You would think with a blog named “Random Rumblings” I would post often about anything / nothing, but that just doesn’t seem to be the case. Well, today I decided it was time.
Let’s start with the J! E! T! S! Jets! Jets! Jets! It’s been a while since one of the teams I root for was good. This year the Jets are in the AFC Championship game for the second year in a row with a chance to go to the Super Bowl. It won’t be easy with Pittsburgh in their way, but it would be quite a feat if they were to win, having defeated Manning, Brady, then Roethlisberger. That would be 3 Super Bowl winning quarterbacks during the past 10 years. No small feat. But, what I really like about the Jets is something that seems to be missing these days in sports. The players actually take pride in being Jets. They want to win for their coach, the teammates, and the fans. I can’t explain in detail what I see that makes me think their is pride in being Jets. And I’m not sure if I’m the only one that see’s it through all the talk coming out of the Jets players mouths, but it’s something I see nonetheless. And I like it!
On the opposite side of the spectrum are Patriots fans, with the number of fans growing exponentially since they began winning Super Bowls this past decade. I had good intentions of watching the Patriots vs. Jets game at a local bar (Baja Cantina) in relative silence on Sunday, only getting excited for game changing plays such as touchdowns, interceptions, etc. Last weekend I also watched the game at a local bar (The Terrace). I may have paced around the bar a lot making people nervous, but didn’t let out any outwardly (read: obnoxious) acts/sounds until the field goal ending the game went through the uprights, which I did in the back room where no one was sitting (there’s a TV back there too). Anyway, back to this past weekend. As expected, there were also Patriots fans at the bar. One in particular was sitting on the right side of the bar. I was seated towards the left of the bar, about 25 feet apart. Every reception, first down, or positive play by the Patriots was greeted by him leaning forward off the seat, clapping at the TV until the next play was about to be run, and yelling “NICE!” It was annoying!. I’m sure there were other Patriots fans that wished he would just be quiet. At first my brother, the consummate NY’er (and Giants fan) who will root against any Boston team, started getting louder to combat this one Patriots fan. It didn’t take me long to take it to the next level, which was helped by the Jets leading for most of the game and in the final score. Although I didn’t get to the point of clapping and such for every first down, when the Jets did score I leaned forward, I clapped for an extended period of time, then yelled NICE!. I didn’t stop there. I would do all this while staring down the obnoxious Patriots fan. This was all followed by apologizing to the individual sitting next to me for being obnoxious, somehow he understood. Anyway, I do apologize to the other Patriots fans who watched the game at the bar and had to listen to me, it probably made for tough viewing. Although I did refrain from doing the Jets chant… only because I literally just thought of it as I’m writing this. Sadly, it only takes one obnoxious fan – and another not willing to take accept obnoxious behavior – to ruin it for everyone. Historically Steelers fans aren’t obnoxious fans, so this weekend promises to be a bit more cordial.