Hopeful Optimism or Negative Thinking?

As a new football season kicks off, I’m sitting in bed at 11 p.m. on September 12, 2026, asking myself: do I go into another Jets season optimistic, or do I go negative?

I’ve really had to think about this. As a 27-year-old, soon-to-be 28-year-old who has been a Jets fan my whole life, I’ve always gone into every season with a positive mindset. “This year will be different,” I tell myself. And every year, I continually get let down.

Now, you may ask yourself: “Bailey, as a Jets fan, why do you always look at the positive? Why do you do this to yourself?”

As my cousin Paul said in one of his posts, it’s the hope that kills you.

Don’t get me wrong: I do this with all of my teams — the Jets, Mets, Knicks, Islanders, and Sunderland AFC. You may notice something about those teams. Most of them have sucked for a good while.

The reason I’ve tried for years to go in with a positive mindset is because:

1. I want to look like a genius.
2. I believe that maybe, one year — just one year — the teams I love will prove me wrong.

The Knicks did it this year. Throughout their championship run, I kept saying to family members, “Yeah, it’s over. No way they win this game,” or, “No way they win this series.” Yet the Knicks proved me wrong.

That has me thinking: do I go into a Jets season positive or negative?

Last year was the first time in my life I said, “Yeah, they’ll probably win six games.” Yet my expectations were somehow still destroyed. The Jets finished 3–14, so even that felt optimistic. I did it with the Mets this year, too, although I knew they weren’t going to be good.

But back to the Jets.

This year, I don’t know what to do. They have a coach with good energy who seems like he means well. They have a quarterback in Geno Smith, looking not only for redemption but to bring the Jets back from being basement dwellers. They have a young core I like, along with some veteran pieces.

But the question I keep asking myself is: do I begin to believe again?

Do I talk myself into the Jets winning nine games? Ten? Maybe even 11?

Or do I do what my father does?

My father has been a seasoned Jets fan for 40-plus years. Whenever something goes wrong, it’s “they shit” — his way of saying they suck — or, “See? I told you this would happen.” Honestly, after 40-plus years of Jets football, it’s a reasonable way to cope.

The fan in me, who is a sucker for pain, tells me to believe. This is the year they’ll make the playoffs. Hell, maybe they’ll make a run to the Super Bowl. Weirder stuff has happened.

Or does the power of negative thinking tell me this is the same old Jets?

As the Jets head to Tennessee tomorrow for a 1 p.m. opener against the Titans, the easy thing to say is that this is a layup win. The Titans were also 3–14 last season.

But — and this is a big but — will the Jets let me down again?

I think this year I’m going to try something different. I’m going to see how the season plays out. I won’t go into it telling myself they’ll be good or bad. I’ll wait to see the results.

I’m tired of being hurt by the Jets. If you go in expecting the Jets to win, you’ll only be hurt.

So for now, as a lifelong fan, I’ll take it day by day, month by month, and game by game.

God bless the Jets.

J-E-T-S! JETS! JETS! JETS!