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The Lucky Ones


TMAC

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Had dinner in Manhattan with my younger brother last night.  He was telling me about a bar where Ravens fan hang out.  His son-in-law is a Ravens fan and, after 51 years of rooting for the Jets, he's "changed jerseys."  This year was the breaking point and he has no regrets.  In this day and age, with RedZone and NFL package, with the internet and access to news from anywhere at anytime, rooting for a team in a "foreign" city is so much easier.  You're just not locked in like you were in the past.  You can follow your team and its players as if they were playing locally.  Even go to home or away games in person if you like.  Unfortunately, even though I would like to be able to root for a team that actually has a chance to play in the post season and, wonder of wonders, play in the Super Bowl, I'm just not able to shed the Green and White.  They were the first sports team that I loved and when they actually played well so long ago, it was a beautiful thing.  So I am stuck with this fraud misrepresenting itself as a professional football team once again.  I wish my brother and all the other lucky ones good luck.  I really hate what Woody and Chris Johnson have done.

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6 minutes ago, TMAC said:

Had dinner in Manhattan with my younger brother last night.  He was telling me about a bar where Ravens fan hang out.  His son-in-law is a Ravens fan and, after 51 years of rooting for the Jets, he's "changed jerseys."  This year was the breaking point and he has no regrets.  In this day and age, with RedZone and NFL package, with the internet and access to news from anywhere at anytime, rooting for a team in a "foreign" city is so much easier.  You're just not locked in like you were in the past.  You can follow your team and its players as if they were playing locally.  Even go to home or away games in person if you like.  Unfortunately, even though I would like to be able to root for a team that actually has a chance to play in the post season and, wonder of wonders, play in the Super Bowl, I'm just not able to shed the Green and White.  They were the first sports team that I loved and when they actually played well so long ago, it was a beautiful thing.  So I am stuck with this fraud misrepresenting itself as a professional football team once again.  I wish my brother and all the other lucky ones good luck.  I really hate what Woody and Chris Johnson have done.

I’m now a Chiefs fan, let’s go Mahomes!

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I think it must be very rare and certain circumstances for it to be socially acceptable to change a team. The Jets are right there teetering on the edge of it being acceptable for a mass exodus.

If your ownership genuinely doesn’t care about wins vs. losses I think it’s more than fair to give up on your time, while that ownership is in charge. To me, that’s black and white. But there is a gray category, which is if ownership gets in the way and holds back the team to extreme levels.

The Bengals, The Knicks, The Redskins come to mind. 

The only reason I don’t believe the Jets are there yet is because I think that ownership genuinely wants a winner here, but they really are just bumbling fools too stupid for their own good. That puts in the latter category “ownership getting in the way and holding the team back.” The only reason this part is a gray area is because stupid ownership still has an opportunity to do the right thing and step out of the way and let the sports professionals wipe the sh*t stains.

That’s where we are as a franchise. J&J has spent $$$ in the past. They’ve fielded quality teams between 2000-2010. So, they obviously care, but they’re way in over their head with involvement considered their lack of knowledge. So this is it, get out of the way and let the right people make the right decisions. Or we are the Knicks...owners who legitimately don’t care and refuse to get out of the way. In which case, this team would deserve no fans.

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4 minutes ago, Adoni Beast said:

I think it must be very rare and certain circumstances for it to be socially acceptable to change a team. The Jets are right there teetering on the edge of it being acceptable for a mass exodus.

If your ownership genuinely doesn’t care about wins vs. losses I think it’s more than fair to give up on your time, while that ownership is in charge. To me, that’s black and white. But there is a gray category, which is if ownership gets in the way and holds back the team to extreme levels.

The Bengals, The Knicks, The Redskins come to mind. 

The only reason I don’t believe the Jets are there yet is because I think that ownership genuinely wants a winner here, but they really are just bumbling fools too stupid for their own good. That puts in the latter category “ownership getting in the way and holding the team back.” The only reason this part is a gray area is because stupid ownership still has an opportunity to do the right thing and step out of the way and let the sports professionals wipe the sh*t stains.

That’s where we are as a franchise. J&J has spent $$$ in the past. They’ve fielded quality teams between 2000-2010. So, they obviously care, but they’re way in over their head with involvement considered their lack of knowledge. So this is it, get out of the way and let the right people make the right decisions. Or we are the Knicks...owners who legitimately don’t care and refuse to get out of the way. In which case, this team would deserve no fans.

"Fan loyalty" is a marketing gimmick anyway. Why the Hell shouldn't you "switch teams" if you get more entertainment out of it? 

I wouldn't because I'm too stubborn old school and conditioned to believe once I decide to turn my back on this team then they'll finally win just to spite me.

But I don't fault anyone who changes their mind. Jets are losing in the marketplace for eyeballs that is getting more and more saturated every year. 

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4 minutes ago, bitonti said:

i thought this thread was going to be about Captain Steve McClendon and the other lucky ones that got out of town 

Upside down world we live in when a team expects less loyalty from its employees that it pays millions to than the fans who pay for the pleasure of watching.

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Anyone can change teams but there is no way in hell that if JD turned them around & they started dominating the division & going to the playoffs every year you wouldn't be slinking back in all I'M A JET FAN LIKE. 

The change is fake, it's like if your favorite sandwich is a Sausage sub, but no one could get good Sausage anymore anymore so you switch to Meatball. 5 years later Sausage is back baby & it's not just good, it's the best Sausage & everyone's talking about the QB who makes the sausage & the company is just amazing! 

Are you STILL gonna choose Meatball over Sausage? NO WAY IN HELL!

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I could definitely see myself pulling for an additional team if a friend/loved one was a fan, but I don't think I would ever "bail" on the Jets for another team. It just wouldn't be genuine. The more likely outcome if the Jets continue down this path of futility is I just lose interest in the sport and stop following it entirely. It's already starting to happen, quite honestly.

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2 minutes ago, fullblast said:

I could definitely see myself pulling for an additional team if a friend/loved one was a fan, but I don't think I would ever "bail" on the Jets for another team. It just wouldn't be genuine. The more likely outcome if the Jets continue down this path of futility is I just lose interest in the sport and stop following it entirely. It's already starting to happen, quite honestly.

Another option is to get serious about your fantasy team at least then you can derive some entertainment value from watching real teams play the sport

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 I actually wrote a post similar to this a few weeks ago. It wasn't so much about changing teams, but just about Changing Times. For instance when was the last time you had your family play a board game together? I just had a conversation with my father who's 74 years old and told him that me and my children were playing Scrabble and Monopoly. You'd be surprised how much fun that still is.

Instead of having Netflix you went to the movie theater or the drive-in? Instead of buying a video game console you went to an arcade? The smell of popcorn and cotton candy at a carnival? Waking up at 4 a.m. to go fishing? Certain things in life shouldn't be changed.

I think in this day and age we're missing the whole reason why you get in the car with your family and go somewhere in the first place. Like picking out a Christmas tree or pumpkin picking.

 I think you're supposed to root for the home team. I don't think it's cool to live in New York and be a Carolina Panthers fan.

 I'm going to stick with the Jets. As painful as it is I'm going to ride it out cuz that's loyalty. But I swear to all of you the next successful season we have and if we ever get to the Super Bowl I will shut the TV off and never turn it on again!

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1 hour ago, jgb said:

Jets fans are dying out. Many people here have expressed that they haven't bothered to introduce their kids to the Jets (me neither) nor are they disappointed when their kids adopted other teams to root for.

Many of us are last-generation Jets fans.

Thanks, Johnsholes.

My kids were born in Florida.  I left NY decades ago. Why would I subject my kids to this, or expect them to root for a loser they barely have ties to?

I bet the Fanbase is shrinking, and is only a regional fanbase, much like Cleveland and Cincinnati. 

 

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Every Sunday during football season for 50 years I rooted for the Jets with all my heart and soul, and then after the game had a team (the Rams), that I expected to win ! Sad ,but true. Even sadder is now I occasionally watch the Jets, (I work most Sundays during the games), and laugh my a** off! Nothing like a good comedy on my day off .

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6 minutes ago, Greenbloodblitz said:

 I actually wrote a post similar to this a few weeks ago. It wasn't so much about changing teams, but just about Changing Times. For instance when was the last time you had your family play a board game together? I just had a conversation with my father who's 74 years old and told him that me and my children were playing Scrabble and Monopoly. You'd be surprised how much fun that still is.

Instead of having Netflix you went to the movie theater or the drive-in? Instead of buying a video game console you went to an arcade? The smell of popcorn and cotton candy at a carnival? Waking up at 4 a.m. to go fishing? Certain things in life shouldn't be changed.

I think in this day and age we're missing the whole reason why you get in the car with your family and go somewhere in the first place. Like picking out a Christmas tree or pumpkin picking.

 I think you're supposed to root for the home team. I don't think it's cool to live in New York and be a Carolina Panthers fan.

 I'm going to stick with the Jets. As painful as it is I'm going to ride it out cuz that's loyalty. But I swear to all of you the next successful season we have and if we ever get to the Super Bowl I will shut the TV off and never turn it on again!

Animated GIF

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2 minutes ago, Jet_Engine1 said:

My kids were born in Florida.  I left NY decades ago. Why would I subject my kids to this, or expect them to root for a loser they barely have ties to?

I bet the Fanbase is shrinking, and is only a regional fanbase, much like Cleveland and Cincinnati. 

 

Philly for mine. Go Eagles!

2 minutes ago, freestater said:

I like Lamar Jackson. Deshaun Watson, Mahomes, Hellaire, Larry Fitzgerald. Other too. I can always root for those guys and not necessarily their team. I'll always root for this cursed franchise tho

My favorite recent non-Jets players. 

-Kyle Orton

-Marion Barber III

-Jarvis Landry

-Ryan Tannehill (obviously)

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1 hour ago, UntouchableCrew said:

Anyone who is able to "change teams" wasn't really a fan in the first place. Like, even if I wanted to, tried to, and pretended to like another team it wouldn't actually mean anything to me when they won. Being a fan doesn't come from a place of rational thought. It's ingrained in you.

Like can you think of anything cornier or faker that deciding you were now a Chiefs fan and "celebrating" after they beat the Bills last night?

I get what you're saying. However you can still be a football fan in general. I love the game of football, I love the coaching and the competition. I think it's okay to admire other teams from afar and a good game is a good game!

The last few years we had some really great Super Bowls. Watching the Chiefs offense, it's like they're Bionic! I like characters like Jon Gruden and Bill Belichick it makes the league fun.

But you absolutely HAVE TO root for your hometown team! Unless you're from someplace else, there's no exceptions! I'm from Strong Island, and this is Jetnation plain and simple.

You don't put eggs on cheeseburgers, you don't put chocolate on pizza, and you definitely never ever drink a Zima! 

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I’ve got over 40 years of being a fan of this team.  The super bowl win that I hope will come in my lifetime will feel infinitely more satisfying than if I switched to let’s say KC this year and they won.  I have way too much invested in this team to want to switch at this point.  Only the real fans and masochists are left here.  I can roll with that crowd.

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1 hour ago, jgb said:

"Fan loyalty" is a marketing gimmick anyway. Why the Hell shouldn't you "switch teams" if you get more entertainment out of it? 

I wouldn't because I'm too stubborn old school and conditioned to believe once I decide to turn my back on this team then they'll finally win just to spite me.

But I don't fault anyone who changes their mind. Jets are losing in the marketplace for eyeballs that is getting more and more saturated every year. 

Yeah I’m old school and don’t believe in switching teams, but I don’t blame anyone who does switch. Sports should be treated like any other consumer product. If it sucks, go somewhere else, buy somewhere else.

As excited as I get when the Jets are good (rarity) and as much cursing as I do during the games, once that whistle blows I’m not emotionally invested.

I just don’t spend my Sundays watching them or my money supporting them when they’re sh*tty like this. If they were consistently good and had a down year or two, that’s different. But when you’re missing not only the playoffs but a winning record for a decade (sans 1 season) that franchise doesn’t deserve sh*t until it turns it around.

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