Safest New York Sports Jerseys to Buy

Santana Moss, Jonathan Vilma, Chad Pennington and Kerry Rhodes. Those are the names on the backs of the four Jets jerseys hanging in my closet. None of those players are currently on the Jets roster, therefore, I will have to spend another $80 on a Jets jersey before their season opener on September 13th. 

Which player’s jersey does my $80 deserve to go toward? Well, have you ever heard of the saying there’s “no such thing as a sure bet?” In the landscape of sports today, it’s not often a player spends his entire career with one team. Here one year and gone the next. There are, however, a number of players that do spend their entire careers with one team, but it is a small percentage of the total number of athletes in each sport. There are a number of reasons for this, but that’s neither here nor there. The intention of this article is to address the jerseys that you can count on being able to wear for the next five years and hopefully beyond. You could always buy a Lawrence Taylor, Willis Reed or Mickey Mantle jersey to be extremely safe, but I’m talking about the jerseys of more current and active players.

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Second Banana in the Big Apple

Quite often it feels like the Long Island sports dynamic is doomed forever to be akin to being the ugly sibling, beaten like a red-headed step child. The typically favored L.I. teams, the New York Mets and New York Jets, are routinely ignored in favor of the perfectly media-spoiled New York Yankees and New York Giants. This is far from breaking news, but the 2009 sports year again proved that general sentiment.

The opening of the Mets new stadium was grossly overshadowed by the new Yankee Stadium, the house that Jeter built. The teams were equally disappointing a month and a half into the season. The Mets had been stripped of its potential by a plague of injuries that one could only assume was summoned by a Yankees fan practicing Voodoo in a Brooklyn basement studio. Luckily, the Yankees had just plain failed to show up as well. Then, the Yanks had a great rest of the season and the talks of power alley and ridiculously expensive New York Yankees tickets for the cheap seats had been replaced by whispers (and eventually shouts) of winning the franchises 27th World Series.

The New York Jets only received their due praise late in the season when it became obvious that the Giants had fallen apart following a four-game losing streak. Even then, everybody was waiting for Mark Sanchez to throw into too much coverage and spoil the poetic dominance of the Jets defense and the barrage of blitzes from every angle.

The 2010 sports year seemed to hold more promise. The Mets had recovered most of their roster from the IR and the Jets had undoubtedly established themselves as the best football team in the New York Metro area.

Ah, but then the sports gods stepped in and suddenly the Mets are without Jose Reyes for the first month of the 2010 MLB season because of unbalanced thyroid levels and Carlos Beltran will be joining him in street clothes as he recovers from a knee surgery after botched medical care last year.

Then the NFL privately decides that the Jets are not good enough to open the new Meadowlands Stadium after a phantom coin toss apparently held in the panic room with Roger Goodell and the television executives from Fox Sports.

So what is to be done? How do I end this rant? Well, I have to hope that the Mets were right to stick with Mike Pelfrey, John Maine, and Oliver Perez in the starting rotation. I have to hope that the Yankees rotation is mired by weight issues, inconsistencies, and old age. I have to hope that Mark Sanchez makes another jump in development and clearly surpasses Eli Manning as the best and more consistent quarterback.

Guest Post by Brian Sarna

Giants to Open New Stadium, Jets to Follow on Monday

The NFL has resolved the issue of which New York team would be the first to christen the new stadium at the Meadowlands. As reported by Newsday’s Bob Glauber, both teams will play home during the first weekend of the season.

Glauber tweeted, “Giants and Jets to play at home on opening weekend. Giants on Sunday, Jets on Monday.”

Rich Cimini of the NY Daily News went further in an article;

“The NFL just issued a press release on the controversy. Here it is:

The New York Jets and New York Giants both will play at home in their new Meadowlands Stadium on the opening weekend of the 2010 regular season, the NFL announced today.

The Giants will play on Sunday afternoon, September 12, and the Jets will play in the first nationally televised Monday Night Football game of the season on September 13. The NFL is completing the final stages of the 2010 schedule. The opponents for the Jets and Giants Kickoff Weekend home openers will be announced soon.

In addition, the NFL announced that the Jets will host the first NFL game at the new stadium during the preseason in August.”

Earlier in the day, it was reported by several media outlets that the Giants won a coin toss that gave them the rights to host the first game at the new stadium. This move should appease the Jets, having their game in prime-time a day later. Having both teams play home games on back-to-back days during opening weekend makes complete sense and the NFL did a very good job making this work.

Reported Jets’ Discussions for Brandon Marshall Have Jets Fans Buzzing

Michael Lombardi of the National Football Post has heard that the Jets are having “internal discussions” about Brandon Marshall.

Lombardi wrote, “I keep hearing from my Jets sources that they’re having internal discussions regarding Brandon Marshall and would love to put together a package of players that might entice the Broncos and still keep their first-round pick.”

Lombardi’s words have Jets fans in an uproar. A lot of people are against the idea of acquiring Marshall, citing his off-field problems and character issues. Other people see past his issues and see him as a talented receiver and one of the best in the league.

Whether you’d welcome Marshall or not, Lombardi’s report doesn’t mean the Jets are getting him.

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Jets Sign LaDainian Tomlinson, Can Start Focusing on Other Needs

LaDainian Tomlinson has made a decision on which football team he will play for in 2010 and his choice is the New York Jets. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, L.T. signed a two-year deal worth $5.1 million that can turn into a total of $5.6 million. 

The addition of Tomlinson means the Jets have one less area to fill. Depth at running back is now complete, no matter if you think Tomlinson will have a good season or not in 2010. 

Now the Jets can focus on adding players that can have a bigger impact on the team than Tomlinson. Adding another running back was needed due to the release of Thomas Jones, but there are other positions the Jets need to tend to in order to get back into the AFC championship in 2010.

The Jets need to add to their defensive line and outside linebacking corps. The 29th pick in the draft is a critical one for them. Enough of the L.T. talk. It’s time to start focusing on strengthening the defensive front seven, which will have more of an impact on the success of the team than L.T. will. With a strong defensive backfield, adding to the pass rush will make the defense even stronger. To twist a football cliche into Jets terms; you win games in the trenches, not with your backup 31-year old running back.

Report: LaDainian Tomlinson to Choose Jets

An unconfirmed report by Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune suggests that free agent running back, LaDainian Tomlinson, will be signing with the New York Jets.

Acee says;

“According to three people with knowledge of the process, Tomlinson has decided to become a New York Jet.

“It’s 100 percent,” one source said. “Done deal.”

Tomlinson is expected to announce the decision today or tomorrow.”

To reiterate, a deal is not confirmed, but sources are suggesting that L.T. will be choosing the Jets. I’m excited for him to make a decision so we can put this behind us and start focusing on more pressing needs and the draft. L.T. will be a welcomed addition to the Jets if the reports are true. How much he has left in the tank is one issue, but his character is top-notch.

Kenny Phillips’ Recovery

The Giants were dealt a huge blow last season when defensive standout, Kenny Phillips, was lost to a season ending injury.  What was more puzzling was if the safety would be back in time for the start of the 2010 season.  Kenny is an integral part of the Giants’ secondary and we all saw what happened after his departure to the sidelines; the Giants’ once feared defense had more holes than a hunk of cheese. The Giants’ organization and fans all blew a major sigh of relief last week when Kenny wrote on his website, “I could play tomorrow, If I had too.”

In fact, the star safety went on to say, “My knee is ahead of schedule.”  

The doctors have been saying Phillips’ knee is looking very good and he is scheduled to do some running at the end of this month.  These are amazing signs for Kenny and especially for the Giants. Their secondary was almost non-existent after the loss of the star. The Giants also helped the cause by acquiring the talented, defensive back Antrel Rolle from the Arizona Cardinals.  If Kenny can continue on with his speedy recovery, the once porus secondary has potential to be an elite bunch.

Jets Sign Pool, Will Host Tomlinson Friday

The Jets have signed free agent safety Brodney Pool, formerly of the Cleveland Browns. Pool will contend for the starting safety spot that was held priorly by Kerry Rhodes. What’s alarming, not only in a football sense but a health sense in general, is that it is being reported that Pool has suffered four concussions while his agent says he has suffered just one known concussion. The 25-year old safety and former Oklahoma Sooner was a second round pick by the Browns in 2005. From what has been written about Pool, he seems like a guy that will fit well with the Jets defense as long as health isn’t an issue and he can remain on the field. He signed a one-year deal worth $1.3 million.

LaDainian Tomlinson left Minnesota without a contract and will be visiting with the Jets on Friday. Tomlinson was reportedly “wowed” by the Vikings, but didn’t sign a contract. Interesting. Although I’m not in favor of the Jets signing Tomlinson, there are some benefits of signing him such as for his locker room presence, his pass-catching ability as a third-down back, and his ability to gain short yards (am I talking myself into liking an LT signing?). I would have liked the Jets to sign a younger running back that didn’t have as many miles on him, but if signing LT means the Jets can draft a different position with their first two picks other than a running back, I’d have to be in favor of it. I’d like for them to select a slot receiver in the second round rather than sign Laverneus Coles for the third time. If signing LT gives them that ability and flexibility, then I’m on board with the move. I don’t, however, see him being super-productive anymore, but as a third-down back, he may be able to get it done behind one of the NFL’s best offensive lines.

If LT were coming in to be the premiere back then I’d have a major problem with it. But as a running back to compliment Shonn Greene, it may be a good signing. The key is that strong offensive line. We’ll see if he decides the Jets are a good fit for him and what kind of money the Jets offer him.

Joba, Hughes and the Yankees Fifth Starter

The question of who will be the Yankees fifth starting pitcher is sure to be a hot topic until a decision is reached later this Spring. The leading candidates are the obvious suspects, Joba Chamberlain and Phil Hughes, followed by Sergio Mitre, Alfredo Aceves and Chad Gaudin (in no specific order).

Early spring training starts aside, who is better suited to be the Yankees fifth starter? I don’t think I’m going out on the limb by saying that the spot will be given to either Joba or Hughes. The Yankees have visions of one of them being a starter this season, although, could you imagine how good their bullpen would be all season if they had both guys in there? They’d lock down the 7th and 8th innings before handing it off to Mariano Rivera. This was the case in the 2009 postseason and although Hughes didn’t pitch well then, I’d still be extremely content with having them both in the bullpen this coming October. 

The NY Daily News wrote a good article about Alfredo Aceves winning the starting spot and having Joba and Hughes in the bullpen. Although I can’t see it happening, the Yankees would turn their baseball games into six inning games. With Joba and Hughes working out of the bullpen, the Yankees may rarely lose games when having a lead after six innings. It would similar to 1996 when the Yankees were almost unbeatable when they had a lead after six innings. Mariano pitched the 7th and 8th innings and John Wetteland closed the door in the 9th. 

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Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium

December 30, 2010 will be the date of the first ever Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium. The bowl will feature the number three team in the Big East and the number six team in the Big 12. 

This will be the first bowl game to take place at Yankee Stadium since 1962. 

“Football’s always been a love of my dad: he played it, he coached it,” Hal Steinbrenner told The Star Ledger. “We made it a point when we built this stadium to ensure it was a year-round, multi-sport venue, and it will be that. There is more to come. Football is going to be a big part of it in 2010, and football’s going to be a big part of it in the years to come.”

Read more about the bowl.