EVEN MORE JETS ON SNY

Is the Free World ready for a Sunday pregame show dedicated solely to the Jets?

Ready or not, SportsNet New York is rolling out an hour-long (noon-to-1p.m.) “Jets Pregame Live” Sept. 10 prior to Gang Green’s opener in Buffalo. SNY is going head-to-head with the network (Fox, CBS, ESPN) pregame shows, banking on Jets fans wanting a show devoted strictly to their team.

“At its core, sports are inherently local and our pregame show provides a deeper level of coverage and analysis that Jets fans can’t get elsewhere,” said SNY boss Steve Raab. “….Insight, analysis and opinion around Jets games is what we do best and what fans have an increased desire for.”

The cast will include Jonas Schwartz, the unpredictable Ray Lucas ,W illie Colon and Mike Westhoff. Jeane Coakley will serve as on-field reporter for all games and Erik Coleman will be SNY’s on-field analyst for home games.

This is an interesting season for SNY to embark on a Jets pregame show. Conventional wisdom — whatever that is — tells us the team is in for a long year. Yet if this is true, all the more reason to have a local pregame show. If the Jets go down the tubes, the network pregames will ignore them. That will make “Jets Pregame Live” the only place on TV to come for a comprehensive look at the Jets an hour before the game.

And while we try never to be cynical or negative, the analysis is always much more salty when a team is losing. It will be worth watching to see if Schwartz has the ability to control Lucas, Colon and Westhoff when the analysis spins out of control, which it will.

And if you’re wondering why the NFL is allowing one of its teams to have its own pregame program, well, it appears the league will take all the hours of pregame shows it can get. ESPN, which doesn’t air Sunday games, already has a pregame that bleeds into Fox and CBS pregames.

Now, in the USA’s biggest market, these network offerings have the Jets pregame show hunting for eyeballs.