New Yorkers Upset About an Obscene Gesture

That is quite possibly the most ironic headline I've ever had the chance to write. For those who don't know the story: Jets head coach Rex Ryan was at an MMA event in Miami this weekend and antagonized the crowd a little, all in good fun. Some rowdy fans got into a small war of words with Ryan who reportedly shouted an expletive and flipped them off. That gesture was caught on camera, leading to an apology from Ryan and the Jets. Per the AP story:

"It was stupid and inappropriate," Ryan said. "I wouldn't accept that type of behavior from one of the coaches or players and it's unacceptable from me. I apologize to the Jets organization, the National Football League and NFL fans everywhere."

Well, the apology isn't enough for some members of the New York media, who are taking this a little too seriously. Manish Mehta of the Star-Ledger mentioned, "Whether it was classy or classless, Rex Ryan's middle finger salute has been talk of the town." And boy is he right.

First, Bob Glauber of Newsday thinks that Ryan was out of control and needs to be fined and sanctioned.


Gary Myers of the Daily News thinks Ryan needs to be smarter, and part of being smarter involves not putting himself in situations, like an MMA event, where he can be involved in a potential physical altercation. Myers suggests a bit more refinement for Ryan's extracurriculars:

Perhaps a round of golf, the dog track, jai alai or an early-birddinner on Collins Avenue would have been a more appropriate environmentfor Ryan than an MMA event, which tends to get highly charged.

The frat-party days are over. He can't be John Belushi in "Animal House."

Myers later clarifies that he wasn't commenting negatively on MMA as a sport, but more to the point of the fans there are a bunch of maniacs and Ryan needs to be smarter than to get involved in confrontations with them. He also suggests that, while Ryan shouldn't be suspended, he should be fined at least $25,000. Titans owner Bud Adams fine of $250,000 earlier this year as a point of rereference.

Steve Serby in the NY Post wrote:


And of course, with all this media incredulity, all of this "what about the example he's setting for the children," both New York tabloids featured the image on the cover of today's paper. That seemed pretty obvious.

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.