By Eddie Mayrose
New York Baseball Fans Never Learn
It happens every spring. One of our two, local nines gets off to a slow start and the “First Time-Long Time” experts light up the phone lines
on the talk shows. Last season, after the Yankees had blown their first eight contests with the Red Sox, the signings of Mark Teixeira and C.C. Sabathia were questioned; as was the competence of manager Joe Girardi. Just curious; how’d 2009 work out for the Bombers in the end? Yet, even in the middle of a strong start to 2010, Yankee fans are again showing off their short memory; this time looking to hang struggling starter, Javier Vasquez. Despite the fact that Vasquez was an All Star in his first go-round in the Bronx, won a World Series in Chicago, is coming off the best season of his dominant career and was acquired for next to nothing, the so-called experts cite the grand slam he surrendered to Johnny Damon in the 2004 ALCS as the reason he’ll never be able to succeed in New York. Remember that down the stretch as they’re chanting his name in the ninth inning of a two hit shutout. Continue reading »
by Eddie Mayrose
New York Jets Cut Corners in Acquiring Corner
So, now we find out that one game short of the Super Bowl is the moral evacuation point for the New York Jets when it comes to the 
formation of their roster. Flush with the excitement of their improbable run to the AFC Championship game and desperate to fill a new stadium through a PSL extortion campaign, Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum has his eye on the prize; and, seemingly, nothing else.
His first big splash of the off season was to acquire Antonio Cromartie, former first round pick and Pro Bowl cornerback, from the Chargers. The idea of pairing Cromartie, the San Diego record holder for interceptions in a season, with Darrelle Revis, the game’s best, gave Tannenbaum the impetus to ignore the personal baggage Cromartie brings east. Gang Green’s new defensive back has been a busy young man; fathering seven children with six women in five states; all by the age of twenty five. With at least one paternity suit pending, the Jets felt it necessary to advance Cromartie $500K of his 2010 salary in order for him to satisfy delinquent child support payments. They can only hope he doesn’t start dating before training camp begins. Continue reading »
By Eddie Mayrose
New York Jets Suddenly Not “Same Old”
This time it was different. The Jets loss to the Colts in Sunday’s AFC Championship Game just didn’t feel as bad as the 
litany of playoff debacles that have dotted the team’s history. There was no fumble on the opening kickoff or a roughing the passer call with a win virtually sealed. There was neither mud nor A.J. Duhe. The Head Coach was not so frightened as to forget that a quarterback sack stops the clock or paranoid enough to claim that he received a crank phone call from Al Davis. Even the blown lead was different; surrendered not to turnovers, as was the case at Mile High Stadium in ‘98, but to a good, old fashioned, butt-kicking at the hands of one of the greatest to ever play his position. What felt so different was that, this time, the other guys were just better. Continue reading »
Gil Lock’s Take on the AFC and NFC Title Games
Things went better than expected last week for the star of Ryno Rife Sports Handicappers. He may not have won any 
money, but he did manage to break even on this season’s first venture into the world of pro football. Gil, having assured us he’d confer with his wife, Jill, returns this week to give his two cents on who we might be watching two weeks from now in Super Bowl XLIV.
by Eddie Mayrose
Football Gods Still Smiling On New York Jets
Shonn Greene had just crossed the goal line at the end of a bruising fifty-one yard run that had given the Jets a stunning 
17-7 lead over San Diego with seven minutes left in their Divisional Round playoff game on Sunday. As Greene was being mobbed by his teammates and my sons and I were jumping all over the living room, the phone rang. It was my dad, a well-meaning yet naive Giant fan, calling to congratulate us on a big win. I picked up the phone, horrified, and said, “Are you crazy? You can’t call me now. Do you have any idea how much disaster the Jets can pack into seven minutes?” And, sure enough, Rex Ryan immediately suffered his only brain cramp of the day; electing to squib the kickoff and hand the ball to the Chargers on the New York side of the field. There wasn’t a fan over thirty that didn’t believe we were about to be treated to another Jet horror show.
It was then, however, that Gang Green entered the Bizarro World, one where the opponent Continue reading »
