The Return

“Make today your day.”

That among other things is what Dennis Byrd told the Jets before last Sunday’s game against New England. Byrd was paralyzed during a game at the Meadowlands in 1992.

The week leading up to the rematch with the Patriots was highly emotional, full of trash talk and low blows. But it was the final piece of emotional talk that took the other route. You all know by now the story of Dennis Byrd’s uplifting speech to the Jets before that game Sunday. Braylon Edwards called it “the most inspirational speech of my life.”

After all the talk of feet, hair and hatred, things more closely associated with a tweenage girls’ sleepover than football, came these words of genuine meaning. Byrd told the team “I would trade anything in this world for one play.” The Jets took that to heart and played almost every play like it was their last, covering Patriots’ wide receivers for what felt like forever, plowing through the Patriots’ line and suddenly finding a pass rush that has been almost non-existent, carrying defenders into the end zone to get touchdowns rather than field goals.

Now here we are again. A little over 48 hours ‘til the penultimate moment comes again. Remembering back to last year at this same time, the feelings were different. They were no better or worse but different. These Jets seem different. Most have been here before now. Last year’s trip to the AFC Championship felt more like a whole lot of extra icing on the cake after a 9-7 finish that barely saw them reach the playoffs.

This time, the 11-5 Jets were in the playoff loop the whole way, despite not winning the division. They have gone through two legendary quarterbacks to get here. They defied every expert who thought a win over New England was impossible, shoved 45-3 in their faces and made 28-21 the score that really counts.

I said before this playoff run began that this road was murderer’s row to get to the Super Bowl. But the good thing is that there are no excuses if the Jets do make it. Nothing anyone can say to discount this team.

Now it all comes back to Pittsburgh, where the Jets just won for the first time ever in week 15. That win changed this season. Two weeks of disgusting football turned into a triumphant win over one of the AFC’s best.  It’s Pittsburgh, where the Jets suffered one of their most painful losses ever in the 2004 Divisional Playoffs. Pittsburgh, where a history of success and six rings resides.

It’s all on the line Sunday. For the second year in a row this special moment comes again. Rex Ryan has talked a lot of big bravado all season long but it is Dennis Byrd’s simple words that have meant the most. They are words we can all apply to our lives.

At the precipice of football’s biggest game, a worldwide spectacle, the Jets should again take heed to the message of Byrd, a man who struggles just to walk up the steps, who lost what he loves in an instant but still continues on today coaching football in Oklahoma. They should remember the importance of each singular moment. Make Sunday their day.

Murderer's Row

Peyton Manning. Tom Brady. Ben Roethlisberger.  Those are three Super Bowl winning, future Hall of Fame quarterbacks.

The Colts, Patriots and Steelers. Those are the winners of the past seven AFC championships.

The Jets’ road to Dallas and backing up Rex Ryan’s big talk faces that murderer’s row. This isn’t last year. There’s no easy game in these playoffs for the Jets. There’s no Bengals, who the Jets crushed in Week 17, awaiting the next weekend in the Wild Card Round. There’s no potential Divisional round matchup with a team notorious for playoff chokes.

Instead, these playoffs see an AFC Championship rematch in the Wild Card round. If they get through that it’s off to Foxboro, a matchup with the moxie and legacy of Belichick and Brady.

And then finally, it could be a trip to Pittsburgh, Baltimore or (though highly unlikely) Kansas City just to get to the Big Game.

It’s not baseball or the ’27 Yanks but this is a murderer’s row just as imposing. And maybe it’s what the Jets need.

After a season that has at times seemed to be more populated with controversies than offensive touchdowns, the Jets have something to prove. They were the self-proclaimed favorites going into this season. At one point, they were atop the division and looking like they might back up all the hype. Maybe Ryan’s Jets were the AFC’s best, as he told us all offseason.

Then came week 13, Monday Night Football, 9-2 Jets vs. 9-2 Patriots. The night the Jets lost their swagger. In their most important game of the season, the Jets didn’t just lose. They got crushed, embarrassed in front of a national audience. That night the Patriots regained their mantra of NFL’s best and the Jets were once again relegated to second-class status.

In one game, everything changed. The Jets finished their season 2-2 and as the sixth seed. The Patriots finished theirs 4-0 and with home field throughout.

But none of that matters now. It’s up to the Jets to rediscover the gameplans that carried them a half away from a Super Bowl berth in Miami last season. It is possible. They showed it in Pittsburgh.

Murderer’s row is going to be a challenge.  Those quarterback legends loom large in the way. But at one point Tom Brady was the underdog against the Greatest Show on Turf, Peyton Manning was the great quarterback that couldn’t get it done in the big game and Ben Roethlisberger was just a byproduct of his run game and defense. You shed those labels, become a legend, by what you do in January and February. Now it’s Mark Sanchez’s turn, to build his playoff legend or have one of those dastardly labels.

Bobcat Sports Best of 2010

2010 was quite the memorable year for sports in the small town by the Hocking. Basketball made a remarkable run, volleyball continued its tradition of excellence and numerous athletes and sports racked up accolades. You won't see anything to do with Rufus or Brutus on this list but you will see ten of Ohio's best sports moments from the year that has been.

1. Ohio beats Georgetown
14 over 3. Not even the biggest of diehards expected this. Ohio shot the lights out in Providence, convincingly pulling the first round's biggest upset, beating the Hoyas 97-83 - and earning a spot on the front of USA Today. The magical March run ended in the second round with a loss to 6-seed Tennessee.



2. The Bobcats are going dancing!
A 9th seed going into the MAC Tournament, Ohio almost didn't even make it to Cleveland. With the first round at campus sites, the Bobcats traveled to Ball State and squeaked out an overtime win. Then they went to the Q and knocked off higher seed after higher seed. First, top seed Kent State, then fourth-seed Miami and three-seed Akron in the title game. It was Armon Bassett who punctuated the overtime classic win over the Zips with a jam. He earned Tournament MVP honors, his 116 points the most in Tournament history.



3. Three-peat!
One team you can always count on in Athens is volleyball. For seven straight years, they had reached the NCAA Tournament. In the 2010 regular season, the Bobcats did not seem to be quite as dominant. They won the MAC East but their 10-6 conference record was no better than four MAC West squads. But come MAC Tournament time, it was business as usual. The Bobcats swept all of their opponents and avenged an October loss to Northern Illinois to capture its third straight MAC Tournament Championship and eighth straight NCAA Tournament berth. There, the season ended in the second round with a narrow five-set defeat at the hands of #12 Duke.

4. Freeman's three shoots down Redhawks
2010's Battle of the Bricks in Athens produced a classic final minute duel. Kenny Hayes put Miami on top 67-66 with nine seconds left. Then the Bobcats stormed down the court and Tommy Freeman nailed the game-winning three with .6 seconds to go. Fans rush the court, insanity ensues and Charlie Coles could only be left to wonder, again, what happened?



5. Bushby beats Buffalo at buzzer
On Senior Day, Jennifer Bushby capped her Convo career with quite a parting shot. With the game tied at 58 and just seconds remaining, Bushby knocked down the game-winner, finishing her day with 21 points. Earlier in the season, she joined select company, reaching 1,000 career points.

6. Historic Homecoming
It was never much of a contest as Ohio handled winless Akron. But those in attendance did witness a couple milestones. Terrence McCrae broke Ohio's all-time TD reception record and Boo Jackson tied the TD pass record. Two weeks later, fittingly on Halloween, Boo notched his 30th career TD pass to break it.



7. Herman heads to China
Ellen Herman's name is plastered throughout the Ohio volleyball history books. Now, she's looking to do the same- in U.S. volleyball. Herman played on the United States Women's National Volleyball Training Team in an exhibition in Guangzhou. In 2009, the outside hitter Herman was selected to be part of the U.S. A2 team.

8. Price a Patriot
For the third consecutive year, a Bobcat was taken in the NFL Draft. Last year, Michael Mitchell went in the 2nd round to Oakland. The year before it was Landon Cohen, a 7th-round selection of the Lions. In the 2010 Draft, the Patriots selected Taylor Price in the third round, 90th overall.



9. Lindsey finishes 6th at NCAA Championships
Germane Lindsey finished off a strong season in the 141 lb. weight class with an All-American distinction. On his way to the 6th place finish among the nation's best, Lindsey defeated #3 Michael Thorn from Minnesota and #11 Christopher Diaz from Virginia Tech. Lindsey got a third place finish at the MAC Tournament.

10. 4OT and 40
You might not expect to find a mid-December out-of-conference game between two teams just over .500 on a list of the year's best. This wasn't your typical one of those though. The Bobcats came back from down 10 against St. Bonaventure to force overtime- then a second, third and fourth. DJ Cooper scored a career-high 43 points but Andrew Nicholson topped that with 44 to lead the Bonnies to a 112-107, 4OT win, in the longest game in both programs' histories.

With Giant nightmare comes new opportunity

 
Nightmares can be hard to forget. They chill you so bad you wake up from a deep sleep. 

 

It was the Giants who seemed to be in a coma when the Eagles struck a blow more painful than any knife the subconscious could wield. 

 

The final seven minutes of Sunday’s comeback- or collapse, however, you want to look at it- were disastrous, dreadful, demoralizing. More than a few adjectives beginning with the letter D can be used to describe it. But there’s one that shouldn’t be used to describe the Giants- dead. 

 

They sure did look it when Matt Dodge inexplicably booted a line drive punt to DeSean Jackson, who dodged Giants defenders on the way to capping an improbable final minute stretch. It was the Giants who had the rug pulled out from under them, micro and macro speaking. In the moment, it was a game they signed and sealed but didn’t deliver. Big picture, they went from taking control of the NFC East and on the way to a first round bye to having to fight just to get into the playoffs.

That said- the Giants are still in control. The NFL is a week to week league, especially in this parity-filled season. Last week, the Jets looked down and out. Now, they’re back in control after going on the road and taking down a top team.

The Jets returned to a city, Pittsburgh, for the first time since a memorable playoff experience. This week, the Giants do the same- except their memories are good ones. Just like the Jets’ previous trip to Pittsburgh, the Giants were the big underdogs in their last visit to Lambeau. 

 

That was the 2007 NFC Championship Game. Remember? Temperatures so cold Tom Coughlin was looking like Lady Elaine, Brett Favre trying to continue a magical season in what we thought may be the final games of his career. No one gave the Giants a chance.

They faced adversity. Lawrence Tynes missed two fourth quarter fields goals, one at the end of regulation, that would have been game-winners. But unlike Brien against the Steelers, Tynes got a third try- and it was a charm. The Giants pulled the upset and were on their way to Arizona, where they would pull an even bigger one in Super Bowl XLII.

Now, it’s up to them if they want to take the reigns. A win against Green Bay and they’re back in, clinched. It’s that easy. They won’t be a two seed and they’ll have to go through three road playoff games to get to the Super Bowl but they did that last time they earned the title.

All the doom and gloom is presumptuous. It happened last week with the Jets and now the shoe’s been put on the other New York team’s foot. A win this week and the Giants can forget the Philly debacle. They can even lose and still get in with a win next week over Washington and some help.

It’s time for the Giants to wake up and move on. Forget the nightmare. One can be hard to shake but you can’t have another unless you fall back asleep.

There's Something About Pittsburgh

It was a game no one thought they had a chance in. They were the overwhelming underdog, a team holding onto life, heading to Heinz Field to face an imposing Steelers team led by its defense.

Sound familiar?

That was the story heading into 2005’s Divisional Playoff game between the Steelers and Jets. It was a Steelers team that was the AFC’s top seed, 15-1 and riding a 14-game win streak. It was a Jets team that squeaked by the Chargers in San Diego the week before on the leg of Doug Brien in overtime.

That leg of Doug Brien did not have the same fortune come that Saturday in the Steel City. You don’t have to tell any Jets fan old enough to remember that twice. On that day, the Jets’ offense did not reach pay dirt. Their two touchdowns came on defense, a Reggie Tongue interception return, and special teams, a Santana Moss punt return.

Then Brien made history- just not the way Jets fans had hoped. From hero to goat, Brien missed two field goals in the final two minutes for the first time in playoff history. Jeff Reed made a field goal in overtime and just like that, Gang Green’s season came to an end in the most agonizing of fashions.

Fast forward, nearly six years later...week 15, 2010 regular season. It’s not the playoffs but the story’s much the same. It’s a game no one outside the diehards thinks the Jets have a chance in. They’re the underdog coming off two miserable inter-division performances, facing a 10-3 Steelers team with a defense that will be without Troy Polamalu but has been shutting down opponents.

The Jets bring with them a kicker in Nick Folk who has not inspired much confidence lately. They bring an offense that has bluntly not scored lately. It’s been nine quarters and two entire games since Sanchez and company have passed the goal line. Perhaps the most glaring misstep came from former a Steeler, Santonio Holmes’ drop on a sure touchdown last week against Miami.

Sunday marks the first time the Jets return to the scene of that miserable evening that reinforced a cannot-do culture among their fan base. It marks a chance for a karmatic redemption of sorts. Fans had come to drop that Same Old Jets mentality after Rex Ryan led an AFC championship run, then a 9-2 start in 2010. But now those old insecurities are reemerging.

Everyone is picking against the Jets- and maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe it's a jolt of motivation a team that's looked near lifeless needs. The last time this was the story going into Pittsburgh they were one good boot from proving all the critics wrong and taking down the AFC powerhouse. Now a beleaguered squad has a chance to regain its swagger on a field full of nightmares past.

And hey, maybe karma is working in the Jets’ direction this time. I mean, Nick Folk has already had one three-miss game this season. The ghosts of Doug Brien past aren’t so cruel as to haunt another in green and white…right?

Jumping off a Cliff

 

He’s not coming.

In a seemingly apocalyptic moment, the Yankees did not get what they wanted. The star free agent didn’t choose them, didn’t choose the bigger money, brighter lights. It sure isn’t the winter of ’08 when C.C. Sabathia, A.J. Burnett and Mark Teixeria chose the Bronx and the Bombers’ bombastic contracts.

Instead, Cliff Lee, the guy the Yankees made well known was their #1 target, chose someone else. He’ll be home (well, kind of) for Christmas. Philly isn’t Lee’s first home of course. That’s the perennial pitching pit stop in Northeast Ohio. But it is where he got his first chance to build his so-far staggering postseason legacy. 

The Yankees are those ceaseless rich kids on the block. It’s nearly Christmas time and they weren’t just hoping, but expecting, to get the gift on top of their wish list. Texas is the kid who asked for a pony when it doesn’t have a barn. The Phillies were the already pitching-spoiled one that waited patiently, was good all year and got their guy. The Yankees are the rich kid who will spend Christmas smarting over why they end up with a Carlos Zambrano or some other pitcher from the Island of Misfit Toys.

Usually most fans of other teams are devoid of sympathy for the Yankees. And most fans probably still will be. It’s hard to feel bad for a team that spends the most and has won the most in the game’s history. 

However, this isn’t the case of the Yankees begging for another toy they don’t need. This time, this rich kid actually needed the fancy toy. 

In the Bronx it’s all about championships. To get those you need cream of the crop pitching. The Yankees’ was not that last season. 

In the year of the pitcher, only C.C. Sabathia was consistently good, finishing the year 21-7 with a 3.18 ERA. No other Yankee starter finished in baseball’s top 50 in ERA. As a staff, the Yankees were just middle of the pack, 15^th in ERA. 

When it came playoff time, the Yankees’ stumbling point in past postseasons again proved deadly. It wasn’t just Cliff Lee that beat the Yankees in the ALCS. It was all of Texas’ pitching that was better. Along with Lee, C.J. Wilson and Colby Lewis proved better than a rusty Andy Pettitte, maligned A.J. Burnett and fledgling Phil Hughes. 

Did the Yankees need Lee as badly as one of baseball’s perennial bottom feeders may have? Certainly not. C.C. Sabathia is a Cy Young winner and bona fide ace. Many in baseball can not even trot out one of those every fifth day. 

But for the Yankees’ prerogative, yes, Lee was a need. They can win without him. It’s not all about big names and big money. The Giants proved that last season. The Rays did win they reached the World Series three seasons ago. 

The road has gotten steeper now though. Not only did the Yankees fail to add a bona fide pitcher to join Sabathia, they are now facing a powerhouse rotation, albeit in the other league, along with a bolstered bunch of bats in Beantown. 

There’s no need to jump off a cliff…yet. The Yankees still have a powerhouse lineup and maybe new pitching coach Larry Rothschild can figure out A.J. Burnett’s troubles. The potential retirement of Andy Pettitte and limited available options on the pitching market are a real concern though. 

For now it’s Christmas come early in Philadelphia…and this time they should be thanking, not booing, Santa.

WhACked

I haven't written on this in awhile. I blame it on a very, very busy quarter. But it's break again- and there's not much more that riles me up or compels me to write than the BCS and end of college football season madness. It's that time again....

Stunner.

It’s another one of those. Sitting in front of the TV in a daze.

You try to process what you just saw. The gravity of what has just happened for the players on that field.

It’s that feeling you have as a fan, where there’s nothing you can say. You don’t yell or scream in frustration. You’re just shocked.

Last time it happened- Butler vs. Duke, Hayward’s missed heave at the buzzer. I’m not a Butler fan or a Boise State fan. But it is really hard not to root for the little guy. The one that the man wants to go down but just sticks around.

Boise’s been that little guy for a while in this BCS BS (and that stands for bowl system of course…). 

Year in, year out the BCS is consists of an in-crowd. Breaking into it is like being the middle class family trying to get into the yacht club. You might get in but to be fully accepted and at the top of the VIP list? Nearly impossible.

So, Boise and TCU made it in but tonight Boise spilled its drink all over the pristine premises. You’re out.

Be on watch TCU- LSU, Stanford, Wisconsin and all the other elites are waiting for you to find a banana peel on the floor to slip on.

For now, there’s just that shock again. You get pulled into an underdog’s run, their quest to beat the man. Then just like that you watch it all unravel. You don’t have to be a team’s fan to understand that feeling. At least not if you’ve ever known what it’s like to be the little guy…