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Sports

Local Residents Have Serious Jet Fever

As the Jets prepare to play at frigid Pittsburgh later this evening in the battle for the AFC Championship, millions of Jets fans are hoping there's still some more genie left in the bottle. And a few of them include village residents.

Underdogs Schmunderdogs! These are the New York Jets, the team that trash talks...and so far has been able to back the mammoth truck of rubbish up. And they've got their share of loyal fans in Babylon Village.

As the Jets prepare to play at frigid Pittsburgh later this evening in the battle for the AFC Championship, local Jets fans are hoping there’s still some more genie left in the bottle. 

“I really think this is our year,” said bundled-up resident Tony Demond, when asked how he felt the New York Jets, his favorite football team, would fare later this afternoon as he prepared to get a late morning meal outside the Tradewinds Delicatessen.

“I don’t agree with all of the talk between the teams because they didn’t do that back in my day, but this Jets team…they’re probably the best defensive team we’ve ever had and I think if we can run the ball well enough against the Steelers defense, we’re going to score some points."

Demond said he was impressed he was with the recent play of Pittsburgh’s quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who returned to NFL action seven weeks into the regular season after serving a six-game ban for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy.

“Although I don’t like him very much, the guy has a really strong arm and he’s just so big, he’s hard to bring down,” Demond said. “The Jets have to blitz the line like they did last week against New England. If they can get some turnovers, I think they’re going to be in good shape.”

And when asked if the Jets are able to climb Mt. Pittsburgh and arrive into the promised land of the Super Bowl, a place where the franchise hasn’t visited since the winter of 1969, Demond said he believed New York would match up well against either Chicago or Green Bay.

“The Packers have that great offense, but they can’t stop anybody…and who have they played in the playoffs that was any good anyway?”

Unique Golf shop owner Jim Wichert, a longtime Redskins fan, was dressed for action as he wore a Jets sweatshirt in support of Gang Green and their millions of loyal followers.

“My predictions are that it’s going to be the Jets and Bears [In the Super Bowl], because I just always like the underdogs. What the Jets have been able to do the last two weeks…winning two games like that on the road is just incredible," said Wichert. "They’ve got to keep the magic going and play good fundamental defense just like they did last week. Can you imagine, winning three road games against teams like this in order to get to the Super Bowl? I think Rex Ryan is a special coach too. People look at him and they listen to his antics and his funny lines, but he’s shown that he knows what he’s doing…he’s a great coach."

And when Wichert was asked the million-dollar question, “If the Jets are able to defeat the Steelers and reach the Super Bowl, do you see them winning the whole thing?” he responded by saying, “With Rex Ryan, I don’t think it matters who the Jets play, if they get there, I think Rex will get the team ready and figure a way for the Jets to win the Super Bowl.”

Babylon High School Athletic Director Mike DeJoseph is expecting a Jets victory as well.

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"I have been critical of the Jets the past two weeks and they were able to defeat the Colts and Patriots on the road, so I am a believer. I like the Jets, especially after the Hard Knocks series on HBO. They are a confident team," he said, noting that the Jets  won in Pittsburgh earlier this year.

"In order to win they must win the turnover battle, control the ball and score when afforded the opportunity. It is that simple, you should forward this to Rex Ryan," he wrote in his email reply to Patch about game prediction.

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"Just joking, if it were that simple we would all be playing in the AFC Championship game. I like the J-E-T-S, JETS, JETS, JETS!!!," wrote DeJoseph, who predicts Gang Green will win tonight's game by a score of 27 to 17 and head to Super Bowl XLV.

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