On December 28, 2008 I was given a late Christmas present – the opportunity to watch the New York Jets play the Dolphins, at home, with my team locking up a playoff berth with a Jets win.   Unfortunately for me, I’m a Patriots fan and these are the Jets.

I pretty much knew the Patriots had the game wrapped up all week, but with 50 MPH winds in Buffalo, you never could tell.    The score was only 3-0 New England at half time, with assist to this random dude who held the goal post for Gostkowski.  

Quarterbacks were a combined 20-33, 206 yards, 0 TDs – it was a quick, low scoring game.   Once LaMont Jordan scored a TD in the 3rd quarter to make it 10-0, I knew the game was effectively over, and that only meant one thing.  It was time to be a Jets fan. 

I immediately got ready as I knew that the GUNSLINGER the VETERAN the MVP the SHOW STOPPER Shawn Michaels Brett Favre was ready for some football.  Every Jets fan knows that #4 is set on a Super Bowl ring, and as long as the Jags won BRO we’d be OK.    No way Chaaad Pennington and his limp dick arm comes into the Meadowlands and beats us, son!    

Long story short, Favre sucked dick to the tune of 20-40, 233 yards 1 TD 3 INT.   Ironically, for all the talk of how much of a great cold weather quarterback Favre is, he has actually been one of the worst in the league in December over the last 4 seasons, with 30 interceptions to just 12 touchdowns.   The Dolphins were a hungry team, and you know Chaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad wanted some revenge on the dickhead Jets fans who booed him out of New Jersey.  Either way, I was still a Jets fan and I knew that after we had pulled ahead 17-14 early in the 3rd that we were pulling away for an easy win.   Nah, that’s bullshit.   As a real Jets fan, I knew that this was exactly when the Jets became the Jets and knew they were fucked.    Once the Dolphins scored a touchdown like two seconds later I decided to go back to being a Patriots fan and thinking the Jets were scumbags.   I don’t think I had to change my opinion much from when I was a Jets fan. 

Without going crazy with stats, the 11-5 Patriots are by far the best team to miss the playoffs in NFL history, but shit happens.  We’ll franchise Caaaaaaaasel and trade him to the Lions for the #1 pick and win another Super Bowl.   I may be a Patriots fan, but I’m not stupid; I’m friends with many Jets fans and I have seen many Jets games.  Once I knew that getting to the playoffs was dependent on a Jets win, at home at that, I knew one thing for damn sure –

BASEBALL SEASON HAS BEGUN!

No matter where you turn right now, all you will hear is recession this recession that.    For the most part, being in a recession is relatively easy to define.   Jobs are scarcer; many people are forced to stay in, or accept jobs that are below their skill and/or education level, and many people cannot find work at all.      For the general public, the percentage of (eligible) workers unemployed is one of the most common statistics to be quoted in bad times, one of the easiest to understand and the one statistic that will truly ‘hit home’ so to speak.     I’m going to try to break down what exactly is going on in pretty broad terms so that you can know more than most people without having to learn all the finance bullshit I know.