Jets’ Ryan not lord of the rings
For someone who talks about Super Bowl rings so much, you'd think Rex Ryan would've won a few. But the only rings the outspoken Jets coach apparently owns are a collection of his-and-her toe rings.
We'll resist the urge to say Ryan put his foot in his mouth again before New York's 27-21 win over San Diego on Sunday, when he was asked what would've happened if the Chargers had hired him instead of Norv Turner.
"Well, I think I would have had a couple of rings," Ryan said. "I'm telling you, those teams were loaded."
Ryan quickly called Turner to apologize, but Turner still fired back.
"I didn't have a chance to ask him this, but I was wondering if he had those rings with the ones he's guaranteed the last couple of years," he said.
After San Diego blew an 11-point lead Sunday, Chargers tight end Randy McMichael said the Jets didn't deserve any credit for the win.
"The San Diego Chargers beat ourselves, OK?" McMichael said. "It's all about us. We took our foot off the gas pedal, and we lost because of it. Their secondary isn't anything. They didn't do anything."
New York cornerback Antonio Cromartie, a former Charger, responded in kind.
"Honestly, when you're up by 11 points in the fourth quarter and you can't even finish the game up?" he said. "That shows what kind of team you are -- a team that can't finish, and that's been San Diego the whole time. There it is."
Asked about McMichael's comments, Ryan channeled his inner Ron Burgundy.
"Stay classy, San Diego," he said, referencing a line from Will Ferrell's character in the movie "Anchorman."
Ryan also has vowed not to say the word "rings" anymore.
"I get crushed every time I say it," said Ryan, who said in 2009 he didn't come to New York to kiss New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick's rings. Unless, of course, they were on his feet.
Ryan said he would continue to use "Lombardi Trophy" and "Super Bowl." As in, he's still never won one.
You stay classy, Rex.
■ GRONKOWSKIGATE -- Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski will surely be scolded for taking photos with adult film actress BiBi Jones during his bye week in Arizona.
Jones tweeted photos of herself Saturday wearing Gronkowski's No. 87 jersey while she hugged the shirtless former Wildcats standout.
Tom Brady, who has been ridiculed for some past photos, is happy to have a teammate take the heat off him.
"I'm just glad I'm no longer the one people are making fun of on a daily basis," he said. "Gronk is definitely holding in the lead there."
■ BUCKNER ANNIVERSARY -- The Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs might have tempted fate Tuesday when they each introduced their new general manager on the 25th anniversary of Bill Buckner's error in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series.
Buckner, who had previously played for Chicago, was wearing a Cubs batting glove under his first baseman's glove when he booted Mookie Wilson's ground ball.
Guess the Red Sox and Cubs don't sweat silly superstitions.
COMPILED BY TODD DEWEY
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
