...someone actually listening to me?

While I was away for the weekend snowboarding (which I call the Great Escape after not reseperating my shoulder, fracturing anything, or ripping open my ass), it appears as if someone in the Jets front office might have heard my distress call. Though they aren't resigning him long-term, the Jets will place a franchise tag on John Abraham. It's a good move, but Abraham is looking for a contract. This is severly denting the Jets salary cap since no money is being deferred. J'Abe might make upwards of $8 million next season and it's all on the 2006 books. The looming CBA neogtiations have clouded the salary cap crystal ball, but this will get the Jets nowhere fast. They need to give him a contract.

As for my adventure, I've now gone snowboarding six times and it's a wonder I haven't broken anything. I managed to get my shoulder to pop from it's socket, which proved to be rather unpleasant. So is landing on the ice (which they say is snow) after a divit turns you into Lindsey Jacobellis.

...the Jets not resigning John Abraham

Soooooooo I'm a sports writer. Like the blog says, I've been around. High school, collegiate and professional teams have all felt the wrath of my pen. I spent most of my 2005 summer and fall scribing about the a semi-professional football team known as the New York Jets.

Stop laughing. Seriously, because once you do you'll realize millions of people dream about being surrounded by professional athletes. I got the chance to run from locker to locker with a tape-recorder, notified and pen three-to-four times a week. The blackhole which turned out to be a 4-12 season didn't stop me from savoring every moment. I was surrounded by some of the most physically gifted men on the planet.

The ironhorse and gentleman Curtis Martin. The candid and often amiable John Abraham. Chad Pennington's...well, sling. I even took note that if he so chose, Jonathan Vilma could pop my head like a bad zit between his forearm and bicep.

All in all, it was a whirlwind that spit me out as a better journalist. If you're around a team three days a week, you just notice things. Some disturbing, like Vilma uses Cocoa butter after he showers and Ty Law wears Jordan flip flops into the shower.

Some were heart-warming, like in the cases of Kevin Mawae, Abraham and Pete Kendall, to name a few, who all had pictures of their children taped in lockers. I saw the behind-the-scenes workings of an NFL team, and it was great.

One of the topics I broached while at Jetsinsider was the disfunctional marriage between J'Abraham and the Jets management. Given that recent reports say he won't be back with Gang Green, I figured to jump-start this blog with a story wrote feverishly advocating why the Jets should keep Abraham. Not brining back Abraham is a huge no-no, especially as the first move for the new hierarchy atop the Jets.

While the above story is one my previous works, this blog will be a place for me to vent about topics going on in the world of sports. I'm unveiling the curtain. I hope you enjoy.

Sidenotes: The Bengals reupped head coach Marvin Lewis with a contract extension through 2010. Lewis, the former defensive coordinator of the Ravens stalwart defense, has pulled off a miracle even JC Himself would give props to: he's resurrected a dead franchise. The Bengals get my thumbs up. With a healthy Carson Palmer, look for them to be a force in the AFC next season.

Up next...The drought, the 2006 Yankees, and a true moment in fandom