We've started pre-season NFL now, heading into the three day cornucopia of wonders that football brings fall: Friday night high school football, Saturday college football, Sunday-Monday NFL. Normally I would be beside myself with happiness having so much incredible televised entertainment to gorge myself with, but this season a big red flag waves over my excitement, particularly my NFL excitement.
His name is Mark Sanchez (known among some circles as The Dirty Sanchez). U$C's offensive powerhouse, now a Jet. Ugh...
My parents are both from Jersey and I grew up watching Jets football. I remember the glory days of Vinnie Testaverde. I remember learning how to say the word Testaverde. Since Testaverde, things haven't gone exceptionally well for the Jets. We had Chad Pennington as a solid backup who gracefully transitioned into Testaverde's successor after his retirement. Pennington was a solid QB who we were developing into a promising offensive weapon until....The Farve Experiment.
Before I got into how much I have grown to hate Brett Farve and lose any cohesiveness left in this post, let me say the following remarks just to get them out of my system. Brett Farve is a football legend who completely fucked up his legacy. I have infinite respect for this man. Some of my favorite sports memories came from the heydey of the 49ers - Packers/Steve Young - Brett Farve rivalry. Despite the fact I was a staunch SF fan (still am, come on 49ers...give me something to root for...) I had complete respect for #4. His legend and austerity are virtually unparallelled, putting him alongside sports greats like Michael Jordan, Jackie Robinson (UCLA alum bitches), Tiger Woods, et. al. And he ruined this austerity by coming out of retirement and playing for the Jets. Granted, I was pretty happy about it. I mean, the Jets were getting fucking Brett Farve!! While the rest of the country was like snarf snarf hrmmmm Farve coming back hrrmm snarf I was nodding my head while being stoked on delusions like Brett Farve leading the Jets to the Super Bowl. We all know how this story ended. Farve 'retired' and left a vacancy for the Jets at QB. Enter Mark Sanchez.
I have no idea how to feel about this. I loathe everything $C produces on principle of course, but now one of their stars is playing for the Jets - my oldest NFL team. It's forcing me to admit things like Mark Sanchez is actually a good quarterback that might turn the Jets around. But now when NFL highlights flash on Sportscenter, I'm going to have to take pleasure in Sanchez going 14-20 for 400 yds and 2 TDs. I don't know I can reconcile this. It's going to take me years to see Sanchez as a Jet. And what pisses me off more than anything is the fact that this unfortunate/fortunate happening in Jets football was brought to you courtesy of the imposition of Brett Farve. Without Farve, we would have had Pennington who is beating some serious ass these days over in Miami. With Weeks 1 - 12 Farve, we would have seen the Jets in the Superbowl in a couple of years. Instead we get the worst case scenario: a shitty Brett Farve, the loss of Pennington, and the arrival of the Dirty Sanchez. Thanks Brett. Now that you've pissed off the whole state of New York and the rest of the NFL, at least you can retire peacefully in Green Bay where the whole city worships you as a god. It's not like you did anything to ruin your legacy there. It's not like you came out of retirement to play for a rival team. I mean, the Jets and the Packers have no beef, so its all good. It's not like you came out of retirement to play for the Vikings or anything.
Oh wait.
Pennington hadn't been good on the Jets for a couple seasons, and Favre actually took a 4-12 team to 9-7, he just choked during the stretch which cost the Jets a playoff spot. The only reason Pennington did well in Miami is because their offense suited his weak arm much better than the Jets. I agree though, it's going to be hard as a Bruins/Jets fan to see Sanchez out there, but he's on our team and his college is no excuse not to root for them.
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