Palladino: Tone-Deaf Bart Scott Should Just Smile And Play Nice
By Ernie Palladino
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Well, well, well.
Just as we were ready to switch gears and talk about matters non-Jets, Bart Scott gives cause to head this blog back to Florham Park.
It seems he's not real happy with the print the Jets have gotten since their big 8-8 season. And now that Gang Green has a nice win under their belts -- their biggest point total ever on opening day -- he felt it the right time to start a media boycott.
And that, good gentlepeople, is exactly why the Jets get the kind of publicity they get. The tone-deafness from the top on down to its aging (aged?) linebacker remains remarkable.
It appears Mr. Scott took issue with the media's depiction of his franchise as circus act. On a day where Mark Sanchez shined and the defense, by and large, played well, Scott decided to Grinch the Christmas party. He told USA Today that the press' post-2011 criticism has turned into outright cheer, but he knows it's going to turn back into sourness the moment the Jets lose.
Well, duh! That's how coverage goes these days. You're down one day, up the next, down the next. Those in the media will quickly admit that they'll pull out the old thermometer frequently during the season. The temperature of any team is of great interest to the fans. Besides, Scott should know that those boos he heard at MetLife Stadium last year were not because of the words, but the numbers.
But that's just Journalism 101. What's really funny is that Scott took Sunday to rattle his saber. One game. One win, leaving plenty of time for the Jets' ship to sink to the bottom of the AFC East lagoon as the Patriots sail over them.
Scott might have wanted to wait until early December, when maybe the Jets will own an 8-4 record, or some mark deserving of an attitude. Instead, on what should have been a happy, joyous day all around -- lots of positive stuff in the media and a happy Rex Ryan -- Scott doused all that with an ill-timed, premature contretemps.
Kind of makes you think that all those circus references weren't far off, right?
Perhaps Scott was just flexing his muscles after contributing three tackles. What he failed to realize is that the defense that held Buffalo to one touchdown over the first 40 minutes and change may lose its shutdown cornerback, Darrelle Revis, for next week's game in Pittsburgh. Thanks to Scott's errant extremity meeting Revis' noggin, he's got a mild concussion that doctors will watch closely over the next several days.
With all the attention to head injuries these days, it's not a long shot that the Jets' medical team could keep Revis sidelined. That would certainly affect pass coverage.
Bottom line, Scott did more harm than good with his little outburst. He made his team look foolish at 1-0, as if they needed any more bad press after a sometimes comical offseason.
The play was to smile, offer a vague answer, and say how delighted he was that for one day, everything came together. That his unit survived a late onslaught, and that he can see better days ahead.
That chip on his shoulder should have been stowed securely in his locker, right there with the shampoo and deodorant, to be pulled out at a more appropriate time.
The time might come when the Jets have more equity in the win column than they do now.
Until then, Scott should just smile and play nice with his media buddies.
Did Bart's "media mutiny" comments rub you the wrong way -- or does he have a point? Be heard in the comments below!
