Question

A new year, a new arrogant, pig-headed tool of a coach for the Jets, who badmouths the Pats, the division, the conference, puppies, love, sunshine and babies, for no other reason than he’s the new Jets coach.

A new year, a new declaration that the Jets will win the division, the conference and the Superbowl by a million points and hang out with Hugh Hefner snorting blow off Mickey Mouse in the victory parade.

A new year, a new draft in which every single Jets draftee is declared an instant Pro Bowl all-star who will set Randy Moss receiving records or Tom Brady-like passing records or get more sacks than Michael Strahan, and sometimes, all three.

By comparison, the ‘Phins are a classy organisation and have a good mix of young, skilled players and solid vets who work hard and do their job without mouthing off (Joey Porter excepted). The ’Phins may be rivals, but they’re not enemies – Tom Brady being friends with Jason Taylor, a QB and a sack-master respectively, says a lot. While I’m sure most Pats fans don’t wish the ‘Phins too much success (because that’d damage the Pats), I don’t think they wish for ’Phins failure so much either.

The Bills are in an unfortunate position with having a bad coaching unit (special teams the exception) and a strange drafting/free agent signing/trading practice. They’re a middle of the road team, and they know it, so they don’t badmouth anyone. They’re genuinely hard to hate because they’re rather bland.

You can respect the Colts, Dolphins, and feel sorry for the Bills.

The Jets, well, not so much.

“Hate” is a really strong term for me, especially when talking about fans. I really can’t bring myself to hate the fans of another team, because I know they just feel the same loyalty and pride for the team they love that I have for the Pats. But I can sure as hell get annoyed and irritated at a team’s success, even if I don’t have issues with the fanbase.

t’s always from the same crowd of teams, but generally my “fan ire” is directed at one of the Jets, Dolphins, Chargers, Colts, Steelers. Wherever there is a friction of sorts with these teams, I feel it.

With the Jets, it’s usually the front office / coaching issues that get me riled up. The Dolphins, though division rivals, only really started irking me the past couple of years because of Joey Porter. Chargers I couldn’t stand while Tomlinson was always complaining about Belichick, but as he has begun to wane into football irrelevance, so too has my irritation for San Diego.

The Steelers and Colts, as perennial playoff opponents, I have a ton of respect for. They only really get me going when some of their fans start talking about the Patriots as if they kill babies and steal from children, and then take it a step further and think that because we root for them, we must be baby-killing thieves as well. The amount of vitriol and hate New England receives from them at any given time directly correlates to how much I can’t stand those teams at that moment.

That really applies to any team, but since we see those two very often when something huge is on the line, it really amplifies the frequency with which I see that stuff. I saw a signature the other day that was something like “God hates Patriot fans.” To me, that goes beyond football and the decency that we should all accord one another as human beings. Stuff like that may not cut me that deep, but I think of the grade school kids whose only offense to these rival fanbases was to be born in the Boston area and follow the team their mom and dad love, and it makes me pretty angry to think of people directing that kind of sentiment at them.