An End ... And a Beginning

Yesterday, I pointed out how few newspapers in New York paid much attention to the closing of Astroland, the last of the old-fashioned amusement parks on Coney Island.

But in today's New York Times, Cara Buckley, who apparently spent part of Sunday at Astroland, has written a fond farewell to the place. It deserves to be mentioned.

"[T]housands of visitors poured into Astroland for what appeared to be the last time," Buckley writes, "pushing toddlers in strollers and aged relatives in wheelchairs, and taking a final look at a park that may have seen better days, but was still widely adored."

It seems crowds were sizable as Astroland welcomed visitors for the final time.

But many New Yorkers who otherwise might have come to the amusement park may have chosen instead to stay home Sunday to watch quarterback Brett Favre lead the New York Jets to a season-opening 20-14 win over the Miami Dolphins.

That victory, admittedly, came against a team that hasn't been in the playoffs in awhile. Of course, the Jets have only three wins in the postseason in the last 20 years.

But it was Favre's presence that made it noteworthy, and the Jets held on to beat former Jets QB Chad Pennington and the Dolphins in Miami.

The Jets' next opponent is another AFC East foe, the New England Patriots, who won all their regular-season games and two playoff games before losing the Super Bowl last year.

Football fans had been anticipating the Jets-Patriots game since Favre signed with the Jets earlier in the summer. Initially, it was viewed as an opportunity to see two quarterbacks who will ultimately be enshrined in the NFL's Hall of Fame — but that matchup may never occur.

New England's Tom Brady suffered a season-ending knee injury in Sunday's win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

It was an unfortunate injury. Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss claimed it was a dirty play. But, in my opinion, it was a clean hit. Unfortunate result. Clean hit.

And, with Brady out of action for the rest of the season, and Favre about to turn 39 this fall, it's far from certain that the two will meet on the football field.

That doesn't mean the Patriots won't be a challenge for the Jets this Sunday. A team doesn't go undefeated during the regular season on the strength of its quarterback alone — even one as talented as Brady.

And, while playoff wins have been rare for the Jets in recent years, this decade has belonged to the Patriots.

It's too bad that some of the lustre from Sunday's game is gone.

Nevertheless, Sports Illustrated's Don Banks says Favre gives the Jets a chance to win a lot of games this year.

Clearly, Jets fans have more reason to feel optimistic this morning than they did before kickoff yesterday.