Sunday Paper (Year 4, Volume V)

David Wright said recently that he wasn't looking forward to dealing with trade rumors throughout the 2012 season.

He talked about how he watched it all last year with Jose Reyes and sees it coming his way this year...and he's hoping to avoid it becoming a season-long issue by addressing it during spring training.

Like David Wright, I'm not looking forward to trade rumors involving him all year - I hate the idea that he might end his career with a team other than the Mets.

But I suppose I'll adjust.

I always have.

Continue to Remembering It's A Business

When I was 10 years old, I spent a lot of the summer waiting on pins and needles.

I don't remember much about that summer:

I don't remember if my family and I traveled.

I don't remember what we did for my 10th birthday in July.

I do remember that I watched a lot of Mets games...waiting for Gary Carter to reach a special milestone.

Continue to Waiting On The Kid

Sunday Paper (Year 4, Volume IV)

It's been a few years since my sole focus on the NFL's Championship weekend was the matchups.

But here we are.

The success of the Jets the past couple of years has made my personal sports-watching eccentricities secondary to the actual game on the field.

But with the Jets' disastrous 2011 season not bringing them anywhere close to the AFC Championship Game for a third straight season, I'm forced to go back to the personal mind games I created when the Jets were terrible for most of my life.

And I'll admit - it's my desire (need?) to see a new Super Bowl matchup that is driving these picks.

Continue to Matchup Weekend

Sunday Paper (Year 4, Volume III)

Just two weeks into the off-season, things have been as nightmarish as possible for the New York Jets.

Locker room dissension.

Lack of leadership.

Teammates taking anonymous shots at one another.

Coaching staff upheaval.

It has certainly not been a quiet couple of weeks.

But the latest in the series of off-season changes - the one that everyone saw coming despite claims to the contrary - the one that could have been handled as poorly as everything else so far - might have been the least controversial.

And we have Brian Schottenheimer to thank for that.

Continue to A Touch of Class Amidst Chaos

The Giants.

The Patriots.

The Packers.

The Broncos.

If you know me, you know that I'm not looking forward to these teams making it to the Super Bowl.

Not because I hate them (I have nothing against the Giants, Broncos or Packers), but because of their previous Super Bowl appearances.

Giants-Patriots, Packers-Patriots, Packers-Broncos, Giants-Broncos.

Those Super Bowl matchups have all happened.  And I don't like repeats.

The problem with this week is that one of those teams from each conference is going to advance to the Conference Championship round.

Leaving us very little room for error to avoid a repeat matchup, which equals a waste of a year for me.

Which teams will cause me angst for the next week?  Read on for my picks.

Continue to Playoff Picks - Divisional Round

Sunday Paper (Year 4, Volume II)

It's time for a final word on the 2011 Jets season.

A disappointment for sure, but in the end, maybe a good thing.

Maybe this is rock bottom, and there's nowhere for the Jets to go from here but up.

And if a .500 record is rock bottom, well, that's proof the Jets have come a long way under Rex Ryan.

But as big of a disappointment as 2011 was for the Jets, missing the playoffs when it was Super Bowl or bust....Jets fans sort of saw it coming (see the final Sunday Paper bullet point for the link I've been pushing all week).

And, believe it or not, things could have been a lot worse than 8-8 this season.

Continue to Could've Been Worse?

Sometimes I'm not sure if anyone enjoys reading me picking the games.

I mean, I enjoy making them and all, but do they really serve a purpose?

Are people out there waiting with baited breath for my picks and counting on said picks in order to enjoy their weekend of NFL Playoff football?

Then I think back to January 6, 2007.  My pick - Seahawks 21, Cowboys 20.  Remember, when Tony Romo fumbled the snap on a potential game-winning kick?

Yeah, I picked that. Well, not that exactly. But I nailed the score.

And that's good enough reason for this blind squirrel to keep hoping he finds another nut, five years later.

Continue to Playoff Picks - Wild Card Round

How do the Jets lose a must-win game?

How do they make it not even matter that almost every other outcome worked out in their favor...but they couldn't take care of their own business in Miami?

It's easy to point the finger at Mark Sanchez and his three costly interceptions.

So, so easy.

It's also easy to point the finger at Santonio Holmes, whose teammates accused him of quitting on the team.

But there are plenty of culprits as to why the 2011 Jets finished 8-8 and missed the playoffs - and you don't have to focus the lens simply on Week 17 to identify them.

Continue to Plenty Of Blame To Go Around

Sunday Paper (Year 4, Volume I)

The Jets certainly did nothing these past couple of weeks to show that they had earned themselves a "win and in" situation in the season's final week.

All season, in fact, these Jets barely looked like a capable playoff team - let alone one that should "control its own destiny."

Thus we enter Week 17 with the Jets needing help in order to make a third straight run in the playoffs.

Lots and lots of help.

And I'm here to tell you that it's not quite as long of a shot as it may look.

Continue to Win And You're In...With A Loss, And A Loss, And Another Loss

I know, I know, I should have scheduled this session sooner.

You've probably been worried about me, what with the Jets' season almost completely falling apart on Christmas Eve. (It's not over yet - but that's a story for the Sunday Paper.)

Thank you for worrying.  And sorry for not doing this more immediately following Saturday's game.

But the crazy thing is, Doc, I'm doing great.

Or at least, not nearly as bad as I thought I'd be doing.

Continue to On The Couch