No matter how much it hurts the residents of Cleveland, ‘The King’ was ready to return if he could have convinced Bosh to come to town. The Cavalier organization was already going through changes with the firing of head coach Mike Brown and the hiring of Byron Scott. If Bosh shunned James’ invitation to take the same offer from Wade to come to South Beach, then that speaks volumes about the state of the organization.

Bosh apparently did not see the same upside in Cleveland as he did in Miami and you can even take it a step further by making an assumption that he felt Wade was a better teammate than James. There was no guarantee that James would join them with the Heat when Bosh agreed to sign.

Speaking of that, Bosh deciding on Miami played a big part in Wade not signing with his hometown Bulls. The Chicago native was torn apart by not coming home, but ultimately chose to stay in Florida once Bosh told him his intentions.

Weighing his options, James had to see the grass greener on the southern side of the street. Without Bosh, Cleveland did not look as rosy. And although the Knicks signed Amar’e Stoudemire to a five-year, $100-million contract trying to lure him, James must have felt that New York was still years away from contending for a championship. Chicago? Perhaps if Wade had signed there, but James would still have been playing in Michael Jordan’s shadow forever.

When it was all said and done, James choosing Miami should not have come as a surprise, and it didn’t if you read our article posted earlier in the day of “The Decision.” What did cause some shock is that it was Bosh, and not James, who played the biggest part in free agency.

Numerous sources around the league, including Chris Broussard of ESPN The Magazine, have cited that James will indeed make Miami his choice. It is merely a formality at this point.

The first real clue came on Wednesday when Wade and Bosh announced live on ESPN SportsCenter that they had decided on Miami. Both were coy when asked about LeBron joining them in South Beach and said that ‘The King’ needed to make up his own mind. But it was the way they seemed extra giddy about it, their own mega-millions contracts notwithstanding.

So what does this mean for the teams that were left at the altar? It is most disastrous to the Cleveland Cavaliers, a franchise that was less than an afterthought before James came around. Things could have been much different is James was able to convince Bosh to come to Ohio, but the former Raptor did not want to play for the Cavs and his move to Miami set the wheels in motion for James to go south. Now the Cavs have to regroup with not much to show for the offseason with the exception of new head coach Byron Scott, an upgrade over the dismissed Mike James.

The Knicks have been shooting for James for the past two seasons and president Donnie Walsh’s salary cap clearing was geared for just that. Their signing of Amar’e Stoudemire does not have the same effect without James and they will once again be a team in search of a star player. Another part of this move is that Stoudemire just happens to play the same position as David Lee, who is an automatic double-double and the Knicks most consistent player the past two years.

The Bulls were a team that appeared to be in a great position only a few days ago, but it all blew up in their faces. Wade had notified the Heat that his family situation would play a part in his decision and his children reside in Chicago. If he had decided to go to his hometown, then James was said to be very attracted to the Windy City. Their consolation prize? Carlos Boozer, not exactly someone to light it up every night.

Two other teams that did get some of LeBron’s time to court him were the Nets and Clippers, but neither had a legitimate shot at the top free agent in NBA history.

How interesting is it that Bosh – and not James – became the key free agent this summer that dictated where others signed?

Back then, with the Cold War in full effect and the Red Menace stalking the free world, the group of youngsters wearing the red, white and blue had more than just a medal at stake. The 4-3 win over the Soviet Union was akin to David killing Goliath. The Russians were the world power in hockey and a year earlier, had beaten the NHL All-Stars two games to one in the Challenge Cup at Madison Square Garden. Then just a few days before the Olympics began, they drubbed the US hockey team 10-2 at the same venue.

Both teams had played exceptionally well leading up to the semi-final game. The Americans were surprising everyone with wins versus Czechoslovakia and West Germany while the USSR was doing what was expected of them. The game itself was not even deemed important enough at the time to be shown on live television, with most figuring that the Russians would win in a cake walk. But by the time ABC showed it on tape delay a few hours later, the majority of the country was already aware of the shocking upset.

Just how did they pull it off? Many point to the decision to pull starting goaltender Vladislav Tretiak, who was the top minder on the planet, after he let up a soft goal at the end of the first period to let the US get level at 1-1. Many suspected that the decision came from high above, something that head coach Viktor Tikhonov later suggested.

“I don’t think that I should have been replaced in that game,” Tretiak wrote in his autobiography. “I had made so many mistakes already, I was confident my play would only improve. (Back-up gaoltender Vladimir Myshkin) is an excellent goalie, but he wasn’t prepared for the struggle, he wasn’t ‘tuned in’ to the Americans.”

At the end of the second period, the Soviets clearly dominated but only had a slim 3-2 advantage. Mark Johnson scored his second goal of the game on a power play to knot things up and team captain Mike Eruzione scored the eventual game-winner with 10 minutes left in the contest. For once, youth was an advantage over experience with the faster US squad able to beat the veteran Soviets to the puck and hang on for dear life.

Even in the waning seconds, the game was still in the balance. This set up the most memorable call in sports history when television announcer Al Micheals said, “You’ve got 10 seconds; the countdown going on right now. Five seconds left in the game. Do you believe in miracles? Yes!”

Lake Placid was a microcosm of an entire nation that Friday, and when the US beat Finland two days later by a score of 4-2 to win the gold medal, it seemed like a formality.

The changes that have taken place since then in the world and in hockey are immeasurable. A few players from that Russian team ended up in the NHL once the wall of communism fell, an unfathomable thought at the time. With the continued complaints that other nations were sending professionals to compete against collegiate-level players, some genius made the decision to put together ‘Dream Teams.’

Sure, the first one with the NBA players (plus Christian Laetenner, who was still in college in 1992) was fun to see, but the novelty wore thin after that. Having regular season teammates go against each other in the Olympics takes some of the excitement out of it and winning does not have the same importance.

Playing for your country does have a different aura to it than anything else, but for a millionaire who already has a Stanley Cup to his name, this break in the middle of the season may be more of a distraction and hindrance than anything else.

There is no way to top the accomplishments of the 1980 team. Having the NHL players even try is comical.

We certainly are right in that mix, having predicted that the Indianapolis Colts would not only win their second championship in four years, but do so easily. Boy, were we wrong. Drew Brees (32 for 39, 288 yards, two touchdowns) led the New Orleans Saints to their first title and was named the game MVP in the 31-17 victory. When his team needed a strong drive, he delivered. Neither Brees nor Saints head coach Sean Payton panicked when they trailed 10-0 in the first quarter and they stayed with an agressive game plan.

They went for it on 4th-and-goal from the 2-yard line in the second quarter (one in which they dominated) and came up short, but that didn’t stop them from going for a little trickery and recovering an onside kick to start the third quarter. The ensuing drive led to a touchdown and put New Orleans ahead, 13-10.

“We talked about it at halftime and it’s really a credit to every one of these players here,” said Payton. “There’s not enough room on this stage for all of them, but they carried out this play and I’m just proud. I’m proud of this team.”

The Colts answered with a 76-yard drive that culminated in a 4-yard burst into the end zone by running back Joseph Addai. No one could have surmised at the time that the 17-13 lead they now held would have been their last of the night.

Garrett Hartley hit a 47-yard field goal to cut the deficit to one and then in the fourth quarter, Brees went 7-for-7 on the drive of the game. He hit tight end Jeremy Shockey for a 2-yard scoring pass and then made it 24-17 by completing another pass on the two-point conversion.

Manning (31 for 45, 333 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception) took over with 5:42 remaining in the contest and was taking the underneath routes that the Saints defense was giving him. When he tried to go downfield, he was picked off by Tracy Porter, who brought it back 74 yards and the exclamation point.

When the scoreboard showed the final score, Bourbon Street exploded like 10 combined Mardi Gras parades. An unlikely turnover by arguably one of the best quarterbacks in the game sealed the deal, and pinpoint accuracy by his adversary led to that.

Photo By Bill Menzel

Sorry, pal. I’ve got some harsh news for you. This is football and you get paid to play the games on your schedule, regardless of what the other head coach decides to do with his personnel. Sure, if Peyton Manning didn’t get pulled in Week 16, we may not be having this conversation right now. But it wasn’t as if the Jets were getting their asses handed to them when the just-named 2009 NFL MVP went to the bench in favor of an overwhelmed Lance Painter.

Rex Ryan’s crew was only trailing by five points when Manning took off his helmet and replaced with a baseball cap and ultimately a frown that was caught by all the cameras. He was seeing the Colts’ undefeated season go up in smoke, but could have he been thinking ahead and that he wanted no part of seeing a hot team with a swarming defense coming back at them in the playoffs?

If The Colts would have put the Jets away, their home loss the week before to Atlanta would have been their legacy. But instead, their pulse was getting better and they had their sights set on a Cincinnati Bengals team who had the opportunity to not only end the Jets’ season, but clinch the third seed in the AFC because of the Patriots’ loss earlier in the day on the final Sunday.

Outside of running back Cedric Benson, the Bengals played their starters into the third quarter and were getting their clocks cleaned. Quarterback Carson Palmer went 1-for-11 for zero yards and the team had 72 yards total offense. Say whatever you want to try to justify that and it is impossible to do. The Jets made the playoffs as the AFC’s fifth seed courtesy of their 37-0 whitewashing on Sunday Night Football.

Momentum at this time of the year can go a long way and by basically shutting it down, both the Bengals and Colts made critical mistakes. We all know that it carried over to Saturday’s AFC Wild Card game, when the Jets ousted Cincinnati by a score of 24-14. Even when the Bengals were up 7-0, the game was being controlled by the Jets. Palmer’s accuracy was horrendous and he overthrew his receivers regularly. If it weren’t for Benson’s performance and a drop in the end zone by Braylon Edwards, the difference would have been even wider.

Now the Jets must travel to San Diego to face the red-hot Chargers, winners of 11 straight. This match-up was the result of the Baltimore Ravens knocking off the higher-seeded Patriots in New England.

It’s been a wild ride for the Jets, but all they need to do is keep playing a tight defense and effectively grind it out on the ground. Rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez has been efficient and has stayed away from throwing the interceptions that were killing him just a few short weeks ago.

Can the Jets beat a team like the Chargers? Well, we didn’t think they would even still be around so let’s not sell them short just yet. Yes, the Bolts do have a very potent offense but their defense leaves a lot to be desired and could be exposed by some shrewd play calling. We already know that the Jets can run the ball, so if they are able to opne things up a bit with not only Sanchez but also Brad Smith (in the Jets formation of the Wildcat, called the “Tiger”), this game may be a close one

If the underdogs prevail again in the AFC this upcoming weekend, the Jets will actually host the conference championship versus Baltimore - perhaps the most unlikely scenario of all.

Photo by William J. Hauser

Although they still have a long way to go, the Jets (5-6) can at least think about the playoffs if not talk about them. But that word didn’t even come up after the game. “This was a great team win,” head coach Rex Ryan said. “It feels good to say that. It’s been a while.”

The team’s much-maligned secondary stepped up on this day with four interceptions and sent 76,381 fans home happy. It all began on the Panthers’ opening drive, one in which they converted three third down plays. Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme then tried to hit Steve Smith on a slant that would have gone for a big gain, but there was apparent miscommunication and the wideout had yet to turn in. The ball caromed off his heel up in the air and right into the hands of Darrelle Revis, who returned it 67 yards for the Jets first defensive touchdown of the season.

“The great ones are lucky,” joked Ryan.

After trading field goals, the Jets capitalized on Delhomme’s third pick of the day when Kerry Rhodes – who was removed from the starting line-up this week in favor of Eric Smith – pulled down the floater and brought it back to the Carolina 38-yard line.

“The message was sent to me by Coach and now I’m moving on,” said Rhodes, who also had another interception and received a game ball. The Jets extended their lead to 14-3 when Thomas Jones (25 carries for 75 yards, 1 touchdown) plunged into the end zone from three yards out.

The big talk all week leading up to this game was that Ryan was going to take a more active role in the offense to try to cut down on the mistakes of his rookie quarterback. A more conservative game plan seem to benefit Mark Sanchez, who completed 13 out of 17 for 154 yards and one interception, but the USC product was not totally satisfied with his performance.

“I was playing smart on offense and we still gave up a couple of turnovers,” he said. “They (the coaches) were telling me in the meetings, ‘If you take a sack, that’s OK. Just don’t lose the ball.’”

Ryan added, “I thought he did a great job. He really managed the game well and had some nice runs. When in doubt, he checked the ball down.”

At one point in the third quarter, Sanchez was shaken up with an apparent knee injury and missed the majority of one series, but returned the next one. “He said he was good to go,” Ryan said. “I was just anxious to get him back in there.” Sanchez had the knee checked out by the team’s medical staff after the game and said that there was nothing abnormal found.

The Jets sealed the win with a 47-yard field goal by Feeley with 3:39 left to make the score 17-6. The big play on the drive was a 16-yard completion to converted running back Danny Woodhead on third down to move the chains.

“Coach put me in a great situation, Mark put the ball on me and the line did a great job so I just had to make the catch,” the wide receiver humbly said.

The Jets do not have much time to enjoy this win due to the Thursday night affair against the Bills in Toronto. “This is a short week for us, so we can enjoy it for about five hours,” said Ryan.

Better to enjoy the victory than wallow in another loss.

Photo by William J. Hauser

Besides all of the verbal barbs being traded during the week leading up to the game, Ryan made a plea to the fan base to step it up a notch, too. A recorded telephone message went out to all of the Jets season ticket holders telling them to make some noise and the 78,312 in attendance didn’t disappoint. The Patriots had four delay of game penalties called on them and the crowd was a major factor in the Jets snapping a home eight-game losing streak to their division rivals.

“The fans were huge in this victory,” said Ryan. “We’re giving them a game ball and putting it in our trophy case. This was a great win.”

The Jets offense put up just enough points to earn the victory while their staunch defense pitched a shutout as far as giving up touchdowns for the second consecutive game. “We’ve been preaching the whole time that if you do your job good things are going to happen to everybody,” safety Jim Leonhard, who finished the day with four tackles. “In the first two games, there have been guys all over the place making plays…different guys. No one is trying to do extra right now. Everyone is just doing their job.”

The mentality going into the game was to get New England quarterback Tom Brady off of his. Giving the perennial All-Pro different looks up until the last drive accomplished that. “If he knows what kind of defense you’re in, chances are he’s going to find the right spot to throw it to. You have to try to confuse him as much as you can. It doesn’t happen very often.

“On that last drive, we weren’t going to just sit back,” added Leonhard. “We were coming after him.”

Brady finished 23 for 47 for 216 yards, one interception and – most importantly – zero touchdowns. He led the Pats (1-1) to three field goals on drives that never seemed to get going. “We just didn’t do a good enough job,” Belechick said of his team’s struggles in the red zone. “They did a better job than we did.

A game of field goals resulted in a 9-3 halftime lead for the Pats. The Jets came out throwing in the second half when quarterback Mark Sanchez (14 for 22, 163 yards, one touchdown) found wideout Jerricho Cotchery open for a 45-yard gain to the New England 11-yard line. Two plays later, the rookie out of Southern Cal hit tight end Dustin Keller in the end zone and the Jets found themselves ahead, 10-9.

The Jets extended their lead to four points with 8:26 left in the third quarter but were close to making it more with an apparent six-yard touchdown pass from Sanchez to wide receiver Chancey Stuckey. The Patriots challenged the play and it was reversed after instant replays showed that he only had one foot in bounds. Although they had to settle for a short field goal, Sanchez did not see that as a negative.

“Those two drives coming out of halftime were great,” he said. “We really responded.”

Feeley hit his fourth field goal of the game, a 39-yarder, with 9:48 to go to extend the lead to 16-9. That is when the Jets had to bear down and hold on in a one-score game. Perhaps the biggest play of the day came on the ensuing drive. New England was facing a third-and-one situation at their own 37-yard line with 7:51 left in the game. Running back Fred Taylor tried to go left but was swarmed by linebackers Bryan Thomas and Bart Scott for a one-yard loss, forcing them to punt the ball away.

“That was a big momentum changer,” Thomas said. “They tried to load our defense to the right side so we knew at that time that they were going to try to do something to get that quick first down.”

The Jets improved to 2-0 on the young season and will face Tennessee next Sunday at the Meadowlands. The Titans are surprisingly winless so far after going 13-3 a year ago. As Ryan put it, “I get to enjoy (this win) for about a half an hour.

Although the Jets did win in Tennessee in 2008 to snap the Titans 10-game winning streak, there isn’t the same intense rivalry like the match-ups with the Patriots. So don’t expect a lot of bulletin board material this week.

“The big deal is, we’re a football team that should be respected,” said Ryan. “Sometimes we talk a little bit, but only because we have confidence in our football team.”

With two impressive wins to begin the campaign, as well they should.

Photo by Jim Leary

The Rex Ryan era in New York has not even begun and he already has to deal with a little controversy. Calvin Pace, one of his starting linebackers, has been suspended for the first four games of the regular season for using a banned substance, which has yet to be identified.

“Calvin Pace of the New York Jets has been suspended without pay for the team’s first four regular-season games of 2009 for violating the NFL policy on performance enhancing substances,” said an NFL spokesperson. “Pace’s suspension begins on Saturday, September 5. He is eligible to return to the Jets’ active roster on Monday, October 5 following the team’s October 4 game against the New Orleans Saints. Pace is eligible to participate in all preseason practices and games.”

Pace, who joined the Jets last year after signing as a free agent from Arizona, said in a statement, “This is a situation that resulted from an over-the-counter dietary supplement that contained a substance that I did not know violated the League’s policy. I am responsible for what I put into my body and I should have paid closer attention to the League’s guidelines. I regret that this has happened and apologize to my teammates, the entire Jets organization as well as the fans. Hopefully, this does not distract from our ultimate goal of winning the Super Bowl.”

The Jets stated that they respected the league’s decision and look forward to Pace’s return once the suspension is served.

This may open the door for Vernon Gholston to get some quality playing time. After being selected sixth overall in the 2008 NFL Draft, he was a complete bust and fell into former head coach Eric Mangini’s doghouse. The second-year outside rushing linebacker, who already was getting a fresh start with Ryan, may benefit the most out of this.

The NFL has a long list of banned substances, which is in their “Policy on Anabolic Steroids and Related Substances.” If you have an hour or two to kill, here it is:

As far as first impressions go, Rex Ryan did quite well for himself on Wednesday. His first statement actually received applause, something that is not the norm at a press conference introducing a head coach in the NFL.

The former Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator commented that he was looking for the new president a day after Barrack Obama’s inauguration because of all the cameras in the room. With a smile, he said, “I think we’ll get to meet him in the next couple of years anyway.” Ryan knows first hand that the Super Bowl champions visit the White House, as he did back in 2000 when Baltimore won Super Bowl XXXV.

Things always look and sound wonderful on a brand new coach’s first day on the job. Even when Rich Kotite was named back in 1995, no one could foresee that he would win only four games in his two years at the helm. So take this with a grain of salt. But Ryan did say a few things that haven’t been heard in these parts since Bill Parcells went away.

“You’re going to see an attack team here,” he said and referenced that they will be aggressive on both sides of the ball and on special teams and that it will be noticeable on their first day on the practice field. “We will have an all weather offense, and that starts with the running game,” he continued.

He also gave a message to the league: “The Jets are coming and we’re going to give you everything we’ve got, and that’s going to be, I think, more than you can handle.”

Just who is going to lead the Jets as the field general remains to be seen. The first question posed to Ryan was about Brett Favre, who will turn 40 in September when the new coach’s rookie season kicks off. The former Green Bay Packer had a rough last five games this past season and may require surgery to repair a torn biceps muscle, that is, if he decides to play another season or finally retire for good.

“I would think anybody would want him as their quarterback,” said Ryan, and reminisced about a game that Favre had against his Ravens back in 2001. Considering that was eight years ago, it really didn’t pertain to the future Hall of Famer’s current abilities, which have been greatly questioned. The Jets hierarchy of owner Woody Johnson and general manager Mike Tannenbaum has made it no secret that they want Favre back. It goes without saying that Ryan had little choice but to side with them if he wanted this job, if he honestly believes Favre is finished or not.

Sounding as if it were wishful thing, Ryan said, “He (Favre) may make that decision for us. We’ll look at it when the time comes.” The best-case scenario would be that Favre retires and lets the Jets know that right away. He has stated that he would let them know in February so they can prepare for the upcoming free agency period and NFL Draft.

The feeling is that taking over a team that had nine wins gives you a good opportunity for fast improvement. “There really doesn’t have to be a drastic change,” Ryan said, but followed that up by saying that there will be drastic changes in the style of play, particularly on defense.

Ryan also spoke of a philosophy that the team will have, which is a take on the K.I.S.S. (Keep it simple, stupid) saying. “Ours is a K.I.L.L. philosophy; we’re going to ‘Keep it likable and learnable.’”

Not what you would expect after hearing the word ‘kill,’ but words are words and actions are actions. And no one ever held the Lombardi Trophy with words.

If you’re going to get fired from your job as a head coach in the NFL, you would rather your holiday season interrupted than getting the false impression that you’ll be around for draft scouting meetings. The main reason for this is that teams look to make decisions within the first two weeks following the regular season and have either signed someone or conducted multiple interviews to narrow down that decision.

That process has already taken place around the league, and even the teams that haven’t announced their new head coach yet due to his current team still playing have had plenty of time to make up their minds. An example of this is the New York Jets, who are rumored to be ready to announce the hiring of Rex Ryan once the Baltimore Ravens’ season concludes.

What makes the Tampa Bay situation even more puzzling is that they hired from within. A day after canning the man playfully known as ‘Chucky,’ the Bucs introduced Raheem Morris as head coach, less than a month after he was promoted to defensive coordinator after serving two years as the defensive back coach under Gruden.

Whatever happened behind closed doors down in Tampa must have been pretty interesting. This decision seems to have been made hastily and possibly pursuant to a disagreement between Gruden and the Buc hierarchy.