Rex Ryan does not care for your social networking. Yesterday the Jets coach—“whose mantra is so strongly about the team coming first,” the Post tells us–disclosed that he had benched rookie wide receiver David Clowney for a selfish Twitter post. The offending tweet, from just after last week’s win over the Patriots:
“1 play in the 1st Half, 4 plays in the 2nd half … A bit disappointed about my playing time but very happy and satisfied about the win.”
Realizing, perhaps, that he had not included enough team-oriented sentiment in his first 140 characters, Clowney then followed up with two more:
“Just time to work harder for next week”
And
“My team always comes first so I’m just keep grinding…And we gonna keep winning.”
But there was no going back.
“I’m not a big Twitter guy, but you hear different things,” Ryan said. “If I feel a guy is not putting the team first,” Ryan said, “I’ll make that decision to put the guy down.”
Fortunately, in this case, Ryan decided only to bench him. We would ask the sports media: who blew the whistle? If Rex isn’t on Twitter, then who told him? Another receiver who wants more playing time? A lackey assistant coach? Some p.r. flack? Who rats out a guy for his Twitter posts?
Unrelatedly? The Daily News has a shirtless Mark Sanchez on the cover, flanked by a swimsuited super model, under the headline “The Sanchez Effect: How Mark Can Be the New Broadway Joe.” We recommend only inspiring, team-oriented Twitter posts.
The Times doesn’t pick up the Twitter story; instead it reports that the Sanchez Effect was enough to make the Jets number one on television Sunday. Because of the Yom Kippur holiday, the Jets, Giants and Yankees all played at 1 p.m., setting up a rare television showdown, which the Jets won. The Jets pulled a 10.7 share locally, the Giants got 9.7, and the Yankees got an 5.0. What about the Mets, you ask? Oh yes, the Mets pulled a 1.3.
Basketball resurfaces this morning, with stories about the Knicks and Nets opening their training camps.
On the Post’s Nets Blog, Fred Kerber writes that the Nets have more talent than you think they do. He says they have “the foundation for some interesting times.” Take that for what you will.
Howard Beck has an engaging profile of maligned center Eddy Curry which reads like a modern adaptation of the Book of Job. In short: his girlfriend was murdered, leading him to take custody of their son; a male driver sued him for sexual harassment; he’s facing foreclosure on his Chicago mansion; and he’s suing his former agent for mismanaging his finances, which Beck says could be the root of his financial problems.
But even the Curry Redemption ends like all these Knicks’ and Nets’ stories do: with LeBron James. Both teams are biding their time for the Summer of 2010, and everyone is excited that maybe one of the teams could get the best player in basketball.
Everyone, it seems, except Knicks rookie Toney Douglas, who happens to wear James’ number, 23. What would Douglas do if the Chosen One–by some miracle–were to leave Cleveland and come to New York to save the beleagured Knicks franchise, wonders Mitch Lawrence in the Daily News? “I don’t know if I’ll give him my number or not,” Douglas says.
