Something else weird today

Apparently, Ellis Hobbs is no longer starting for Philly.

Not a good day to be a former Pat.

Randy Moss Cut

Okay, so probably I should rename this blog, 'Very Occasional Thoughts About Randy Moss.'  But yeah.  There's a lot going on right now in my life.

First off, the Pats are 6-1. WHOO HOO!  That would be the best in the whole freaking NFL.  And we are just getting warmed up.  I mean that.  So much good with the new and old combined. 

However, what brings me here today is the fact that Randy Moss was waived by the Vikings.  This breaks my damn heart.  Remember when I said that without the right support, Randy Moss would be little more than a T.O., moving around the league and not finding a true home anywhere?  That's happening now.  And it BREAKS MY DAMN HEART.

I do have to say though, Randy, that the Red Sox hat during your post-game interview last night was a bit over the top (how can I not find a picture of this?).  At least you didn't completely pull a Manny and demand a translator.

Will the Pats take him back?  He needs to clear 31 teams on waivers first, so that's probably not the best question.  I also don't know that the Pats would take him back, as beloved as he is.  We're actually doing okay so far.  Nah, more than okay.  We're 6-1!  Remember?

Randy Moss is a Viking

"Over the course of the past several months, I have spoken with Randy and his representative about Randy's place on our team and his future in football. Consistent with my dealings with Randy from the day we acquired him through our conversation this morning, it has been honest, thoughtful and with great mutual respect.
While I will keep private the details of internal conversations with players and staff, suffice it to say that many things were taken into consideration before making the trade. In this business, there are complex and often difficult decisions, but it is my responsibility to make them based on what I feel is best for our football team, in both the short term and long term. I am grateful for the opportunity to have coached Randy Moss and aside from facing him as an opponent, I wish him the very best for the remainder of his Hall of Fame career." - Bill Belichick

This is difficult for me.  A lot has surfaced since we first started hearing about the Randy Moss trade rumors yesterday.  It would appear that Randy wasn't happy, that Randy wanted out from the start of the season, and that his attitude was spilling over to the locker room.  Randy is by no means perfect and, if these reports are true, then the Patriots is not where he should be playing.  But that doesn't make this any more sad.

Sports are great because they can create great excitement -- as I was reminded last night when I caught bits of the ESPN film on the 2004 Red Sox.  However, there are also the heartbreak moments.  My first was when my childhood hero, Patrick Roy, was traded from the Montreal Canadiens in 1995 after a skirmish with a coach.  There are moments when I have been decimated, such as Superbowl 2007.  There are moments of agony, such as seeing a helmet go straight into Tom Brady's knee.  This one, I'm still not entirely sure.  I always wanted to give Randy the benefit of the doubt, which likely caused me to idealize him to some extent.  Whatever happened today, I am honored to have seen a future Hall of Famer show off some of his best stuff.

I only wish that it didn't end like this.  Best of luck, Randy.  You will be sorely missed.

The week in review

So including this blog, I'm currently keeping up with 3.  That's a lot.  This one may be neglected somewhat as a result.  However, here is a summary of the week:

1) The Pats lost.  Sucks!  But hey, it happens.

2) This:

It was almost worth losing to have this touchdown.  Seriously.  Randy.  LOVE  YOU!!!  And yep, that would be Revis getting completely beat.

3) Lots of work, things to do, etc....  However, we aren't in such bad company.  Looks like the Saints could go 1-1.  It's been a wacky start of the season.  The Bucs are 2-0.  Really?

4) Still love them.  Also there is an awesome ESPN commercial.  I'm hoping to find the link.

Today was a good day

Lots of goodness today.

1) Tony Romo just made one of the most idiotic plays I have ever seen.  Four seconds left in the half, he decides to try a lateral, it doesn't work because the player who catches it fumbles, Washington picks up the ball and scores a touchdown.  Commentators then go out of their way to call him stupid for this play, including a comment that his coach was purportedly 'furious.'  Good stuff.  Looks like we are off to another one of those seasons for the Cowboys.

2) Pats win!  Remember back when we started the season scoring 38 points a lot?  I remember that season, it was 2007.  That's the number of points that we scored today.

3) Randy Moss goes on a rant and tells the media to STFU.  Media response: to make this a far more ridiculous story than it actually was.  Here's what I have to say: pay the man his straight cash, homey.

4) Not only do the Colts lose, they lose because they allow 231 yards on the ground (!).  This is like the 2004 Colts or something.  Going to be a long season if they've regressed on defense.

Belichick of the Week

I realize that I am awarding it far, far too early.  But this one I like a lot.  Upon being asked about any concerns he had about TB's health after the car accident yesterday:

“I always worry about the health of our team. There is nothing more important than the health of our team. Without players, you don’t have a team.”

Genius.

Also, anyone else notice just how rusty and old Favre looked last night?

Belichick is #1!

You probably knew already that I would love any story where Belichick was ranked as the current best NFL coach.  But what I'm really loving are the comments that follow:

"I'm not a pats fan or anything (rams fan actually) but if Belichick isn't the best coach then I don't know what reasons you could possibly have to support it that doesn't involve serious logical fallacies."

"Is Bellichik on the shady side. Probably. But I'd be very surprised if other teams weren't trying to cheat in the same way. When it comes to playcalling and decision making, Bellichik is #1. And I hate the Patriots."

And one of my favorite exchanges ever:

"Bill Belicheat number 1!?!? Of all time!?!?

The Patsys are done like dinner. Brady was never the QB everyone thought he was. He was good, but when you video tape the defensive calls of your opponent it makes QB life much easier.

...and I remember Tara Reid saying that she quit dating Brady years ago because he had bad breath."

Response:

"Brady's stats are ALWAYS near the top. You should do some research... And Tara Reid?.. really? .. He is married to Giselle dip@#$%. I would call that an upgrade...... Tara Reid?? wow, you are a complete tardobott."

It's a great point, actually.  What is Tara Reid up to these days?

Sport writer's contempt for Rusty Old Man thinly veiled

Sage Rosenfels was traded to the NY Giants.

Why is this important?  Well, two years ago, he played for the Houston Texans and did a decent job.  Then he was traded to Minnesota, where he thought he had a shot at the top position.  This thought faded the minute that they acquired Favre, or, as stated by Barry Wilner, "After an offseason of working out and learning the system, however, Rosenfels’ big shot was dashed when Favre waltzed in to take over."

I love it.

Marquis Murrell on moving forward

It looks like OL Marquis Murrell may not be making the Pats' final roster, which is unfortunate because he has one of the best names currently in Foxborough.  What makes this even more unfortunate is the fact that he apparently says great things in interviews too:

"Murrell played in 10 games last season and recorded 12 tackles. He played in the Jets’ AFC Championship game loss to the Colts and had two special teams tackles, but Murrell isn’t thinking much about his previous seasons.

“That’s behind me,’’ he said. “You never look into the past. You might turn into a pillar of salt.’’"

He's got that Patriotspeak right down.  I say, keep him.

(I know, I even went to Extra Points for this one.  My taste in blogs is clearly deteriorating.  But this article was proofread!).

Tom Brady wins my heart forever

I'm just copying the whole story. It's too much awesome to really paraphrase (apparently this was said in a jocular fashion, but it's still hilarious):

Brady no fan of ‘Hard Knocks’ show about Jets

By HOWARD ULMAN, AP Sports Writer 1 hour, 14 minutes ago

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP)—Tom Brady says he won’t watch HBO’s “Hard Knocks” show featuring the New York Jets because he hates them.
In his weekly contractually-mandated appearance on WEEI radio on Monday, the New England Patriots quarterback said he hasn’t turned on the show about the Jets training camp.
Brady says, “I hate the Jets, so I refuse to support that show.”
He does say he’s sure it’s great television and he’s glad people like it but he has no interest in watching. He say, “I’d love to say a lot of mean things, but I’d rather not do that, either.”


Oh, and I am in no way recommending that you watch 'Hard Knocks' unless you enjoy seeing a whole lot of Rex Ryan.  But I do recommend that you read this summary of 'Hard Knocks,' which is classic.  I fully intend to read the summary, without fail, every week.

Stick a fork in 'em

14-0, Blue Jays lead, top of the 7th.  Lester gave up 9 of those runs.  Pedroia is back on the DL.

Yeah, it's over.  If the pitching could be more consistent......but it's not.

What did Albert Haynesworth do today? Second edition

He did not practice because of a headache.

Seriously, you don't even want to know how much he got paid to do this.

What did Albert Haynesworth do today?

This may have to become a daily series at the rate he is going.

What Albert Haynesworth did today: he practiced for ten minutes, then was taken off for dehydration.

This now concludes your Albert Haynesworth Update.

Impeccable timing

If you're a Red Sox fan and if you've ever listened to a single game on the radio, then you are aware that there is a whole ad campaign based around the idea that a ball got out of Fenway, landed on Landesdown Street, and took out someone's windshield.  The solution in this situation?  Call 1-800-54-GIANT.

Also, if you've ever lived in New England, you likely walked around with their commercial jingle in your head on more than one occasion.  And here's the guy you have to thank.

Anyway, that's what makes D-Mac's home run from last night funny.  Note the ad behind the plate.

And we're on again, Rusty Old Man-style

Apparently, the Rusty Old Man showed up today in Minnesota via a private jet decked out in the Vikings' colors.  Cameras were live on the scene to capture the whole thing.  Wow.  Just, wow.  I laughed really hard when I read the headline.

In other QB news, Eli is still not feeling 100% (and it was 12 stitches).  He might not play the next pre-season game.  If you're not sure, then you shouldn't play him in a pre-season game, seeing as how it counts for nothing.  Two words: plantar fasciitis.

Do you know what other story has been cracking me up this season?  The Haynesworth saga in DC.  First, it took him, like, 8 tries to get through the conditioning test.  Then apparently today, he was taken out because he was sick.  That's some good spending 'way too much money on a player stuff there.

I feel sorry for the Bills already

Bills fans, I feel your pain.  Actually, I grew up just north of your fair city and lived there during the 90s, so I am fully aware of what you had to endure.  But now things are just that little bit worse, because apparently two of your contributors, Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch, are out.  Both are running backs.  From what I recall, Jackson did a nice job last year.

Yeesh.

That is just a bad luck franchise.

In other football news, Eli got decked in the head and received somewhere between 3-12 stitches, depending on which news feed you read.  He is apparently just fine.  He will still stand around with his mouth open not looking all that bright, but that is in no way related to this head injury.

In finding that picture, I also located one of a shirtless Eli.  Really?

He wins

Belichick is back and in fine form.  When asked about any possible injury to Tom Brady's fingers, he answered as follows:

"I don't think it's life threatening."

He also expressed great (sarcastic) joy in filling out injury reports this season.  And with that, the title goes to the master with Belichick taking home the inaugural Belichick of the Week.

If you're curious, I do feel slightly icky about just having posted a link from the Boston Herald.  Hopefully we will all get through this together.

If I were Mike Lowell...

It seems unlikely that I would be Mike Lowell, but if I were, I would totally choose 'Back in Black' as my song when I went up to the plate.  After all, who could have guessed that we would have kept him around for three-quarters of the season, only to need him when Youk went down with a fluke injury?  Most Red Sox fans have been screaming to trade him and give him the chance to go somewhere so that he can play for real, yet have been hesitant to argue for him having a starting spot on the team.  And yet, here we are.

I think that his actual song is 'Rock the Casbah.'  Not bad, but 'Back in Black' would be so much cooler.  Plus that would just kind of be fun to walk to the plate to, in a kind of swaggery-AC/DC way.

Patriots win utterly meaningless game, I get super excited

Tonight, the Patriots beat the Saints in the first pre-season game.  It counted for absolutely nothing.  I hadn't even planned to watch it, in fact.

And yet....and yet.....I love those boys so much!

You know who was awesome?  Julian Edelman (who was also awesome in last year's playoff fiasco).  You know who else?  Randy Moss.

It was nice to see the team strong near the end and holding the Saints to a field goal when they were within 1st and goal.  Smooth play calling by the Saints, incidentally -- they almost pulled off a pretty good semi-QB-sneak (I don't know what to call it!).  But their 3rd-string QB evidently went to the Laurence Maroney School of Running Sideways Instead of Forward, which ended in basically naught.  Nothing like when your 3rd-string team can outplay the other 3rd-string team.  Final score was 27-24 for the Pats.

It's official: I am ready for some football!

Two events that are unrelated but maybe shouldn't be

(You can tell football season is sneaking up because of so many posts, right?)

Two unrelated events that maybe should be related:

1) WR David Patton retired today.  You may remember him as one of the 'no-name' wide receivers from the pre-2007 Patriots era -- you know, like back when they won Superbowls.

(This is not saying anything about our new wide receivers.  I love you Randy and Wes.  But bring home the ring!).

2) Wakefield gave up two runs in a relief outing last night.

(How are these connected?  I truly feel like Wakefield is done.  He's contributed a great deal to the Red Sox over the years, but it's time to face facts.  This season he is getting steadily worse instead of better.  It's sad to see, but that's the simple truth of it).