Bleacher Report - Articles by Jason Ward

Jets-Titans: Tennesse Fans Did Nothing To Help the Titans at LP Field

Jason Ward — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 08:18:02 -0500

Four months ago, I decided to leave my home in Germany and visit family in North Carolina over the Thanksgiving holiday. Being a native of New Jersey and a huge Jets fan, I decided to come early and try and make it to the Jets game at the Tennessee Titans.

As fate would have it, after purchasing my tickets, the Jets would acquire Brett Favre and go into this game with a 7-3 record. However, as good as that sounds to a Jets fan, the Titans entered the game on Sunday with the league's only undefeated record at 10-0.

Upon arriving at LP field, the fans were full of energy. At a local gas station near the stadium, I heard more than one "Jets suck" coming out of pick-up trucks nearby. I proudly walked up to the gate with my Favre jersey on; my brother, sporting a Chrebet jersey, beside me.

In typical New Jersey fashion, we pushed our way through the lines at the gates while the yuppiesh-looking Titans fans didn't seem too worried about making it inside for the opening kickoff.

My brother commented on the Titans' fans lack of excitement about this game—one that we thought, regardless of the outcome, would likely be a close, hard-fought affair.

We arrived at our seats just as the coin toss was taking place. A few Titans fans behind us commented on Favre's age and the Titans' undefeated record. I suggested that Kerry Collins may need a cocktail before he plays this game—apparently they did not understand the Panthers/Collins reference.

The crowd sure was exited about the kickoff—just as loud as I would expect for a 10-0 team. After Tennessee went three and out, the Jets received the ball after a Tennessee punt. The Titans made noise for the first two plays of the Jets ensuing drive and were never heard from again.

Once Brett Favre started moving the ball downfield on that opening drive, the entire mood began to change. The life of that crowd got completely sucked out on the Jets' first offensive possession—even before New York had crossed midfield.

I have never seen anything like it. I have been to many Carolina Panthers games, and I always thought they were the worst fans in the NFL, but the gang at LP Field takes that honor at this point.

I understand that the Jets are a very good team, and maybe the Titans fans saw the Jets move the ball easier than they had seen from any other opponent this year. Their reaction and pessimism was unbelievably pathetic.

At 10-0, they should have much more confidence in their team's ability to create points off of turnovers, score touchdowns, run the ball, etc. Obviously, they weren't able to do that yesterday (because the Jets are awesome), but this crowd has no faith in this team.

Maybe the crowd realised that the Titans were not as good as their record showed. Maybe it was the cold, cloudy weather that moved in only minutes after the Jets scored their first touchdown.

Whatever the reason—Titans fans should be ashamed at themselves. This team was 10-0 and deserved a little more support. They were dominated, but they may have played better with a 12th man.

Monday Nights With Dennis Miller

Jason Ward — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 21:58:18 -0400

In 2000, ABC hired comedian Dennis Miller as a color commentator for Monday Night Football. He was joined in the booth by Al Michaels and Dan Fouts. In general, Monday Night Football's audience did not like Miller and he was replaced by John Madden in 2002.

While Dennis Miller tended to stray away from games and go on his signature "rants" at times, I personally enjoyed his humor, especially when games became less than interesting.

I'm not sure why he was so disliked by the majority of viewers, but I suspect it has much to do with his intellectual-based comedy and sarcasm. Sometimes his metaphors were extremely vague, but I found his intelligent humor all the more funny because of the venue.

Al Michaels was obviously witty and caught much of Miller's humor, but Dan Fouts didn't have a clue. Personally, I found this hilarious, but as many of the general public are on Fouts' intellectual level, I can see why Dennis Miller was never accepted.

Kudos to ABC for taking a risk. It was great while it lasted. I only wish Madden could have been there as well. It would have driven him insane!

Here is a few classic Dennis Miller moments on Monday Night Football:

The set-up: As the game, and the MNF season, wound down, Al gave Miller some investing advice, pointing out how low most of the stocks have fallen for dot-com companies that bought naming rights for sports stadiums and arenas.

The quip: "Well, I have all my money with my money manager MC Hammer and we just bought a moped factory in South Yemen, so I think I'm covered."

The set-up: Miller explained that the city of Minneapolis was in need of some good news in light of MLB commissioner Bud Selig's efforts to eliminate the Minnesota Twins.

The quip: "By the way, Bud Selig looks like Harry Potter in the 83rd volume in the series, 'Harry Potter and the Magic Prostate.'"

FOUTS: I was in a Miller beer commercial, and your last name is Miller.

MILLER: Hey, Aristotle, save some of the probing insight for the rest of us, OK? How come I'm getting the funny feeling that this is an episode of The Munsters, and I'm Marian, the normal one? Now, I don't want to get off on a rant here, but the useful comments coming from your side of the booth could be counted on the one hand of a bad wood shop teacher. I can still see the jelly on your forehead where the electroshock terminals were attached. When I took this job, they didn't tell me that I would be teamed with Pepe the Human Hamster on one side, and on the other a broken-down ex-quarterback who makes Jethro Bodine look like David Niven. I want to find the psychotic network programmers who thought up this train wreck and point out that this shit has to be harder to watch than a sausage being made.

FOUTS: I like sausage.

MILLER: Ah f**k it, where's my propeller hat?

MICHAELS: George back to pass...and the throw to Westbrook falls incomplete. Ty Law covering on the play.

MILLER: I don't want to be a downer here, but how about throwin' the freakin' ball to the other side of the field, you know, cha-cha? You've got Westbrook drawing a bigger crowd than Anna Kournikova at the maximum-security lockdown at Rikers, while meanwhile the kid on the other side is lonelier than a hooker at a Star Trek convention.

MICHAELS: To be fair, there have only been four plays so far.

MILLER: Come on Al, you missing link. That receiver is being shunned like an Amish kid with a nipple ring. The left side of the field is to George as a shower is to the French. You've got a better shot at hearing Charlie Sheen give the keynote address at a Promise Keepers rally than you do of ever...

MICHAELS: Sorry to break in on you, Dennis, but Washington is guilty of a false start, and that will set them back another five yards.

MILLER: The ref is whipping out that flag like it's the only lighter at a crack house.

FOUTS: I was the quarterback. I didn't go on the field for the kickoff.

MILLER: Jesus, Shaggy, saunter on back to the Mystery Machine and take a breather, OK? Why don't you pick up your brain off that pile of papers it's holding down and see what happens when you plug it in? The game's starting, and I feel like Corporal Agarn trying to explain supply and demand to the f**king Hakowis.

More of Dennis Miller's MNF quotes can be found at:

ABC

Greenspun.com

I guess feedback was mostly negative, but this fan wants Dennis Miller back, especially with that moron John Madden sitting in the next chair.

NFL Power Rankings for Aug. 18, 2008

Jason Ward — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:46:44 -0400

UPDATED 2008 NFL POWER RANKINGS

1) San Diego Chargers - Most balanced team in NFL

2) New England Patriots - Possible too high ranking, weak secondary

3) New York Giants - Champs until proven otherwise

4) Dallas Cowboys - Lots of talent on both sides of the ball

5) Indianapolis Colts - Payton Manning, of course. 2007 defense played well

6) Pittsburgh Steelers - Good offense, great defense

7) New Orleans Saints - Good team got better with offseason moves

8) New York Jets - Great offseason. Filled holes, especially the biggest, QB

9) Cleveland Browns - Breakout year for the Browns. Good offseason moves

10) Seattle Seahawks - NFC West makes everyone better. Solid QB, good defense

11) Jacksonville Jaguars - Jones-Drew and company should have another good year

12) Minnesota Vikings - Probably NFL's best defense. Only lacking good QB

13) Tennessee Titans - Jeff Fischer always has a good team

14) Tamba Bay Buccaneers - Should post their usual 9-7 record

15) Buffalo Bills - Young team, but still has far to go

16) Philadelphia Eagles - Lots of question marks. How will McNabb play?

17) Green Bay Packers - Packers will see how important a good QB is this year

18) Cincinnati Bengals - Offensively, great team. Defense is horrible

19) Denver Broncos - 19th? Not if Cutler has a great year. No playoffs, though

20) Carolina Panthers - Delhomme sucks. Defense is solid

21) Arizona Cardinals - Always shaky team

22) Houston Texans - Great DL, but other areas need improvement

23) Washington Redskins - Money doesn't buy championships in the NFL

24) Detroit Lions - Yeah... the Lions

25) St. Louis Rams - Bulger looks terrible so far

26) Miami Dolphins - Pennington brings them up five places, more if not in AFC

27) Chicago Bears - Great special teams. Not much else

28) Baltimore Ravens - Maybe someone should explain importance of QB to Billick & co.

29) Oakland Raiders - Moving on....

30) San Francisco 49ers - Need lots of help, especially at QB

31) Kansas City Chiefs - Great coach. Team sucks

32) Atlanta Falcons - This happens when you build team around one guy. Woof, woof!

Most improved in 2008: New Orleans Saints, New York Jets, Minnesota Vikings

Biggest decline in 2008: Green Bay Packers, Carolina Panthers, and, hopefully, the New England Patriots

Are You Ready for Some Tuesday Morning Football?

Jason Ward — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 21:25:52 -0400

When I first moved to Finland in 1999, the choices for following my favorite sports teams were limited to two options: refreshing my web browser to catch the play-by-play and the occasional televised event.

Living in Finland, this meant getting to see the Super Bowl and, of course, watching every minute of the Stanley Cup finals (see, Finland).

I now live in Germany and technology, not location, has made North American sports more accessible than a decade ago.

North American Sports Network, or NASN, is a channel carried by many European satellite television companies. NASN features a variety of North American sports, including the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL. They even carry some NASCAR for you good ol' boys.

Many pubs carry NASN, but be aware of the time difference. If you want to see your West Coast baseball team play an evening game at a London pub, you will be hard pressed to find a place that will be open for the 4:00 AM start.

Fortunately, many major hotel chains also carry this channel. If you are just coming for a visit, consider staying at a hotel that carries the network and save yourself the frustration of finding an open bar.

SlingMedia's Slingbox is another option to consider. Slingbox is a device that hooks up to your home's television receiving equipment at your home in the United States.

The Slingbox also hooks up to an Internet connection and sends your home's television signals to your computer anywhere in the world.

Some of their higher-end devices even allow you to control your TiVo (DVR), allowing you to watch events at a more convenient time.

The only drawbacks to the Slingbox is that it does require some installation and, in order to view the picture clearly, a relatively fast Internet connection on both ends.

The equipment is not expensive, considering all that it delivers and how important that can be when your team, for example, has Brett Favre starting for them now.

Honestly, I don't have a Slingbox of my own, at least not yet, and my experience is limited to seeing American television streamed to friends' homes.

If you're a cheapskate or have a less-than-spectacular Internet connection, a third option is available called IPTV.

IPTV is relatively simple to set up. It is basically just streaming live television to your computer with the use of appropriate software (Sopcast, TVU Player, etc.).

These programs are free to download and are relatively simple to set up. However, content can sometimes be limited, and the quality of the picture is not very good. I generally only watch IPTV if NASN isn't airing an event.

Good luck with all this. Go Jets!

NFL's 2008 Postseason Predictions

Jason Ward — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 22:29:43 -0400

In order of seeding.

AFC

1) Colts

2) Patriots

3) Chargers

4) Steelers

5) Jets

6) Browns

NFC

1) Cowboys

2) Vikings

3) Buccaneers

4) Seahawks

5) Giants

6) Saints

It's a bit of a shame, though. I suspect that there will be three or four non-playoff teams in the AFC with better records than the NFC Wild Card teams and NFC West winner.

Why Brett Favre Will Succeed with the New York Jets

Jason Ward — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 20:29:08 -0400

Ever since the New York Jets signed Brett Favre, numerous articles have been written that are predicting that the Jets will not be much better off with Favre at the helm.

Brett Favre will absolutely succeed with the Jets.

Favre is coming off one of his best years in the NFL, complete with an appearance in the NFC Championship Game. The man has played professional football for 17 years. Although the Jets' playbook may be complicated, Brett Favre is a brilliant quarterback who will own that playbook in no time.

Additionally, he has a former Packer teammate, Bubba Franks, playing with the Jets. This will help him immensely in the Packers/Jets play translations. Besides, no quarterback in the league is better at improvisation on the field. If anyone can pull out a positive result out of a busted play, it is this man.

Hiccups are sure to occur in the first few games, but Favre has the unteachable ability to overcome this. Physically, he is still in great shape and showed he hasn't lost anything during his first practice at Hofstra University on Saturday.

The Jets, despite their 4-12 record last year, are not that bad. Management has done an excellent job this offseason of obtaining players to fill weak spots in their roster.

Defensively, they are solid and played very well the second half of the season. The Jets' special teams are among the best in the NFL, and they are consistently one of the least penalized teams year after year.

However, quarterback play has always been their Achilles' heel. Chad Pennington's lack of range made him an easy target for defenses, especially late in games. The Jets have been inherently bad at overcoming small deficits late in games and piling on leads to put the game out of reach.

Brett Favre is the perfect quarterback for the Jets' ills. I can't think of another quarterback I'd rather have leading my squad when I am down a touchdown in the fourth quarter. His ability in this regard will translate into at least three wins for the Jets in the 2008 season.

The Jets seem to make the playoffs every other year, but they have been lacking pieces to advance them in those playoffs. Many holes were plugged before last Wednesday, but Brett Favre is the biggest and most critical piece in the Jets' puzzle.

Super Bowl? Who knows, probably not—the AFC is a strong conference. However, the Jets are, at least on paper, head and shoulders better than most teams in the conference and the 2007 Jets team.

For me, the 2008 Jets are beyond playoff hopefuls. I expect this team to be playing in January, hopefully at the Meadowlands.