Just Around the Corner

By Ryan “The Goose” Gosiker

Football fans, you have done it again. You made it through an entire offseason and are ready for the 2024 season. Your favorite team can range from vastly different to just tweaked. With the conclusion of last Saturday’s preseason games, the NFL season is ready to roll on September 5th. College football started with an upset in Ireland as Georgia Tech beat #10 Florida State this past Saturday. Local high school football is right around the corner too. The Warwick Wildcats will start their 2024 season with a multi-team scrimmage at Monroe-Woodbury HS on Friday August 30th at 5pm. They open their game schedule with a Week 0 matchup at Susan E. Wagner HS in Staten Island on September 7th. Football is here. The long wait is finally done. You can smell the tailgates and rowdy fans. Sundays filled with football, pizza, and wings are upon us. It is time to make sure you have the appropriate streaming services and apps so you can watch your favorite team each week or Redzone if you prefer to watch all the games at once. Lazy Sundays are back and I spend hours watching football from 1pm to 11pm. If you are a super fan, you will now have football on Monday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday every week until late November and even parts of December. I will have a better scouting report 0f the Warwick Wildcats when I see them on Friday but let us look at the local NFL teams. The NY Jets are one of those teams that did not undergo a massive roster haul. The sentiment from the Jets facility is that last year would have never been as bad if Aaron Rodgers was not lost for the season just 4 plays in. I believe they are correct. I do not have them making the Super Bowl but with Aaron Rodgers, anything is possible. He is older. He gets hurt more frequently. However, if he can piece it together, they have exuberant talent defensively and a combo of Breece Hall at RB and Garrett Wilson at WR that should excite their fans. The offensive line is reshaped but their biggest question is how healthy they can be and for how long. This is a make-or-break season for GM Joe Douglas and HC Robert Saleh. The owner does have the guts to put it out into the public, but if they do not reach the postseason and/or botch this whole experiment, they will be looking for new jobs. The Jets open on September 11th against the SF 49ers on Monday Night Football. Next week, we will focus on the NY Giants ahead of their opening game. Check out my sports show: “Game Time with The Goose” every Saturday from 8:00 to 9:00 AM on WTBQ AM 1110 FM 93.5 and on WGHT Radio with co-host Zach Kruk, Sports Director of WTBQ and WGHT!