Good-Bye to Rex Ryan!

Monday, December 29, 2014, saw the departure of Rex Ryan as the head coach of the NFL’s New York Jets, after six seasons. 

As a Jets fan for many years, Rex Ryan was a personal favorite of mine.  His candor, swagger, and never-say-die spirit changed the culture of what was then a moribund franchise. 

His first two seasons (2009 and 2010) saw trips to the AFC Championship Game (just one win shy of playing in the Super Bowl), led by quarterback Mark Sanchez and shut-down corner Darrelle Revis.

Unfortunately, Rex Ryan’s next four seasons found the Jets missing the post season altogether.  Sanchez cooled-down from his earlier highs, and Revis departed.  For the last two seasons, Ryan was hampered by a new General Manager that some (including me) believe deliberately sabotaged his chances for success. 

Despite that, Ryan managed an 8-8 record for 2013, but could do no better than 4-12 in 2014.  For what it’s worth, the General Manager was given the (deserved) ax on the same day as Ryan. 

Rex Ryan will be missed in New York football.  No doubt, he will resurface somewhere else (or, perhaps, even as a broadcaster) and I’ll be there rooting for him once again.  

    

A NYCC 2013 Moment # 5. Quarterbacking The Walking Dead!

 In previous posts I commented on the many good costumes on display at New York Comic Con 2013… but here’s my personal favorite, even more than the Green Arrow with a Boxing Glove Arrow! 

 

Zombies from THE WALKING DEAD were everywhere, but my funny-bone was particularly tickled by someone dressed as a “Mark Sanchez Walking Dead Zombie”! 

Combine this...

 

For those who may not know, Mark Sanchez is the embattled quarterback with the New York Jets, who had two great years to start his career (going to two AFC Championship Games), followed by two disastrous years that, combined with injuries, led to his losing the starting quarterback job.   

...with this, and you get a "Mark Sanchez Zombie".

 

So here comes a Walking Dead zombie, all torn and bloodied-up, in a Mark Sanchez Jets jersey, equally torn and bloodied-up! 

 

I can only guess that either (A) this was a Mark Sanchez fan who “died a thousand deaths” over the 2011-2012 football seasons and came back as a zombie…

Or (B) it was meant to be Mark Sanchez himself… before OR after the “Zombie Apocalypse”?  Take your pick!  Or, since we’re referring to Mark Sanchez… “Take your Pick-Six!” 

 

TV or Not TV! (…Should That Be a Question?)

As you know, our power, light, and heat was out for a period of 11 days, thanks to “Franken-Sandy-Storm”.


Now, thankfully, all is normal again… except our Verizon FIOS line came loose during the subsequent snow and ice storm, and is down across the back yard. It is scheduled to be reconnected to the house by Thursday or Friday.

Until then, we have no home phone, TV, or Internet.

Of these, I would miss the Internet most… if not for my ability to remain connected (and continue feeding the Blog-Beast) via smart phone. That also takes care of phone communications, leaving television as the only thing still completely lacking.

(…Though, there are some who would be quick to point out that “television was completely lacking” LONG before the storms!)

It is simultaneously surprising – and not surprising at all – just how much I DO NOT MISS TV!

Most of it is annoying noise, and it’s nice to sit around and TALK for a change! It was even fun to listen to the Jets and Giants football games on RADIO this past Sunday!

Beyond sports, anything I really want to see is on DVD anyway! …And Verizon’s downed lines cannot stop me from enjoying DVDs, anytime the “Entertainment –Jones” strikes at me!

Thus far, I’ve enjoyed programs from THESE DVDs, and do not give a hoot if TV EVER comes back!

   

These LAST TWO are particularly good for an "Entertainment-JONES"... Get it? 

Esther, on the other hand, can’t wait for TV's return… and that’s what makes the world (and marriages) go round!

You “Met” Your Life! …Or, “The Day We Met Met Life Stadium!”

The last time Esther and I went to a New York Jets football game, they played in a facility with the curious name of “Giants Stadium”. 

As best my research could determine, the stadium appears to have been named after the outsized antagonists of this classic Irwin Allen Sci-Fi TV series…

…OR, it could have been named after the reigning Super Bowl Champions!  Who can ever really tell for sure? 

Nevertheless, yesterday (September 09, 2012), the New York Jets beat the Buffalo Bills 48–28, on our first trip to the new football facility called “Met Life Stadium”!  …Possibly and incongruously named for Baseball’s New York Mets in some arcane connection with the classic Milton Bradley board game?    



...OR, maybe some big insurance company!  Again, can one ever really be certain?  

"MetLi" Stadium?  Where's the rest?

Scoring 48 points, quarterback Mark Sanchez and the Jets offense piled it on… and so did the Sun! 

Our seats, in the third level between the 40 and 50 yard lines, were in direct exposure to the Sun for the entire game.  There was nary a cloud in the sky to block the searing and penetrating rays.  (Why even Wayne Hunter could have offered better protection than did Mother Nature!  …Private Joke for Jets fans, sorry!)  When an occasional cloud DID appear, it was greeted with as many cheers as were Mark Sanchez and Darrelle Revis! 

Yay, Sanchez!  Yay, Revis!  YAAYY, CLOUDS! 

To make matters worse, a woman in an adjoining seat gave off a noticeable level of body odor – and, being the chivalrous husband that I am, I selflessly switched seats with Esther, providing her with as much cover and distance from the olfactory onslaught as could be.   

Was I watching “Le New Yorque Jettes” or sumpthin’? 

Former Jets and New England Patriots great Curtis Martin was honored by the Jets at halftime, on the occasion of his induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.  Jets legend Joe Namath was a featured speaker – and only now has it dawned on me that I was actually in a stadium at a moment in which Namath was on the field!  …Wow! 

 Jets head coach Rex Ryan has lost so much weight in the off season that he was difficult to spot on the sidelines.  …If not for the fact that he still wears his trademark dark green sweater vest – even in the face of the unyielding sun (…albeit in a smaller size!) 

Highly touted Tim Tebow was a non-factor in the Jets’ offense this game.  With such a big lead built up by Sanchez and his runners and receivers, perhaps Coach Ryan is keeping Tebow’s wildcat a secret for another week!  Look out, Pittsburgh Steelers! 

The new Met Life Stadium is beautiful.  Indeed with this shrine for the Jets and Giants, the new Yankee Stadium, and the new Citi Field for the Mets – not to mention the soon-to-open Barclay’s Center for the Brooklyn Nets – we sports fans in New York are fortunate indeed! 

Finally, if you live on the New York side of the Hudson River and ever wish to travel to Met Life Stadium, (in East Rutherford, NJ) TAKE THE TRAIN! 

NJ Transit offers service from Penn Station (connecting shuttle from Secaucus Junction) that PULLS RIGHT UP TO THE STADIUM!  (Yes, as you see above, it's really THAT CLOSE! Click the Pic to Enlarge!) It is comfortable and easy to use.  I truly hated the ordeal of driving to the old Giants Stadium – and maybe went to fewer games than I wanted to because of that.  Now, with this great convenience, we’ll likely go more often. 

Indeed, the only unfortunate consequence of the day’s events (once I was again able to take-in a deep breath of clean fresh air) is the noticeable sunburn that continues to remind me that it’s there.  But, to see the Jets score 48 points, it was WOTRH IT! 

J-E-T-S!  …JETS! …JETS!  …JETS! 

 

Te-bow-Oh-Oh!

The New York Jets just got Tim Tebow!

Methinks, it’ll be like having Bat-Mite around… every day! 

With all that entails -- both good and bad! 

 

Awesome-Sauce! 

Where’s WHO?

Briefly, for the New York Jets fans among the readership…

There should be a sequel to this comic (and the forgotten show upon which it was based) called…

“Where’s Santonio?”

Good luck to the New York Giants (the NY team left standing) in the playoffs!

A Season Well-Done!

Okay, we’ve had our fun with Bugs Bunny gags and such…

Now, it’s time to really congratulate the New York Jets on a second consecutive trip to the AFC Conference Championship game – just one step short of a Super Bowl appearance.

A rookie head coach… a rookie quarterback… and a defender so great he’s got his own island! And a great overall team thrilled us last year… and did it again this year!

Thank you Rex Ryan, Mark Shanchez, Darrelle Revis and the whole Jets team for two years of exciting NFL Football!

...Now, it’s REALLY back to comics and DVDs!

On the Subject of BUGS BUNNY Football Covers…

Well, the Jets are halfway to becoming the “Buffalo Bills of the AFC Championship Game”… you know, like how the Bills lost FOUR STRAIGHT Super Bowls!

Maybe WITCHCRAFT is the answer for Rex Ryan…

…Or, maybe it’s just (all together now) showing up for the first half!

B-U-G-S! …Bugs! …Jets! …Bugs!

This BUGS BUNNY cover (Issue # 114, November, 1967) reminds me of the just-ended New York Jets season.

It’s GREEN… and the AIR is going (has gone) out of it!

And, admit it… Wouldn’t you love to hear Elmer Fudd address Rex Ryan by name!

(Steel) Curtains for Jets!

The Pittsburgh Steelers ended the New York Jets’ run to the Super Bowl 24-19!

The Jets didn’t show up for the first half, but once they woke up for the second half, they made a competitive game of it.

24 unanswered Steelers’ points followed by 19 unanswered Jets’ points. Nice comeback, but no way to win such a big game.

Better luck to Rex Ryan and the guys next year!

…And, back to DVDs and comics for us!

Ryan’s Express Rolls Thru New England! Jets 28 Pats 21.

Rex Ryan’s New York Jets moved one step closer to the Super Bowl with a 28-21 road victory over arch rival the New England Patriots!

The Jets played a great game all around, with standout performances by quarterback Mark Sanchez, backs LaDainian Tomlinson and Shonn Greene, receivers Santonio Holmes, Braylon Edwards, and Jerricho Cotchery, -- and the entire defensive team!

The defense was particularly effective in forcing fumbles, turnovers, and keeping constant pressure on Pats quarterback Tom Brady! Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromartie neutralized Brady’s receivers.

Now, it’s on to the AFC Championship game vs. the Pittsburgh Steelers!

Reviewing my Blog posts for the last seven days, it’s been quite a happy week for me, severe snowstorms notwithstanding! Here’s to 2011! You’re off to a great start!

J-E-T-S! Jets! Jets! Jets! Wild Card Winners!

Coach Rex Ryan finally got the “Peyton Manning monkey” off his back with a literal last minute 17-16 win over the Indianapolis Colts in the Wild Card round of the NFL Playoffs.

Quarterback Mark Sanchez was average to poor for the first 59 minutes of the game – but excelled in the FINAL MINUTE when it counted most! Aided by a great kick return by Antonio Cromartie – and an even greater leaping reception by Braylon Edwards – Sanchez drove his team down the field with less than 60 seconds left, to allow Nick Folk to kick a game-winning field goal as time expired.

It’s “GO TIME” to the next playoff round!

My Most Frightening Halloween Experience!

No, it wasn’t any of the ghosts, goblins, devils, or skeletons!

Nor, was it even my New York Jets being shut out by the Green Bay Packers 9-0!

It was a 12-13 year old girl in some sort of costume (can’t even remember what) who rang the doorbell, and thrust her loot sack in my direction – while incessantly talking on her cell phone, and never once looking up at me!

Halloween sure has changed! Brrrrrr!

Am I Blu?

I’m happy to say… YES I AM!

As noted earlier, this Blog has been dormant for all the usual reasons. Professional responsibilities, personal responsibilities, and, sometimes, just the need for more sleep!

But, there’s been one additional reason for my Blog-lessness…

For my birthday in January, my wonderful wife, Esther, gave me the gift of HD TV and Blu-ray DVD!

Just in time to enjoy the NY Jets THREE (yes, that’s “three”) playoff games! And so, we watched the Jets defeat Chad Ochocinco and the Cincinnati Bengals (They “86’ed” 85!) and Philip Rivers and the San Diego (“not so super”) Chargers – before the inevitable fall to the great Peyton Manning and the stampeding Indianapolis Colts – all in wide-screen, breathtaking high-definition!

A 37 inch set properly fit the space we have for the TV, and yes we’ve seen the wonders of going wider still – and some would make the classic argument that “size does matter” – but, from our previous perspective, 37 inches gets the job done!

Football was made to be seen this way, and we can’t wait for the upcoming baseball season. My favorite prime time series LOST, HEROES, and FRINGE are amazing as well! And I must admit that, when Esther watches THE BIGGEST LOSER, Hi-Def adds a frightening new dimension to what is already an abomination of a show!

Less than four weeks into this, I wonder how we ever did without it!

The Blu-ray DVD player is amazing in its own right. It “upconverts” Standard Definition DVDs to a greater level of visual clarity. An approximation of HD, if you will. Given my six years of accumulated SD DVDs, this was a very important selling point for me!

As of now, my only Blu-ray purchase has been THE SIMPSONS: THE COMPLETE TWENTIETH SEASON… and, as Simpsons fans know, only HALF of that season was produced in HD. But, that which IS produced for Blu-ray looks like “no Simpsons I’ve ever seen before!” It almost had ME sighing and drooling like Homer! (An aside: The HD episodes are heralded by the “New Opening” that shows EVERY CHARACTER in the extensive cast – if even as a blur. I’ll have more on that in future posts.)

It’s a beautiful thing when your expectations are exceeded, and the Blu-ray DVD player (when combined with the HD TV) did exactly that! All the older shows that I enjoy have also never looked better. Oddly, the quality starts out great, and increases by era.

Black and white era series like PERRY MASON, ZORRO, TWILIGHT ZONE, and THE OUTER LIMITS are clearer and crisper than ever.

Early color shows such as VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA, LOST IN SPACE, ORIGINAL STAR TREK, and TIME TUNNEL reveal details and color saturations and variations never before seen. New wrinkles on Richard Basehart’s face, new details on STAR TREK’S “Gorn”, and beads of sweat on the brows of various characters that were unseen over dozens and dozens of previous viewings are now there for us to enjoy. …To the extent you CAN “enjoy” wrinkles and beads of sweat, that is!

Pushing ever forward, STAR TREK THE NEXT GENERATION becomes almost movie-like in its scope.

And even Standard Definition DVD versions of LOST blow me away! How much better must it be on Blu-ray, I wonder?

And so, I remain enraptured by my birthday gift – and by the wonderful woman who (…as Captain Picard would put it) “made it so”!