Illustration by Darrow

Rex Ryan cried after the Jets beat the Texans. Fans found this endearing. He bawled after the Jets lost to the Jaguars. Fans found this scary. Be not afraid! Ryan’s volatility is exactly what the team needs. It’s not just that after years of the humorless Tom Coughlin (and Ryan’s similarly humorless predecessor, Eric Mangini), it’s refreshing for New Yorkers to follow a coach who high-fives kickers, cracks up during conversations with officials, calls his own quarterback a “knucklehead,” and weeps. It’s that this all points to the fact that the Jets matter to Rex on a visceral level. He subsumes his ego to the cause of winning. Sure, he looks like he’s on the cusp of a nervous breakdown. But that just gives Jets fans hope that they, eventually, won’t be.

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39. Because two 7-year-old boys in Bensonhurst who had been absorbed in their coloring books were surprised to discover a four-and-a-half-foot-long boa constrictor in the couch they were sitting on. (March 2)

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40. Because a local musician in Bed-Stuy won $1,000 for his runner-up entry in a national contest to write a rap jingle about Worcestershire Sauce. (September 14)

Related:

• Articles by Stephen Rodrick
• Table of Contents: Dec 21, 2009 issue of New York | Subscribe!