Somebody Pinch Me by ST

At 7 & 6, the Jets played the Falcons. They lead just about the whole game until allowing an Atlanta march in the final couple minutes. The loss dropped them to .500 and in the post game, rookie coach Rex Ryan thought his team had been mathematically eliminated from playoff consideration. He later learned that to be false, but it was a long shot. 2 games left and they needed to beat the Colts the next week while Tennessee, Jacksonville, Miami and the Broncos needed to lose, then if they beat the Bengals in the final game, they'd get a wild card. All that happened! Then they went into Cincy then San Diego and won road games. New York plays at Indy Sunday with the AFC title on the line. I may be the most spoiled sports fan on the planet right now. The Yankees won the World Series in November, the Ducks won the Pac 10 in December and the Jets have made the Final 4 in January. What the heck is going to happen on February? USA Olympic hockey gold medal?
I saw that Mark McGwire got a huge ovation from Cardinal fans when he made the first appearance since telling us what only the blind or ignorant didn't know. He used steroids to help him hit home runs. He didn't get paid to get on base, play defense or hit singles, so he used performance enhancing drugs to pop the long ball. You wonder why high level athletes think they're above it all?
Feeling too good about the NFL to dwell all that much on the bleak Oregon basketball performance Saturday afternoon at The Pit. They were right in the game, down 7 with just over 14 minutes left. After another defensive lapse led to an easy bucket, they would respond with a foul shot to cut the Arizona lead to 8 but once the deficit reached 10, it never fell below 9 in the final 12 1/2 minutes. Here's the thing to remember about all this. We're here. In the middle of it, seeing the wheels wobble for the 2nd straight season. Personally I believe Ernie Kent has earned the right to be coach when the new arena opens next autumn. That said, if you removed the names and simply heard the facts. Team won just 2 conference games last year. Attendance is shrinking noticeably. The same team has been beaten easily in the last 3 conference games, and has failed to be competitive for a full 40 minutes. If they continue to lose & lose big with lot's of empty seats, what generally happens at the major college level or the big time professional leagues we follow? It's not a pleasant situation and as cold as it sounds, the only remedy is a winning streak. Somehow they must find a way to be playing important games in late February and into March with a full & rocking arena. Maybe the Bay Area trip this week will be the stepping stone!
I have a couple of $25 gift certificates for a terrific new restaurant in Eugene.
Ratatouille on Willamette in Eugene. E-mail me the correct answer to stevetannen@live.com
The Jets have played in just 4 previous AFC/AFL Championship games. The last was following the 1998 season, a loss in Denver. Who scored the only New York touchdown in that defeat against the Broncos in January of 1999??