On eight Sundays each fall, I am certain of a few things. I know I will spend the day in a parking lot in East Rutherford for four hours of grilled meats, cocktails, and shtick and conversation with a tremendous cast of characters.

It's what happens after those four hours, once we actually enter the stadium and the game starts, that has been less enjoyable for much of my tenure as a Jets' season ticket holder.

And that's what makes an afternoon like today even more delightful (sorry - couldn't pick just one story about this 44-point victory, the largest in Jets history). That the Jets were playing the Rams, as woeful a team as I've ever seen (with apologies to Joe Pendleton), did nothing to mitigate our joy.

My cell phone rang at halftime and I picked it up to hear my brother, without saying hello, exclaim: "Forty to nothing?!?"

Indeed.

During a stoppage in play in the second quarter, with the Jets deep in St. Louis territory and threatening to score again, the Jets Flight Crew was doing its thing in the end zone. One of the Rams' defensive backs, standing in the end zone waiting for play to resume, was dancing along with them. It was just that kind of day in the stadium, where even the opposing players got caught up in the excitement.

The mood was so joyous that we fired up the grills again and resumed tailgating after the game, something we don't usually do. But we wanted to enjoy the day for as long as possible. To call the mood in our crowd giddy would not be overstating matters.

Now, I have been a Jets fan long enough to know that we need to savor this while we can. That the Jets have six wins (and should have seven if not for that debacle in Oakland three weeks ago) and are tied for first in the division 10 weeks into the season is certainly a surprise. But with three tough games in the next three weeks - at New England Thursday night, then at Tennessee before returning home to face Denver on Thanksgiving weekend - we're well aware the Jets could be 6-6 at the end of the month.

But I'm not going to think about that right now...