From August to January, the sight of Rex Ryan bragging and boasting about whatever snack he was clogging his remaining functional arteries with along with empty promises about a Super Bowl was one of the most irritating things I have witnessed in my life as a sports fan. Ryan could be considered the equivalent of a mosquito that would appear anytime that you turned on a television or radio.
Well, Coach Ryan, it's time to put your foot – whichever foot you prefer – in your mouth for at least a couple of months. Sportswriters would be hard-pressed to find a team in the history of college or professional athletics that talked so much "smack" as the Jets did this past season despite not having won as much as a divisional title. Not only have the Jets failed to win the AFC East since 2002, but they can now rest comfortably knowing that they possess the longest active streak of consecutive seasons without a Super Bowl appearance at 43.
Don't worry, Coach Ryan, you have plenty of time to win a ring, or so you claim. The Jets have their jobs cut out for them this off-season as cornerback Antonio Cromartie, wide receivers Braylon Edwards and Santonio Holmes, defensive end Shaun Ellis and kicker Nick Folk are free agents.
Apparently those big question marks don't seem to scare Ryan as he decided to open his notorious mouth one more time in a post-game conference after the loss to the Steelers: "I don't think you want to play the Jets next year. That's just my personal opinion." Really?
Mark Sanchez is possibly undergoing shoulder surgery and the combined age of Jason Taylor and LaDainian Tomlinson is almost greater than Sanchez's 75.3 passer rating this season. The duo of Edwards and Holmes, arguably the best receiving tandem in the NFL, was on the end of 14 of Sanchez's 17 touchdowns this season. Should the Jets fail to re-sign both players, the 22nd ranked passing offense in the NFL could plummet even further. Genius, Coach, pure genius. Of course, teams around the league will be deathly afraid of the Jets now. Is it even possible for the Jets to become more one-dimensional than they already are? As of now, they will rely on 31-year-old Tomlinson to be the catalyst for an offense that will most likely only re-sign either Holmes or Edwards. The Jets running game has truly demonstrated that it is capable of coming up with big plays when the offense needs it, as the team's staggering one rushing yard at halftime of the AFC Championship game showed. It's okay, maybe Ryan can use his suave personality to convince Mark Brunell that he could possibly mooch another Super Bowl ring if he decides to stay aboard and mentor Sanchez.
In all honesty, I do have to commend the Jets on accomplishing a successful 11-5 season. However, when you derive your entire personality from disrespecting every team you play week-in and week-out, you become a target. The debaucheries piled up over the season with sexual harassment allegations, DUIs and foot-fetish videos which only contributed to the general discontent with the Jets originating from the HBO series Hard Knocks. As a New York football Giants fan, what really infuriates me about the Jets is the fact that in the twisted minds of Jets fans, they actually believe that they are "The" team in New York. It's hilarious how the Giants can have one of the biggest meltdowns in franchise history and still finish 10-6, one less win than one of the most successful seasons in Jets history. Successful sports teams either revel in the spotlight of being known as the villain or the underdog, but if a team is going to be known as a villain it had better be willing to back up anything it says. The Detroit Pistons of the late 1980s, known as ‘The Bad Boys,' successfully lived up to their reputation by winning back-to-back NBA Championships in 1989 and 1990. The University of Miami Hurricanes football team won three national championships over the course of a decade (1983, 1987, 1989) and the 1976 Super Bowl Champion Oakland Raiders cruised to their victory utilizing their self-proclaimed slogan "Just win, baby" to rile up opponents.
At the end of the day, the amount of smack talk that the Jets did this year would warrant them enough ammunition to win a Super Bowl for the next ten years, and yet they couldn't even advance to the big stage after promising to do so. Here's a strategy, Rex, show some humility and respect and maybe opponents will show your decimated team enough mercy for you to hold on to your head coaching job.
What could possibly go wrong should Ryan manage to not win his self-proclaimed Super Bowl victory next season? The Jets go back to being the laughing stock of New York and he becomes a cameraman, only this time it's not just a hobby. I heard Belichick is hiring.
Last weekend, two different versions of the Colgate men's hockey team presented themselves on the ice against Raiders' archrival the Big Red from Cornell. On Friday evening, the Raiders put forth what...
The women's basketball team began Patriot League play on January 1 when it fell to Army 54-40. Since then, the team has only faced Patriot League foes, racking up a 1-4 record, defeating Lafayette 64-60 and losing to American 66- 59, Lehigh 75-57 and Bucknell 76-66 in overtime.
The Raiders are currently 6-13 overall with only Patriot League matches to come on their schedule.
The game against Army started slowly – the score was only 20-16 in favor of Army at half time.
In the second half, despite Colgate's aggressive play, it remained unsuccessful offensively, scoring a total of 40 points and falling to the Black Nights. The offense was led by senior Krista Moser who racked up 12 points and four rebounds on the night. Sophomore Jhazmine Lynch and junior Kelly Korkowski each had five rebounds.
Against Lafayette, junior Tricia Oakes led the way with a 15-point performance. Korkowski put up a team-leading 11 rebounds, a game high. Senior Krista Moser contributed 13 points and eight rebounds to the game. Despite losing its initial lead at 15:02, Colgate had a firm lead, 36-25, entering half time. The Leopards rallied early in the second half and found themselves down by only one point at the 14:41 mark. But the Raiders ultimately won the day, finishing with a strong defensive hold. Cumulatively, Colgate had a 31.6 field goal percentage and went 20-27 in free throws. The team bested Lafayette 40-39 in rebounds.
On Saturday, January 15, the Raiders traveled to Washington, D.C. to face the American University Eagles. After the Eagles took an early lead, Colgate responded with a 20-10 streak. By half time, however, the team remained on the bottom of a 34-26 score. Senior Sami Kozlowski started the second half for Colgate with a three-pointer, reducing the deficit to five points. Despite this, American had pulled ahead 51-36 by 12:19. American would not relinquish its lead. At the game's close, Kozlowski had a game-high 18 points and two steals. Lynch amassed 12 points and four steals while Oakes had a team-leading seven rebounds.
Colgate then traveled to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania where it recorded its third Patriot League loss. With a 15 point-game and five rebounds, senior Tayler Wejnert led the team offensively. Lynch put in another great performance with 11 points and three steals. Moser had a team-leading seven rebounds in the game – five on defense. Though Colgate put in an aggressive game offensively, Lehigh managed to keep momentum on its side, finishing the game with a strong offensive drive, maintaining its eighteen-point lead at the game's close. In the end, Colgate had a 37.1 field goal percentage, shooting 37.5 percent from the line. The team was 5-11 from beyond the arch.
"The record, unfortunately, doesn't reflect our strengths," Head Coach Pam Bass said. "We are able to score extremely quickly in games using our transition. We have gotten much better over the last month with our half court defense and with our half court offense. Our defense creates our offense. We have moments that are awesome on defense. In each league game we have forced our opponent into a number of 30-second shot clock violations. That is an extremely hard thing to accomplish. With that kind of defensive effort, we are putting ourselves into very competitive games."
In Saturday's home game against Bucknell, Colgate lost a dramatic and emotional game after forcing the game into overtime on a three-pointer by Kozlowski. Colgate carried its early lead through the first half, capitalizing on an explosive start offensively.
The Bison tied the score at 38 at the 13:19 mark. They then pulled ahead at 11:32. With the game on the line, Kozlowski came through at the buzzer, tying the game at 59. Bucknell inaugurated overtime with a furious 9-0 run. Though Colgate rallied to bring the score to 76-66, they were unable to make up the difference.
Wejnert had another gem offensively, leading the team with 17 points. First-years Lauryn Kobiela and Kathryn Taylor also had great games, contributing 13 points and four rebounds and five rebounds, respectively. Korkowski tied Taylor for five rebounds to lead the team.
"The best part of Patriot League play is that any team can beat any other team on any given night," Coach Bass said. "I feel we are able to match up well with each team in the league. The difference in the W-L column at this stage has been our consistency and our finish. The hardest part of a game is finishing it. We need to be able to take control of all of the controllables for each possession of a game. When we achieve that, we will be seeing a major difference in our W-L record."
The Colgate women's basketball team will return to the court on Wednesday as it hosts Holy Cross. The Raiders will then travel to Annapolis, Maryland on Saturday to take on Navy.
The men's and women's swimming teams traveled to Binghamton, New York this Saturday. The women were part of a tri-meet with both the Binghamton Bearcats and Vermont, while the men faced Binghamton in a dual meet. Despite the men's 166- 111 loss, the women handily defeated the Catamounts with a score of 214-96 and the Bearcats 196-104.
Junior Costas Hadjipateras was perhaps the keystone player of the day, winning two individual events as well as contributing to a victory in the 400-yard freestyle relay along with teammates Tucker Gniewek, Dan Sweeney and Patrick White. Hadjipateras got the Raiders their first victory of the afternoon with a time in the 200-yard freestyle at 1:44.12 and followed that with a first-place finish in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:57.03 before taking part in the relay. Devon Healy earned the other win for the Raiders. He swam to a win in the 200-yard breaststroke with a time of 2:12.19.
During the women's portion of the meet, senior captain Caren Guyett won three individual events and had four total wins on the day. She started the day with the 1000-yard freestyle, blowing her opponents away with a first place win, leaving the second-place finisher 27 seconds behind her time.
She continued to prevail in the 200-yard fly and 200-yard breastroke Co-captain Erin McGraw came away with two individual wins including first place in the 200- yard freestyle with a time of 1:54.25 edging out opponent and teammate Emma Santoro by a half second. Santoro continued her streak with a first place win in the 200-yard individual medley at 2:10.23.
Erica Derlath sustained the winning momentum with a first place win in the 500-yard freestyle. The Raiders triumphed in both relays, first in the 200-yard relay as Lia Kunnapas, Claire Hunter, Santoro and McGraw took home first with a time of 1:50.24. Hunter later contended in the 400-yard relay along with teammates Sarah Button and Megan Jex.
Kim Pilka shined for women's diving taking home both the 1-meter and 3-meter events with scores of 256.9 and 245.45, respectively.
Colgate will return to face the conference with a meet at Army challenging both the Black Knights and Lafayette next Saturday at 1 p.m.
Now that every team in the NBA has passed the 41-game mark, each one is analyzing the first half of their season and how they can improve their chances going forward. While the top-tier clubs like the San Antonio Spurs and Boston Celtics don't have too much to worry about in terms of roster changes, other teams like the Nuggets and 76ers appear willing to give up big-name, big-pay players. The rest of the league, crowded with a myriad of mediocre teams, is looking to improve and improve fast.
Regardless of what happens over the next few weeks, the landscape of professional basketball will undoubtedly change for the second half of the 2010-11 season and into the playoffs. Here are the three teams who I believe are one (big) move away from making a powerful charge towards the postseason. New York Knicks:
The obvious first choice in this list is of course the Knicks who have been at the center of recent trade talk involving one Carmelo Anthony of the Denver Nuggets, a Brooklyn native. However, if New York does land Melo it seems as though it will not be until next season, which means another move must be made right now to kick start a team that has gone through quite a few ups and downs. The Knicks started out very strong with newcomer Amar'e Stoudemire leading them to a 22- 15 record. Then, after winning four of five, New York went on a six-game losing streak, including embarrassing home losses to the Kings and Suns. Clearly, something is not running smoothly in the Big Apple.
I believe the problem lies in the Knicks' depth. While their top scorers, Stoudemire and Raymond Felton, have given them a great deal of production, they are missing a real shooting guard and, more importantly, a reliable back-up for their big man. A trade for an experienced forward like Tyrus Thomas in exchange for a young but unproven talent like Anthony Randolph plus Danilo Gallinari could be extremely beneficial. Thomas would take some pressure off the team when Stoudemire needs rest, keeping the level of play up until he can return fresh. A number of other forwards are available, so look for New York to shop around Randolph. Golden State Warriors:
The next team that I believe can close in on the postseason with an alteration or two is the Warriors. The Dubs, dealing with injuries for the better part of the first half, seem to have finally found their form with a (mostly) healthy roster, going 10-5 in their last 15 games. Still, success is determined over an entire season, and the Warriors' current 19-24 record is not exactly making the Bay Area faithful run through the streets of Oakland clothing-impaired. Co-owner Joe Lacob has already opened up to trade talks involving the team's most prized commodities – Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry – in the hopes of landing a big star. They may even be looking to enter the Melo-drama.
The bottom line with the Warriors is that they need a low-post threat. Anthony would give them pure points and a few boards, but Ellis already puts up 26 with six assists and three rebounds every night. Curry, with 19 and six per game, is the catalyst for the offense and Monta is exponentially more effective with Steph at the point. Draft pick Ekpe Udoh has length, but he has yet to develop as a post player, and understandably so. David Lee, at 6'10", 250 pounds, is not nearly large enough to be an inside force for a team in need of a powerful center. Andris Biedrins, though effective during the short-lived Baron Davis era, is not the answer. This position has been a question mark for the Warriors for a while now, so do not be surprised if they split up a great backcourt for needed size. It may be the best option if the Dubs want to make the postseason. Then again, with the way this franchise has been run, the Warriors may just wallow in their own futility. Time will tell. Oklahoma City Thunder:
Lastly, and you may think strangely, on this list is the Superson... the Thunder. Maybe OKC doesn't belong here as they are in first place in their division at 28- 15, but I believe they do. Their play has been very strong lately, with wins against Orlando and Dallas and close road losses to the Lakers and Nuggets. However, they have not yet reached the point of dominance that I think they can achieve with one more guy added into the mix. Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are undoubtedly the future of this team, as their combined 50 points a game has shown, but the supporting cast is not quite good enough to bring the Thunder all the way to elite status.
The key to the current and future success of this team rests in the hands of GM Sam Presti. If he can figure out how to get a big man other than Nenad Krstic into the mix, the force of Durant, Westbrook and Big Man X would be hard to stop. It might be difficult finding a guy to fit this description, just as it will be for the Warriors, but maybe a Marcus Camby is all the Thunder need. A trade with Krstic and and Morris Peterson or James Harden might do the trick. Oklahoma City is a scary team for the future, but right now the Thunder are just a team to be worried about. With a little maneuvering, OKC will take control of the West sooner rather than later. Plaut Out.
Last Saturday, both the men's and women's track and field teams traveled to Cambridge, Mass. to compete in the Harvard Challenge. For the second meet in a row, neither team had scores recorded due to...
