During the week, I'm in my car approximately 2 hours and twenty minutes each and every day. Unlike when we lived in the Boston area, I don't get many radio stations during my trip and what I do get is so distorted with static it's enough to drive a man crazy. I've mentioned my love for XM, but what XM lacks is that truly local phenomenon - sports talk radio. Sure, I have ESPN Radio, ESPN News, Fox Sports, XM Sports Nation, PGA Tour Network (yes, I am such a golf addict I will listen to it on the radio - I know, I have a problem), MLB Home Plate and so on. I listen to Mike and Mike in the Morning, The Herd, SportsNation or The Drive on Fox, but they're national, they lack that regional flair. There are times when I don't...scratch that...I never want Steve from Santa Fe's opinion on whether or not Bill Belichick ran up the score on the Redskins. No, I want to hear Chahlie from Reveah tell Glenn he wishes bleep'in Belichick put up more points - "He's gotta go fah the jugulah every freakin' time, Glenn!" Or Sal from the Cape stating his case that Josh Beckett is the Son of God or, at the very least, the second coming of Cy Young himself. Hell, if it weren't such a weak signal, I'd slum it and listen to Mike and the Mad Dog on The Fan, but lately they don't have much to talk about other than the Giants - and aren't they really a Jersey team for all intents and purposes? Anyway, there are times when I miss my local sports talk - it really is what it must sound like inside the head of a sociopath.
So, my double-secret probation prediction actually came true Sunday night. Yes, I thought they would sweep although I said publicly it would be in five. See, as a Boston fan, you can't actually come out and say a sweep lest your friends and family hear you. Should something happen, you end up being vilified like Buckner or you're the new Bambino. Some things you just don't do. You don't mess around with Jim.
Speaking of the Pats and their current dismantling of teams, what would you have done given their situation on Sunday? Which is worse: Continuing to play the game like you're supposed to, thus continuing to score OR start taking a knee (symbolically) halfway through the third quarter? Please, look at it and answer objectively. Not as a Patriots hater or fanboy. Look at it from a competitive standpoint. Personally, I have no problems with what they did. Yes, I am a Patriots fan, but that has nothing to do with it. I have been on both the receiving and giving end of this scenario - as have the Pats: 1986 Super Bowl ring a bell with anyone? Bueller? Bueller? You play to win...always. There is no greater, single motivating factor in sports than to be dealt an ass-whupping at the hands of your opponents. I have said and heard many times in a locker room, "Never again" when that score has gotten out of hand and you've felt like you were standing still as a team scores at will. If I'm wrong, convince me otherwise.
October 30, 2007
Things We're Not Supposed to Talk About
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1 opined:
The NFL, as a league, is marketed on the concept of physical and competitive domination. Subsequently, I find the entire discussion of the Pats' success somehow threatening "the purity of the game" entirely ludicrous. The simple fact is that New England is playing the game at a truly elite level right now -- and most other teams are just not equipped to compete. And as tough as these 8 defeats have been for the other teams involved... I can't imagine that a 2nd half "taking a knee" approach wouldn't be considerably more insulting to their egos.
That being said, I'm also terrified that Brady will get his knee blown out in the late 3rd or early 4th quarter of a game where, frankly, there is no legitimate reason for him to be playing. Establishing dominance over your competitor is one thing; leaving yourself open to a potentially catastrophic injury in a situation where you're up by 21+ points is just foolish.
Of course, the Indy game will probably be another animal entirely. I'm really looking forward to seeing two truly elite teams go at it... with any luck, this'll be one for the ages.
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