THE JETS' 12TH MAN

I have no problems with the celebratory antics of DeSean Jackson, or any other guy that scores a touchdown. When the Pats allow a TD, I don't get pissed at the opposing team for over-celebrating, I get pissed at the guy who missed a tackle. Celebrate as much as you want. It's entertaining, and NFL games are on entertainment-based TV stations, not PBS or A&E.

And as far as autograph hound Tashard Choice goes; he was stupid to get Vick's signature out in front of everyone. You can get some locker room attendant to go get it for you once both teams are off the field. Stupid, not a big deal though.

Then there's the J-E-T-S. Think about how many millions of times over the years, on football fields across the country, players have run down the sidelines and WEREN'T tripped by an opposing coach.



What Jets strength and conditioning coach Sal Alosi did was something you'd see in a remake of The Longest Yard. It was a move worthy of the WWF. I'll bust out the vocab and say the best word to describe it is "egregious" (extraordinary in some bad way; glaring; flagrant).

The Jets have had sexual harassment issues all season (one in the pre-season, one from seasons ago), and now this. What kind of ship does Captain Rex run over there? I hate to blame some douchebag's actions on someone else, but to quote current Jet Ladainian Tomlinson, that team has "Absolutely no class. And maybe that comes from their head coach."

I usually don't talk about "class" or "sportsmanship," because I think most writers make mountains out of touchdown celebrations, and post-game handshakes. But this was a coach, interfering in a play, and doing something very dangerous to an opposing player. This is different.

Imagine a hockey coach reaching over the boards and grabbing a player's stick in the middle of play. Or a basketball coach grabbing a jersey. Or a 3rd base coach shoving an infielder. It's almost too ludicrous to envision. It really is something you see the manager of a bad-guy wrestler do.

If James Harrison gets big fines for his hits to fellow players, what does the Jets' 12th man get? At the very least, I think he should be banned from the sidelines for the remainder of the season. I'd like to see the Jets fire him, and to see his career in the NFL finished, but that's the Jets' business. And they have enough things to worry about.

As much as the media drools over Rex Ryan, for his quotability, unpredictability, and humor; maybe there's a bad side to his coaching style. Maybe a lack of discipline leads to things like reporters being sexually harassed, and coaches who trip players. I'm probably being unfair, because I hate Rex Ryan and the Jets. But his fault or not, his house is in disarray at the moment. And we'll all see how well he puts it back together again.