Not being from New York I have a little bit of a problem wrapping my head around the New York Jets. They seem like the ultimate second banana. Last season might not have been so bad for them if the New Giants had not won the Super Bowl.

The team seems to have no real presence in major media. One of the advantages of being in New York is being located in the media center of the world, yet I can recall seeing Yankees this, Mets that, Giants jackets, and Knicks caps. I think I even remember the Rangers being part of a sitcom storyline, but I do not know the last time I heard anything about the Jets.

The very fact that the Jets play in Giants Stadium must be at least a little disconcerting. Fans can call the venue the Meadowlands all they want, but I imagine it always seems like you are just buying secondhand Giants tickets. It is really that fact, that myriad of factors against you, that makes me respect Jets fans.

The team may be in a slump or never get much credit, but Jets fans soldier on. They believe a team for the team. For other teams, the stadium or baseball field or basketball arena are as apart of the teams identity as the logo, but Jets fans have been able to keep the team going despite it all.

Baseball fans would not buy Mets tickets to Yankee Stadium, but Jets fans would buy tickets to a high school stadium to watch their team play. This unquestioned sentiment has to give the front office some kind of morale boost. That, and the fact that despite the recent Super Bowl, the Jets have been division contenders far more often than the Giants in the last few years.

So to Jets fans I have to say that I have new found respect for you and your favorite franchise, whether you play at Giants Stadium, Shea Stadium, or Madison Square Garden it seems not to matter. Jets fans wear their white and green proudly in the face of being forgotten by the media center of the world.