Just when it looked like things couldn't get any worse for the New York Jets ... the latest news is really bad.
Fireman Ed, the team's unofficial mascot and the head shouter of the J-E-T-S chants that are so important to the team's success, is resigning his post leading the cheers for Rex Ryan's "best team I've ever had." What's next?
Fireman Ed (a.k.a. Ed Anzalone) said he wasn't taking off his helmet because the team he roots for was on the verge of becoming a laughingstock. Nope. He said he was giving up his alter ego because of the crap he was getting from other, more disgruntled Jets fans. "It's about the nastiness," Ed said. "I just think society in general ... there's no respect at all. I don't want to put up with that from people taking it out on me anymore." You know the sound you are about to hear is your franchise hitting rock bottom when the big news is that your not-really-our-mascot mascot is quitting.
And it was big news in New York. Amazingly.
Kristian Dyer wrote a column on CBS/New York that you have to read to believe. Here's the best part... "Jets games will never be the same. In all of American sports, traditions like the one that Anzalone carried on at Jets games are hard to come by, as he made going to a game a different experience. He brought the crowd to life, creating moments that were iconic and inspired goosebumps, something very unique in the fishbowl stadium experience at the Meadowlands. What 'Fireman Ed' did was unite a fan base that only seemed too eager to jeer rather than cheer, to tear down rather than build up."
If the most memorable moment of going to a Jets game was some guy in a helmet barking at the crowd to cheer louder, well... that doesn't say too much about the action on the field. There were so many stories about Ed quitting -- pro and con -- that there are too many to list. It seemed everyone had an opinion.
Including, of course, Rex Ryan.
When asked about the big news during his press conference Skinny Rex had this to say ... "I love that guy's passion and the energy he would bring. If he could play linebacker or whatever I would use him." No. Really. He said that. And he wasn't really joking.
It made me wonder what Belichick would say if he was asked about something so trivial at a press conference just a few days after his team was humiliated on national television and had its playoff hopes pretty much snuffed out.
"I don't have any information on that. Our focus is on the Dolphins. We're not worrying about things we can't control, like if Fireman Ed is going to wear his helmet or not. We'll play with the fans who give us the best chance to win."
No comments:
Post a Comment