Last night, the Jets opened the preseason with a 21-16 loss to the Browns.
A small number of players you’ll see this season saw meaningful action.
It’s why many of you didn’t watch.
It’s understandable.
The most significant event that can occur in a preseason game is an injury, such as the one suffered by Mark Sanchez in 2013, which is likely the only preseason Jets memory you retain and a reason why Aaron Rodgers and so many of his new friends stayed on the sideline.
On Tuesday, everyone steps back into the spotlight, when the first episode of “Hard Knocks” — featuring the Jets for the first time since 2010 — premieres on HBO. You will learn more — and be far more entertained — across five episodes than in their four preseason games, even if the Jets are reluctant participants. “They forced it down our throats,” Aaron Rodgers previously said, noting why the Jets will reportedly limit access, such as the customary scenes showing players being released.
At minimum, the team on the surface is intriguing enough to warrant deeper exploration.
AP
It starts with Rodgers’ first season in New York; already the Jets’ biggest star since Broadway Joe. It is a chance to see how Sauce Gardner and Garrett Wilson are approaching stardom, how Quinnen Williams responds to his new contract, how Breece Hall is recovering from his injury, how Mekhi Becton is handling a make-or-break moment, how the Dalvin Cook meeting went, how Nathaniel Hackett privately responded to Sean Payton’s uppercuts, how Zach Wilson is handling life in a Hall of Famer’s shadow.
It is the most-anticipated Jets season in a dozen years, and the team’s best chance to end the league’s longest playoff drought. The Jets haven’t reached the postseason since the 2010 season, when the team also starred in the most memorable edition of “Hard Knocks,” which debuted in 2001.
Those episodes had it all.
The foul-mouthed, fun-loving head coach (Rex Ryan), who embraced championship expectations and encouraged his players to “get a goddamn snack,” but also chided the “jackass” contingent who ate cheeseburgers on the field at a Hofstra practice.
The star cornerback (Darrelle Revis) whose holdout stole so many scenes and so much focus during training camp.
The cornerback (Antonio Cromartie) who couldn’t remember the names of all of his children.
The young quarterback (Mark Sanchez) upset at having to pay 59 cents for a side of ranch dressing with his pizza delivery.
This time, the Jets feature a quarterback who is giving up $35 million for a shot at another championship. Across five episodes, we should get a better look at how close they really are.
“There’s nothing like New York, so I understand that — I appreciate that,” Rodgers said recently, publicly changing his tune about the team’s inclusion. “This is an incredible sports town. There’s a lot of great franchises here. So I look forward to everything that comes with that.
“We kind of knew that they were really wanting us to be a part of ‘Hard Knocks,’ and this just brings more attention to us. I don’t think there’s anything nefarious about the way it went down, but I’m excited about people getting to see what we’re all about here.”
Today’s back page
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⚾ Domingo German smashed TV, confronted Yankees’ Aaron Boone in clubhouse outburst before seeking alcohol treatment
⚾ VACCARO: Yankees need to stack up more gutty wins like this one against Astros
🏈 SCHWARTZ: Wink Martindale’s familiarity with Giants makes Year 2 ‘like going into Calculus 2’
⚾ HEYMAN: Mets placed a hefty price tag on Pete Alonso for unlikely trade deadline deal
🏀 Josh Hart hopeful for long-term extension with Knicks: ‘A place I want to call home’
Flirting with disaster
By Sunday, Team USA’s quest for a World Cup three-peat may be extinguished. If so, it would cement the team’s worst-ever showing at the tournament.
The U.S. enters its matchup with Sweden as the smallest favorite in the Round of 16 (-170 to advance), carrying no momentum and suspect confidence, following a worst-ever group stage performance, which nearly ended in elimination.
Sweden could finish the job. It has done it before.
In 2021, Sweden ended the 44-game unbeaten streak of the U.S. women’s national team with a 3-0 win at the Olympics in Japan. At the 2016 Olympics, Sweden eliminated the Americans in the quarterfinals, marking the team’s worst-ever Olympic finish.
Dating back to the first women’s World Cup in 1991, the U.S. has never finished worse than third in the tournament. Should this group fall short of its lofty expectations as the pre-tournament favorite, it would rank among the most disappointing national team efforts of all-time, joining this infamous Team USA list:
Men’s basketball (2004)
The 1972 squad was robbed by officials. The 1988 loss to the Soviets was stunning, though Team USA still featured college kids. In 2004, there were no excuses. Hubris, ill-fitting pieces and mismanagement by coach Larry Brown allowed a roster featuring captains Tim Duncan and Allen Iverson — plus little-used youngsters, such as LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade — to drop its opener in Athens to Puerto Rico by 19. Then came a loss to Lithuania and a semifinal defeat to Argentina, leading to an embarrassing bronze medal for the Americans, who entered the Games with 24 straight wins in Olympic play.
Women’s hockey (2006)
The U.S. was one win away from another gold medal game appearance. It had won each of its previous 25 meetings against Sweden. In the semifinals in Turin, though, Sweden shocked the world with a 3-2 shootout win. Afterwards, Sweden’s coach, Peter Elander, said his team received inspiration from repeatedly watching “Miracle,” the movie based on Team USA’s 1980 Miracle on Ice. The Americans ended up with bronze, the only time the team has ever failed to secure gold or silver.
Women’s softball (2008)
The Americans won the first three gold medals in Olympic softball play. In 2008, they won their first seven games by a combined score of 53-1. Another win came over Japan. Then came a rematch in the gold medal game, which Japan claimed, 3-1. It was the Americans’ first loss in eight years.
Men’s soccer (2017)
The winless group stage World Cup exits in 1998 and 2006 were setbacks, but at least the Americans qualified for those World Cups. The same couldn’t be said for the 2018 event, which the U.S. failed to participate in for the first time since 1986. After suffering a pair of losses to Costa Rica in qualifying, the squad’s fate was sealed with a 2-1 loss to Trinidad and Tobago, leading to Bruce Arena’s resignation as head coach.
Women’s basketball (1992)
They looked set to win a third straight gold medal after winning their first three games by an average of 45.7 points, before the Unified Team — a combination of former Soviet republics — pulled a 79-73 upset in the semifinals. This was the most recent women’s team to suffer a loss at the Games.
College football’s dizzying ride
By next season, college football will finally realize its potential with a 12-team playoff. It may also be in tatters.
Big Ten school presidents have reportedly authorized commissioner Tony Petitti to explore another round of expansion, with its focus on Oregon and Washington.
The conference, which created the ongoing panic in the Pac-12 by luring USC and UCLA away from its West Coast roots, could ultimately end up killing one of the Power Five leagues — whose foundation was built more than six decades ago — if it poaches the top-two football programs and TV markets remaining in the Pac-12.
This news comes just days after Colorado left the Pac-12 — which is struggling to land a lucrative TV rights contract on par with other marquee conferences — for the Big 12, which is also reportedly recruiting Arizona, Arizona State and Utah.
Meanwhile, Florida State — also unhappy due to the ACC’s underwhelming media rights deal — is threatening to leave its league. However, the Seminoles face a far more difficult and expensive potential exit from their conference since the ACC TV rights deal — which will see Florida State make about $30 million per year less than schools in the SEC and Big Ten — runs through 2036.
Of course, this all comes down to money. It always does. It always will.
We can — and should — bemoan the loss of rivalries, the imbalance of power, the absurdity of teams from Los Angeles playing conference games in New Jersey.
But we will continue to watch. And the leagues will command astronomical fees to broadcast their games. And a number of dissatisfied schools will trigger additional rounds of realignment.
And on it shall continue.
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