Book Description
The New York Jets have not basked in an abundance of pride and glory. Sure, they were led to the "promised land" by Joe Namath with the stunning Super Bowl VII upset victory that capped the magical 1969 season. Since then, however, the Jets have careened through life alternating between bumbling and embarrassing, maddening and entertaining, while all along the way teasing their ardent fan base so tantalizingly that, rather sadistically, it has become a way of life. In Tales from the Jets Sideline, author Mark Cannizzaro takes readers on a journey, through his eyes and the eyes of the subjects he has covered, across the maze of musings, controversial happenstances, and occasional brilliance the Jets have displayed during the years he has followed the franchise. Fans will be taken through some of the crazy Bruce Coslet years that featured a series of extreme highs and lows. Fans will also recall Coslet’s successor, Pete Carroll, who lasted only a year after the team’s late owner, Leon Hess, had a revelation by the name of Rich Kotite while vacationing in the islands. Jets fans will never forget Kotite, but for all of the wrong reasons. The Jets saw some light after the colossal failed experiment that was Kotite, and that light was Bill Parcells and his incredible band of assistant coaches who came within 30 minutes in Denver of bringing the Jets back to where Namath had brought them some 30 years earlier. The Parcells era, however, proved to be as much of a tease as anything in Jets history, because he opted not to finish the job, leaving coaching and soon after leaving the Jets in a messy divorce. Enter Herman Edwards, the energetic fireball of a head coach who is currently trying to make Jets fans forget about all of the previous angst and tantalizing teases they have endured since Joe Willie’s memorable triumph.


About the Author
Mark Cannizzaro has been covering professional football and just about every other sport since entering the newspaper business in 1983 as a graduate of Ithaca College. He has been the beat writer and columnist covering the New York Jets for the New York Post since 1993, chronicling the colorful franchise’s every move—from the good and the bad to the bizarre and the mundane. He is also the lead golf writer for The Post and assists in the paper’s coverage of college basketball and Major League Baseball. He has been a regular contributor to ESPN.com, Madison Square Garden TV, and various New York and national radio programs, including ESPN Radio and Sporting News Radio. He is married and splits living time between Highlands, New Jersey, and New York City.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

The New York Jets are not a franchise that has basked in an abundance of pride and glory. Sure, they were led to the promised land by Joe Namath and Co. with the stunning Super Bowl III upset victory that capped the magical 1969 season. Since then, however, the Jets have careened through life alternating from bumbling to embarrassing to maddening to entertaining, and all along the way they've teased their ardent fan base in such a sadistic manner, that it has become a way of life. In Tales from the Jets Sideline, Mark Cannizzaro takes you on a journey, through his eyes and the eyes of the subjects he's covered, across the maze of musings, controversial happenstances, and occasional brilliance the Jets have displayed during the years he has followed the franchise. You'll be taken through some of the crazy Bruce Coslet years that featured a series of extreme highs and lows. You'll recall Coslet's successor, Pete Carroll, who lasted only a year after the team's late owner, Leon Hess, had a revelation while vacationing in the islands, and that revelation was Rich Kotite. Jets fans will never forget Kotite, but for all of the wrong reasons.