Geno Smith: The Jets' Savior?

I hate the New York Jets.

Nothing more that I wanted to start out with then that statement. I openly root against them. I think the fan base is laughable. Their coaching staff is a circus. There is nothing to like about the Jets.

Most of this emotion stems back to my father, who has an equal hatred for the Jets. So growing up, we would root against them, and root for my one NFL love, the New York Giants.

I remember the days of Chad Pennington and proclaiming that he will never win a Super Bowl (fact). I've been living through the Mark Sanchez era (the Sanchize!), also stating how he will never win a Super Bowl (looks like a fact).

I feel I've been pretty spot on.

But today, I have the solution to fixing the team I hate the most. The Jets need to start quarterback Geno Smith from day one.

There is absolutely no downside to this move. Let's step into a flash forward and I'll give you three scenarios that will come from making this move. And surprisingly, all scenarios lead to success.

1) Geno Smith is a complete bust
How can a player who lays an egg be a good move for the franchise? Because the 2014 NFL Draft class is going to be a gold mine for quarterbacks.

I've always had the mantra that I'd rather be really really bad then really really mediocre. Look what it did for my Giants? They went 4-12 (Taking by losing their last eight games) the season before drafting Eli Manning. They had the 5th pick in that draft and were able to maneuver and trade for the savior of their franchise.

And the Jets head into this coming season starting Smith. The fan base gets energized because there's some fresh blood at a position that has been average to bad for them for years.

Yes, this is the point where the Jet fan says "But Sanchez led us to two AFC Championships!"

The defense led them to two AFC Championships with Sanchez doing just enough to get them there. Remember, he had 12 TDs and 20 INTs in his rookie season. Is that a QB who lead his franchise? He didn't even throw a TD pass in a first-round victory over the Colts in his sophomore season. The defense was the star the entire time, masking mediocre performances. Eventually, NFL teams figured out that Sanchez was mediocre, and exposed him for the fraud he was. And now Sanchez needs to move on.

Smith looks awful most of the way his rookie season. He makes too many poor decisions, throwing 20+ INTs. Smith's numbers in college don't translate to the NFL. The wide-open offense that West Virginia ran hid Smith's faults. And the Jets completely bottom out. They go 3-13 and get the first overall pick in the NFL draft.

And that is where they can move on. Sanchez's contract is over. They rid themselves of the gigantic salary cap mess. And now they have the first pick in an extremely deep draft.

We don't know which QB prospect will make that leap, but there's going to be someone (I think multiple someones). Could it be A.J. McCarron, who has been as steady as you can be for Alabama? What about Teddy Bridgewater or Logan Thomas, both of whom are Geno Smith with much higher upside? Aaron Murray of Georgia has the arm and the pocket presence to be a great pro.

There's a star in that group, and the Jets can hit the reset button with one of them. And we know what a team can do if a top QB pick can pan out.

2) Geno Smith is a star
Obviously this scenario is easy. Smith comes into the league and puts on his RG3 shirt. He puts the franchise on his back and throws 25 TDs and just 6 INTs. He leads the Jets to an improbable 12-4 season, losing in the conference championships. But the Jets find their franchise QB for the next 15 years (Let's not forget that Smith would come at a fraction of the cost his first few seasons).

Smith is the type of QB that players want to play with. He runs around in the pocket, creating mismatches for opposing defenses. He opens up the running game because you never know when he'll take off.

This helps the Jets to bring in skill players. Wide Receivers WANT to come to the Jets. It's their opportunity to play with THE Geno Smith.

Smith being a star sells infinitely more jerseys than Sanchez ever did. Even at Sanchez's best, did anyone really love to watch him play? The NFL is a business, and Smith's skills translate to excitement to the common fan.

3) Geno Smith is average
I recall saying a little while ago that you don't want to be average. But in the Jets case, an 8-8 season might be the best medicine.

Let's say Smith looks decent, showing some flashes in his rookie season. He has some decent games and some had scratchers. An 8-8 season will do what the Jets have needed to do for years. It'll give them a reason to fire Rex Ryan.

Rex Ryan is a circus act. He brings clown shows to ridiculous press conferences, where he makes all these proclamations that land him on the cover of the New York Post. He's an outstanding defensive coordinator but nothing more. He is not an NFL Head Coach.

The Jets have needed a completely new staff for years. And 8-8 will do just that.

They can now bring in a coach that will fit their team. They have a QB in Smith with some promise, but a good coach will maximize that type of skill level. Look at RG3 and Mike Shanahan. Griffin may not have done what he did his rookie season if not for Shanahan and some of the formations and plays he installed. It was the perfect match.

And Smith and (fill in coach) can make that perfect match.

Whether Smith is a star, a bust, or somewhere in between, the Jets have options.

And it sickens me to come to that realization.

The Cereal Awards

Cereal is awesome.

Who doesn't love opening their cabinet door and looking at their selection of 2-3 cereals. You have the cereal box that is 3/4ths empty but that last quarter has been sitting there for weeks. There's the box of cereal that was just opened this morning yet already is half done. And of course, every cabinet has to have a fresh unopened box, just waiting to be experienced. Usually that box is opened wayyyyy before the other two boxes are finished, because everyone needs some variety in there life.

But which cereals are the best? Which are the worst? Without further ado, I present you with The Cereal Awards!

Best Supporting Cereal - Cheerios

Is Cheerios really anyone's favorite cereal? But you know what, it always is there when you need that snack. It's not going to be the first box you pickup at the supermarket. You'll buy it in March and it will still be in the back of your closet come June. But there's always room for one handful. General Mills realized this and created about ten other flavors of Cheerios. Honey Nut is arguably the best. But there's always room in my heart for just regular plain ole' Cheerios.

Best New Cereal - Krave

Have you had Krave? Really, you don't know what it is? Please go to your local CVS and buy three boxes immediately. It's amazingness in a bowl. It really shouldn't even be classified as a cereal. Restaurants should be serving it as a desert. Krave is crispy multi-grains with the catch being there's chocolate in the middle. Listen, I'm sure there's like 15 grams of sugar per serving, but your fooling yourself if you eat cereal for the health benefits (Does anyone know what a serving actually is? What is 3/4ths of a cup? Can't we change the universal definition of a cereal serving as a bowl). Anyway, just buy Krave. The End.

Cereal Most Likely to Send You To a Hospital - Captain Crunch

I don't remember the first time I took a bite out of Captain Crunch, but I certainly remember a good amount of times. And man, it hurts. You take a nice amount, and then bam, the top of your mouth gets all scratched up. Captain Crunch is made for around three to four bites. Anymore, and you are feeling it for days.

Lifetime Achievement Award - Fruity/Coco Pebbles

What a great cereal. The duo combines everything you want. Tasty, easy to eat, bang for your buck. A little expert tip is to mix the two and you get just an infusion of fruit and chocolate. This cereal type started in 1971! Unbelievable how it has lasted. And according to Wikipedia, there's been like ten versions. This is where I get sucked in for about twenty minutes, because who knew there was a Dino Smores Cereal. It lasted a few years, but had a bone, marshmallow, and piece of chocolate. I'd probably pay $30 a box for this today. Anyway, anytime I have trouble picking out a cereal at the supermarket, I always go to my go-to duo.

Cereal That Needs To Go Away - Frosted Mini Wheats

I find myself buying FMW about once a year, and everytime, I find myself unsatisfied at the end. It's a terrible cereal to mix with milk, because quite a few things happen.

A) The little straws of wheat get so soggy that they break apart like a poorly made canoe. Eventually, you have a pond full of wheat.

B) The sugar dissolves. 90% of the allure of FMW is a vat of sugar on each bite, but the milk takes away all of the fun.

C) It's impossible to cleanup after completion. I'm not going to eat all that excess wheat. But yet, you have to somehow clean your bowl. If you spill the milk out, your sink is full of this seaweed (I realized while writing this that I'm absolutely hate the word wheat, so seaweed sounded better). If you pour it all in the garbage, your garbage becomes a dripping mess.

MVC (Most Valuable Cereal) - Lucky Charms

We had some great nominees for this category. In the end, nothing beats my Lucky Charms. The commercial ropes you in, with that little green guy hopping around happily. Always gets me in the mood. What I love about LC is you can eat it numerous ways. I usually will try to have a marshmallow-to-oats ratio of 75%/25% in my spoon each and every time. Some people like to go all mallows, or even all oats, saving the mallows for last. Anyway you eat it, it's consistently top notch. There's even a bit of mystery to LC, because I couldn't identify half of the shapes.

The Death of Apple? Nope

These are the following quotes that people have posted in the last few months:

“Apple is done”…….“Apple’s products are stale”……“Apple’s profit margin is awful”....."Bye Bye Apple"

Well then, I guess Apple is going bankrupt.

Apple just announced their earnings for the first quarter. They only sold 37.4 million iPhones. They had a measley 19.5 million iPads sold. And oh yea, their revenue was $43.6 billion. Wait, what? But I thought Apple was done? Wasn’t this a company that has had their stock price drop from $700 to $390? The stock market IS the pulse of how a company is doing.

Just avoid everything you hear. Apple is the best company on the planet. And if anyone has money just sitting in their bank account, it’ll be the best long-term investment you’ll ever make.

Apple’s stock price is going to be much higher next year at this time. It'll be even higher every year after. The problem with the stock market (in the short term) is that it is controlled by robots that manipulate share prices so it can get in at the price they want it at. But when you cut out all of the noise, you’ll realize this is the same Apple we’ve grown to love over the last decade. The potential product road map is going to turn their $10/share a quarter earnings into $15/share. They are going to inevitably release new and crazier versions of the iPhone, iPad, and Mac books. After that, you’ll see some form of a TV or a watch or some other crazy gadget no one is talking about.

The iTV is going to be the biggie. In the fantasy technology world that lives inside my head, Apple would buy Netflix and would create this ultimate streaming service that would eventually change the way we watch TV. Picture never having to flip through channels again. You can just stream anything you want at anytime. Your voice would be the remote control. All of Apple’s gadgets would be synced together, so you’d have to be part of their ecosphere. All of the technology is there for this and I think it is going to happen (Okay, Apple isn’t buying Netflix. But the iTv? It’s coming). The question is “When?”.

And that’s the problem. “When?”

The Apple hatred has built up over the last couple of months. People think that since the Jobs passed away, the innovation is dead. All I keep hearing is how Apple will just put out the same forms of their existing products until little by little, their market share goes away. And then eventually, every other company is just going to pass them and Apple will be a forgotten company.

I'm not some crazy Apple blogger that dissects their every move. I have no insight into anything outside of what I read. But there was about 3% of me that bought into all the hate Then I remembered, I’ve heard this song and dance before. When the iPod came out, people thought it was a cool little niche product, but there’d be a million better copycats that would eventually just take away Apple’s market share. Didn’t happen, did it? We heard the same ripping months after their Mac books, iPhones, iPads. It was the same trashing over and over.

So my question: Is Apple is done?

Time To Blog

I’ve always wanted to be a writer. I think some people are born with a small amount of ability to write, and that grows to a point where you just have to write. I know plenty of people who hate to write. I don’t get it. And they don’t get why I enjoy to write.

I’ve always hated grammar. I like to write how I think and speak. Who cares if you put a comma in a wrong spot?

I’ve always hated to proofread my own writing. Whenever I re-read things I’ve written, I end up just deleting 80% of what I’ve written and it becomes a mess.

So what will this blog entail? Just my own random thoughts about anything I feel like. I’m not going to care if Merriam-Webster finds my writing completely against their codes. I’m not going to go back and proofread it. It’s just going to be whatever comes out of my head.

It’s always been a goal of mine to write a book. I’ve tried, and my laziness as always gotten the best of me. I’ve even tried to start a blog with friends. But even that got old. Then my wonderful fiance said to me "Just start a blog!"

This is going to fill everything I’ve wanted in a blog. I write what I want and how I want. I’m not going to give myself deadlines. It’s just going to be all my thoughts on one spot.

That’s my definition of writing.