One Man's Opinion

By Leslie Monteiro: SPM NJ Writer
Posted Saturday, September 6, 2008

09/06/08: Mangini has to deliver this year

Jets head coach Eric Mangini has to be on the hot seat this season even if his superiors do not think so. When a team had a pitiful season like last year, the head coach is always under scrutiny.

The Jets spent money this offseason to improve from last year. They used that money to improve their offensive line, which was their weakness last year. That itself should improve the team. Now, the Jets get a playmaker that can make things happen in Brett Favre so there is no reason for the Jets to be this bad offensively anymore.

It was convenient to blame bad things to Chad Pennington, who ironically will be the opposing quarterback in today’s Jets/Dolphins game. There are no more excuses anymore. Mangini has the players he wants, and it’s about time he lived up to his hype.

Mangini had a good first year, and an awful first year. We still don’t know if he is the guy that can take the Jets to the promise land. We don’t know if he can propel the Jets into a perennial playoff status.

A good coach is a coach who can lead his team to consistent winning seasons, and Mangini has yet to prove he can be the guy. This year and the next few years would be a good start for him.

There is no excuse for this team to fall short of expectations. The schedule is easy, and this team is much better than last year when it comes to talent.

Today should be a start of good things to come. The Jets need to validate all the hard work they put into the offseason and in training camp with a blowout victory against the Dolphins this afternoon.

If the Jets fall short of victory today and fall short of expectations, Mangini has lot of explaining to do.

8/11/08: Favre should have stayed in Green Bay

This past week, the Packers and Brett Favre parted ways. The Packers traded Favre to the New York Jets for a conditional draft pick.

Favre should be called out for the way he created his departure for couple of things.

First of all, why did he retire in the first place? He was coming off a great season. He may not have been the player he was when he established himself as a NFL quarterback, but he was producing. When you look at many mediocre quarterbacks in the NFL, Favre would be an upgrade for those teams that have those types of quarterbacks.

Also, when the Packers invited him back last week, they were going to let him compete with Aaron Rodgers for the job. Favre's ego was hurt by that, which is amusing because everyone knew that he would be the starting quarterback when all is said and done.

It's hard to fault the Packers for wanting to see Aaron Rodgers start at quarterback. For one thing, the organization want to know if Rodgers is the answer for the short-term and long-term. Also, Rodgers has put in so much work in spring training camp and OTAs. Favre should understand where the Packers are coming from.

The fact that the Packers were willing to put that aside and welcome Favre back with open arms should have been the end of it, but Favre wanted to go on.

He thought he would get his release or go to a team that he wanted to play for, which was the Vikings, if he became a troublemaker at Packers' camp. It never happened as Packers general manager Ted Thompson sent Favre to the Jets, who will be hard-press to go to the Super Bowl with the quality of teams out there in the AFC.

Favre has to wonder if this was all worth it. Sure he will get to play in a big market, but he is playing for a team that will be mediocre at best and he is going to be criticized if he throws interceptions.

Thompson comes out a winner in this. He not only gets rid of Favre in his team, but he makes sure that his former quarterback does not come back to haunt the Packers by not sending him to a NFC team.

Favres comes out as a loser.

8/9/08: RIP Skip Caray

This past week, Skip Caray passed away. Baseball fans knew him as the voice of summer when the Braves would be on TBS almost every game in the 80s and early 90s.

Growing up, he was a guy that was fun to watch. He was a character and a true baseball fan. He was an announcer that rooted for the Braves to succeed, and it wasn't because of his paycheck. He genuniely liked the players and the coaching staff from the Braves. He hated to see them fail.

He took his job seriously. He wanted to make sure that he was not announcing games because of his father, Harry. He wanted to be a good announcer that fans would respect.

He did a good job of that. He did not act like a cartoon character like most play-by-play announcers do. He did not want to be the story, and he did not want to hear the sound of his voice. He let the game do the talking, and he described it well.

He was great for laughs too. There is nothing listening to his scarcastic wit and jokes. He just had a way of putting smile on people's faces. He can be a grump for sure, but deep down, he was lovable.

He was simply one of a kind. It's hard to find announcers like him anymore.

He is going to be missed.

Thanks for the great memories, Skip.