Mangold Stunned into Silence by Jets' Performance: We Say "Horsesh*t, Nick"

We like Nick Mangold a lot. He's one of the few consistent bright spots on this Jets team, and he will one day be a perennial Pro Bowl guy (if this squad finds a way to not suck for awhile). He's a thinking man's player who works incredibly hard and hates to lose. All cliches, yes, but none of which are givens nowadays. In a word, Mangold is a throwback.


Not to mention, he's real close with his 16-year old sister who plays o-line for her Ohio high school...and this is real-deal HS ball. You can play O-line at 5-9, 310 with a 265-lb bench press and 565 on the 'ole squat rack. But this isn't about Holley. No, this is a story about a promising young blogger..silenced by suckiness.

You see, Nick Mangold began a blog earlier this year. And we must admit, when we first uncovered it, we were excited. We won't reveal how excited, because it was likely irrational. OK, "likely" is an unnecessary modifier. But player blogs are tricky. Most are crap, many are me-fests and some you can barely understand (in the case of Marshawn, though, this is a decidedly good thing. If previous commentary is any indication, the combination of Marshawn Lynch and blogging offers boundless possibilities). But a Nick Mangold blog? Now, we're intrigued.

Like eager kiddies who've just stumbled on a shiny, new toy we were looking forward to Mangold musings all season long. Why? First off, we like hearing about the behind-the-scenes stuff from the game. Second, the blogosphere has a smattering of football guys blogging, but it's mostly the pretty boys, quarterbacks, receivers and the like. It's not often you get a burly lumberjack of a center penning a blog. It's just...incongruent...or some such thing.

But this story, like the Jets season, does not have a happy ending (accept perhaps a high draft pick). And like the Jets season, our tracking of the Nick Mangold blog began with optimism. Although not groundbreaking or particularly compelling to the average fan, Mangold was blogging. He threw up a few posts and even got in a bit of a rhythm over the preseason and first few weeks of the regular season. I added him to my Google Reader. Then, suddenly, the music died.

It was October 9 and Mangold had just dropped a note about the coming week's opponent - the Philadelphia Eagles. Who knew it might be his final post of the year? Five days later Gang Green Jets fell to the Eagles in an inspired 16-9 defeat. Perhaps, that is when Mangold abandoned his blogging aspirations for 2007. You can't blame the guy.

On the one hand, we can understand. For starters, blogging ain't easy. It's time-consuming, and it's probably not the first thing I'd be looking to do in my spare time if I was a professional football player (particularly, when it's a lot easier to do this or this). Yet, we Jets fans do feel a bit abandoned by he of the long, golden locks. You have a blog and you have a responsibility, you know? You have a responsibility to go out and write on that f-in blog! (wow, was than an Adam Sandler movie reference?)

But such was not the case with Mr. Mangold. What's the matter 7-4? Don't want to talk about football anymore after a 1-5 start? Afraid you might get a few disgruntled fans commenting? Do you feel a bit like the picture that accompanies this article? Stunned, flabbergasted, depressed, so miserable that showing any emotion beyond a blank stare seems even too energy-zapping to muster? We know the feeling...and that's kind of the point.

We're still here. Yup. We're still here at 2-9 following your every move on our favorite sites. We'll be watching a game Sunday that many would not be surprised to see you lose. But, it's OK. We're going to continue to watch...and read...and listen every minute of the ongoing agony...just as we have all season.

So, what, you can't spare a paragraph or two? Either you're in or you're out. Apparently, you're out. Which should serve as a reminder that if you ain't ever been to the blogosphere...don't ever come to the blogosphere...'cause you wouldn't understand the blogosphere...that's right, Nick Mangold, you know how the rest goes.

So, see you never. We'll be right here where we always are...suffering. Don't mind us.

P.S. Issac Bruce is afflicted by silimar silence. Perhaps their own 2-9 mark could also have something to do with it.

posted at 8:25 AM