Not only have Jets coach Rex Ryan and Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder put their offseason war of words behind them, but they've come together in their assesment of the spat.
Ryan: "If I had to do one thing over, [verbally sparring with Crowder] would probably be it."
Crowder: "He got caught up in the game...as a coach, you can't do that."
And isn't that just like Crowder, the obliging adult version of the brat that kicks you in the shins and then points out your anger problem. His trash talk has prompted more than a few people to observe that his lip would go over better if he were producing on the field.
Those people, however, are wrong: until Crowder produces on the field, the least he can do is entertain us.
Fortunately, Crowder has other Jets to pick on, most notably running back Leon Washington, whom Crowder knows from his days as a Gator:
"We do not like each other. With Florida State, I hated him. I hate him now. If I see him out, I'm not going to talk to him.
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I'm not going to slap him, but I'm not going to be pleasant.
Every time he sees me, he starts cussing. I see him and I start cussing. It's going to be like that the whole game."
Someone's feeling good about the Fins being no. 2 in rushing yards allowed, but does Channing Crowder like anyone? Actually, yes: there's the lady at Publix who gives him a cookie. But not the Jets' rookie QB Mark Sanchez, though his dresssing down will be less personal and more a honey-do item:
"Sanchez is probably the only person I haven't cussed out, because he's a rookie. He'll get cussed out this week."
We look forward to that, but the problem is that talk will happen on the field where we can't hear it -- leaving us with Dolphins-related thoughts that are a lot less entertaining and a ton more worrisome: is Joey Porter okay? Can the O-line hold up against the blitz? Will our golden-armed Mystery Dum-Dum make like fuel or a tailhook? Does Braylon Edwards really make that much of a difference?
The answers to those questions might not be fun. So -- a mike on the linebacker, please.
Janie Campbell wonders if the magic orange jersey is powerful enough to reanimate Mr. Crowder. Her work has appeared in irreverent sports sites around the Internet.
