The years change, but the whining goes on oblivious to the calendar. The names may change, but the offenses against civility remain the same.

So we kick off 2009 with a familiar theme: another guy who forgot that the locker room is like Vegas — what happens there stays there.

And so let’s have a big Bronx cheer for the year's first whiner of the week, Jets’ running back Thomas Jones. It wasn’t enough for him that the Jets’ December looked like a Mets’ September — a stretch stagger that ended in a flaming wreck. Before the smoke had even cleared, Jones was running to the talk shows to point fingers.

We can’t say we disagree with Jones’ assessment that Brett Favre played poorly enough to be benched during the losing streak. And we give him credit for putting his name to his comments, unlike some of his teammates who took cover in a bunker of anonymity before taking potshots at their famous signal caller.

But come on. When has a great quarterback — or even most mediocre ones — ever been benched because of some bad games? Why are you grousing to the media about an issue that should be kept in the locker room? And where were you with your complaints during the losing streak? Why now? Why in public?

Could it be because you’re a crybaby?

Dishonorable mentions

John Daly
Suspended six months by the PGA Tour for crimes against common decency, the chain-smoking, beer-swilling, serial-marrying traveling sideshow wants everybody to know that smashing cameras, passing out in parking lots and being a boorish oaf aren’t grounds for punishment. “Is it fair that I got suspended?” he whined rhetorically. “It’s not fair in reality, but it’s probably fair in perception.”

Chipper Jones
Like Thomas Jones, the Braves third baseman spoke truth when he whined last week that the Mets and Phillies should stop talking trash through the media. On the other hand, his comments reek of sour grapes. “We won for 14 consecutive years, and you never, ever saw any bulletin board material,” he whimpered. And other than one year, you never saw any World Series trophies either.

Bruce Boudreau
His whine isn’t much, even by our lax standards, but it’s rare we get a hockey whine. So we couldn’t pass it up when the Capitals’ coach whined when his star, Alex Ovechkin, didn’t get elected by the fans to the NHL starting All-Star team. What made it special was the way he whined — first ripping the fans for their vote then congratulating them for voting. “It’s not right the best player in the game is not a starter,” Boudreau said. “But it is what it is. We want to get the fans involved, and they’ve got the right to vote for whoever they want.” Yeah, vote for anybody you want — but check with Boudreau first.

Also on NBCSports.com NFL: Compare NFL playoff teams, vote on winners College football: Amazing Meyer can do no wrong, right? NBA: A toast to teams that are already toast College hoops: Best to never be ranked No. 1? MLB: Free agent tracker, updates team needs, more NHL: Fans drop the puck picking All-Star starters

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