In the midst of the Jets losing four of their last five games, Todd Bowles’ honeymoon with the media should already be over.
It is not.
The sweet sound of slack has plenty to do with distractions. Like Brandon Marshall’s unique ability to make himself the story. Or the amount of air and space devoted to Ryan Fitzpatrick’s thumb and beard (trimming). Then there are those who show patience and need to see more. Will a loss to Miami Sunday cause this wall of media tolerance to finally come tumbling down on Bowles?
Already there have been cracks. On the air Brandon Tierney, a Jets-leaning CBS Sports Radio Gasbag, described Bowles as “the absolute definition of average.” Tierney said Bowles has “no concept” of clock management and “no game recognition.”
Worse still, Tierney (he also called offensive coordinator Chan Gailey “a 90-year-old fossil who sucks”) said that when the Jets are in a funk Bowles turns into a sphinx.
“He sits there stone-faced and expressionless and the Jets show absolutely no gumption, no backbone and no sack,” Tierney said.
MYERS: JETS NEED TO MAKE MOVE FOR DREW BREES
The prospects of similar assessments coming out of the Valley of the Stupid, and other media precincts, grow if the Jets lose Sunday. But don’t bet against the chances of some other distraction taking the heat off Bowles. And it goes deeper than that.
Whether it be by coincidence or calculation, the Jets organization has done an excellent job of covering and spinning for the coach, especially when it comes to making it known Bowles has a pulse. That despite his stoic manner, he’s actually a fire breather who can inspire.
Muhammad Wilkerson, during his weekly WFAN spots with Joe Benigno/Evan Roberts, is not exactly expansive. Yet last week, after the Lone Star State debacle, he decided to open up about the coach. And it took hardly any prompting. Benigno simply asked Wilkerson “Are you mad?” and he responded by revealing what Bowles told the team behind closed doors.
Wilkerson said Bowles “went off” on the Jets, painting a picture far different than the one Bowles presents on the sidelines. Wilkerson’s words were picked up and turned into headlines. Mission accomplished. Now the Free World knows that, when he’s moved to do so, the monotone, soft-spoken Bowles can turn up the heat and get through to his team.
Only success will validate this image. Taking accountability for a loss, or explaining it away by matter-of-factly criticizing his team’s execution, is eventually going to wear thin.
Then, the honeymoon will really end.
Then, neither the quality of the spin, nor number of distractions, will be of any help to Todd Bowles.
TODD BOWLES ‘WENT OFF’ ON JETS AFTER TEXANS LOSS
NFLN ON WELFARE?
Fitting that on Thanksgiving the NFL would force feed a slate of mostly unwatchable games down the throats of the unwashed masses.
Don’t take it personally. While the NFL Network is neither a turkey or garbage (like most sports cable operations, it rests somewhere in between) the league is trying to jam it down the throats of networks bidding on its “Thursday Night Football” package. In order to have the privilege of paying as much as $600 million — or more — per year for “TNF,” the NFL wants one of the alleged suitors (CBS, Fox, NBC, Turner, Apple, Google), to buy an equity stake in the NFL Network.
This is the NFL way, right? NFLN ain’t exactly providing a financial windfall for its owners, so why not force the Thursday night bidders to bail the owners out by purchasing a large stake in the NFLN as part of the “TNF” deal. Corporate welfare at its finest.
This isn’t exactly financial extortion. Remember, the lucky “winner” will also get to air a shaky schedule of Thursday games (which players and coaches can’t stand participating in) hand picked by the NFL.
Gobble. Gobble.
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FISHY MOVE
Hey, we still haven’t fully recovered from the Yankees firing Tommy Hutton and Hank Greenwald after the 1988 season. And they had only been in the booth (then WABC) for two years.
So it’s not hard imagining how Marlins fans feel about Jeffrey Loria giving Hutton, the team’s TV analyst for 19 seasons, the boot. In the wake of the move, the static coming out of Miami is mostly about Hutton’s dismissal being another in a long line of organizational mistakes.
In Hutton’s case, the blunder went far beyond getting rid of a voice who was entertaining and objective, one of the best in the biz — a likeable guy with style and an edge. Hutton and his colleagues were also responsible for connecting with the fan base and building the brand.
It wasn’t easy in the South Florida market.
Winning usually brings eyeballs to the tube and puts tuchises in the seats. The Marlins have been up and down in that regard. Still, Hutton & Co. were able to hold on to the most loyal core of Marlins fans.
That was not easily accomplished. Loria doesn’t recognize this fact. Or just doesn’t care.
BIG BEN SHOW
Lost in the hoopla surrounding his appearances in a tournament at Barclays Center was the fact Ben Simmons, the sky-highly touted LSU freshman, was closely followed around by a camera crew chronicling his every move for a documentary.
The documentarians have been trailing the Australian phenom since his high school days. The overt nature of the filming leads us to believe the project must be cool with the NCAA and is not a violation.
Still, at some point someone(s) is going to cash in on a film that, in part, is about Simmons’ (who likely will be the top pick in next June’s NBA draft) college amateur experience. Without Simmons’ marquee power, and potential NBA earning power, this project never sees the light of day.
Bruce Beck had Simmons as a recent guest on his Ch. 4 “Sports Final” show. “They (the documentary crew) even interviewed me,” Beck said. “Who knows if I’ll make the cut or wind up on the cutting room floor.”
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COUNTING A-ROD
With Yankees spring training a few months away, there are already questions about whether Alex Rodriguez can even match his performance of last season.
Many mouths will ultimately suggest how many games A-Rod should play in 2016. Last season, he appeared in 151 games. Some Gasbags have suggested the number be cut to 130.
If that ever were the case, the Yankees should consider allowing A-Rod to spend some time in the YES booth. Hey, it’s not heavy lifting. The mikes are light. And the voices hardly break a sweat.
Rodriguez could get his rest, enlighten viewers with his analysis, and continue practicing for what he might be doing after retirement.
RAISSMAN: A-ROD A STAR IN FOX ANALYST AUDITION
DUDE OF THE WEEK
MIKE DITKA
For not following the sheep who believed a returning Tony Romo would be the Cowboys’ cure-all. And Ditka delivered the word Sunday, before Dallas — with Romo — beat Miami, 24-14. “This is not an indictment of Tony Romo. It’s an indictment of the organization. If you need one guy (Romo) to pick you up you have a major problem,” Ditka said last Sunday morning on ESPN. “You better look at other things right now … They (Dallas) have folded the tent. It doesn’t matter if they have Romo or not.” And to think Ditka didn’t need any fantasy stats to formulate that opinion. Amazing!
DWEEB OF THE WEEK
JEFF FISHER
There is plenty of blame to spread around after Rams quarterback Case Keenum had his brain scrambled last Sunday and wasn’t immediately pulled. The Rams coach should bear the brunt of it. Fisher said he didn’t know what was going on with Keenum becaus he “was in the game management mode at that point, with less than a minute left.” What about the people “management mode?” Or the safety “management mode” the NFL is so concerned with? Fisher’s claim of not seeing Keenum’s distress is simply not credible. It gives us reason to believe that, in his world, player safety is not exactly a priority.
DOUBLE TALK
What Aaron Rodgers said: “We miss throws. When I’m throwing at a certain depth and the receiver is running at a certain depth obviously we’re on different pages.”
What Aaron Rodgers meant to say: “I know what I’m doing. Our receivers are clueless.”
