The Jets just don’t get it

The combine is over. The spandex unitards are funky and sweaty, and teams are salivating over the aptly dubbed, “Underwear Olympics.” And despite all the things that happened one thing is clear. THE JETS JUST DON’T GET IT.

I told you their problems start with the top and filter down to the bottom. The Jets General Manager, Mike Tannenbaum, in a TV interview said the team won’t rule out Peyton Manning and that their QB situation, “will look a lot different at the start of the season.”

Now everyone knows that means they need a veteran backup, because Mark Brunell isn’t the solution. But now Coach Rex Ryan and Tannenbaum have both said they are interested in Manning. Which raises the question: why are they putting more discontent and unrest on the team? 1. Manning isn’t going to a dysfunctional team with a jackass head coach and jackass GM and jackass owners who can’t keep their mouths shut. Manning needs total control and the Jets frankly aren’t worth his time, much less his trouble. 2. Manning hasn’t proven he is capable of playing again. 3. Even if he does, he’s not going to fit into a GROUND AND POUND offense. Seriously, what ARE the Jets thinking? Are they THAT clueless?

The fact that they stand behind Ryan and his miserable method of running a team indicates they DON’T have a clue and they keep affirming that every time they bring up Manning.

Now … Dontari Poe, a 346-pound defensive lineman ran a 40-yard dash in 4.87 seconds. How is someone that big running that fast? That is impressive.

I love Hines Ward as a Steelers fan. I think he has carried the Steelers mentality and history through some rough times. From the tough Rod Woodson and Greg Lloyd days through the Tommy Maddox days he has been a model of the Steelers way. But, Ward to be cut by the Steelers and the shock is, well, unwarranted. Look, they force-fed him the last few weeks of the season to get him 1,000 catches and everyone saw him standing on the sidelines as the 4th WR in the Steelers offense. Now I believe they will bring him back, but for league minimum. That’s all he is good for at this point; he can’t play special teams. He should come back at minimum salary, work a clipboard when he is inactive and be a coach in training. He still has value, but it would be a waste to see him go sit on the sidelines and bench for the Bengals or Browns. No, that’s just stupid. Setup your coaching career with the Steelers, Hines … that’s the smart play.

The NFL’s season-opening game has been moved to Wednesday instead of Thursday because of Obama’s re-nomination at the Democratic National Convention. Good for me, I get football a day earlier.

The NFL should do away with the franchise tag as it is. I can’t believe the player’s union didn’t get a rule in the collective bargaining agreement that the Franchise tag can only be used on a player ONE TIME. How did they settle for something like that? They can tag you 2 years in a row and keep you on a risky one-year contract? That’s just nuts.

Rob Dibble’s radio show. First let me say I don’t know how Rob Dibble got a radio show. Isn’t he the pitcher that was going to fight his manager, Lou Piniella, in the locker-room? Hilarious. But that jackass really pissed me off today. I had to listen to him whining on the radio about how the college and NBA systems are screwing the NCAA basketball coaches. Really? He complained about how these 19-year-old kids only have to play one year of college basketball before they can jump to the NBA and it isn’t fair to the university or the coaches. Get out of here. These coaches have shoe and TV contracts and make a few million dollars a year. The schools make a mint selling the jerseys and games, and NCAA tourney and game tickets, and Dibble gripes about the players getting to go pro and earn a living after one year? Dibble was a baseball player. MLB teams draft kids right out of high school. If the NCAA looked out for those kids, maybe I’d care more, but they don’t … and the coaches and universities still get paid. They have boosters paying the coaches millions, jack up tuition every year despite making millions every year, and from my Lay-Z-Boy don’t have the right to bitch. AT ALL. And neither does Dibble.

Let me ask you a question. Why does the media dog Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo for his playoff performance but call Atlanta Falcons QB Matt Ryan “Matty Ice.” Ryan hasn’t won a single playoff game and they talk about how great he is, but Romo gets dogged. Now I hate the Cowboys and Romo, but give me a break. Ryan has lost every playoff game. He had weapons this year: Michael Turner, Tony Gonzales, Roddy White, Julio Jones, Jazquizz Rogers … and “Ice” racked up 2 lousy points in the playoff game. And those were scored by the defense on a safety! What do the pundits see in this guy?

I heard people say, “The Steelers draft this year is vitally important. They need players and they have salary cap issues so can’t pursue free agents.” Now this burns me up. Name the last high-priced free agent the Steelers signed. I bet you can’t … because they don’t. Sports broadcasting and sports writing “experts” … yeah, right! Morons. The Steelers NEVER SIGN BIG NAME FREE AGENTS. Ever. Every year the Steelers draft is important … that’s how they put together their team. Their stars are all drafted players. Why the NFL and the experts can’t acknowledge that is beyond me. The Steelers lose players to free agency, because they plug in another draft pick and feed the system. And think about the Steelers that lose. What they do elsewhere? Name a Steelers player that went somewhere else and became a star. The Steelers kept Alan Faneca ‘til they thought he was done, and two years later he was done. Joey Porter hung around for a couple years. The one you go back to is Rod Woodson. So I am flying to ESPN headquarters tomorrow to punch those experts in the mouth. Then to the NFL network headquarters … more punches to the mouth. Experts … hah! Morons!

Parting shots …

Watched “American Idol” pare down to the final 24. I have to say, the 12 guys all suck. I watched their performances and couldn’t find one of them that would be worthy of collecting coins on the local freeway off-ramp.

Then tonight the women went on. And there were 4 of them that blew the doors off the joint. Elsie Testone (whose last name is, I must point out, eerily close to “testosterone”) blew it up. She is from Charleston, South Carolina, and that probably explains why I like her to a certain extent. Charleston is my old stomping ground. Love and miss that place. Jessica Sanchez. Wow, that girl was smoking. Then there was Skylar, who is too young for me to talk about, but she put on a performance that made me think about Reba McEntire. And that is never a bad thing – I like Reba. Skylar could well be the new Reba. But the closer, the best singer in the group was HOLLIE CAVANAUGH. That girl was the BOMB. I replayed her song 4 times! Man, I am going to watch it again. If you haven’t watched her, check out her performance. Unbelievable! “AI” pulled me in again. I have an idea. They should make the minimum age 18 and allow the performers to use poles and oil into their performances. It only makes sense.