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December 16, 2007

Some hunch, huh?

By Mark La Monica

Late Saturday night/early Sunday night, I put forth my hunch that the Jets would beat the Pats.

Clearly, I was under the influence of some performance-enhancing stupid pills.

Then again, if I had access to the offensive game plan beforehand, I would have reconsidered.

However, it's worth a few chuckles no matter what side of the Long Island Sound you live on to make note that this game was decided in large part by a video camera in the end zone. Hello, serendipity!

Speaking of videotape, is Man-moron the only person in the world who doesn't know that when Brad Smith lines up at quarterback, the Jets are going to run the ball? Wake up, Man-moron! Are you challenging Isiah Thomas for most consecutive appearances in our "Paybacks" list on Tuesdays?

Yes, Smith finally threw a pass today, a fourth-and-2 scramble/desperation throw that missed its target by a few feet. And he probably got in trouble for doing it.

Jets beat Pats?!?

By Mark La Monica

I've got a hunch about this Sunday's game up there in Foxboro, excuse me, Foxborough. (Winning three Super Bowls in six seasons tends to get the pinky in the air, so to speak, when it comes to spelling.)

Maybe it's the lack of sleep this past week (damn you, Mitchell Report!), maybe it's two 2-liter bottle of Coca-Cola that's down to about 0.6 ounces now, or maybe it's just my nature to go against the norm. But I've got a feeling the Jets are going to beat the Patriots this week. And I'm not talking about covering the spread. I'm talking straight up!

Should I be correct in this hunch, it will completely blow up my Don Shula Scenario that I plan to write here Monday afternoon. If the Jets win, I'll write about what it would have been. If the Jets lose, I'll write about what it will be.

Should I be correct in this hunch, I can say you heard it here first.

Should I be correct in this hunch, we'll leave the Mangini alone for the rest of the season.

Should I be incorrect in this hunch, oh well, at least I took a shot.

Should I be incorrect in this hunch, the Don Shula Scenario is alive and well.

December 9, 2007

Are the Jets serious?

By Mark La Monica

General rule of thumb: Never turn off a football game when the Jets are involved. Regardless of the score, you almost never know who's going to win. And you're guaranteed to have a better-than-average chance of seeing something you've never seen before in football.

But this? This one makes you want to throw your television into your neighbor's pool, then jump out the window after it.

The Jets trailed the Browns, 17-6, late in the fourth quarter. They scored a touchdown but missed the two-point conversion. Then, miraculously yet predictably, the Jets recovered the onside kick.

They got to the Browns' 20-yard-line with three timeouts and 1:45 left. Fourth-and-10. What does Mangini do? He sends in Mike Nugent to kick a freakin' field goal. Are you kidding me? A field goal when you're down five?

Not even Herm Edwards would attempt a field goal in that situation.

Mangenious? Ha! Man-moron!

That's just plain dumb. And you can bet Man-moron will find his way into "Paybacks" this Tuesday.

At best, you're down two and have to recover a second onside kick, or you kick it deep and stop the Browns from getting a first down.

At worst, you don't get the first down and the Browns have the ball deep in their end and you still have three timeouts to stop them.

Final score: 24-18. (Yep, they actually kicked another field goal!)

This is why the Jets are the Jets and will always be the Jets. This is why we need Joe Benigno back on the overnights for WFAN.

October 30, 2007

Now that's a Manic Monday!

By Mark La Monica

The Bangles Manic Monday

Six o'clock already
I was just in the middle of a dream
I was kissin' Emmanuelle Chriqui
By a crystal blue Italian stream

Thank you, Susanna Hoffs and the rest of The Bangles for those slightly modified lyrics from the 80s pop hit "Manic Monday."

Manic is a bit of understatement right now. More like just another insane, crazy, bonkers Monday in New York sports. Just when it seemed the right play to lament Boston's dominance over New York in the sports world, New York delayed the pain with a monster of a day.

Follow this little chain reaction:

The Yankees chose Joe Girardi over Donnie Baseball for their vacant managing job.

Donnie Baseball, somewhat perturbed for getting passed over for the top spot as if he was Fredo Corleone, left his position as Yankees bench coach.

Then, in the moments before midnight and the actual changing of the calendar day, buckets of rumors hit the Internet that Joe Torre is going to be named the next manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, replacing the soon-to-be-canned Grady Little.

Just to add to the chaos, Mattingly is rumored to join Joe Hollywood at Chavez Ravine. Yankees hitting coach Kevin Long is also possibly rumored to make the move. But that's slightly more speculative than the Torre-Mattingly thing.

And there's the ripple effect of A-Rod opting out of the last three years of his contract and hitting the free-agent market.

Oh, wait we're not done.

The Jets announced that Kellen Clemens is their new starting quarterback, replacing the ineffective Chad Pennington.

Supposedly, the Red Sox won the World Series somewhat recently. You wouldn't know it today, at least not in New York.

Crazy, crazy day.

October 22, 2007

Don't make Jets plans in advance

CINCINNATI -- I'm in the hotel, a few minutes after midnight, wishing I knew then what I know now.

No, this isn't a diary entry of a tormented rock star on the road. It's the lamenting of a Jets fan on the road.

For the past few seasons, Lawyer friend Steve and I have made the pilgrimage once a year to a Jets road game. Some years they win, others they don't. That's never really been the reason for traveling. It's more about the experience of a new city (and taking a day off from work).

Back in May, we chose Week 7 in Cincinnati. It fit well with our schedules and Lawyer friend Brendan lives in nearby Lexington, Ky. This was the perfect excuse to come down for a visit and a weekend of unabashed boozing. These sorts of things happen in Kentucky, a land of bourbon and basketball. Plus, we had the added bonus of tickets to the UK-Florida game on Saturday and the chance to experience ESPN College Gameday.

All that stuff on Saturday was fun. Then, of course, Sunday just had to show up, with those 1-5 Jets against the 1-4 Bengals.

The Jets led, 23-10, in the third quarter then systematically -- and predictably -- gave away the lead and lost 38-31. Staying true to the notion of Jet fan misery, rooting for the two-point conversion to get the Jets to within seven points and mess up the spread for gamblers and office pools wasn't even an option. The spread in the Sunday edition of the Lexington Herald-Leader was 6.5. The two-point conversion only pulled the Jets within seven. When things smell, they smell bad.

A good rule of thumb: Don't plan Jets road trips several months before the season starts unless it's to a hot, happening city, or a warm-weather city in December, or Lambeau Field before November. Otherwise, you're just asking for misery.

There are few things more demoralizing than sitting in an away stadium with the away team's gear on and listening to the fans of a slightly less awful team taunt you. There are fewer things more demoralizing than walking into a bar and grille after the game with the away team's gear on and having to hear three drunk local girls in pink home team jerseys spew some kind of yang about your team and your city. There are only two semi-polite responses you can offer before things get really ugly:

1) "Here's my cell phone number. Call me in January when your team doesn't make the playoffs either."

2) "Yeah, well, you still live here!"

After that, it gets nasty. Really nasty. Point out obvious shortcomings nasty. Order them three milks nasty. I'm too old for that nowadays. Better to just leave the restaurant and let the hostess know why you've chosen to spend your money at a different establishment.

Turn on your Joe Benigno voice now.

You just know that when you planned a Jets trip for the middle of the season way in advance, you were going to regret spending a few hundred bones to watch a 1-5 team transform itself to 1-6.

Turn off your Joe Benigno voice now -- and start hoping Florida QB Tim Tebow challenges the NFL rule and tries to enter the draft after two years of school.

October 7, 2007

Live: Jets vs. Giants

By Mark La Monica

And away we go with some live blogging fun from the Giants Stadium as the Jets travel all of 15 feet for a road game against the Giants.

Since the Giants have the home field, we'll even things out and blog mainly from the Jets' point of view, with some Big Blue stuff mixed in.

lPre-game: Saw TV announcer/former NFL lineman Randy Cross in the elevator. Note to self: Super Bowl rings are huge! Saw Greg Buttle in the press lounge. Wanted to ask who he was buying and selling this week, but professional decorum prevails.

1:15 p.m. - Mangini shows some guts and goes for it on fourth and a foot from the Giants' 48 yard-line line early in the first quarter.

1:15.30 - So much for guts. Pennington takes a delay of game penalty to give Ben Graham five more yards to punt. Take a chance!

1:16 - Graham pins the ball at the Giants' 8.

1:20 - If you're playing any season of Madden and you're not using the Jets as your team, immediately trade for Jets safety Kerry Rhodes and put him on your hands team. He just stripped Brandon Jacobs, ran after the bouncing ball and picked it up with one hand (all in one motion) and ran it 11 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead for the Jets. It wasn't quite the Karate Kid catching a fly with chopsticks, but it was close.

1:32 - Jump up and rejoice Jets fans, Chad Pennington just the ball more than 20 yards in the air. And it was completed for 17 yards to Chris Baker.

1:34 - The quarterback sneak may be Chad's best asset, aside from his brain, on the field.

1:36 - Uh oh. This isn't good. Laveranues Coles is kneeling on the 10-yard-line in pain. It's never a good thing when your best offensive weapon is no longer an offensive weapon. Coles is walking off the field now on his own power, but appears to be favoring his left side.

1:39 - Not suprisingly, Mike Nugent missed a 42-yard field goal. This guy, yeah, not so good so far this year. But, would you rather have Doug Brien?

1:42 - I'm in the third row of the press box, which is level 9 of the stadium, above the last row of seats. It's geographically impossible to be further away from the field while still being in the stadium. Clearly, the Keyboard Quarterbacks' passer rating isn't on the NFL radar. However, we do get a great new perspective on the game by watching from waaaaaay up above instead of from the side like on television. And I'm surrounded by nine different TV screens with the live broadcast, so I got that going for me, which is nice.

Continue reading "Live: Jets vs. Giants" »

October 1, 2007

Benigno Monday

By Mark La Monica

Jets fans are bumming today. Mets fans are really bumming today.

Those who are fans of both the Mets and Jets, well, today is quite uncomfortable. If there's a company in the New York area that can measure productivity in the workplace on a daily basis, someone please contact them. Today could set an all-time record.

Perhaps no one captures the essence of being a Mets and Jets fan than Joe Benigno of WFAN Radio. Those who have been listening to Benigno on the air for the past 10-plus years understand. Those who haven't been listening, turn on your radio and set it to 660 AM. Or log on to wfan.com for live streaming of his weekday show from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Within the first three minutes, you'll understand the Benigno phenomenon.

ronburgundymilk.jpgAfter the Mets engineered the worst regular-season collapse in baseball history and the Jets lost to the worst-ranked-in-everything Bills, there's a good chance Benigno will lose his mind on the air Monday. Provided he even makes it into work. It's 50/50 that Benigno has already turned into the distressed and disheveled Ron Burgundy after he got fired in "Anchorman."

Either way, we're channeling our inner Benigno for this Monday morning. So, turn on your best Benigno voice and read along.

YOU JUST KNEW that when the first inning of the Mets-Marlins game took nearly as long as the entire first half of the Jets-Bills game, it wasn't going to be a good day.

YOU JUST KNEW that when the Jets didn't go for it on fourth-and-less-than-a-yard from the Buffalo 45 on the opening drive, they weren't going to win.

YOU JUST KNEW that when Eric Mangini and the Jets spent most of the last week praising the worst-ranked defense in the NFL, that worst-ranked defense in the league was going to play like the 2000 Baltimore Ravens.

YOU JUST KNEW that when the Bills decided to start rookie Trent Edwards, a guy who never started an NFL game and only had 20 pass attempts in his young NFL career, the Jets' defense would make him look like the next Tom Brady. (Edwards was 22-for-28 for 234 yards and the decisive touchdown pass.)

YOU JUST KNEW that when Tom Glavine said late in the week that he'd rather not have to pitch on Sunday because that would mean the Mets had clinched the NL East, he would have the worst start of his entire career (seven runs in 0.1 innings) when the Mets needed him the most.

YOU JUST KNEW the Phillies were going to win on Sunday.

YOU JUST KNEW that the Padres were going to lose and the Rockies were going to win, thereby rubbing it in more after the Mets lost.

YOU JUST KNEW that after the last two weeks, the Mets weren't going to win the one game all season they really needed to win.

YOU JUST KNEW Lee Evans, the Bills receiver who hadn't done anything all season coming into Sunday's game, would catch six passes and have a big game.

YOU JUST KNEW when Mike Nugent missed that field goal after Chad Pennington's fake-spike completion to Laveraneus Coles, it would be the difference in the game.

YOU JUST KNEW that Sunday was going to be the worst day ever.

January 5, 2007

The Mangini-Belichick handshake

By Mark La Monica

Eric_Man.jpg
Much has been made about the friendship turned foeship between Eric Mangini and Bill Belichick ever since the former took the job the latter once resigned from 24 hours after he was given it.

Rather than look back at the two previous midfield greetings after the Jets-Patriots games this season, let's look forward to this Sunday. Here are the Keyboard Quarterbacks' nine suggestions for how Mangini should deal with the postgame handshake if the Jets win, followed by nine suggestions should the Jets not win.

Top 9 handshake ideas for Mangini after a Jets win

1) Punch Belichick in the face and stand over him like Muhammad Ali did to Sonny Liston.

2) Put one of those buzzers in his hand and shock Belichick into a pulse.

3) "Hey, Bill. Nice game. Love the sweatshirt. Maybe I'll wear one next week. Tune in to Channel 2 and watch."

4) Stinkhand him, a la "Mallrats."

5) Be cordial and professional and go on your way.

6) The dead fish.

7) Extend a hand and pull it away just as Belichick goes for it, then yell "Psych!"

8) Moon Belichick.

9) "Bill, don't you wish you could be the HC of the NYJ right now?"

Top 9 handshake ideas for Mangini after a Jets non-win

1) Punch Belichick in the face and stand over him like Muhammad Ali did to Sonny Liston.

2) Extend the left hand instead and force Belichick to make either an awkward grip with his right hand or use his left hand to shake.

3) Throw the challenge flag at him.

4) Stinkhand him, a la "Mallrats."

5) "Bill, the guys in the booth said you smiled in the second quarter. Why don't you like me anymore?"

6) Talk to Belichick for as long as possible just to keep him on the field.

7) Shake Tom Brady's hand instead.

8) Moon Belichick.

9) Be respectful and professional and yada, yada, yada.

Jets vs. Patriots at the Tropicana

By Mark La Monica

LAS VEGAS -- It all began when the blackjack dealer at the Tropicana mentioned to his pit boss while shuffling the cards that he lost his bet on Michigan in the Rose Bowl.

I laughed as I counted the $50 I had won on the last shoe he dealt. "Why would you bet against Pete Carroll?" I asked.

"Oh here we go with the Pete Carroll stuff," he responded. "I'm a Patriots fan. I hate Pete Carroll."

Uh oh, I can feel the New York in me coming to a boil. I eschewed the Carroll conversation and went straight for the jugular.

"Oh, a Patriots fan, huh?" I said. "My Jets are gonna kick your ass on Sunday."

Boom. I lost the next nine hands in a row. Damn you, Belichick!

Finally, my profit stack on its last chip, I won a hand, stared down the dealer and yelled "Mangenius!"

Won the next hand, the next hand and the next hand. Here it comes. "J-E-T-S Jets! Jets! Jets!"

The dealer laughed. And I walked away with my dignity, pride for all Jets fans and the house's money.

November 13, 2006

Kill Bill, Vol. III

By Mark La Monica

It's been more than 24 hours since the Jets stuck it to the Patriots in Foxboro. That's more than enough time to settle down and return to normal life.

But then I saw these pictures, and oooh, they're gems.

Is Mr. Happy Pants crying because he's about to lose to Mangini?

1.jpg

And then he has no use for his protege. Mangini should have just clocked him in the grill and yelled, "How you like me now?" We could pass around an e-hat and drum up some coin for his bail if he did that.

2.jpg

The only imagery better than this will be if and when Mangini sticks it to Belichick in the playoffs one day.

A brief note to Bob

Dear Mr. Sutton,

Isn't it amazing what happens when you blitz the quarterback periodically during an NFL game, as opposed to just waiting until the fourth quarter to send the safety in when your team is already down and fighting to get back into the game?

Keep it up.

Sincerely,
Jets fans.

October 23, 2006

Postseason Jets?

By Mark La Monica

Let's jump every gun, even the unregistered ones, with this idea: the New York Jets could make the playoffs this season!

(Turn on Jim Mora voice.)

Playoffs?

(Turn off Jim Mora voice.)

Playoffs!

Yes, I realize a) there are nine games left; b) they share a division with those pesky New England Patriots; and c) these are the New York Jets.

But there exists the possibility that the Jets could make the playoffs this season. A 4-3 record through seven games is better than any reasonable Jets fan could have expected at the start of the season. Not with the health of Chad Pennington in question and the anticipated zero yards from Curtis Martin because of a knee injury.

Pennington has answered more than satisfactorily any questions about his twice-repaired throwing shoulder. Pennington's 91.3 passer rating ranks ninth in the NFL, ahead of Carson Palmer, Tom Brady, Jake Delhomme, Matt Hasselbeck and Michael Vick, among others.

Slowly, the running game is developing as the rebuilt offensive line remembers how to run block. Rookie halfback Leon Washington is emerging as a legit rusher. And Kevan Barlow, acquired shortly before the regular season began, is tied for third with five rushing touchdowns.

Jerricho Cotchery has emerged as a go-to receiver, forcing defenses to cover both sides of the field. He and Laveranues Coles (42) have totaled 72 receptions this season, the third highest total for a receiving duo in the league. Carolina's Steve Smith and Keyshawn Johnson and Detroit's Roy Williams and Mike Furrey each have totaled 75 receptions for their respective teams.

There are plenty of holes in this team, such as the third-worst 372.3 yards allowed per game and the lack of a real pass rush from the defensive line. Kicker Mike Nugent is shakier than James Bond's martini. We know this. No one is crowning Eric Mangini as the next Lombardi, Parcells, Walsh or Belichick. But he's quickly proven that he's not the next Kotite, Coslet, Tice or Haslett.

Take a quick look the Jets' remaining schedule:

Week 8 - at Cleveland
Week 9 - Bye
Week 10 - at New England
Week 11 - Chicago
Week 12 - Houston
Week 13 - at Green Bay
Week 14 - Buffalo
Week 15 - at Minnesota
Week 16 - at Miami
Week 17 - Oakland

If you play by the "should win" theory, there are two definite losses for the Jets -- 5-1 New England and 6-0 Chicago -- and a quite possible loss at 4-2 Minnesota. The other games, under this theory, would be wins. The combined record of those other six teams is 9-29.

So, we're talking 10-6 at best, 9-7 at worst.

A 10-6 season could earn the Jets a wild card. A 9-7 record likely won't be good enough. Not in the AFC.

Regardless of the "championship or else" cliche that everyone repeats every time, either record would please a Jets fan, player, coach or anyone else invested in this franchise.

It may be a longshot. OK, it IS a longshot. But what else would we expect from the Jets? This is a team that never makes winning easy.

However, we're heading into Week 8 and Jets fans can actually start considering thinking about what a football game in January would be like. They can start mapping out the schedules of other teams in the league and figuring out who to root for each week.

And that's something Jets fans can be proud of, because these are still your Jets and you know what sort of heartwrenching misery that entails.

October 1, 2006

Next time, take the points

By Mark La Monica

Just when I was ready to declare these Jets "for real" this season, I witnessed this mind-boggling completion to a 16-play, 77-yard drive covering 8 minutes and 41 seconds with the score tied at 14 in the third quarter:

- Third-and-goal from the 2, three tight ends in the game for the Jets. Handoff to Cedric Houston, 0 yards, 1 injury.
- Timeout.
- Fourth-and-goal from the 2, three tights ends in the game for Jets. Play-action fake by Chad Pennington. Rollout to the right, 0 yards, 1 interception.

Total: Two plays, one timeout, one injury, one turnover, zero points.

"That was the plan," Jets coach Eric Mangini said in his postgame news conference. "We were gonna drive the length of the field. We're looking to score touchdowns, not field goals."

Sure, guts are good. But you just don't leave points on the board against Peyton Manning. That's just not smart. You also don't go with three tight ends on fourth-and-goal from the 2. Everyone knows you're going to pass, so make it a little easier for your quarterback. Playaction was meant for second or third down. Not fourth. It doesn't fool anyone. (What would you do in the situation? Vote here.)


For once, perhaps Jets fans wouldn't mind a little Herm Edwards attitude for a few hours today. The Colts then marched down the field for a field goal and a 17-14 lead.

Just when I was ready to possibly contemplate being a first-time caller, long-time listener and discussing head coach Eric Mangini's poor decision, Justin Miller returns a kickoff 103 yards for a touchdown and a 28-24 lead with 2:20 left. It should have been 31-24 with 2:20 left. Then, Jets fans could at least be comfortable knowing their team was going to overtime.

With that much time left, was I the only one thinking "That's waaaaaaaaay too much time to give the best quarterback on the best offense in the league to work against the Jets?"

Touchdown, Colts!

Just when I was ready to turn the television off with eight seconds left, I saw Leon Washington lateral to Brad Smith. Then I saw Smith throw across the field to Laveraneus Coles, who lateraled to Pennington, who threw back across the field to Justin McCareins, who then lateraled back to Smith, who then lateraled back to Coles, who then tossed the ball away to Nick Mangold as he was being tackled, who ran for a bit before tossing back to Washington who couldn't handle the high throw.

Jets lose, 31-28.

Damn, these Jets are exciting to watch. They can't stop the run, and they can't really run the ball (sorry, but the Colts' run defense stinks), but they are fun to watch. And they're for real this season. Will they make the playoffs? Who knows. But they'll compete in their division.

September 13, 2005

Trouble at Arrowhead


Think watching the Jets open the season like an 8th-grade team was painful? Try being at Arrowhead Stadium in a Jets T-shirt.

Old-school gangsta rap videos depict safer scenes.

For the most part, Midwesterns seem very friendly. They're outgoing and genuinely nice, something New Yorkers too often are not. We met some lovely people at Arrowhead.

Alas, as with everything in life, there are some outliers. The proverbial bad apples.

Once some of them don their Chiefs clothing, they kick old people, spit on babies and burn Hallmark cards.

One Chiefs fan infiltrated our tailgate using his well-endowed lady friend. He begged to use the port-a-pottie we had at our tailgate tent. Several minutes later, he walks out smiling. After dropping a bomb, he drops, “I left you a Kansas City baby arm.”

Right there, we should have known all the J-E-T-S, Jets! Jets! Jets! chants would not help our team win.

Chad Pennington fumbled more footballs than was thought to be humanly possible. Laveraneus Coles dropped a clear touchdown pass, then for an encore, dropped another one on the very next play.

When the Chiefs took a 14-0 lead, a man resembling a swollen gummi bear turned toward myself, Restaurant friend Rob (rocking his green Vilma jersey) and the 10 others in our crew. He began talking some smack, which is his right, especially with his Chiefs hammering our Jets.

Our collective manhood insulted, we rose to defense of our team. (At this point in the game, there was still some hope.) We instantly began the “6 and 10! 6 and 10!” chant, reminding this wannabe truck driver of his team’s record last season. That shut him up quickly.

“It must suck to be a Jets fan!” one fan yelled down toward us. Mind you, we were in row 38, two rows from the top of Arrowhead, so this fan had worse seats than us.

“Yeah, it kinda does,” I responded, hoping such a verbal concession would spare the lives of my friends.

But the madness would not end. The Jets would bring us no joy. The Chiefs fans would remind us of such with each Kansas City Chiefs first down. The stadium announcer was also kind enough to advise us of each first down with the most annoying stadium-fan gimmick in the history of stadium-fan gimmicks.

The only thing that dulled pain was karate-chopping Party promoter friend Jann in the leg every time the fans signaled and screamed first down. Why? We're not sure. But it worked for everyone but Party promoter friend Jann.

The Jets forced us to play defense for three hours and play up the obnoxious New York stereotype Chiefs fans expected.

The combination of domination, heat and plenty of alcohol had Chiefs fans feeling on top of the world. (Note: Row 38 at Arrowhead is about 12 feet shy of outer space.)

A young lady sitting behind got a little uppity in her fandom. I offered her my phone number. Hey, she was cute. Of course, I followed that with, “Will you promise to call me in January when the Chiefs don’t make the playoffs?”

She left shortly thereafter.

A number of grody Midwesterners offered the “J-E-T-S Suck! Suck! Suck!” chant in our direction. Despite the veracity of such a statement on this particular afternoon, every self-respecting fan has his breaking point. This was it for me.

“You still live here! You still live here!” I responded.

That shut them up quickly.

I’m not proud of resorting to perceived geographic superiority, but I could use the “excited utterance” defense in court and walk away scot-free like the young Henry Hill in “Goodfellas.”

Giants fan Brown was even more out of hand with the geography cheap shots, but decorum prevents publication of such comments.

The highlight of the game came when the Chiefs offense drew itself offside with a hard count. On fourth-and-inches deep in Jets territory, two Chiefs jumped early for the false start. A field goal ensued, instead of four more downs to score another touchdown against the sieve the Jets called a defense.

Restaurant friend Rob took that play to heart for it was he who fell for the hard count twice the night before. Driving from St. Louis in a pimped-out limo bus that would make Luther Campbell jealous, we decided a football game was necessary.

Short-yardage specialist friend Pete executed the hard count with John Elway-like precision. Restaurant friend Rob fell for it both times, due in part to his Vilma-like intensity on defense, my Buckingham Palace guard-like stillness at center, and New-to-the-group friend Disco's growing reputation as a rampaging beast on the left side of the line.

Oh, by the way, the bus was traveling at roughly 70 mph during this game. Short-yardage specialist friend Pete never fumbled.

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