The future is now for the new face of the New York Jets, Mark Sanchez. Sanchez was selected as the team’s starting quarterback by coach Rex Ryan yesterday, making him the first rookie slated to open a season under center for the Jets. “This comes with a lot of responsibility,“ Sanchez said. “As happy as I am, I know that this is just the beginning and I’m just excited, really excited, to get to play with such great players.“

It tells us that former Rep. Leslie L. Byrne of Fairfax apparently does not believe in the electoral process. Instead she apparently thinks the ought philosophy is a desirable replacement to ensure that “women . . . have more representation.“ Assuming women voters mirror the general population, Byrne’s comments ignore the fact that women are the majority of voters in Virginia. As such, should they decide that “ought” is a valuable criterion, they have the power to make “ought” a reality. However, women, much to their credit, looked at the candidates and decided that the women candidates, for whatever reason, were less desirable than the male opponents and voted accordingly.

Mike Shanahan became the latest and most stunning victim of the NFL coaching purge, fired yesterday by the Denver Broncos after a late-season collapse knocked the team out of the playoffs for the third consecutive year. Shanahan joined Eric Mangini, Rod Marinelli and Romeo Crennel on the unemployment line after going 24-24 the past three seasons, including three consecutive losses in 2008 that turned a three-game division lead to an 8-8 record.