After Almost 40 Years: Fanatical New York Jets Fan Files for Divorce

39 years and counting...that’s roughly how long I’ve endured being a NY Jets Fan. Endured, does that word tell the story, or should I use words like, suffering, tortured, agonized, embarrassed, stupefied, dumbfounded, bewildered, heartbreak—you get the picture. Have I suffered more than other fans from other teams, maybe, maybe not. Am I the only suffering Jets fan—definitely not!

This article is not so much about the 39 years of suffering. Not about the “Mud Bowl,” ”Fake Spike,” Kotite, or Belichick. Not about the many, many draft blunders or the over-all incompetence of owners, front office and coaching staffs, it’s not about all that. For some strange reason I always remained a NY Jets Fan.

It doesn’t matter that we are a perceived by many as a joke playing our games in another State (New Jersey) in Giants Stadium. That shouldn’t matter to a true fan, should it?

I love this team, don’t I? I spend way too much time building and maintaining NYJetsFan.com. I do it because I love it. I love the mixture of members on this site and wouldn’t trade it for any other site out there.

That love has now whithered away. Even the most loyal dog will stop loving his owner if he keeps getting mistreated and beaten. The question needs to be answered: How much can one man, one fan, take?

I found the answer to that question and the answer is: NO MORE!

With that being said...NYJetsFan.com is now for sale. That's no joke, or rash decision.  I no longer have the passion for this team to continue to run this site. The site is self sufficient as it is now with Staff Writers and an active fan base on the forums but could use a new owner that will continue on where I left off.

Now don't get me wrong, NYJetsFan.com is not being shut down and will continue on indefinitely, but the opportunity is there for a new fired up owner to take over. For more information on the sale, contact me at: ron-at-nyjetsfan.com.

While maintaining NYJetsFan.com, I've never held anything back. I have sections of the site dedicated to the misery that is being a Jets Fan, such as: The Hall of Shame & Post-traumatic Jets Disorder.  Even through all that misery, I always had high hopes for next season.

Without hope, you have nothing. Each and every season, Jets fans can start all over with high hopes. We’re not a Dynasty like the Patriots, our Super Bowl is the Draft. New players bring new hope, new attitude and new optimism. So why do I feel worse now than at any point in my previous 39 Years as a Jets fan?

The answer to that is simple...The only good coach we've had in the last few decades was Bill Parcells and he was 30 minutes away from taking us to the Super Bowl before quitting on us.

We should have continued on with Belichick but after Parcells submarined him, Belichick brought the Patriots into a whole new level of domination. From there it was complete incompetence from Groh through Herm upto Mangini.

Mangini has no business running this or any other NFL team. He was primarily given the job based on the results of his coaching for Belichick. His emotionless hulk on the sidelines is mirrored on the field by his players.

This team plays without fire and without confidence. Couple that with a Defensive Coordinator in Sutton that plays a prevent defense from the first qtr and you have the recipe for disaster. 

There is no better example of this than yesterday's loss to the three-win Seahawks. Against a team with nothing to play for other than a win for their retiring coach, while the Jets had a Division to win. The Jets put no pressure on an offensive line with five backups...Five BACKUPS!!!

Not just one injured lineman, but five! Drop eight back into coverage against backups? Talk about the final straw!

I could go into much further detail about the bad coaching plan and game decisions, but we all know what they are since we see it every single week  The bottom line is, Mangini needs to be fired and a coach with experience, a coach with fire in his eyes needs to come in. 

Whether that's Bill Cowher or Marty Schottenheimer or someone else, Mangini needs to go. There is no time to blame this incompetence on the coordinators like Herm did.  Will woody do what's needed?  Do you cut out the disease to save the patient?

Now I'm sure some of you younger fans have no idea what it’s like to suffer this long and are more than willing to ride this out because maybe one day in the near future, the Jets will win a Super Bowl. Ask yourself if it was worth it 15, 20, 30 or more years from now and see what answer you come up with.

Now, leaving the Jets, combined with my love for football, would leave a huge void in my life, but I have a solution. Six years ago I moved down to South Florida and any thought of rooting for the Fish would have been laughed at prior to a few seasons back.  I could never root for a team that had Jason Taylor, so I kept at it just waiting for Herm to get fired. 

There was a silver lining then. Herm was gone and Mangini might have been the savior to turn this team around. In the early part of his coaching days, I chalked up his bad decisions to inexperience and his soft defensive style to the same. I kept saying Mangini would learn on the job and develop into a good head Coach. That day never came. Will it ever come? Not with this team.

Now back to my solution...Fast-forward to the final game of 2008 and beyond...With Jason Taylor gone and the arrival of Chad Pennington along with Parcells in the background and a young fired up team, the time is now to make the change. I would be able to buy season tickets and watch a local home team every week, save $250 by not buying the NFL Ticket on Direct-TV and have a fresh start on a new football fan career. 

Who knows what's in store for me, but I do know that I won't have to root for that lifeless bunch of players wearing the green and white. Coles can go cry his way onto another team without me having to hear about it. 

The only players I'll miss are Leon Washington, Kerry Rhodes, Dustin Keller, and possible future stars in the making—Clowney and Ratliff. Not leaving much behind, am I?   

Can this be done?  Can a Fanatic of almost 40 years survive this type of operation?  Will my body's immune system reject this new team?  Only time will tell.  Stay tuned for a follow up report.

So what will I do now if NYJetsFan.com ends up being sold?  Simple, I'll put all my effort into MyGridIronSpace.com: The Ultimate Football Social Network!