It is bad enough that were afflicted with Donald Trump, the human Creamsicle, whose whory soundbites and dotty politics has only coarsened with the years and augur him to turn him into a beauty-salon version of the late, unlamented Abe Hirshfeld, that other real estate buffoon who went from comic character to toxic bore.

But now we have Rex Ryan, head coach of the New York Jets, pulling a Sammy Davis, Jr. and proclaiming Ive gotta be me, threatening to bluster for another ten or fifteen years and theres nothing that can be done about it because putting a lid on it, thats just not what hes about, man.

From Kevin Armstrong, New York Daily News:

Rex Ryan remained unbowed by the 29-14 loss to the Giants Saturday, and expressed optimism that he will be the Jets coach for at least another decade.

When I leave this job, 10 or 15 years from now, Im going to be true to myself, Ryan said. And you know maybe its not the traditional way of doing things or whatever, but for me this is who I am, this is how I believe. I made the statements and like I said before, Ill stand by everything I said.

There are a lot of likable qualities to Rex Ryan, but he has slopped over from being a refreshing, unscripted Big Daddy showboat into being one of those guys (like Kanye West or Newt Gingrich) who believes that authenticity begins and ends with the sound of his own voice. If he says something, it must be true, because its true for him, even if, you know, it doesnt pan out. This is who I am is the statement of an ego that refuses to budge. In the postmortem of the Giants defeat, Ryan is making it all about him, but it isnt all about him; he represents players and an organization and what he says has a radius impact.
And when your public pronouncements are belied by the results on the field, the smart thing to do is step back, reappraise, recalibrate. Thing is, I thought Ryan was smart.

I could easily see Rex Ryan leaving football in a couple years for his own reality series or a contestant spot on The Apprentice; hes already shown his aptitude for the genre in HBOs Hard Knocks, and on reality shows hed never have to put a safety lock on his lips.