Game Face

Brian Schottenheimer (Photo by Getty)

By Ryan Chatelain

Our rankings for the Jets’ head coach search. Yes, we ranked them. Yes, we’ll probably be wrong.

1. Brian Schottenheimer, Jets offensive coordinator
He’s already interviewed. The Newark Star-Ledger reports that Schottenheimer, 35, has emerged as the favorite to get the job – although retaining a Mangini protégé would be a tough sell to fans.

2. Rex Ryan, Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator
The Jets received permission to speak with Ryan, who probably helped his chances when his Ravens shut down the Dolphins 27-9 on Sunday.

3. Brian Billick, former Baltimore Ravens head coach
According to NFL.com, the Jets are expected to interview Billick, Rex Ryan’s former boss. No word yet on when an interview with the Super Bowl champion coach might happen.

4. Russ Grimm, Arizona Cardinals assistant head coach/offensive line coach
The former Redskins “Hog” has drawn the Jets’ interest, but no interview is set yet, according to reports. He’s also drawing interest from the Rams, and nearly landed the Steelers job two years ago.

5. Ron Meeks, Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator
He's expected to interview sometime this week for the job. Could be a sleeper.

6. Jeff Jagodzinski, Boston College head coach
Jagodzinski would get fired from BC if he interviews for the job, ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reports. Further speculation on ESPN on Monday morning suggested that the situation between Jagodzinksi and BC’s athletic director, interview or not, is irreparable. The interview is reportedly set for Tuesday.

7. Steve Spagnuolo, Giants defensive coordinator
Mike Francesca said on his show Monday that Spagnuolo's interview with the Jets didn’t go well. The Newark Star-Ledger backs up the claim, quoting a source that said he “wasn't as prepared as one would think.” This news would appear to rule Spags out for the Jets’ job. He will likely get some other chances at a head coach job; the Broncos, Rams, Lions and Browns are reportedly interested. The Giants might also anoint Spagnuolo as Tom Coughlin’s eventual successor, NFL.com reports.

8. Leslie Frazier, Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator
Several reports say the Jets have some interest in Frazier, but apparently not as much interest as the Rams and Broncos, who have received permission to speak with him about their vacancies.

9. Bill Callahan, Jets assistant head coach/offensive line coach
Rumor has it that this was a courtesy interview and that Callahan isn’t a serious candidate. Despite leading the Raiders to a Super Bowl, Callahan was a flop as a head coach in Oakland and with the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

By Max J. Dickstein

Did Brett Favre sneak into a Dolphins uniform to ruin Miami’s dream run yesterday? No, but Chad Pennington’s awful performance served as a harsh reminder of how quickly hopes are dashed in the NFL, where hype never lives long. Celebrated as the league’s Comeback Player of the Year last week — for the second time in three years — the former Jet, never comfortable against Baltimore’s fierce defense, repeatedly set his team back with poor throws. For Jets fans who thought the Favre-over-Pennington decision was regrettable this season, the lesson is this: You never know.

(Getty Images)

By Max J. Dickstein

“I think it is about time that we had playoffs in college football. I’m fed up with these computer rankings and this and that and the other. Get eight teams — the top eight teams right at the end. You got a playoff. Decide on a national champion.”
— Barack Obama, on Monday Night Football, Nov. 3, 2008

Let’s imagine — disregarding how relatively unimportant the following concerns are in the grander scheme — that we have President-elect Obama’s attention for a moment.
We commend Obama’s stance on the ritual unfairness of the Bowl Championship Series, cited above. The BCS is not really a series, and its annual winner is the victim of an unworthy system unable to produce a championship between two truly legitimate, match-tough college programs.
But where else in the sports world could a President Obama — as he officially be known come Jan. 20 — be an effective agent for change?

Continue reading "More sports issues for the President-elect to mull" »

Michael Turner and the Atlanta Falcons visit the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday. (Photo by Getty)

Watch out for the NFL playoff road teams this weekend. All four of them are amNewYork’s picks in the Wild Card round:

Falcons at Cardinals
Sat., 4:30 p.m., NBC
Let’s call Atlanta’s Michael Turner, who led the NFL in rushing attempts with 23.5 a game, “Churner.” He and steady rookie quarterback Matt Ryan spell doom for the Cardinals. Arizona’s high-flying offense, tied with the Giants for the third-best points average in the NFL — 26.7 — looked erratic in the final five weeks of the regular season, averaging just 21.6 points.
Atlanta 31, Arizona 28

Colts at Chargers
Sat., 8 p.m., NBC
The Chargers are riding a four-game winning streak and are at home. But the Colts, winners of nine straight, are peaking on both sides of the ball. Peyton Manning has completed 82 percent of his passes over the past month, and the defense has held three of its last five opponents to six points or fewer.
Indy 35, San Diego 17

Ravens at Dolphins
Sun., 1 p.m., CBS
The Ravens rendered Miami’s tricky Wildcat formation ineffective in a 27-13 victory over the Dolphins on Oct. 19. The Ravens’ offense, led by another precocious rookie passer, Joe Flacco, has matured throughout the season, with fullback Le’Ron McLain (10 TDs) emerging as a goal-line threat. As long as the Ravens’ crushing defense plays up to its league-best potential, the comeback Dolphins’ dream season will end on Wild Card Sunday.
Baltimore 21, Miami 17

Eagles at Vikings
Sun., 4:30 p.m., FOX
The Vikings and Eagles account for two of the NFL’s top four run defenses, meaning the quarterbacks will be key in this matchup. Since returning from a Week 12 benching, the Eagles’ 32-year-old quarterback, Donovan McNabb, has tossed nine touchdowns and just one interception. Meanwhile, inconsistent Tarvaris Jackson has a week-to-week lease on Minnesota’s starting job.
Phila. 24, Minn. 20

Hope Solo in beijing (Getty Images)

By Andrew Keh

Like an evergreen, soccer has a way of staying fresh in all seasons. For fans of the American game, though, the end of the calendar year is a time to reflect on memorable happenings of the past 12 months:

JOZY’S JUMP
There’s a measure of cognitive dissonance that plagues serious fans of soccer in America. Jozy Altidore’s transfer from the Red Bulls to Spanish club Villareal in June exemplified this phenomenon well. New Yorkers were devastated to see their brightest young star bolt to Europe. Still, there was something awesome about seeing an American player command a $10 million transfer fee from a top European club.
When Altidore notched his first goal in La Liga on Nov. 1, jilted Red Bull fans quietly rejoiced like proud parents.

IMPENETRABLE TIM
Lionel Messi and Argentina’s national team helped draw 78,682 fans to Giants Stadium for a friendly against the United States, transforming the stuffy venue into a rain-soaked cauldron of sound and color.
Argentina dominated possession but couldn’t find a way past American goalkeeper Tim Howard, who had seven saves en route to a 0-0 draw — no small feat against the world’s No. 1 team — and solidified his status as a world-class shot-stopper.

GOLDEN REDEMPTION
The U.S. women’s national team was in disarray in 2007 after a 4-0 loss to Brazil in the World Cup semifinal; keeper Hope Solo was in the U.S. doghouse for disparaging coach Greg Ryan.
In August at the Beijing Olympics, under new coach Pia Sundhage, Solo and the team earned their redemption, beating Brazil 1-0 in extra time to earn the gold medal.

CINDERELLA BULLS
The Red Bulls’ long-suffering fans received a rare thrill this fall when the club snatched the final spot in the MLS playoffs after bumbling through the regular season. But the excitement didn’t end there. With a reshuffled lineup and restored verve, the Red Bulls knocked off the defending champion Houston Dynamo in the first round, then earned a gritty win over Real Salt Lake in Utah.
With two wins, RBNY reached the MLS Cup final for the first time in franchise history. Their loss to deserving champion Columbus did little to dampen the good vibes that fans hope will carry over into the new year.

Bill Cowher is expected to interview for the Jets' head-coaching job. (Photo by Getty)

By Ryan Chatelain

How badly do the Jets want Bill Cowher? So badly, apparently, that Mike Tannenbaum may be willing to give up the general manager’s job to land the Super Bowl champion coach.

Tannenbaum would restructure his job so that Cowher could bring in his own GM, ESPN.com is reporting. Cowher plans to speak with the Jets about the job, but no date for the interview has been set, according to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen.

ESPN reported Tuesday morning that Cowher was not interested in the Jets job because he wants to bring in his own personnel director. By the afternoon, however, the network was quoting a high-ranking Jets official as saying the team is willing do “whatever is necessary” to hire Cowher.

Meanwhile, Newsday is reporting that the GM position might not be a sticking point at all in the Cowher negotiations.

"We plan to speak with him," a team source said. "But there have been no discussion yet. We have gotten no indication from him that he would not take the position based on the front office power structure."

Eric Mangini was 23-25 in three seasons as Jets coach. (Photo by David L. Pokress/Newsday)

By Ryan Chatelain

It wasn’t just a late-season collapse that cost Eric Mangini his job as Jets coach.

When Gang Green’s front office splurged before the season, doling out $140 million in free agency and then trading for future Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre, it put the pressure on the coach once dubbed “Man-genius.”

“The team was built to win now,” said Joe Pietaro, editor of New York Sportscene magazine. “It wasn’t in rebuilding mode.”

The Jets yesterday fired Mangini, who compiled a 23-25 record in three seasons and led the team to the playoffs in 2006. After an 8-3 start this year, the Jets appeared to be a cinch to reach the postseason but lost four of their last five games, cutting their season short.

Continue reading "Mangini couldn't withstand pressure" »

Michael Strahan shows you who's Super Bowl champion. (Getty Images)

By Max J. Dickstein

Top that, 2009.
With a field rich in historic achievements from Beijing to Glendale, Ariz., ranking 2008’s best sports stories is difficult. amNewYork gave it a shot and came up with these:
1. PHELPS AND BOLT TAKE BEIJING
The convergence of two of the world’s greatest athletes, Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt, marked the Games of the XXIX Olympiad for all of history. Phelps won all eight races he entered — seven in world-record time. With 14 gold medals in two Olympics, the Baltimorean swimmer earned eternal consideration as the greatest Olympian. Bolt, the dynamic 6-foot-5 Jamaican sprinter, set records in the 100 and 200 meters with energy to spare in China.
2. GIANTS SHOCK IN SUPER BOWL
The Giants’ 17-14 upset of the perfect Patriots could hold the No. 1 spot, too. With 97.5 million viewers watching the action in Arizona, the Giants topped an 18-0 team that would have otherwise been anointed history’s best. Big Blue’s Super Bowl roll continues. Heading into the playoffs at 12-4, the Giants could repeat as champions on Feb. 1. What’s already being repeated — by other NFL teams — is a Giant-like emphasis on a ferocious pass rush and stout running.
3. SPAIN OWNS WORLD SPORT
Rafael Nadal, of Mallorca, defeated five-time Wimbledon champion Roger Federer at the All England Club in the greatest tennis match ever played, but his ascent to No. 1 is just one of his country’s fine athletic achievements this year.
Spain won the quadrennial Euro Cup for its first major soccer title since 1964, overcoming its choker image against powerful Germany. Spanish athletes also claimed a third straight Tour de France (Carlos Sastre), tennis’ Davis Cup and a close-call silver medal behind USA Basketball’s Redeem Team in Beijing.

Continue reading "Looking back on sports in 2008: More highs than lows" »

The Jets fired coach Eric Mangini Monday morning, a day after the team was ousted from post season play.

Sources have said in recent weeks that owner Woody Johnson, who extolled Mangini's virtues in a preseason meeting with the team's beat reporters, had become frustrated with the team's performance and, by extension, Mangini.

"For the current New York Jets organization, we've made the decision to move on," Johnson said. "It's a judgment call. This is not a decision that we reached yesterday or 10 minutes ago. We don't take this decision lightly. We want to build on the successful foundation that he's laid."

Johnson said he did not consider firing general manager Mike Tannenbaum along with Mangini.

Continue reading "Jets coach Eric Mangini fired" »

By Max J. Dickstein
The Jets’ cruel season ended with a final atrocious loss yesterday. The closing play was a comical series of lateral passes between desperate Jets who were trying to muster a 99-yard touchdown to tie a game that, even if they won it, wouldn’t get them to the playoffs. The aftermath will be painful for the fragile Jets, a house of cards crushed by its own hype. And dithering by Brett Favre about ending his career, which the diminished passer clearly ought to do, will surely resume.

Detroit's Kevin Smith hides as the Lions 17-14 loss to Green Bay today came to a close.

By Pete Catapano

Today the Detroit Lions made NFL history by becoming the first team to finish the season 0-16.

To illustrate the fans frustration, below is sampling of message board posts by the Lions faithful after their 31-21 loss to Green Bay today:

“no idea how much I want to drink right now. 0-16. No wins. No talent. No coaching. No management. Nothing. This is not an NFL quality product”

“it's like finding out a pet died.. or a girlfriend was cheating on you.. or mom was in a car crash... kind of sick..”

“Wow, I guessed 3-13 at the begining of the year, was I ever wrong!”

“Well I found this cheap Lions hat I bought after preseason that I haven't wore in about 12 weeks so I put it on a pole in my yard and set it on fire.”

Brad Penny (AP)

It's not a particularly explosive signing, but the Red Sox are about to add some pitching depth by signing righty Brad Penny to a one-year deal, Foxsports.com is reporting.

Although Penny struggled with the Dodgers last year, going 6-9 with a 6.27, he a total of 32 games in the two prior seasons. In 2006, he went 16-9 with a 4.33 ERA, and in 2007 went 16-4 with a 3.03 ERA.

— Pete Catapano

Have you listened to your Kenny-Smith-calling-the-2008-Slam-Dunk-Contest-won-by-Dwight-Howard lately?

"Superman is in the building, yes he is! ... Superman is came to building! ... He's got the cape moving. He's got it flapping. ... Oh! You win young fella! You win! "

(Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images)

By Max J. Dickstein

You might remember me from such inane acts as bicycling through the city shouting “Brett Favre!” at pedestrians, or writing a column headlined “Brett Favre Brett Favre Brett Favre.”
It was Aug. 7, and I was feeling batty. After all, the Jets had just incongruously introduced an eternal Green Bay Packer as their franchise savior.
Like many New Yorkers, I was captivated by the 39-year-old legend’s arrival, which took place with a suddenness that suggested great things would follow him here.
For a few weeks, they did. In Week 1, Favre threw an improbable 22-yard touchdown pass to Chansi Stuckey on fourth-and-13 during a 20-14 defeat of Miami. Against Arizona three weeks later, Favre tossed six scores on a bad ankle.
By midseason, his Jets were on a five-game tear that seemed to make them, at 8-3, a powerful postseason shoo-in.
Pumped full of bluster, Favre’s Gang Green then dropped three of four against some the league’s worst teams. Favre had six interceptions and one TD during that stretch.
His Jets have become deathly uninteresting, a playoff longshot on life support at 9-6.
Favre’s year began on a grippingly unexpected arc. After 16 seasons in Green Bay, he retired in March with almost every major NFL quarterback record. He unretired months later, initiated a melodramatic breakup with the Packers and was traded to the Jets.
Since then, aside from some midseason noise, Favre has not earned his feverish welcome here.
And I’m wondering why I ever got my hopes up about the same old Jets.

By Kyle Stack
Special to amNewYork

It has become commonplace for sports leagues – and, in general, various sports – to have official television networks. The NFL Network, NBATV and The Golf Channel are three examples of a trend which has burgeoned in the past decade. Not to be left behind, Major League Baseball will officially launch MLB Network Jan. 1, widely available from New York's cable providers for no additional fee.

Although MLB is the last of the perceived four major professional sports leagues to launch its own network (the NHL has NHL Network), MLB Network will benefit from the largest debut in cable television history. Approximately 50 million cable and satellite homes will initially receive the network, an unprecedented move for a 24-hour sports network.

“The most important thing [for starting a network] is distribution and we’ve got the 50 million homes,” said Tony Petitti, CEO of MLB Network, in a telephone interview from the network’s Secaucus, N.J.-based studios. “One of the luxuries we have is being able to focus on the content and know that we’ve got those homes.”

Continue reading "MLB Network launches New Year's Day" »

According to SI.com, the Yanks are about to sign Mark Teixeira for 8 years. $180 million.

Earlier today, the Washington Times reported that the slugger was about to sign with the rival Red Sox.

According to SI.com's John Heyman:
"Teixeira, who hit .308 with 33 home runs and 121 RBIs in 2008, will receive an eight-year, $180 million deal from the Yankees with a full no-trade provision."

This along with signings of CC Sabathia and AJ Burnett make this quite a productive winter for the Yanks.

According to the Washington Times, there's should be an announcement of a deal for Mark Teixiera. But with which team is still uncertain. Unfortunately for the Yanks, the Red Sox appear to be the frontrunner.

The Times reports: "there are strong indications that the Red Sox will announce that they have landed the highly-coveted slugger, who has been courted this off-season by several major league clubs, including the Angels, Orioles and Nationals"