Neil Keefe

Nov 5, 2010

Big Expectations for Big Blue

After what happened with the Giants in 2009, not many people were giving them a chance before the season and after Week 3 when they were 1-2. But since their loss to the Titans on

After what happened with the Giants in 2009, not many people were giving them a chance before the season and after Week 3 when they were 1-2. But since their loss to the Titans on September 26, the Giants have won four straight and are sitting atop the division and tied for the best record in the NFC. It hasn’t been the cleanest way to get to a 5-2 record for the Giants with an inordinate amount of turnovers through seven games. The Giants have tried to give away every one of their five wins with interceptions and fumbles, but have so far managed to not let untimely turnovers damage their season. Coming off of four straight wins and a bye, the G-Men begin the second portion of their season against the Seahawks. With a one-game lead over the Eagles in the division and nine games remaining (five against division opponents), the Giants have a challenging schedule ahead of them. Ralph Vacchiano, Giants beat writer for the New York Daily News, joined me to talk Giants football with the G-Men set to begin the second part of their schedule.

Keefe: In our preseason talk about the Giants, you predicted the team would go 8-8 and after their slow start to the season, I was scared that your prediction was on the money. But then the defense started playing like it did two years ago, and after four wins in a row, the Giants look like they might be back. I have watched at lot of Giants football to know that you should never feel safe with this team or the way they are going, but right now they are gaining a lot of hype and many people believe they are the best team in the NFC and one of the top teams in the league. After their beating against the Colts earlier in the season, I don’t think anyone would have predicted the Giants to be where they are at now, but the league seems to be wide open and is up for the taking by any team. Your prediction of 8-8 is still in play, though the Giants would need to go 3-6 at this point to fulfill it, and while it’s not out of the question after last season, I hope it’s unlikely. Are you sticking with your prediction in thinking that the Giants have already been as good as they will be all season, or have you become a believer in the G-Men?

Vacchiano: It would probably be unfair of me to change my prediction now. I think it would be pretty naive, too. I’ve just seen too many sudden changes from them over the years. They’ve been 5-2 or 6-1 in every one of Coughlin’s seven seasons now, but how many times have they ended as good as they started? Last year 5-0 became 8-8. In 2006, 6-2 became 8-8. In 2008, 11-1 became 12-4 and no playoff wins. I’m not guaranteeing another second-half collapse, but given that track record I’d be crazy to say, “I’m in. I buy the hype. They’re going 11-5!” How many other years would I have done that and been proven wrong? Plus, we need to go back and look at my wishy-washy prediction of 8-8. I had some pretty good reasons for it and a few caveats. I said from the outset that I believed this team had the talent to be a Super Bowl contender if – a big if – they stayed healthy and everything worked out right. I thought they had some issues, though, and were likely to end up more inconsistent than anything. So far they’re pretty healthy, and that’s great. That’s why they’re playing above my prediction. But I tell you what, the inconsistency is still there. The turnovers have them playing a very, very dangerous game. I didn’t foresee that as a major problem, but it’s become one. And even they know that if they keep that up they’re going to end up losing a lot more games than they should. Knowing that, if they stay healthy and fix the turnover issues, I don’t see any reason why they can’t be 12-4 or 11-5 and win their weak conference. But with nine games left, I still think the injuries and inconsistencies can rear their ugly heads. This remains, though, what I thought it was: A good team that, if things break right, can go a long, long way.

Keefe: Turnovers have been a problem for the Giants this season. Turnovers cost them the game against the Titans and almost cost them the game against the Cowboys – a game they dominated. Aside from the Colts’ loss, you could say the Giants should be 6-1 after the debacle with the Titans. I’m a firm believer that if the Giants can’t find a way to drastically reduce their amount of turnovers, it will come back to cost them in a big spot and eventually cost them their season. Is this the Giants’ biggest problem, and what is being done to rectify the situation?

Vacchiano: Yeah, it’s absolutely their biggest problem. They could’ve easily lost that Dallas game. They came close to losing control of the Chicago and Detroit games, too. And remember, turnovers put them in a position where they needed three end zone interceptions, if I recall, to beat Carolina on opening day. So, if we’re playing the “What if” game, you could say that the Giants only have one real quality win where they didn’t come close to shooting themselves in the foot. That’s not a fair game to play either way, of course, because turnovers are what most of these NFL games turn on today. So yeah, the amount they have right now is disturbing and they know it. Unfortunately there’s not a lot they can do to rectify it. Seven of Eli Manning’s 11 interceptions are off tipped passes. That’s a little flukey. He is throwing a little high and behind his receivers on some of those, but it’s not like he’s going to have some sort of drastic overhaul in his mechanics. He just needs to make better throws and his receivers need to hold onto the ball. On the fumbles, they’re working with Ahmad Bradshaw and, to a lesser extent, Brandon Jacobs on the “high and tight” carry position. But they are fighting instinct. Both players, when they fight for extra yards, the ball tends to drop to their sides. That’s how they’ve run for years and it’s hard to change now. So all they can do is focus on the problem, concentrate, and hope the ball bounces their way a little more than it has. The good news is that historically this hasn’t been a turnover-prone group under Coughlin. Things usually have a way of evening themselves out, so I expect that eventually this will do that, too.

Keefe: The special teams are clearly the biggest weakness on the team. You tweeted that Darius Reynaud will likely not be the returner for long, but it’s amazing he has lasted this long despite such poor results. Matt Dodge has had his ups and downs as well and the coverage on kickoffs could use some help. Do you think we will see a different look from the special teams coming out of the bye and in the second half of the season? And by different I mean a better look.

Vacchiano: I don’t really know what they can do differently. Dodge has been a lot more consistent lately and clearly he’s got the faith of Coughlin and his staff. He’s a rookie, though, so there’ll probably be another couple of ups and downs along the way. The coverage teams just need to tackle better. They can tweak the scheme a little, but if guys flail on the return men or leave their lanes, that won’t help. And you can’t really overhaul the entire special teams unit at this point in time. The only change they can really make is at returner, and now that they’ve signed Will Blackmon I expect they will do that soon. I don’t know how much that will help, though. Blackmon was a good returner in Green Bay, but he’s coming off a knee injury and who knows if he still has his old explosiveness? Plus, a lot of people thought Reynaud was a pretty talented return man, but he obviously didn’t get the job done here. Is it the returner or the scheme or the blockers? It’s hard to say. Probably a little bit of all three. But right now they don’t have a returner as skilled as Domenik Hixon was – a player who can rise above what’s going on around him.

Keefe: Nearly every one of Eli Manning’s interceptions has been the result of a receiver tipping the ball to a defender and missing what should have been a catch. I asked you via Twitter if Randy Moss made sense for the Giants since Eli’s problem has always been missing high and Plaxico Burress took care of that. You basically said there wasn’t a chance, and while I know the Giants aren’t the type of team to take in problem players, I thought Moss could have been the type of tall receiver that would limit Eli’s mistakes.

Vacchiano: Moss only would’ve been a help because he’s tall. And I get that. But as you know, he comes with so many other issues that bringing him in would’ve been disruptive and … well, terrible. Plus, he’s going to want the ball. So who would you want to sit? Hakeem Nicks? Steve Smith? The two of them are very possibly on their way to the Pro Bowl this year. Is Moss really much better, other than being taller? Anyway, I’ve said before I think the problem has more to do with Eli than with his receivers, that a majority of those tipped passes have simply not been good throws. I’ve seen him make better throws than he’s been making. Yes, traditionally he’s a high thrower. In fact, if you read my book (shameless plug alert) – Eli Manning: The Making of a Quarterback – you know that his penchant for throwing high was in Ernie Accorsi’s original scouting report on Eli and it was a big reason why they signed Burress. But I’m confident he can do better. And, to be fair, so can the receivers. The Giants’ coaching staff – I forget which assistant said it – feels that some of the problem has to do with receivers running imprecise routes. So they’ve just got to get crisper on both ends of the passes. And by the way, don’t discount the flukiness of this, too. I can’t remember the last time a tipped pass didn’t land in the hands of a defender. At some point a ball is going to tip off a receiver’s hands and go down or away from the crowd. The number off deflected interceptions in the first seven games has been unusually high. I really do think that the law of averages will even that out. I think.

Keefe: The reversal of Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs roles has worked out well, but how has it worked in the locker room? A major storyline before the season was how Jacobs would react and perform under his new role as a backup, so what is the mood you are getting from No. 27 now that he has been the backup back for seven games, despite his ability to find the end zone on goal line plays? Do you think as long as the team wins Jacobs will be content, or is there always going to another problem just waiting to erupt for Jacobs?

Vacchiano: I’d say it’s probably an uneasy peace right about now. I know that Jacobs is saying all the right things, and that’s admirable – you know, if you ignore his antics through the first few weeks, then I guess you could admire his new stance. But I find it hard to believe that one conversation with Coughlin and Reese suddenly turned him from one of the unhappiest people I’ve seen around that locker room in years into Mr. Everything’s OK. You don’t have to be a genius to realize he’s probably got some simmering, lingering animosity towards the situation. In fact, that’s what I’ve been hearing privately – that he’s counting the days until the end of the season, anticipating that the Giants will cut him loose. He absolutely, positively, does not want to be here next year as a backup, from what I’m told. Now, having said all that, it doesn’t mean he’ll be a problem. He may really be intent on being the good soldier the rest of the way. He seems to genuinely like and respect Ahmad Bradshaw and admire his abilities, so that may be enough to keep him in check. I’m sure his huge salary helps, too. And giving him the goal-line role has been a boost to his ego. So it’s not like I’m waiting for another eruption. But the potential is definitely there. And don’t mistake his change of heart for genuine contentment.

Keefe: Since the embarrassment against the Colts, Perry Fewell has the defense looking like it did two and three years ago. The defense looks completely different than it did a year ago under Bill Sheridan with almost the same exact names. How have the players adapted to Fewell’s system, and do you think the defense is consistent and strong enough to carry the team through the regular season and deep into the postseason?

Vacchiano: I think the players love Perry Fewell’s system, they love the way Perry Fewell calls a defense, they love the way Perry Fewell listens to his players, and they just flat-out love Perry Fewell. Honestly, the last time all the reports on an assistant were this glowing, it was for Steve Spagnuolo the year after the Super Bowl. It’s an aggressive scheme, which the players love. He’s playing to their strengths at almost every position. He’s using his veterans, which is also always important. And it’s working, which is a big thing because in the end it’s the only thing that ever gets players to believe. Can it continue? Yes, absolutely. If – here’s that if again – they can stay healthy. Losing Mathias Kiwanuka was a blow, but they survived it. In fact, they even thrived. They don’t have any other defensive injuries, though. If it stays that way, this is a very good defense. I’m not so sure it’s incredibly deep, though. It might be, but I don’t know that anybody wants to find that out. I still think they’ll probably have a few ups and downs – much like the entire team – even if they stay healthy. But they’re getting terrific pressure. They’re getting a fantastic push up the middle from their DTs. Michael Boley and Jonathan Goff have been excellent at LB. And the secondary has been very solid, if not spectacular. All the ingredients are most definitely there.

Blogs • NFL

Sep 8, 2010

Jets End One Season, Begin Another

The Jets are just days away from starting a season in which expectations haven’t been this big for them in a long, lone time. And with only a handful of days to go before the

The Jets are just days away from starting a season in which expectations haven’t been this big for them in a long, lone time. And with only a handful of days to go before the Jets take the field against the Ravens to kick off Monday Night Football, the season finale of Hard Knocks airs on Wednesday night.

This has been the best season of Hard Knocks in my mind, and not only because it has followed a local team. Between Rex Ryan’s mouth (both swearing and eating), the constant Darrelle Revis contract negotiations, the awkward moments when the annoying Mike Tannenbaum cuts players and the practical jokes played, the season has exceeded expectations.

With the season of Hard Knocks coming to an end and the regular season about to begin, Jets columnist Jeff Capellini, a.k.a “The Green Lantern” on CBSNewYork.com, joined me to talk Hard Knocks and preview the 2010 season.

Keefe: Hard Knocks has done the impossible; it has made the Jets a likable and unlikable team at the same time. For me, disliking the Jets has always been about disliking the players, their coach and their fans. But now, they have a coach that isn’t Eric Mangini and a coach that I wish Tom Coughlin was more like. There are plenty of players on the team with rich personalities and intriguing background stories that are worth rooting for. But I could do without so much Mike Tannenbaum.

After the first episode of the show, I wrote about how the Jets had started to rise drastically in the New York football landscape, as a team moving closer to what the Giants had become in previous years, while the Giants have gradually declined over the last two years.

Do you think that Hard Knocks has been good or bad for the 2010 Jets, and how has it affected you as a Jets fan?

Capellini: I’m one of those fans who has been sitting outside the candy store with his nose pushed up against the glass for years. So, believe me when I say any time the Jets can seize the spotlight for themselves in a supposedly positive way, I’m all for it. I think the show was too much Hollywood in the first three episodes, but got things just right in Episode 4 with the way it focused less on the garbage and more on the tension that was building toward cuts.

I think the show has been a positive for the Jets, even though we must all remember so much of it is scripted and produced for dramatic effect. The Jets have been second-class citizens for so long in this town and a running joke across the NFL, it is nice to see them be the center of attention for once.

Keefe: HBO couldn’t have asked for a better setup with the Darrelle Revis contract talks, and now that Revis is once again a Jet, who is guaranteed $32 million, it makes me wonder if he should have held out longer?

Obviously not playing is never a good choice, but given the Jets’ opponents in Weeks 1 and 2, if they had gotten off to an 0-2 start, Revis could have gained some serious leverage with Jets fans threatening the livelihood of Woody and Tannenbaum.

I guess on the flip side, if the Jets won both games it would have hurt his negotiations, and no one wants to not be getting paid the year before there might not be football, but I really don’t think the Jets can beat the Ravens and Patriots without him.

Capellini: I was firmly in Revis’ corner when the holdout started because regardless of what his current contract had stipulated there was really no way after the type of 2009 season he had that he could come back as the team’s seventh- or eighth-highest paid defensive back.

I would like to believe Revis caved by accepting the four-year deal. I had hoped he would have been signed for longer, and in the end it just feels like the numbers for his deal are too low – years and total compensation. That makes me believe also that this guy wants to play. The almighty dollar is important, but he obviously came to realize what “within reason” means.

As for whether the Jets could have beaten the Ravens and Patriots without him, I don’t think he ultimately would have made the difference. Mark Sanchez would have and probably still does or still will make the difference either way.

Keefe: Mark Sanchez seems to still be in that territory of “Hey, just don’t lose the game for us.” Rex made it clear last week that the Jets are still going to be the same team they came within one game of the Super Bowl last season, in which they ran the ball the majority of the time and played exceptional defense, and obviously it’s a formula that works.

With the way the offense has been playing during preseason, it’s hard to believe that Sanchez will be given the chance to consistently attempt big plays on offense, and the idea of holding him back got them to the AFC Championship last season, but I think that it is, and that he is, the one difference in the Jets being contenders or actual champions.

Capellini: I think regardless of what Sanchez has shown in the preseason, offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer must allow him to air the ball out from time to time, because the Jets will be predictably a run-first team. However, they can’t be known as a team that just goes student body left and right.

Sanchez must be allowed to bring balance to the force through use of play-action and the abilities of his talented receivers. The second this guy throws an interception and Schotty stops allowing him to chuck the rock is the day the Jets’ season ends. For the Jets, being a balanced offense is the key to everything because you know the defense will bring its “A” game week in and week out. By showing a balanced hand on offense, the Jets will keep opponents off-balance.

Keefe: The Jets brought in two aging mercenaries, looking to win a Super Bowl as their careers wind down in LaDainian Tomlinson and Jason Taylor.

Both players were the best at their position at one point in their career, but now they are more of just big names rather than big players. However, I will admit that Tomlinson has looked better and rejuvenated in preseason. Then again it’s preseason.

Which of these two do you expect the most from this season and which do you think will be the bigger contributor?

Capellini: I’m a huge Tomlinson guy. I was one of the few on sites like Twitter screaming the Jets sign him in the offseason. A lot of people were understandably in love with Thomas Jones, but Jones’ numbers, primarily yards-per-carry diminished considerably as the season wound down. Now, some can say Tomlinson is an injury waiting to happen or whatever, but the truth is, if healthy, he will still be very productive, especially if the Jets use him properly – something like 10-15 touches per game. He showed his trademark explosiveness in the preseason and certainly has something to prove.

While most everyone just assumed he’s “lost” it after a career-low 700-yard rushing season in 2009, what really happened was the Chargers went away from the run and bulked up the pass protecting to showcase Phillip Rivers’ abilities. And look where that got them?

I’m not in love with Jason Taylor and it really has nothing to do with the fact that he’s insulted the Jets and their fans in the past. I just think this guy is 36 and how many pass rushers still have the goods at 36? Not many, if any. And it appears, now with Calvin Pace’s injury, at least initially, Taylor is going to have to play every down. I don’t see him being anywhere near as successful as an every-down player as he would be fresh in passing situations.

So, in a nutshell, I expect a comeback-player-of-the-year type of effort from LT and not a whole heck of a lot from Taylor.

Keefe: During the offseason, it seemed like the jets were making a roster strictly for the purpose of Hard Knocks. They signed Tomlinson and Taylor and traded for Santonio Holmes and Antonio Cromartie.

The problem with Tomlinson and Taylor might be that they are old, but the problems with Holmes and Cromartie come away from the field.

There isn’t a doubt that when Cromartie and Holmes are on the field that they make the Jets a much better team, but with Holmes missing four games due to suspension, do you think it will cause him to start slow when he comes back in Week 5. And how excited are you for a secondary that includes Cromartie and Revis?

Capellini: It’s hard not to like either player. Holmes can be spectacular, has great hands and runs routes better than maybe any receiver in the NFL. The potential problem, as you stated, could be his rustiness after staying away from the team for a month. I’d also worry about his rapport with Sanchez. How long will it take to develop? Ultimately, when Holmes is on he should make Sanchez better because he gets open better than anyone on the roster.

Cromartie brings unadulterated ability to a secondary that, not counting Revis, sorely lacked athleticism at certain spots last year. He will gamble. He will at times get burned, but I’d rather have an overly aggressive corner than one who sluffs off and allows teams to keep the chains moving. My one concern about Cromartie is his tackling. The Jets dumped Kerry Rhodes because, among other things, he wasn’t very physical. I watched Cromartie attempt to tackle Shonn Greene on that 53-yard TD scamper in last year’s divisional round and I can understand why some of the Chargers took issue with Cromartie. He better hit people and wrap up. That’s all I’m saying.

Keefe: You voiced your opinion about the Jets cutting Tony Richardson on Twitter and you were unhappy about it and rightfully so. But now that Richardson is a Jet again after just a brief hiatus, I’m guessing you’re happy once again.

After Rex made it clear that Richardson would be on the final roster, it was a shock to see him get cut, considering his leadership role on the team. Were there any other cuts made that surprised you during preseason? And were there any cuts not made that you thought should have been made?

Capellini: I did get upset about T-Rich getting cut because I hate seeing bad things happen to good people. The initial cut bugged me because Rex screamed about leadership on Hard Knocks and then cut one of his only true leaders. Now, of course, I don’t think the Jets brought Richardson back because the fans screamed about it. They probably said, “If we can cut Tony to save some money, sign Darrelle and then bring Tony back we win on every level.”

The one cut that really bothered me was Chauncey Washington. I mean, this guy could easily have stepped in and spelled Shonn Greene a few carries per game if the Jets didn’t want to burn LT out as a featured back. He’s a horse. It’s an absolute shame that a guy who worked as hard and showed as much as Washington did was waived and later replaced by two nobodies off someone else’s scrap heap. Odd indeed. If nothing else, Washington could have made the Jets’ special teams that much better because he brings quite a wallop.

I will not get overly upset about Danny Woodhead making the team. I just think he was a better story last year and if he gets some time and does nothing this season I think it’s safe to say the novelty has worn off.

Keefe: I believe Rex Ryan is right when he says that the Jets can beat any team in the league when they play their best, and if everything goes right for them this season, they could easily find themselves in the same place they were last season: playing for a trip to the Super Bowl.

There are still questions with this team, as there are with every team, and the biggest question mark with the Jets remains the offense. But with probably the best defense in the league, I expect the Jets to be in contention all season long.

I guess the most important question is: What are your expectations for the Jets this season?

Capellini: Wow. I’ve avoided discussing this like the plague. The NFL is such an odd league. One year you’re 10-6 and the next – with largely the same personnel – you’re 7-9 or 6-10. I think if Sanchez is more like a 50-50 TD-to-INT guy, as opposed to the 12-TD, 20-INT QB he was as a rookie, and can get to 3,000 yards, excuse the pun but the sky should be the limit for this team. The defense, barring injury, figures to be pretty amazing and the coaching is beyond reproach.

I think the Jets should win a minimum of 11 games. They should win the division. If they can get home-field advantage throughout the playoffs I really think they will get to the Super Bowl.

But then again, that’s 30-plus years of fan frustration talking right there.

Follow Neil on Twitter at http://twitter.com/NeilKeefe

Follow Jeff on Twitter at http://twitter.com/GreenLanternJet

Blogs • NFL

Aug 12, 2010

Rise of the Jets

Following the Yankees early exit in the 2006 ALDS, and the rise of the Mets in their near trip to the World Series that season, I was legitimately worried that maybe, just maybe the landscape

Following the Yankees early exit in the 2006 ALDS, and the rise of the Mets in their near trip to the World Series that season, I was legitimately worried that maybe, just maybe the landscape of baseball in New York City was starting to change in favor of the Mets.

That season, the Mets had produced the same record as the Yankees and had now advanced into the championship series of their league while the Yankees were home wondering how Kenny Rogers and Jeremy Bonderman embarrassed them, and also wondering whether or not Joe Torre would be back in the Bronx in 2007. While the Yankees had become a team overpopulated with “me first” personalities and a tabloid’s dream, the Mets had become the better baseball team for at least one season.

The Mets’ position as the talk of the town was short lived and lasted only about a week before the Cardinals ended their season. But that one week was scary enough that I started to envision life as a Yankee fan and a second-rate baseball citizen in the tri-state area. Luckily, the Mets lost Game 7 of the 2006 ALCS, collapsed in 2007, collapsed again in 2008 and had the season they did in 2009 and again this year to restore order in the baseball world in New York City and make everything right again.

Last season I began to watch a similar shift in power in the NFL with the area’s football teams. While the Giants were busy blowing a 5-0 start to the season and giving up 74 points a game, the Jets went from AFC East losers led by the class clown all the way to the AFC Championship Game completely changing their team’s future and how they are perceived in the sports world.

Here were the Giants, just two years removed from the greatest Super Bowl win in history, limping to an 8-8 season with the worst secondary to ever take the field and a pass rush that didn’t fully understand the concept of “rushing the passer.” And here were the Jets, perennial heartbreakers, whose stock was suddenly skyrocketing as they became the George Mason of the NFL postseason by creating a personality and identity that the Giants had lost since their Super Bowl win.

The problem with the pre-2009 Jets is that they were just an unlikable team – at least to me they were. Aside from Fireman Ed and a crowd that continues to make opposing fans fear for their life, there wasn’t a whole lot to like about the Jets. I’m not sure any kid or sports fan in the area without a favorite football team and looking for one to like would have adopted the Jets and called them their own before last season.

Now, when you look at the Jets roster it looks like one of the two rosters for the Pro Bowl. It’s full of superstars and household names. They have a coach that might be the most likable and entertaining in professional sports, and a franchise quarterback who makes it hard not to like him. It’s all these reasons why as a Giants fan, the Jets intrigue me. No, I am not a Jets fan and will never ever switch sides, but I fully understand why that same person searching for a football team to like that I just talked about would choose the Jets over the Giants right now.

The Giants would never let HBO document their training camp for Hard Knocks. They would never expose themselves or prostitute themselves as a sideshow to become a TV program for fans to watch uncensored, and I understand that and I support that. But with the Jets building their brand on the field and off the field, all the Giants can do to make sure they don’t concede their superior ranking in NYC football is to produce wins on the field, and after the way last season finished, I’m not sure how many wins we can expect from this team.

The new-look Jets are why I was more excited for Hard Knocks this season over any previous season in the show’s history. From the moment it was announced that the Jets would participate on the show, it was almost as if they started building their roster accordingly. Just following Rex Ryan and listening to Bart Scott would have been enough, but by adding LaDainian Tomlinson, Santonio Holmes and Antonio Cromartie and including the storyline of the most important contract negotiation in the AFC East and maybe the NFL, it’s almost as if the show became as scripted as Friday Night Lights.

The first episode of Hard Knocks on Wednesday night was as good as advertised. If you missed it, here are the three men responsible for stealing the show in the first hour of what will be the most memorable season of the series.

Rex Ryan
There are going to be a lot of people that watch Hard Knocks simply to see what Rex Ryan is like outside of his comedic press conferences and aside from his extravagant Daily News and Post headlines. After watching Rex freely make fun of his in-laws in the opening minutes of the show, you just knew he was going to make the most of this opportunity to have a camera and censor-free microphone in front of him for training camp.

In the show, Rex Ryan appears to be an actor rather than an amusing and overweight NFL coach. Some of his lines and actions seem a little over the top and rehearsed, the same way that the cast of Jersey Shore now plays up their personas to fulfill the roles of the celebrities they have become rather than be themselves like they were in the first season when the show gained popularity. (Don’t get me wrong, I will continue to watch Jersey Shore no matter how fake the cast becomes, just like I would watch Hard Knocks even if Rex Ryan were reading off cue cards.)

I think the pre-camp meeting was the best example of Rex being a head coach that knows there is a camera recording him. Rex made it clear that he wants his team to lead the league in the wins, but it was almost as if he was trying force every last swear word he could into this scene, so that fans would come away from Hard Knocks and say, “Wow, Rex Ryan is a badass.” But if you take away Ryan’s HBO vocabulary from that meeting, it definitely wouldn’t have passed through the final cut. A power point presentation on Day 1 of camp for NFL players? What player would pay attention to that? It was almost as if someone recorded the first day of class from each semester of college when the professor would just stand there and read the syllabus word for word before you letting you go early. Not exactly captivating TV without Rex trying to break the South Park movie’s record for most swears in one scene.

Rex has reached a point in my life that not many other people can achieve: the point where I could watch Rex Ryan do just about anything. It’s such an elite club that I can’t even think of another person on this list. Whether it’s trying to drop 37 F-bombs before taking a breath, wearing Chuck Taylor shoes given his body type, eating a lunch big enough for a family of four at Cafe Ryan, throwing footballs, punting footballs or just standing around making small talk, there isn’t anything Rex Ryan can’t do that wouldn’t be compelling. I only wish Tom Coughlin could be half as likeable as Rex Ryan.

Rex will never have trouble finding a job in the football world, which is disappointing, because the man could carry his own reality show. And like a lot of other people, I would watch every second of it.

Darrelle Revis
Rex Ryan and the Jets tagged Darrelle Revis as the best player in the league last season, and maybe he is because I’m not sure if anyone other than the best player in the league could take up as much air time as Revis did in the first episode, despite not even being at camp.

There is no chance that Woody Johnson likes watching Rex and the other Jets talking about Revis constantly throughout the show as they further instill the notion that the Jets need Revis to achieve their ultimate goal of winning the Super Bowl. It can’t be good for Woody’s negotiations and his stance on not budging on a new contract for Revis when every Wednesday night for the rest of training camp, you have other members of the Jets reminding Jets fans that, “Hey Woody, we really, really need Revis to come to camp, so how about you give him that money?”

I have been torn on both sides of the Revis contract talks. On the one hand, he did sign this contract and he is obligated to live up to his end of the deal, whether or not he has become the player he has since he initially signed. But on the other hand, he does deserve more than his current pay since there are a handful of Jets defensive players making more than him. Like Mike Francesa says, if Woody is going ask fans for every dollar they have to purchase PSLs to attend Jets games, how can he turn around and say he won’t use his own money to sign “the best player in the league?”

It’s time for Woody to pay up.

Joe Namath
Joe Namath appeared in the first episode for maybe two minutes, but every bit of those two minutes was entertaining.

Joe doesn’t exactly look like the guy I grew up watching on TV telling me to shop at “Nobody Beats The Wiz,” but eventually living life as Joe Namath and also as Broadway Joe was going to take its toll.

Namath was genuinely pissed off when Mark Sanchez fumbled during the goal-line drill in the rain, and it set him off, causing him to tell the Jets and Sanchez that Sanchez needs to change the way he receives the ball at the line. Watching Namath speak so passionately about the proper hand technique on the snap and just taking the rest of the coaching staff to school in the film room was like watching Shooter draw up plays in Hoosiers while everyone stood around knowing that the man talking knew more than anyone else, but not being absolutely sure if the man talking was still all there.

When Namath said he “had a good time on the field, but off the field it was all work,” before uncontrollably laughing, he came close to breaking into my Top 5 Athletes I Wish I Could Drinks Beers With For An Afternoon And Listen To Stories While In Their Prime list. The Top 5 is currently Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Jim Kaat, Bobby Orr and David Wells, but Broadway Joe is right on the bubble and with another appearance before the end of the season, it’s going to be hard to keep him off that list.

Blogs • The Joe Girardi Show • Yankees

Aug 3, 2010

The Joe Girardi Show

The Yankees no longer sit atop the AL East alone, but it didn’t have to be this way. It didn’t have to be this way if Joe Girardi didn’t want it to be.

I guess it was only fitting that on the night the Yankees lost sole possession of first place in the AL East for the first time in 42 days, the two losing pitchers to cause this happened to be the Carl Pavano and A.J. Burnett.

From June 20 to August 1, the Yankees sat alone on top of the AL East Mountain. Now they don’t. But it didn’t have to be this way. It didn’t have to be this way if Joe Girardi didn’t want it to be.

Somewhere between going to Tampa Bay with a two-game lead and losing to the Blue Jays on Monday night at home, Girardi decided to shake up a good thing. He decided that cruising through July was too easy, and he decided he needed to fix something that wasn’t broken.

Back in May, I wrote a piece as if I got to host The Joe Girardi Show instead of Michael Kay. With the Yankees enduring their first slump in over a month, I think it’s time for another episode of My Joe Girardi Show. Here are my questions for Joe:

What were you doing that was so important during the fifth inning on Monday that it took you as long as it did to take out A.J. Burnett?

Note: If you don’t know the three grades of A.J. Burnett meltdowns, then please inform yourself for the purpose of this section.

A.J. Burnett is 33 years old. He is 109-94 in his career. It’s safe to say we know who he is and what he is going to be for the rest of his career at this point. And no matter how hard Michael Kay tried to get Al Leiter to admit that Burnett sucks during Monday’s broadcast, Al wouldn’t succumb to the pressure. Al wouldn’t throw a fellow pitcher and former teammate under the bus, so I will do it for him.

Burnett scares the crap out me. He scares the crap out of me in the way that it would be unhealthy for me to watch him start a postseason game right now. And he scares the crap out of me in the way that we are only in the second year of his five-year deal, and I’m wishing I had the remote control from the movie Click so I could fast forward through the next three-plus years of his career with the Yankees.

On Monday night, A.J. Burnett started off on fire, and then quickly entered the early stages of a Grade 1 meltdown before being downgraded to a tropical storm. But after putting up zeroes in the third and fourth, the night quickly escalated to a Grade 3 meltdown. It all happened so fast in typical A.J. Burnett meltdown fashion: from 0 to 60 in a matter of seconds.

In June, when A.J. was going as bad as you can go in the majors leagues as a starting pitching without getting traded, sent down or designated for assignment, I created a system of measurement to determine which Burnett would show up on any given fifth day.

Here is my definition of a Grade 3 A.J. meltdown from that June piece:

“You think A.J. has had his bad inning for the night and that he will enter cruise control, only to have the game unravel in a matter of pitches – and once that second crooked number starts to take shape, there is no stopping it until he is removed from the game.”

Why isn’t Girardi aware of this? How does he not know that there is no fixing Burnett mid-game? He either has it or he doesn’t, and he isn’t about to make an adjustment in the middle of a start or try to battle through without his best stuff. On Monday, he clearly didn’t have it in the fifth inning, but Joe stood in the dugout and watched a bonfire turn into a forest fire before he decided to put it out. The following happened in the fifth inning before Joe pulled A.J. …

Double
Home run
Walk
Double
Fielder’s choice
Double
Double
Strikeout
Double

It took six runs, six hits (all extra-base hits) and seven base runners for Girardi to say to step in and say, “Enough is enough.” By this point, the Yankees trailed 7-2, and it became 8-2 when Sergio Mitre came in and allowed a double in the gap. Burnett and Mitre made MLB history in the frame by becoming the third team ever to allow six doubles in an inning.

The Yankees are never out of any game with their offense, let alone a game at home, where they have won at an outrageous clip since the beginning of 2009. Does Girardi not know this? How does he not? The only logical explanation is that he bet the over last night, and he just wanted to make sure it clinched before he pulled A.J. from the game.

Why move Nick Swisher down in the order in Tampa Bay?

When Nick Swisher hit that second home run on Monday night – the mammoth blast that nearly grazed the top deck at Yankee Stadium – I desperately wanted him to turn around and give Girardi the middle finger or at least point in the dugout and scream, “That one’s for you, Joe!” to let Girardi know what was up.

The Yankees traded for Lance Berkman on Friday and on Saturday he was in the Yankees lineup. But the Yankees weren’t getting the Berkman that hit 45 home runs in 2006 or the Berkman that drove in 106 runs in 2008. This wasn’t even the Berkman that hit 25 home runs in 2009. Instead the Yankees got the Lance Berkman that was hitting .245 in the NL this year and the Berkman that had missed spring training because of knee surgery missed spring training.

Before we go any further, yes, I was and still am a fan of the trade for Berkman. If he can find what he has been missing all year, then the Yankees have a legitimate No. 3 major league hitter batting in the bottom of the order. But the part that gets me is that the Yankees have now had to use and pay Nick Johnson and Berkman and trade away Mark Melancon for a job that Hideki Matsui could have been doing for less money. But forget Johnson’s injured past, the guy is an on-base machine.

Back to my point … Where would you hit Berkman in the Yankees order in his first game with the team? Girardi decided he should hit second, where Nick Swisher is hitting .296 in 51 games this year with 14 home runs 38 RBIs. Joe thought it would be best to move his All-Star right fielder down to the bottom half of the order in favor of the ghost of Lance Berkman.

Berkman went 1-for-8 in his first two games with the Yankees. On Monday night in the Bronx, Swisher was back in the No. 2 spot and delivered an Eff You performance to Girardi by drilling two more home runs.

Why did you play the JV team against the Rays on Sunday?

You have a two-game lead in the division. You are playing against the team that is trailing you by two games at their stadium with a three-game series coming up against the fourth place team the following day. Which game makes sense to rest starters? According to Girardi, the most important game seemed like the best time.

No A-Rod. Mark Teixeira at DH. Berkman at first, hitting second. Ramiro Pena and Austin Kearns starting. Brett Gardner sitting. I would like to know what Derek Jeter’s mental reaction when he walked into Tropicana Field on Monday and saw the lineup that Girardi posted with the Yankees barely hanging onto first place.

My favorite thing about Joe Girardi is how he always seems to find the most inopportune times to try new stuff, and no one on his coaching staff talks him out of it. “Tony, Rob, Mick, Dave … we have a big game against the Rays. Let’s change the whole lineup. Let’s start the reserves and the reserves’ reserves. This is a good idea.”

Obviously players need their rest over the course of the season, and especially A-Rod who is just a little over a year removed from hip surgery. But how does it make the most sense to give every player that needs a day off, the same day off? Why not give Tex “Game A” off, and A-Rod “Game B” and Gardner “Game C?” Why would you dismantle your lineup as much as possible in the rubber game of the most significant series of the season to date?

I need a drink.

Blogs • Yankees

Jul 22, 2010

Chan vs. Chad

It’s Chan Ho Park vs. Chad Gaudin in a battle to be the 12th man in the bullpen of the best team in baseball. The winner gets to be the mop-up man for the Yankees.

It’s Chan Ho Park vs. Chad Gaudin in a battle to be the 12th man in the bullpen of the best team in baseball. The winner gets to be the mop-up man for the Yankees. The loser gets to pack his bags and wait for some National League team to sign him to a minor league deal. It’s the showdown Yankees fans have been waiting for because it means one of these right-handed relievers won’t be a Yankee anymore, and it’s happening this weekend.

When Sergio Mitre is activated off the disabled list to join the roster and rotation in place of Andy Pettitte, someone must go and it will most definitely be one of these two men. The reason I say most definitely is because it’s not like Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi haven’t made crazier roster decisions in the past (like adding Freddy Guzman to the ALCS roster), so I can’t say that it’s a 100-percent guarantee that it will be Chan or Chad.

I have written a lot of bad things about both pitchers, but hopefully after this weekend I won’t have to write anything more about at least one of them. If it all goes according to plan, one pitcher won’t be a Yankee and the other will start to get to his act together since he will now be the last man on the staff and possibly the last man on the rotation. Then I can save all of my negativity for Boone Logan, “the lefty specialist.”

If it were up to me, the decision would be easy: I would get rid of both Park and Gaudin. Unfortunately, it’s not my call, and all I can do is share my opinion and hope the decision makers agree.

So, let’s make a case for both and figure out who gets to stay for the time being.

Chan Ho Park
If Boone Logan never put on pinstripes, A.J. Burnett didn’t go 0-5 in June and I didn’t have to catch Nick Johnson sitting on the bench during camera shots of the dugout recently, I probably would have written about Chan Ho Park a lot more.

Since Opening Night, I knew the Chan Ho Park experiment wasn’t going to work out. He entered the Yankees-Red Sox rivalry by letting Dustin Pedroia crush a two-run bomb off the roof of the Cask and Flagon, and then he told reporters he had diarrhea (Look at Mariano in the background of that video looking at Park with the “Is this guy serious?” face). If he had diarrhea on Opening Night, that’s one thing, but what’s his excuse for the other three months?

Three nights after the diarrhea incident, Joe Girardi went with Park again to keep the game tied at 1 until the Yankees could take the lead against the Red Sox, and Park ended up pitching three innings in what was statistically his best performance of the season (3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER). The only problem is that your basic box score doesn’t tell the story behind how Park was able to get nine outs before giving up a run.

Baseball Reference says four of the six fly balls hit off Park were hit “deep” in the outfield, and I remember everyone at Fenway Park standing up and raising their arms into the Boston night at the sight of moon shots that looked like highlights from a 1998 baseball DVD during the height of the steroid era. With each pitch Park threw, I just knew one of them would eventually find the Mass. Turnpike or the bullpens, but magically and miraculously none of the shots off Park cleared the fence. If Opening Night wasn’t enough proof that Park wasn’t going to be able to hack it in the American League, his second outing sealed the deal.

I am really struggling here trying to find good things about Chan Ho Park. I am struggling like in high school when I couldn’t meet the page requirement for a paper about the themes and motifs in The Catcher in the Rye or Lord of the Flies, so I would move in the margins or take the last sentence of every page and move it down to the next page. It’s one thing to struggle like that when you are trying to write a six-page paper about a book you read on SparkNotes, but you shouldn’t have to struggle like that to think of reasons why a pitcher should still be on your team.

Let me put it as nicely as I can: Chan Ho Park has done nothing to deserve a spot on this team. He didn’t deserve the $2 million contract or the guaranteed roster spot off of his 2009 numbers because his 2009 numbers weren’t very telling, as I have talked about with Sweeny Murti.

I have tried to run every incompetent reliever out of town, and Sweeny has had to talk me off of the ledge on several occasions when it comes to the bullpen. But even he said last week, “I’m about ready to give up on Park too. What the Yankees saw in him just hasn’t happened, and he’s been given plenty of opportunities.”

Well said, Sweeny.

Chad Gaudin
Do you remember when people actually thought Chad Gaudin should start Game 5 of the World Series in order to save Burnett for Game 6 and Andy Pettitte for Game 7? If Joe Girardi had done that, the World Series would have gone seven games without a doubt.

I’m not going to lie; I was excited when the Yankees picked up Chad Gaudin last season. Even though he wasn’t exactly stellar during his time with the Padres at the beginning of 2009, I remembered him for the success he had during his time with the A’s. But it didn’t take long to realize why the Padres let Gaudin get away, and why the Yankees let him go at the beginning of this year and then why the A’s let him go again after the Yankees did.

Chad Gaudin has become part of the Insurance Run Brigade for the Yankees that also includes Park, Boone Logan and part-time member Joba Chamberlain. No lead is safe and no deficit will remain where it is when someone from the Brigade is on the mound.

The only thing I can say about Gaudin is that he has the ability to serve as a starter, long reliever and middle reliever. I’m not saying he is good at any of those things, but he is capable of being used in any of those roles. If for some reason one of the starters goes down (knock on wood), Gaudin could slip into the rotation to fill a hole. That is something that Chan Ho Park can’t do, and it’s something I’m glad he can’t do.

The Verdict

Back in early February, I talked about the Yankees bullpen and the expectations entering 2010, and I said:

“No bullpen is perfect and no bullpen is unbeatable. There is usually a Kyle Farnsworth or a Scott Proctor on every club. There will always be a game where a three-run lead turns into a two-run deficit, but as currently constructed it’s hard to pick out who will be this season’s LaTroy Hawkins. For the first time in a while, there might not be one.”

That paragraph seems ridiculous now, but it was also written 11 days before Chan Ho Park signed with the Yankees. And yes, in my mind, Chan Ho Park should take the fall when Mitre is activated.

If you’re Chad Gaudin, you can be happy that you are still on a major league roster and still part of the best team in baseball. But you shouldn’t be happy in knowing that it was between you and Park to be given the boot. Basically, Chad, you won by default.

No more Chan Ho Park will mean one less unreliable reliever for Joe Girardi to signal for, and that means the team is one step closer to cleaning up the bullpen.

Author: Neil Keefe