By Tom Rock
Great. My first day on the blog and the Jets cancel practice.
Luckily, for me anyway, Thursday night’s practice was closed to the
public so there are a few nuggets worth reporting from that event,
which has been dubbed a situational, non-contact scrimmage. That’s a
fancy term we came up with for an intrasquad game where Mangini calls
out scenarios (ball on the 40, down by eight, 2:15 left in the game)
and the boys go at it.
By now you’ve read all over that Pennington looked good and Ramsey not
so much. Some of that has to do with poise and confidence in the
pocket, but a lot may have to do with the pocket itself. While
Pennington was comfortably nestled behind the starting o-line (which
includes 6.25 percent of this spring’s first round draft picks; Nick
and Brick get better each day), Ramsey was under pressure behind the
second line. Still, he didn’t help matters by stumbling out from under
center on one play and taking a pair of delay of game flags. I’m not
sure, but it seemed the music got a little louder as Ramsey was trying
to change plays or direct traffic at the line. I wonder if Mangini is
testing him.
Unlike last year’s training camp, there is no competition in the
kicking game. Just two skinny guys standing around, wagging the legs
once in a while, trying to look busy. But when they are needed, Ben
Graham and Mike Nugent have looked sharp. In Thursday’s morning
practice Nugent whacked a 58-yarder with two seconds left on the
imaginary clock -- and he split the condensed uprights. Thursday night
he put a 50-yarder through, into the wind, to win the “situational,
non-contact scrimmage” in overtime and cap the practice. (The winning
FG was set up nicely by a long punt return from Tim Dwight).
As for Graham, he just puts footballs in orbit.
Mangini is moving the preseason preparations to Jersey for the weekend,
trying to simulate a game-day experience for the players and coaches. It
will work for the LI fans as well, I suppose. Give them a chance to
warm up and practice the haul to the Meadowlands. And if you close your
eyes real hard and concentrate, you may be able to take some of those
“mental reps” and feel what it’ll be like in 2008 when the Jets land at
their new training facility in the Garden State and going to a training
camp practice will require an entire day off rather than one or two
hours of hooky from the office. Saturday’s practice at Gi@&%# Stadium
is open to the public and begins at 2, but Sunday’s will be closed.
Thanks to Ken for yielding his seat in the press room so easily. No
thanks to Ken for placing incredibly high standards on covering this
beat. It would have been so much easier to walk into a job that had
been ignored, betrayed and dismantled by the previous guy with nowhere
to go but up.
Finally, on my credentials, which some have voiced concern over. I’ve
never seen a football game before, so I’m definitely looking forward to
my first. If this Pennington guy is supposedly so good, how come he
only plays with half the team? I noticed a pretty amazing coincidence
that almost all of the Jets regular season games fall on a Sunday. Why
is that?
That’s it for now. Blog Numero Two will have an East Rutherford
dateline. Until then, remember: bluefish are blitzing in Manhasset Bay,
stripers at thick in Plum Gut, and the porgy run should pick up in a
week or two.
Comments (17)
Listen, Rock. We know you've been covering the huntin'-n-fishin' redneck beat for awhile, so we're just hoping that you wash the smell of venison off of your hands before Cannizzaro eats you like he does roadkill (or, as he likes to call it, "roadside delicacy").
Fortunately for you, it seems like you deliver a good report, and you seem to be a decent fella. If you're not a Jets fan, I would warn you to come to grips with pain, failure and suffering, and to learn how to manage a bipolar fan base that enjoys urinating on their beat guys. If you praise the team, you will be dubbed a putrid homer, and if you rip the team, a certain (idiotic) portion of your readership will consider you the anti-Christ. No pressure, though. Good luck!
btw, we'll give you fifty bucks if you accurately cite Herm's abuse of Curtis Martin as the reason for his (Curtis') impending early retirement. Curtis played for Herm David Chapman, and now we're stuck with a team full of Ringos and Yokos. Do it, Tom. Rip Herm, and endear yourself to Jets fans for life. Truthiness is key when covering the Jets. Truthiness!
Hey Tom:
On behalf of Jets Insider.com, good luck on your new gig!
If you need some real feedback stop by our messageboard on occasion and see what the fans are saying.
Best,
Sean
Rock: Nicely done, and welcome aboard the crazy train. To answer one of your Q's (don't feel ashamed): The games are on Sundays because Bergen County still has Blue Laws that don't allow most serious businesses to remain open, so the Jets might as well play. (Sorry, Woody, I still buy my gas at Hess.) Then again, by all accounts Mangini means serious business, so he'll presumably get a variance.
Tom,
Congrats on the new spot. Make sure you read Jets insider.com. JI.COM will ans all your questions. They even have a novice area for those simple questions about the game you have.
Tom,
Jetsinsider sucks and is a for-profit, infant-laden black hole of remedial football chatter. If you ever go there, be sure to pick up a check at the door, just like your slovenly counterpart at the Post. You, too, can trade your journalistic integrity for $55 per recycled story! Plus, the owner of the site is none too bright.
Go Jets!
jetsinsider.com?
Isn't that a replay of the failed Jets Confidential site? The one where they thought they could sell articles written by wannabe reporters. The content of which it would be generous to label as amateurish.
Tom - - I'm not sure why you mentioned never attending a football game... that only puts you in league with most of those that will be crucifying you, here.
Let me take this opportunity, to fill you in on an agreement, that Berger worked out with me - - All questions I ask, take precedent over all others... and must be answered in the next blog entry you write.
This was a fundamental rule, that's led to the success of this blog... don't, ummmm, rock the boat!
Never make up stories, as Hutchinson did this week about the Chad *decision.*
You want the *Tom Crock* comments to be kept to a minimum.
My first question... why do flounders have two eyes on top... wouldn't one by the top, and one by the tail be more useful?
That said... welcome to the Jets beat, Tom.
Let's hope you're the one with the magic touch, that brings a champeenship back to its rightful home - - Jetslandistan...
Ken, your last posting about the Jets was a lovely piece of writing. The section about your dad brought a tear to my eyes. Best of luck, Fred Waitzkin
who the hell hired this guy. daily news for me. later.
Rock:
Good luck. I've read your outdoor stuff for years and I'm sure you'll do fine.
2 quick things, ignore the feeble minded that couldn't figure out that your last paragraph was sarcasm, they give all of us real Jets fans a bad name.
Also, ignore the those that bad mouth JetsInsider.com. They are all retards that were banned from there and are now forced to frequent the Guantanamo of Jets websites, namely jet(stag)nation.com.
I spend hours there every day and there isn't finer collection of Jets fans or source for Jets info on the net.
Again, good luck.
@xmarco...
Seems to me that you might consider kicking the fan critique habit, as you were the feeble-minded... being unaware posters were being sarcastic, in response to Tom's sarcasm.
Kind of ironic, n'est-ce pas?
I love it when people use the word "retard" in reference to allegedly stupid persons. Very high class. I suppose that's an indicator of the "finer collection of Jets fans" that congregate on Jetsinsider. SUre makes me want to rush over and pay to sign up. Ridiculous.
-EB
Rock...If you can constantly refer to these lines..."according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity," or "someone who's familiar with the Jets thinking" or whatever made up source you think your readers will believe...you'll replace Berger just fine..
EB- Thanks for proving my point. BTW: I've never paid a cent to use JetsInsider.
Does anybody find it ironic that the owner of JI would come to a free blog to advertise for what has essentially become Mark Cannizzaro's infrequently updated pay blog? Just, you know, odd. How come Cimini, Hutch, Berger, Lange and now Hutch will deign to produce an up-to-the-minute blog for us fans, yet Cannizzaro offers no such thing? And, if the Post mandates that Cannizzaro provide a free blog on the Post website, will all of the rubes who were conned into paying for JI get their money back from said owner?
Correction: ...and now Rock*
Hey Rock,
Welcome to the Terrordome. Please check "thin skin" and sanity at the door. At least you correctly spelled the Meadowlands other less attractive name correctly. Now are you a Jets fans or just here for the paycheck?