Today's Max Kellerman show served largely as a post mortem for the Jets 2008 season. During the limited time in which I was able to listen to the show today, Max methodically broke down the Jets season, albeit without gloating that the Jets were eliminated while the Giants have moved on to the post season. (The actual gloating was reserved for the Cowboys as Max and the crew of the program at one point in the show indicated that they were "taking a break from Mangini to have a hearty laugh at Tony Romo and the Cowboys." And then they all actually laughed before returning to the Jets). The following is my take on the portions of the show which I was able to listen to today.
The Kellerman show actually started late as the Jets had the audacity to schedule the Woody Johnson/Mike Tannenbaum press conference for 10 AM, causing 1050 ESPN Radio to preempt the start of the show to carry the press conference live. When Max was finally given a chance to speak, he started with the statement that "on paper" the Jets were better off with Favre than Chad Pennington because Favre had a better history of staying healthy and had superior arm strength to Chad. But the games aren't played on paper (my line not his) and in Max's assessment, Chad had a better season then Brett Favre and also managed to stay healthy. Thus the decision turned out to be a poor one as Favre's arm strength diminished and he made poor decisions under pressure, causing some of the interceptions.
At this point, I need to take my leave of the Kellerman and Crew take on Favre as the show (and Robin Lundberg in particular) were a little too quick to say that all of Favre's INTs came from poor decision making. When a ball sails through a receiver's hands, is tipped up in the air by the receiver or is thrown to a spot on the field but the receiver breaks off his route early, its not a poor decision. Yes Favre certainly threw his share of "funballs" (to use a Lundbergian term) but quite a few of the picks were not the result of a bad decision.
Max also had some praise for the Jets, specifically related to the free agent acquisitions. Max talked about how Tannebaum had built the team with solid defensive additions as well as by addressing the offensive line. He even admitted what most Jets fans are probably thinking - that at the time the Favre pick up was a good move, but in retrospect it was a mistake.
I missed some of the shows last week, so I am unaware whether Max had his annual rant about how he disliked Chanukah as a child because his gentile friends all got great presents and he had book night or sock night. (Don't even get me started on the over commercialization of Chankah and why people assume there should be eight nights of presents - the miracle was that the oil lasted and that a small band of Jews were able to best the Syrian Greeks. There are no presents in the story nor in any Code of Jewish law, but I digress). Max did mention today (in response to a question from Giants' DL Justin Tuck) that it was his daughter's first Chanukah and that he "has not been able to demoralize her with sock night or book night." Part of me wonders whether this is all for show.
The firing of Mangini and the discussion on the show about how when the Jets were 8-3 Mangini was Mangenius, but by the end of the season he was (to quote Steve Serby of the NY Post) "Cangini" has an interesting link to today's daf yomi. On the last page of Talmud Kiddushin (82 for those of you keeping score at home), the Gemara talks about various trades or occupations which one should or should not teach one's child. One of the Tannaim mentioned (R' Meir) states that one should always teach his child a "clean and easy trade" (this line is interpreted by the Rishonim and Achronim in multiple ways which are not relevant here) because in every trade there are wealthy and poor and being poor is not a result of the trade but according to one's merit. People look at others and assume that because they are employed in a certain profession they are wealthy or indigent. However, its not merely the job one does which determines his degree of financial success, its also the level of dedication and the help he has from upstairs.
If you have seen this post being carried on another site such as JBlog, please feel free to click here to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!
The Kellerman show actually started late as the Jets had the audacity to schedule the Woody Johnson/Mike Tannenbaum press conference for 10 AM, causing 1050 ESPN Radio to preempt the start of the show to carry the press conference live. When Max was finally given a chance to speak, he started with the statement that "on paper" the Jets were better off with Favre than Chad Pennington because Favre had a better history of staying healthy and had superior arm strength to Chad. But the games aren't played on paper (my line not his) and in Max's assessment, Chad had a better season then Brett Favre and also managed to stay healthy. Thus the decision turned out to be a poor one as Favre's arm strength diminished and he made poor decisions under pressure, causing some of the interceptions.
At this point, I need to take my leave of the Kellerman and Crew take on Favre as the show (and Robin Lundberg in particular) were a little too quick to say that all of Favre's INTs came from poor decision making. When a ball sails through a receiver's hands, is tipped up in the air by the receiver or is thrown to a spot on the field but the receiver breaks off his route early, its not a poor decision. Yes Favre certainly threw his share of "funballs" (to use a Lundbergian term) but quite a few of the picks were not the result of a bad decision.
Max also had some praise for the Jets, specifically related to the free agent acquisitions. Max talked about how Tannebaum had built the team with solid defensive additions as well as by addressing the offensive line. He even admitted what most Jets fans are probably thinking - that at the time the Favre pick up was a good move, but in retrospect it was a mistake.
I missed some of the shows last week, so I am unaware whether Max had his annual rant about how he disliked Chanukah as a child because his gentile friends all got great presents and he had book night or sock night. (Don't even get me started on the over commercialization of Chankah and why people assume there should be eight nights of presents - the miracle was that the oil lasted and that a small band of Jews were able to best the Syrian Greeks. There are no presents in the story nor in any Code of Jewish law, but I digress). Max did mention today (in response to a question from Giants' DL Justin Tuck) that it was his daughter's first Chanukah and that he "has not been able to demoralize her with sock night or book night." Part of me wonders whether this is all for show.
The firing of Mangini and the discussion on the show about how when the Jets were 8-3 Mangini was Mangenius, but by the end of the season he was (to quote Steve Serby of the NY Post) "Cangini" has an interesting link to today's daf yomi. On the last page of Talmud Kiddushin (82 for those of you keeping score at home), the Gemara talks about various trades or occupations which one should or should not teach one's child. One of the Tannaim mentioned (R' Meir) states that one should always teach his child a "clean and easy trade" (this line is interpreted by the Rishonim and Achronim in multiple ways which are not relevant here) because in every trade there are wealthy and poor and being poor is not a result of the trade but according to one's merit. People look at others and assume that because they are employed in a certain profession they are wealthy or indigent. However, its not merely the job one does which determines his degree of financial success, its also the level of dedication and the help he has from upstairs.
If you have seen this post being carried on another site such as JBlog, please feel free to click here to find other articles on the kosherbeers blogsite. Hey its free and you can push my counter numbers up!
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