Thomas Jones

While I don't remember exactly what I was watching, I do clearly remember seeing the espn crawl when the Jets traded for Thomas Jones, specifically because I had to see it three times to make sure I wasn't missing something. I immediately called the Dogg to confirm what my eyes wouldn't believe. All we had to give up was what? That's it? This guy just ran them to the friggin' Super Bowl, why would the Bears trade him to us for nothing? What don't we know about this guy, is he damaged goods? And then I blurted out the words I wish I could take back:

"With our luck he'll probably blow out his MCL in the first pre-season game."

Now at this point it is important to highlight a footnote of family history. My uncles have had season tickets to the Jets since they played at Shea, and their current seats are five rows behind the Jets bench. In that fateful season of 1998 my aunt had won a Jets Super-Fan contest which entitled her to an all expense paid trip for two to the Super Bowl if the Jets made it (she has acheived a special level of hatred for Keith Byars that cannot be described in mere words).

After sulking for about a month after the Debacle in Denver, Jet fans licked their wounds, bucked up and said you know what, we're gonna go out in '99 and steamroll the AFC. We're due. That attitude was palpable in the car ride to the Meadowlands as my uncle stated emphatically "We've got the D! We've got the weapons on offense! We've got the Tuna! As long as Vinny doesn't get hurt we're going to the Super Bowl baby!"

Needless to say, Vinny was hurt almost instantly. All was not lost as his immediate replacement lead the team valiantly for the remainder of the first half. Unfortunately Parcells made the curious decision to go with lifetime zero Rick Mirer over punter/phenom QB Tom Tupa in the second half when Tupa was on fire in the first. Shellshock from losing Vinny made Tuna stick with Mirer until the Big Man was awakened by the loud crashing sound of the season imploding and sent in Ray Lucas, the superior option all along, to nurse us to a respectable 8-8. The lone bright spot of the season was that we held off on booking those hotel reservations for the big game.

What I'm hoping is that my family history doesn't repeat itself. My original quote said first preseason game, Jones got hurt in practice. I also predicted that he would blow out his MCL, he apparently has something curiously known as a lisfranc sprain. This is one of those new injuries that didn't exist 10 years ago, like a sports hernia. In layman's terms I think he has a sprained ankle. But just in case, let's just say its a good thing Ben Graham used to play rugby.