Sanchez and Schotty Sitting In a Tree

The Jets' PR team is working overtime this offseason. To wit, this afternoon's fawning New York Times profile of Mark Sanchez's and Brian Schottenheimer's growing bromance.

Some highlights:

The offensive coordinator of the Jets and his latest pupil seem like kindred spirits, not friends exactly but men inspired by each other, driven by each other and bonded by a mutual obsession: the finer points of playing quarterback.

Each day, Sanchez spends as much time with Schottenheimer as he does with anyone else in the organization. They go out for steak dinners and quote lines from Adam Sandler comedies. They act, according to Schottenheimer’s wife, Gemmi, like her third and fourth children, football-lost boys, fully grown.

“They started to develop a relationship beyond coach-player,” Cavanaugh said. “There’s a legitimate friendship there.”

“All off-season he was teaching, teaching, teaching,” Sanchez said. “But not just like a coach. More like a friend, like a father, like a brother. That’s the way our bond is now.”

In the off-season Sanchez and Schottenheimer attended baseball’s All-Star Game and an N.B.A. finals game. They developed inside jokes and sometimes seem like they’re speaking their own language.

Now, Sanchez finishes Schottenheimer’s play calls as well as sentences.

Evidence of the importance of their relationship is displayed in Schottenheimer’s basement. Each year, Gemmi frames an autographed jersey from one of her husband’s favorite players. Last year, she added a Sanchez jersey to a collection that includes those of Brees, Chad Pennington, Philip Rivers and Brett Favre.

The most cringe-worthy part of the article, at least for me, is Schottenheimer's likening of Sanchez to Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees. Oh dear.

BEN:

I think we all know the NYT is not a great place for sports coverage. the numerous embarrassing hagiographies of Mariano Rivera; the pointless speculations of Murray Chass and Jack Curry; the seemingly willful lack of interest in what fans are actually thinking or doing.

But: every local paper runs a story like this, especially when they've got a young player with potential. Heaven help the Boston Globe and their poetic waxings about Jacoby Ellsbury. Yes, they're stupid, yes, they're pointless, yes, they're frequently filled with idiotic predictions and comparisons. But I guess this is how we enjoy the game--it's not always just about watching them play.

These stories all conform to various archetypes: how many stories have there been about LaDainian Tomlinson "feeling young again"? How many about Jonathan Papelbon adding a new pitch? There are all kinds of variations on this theme. Players who watch a lot of video, teams that have a guru for some specific activity, teammates who get along, teammates who are willful and solitary. Etc. Etc. The presumption in all of these articles is that the rest of the league is simply treading water, or just kind of lollygagging along. Of course the NFL and MLB and (possibly) the NBA are filled with ultracompetitive people who know nothing other than to practice and learn about their sport. Rare is the person who truly isn't putting in the work, and, well, we've seen what that looks like.

As to the specific matter of Mark Sanchez, he may (or may not) improve hugely this year. I do have my doubts whether, if he throws a key interception, anyone will say "Impossible! He and Brian Schottenheimer are friends!"

But, then again, these stories aren't meant to be remembered, or even taken seriously, really. I can't think of the last time anyone called Ellsbury a "Native American warrior," but I don't think it was this year.