Smart? Hardly. Jets faithful are brutal on 'insider' site

	Does this Santa post on jetsinsider.com? Al Bello/Getty Image
	POLL Who is the NFL's most overrated coach? Brian Billick Herm Edwards Marty Schottenheimer Mike Sherman  View Results

I once asked Nomar Garciaparra if it was true that New York fans were the smartest. He replied, "I think so." When I pressed him as to why, he responded, "It's the only place I have ever played where 50,000 people yell 'BALK!' at the same time." I told him that I wasn't even sure what an actual BALK was and he said, "Maybe they don't either, but they all don't know it at the same time."

I grew up on the East Coast and have heard -- probably from East Coast media outlets -- that New York fans are the most knowledgeable in sports. I have always agreed with that assessment until I recently visited a Web site devoted to and run by New York Jets fans. The site is called jetsinsider.com, and depending on when you visit, either Chad Pennington, Curtis Martin, Justin McCareins or Doug Jolley is the second-worst Jet of all time.

I say second-worst because regardless of when you visit this site, the one unifying thread that will be posted, day or night, win or lose, is that Herman Edwards is the single worst football coach to ever wear a whistle. Post after post slams Herm and his coaching decisions, disregarding that he has taken the Jets to the playoffs in three of his five years. Posters whine and whine and whine about the "five year plan" and complain, "Where is the Super Bowl?"

I recently exchanged e-mails with Mark Cannizzaro, the Jets beat writer for the New York Post who also writes for jetsinsider.com. I asked him if it was my imagination or were these "fans" disproportionately harsh on Edwards? Cannizzaro quickly responded to my e-mail and assured me that it was not my imagination. Jets fans are the worst on the Web, excluding Raiders fans, of course, who are using their data ports to light up their Darth Vader skull bongs.

One poster on jetsinsider.com said he could name 20 head coaches in the NFL who were better than Edwards. He did list the coaches, but he didn't realize that Herm has beaten most of them. You would think that Edwards hurt Pennington's arm and kicked Martin in the knee shortly before kickoff each week.