Let it go, please. For your own sakes, just let it go for a couple of more weeks.
You know what I'm talking about, right? Don't tell me you don't because I know you do. I'm talking about dropping this "we don't get no respect" thing. Here's why.
- All of this "we don't get no respect" stuff is coming off as whiny. Trust me on this. I'm in the media and I talk to other media guys – the ones you claim aren't giving the Jaguars the respect they deserve – and they're starting to get tired of hearing the same old broken record.
- The timing for all of this is bad. If your wife just caught you with another woman, this is probably a bad week to tell her you're going on a golf vacation with the boys. You might wanna delay that golf trip. Well, in the Jaguars' case, this isn't a good week to whine and cry about not getting enough respect. After all, the Jaguars are in the midst of the league's softest second-half-of-the-season schedule.
- Respect will be the Jaguars' for the taking on Dec. 11, when the Jaguars host the Colts. If the Jaguars beat the Colts, the Jags will soar to the top of everyone's respect meter. The Jaguars will instantly become the hot, new team in the league and a lot of "experts" will pick the Jaguars to go deep into the postseason.
- All of the wins in the world over the Houstons, Baltimores and Tennessees won't win the Jaguars the kind of respect you want. To continue to seek respect after beating those teams will serve only to invite a greater fall should the Jaguars lose to the Colts.
Use your heads on this, folks. Don't make enemies of people who buy their ink by the barrel.
The kind of respect you want doesn't come from easy schedules or even from one win in one high-profile game. Sure, a win over the Colts will put the Jaguars into the limelight, but the kind of respect you want is the result of years of playing at a playoff level.
New England is afforded that kind of respect, for the obvious reason. Indianapolis has earned that kind of respect for being a playoff fixture in recent years. Pittsburgh, Denver, Philadelphia are in that category and teams such as Atlanta and Carolina are moving into it.
You can demand respect all you want, but you can't tell people how to feel about you. The kind of respect you want builds in people to the point that they can no longer deny it.
This is a time for being patient. In my opinion, it's always a time for being patient, but I understand your enthusiasm and your anxiety so I'll ask only this of you: Please, just wait two more weeks. Then, you'll either have what you want or understand why it's being denied.
