair to sit in? Because once he gets off that train, in order to park with his non-PSL friends, he has to walk for a half hour.

Woody, you screwed us with the PSL's, but I forgave you. I understood the economics of it -- the business of it. It was BS, but okay. I moved on. But not once did you mention ANYTHING in your PSL campaign about parking. Not ONCE did I ever hear a thing about having to relocate from the 5J where I've parked since my freshman year of high school. But now, 3 months before preseason, you've bent over your fans and screwed them once more. You've put a temporary restraining order on the majority of those paying to fill your stadium and told them that every Sunday they must stay "this far away" until 1 p.m., 4:05, 4:15 or 8:30 -- when it's okay for all of us to stand together so we can cheer the team that you knew nothing about until a few years ago. We've been fans for 10, 15, 20, 30, and sometimes 40-plus years, but we haven't earned the right to barbeque with the rest of our fellow fans.

And you know why? Because as one of YOUR reps told me on the phone today, "Well, sir, they did pay more than you." Nice.

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Guest Post: Buffalo Waits, Again by Rubin

(I spent five years in Buffalo and came across many a delusional Buffalo sports fan. Rubin, a former writer at the Spectrum as well, happens to be one of the many -- and he also happens to be more delusional than most. With the Sabres' recent deflating loss to the Bruins, I figured I'd give him the space to vent. So what follows is a guest piece from the crazy mind of a Vanilla Ice-loving, Sabres and Bills-rooting, Can't-drive-to-Cleveland-without-getting-lost friend.)

As a proud Buffalonian born and raised (on the playground is where I spent most of my days) I have three thoughts that I believe to be fact:

1. Don’t believe the Anchor-Bar hype. If you want the best wings in Buffalo go to Duffs.
2. The day either the Bills or Sabres wins a championship, downtown Buffalo may go up in a blaze of fire in a celebration/riot like never before.
3. Only listen to local sports talk radio in spurts. It’s just too depressing otherwise.

Today I want to talk about point three and how so many fans believe the Sabres lost their first round series to the Boston Bruins because they got pushed around and Boston was the more physical team. Too many fans felt the only thing keeping the Sabres from the Stanley Cup was a young Mike Tyson on skates. I literally almost swerved off the road (right now Griffin is thinking that’s not too surprising) when I heard a caller on Monday say the Sabres will lose the series because in game two no one went after Chara after he checked Tim Kennedy over the bench at the end of a period. First of all this guy was giving reasons the Sabres would lose the series…before the series was over, and more importantly he was pinning the loss on a play that happened AFTER TIME EXPIRED.

That moment had zero effect on the series. To be honest, I don’t believe the physicality of the two teams had any effect on the result of the series. Which brings me to the main point that I think many Sabres fans have forgotten: you don’t win a game by racking up the most penalty minutes, or having the strongest check. You win a game by putting the puck in the net, and despite the fact the Sabres were consistently pushed around and knocked all over the ice, they still had dozens upon dozens of opportunities to score goals from point blank range and failed to cash in. Whether they were looking for the extra pass or were getting robbed by Tuukka Rask, the Sabres could not score enough goals to advance to the second round and that is the only reason the Sabres lost. Not because they didn’t retaliate against Chara, or because they got pushed around in the corners; they had golden opportunities to score despite being bullied by the Bruins. This will be clear in the second round when the Bruins push around and bully the Penguins and still lose in 5 games.

This may sound like I am cynical, but honestly I am anything but. I think we caught a hot goalie and had the bad luck of losing Vanek for Games 2-5. I think this was a learning experience for Derek Roy and Jason Pominville, who have proved in past post seasons that they could be key contributors. This year they were asked to be the stars and came up a little short, I expect to have a different result next year.

In the end the Sabres lost to a team that beat them fair-and-square. The Bruins scored more goals and had much better special team units. But as the Buffalo mantra goes…wait till next year.

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Music: Eminem - Despicable (Freestyle on "Over" and "Beamer, Benz or Bentley"

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Your Mission For The Day: Buy "The Adventures of Bobby Ray"

via en.wikipedia.org

B.o.B's album is finally here and if you don't already have it then you are f'n around. Despite more than half the album leaking, I had to make my second album purchase since the Marshall Mathers LP (Asher Roth's "Asleep In the Bread Aisle" being the other). Be it iTunes, your local record store (if it hasn't closed yet) or off of B.o.B's website -- get it, pop it in your computer, ipod or CD player and blast it.You won't be disappointed.

My personal favorite tracks are: "Past My Shades" feat Lupe Fiasco, "Fame", and "Airplanes Pt. 2" feat Hayley Williams and Eminem (of course).

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Birthday Dinner Menu

Apologies for the delay on this -- and the lack of photos (it was ridiculously busy) -- but I did promise to deliver the exact menu for my birthday dinner, so I wanted to deliver on that.

Appetizers
Ranch dip with diced Roma tomatoes
Red pepper hummus
Spinach dip with diced kalamata olives in a bread bowl
Crudite - Broccoli, peppers, celery, baby carrots
Cheese platter - Cheddar, munster, havarti dill, smoked gouda
Kalamata and green olives
Proscuitto, smoked salami, pepperoni
Assorted crackers and bread

Salad Course
Modified Caprese salad - diced Buffalo mozzarella, roasted red and yellow peppers, diced red onions, basil, and diced Roma tomatoes in a balsamic vinaigrette
Spinach salad - Baby spinach with crispy proscuitto tossed in a orange-caper vinaigrette

Main Course
Rice Pilaf
Pasta Ponza - Grape tomatoes baked with capers and olive oil topped with seasoned bread crumbs, tossed with ziti and parmesean cheese
Chicken Picatta - Lightly breaded chicken breasts fried in olive oil, topped with a lemon-caper sauce
Meatballs - Ground chuck and pork meatballs topped with pommodoro sauce, fresh mozzarella, basil and olive oil

Dessert
Strawberry Lemon Drop Cake topped with lemon frosting and lined with fresh strawberries

And after all that, I have one piece of advice for anyone cooking for a large party: Whatever you think it's going to cost in terms of money, effort, energy or time is not even close. While the joy of satisfying your guests can be unbelievably gratifying, the overall effort can leave you drained and unable to appreciate it fully. It was fun, but I'm not sure I'd do it again. I'm just glad my friends and family enjoyed it -- and that I got an unbelievable amount of help from my girlfriend and her family. They were unreal and completely necessary.

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2010 Jets' Schedule Analysis

So the NFL schedule is out, let me just say first that this is one of the most overrated day/nights of the entire sporting calendar. At least half the teams on the Jets' schedule will not finish with the record or standing they're expected to. That sad, NFL fans can't get enough of their sport and there are some ideas and observations of note.

1. Santonio's suspension won't hurt that bad: Now, I know you're all going to think I'm crazy for saying this. The Jets face three divisional opponents and the Ravens while No. 10 will be forced to sit out. That being said, not a single team they will face boast the high-powered offenses of later opponents like the Vikings or Packers. The Ravens, Dolphins, and Bills games will all likely be grind-it-out defensive affairs -- perfect for Rex's Jets. The only team with a potentially dynamic offense -- the Patriots -- will likely be without their best WR (Wes Welker) for the Week 2 showdown. The Ravens will not drastically alter their gameplan because of the addition of Anquan Boldin and Brandon Marshall does not make the Dolphins a pass-first team. If the Jets need to go up top, they still have Braylon Edwards, Jerricho Cotchery and Dustin Keller. If you ask me, this is as good a stretch as any for the Jets to be without their best weapon in the passing game.
2. That said...: The first six weeks are a tough opening stretch for the Jets. With so much pressure on this team from top to bottom, they'll have to get used to the scalding hot spotlights real fast. If they stumble early, there will be a lot of critiques in the media about disrupting the team's chemistry and changing the dynamic with all the splashy offseason additions. As much as Jets fans consider this franchise past the "same old Jets" mantra, the media does not. The media love to fall back on what's comfortable and what's comfortable is to doubt the Jets' ability to be consistently good. If they falter early, it'll be up to Rex and the locker-room leaders to weather the storm and keep everyone focused and on-target until they get on track.
   
3. Love that bye week: I said it on twitter last night, but the Week 7 bye is about as perfectly placed as you can get. Late enough that the players can heal, but early enough the team can fix the problems and patch the holes before the second half of their schedule. Also, it'll give the coaches and Holmes a chance to evaluate three full games with him in the lineup and figure out how to adapt their offensive scheme around his unique skills. And let's not forget, it'll give Rex extra time to prepare for the Packers' big-time offense, which is always a good thing.
4. Five is a big -- but good -- number: Five prime-time games -- at least -- for a franchise that until last season was as also-ran as you can get in the nation's biggest media market. Yowza. What does this mean? Obviously it's a lot of exposure for this franchise and it'll likely mess up the players and coaches' gameday routines and give them a few short weeks of preparation. But it will also get the younger players more experience playing in big-time games with all the lights on. As a friend of mine said about Rex's Jets last year: They love to play under the bright lights. It'll only give the players a bigger stage to shine on. Oh, and bet money that Jets-Steelers in Week 15 ends up flexed to Sunday Night Football.
   
5. Welcome to Rex's World: It starts to get really cold in the Northeast right around Thanksgiving, which plays right into the Jets' hands. From Week 12 to Week 17, every single game will be play in a cold, likely windy, and possibly snowy city. Miami has to come north in Week 14 and the Jets get to give the Bears an old dose of smashmouth football in Week 16 in Chicago. There's a reason coaches like Rex build their teams around defense and running games -- because by the end of the season, when WRs and speed backs are beat up, it comes down to the football in the trenches and heavy-duty run games. The Jets made the playoffs and their run to the AFC title game last year with a run that featured almost nothing but that. With a second year in the zone-blocking scheme of offensive live guru and running-game coordinator Bill Callahan and the defense even better suited to Rex and defensive coordinator Mike Pettine's defense, expect the Jets to finish the season strong -- exactly what you want before a potential playoff run.
6. Divisional bookends: Interesting to note that the Jets' divisional games all come in the first four weeks and the final five weeks, with nary a showdown in the meat of the schedule. I've already touched on the opening, but the later games will likely have even more pressure. This puts even more value on the weeks later in the season -- which is precisely what commissioner Roger Goodell wanted. Even in Week 17 against the Bills, it's possible the Jets will have to win that game for some sort of divisional tiebreaker.
   

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Jason Taylor Finally Makes Up His Mind

Can the former Dolphin help the Jets' pass rush this year? Probably in spurts. Will he be a difference maker? No. So what's the bonus of spending what little UFA money they had on a 36-year old, far-past-his-prime-poster-boy for Jets hate? I don't like it. I won't like it any more as the season gets closer or starts or ends. There's nothing I'd hate more than seeing that pretty-boy cry baby get his first ring with the team and for the fans he made a career off of bashing. Oh, and you think after this he won't go back to bashing the team and fan base in a few years? Think again. He's all about getting one last paycheck and maybe a shot at a ring.

I'd much rather pay a mercenary who's crimes I didn't witness first-hand. I have no interest in seeing Jason Taylor ever suit up for the franchise I love. This move disgusts me.

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Song You Shoulder Be Listening To: Drake - All Night Long

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What a way to spend a birthday

By the way, Josh, food pictures coming later
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

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The cooking continues

Menu coming soon...
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

     

Click here to download:

The_cooking_continues.zip (355 KB)

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